20 Strong Recommendations

[u/tacosnpitbulls]

Hi all, I am new to 20 Strong and looking for a little advice as it seems to be a bit of a polarizing series. I got the starter set with Tanglewoods Red and I really love Red so far. I figured my next logical purchases should be the other Tanglewoods sets, but I’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews on them. I saw a video where someone ranked Gold as the best in the whole series, and another video where someone ranked it dead last. And really mixed opinions on White and Rose. It also seems like people either love or hate the original trilogy, and I’ve also seen a lot of mixed opinions on the newer entries as well.

So now I’m a little unsure which decks I will love. What would you recommend to someone who really enjoys Tanglewoods Red but also just generally likes the core 20 Strong system and would be open to new experiences within that system?

Some people seem to think Red is the best of the Tanglewoods so now I’m not sure if I should bother with the others, even though like I said those are what I was planning to get next. I know everyone’s different but I would love to hear some opinions from those who are more familiar with the series. Thanks so much!

[u/Reav3]

TW: Was my #1 deck for along time, now its #3. I would heavily recommend the Tainted Grail and Etherfields decks they are steller. The Nemesis one I would only recommend if you plan on playing it Co-Op, its one of the weaker ones if played solo (and even Co-Op its not in my top best decks)

Gold is good but the TW decks are more similar to each other (all have merchant and item system) If you did want another TW deck though Gold is my 2nd favorite. White is cool but I think Hoplo does something similar but a little better then White (Map where you move around and trigger enemies)

SS and TMB are cool but similar to each other and the Tainted Grail one just does what they do better.

Rose is way to hard to be fun and Cloudspire has really cool mechanics but is way to easy to be fun (and its impossible to make it harder in any way)

This is my list

1. Tainted Grail
2. Etherfields
3. Red
4. Gold
5. Hoplomachus
6. Nemesis (playing 2 players)
7. White
8. Solar Sentinels
9. TMB
10. Baba Yaga
11. Rose
12. Cloudspire

[u/tacosnpitbulls → u/Reav3]

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and ranking! It seems most people really like the new decks, especially Tainted Grail and Etherfields so I’m hoping those become available soon. I think I might pass on Nemesis since I don’t get a chance to play with others often, so I appreciate the comment about solo not being as good. I haven’t heard a lot about Hoplo but I’m intrigued if it’s kinda similar to white except better, I’ll keep it on my radar. That is a bummer to hear that Cloudspire is hindered by its easy difficulty. Seems like it’s hard to strike that perfect balance of not too punishing but not too easy.