As Daenerys Targaryen rose to her feet, her black hissed, pale smoke venting from its mouth and nostrils. The other two pulled away from her breasts and added their voices to the call, translucent wings unfolding and stirring the air, and for the first time in hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music of dragons.
Please welcome our newest reviewers, hagarrr and Hybrid92, who have agreed to join the review team full-time. As always, let us know in the comments how you feel about the cards in this pack!
Meera Reed (5.0 Average)
OKTarg – 5 out of 5
I loved Meera in First Edition, and she doesn’t disappoint here. I might have liked to see more Winter synergy, but a stealth bicon with a repeatable blanking effect seems really good. She’ll be a fun card but not completely OP broken. She might seem so with the rise of Stark lately, but on her own I think she’s fine.
scantrell24 – 5 out of 5
She’s great in every Stark deck: Crossing especially loves the stealth intrigue icon, Fun Police loves the blanking ability, and Attrition loves that she can dodge resets. Meera does everything you could possibly want in a single package, much like Wyman.
hagarrr – 5 out of 5
Meera Reed is a great card and applicable to many Stark decks. The stealth makes her valuable in challenges, the two icons are handy, and the shadows reaction allows her to be a repeatable character-only Nightmares. The fact that she’s loyal means you’ll probably always have a target on the board to fuel Breaking Ties, and going somewhat against the grain, her shadows cost is quite cheap.
Yet to get extra mileage from her you’re going to need a relatively decent sized board, as recurring her back to shadows will result in losing 2 characters from your board state. Against some decks this just isn’t practical or sustainable, and so paying a total of 3 gold for the stealth bicon with a one-shot Nightmare is fine. However in the current game, I imagine she’ll be exploited quite readily in conjunction with Wyman, leading to more calls of “Stark OP!”
Von Wibble – 5 out of 5
Without an ability, she would be decent enough as a stealth bicon. A stealth bicon providing a 1 shot Nightmares is better. A stealth bicon who provides repeatable Nightmares (OK, characters only, but still…) and sort of stands herself, and plays well with Breaking Ties and Flea Bottom? Easily a 5 out of 5. This card has been nerfed considerably compared to her 1st edition counterpart, and is still really good in any deck with sacrifice tech – Wyman Manderly being the obvious candidate.
Hybrid92 – 5 out of 5
One of the reasons why Meera was so busted in 1st Edition was because she could blank ANY card type (character, attachment or location), and if it was Winter she could blank two. I’ll never forget when I was playing Maester’s Path for the first time and my brother used Meera to blank the Apprentice Collar on a Voltron Maester Fat Bob and about 8 attachments fell off him. Sad times. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, this Meera is pretty good. Not as busted as the glory days, but still really strong – a stealth bicon Lady with repeatable character blank. This, along with the other cards Stark has received this cycle, has sent the Starks to the top of the meta.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 5 out of 5
We won’t insult your intelligence with details, the reason this is a 5 should be quite obvious!
Shaggydog (2.7 Average)
OKTarg – 2 out of 5
I feel like this card combines two not-often-played attachments into one. It’s a weaker (albeit repeatable) Ice, sort of, since it is a 3-cost Stark removal attachment. It’s a more expensive (albeit more flexible) Throwing Axe, since it kills participating characters. It’s tutorable by Time for Wolves, which is great, but I think it might be a tad too expensive to see appreciable play. Are you cutting a Ward for this? Maybe….but probably not. I suppose it’s also nice for your Tastes for Flesh, but on the whole Stark has more efficient options.
scantrell24 – 3 out of 5
It’s a cool ability to punish opposition, like a telegraphed Taste for Flesh, but damn that’s expensive for a card that doesn’t actually help win the challenge. Stark has plenty of stand though, so you can often get double use out of Shaggydog with a single character, not to mention the threatening 1 gold move ability.
hagarrr – 3 out of 5
Shaggydog instantly conjures up images of you successfully outmanoeuvring you opponent by paying 1 gold to move him over to an attacker after you magnificently used Wardens of the North to bring that attacker in, in order to kill the participating defender with Shaggydog and destroy your opponents’ board; thereby resulting in glorious victory and the hard-earned adulation of your screaming fans.
