What To Play
Starting Off
Precons
Thehttps://wiki.ashes.live/books/learn-to-play/page/preconstructed-matchups pre-constructed decks ("precons") that come in the Master Set and subsequent expansions are good for learning the game and the cards, and often give a good idea of the direction a Phoenixborn wants to lean. They are generally not well balanced against each other due to the necessity of including 3 copies of each card, and some are downright bad. As such, some matchups can be so lopsided as to make the beginner experience unsatisfying and do not showcase how Ashes is played. It is recommend after learning the basic rules and mechanics of the game to move on to the other constructed decks listed in the following sections.
Here is a list of matchups that are closer in balance and thus should offer a better first experience learning to play the game:
Brennen v Rin
** Note this applies to player vs player ("pvp"). The Red Rains solo/coop game ("pve") has a campaign mode in which is it suggested you start with the precons.
Master Set Only
Once you are comfortable with the basics of Ashes mechanics and rules, you can move on to building decks that use only the core/master set. There are a few options listed here:
https://wiki.ashes.live/books/deckbuilding/page/master-set-only
Next Steps
When you (eventually) end up with a complete collection of Ashes, you're ready to dive into the deep end of deck building. There are near infinite ways of assembling a deck which can be overwhelming. To help with that there are two traditionally recommended routes to start with.