Currently the core set is "out of stock" at every store (physical & online) I have checked or priced considerably higher than list price (either abse or ICW shipping cost). All the expansions give in the description that they are not stand alone and require the core set. Is this accurate and is the core set required to play?

I am interested in the game and have been reading up on it (read the rules pdf, reading through the card database, reading through the FAQ/errata, the forum, etc) and have trouble understanding why I need the core set. Although there may be some specific cards from the core set that are needed/desired it seems I could get enough cards to try the came out through the purchase of a couple of the deluze expansions and an asylum pack or two?

I was thinking that if I picked up the Key and the Gate, the Seekers of Knowledge, and maybe one or two asylum packs or the Terror in Venice that I would have enough cards to build at least a Yog-Sothoth deck and a Miskatonic deck and try things out.

Is this accurate/reasonable?

thanks,

Steve

Hello Steve! Welcome to the game!

In general, the core set provides you with a couple of necessary things: 1) the story deck, and 2) success and wound tokens. Now you could easily get a story set from either the Secrets of Arkham deluxe expansion (which is due for a reprint in January), or from The Shifting Sands asylum pack. Story cards are necessary, but the ones from the core set aren't per se. Success/wound tokens are also required, but you could also easily use glass beads or other tokens. So, yes, you could just pick up deluxe expansions and a few packs to get started that way.

I don't think the core set is too far behind the Secrets of Arkham reprint. I'd say probably end of January or February. And lastly, I wouldn't recommend Terror in Venice as a first buy, since many of the cards really work better with a larger card pool, especially out of Shub. I would say you could make some very decent decks with Seekers and Key and the Gate. They of course would be limited to MU and Yog, but it'd still be fun until you expand your card pool.

thanks, your reply was a big help to confirm part of what I thought and provide additional direction to get me started.

I will go with Seekers, the Key and the Gate and the Shifting Sands to try it out and see if I can interest the wife and then either way won't be out much of an investment. If she likes it/humors me then I can always expand and add to it later.

Steve

I support Danigrals answer on this matter. The three purchases you list will really kickstart your experience in this game, as long as you find a way to proxy the tokens. I love to play both factions, especially Yog-Sothoth. Good luck with your first game!

What are some of the Asylum packs you recommend for rounding out Yog?

I have been going through the Card Game DB and looking at some of them to see what cards I like but haven't read through and prioritized all of them yet. Also, are there any places anyone has found that sells singles for that occasion where you want a specific card but don't need the whole pack? Or is this nonexistent given the cost of the packs and known cards included?

Steve

Singles market doesn't really exist for the LCGs.

yeah, I figured as much since I wouldn't find anywhere selling them online and given the fixed nature of the packs where you can get anything you want by buying the right pack…… I just thought I would ask as I saw it might be a viable alternative when you only want one/two cards out of a pack. Typically when I play card games I hate switching cards back and forth between decks and like to keep decks built instead of disassembling and rebuilding.

Typically when I play card games I hate switching cards back and forth between decks and like to keep decks built instead of disassembling and rebuilding.

LCGs aren't very good at this since you won't have spare copies of all your Common/staple stuff. I feel like I'm lucky if I can have two decks built which both share a common faction and didn't have to make too many sacrifices