Altered & Star Wars Unlimited 🫸🫷 Fleeting Thoughts: An Altered TCG Podcast Episode 7

[@JParnell1]

If we end up in the top 10 of all TCGs by the end of 2025, I will be *thrilled*

[@Jacksuhn]

As someone who is very excited for both SWU and Altered, I completely agree that they both live in very different head spaces. And that Altered is a "cleaner" experience a deceptively more complex than it presents. Which is one of the things I love about it. Another is no "one turn kill" option for decks. My only gripe... only grip about the differences is that now I want SWU to start with 3 resources.

[@MaindeckGames]

The decisions can be *so* subtle in Altered that some players don't even recognize they are making them or the impact they have longer term right away! I think it's beautiful - it reminds me a bit of some of the great approachable board games like Carcassonne - super easy to just play without worrying about optimization - but if you are into that, there are lots of subtle things to optimize! And the 3 resources does feel good for sure. I just am happy in general that we are getting away from games where you HAVE TO start at 1 resource! I appreciate so much just having more functional starting hands with a range of actually interesting turn 1s!

[@RafaAkd]

I just think it's so hard to get people in stores for original IPs. Altered has a good chance but it is a more difficult mountain to climb. FAB did it, hopefully Altered will. But I'm almost certain that in small and medium size markets stores won't be doing anything for it at the beginning

[@MaindeckGames]

It can be a slow road but the recent announcement that players will be able to use their collections to play on Board Game Arena is a step in the right direction for players without a local scene to have an outlet to play. Then good LGS support might be able to help them get into the door. We will see, it's a tricky thing to predict and will undoubtedly take time either way!

[@stadtminish3219]

The biggest difference between the two games for me is the desire for the start marker. In Star Wars I always want to start the turn, while in Altered I want to sit back and let my opponent carry out all the actions before I start 😅. (except I have a card in my hand that sends away an opponent's reverse card 😈)

[@ShadowThe6th]

As Engineers we can always rebuild, restore, and create a new from someone else's idea. I may be gone, but Axiom will rise

[@yoshiakimimura638]

I just looked death in the eye and said no 😂

[@jessedana9151]

First let me say I solely blame Maindeck for me getting back to physical TCGs and I can’t believe I’ve been coerced into jumping into 2 at once! 2nd as it was mentioned very briefly at the end of this cast but I tossed the idea in a previous comment… there is way too many similarities for this to be a coincidence… without going into details I believe someone at Asmodee is behind both games and I won’t be convinced otherwise… Asmodee is one of the biggest fish in the gaming industry and they want an equitable piece of the pie. They are taking one straight to retail with a familiar IP and launching the other on Kickstarter with new and fresh ideas. They know one will definitely succeed, but if both do even better! I think SWU will hit right out of the gate and go into #5 most played… Altered will be at #10 and a slow burn. I do feel however that Altered has vastly more potential and one reason for that is I believe it could be a game that a loyal player of any other game could dabble in. It’s unique in many aspects from production and lore… and different enough in gameplay that when someone wants a change from “attacking” they’ll jump to Altered….. GenCon can’t come soon enough.

[@robertmitchell8052]

Perhaps a silly question but do you recommend backing Altered? Still a week to go. I love MTG (mostly for Commander - albeit recent over complexity is getting annoying) and my brief experience with Sorcery has been awesome, love it.

[@_justb3r3al]

Absolutely should back…I have and have convinced 3 friends to do so also. This game as an it factor that will ultimately have to prove itself over the coming year but I’m supporting it for its unique approach.

[@robertmitchell8052]

@@_justb3r3al Cheers!

[@federicobucci9706]

Give it a try!! By ExAltered or BGA.. All linked on the kickstarter page. Anyway, a lot of SG are already unlocked making really profitable grab some booster now by the KS! Think about it! The game is amazing and the all system behind collection and rarity very fresh!

[@MaindeckGames]

You're going to get a biased answer, but of course we think so. The team is incredibly passionate and interested in building out an incredible experience for everyone. If you enjoy that casual and welcoming feel of the Sorcery community, I think Altered will have some of that same feel, but with more of a push to have organized play in stores. I'm really looking forward to how they work the lore/factions into events like they plan to!

[@robertmitchell8052]

@@MaindeckGames Thanks for your reply! All the best with the continued growth of your channel :)

[@zacklitzsinger]

I am excited by the idea of Arjun and Spike but have struggled a bit with the current card pool. You really don't want to play cards that are naturally anchored because it takes longer for them to go to reserve. I'm looking forward to trying out a spell-based Arjun and Spike build when we get more cards though, since spells go straight to reserve after you play them unlike characters. I'm thinking that might be a good way to achieve a less clunky deck.

[@MaindeckGames]

There are definitely some unspoiled cards that I've been able to play with that really help them out! I think they can be monstrous with the right setup! One spell in particular would line up with exactly what you are thinking about!

[@gavkenny]

Yay - great job as always!

[@MaindeckGames]

Thank you, I hope we gave your questions enough time! Happy we could finally answer them!

[@february7438]

HI, a serious concern that I have is will people be able to just brute force QR codes and get some rare and unique card without pulling them and then it looks like the person who really pulled it is cheating? EDIT: its says in the faq that you need to be logged in for brute forcing and will then be banned, also the likelihood of getting anything from a random qr code is astronomical

[@MaindeckGames]

Glad the FAQ had your back - great question though!

[@alastairvanmaren5243]

Another great pod, gentlemen! Thanks for the content! 😁👍

[@MaindeckGames]

So glad you enjoyed it, thank you for taking the time to comment!

[@ericlazure]

Yes, Jordan made me happy! That being said, SWU is clearly a good game and I would have bought in if they had been more generous with the rarity system + booster contents/cost. FFG made my choice easy! And Equinox was waiting for me with open arms: Original IP, uniques, non-combat, art, lore, rarity limits in deckbuilding etc.

[@ignithas3150]

I don't like the rarity distribution of SWU, but isn't Altered worse in that regard? Every 8th pack has a unique card (which is more rare than legendaries in SWU) and furthermore the variables on the cards isn't fixed, making the chase for the "perfect" unique cards for your deck very difficult and probably expensive.

[@ericlazure]

@@ignithas3150 you can only put in 3 uniques and 15 rares... having a playset of all 324 rares is hard, but with 3-4 rares per pack you will have plenty to sell if rares have value... and if they are cheap it will be easy to get those you want... As for uniques, it's impossible to chase by opening boosters... I will have fun both building decks with the uniques I find and chasing cool uniques in the global marketplacce that people might undervalue... once again, if unique are super costly, then i can sell mine as well...

[@justinlaurent1010]

I think Arjun goes by "they" instead of "he"

[@MaindeckGames]

I wasn't aware, I haven't had the opportunity to dig into all the lore bits and will adjust accordingly. Thank you!

[@boeboe000]

Lolwtf, obviously chocolate is better than vanilla

[@MaindeckGames]

Look I didn't want to start a fight with Jordan on that but when you're right you're right

[@ThePro921]

First