Deck Balancing

[Iamnotasuperhero]

Hey, so I managed to talk my friends into playing Munchkin having owned the core box for a couple of years now and we all love it so naturally I seek to expand my collection.
I ended up picking up the Cthulhu set but we've noticed a big difference in the frequency of monster encounters, so my question is has anyone else noticed this sort of thing and how do you guys optimise your decks?
What decks do you guys stick with and how do you make sure things move quick enough for your players.

[Iamnotasuperhero]

Sorry, I should have gone into more detail earlier but was on a mobile device and typing took an age.

So basically, my friends love the core deck, finding it to have a decent frequency of monsters in the door cards in order to keep the game moving at an exciting pace, but I want to include other decks and expansions in order to ensure the game doesn't stagnate.
The problem is I don't want to (for example) mix the core fantasy deck with the core cthulhu deck as that would ultimately bring the frequency of monster encounters down.

What I am ultimately looking for is advice on ensuring my friends have a fast paced, action packed game.
Do you guys remove cards from your deck in order to make the game run quicker? Do you have an expansion that increases the monster count? What is your advice?

[Andrew Hackard]

First of all, welcome to the forums. It's always nice to see new faces, even ones that look like :-)

The core sets are all designed off the same basic framework. Within one or two cards, they should all have pretty much the same frequency of monsters, even if you mix multiple core sets together*.

Something else you might want to try is the "Listening at the Door" Faster Play Rule, found on p. 6 of every new core rulesheet. (If your rules only have four pages, you have an older printing; you can download the most up-to-date rules here, and look at the changes we made to the sets here.) That rule is designed to get more Door cards into the game faster, so you have more options each turn, and to get more Treasures into the game as well. In our experience, it speeds up the game and makes it more fun, since you're seeing more cards each turn.

If this doesn't answer your questions, please write back and we'll take another shot at it.

* If you DO mix core sets frequently, you can also mix in Munchkin 7 - Cheat With Both Hands (formerly Munchkin Blender), which has plenty of monsters in its own right! That set should be out in a couple of months.

[bonetm]

I can also recommend the two Santa boosters: Waiting for Santa and Santa's Revenge.

Both are full of monsters, with a special Santa monster rule.

But, really, if you want faster games you need more treasures and more Powers, not more monsters.

[Morfeatire]

Even though they use the same framework, all sets have different paces. Cthulhu can be slower than the classic, specially with the dungeons. There are some sets that have a quicker escalade of power (Fu and Super). Perharps you want to blend one of them with a set full of heavy monsters and use the listen to the door rule. Or see what kind of cards you guys have been missing on your games and use "cheat with both hands" to add just those cards.

[elliottsb]

I'm really looking forward to Munchkin 7 - Cheat With Both Hands and Monster Enhancers when they come out soon!

So, is combining the entire decks the recommended way to play when using multiple core sets? I was wondering (and I think this is along the lines of what Iamnotasuperhero was asking) if anyone had removed cards from one set or another when combining core sets.

I believe another factor when using multiple core sets is the number of players. My regular games are with only three players and we hardly make a dent in the door cards when playing Epic Munchkin and combine Munchkin, Munchkin Fu and Munchkin Fu 2. I'm sure it would be better to have a few more players when combining that many cards. That's another reason why I wonder about removing some cards when combining.

[MunchkinMan]

Originally Posted by elliottsb

So, is combining the entire decks the recommended way to play when using multiple core sets? I was wondering (and I think this is along the lines of what Iamnotasuperhero was asking) if anyone had removed cards from one set or another when combining core sets.

Yup. All the Doors together and all the Treasures together, and let the insanity roll. Blending sets together can be quite the trip. Blender was a nice little addition, and it's nice to see it finally coming back as Cheat With Both Hands. When blending, I typically don't pull cards, but depending on the situation, I wouldn't combine certain sets. Cthulhu is one I have a hard time blending in because the Cultist rules can create some issues.

[Signboy]

Originally Posted by MunchkinMan

Cthulhu is one I have a hard time blending in because the Cultist rules can create some issues.

How so? I have Munchkin and Munchkin Cthulu with the #2 for both sets. I've combined them together, but didn't seem to have an issue with the Cultist Class. Granted, I've only played 2-3 times with the combined deck, so maybe its just a matter of not having the opportunity to see the problems.

[MunchkinMan]

I think my concerns focus more on larger blends. In general, the problem is that there are not enough Cultist cards, creating the likelihood that the Cultist's bonus for other Cultist's doesn't come up as often, and so on.

[morleydotes]

Erik,

We had to grab an extra set and pull just the cultist cards out of it and set them aside, just for blended games. We now also do it for the Elf cards for basic games. It's a bit of a hassle, but I just tuck them in with the box of Epic Cards and promo cards.

Pat