In reality it’ll be, “Yeah, unopposed”. Which is fine.
Von Wibble – 3 out of 5
As a 3 cost Stark attachment that kills stuff, you’d think the obvious comparison point here is Ice. Ice has 2 big plusses – the strength pump to actually enable you to win the challenge, and the targeted kill. But Shaggydog isn’t about that so much as enabling unopposed challenges. After all, if you potentially have Taste for Flesh in hand and have a spare gold with which to move Shaggydog, are opponents really going to defend against that intrigue challenge Jeyne Poole just made? Seems like it could be a lot of fun in a Rains deck where your opponent may have to oppose just to prevent a win by 5.
Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5
Too expensive to realistically see much play. It’s inferior to Ice despite being at the same cost slot because Ice gives +2 STR (which helps you win the challenge), and allows you to kill any character, not a participating character of the opponent’s choice. What this card boils down to is it is effectively the Deadly keyword from 1st Edition, but it can be moved around from character to character and fetched with A Time for Wolves. If we’re looking at cards with similar effects, I think Taste for Flesh is far superior in a dedicated Direwolf deck.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5
That sure is an expensive way to get unopposed challenges. Not worthless, but most Stark decks would rather get that surprise kill with Taste for Flesh, or that properly-targeted kill through Ice, than get this repeatable-but-limited-and-telegraphed version.
Ser Mark Mullendore (3.8 Average)
OKTarg – 4 out of 5
I like this guy a lot. Some gentle scrying never hurt Oldtown, and the ability to swap him out with a standing character helps with your tempo. Four cost is a lot to play him out each turn, but Tyrell seems to have the funds. I like the monkey art as well, and the Knight trait never hurt anybody.
scantrell24 – 4 out of 5
Solid stats plus a useful ability, especially if you already know what’s on top (Scheming Septon, maybe?). Also great once you’ve put Mark on top, to trigger Oldtown, Hightower Spy, etc. He seems like a solid 1x for Mace and Knights decks especially.
hagarrr – 3 out of 5
Well that’s a lovely monkey you got there Mark, but what’s the lady in background looking so shocked about? Is she astounded by the pseudo-stand/tempo play you executed, by revealing a high cost character on the top of the deck and thereby putting it into play? Or perhaps she was thunderstruck by your synergies with Oldtown, Hightower Spy, and the Bear and the Maiden Fair? Or possibly she has just grasped that for all of her hysteria about your many talents, you’re not as amazing as you initially seem? Either way Mark, you’ll be a 1x in some Tyrell decks running the aforementioned tech, but probably don’t make the grade in Knight decks at all. Tyrell don’t really need the economic advantage, so unless more deck manipulation tools are released, we’ll probably have forgotten about you by 2019.
Von Wibble – 5 out of 5
Maybe I am rating this high because I like Conclave so much, where it is very likely you can all but guarantee getting a big guy to replace Mullendore, and thus have a tempo gain. Or maybe it’s the easy interaction with Oldtown and Hightower Spy. Basically if your deck runs these cards, he is excellent and impacts games. If you are going for more of a lottery, I wouldn’t bother, but I’m not marking him down for that just as I am not marking Meera Reed down for really needing Wyman to shine.
Hybrid92 – 4 out of 5
There’s obvious synergy with Mace/Hightower, Oldtown, Hightower Spy, Conclave, and so on, and he’s got a positive trait. Even if you don’t use him with any of these interactions, you can see “do a Vince” and replace him with a standing character for tempo advantage, just as Vince so often kills a kneeling character to come into play standing. I was going to comment on how an intrigue icon on a knight is good but there are already plenty of Tyrell knights with intrigue icons.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5
At first glance, looks amazing. And he has a monkey, which is just delightful. The problem is that to truly leverage him you need a high curve, which will stack his cost slot. He’ll see some limited play as a mini-Arianne that rewards deck-stacking and synergises with Oldtown et al, but for now he’s a sign of the embarrassment of riches of the reach because he won’t make top-end decks despite being very good.
