Hey I'm brand new to the game and I own the boxed starter set and a couple of chapters packs and I have a few questions that I did not see answered in any of the forum posts:

1. I see that there is a constructed format known as "Standard." I've seen on tzumainn that this format includes the following sets:

• Iron Throne Edition
• A House of Talons
• A House of Thorns
• Five Kings Edition

Are these the correct sets for this format?

2. Is there a LCG only format that people play?

3. Why are there very few House Martell and House Greyjoy cards in the LCG sets?

Any help with these questions would be greatly appreciated, especially since I'm looking to build a Greyjoy deck and there aren't many cards for that House in LCG sets and I'm curious which sets i'll need to buy to get them.

scud731 said:

I've never played these formats, but from what I can read here: http://www.agameofthrones.com/PDF/orgplay0708.pdf , there are many more sets included. However, that information might be outdated.

scud731 said:

The tourney rules ( http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/agotlcg/support/AGoTTourneyRules.pdf ) include a LCG format.

scud731 said:

Because Martell and Greyjoy are no longer 'main' factions in the game.

standard is an unofficial (read no prizes from FFG) format that a lot of players who played before the switch play. the sets you listed plus any LCG sets are legal for that right now. THis format probably won't be as previlant after august/september.

LCG format is one of the 2 official formats that FFG supports, it includes all cards in a chapter pack and the core set.

There are few (relativley, 3 3x locations would go a long way to helping) martell and greyjoy becuase of the timing of the switch. The previous poster says they are not 'main factions'...i dunno if i'd agree with that classification. The switch kind of caught the designer off guard and while Martell and Greyjoy are viable builds (to varying degress of success, but still work for casual play) they had no cards in the core set and are lacking mostly becuase of that. FFG still plans on designing and bringing them along and as planned a few short term fixes, while we await a long term build up of those two houses. There are a few conversations on here about how to build a GJ or Martell deck in LCG, with this being the most on topic thread new.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp

Great, thanks for the info! Does anyone know why House Greyjoy and House Martell are no longer main factions in the game? Is it because of a lack of depth in the books?

re: 'main faction' see my post above, we had a simulatnoues posting.

Thanks for the further info. I hope FFG comes out with more greyjoy/martell stuff. I will clarify the deal with the LCG to my other local game store patrons to avoid more confusion.

scud731 said:

It's nothing more or less "sinister" than that the Core Set is only 4 Houses instead of 6. Greyjoy and Martell are getting about the same number of cards in the Chapter Packs as the other 4 are. It just seems like there are fewer cards, and that Greyjoy and Martell are no longer "main factions" because there hasn't been a vehicle for a "Core Deck" with basic resources and primary personalities the way that Stark, Baratheon, Lannister and Targaryen had in the Core Set.

I'd guess that the choice to make a 4-House Core Set came first (packaging, cost, whatever), then the 4 Houses were chosen. It's pretty easy to see why FFG chose the 4 Houses they did for the Core Set. There was an announcement a couple of months ago saying that Greyjoy and Martell would essentially be support Houses for the near future, but that probably has more to do with a continued lack of "Core Deck" vehicle than for any thematically-related "downgrade" or lack of depth in the books.