[Locke42]

In a two player setup, do the starter decks for the two non main roles get shuffled into the main Black Market deck or do they get left out? We are shuffling it in, but it is hard to get the good cards to come out in the Black Market this way. In the last several games we've played we had tons of Basic cards in the Black Market library and nothing to use to heal with at all, so I'm wondering if we are playing this right.

[graven2002]

I leave them out of the Black Market deck.  The rulebook more often refers to these as Basic cards, or starting decks, and not Black Market cards.  They share the same backs so they don't stand out in your deck, and have a NuYen value so certain actions can refer to them, but are not considered actual Black Market cards.  At least that's how I interpreted it.

[Bull]

True, but the Black Market *does* have a couple of each Basic card in it already.

I personally leave the extra starter decks out, because while sometimes it's nice to have those 1 point cards, they quickly become filler in your deck and reduce your chances of drawing those better, more expensive cards (plus increase how long it takes to cycle your deck).  So frequently no one really wants them, and they just clog up the Black Market until someone buys them just to get them out of the way.

[Lickintoad]

True, but the Black Market *does* have a couple of each Basic card in it already.

Does it?  So, the Black Market deck is supposed to be 68 cards and not just 60?  I have just been leaving the extra basics out, thinking they were just extras in case I lost some or something.

[Namikaze]

In a 4-player game, there aren't enough basic cards to add anything into the Black Market deck, so at that point the issue is moot.  However, I believe in games with fewer players, the basic cards are still left out.

[Lickintoad]

I keep the starter decks separate and with their role cards.  Even after those are set aside, there are two more of each basic card left.  Hence my asking if the Black market is supposed to be 68 cards instead of 60.

[Namikaze]

The two extras of each card are the replacement cards that come with the game.  The instructions tell you to leave those out anyway.

[Locke42]

Thanks very much for the feedback folks. I did notice the instructions referred to the 2 extra of each of the basic cards as spares so I left those out entirely as well. We played another several games without any of the basic cards in the Black Market deck last night, and while we didn't win any  games, we came closer than we ever did before and only one did not result in a partial win.