Bonds of Chivalry (1.3 Average)
OKTarg – 1 out of 5
I think this has one singular use: tricking Gregor into a challenge. That’s a great use that I fully endorse, but it doesn’t mean it’s not a 1 of 5 card.
scantrell24 – 2 out of 5
It’s cheaper than other Knight themed events like Daring Rescue and No Men Like Me, so at least that’s something. I would actually like this ability if it were repeatable, on a 1 gold location for example. As an event, you have the surprise factor but it’s one and done, and that’s not good enough for what’s only a marginal impact.
The artwork is a plus though. I’d love to see a wide angle of the entire scene on a playmat.
hagarrr – 1.5 out of 5
This event is a little bit lacklustre. It only costs you a deck slot but do knight decks really care about challenge chicanery? It could be useful to ensure your feint with the Arbor Knight gets through with a bigger knight instead, ensuring a Lady Sansa’s Rose trigger or something. But what event would you cut for this? I reckon this is binder fodder.
Von Wibble – 1.5 out of 5
Clearly only for a knight deck, but does it give enough to that deck? It can force mistakes on choosing defenders, especially if used to stand the core Knight of Flowers or cheat Ser Gregor Clegane into a green or blue challenge. However, I think I’d rather have Renly’s Ride in a Tyrell deck, and Sparring in Secret in a knight deck if going for some Tyrell Lannister combination. I don’t see where the room is to include this.
Hybrid92 – 1 out of 5
This doesn’t even make the cut in the solitary deck for which it was clearly designed.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 1 out of 5
Cute. Also, bad.
Jon Snow (3.6 Average)
OKTarg – 3.5 out of 5
NW is my weakest house, so take this with a shaker of salt. To my untrained eye, he looks a tad worse than Wildling Jon, but he’s loyal, which means a ton in the Breaking Ties meta. A loyal tricon in a Wall deck seems good, no? So maybe this makes him a tad better than Wildling Jon. You can clearly build around the keyword gain, but a “traditional” fealty deck is likely to have a splash of each, so if you see it as a bonus and his baseline as a beefy guy, this is solid. Would play, I think. J/K. Would not play. Would not play Night’s Watch. But in theory, if I did, I would play this guy.
scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5
Tricon Jon has Voltron potential with that trio of keywords, but he lacks the innate multi-challenge-participation feature of his previous versions. You’ll need a way to stand him – maybe Highgarden Courtier in a NW Qohor Rose deck with the old Randyll + Sworn to the Watch trick? I’ll give him a chance with the expectation of good not great results.
hagarrr – 4 out of 5
Lord Commander Snow is a big bit of beef, a 6 STR tricon potentially with insight, intimidate and stealth. Well then! He’s clearly built with the idea of having a decent spread of traits in your deck. My immediate thought is to use him in a deck with multiple stand effects, so banner Dragon could be interesting choice if you want to run Sworn. I’d also play him again in NW Rains simply because he doesn’t get wrecked by Breaking Ties like Wildling Jon…
Von Wibble – 3.5 out of 5
Meeting the conditions needed for these keywords isn’t too tough, just play Sworn to the Watch. That aside, I don’t know if the mixed Watch deck is there yet. If Jon can consistently be backed up by all 3 traits, he makes decks, otherwise I’d look to the standing Snow as a better choice. Too early to tell hence the conservative rating, though as hagarrr points out, a loyal Jon is a big thing.
Hybrid92 – 4 out of 5
I like him. Loyalty is huge, tricon in Night’s Watch is very much welcome. Additionally, loyal and tricon means he’s strictly speaking better than Wildling Jon, and a simple Sworn to the Watch transforms him into 1.0 Stannis levels of keyword goodness. People were running Noble Lineage for the Wildling Jon, so I don’t see why you wouldn’t run Sworn with this version. A very versatile version of Jon that can play in almost style of Night’s Watch build.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5
Jon’s main qualities are his beef and his loyalty. The cool keyword stuff helps too, but is mostly secondary. The prospect of getting him fully switched on is a mouth-watering one, but unless you build for him, we think you’ll mostly just end up wishing you could transmute that loyalty onto the Jon Snow from the deluxe box. And on that note, this really feels more like a deluxe card than a cycle one, in terms of player accessibility.
