Cactus Game Design Message Boards

Thank you to everyone who supported the release of this new set.  I doubled the quantity of cards I normally order on a first printing, by God's grace the set is still oversold.  We should finish shipping those orders we can fill Monday and Tuesday of this coming week. 

I ordered the 2nd printing three weeks ago.  It always makes me a little nervous to order again before I receive the first printing and can confirm all is well with the cards.  But, demand required it.  The printer does not expect to ship the 2nd printing until December 27.

I want to advise everyone that we are running thin on the RoA cards.  The mix for older cards for the first printing was 4 FoOF, 4 RoA and 2 Women cards.  We will be adjusting the mix of older cards going forward to 6 FoOF, 2 RoA and 2 Women.  This mix will only last for Phase 1. 

What would you like to see as a mix for Phase 2 and the combined set?  Options are

Apostles
Patriachs
Kings
Angel Wars
Priest
Disciples
TeP

We also have many cards from 4th edition starter decks (I & J).  Those follow the newer card format.  If we use those, should we include or exclude the dominants?

I think using I/J cards would be a cool idea, but I don't think including dominants would be balanced for Booster Draft purposes.

What would you like to see as a mix for Phase 2 and the combined set?  Options are

Apostles
Patriachs
Kings
Angel Wars
Priest

We also have many cards from 4th edition starter decks (I & J).  Those follow the newer card format.  If we use those, should we include or exclude the dominants?

For the 5 older foil packs listed above, is it feasible to only include certain cards from the expansion?  Such as, maybe for Apostles and Angel Wars, only include characters.  The enhancements of these two expansions are very weak, with only a handful of notable battlewinners worth drafting in Booster Draft.  But drafting always requires characters.

Patriarchs, Kings, and Priests are better for drafting.  Like Watchman said, pretty much everyone has those cards already, but they make up 10 of the 15 cards in a pack for Booster, so you want good cards for drafting.

The I/J cards would be quite solid for drafting.  Strife would be fine too, but the other 4 Doms are definitely above curve in power level.

Of course, Chariot of Fire can now be drafted, so there is precedent for having a Dom that can rescue in draft...

I wish Disciples and TxP were a part of those options as those would be my vote. Otherwise, I have no preference on the other options as I (and others) have a ton of those cards already.

Quote from: The Guardian on December 09, 2018, 06:59:04 PM

I think using I/J cards would be a cool idea, but I don't think including dominants would be balanced for Booster Draft purposes.

Forgot those two sets. Those are also options.

I think you meant to quote Watchman instead of Guardian, regarding TxP and Disciples...if so I would also vote for those 2.


p.s. that is exciting and awesome news regarding PoC sales!!

Quote from: Josh on December 09, 2018, 07:40:24 PM

For the 5 older foil packs listed above, is it feasible to only include certain cards from the expansion?  Such as, maybe for Apostles and Angel Wars, only include characters.

We might be able to do that so that most cards from those two sets are characters.

In that case I change my vote to including a combination of I/J deck cards (without dominant cards) with Texp and disciples cards.

That would be great.

I vote TexP and Disciples cards.

TxP + Discples including Doms, Arts, etc. would be my favorite.

Quote from: Gabe on December 10, 2018, 10:34:08 AM

I/J cards without the Dominants (or Lost Souls maybe?) will be good for booster draft.

Disciples and Treasures are both great for drafting. Since we're already removing Mayhem from those maybe we should also remove Grapes?

I have to disagree in-part with the dominants issue. Yes, dominants like SoG, AotL, and CM are not good for booster so I’m in agreement that if I/J cards are in PoC Ph. 2 then those should not be included. I am, however, in favor of less powerful dominants such as Strife and VP being included in PoC Ph. 2 which I also feel are fine for booster draft. I also think Grapes should remain in the packs as it’s a chase card and is also fine for booster (in my opinion).

A player may have a certain advantage in booster with having a dominant in their deck but the same could be said for other powerful cards that have been and will continue to be used in draft, such as Moses (CoW), Red Dragon, King of Tyrus (PoC), Prince of This World, etc. I don’t feel Strife, VP or Grapes will break booster by any means but will actually make it more fun, IMO.

I echo the sentiment that lower-power Doms are fun in Booster.  However, I feel VP would be very strong in draft, as playing it after you are attacked but before you block can have the same effect as CM, only you've set them back even further by burying one of their best GEs.

That's a valid point about VP, but I also feel that if I were fortunate enough to pull a VP, I just as often might end up using it prior to attacking so that I would know what I was up against--especially if I had several attacking options, but none being super strong.

I agree with you there. 

I'll also point out that if a card has "stronger than CM" potential when played on your opponent's turn, and you still choose to use it on your turn for different utility, that card is actually more powerful than if you just consider the aspect comparison w/ CM 

I vote for VP to be included. IMO it’s no more than a game changer than a powerful hero/villain that’s drafted. Your opponent can still have cards in his hand that can still win the battle even if one is underdecked.

To get back to Rob's original question...  Would we be looking at 1 TxP and 2 Disciples cards, same as Fall of Man?  Or is there enough stock to increase these numbers?

If we are limited to 1 TxP and 2 Disciples, maybe something like this would work:

3-4 Patriarchs
3-4 I/J
2 Disciples
1 TxP

If we can do more Disciples/TxP, maybe this works instead:

4 I/J
4 Disciples
2 TxP

Upon further thought, I think I'd be in favor of all I/J cards being available for draft except Son of God, Angel of the Lord, and the Lost Souls.  I think I'm even ok with Christian Martyr.  CM is definitely first-pickable, but would you first-pick it if you also had Philip/Bartholomew (Disciples) or another bomb hero in your pack?  CM wins a battle, bomb heroes win games.

I don’t see anything wrong with having the Resurrection and Rejoice lost soul included; the no ability lost souls would be a wasted card slot, however.

Wasn’t there talk about combining Phase I and Phase II cards in one pack? Is that happening down the road after Phase II release? If they’re eventually combined would there be 10 PoC cards in one pack?

I would assume that it would be like the Early Church, where it's randomized for the whole set.

That raises another question, though - with there already being space in the numbers, will there be a new printing of the combined set? Will we be able to tell the difference between Phase 1 cards and combined cards that were also printed phase 1? Or is it too early to tell yet?

I thought phase 2 wasn't till fall 2019. Does that mean Rob's second printing of phase 1 won't have TSC, 3W or Shipwreck in it? Or am I reading your post wrong?