Hey guys. Just learned the game where i can finally say that I (think) am proficient with the rules. I was wondering what all has been released outside of the core and sleeves. I play Lotr… have there been monthly adventure packs? Im having trouble finding out whats actually been released and whats set for future releases. I know a lot of people say you need two core sets in order to have any deck building options. How true is this statement? Is it like Lotr, where 2 core sets (or even 3) just gives you a bit of an edge? Or is it more extreme? Where you cant really enjoy the game moving forward without a second box? I am only using premade decks so far, and have not gotten to mess with the custom deck rules.

Gazi,

Adam

Captain Poe said:

So far, just The Desolation of Hoth (Hoth Cycle-Force Pack 1). The second force pack, The Search for Skywalker, is on the way next month.

Hey, Captain Poe! Good to see on the SW side. It's been a while since I've been on the LotR forums. Holliday88 pretty much answered your question about what is released. It's still in the early beginnings.

As for two core sets, the consensus seems to be that you want the second set. Unlike LotR or many of the other LCGs, there are few cards that are not usable from the second Core. You have the affiliation cards, Force cards, and the 6 "Limit 1 per deck" objectives (2x Hit and Run, 2x Reconnaisance Mission, 1x Tribal Support, 1x Corporate Exchange). And unlike LotR, you have a complete play set with 2 cores instead of needing 3.

Aside from being a good deal, the added objective sets from a second core let you focus your deck a lot more. The core decks let you try a little bit of everything, but by doubling up on some of your objectives, you can become much more focused on specific strategies.

Still, there is a question about whether or not people will use the second core after a few cycles are released. For example, if someone were only interested in running Hoth decks, the second core might be superfluous. But in general, those are strong sets that you'll want duplicates of.

Hope that helps, and welcome to Star Wars: The Card Game!

Thanks, both of you. I may look into the second set once i start building my own stuff. Im going to pick up the first AP and see how it goes with that as my first step.

I typically check CoolStuffInc.com (http://www.coolstuffinc.com/page/1061) to see what expansion packs have been released and which ones are still in waiting to be released.

Blade_Runner said:

You can also simply check the Upcoming page at the top of this site or Star Wars product page.

To go a little further into the multiple Core Sets thing;

With regards to Core Set cards being obsolete over time, that's certainly possible. It also depends on what level of play you're looking for from this game. If it involves any kind of organized play, be it friendly leagues, or a big tournament, you'll probably have a tough go of it in the immediate future as there will naturally be people with 2 Cores out there getting more reliable card draw.

That's also the next point; reliability. You can only have 2 Emperors in your deck (for example) at this point. On a minimum deck size of 50 cards, that's not even the best guarantee you'll find him in your game, but you're twice as likely to draw into him at some point vs only having one copy of his Objective Set in your deck.

For some cards and Objective sets, that's by design, but when you are trying to build a deck strategy around a few key cards, you'll want to maximize your ability to draw into them, which helps the deck play more reliably versus being more luck driven.

Down the line, unless they start reprinting Force Choke and Force Lightning into other Sith Objective sets, you'll probably still get a lot of utility out of the Vader and Palpatine sets in your Dark Side decks for a while. As well, think a little deeper into those traits on the Objectives. There's "Coruscant" on Heart of the Empire. It doesn't interact with anything other than the Defense Fleet currently, but who's to say that it won't trigger off some other crazy effect down the line?

Good design with games like this would surely involve going back to look at these seeds that were planted back in Core and looping them into new ideas years down the line.

I remember in the Decipher Star Wars CCG, in Premiere, there was a card called (if my memory is correct) "This is Some Rescue!" that would cancel the Light Side rescue card from that set, but also mentioned that it cancelled "Ewok Rescue", which would not see print until the Endor expansion for another 3-4 years!

I know money is precious for all of us, especially if you're into keeping up with a few expandable games, so $30 might be at a premium, but I highly recommend the second Core to get the extra Objective copies. It keeps your options open, and lets you make more reliable decks.