Lord Commander (3.3 Average)
OKTarg – 3 out of 5
This doesn’t really do what Night’s Watch does, since the restrictions make it tough in a Scavenge deck, for example. But–it has explosive potential on the top end. We do see Longclaws now and again, and this is better (and more costly) so we will likely see it from time to time as well. It might be interesting in a Voltron Jon Snow Sworn to the Watch deck, but I can’t see that deck being good right now.
scantrell24 – 3 out of 5
The Night’s Watch only, 5+ cost restriction and Title trait limit our target pool to Benjen, Coldhands, Cotter Pyke, Craster, Stonesnake, Bowen Marsh, Janos Slynt, Old Bear, Othell Yarwick, Allliser Thorne, and Jon Snow. Most of those options are uninspiring, so Lord Commander might as well read “Jon Snow only”.
Like Shaggydog, this attachment wants us to win challenges but doesn’t actually help achieve that goal, so it’s got a win-more slant. Despite those downsides, a potential 3+ power grab is hard to dismiss outright.
hagarrr – 3.5 out of 5
Lord Commander is expensive at 3 gold but could certainly provide you with huge power gain possibilities, working both on offense and defence. Winning only 2 challenges per round rewards you with two powers; the same reward you gain for defending The Wall, so underestimate this at your peril. That said, you need to find and play a reliable target for it, find this attachment and play it, all without losing board state. If you can do that, you’ll probably win quite quickly provided you don’t get reset….
Von Wibble – 3.5 out of 5
As a 3 cost positive attachment it has to be good to make decks, even with Qohor around to encourage such things. I’d say giving a character the potential to gain power up to 6 times (and that assumes no extra challenges) without even being in a challenge does the job, and it doesn’t seem unreasonable to expect 2-3 power a turn with this. It’s janky as hell, but using this with Sworn to the Watch on a character like Randyll Tarly or core Asha could make for a very explosive rush deck.
Hybrid92 – 2.5 out of 5
It’s expensive, almost prohibitively so, and if it sees play will only ever go on Jon Snow or Benjen Stark. But the power gain ceiling for this card is limitless in the right deck and with the right board state. As it happens, this card might be better with Wildling Jon than Tricon Jon due to the stand.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 5 out of 5
It’s clunky to make work and expensive to try, but the ceiling here is just so amazingly high – any challenge, whether participating or not, attack or defence, no limit on number of triggers – that we can’t not give this a 5. Obviously Breaking Ties is a thing, but a sneaky-good target here will be Craster, what with his immunity to the Valars.
Shireen Baratheon (2.4 Average)
OKTarg – 2 out of 5
I really wish that the Shadow cards costed less. It’s almost as if they overshot the mark in costing the flexibility of Shadows against the ability to just Marshal the cards regularly. Here, for example, as a 3 for 2 with this ability, it’s not horrible. I think I’d rather have Core Shireen most of the time and Bara’s 3-cost slot is pretty crowded, but it’s a decent card. To pay Shadows and then three gold for a surprise challenge win (I think that’s the idea to win a power on defense they weren’t suspecting) seems overly expensive. Compare to the Shadow Priestess, which is itself overcosted, and I don’t think we’ll be seeing a ton of Shireen until we get a Bara shadow engine (which I hope we do, to be clear!)
scantrell24 – 3 out of 5
It’s a cool ability, great for defending power challenges and a real nuisance if she stays on the board for a while, so I think she sees play in some Bara decks. But a total of 5 gold is a hefty premium to bring Shireen out of shadows when compared to her printed cost of 3 (and even that 3 gold cost might be overpriced). Also there’s a ton of hate for a 3 gold 2 strength character – Venomous Blade, