Hey guys

I've always been a fan of the CoC board games published by FFG, and I've been thinking about getting into the LCG for a while now.

The thing is, there are so many things to buy that it's been keeping me away, but the (awesome) decision of FFG to switch so new cards only come with deluxe expansions convinced me to buy a core set

I've been playing with friends with the core set, and I'm hooked, so I'm planning on buying all the deluxe expansions + 2 additional copies of the core set to get all cards 3 times.

So here is my question: Are the booster packs interesting enough to buy after I would have aquired all the deluxe expansions? Because there are a lot of them, and they aren't cheap so it will quickly add up.

Question number 2: Do you think FFG will ever bundle each Cycle in a big pack and release them as super deluxe expansions or something?

Thank you king people of the CoC LCG community

The Asylum Packs are still interesting, but not neccesary. With only two released faction boxes so far you will have an uneven spread of cards. This will change once more boxes come out.

I myself have chosen the same route you describe, but I have also given in and bought the last 3 cycles. Im retrospect I am very happy with Revelations and Ancient Relics. Rituals of the Order not so much. I have it from more experienced players that older packs have more less useful cards than newer packs.

I really like the deluxe expansions, they are strong in theme and mechanics goes well together.

Asylum Packs are always interesting but might be less so once we see all the new faction boxes come out.

On question 2: Not likely.

Good on you for taking the plunge. This really is such a good game, and the deep card pool - though daunting - provides such fantastic variety and combo-potential, which is just one of the things that really makes the game stand out for me.

My suggestion is to make CardGameDB.com your friend. Using their search feature you can browse for cards that might fit the deck you're building, and then consider buying the Asylum Pack that has it. For instance, the Core Set has a few 'Deep One's for the Cthulhu faction, so a quick search for cards that work well with that subtype would point you to a pack like Aspirations of Ascension from The Rituals of the Order cycle to get Devil's Reef; or if you were playing 'Criminals' in the Syndicate faction then that same pack would give you Johnny V's Dame. This way you can just buy the odd extra pack as you need it.

One Asylum Pack I would specifically recommend is The Shifting Sands from the Ancient Relics cycle which contains the latest set of story cards that are used in official tournaments. This pack also has the amazingly powerful (and understandably restricted) Khopesh of the Abyss attachment for the Cthulhu faction.

Well, I can see the point that boxed expansions are a lower cost-per-card but other than that there's no reason that Asylum Pack cards wouldn't be just as good as boxed expansion cards.

Personally, I'm very glad that I've chased down a full set. You never know what card you're going to want and there's cool stuff everywhere

Now, that said - in the real world we have limited funds and priorities must be set. I would second the advice to use CardGameDB.com to help with this. Try to pick out packs that have several cards you really like, or that support a theme you want to build next. When I started I was going to make a Dark Young + Syndicate deck to play at Gencon so I started out by buying all the packs I needed for that deck. Over time new themes would drive me towards picking up new sets of packs until eventually I got to sort of a "filling in the gaps" mode to finish up the collection.

I think the asylum packs are well worth it; though cost is relative to everyone when you compare costs vs. many popular CCGs you would spend a lot more buying just 3-4 copies of a key card than you will buying asylum packs and get that many more extra cards with it to build up other decks.

Years ago I played a couple of CCGs where it was common for competitive decks to cost hundreds whereas in CoC you can get 3 x Core Sets (when they are in print), 1 x Secrets of Arkham, 1-2 deluxe expansions, and maybe even some asylum packs for less than that. Another CCG you would even see competitive decks (In some formats ) that cost way more than that.

In CoC, although some people might still provide it cost prohibitive, the asylum packs seem like a great and cheap way to build on the collection and appear to contain some key cards (novice opinion from someone that just started). When I weigh it against other things for the cost of a a couple of cups of coffee a week or something close you can pick up a pack a week without too much sacrifice and build your collection over time.

Steve

I'd have a hard time to find an AP that was not worth its money. There are a few gems in each of them. If you are able to, I'd recommend to get a complete cycle at the same time, since they belong to a particular theme and are also designed at the same time.

So, check out CardGameDB and look which cycle you are most interested in, then buy all 6 APs (assuming it's currently available!).

Hey everyone, I just picked up the Core Set today and will be delving into this LCG quite soon. Looking forward, what should I consider when considering what kind of decks to build and expansions to buy? Is it recommended to invest in decks that center around particular factions or ones that contain cards belonging to a single cycle of Asylum Packs? I don't have a ton of money to spend, so I'm not terribly interested in buying expansions solely to have all the cards.

The only other card game I've played before is Magic The Gathering, and CoC looked like a refreshing departure from buying blind booster packs (I'm also a huge Lovecraft fan).

Welcome, IrishCross. You've chosen well - Call of Cthulhu is a fantastic game.

There's some links in the An Introduction to Call of Cthulhu topic that might help. In particular, the second FFG article referenced there Deeper into the Dreamlands should put you on the right track.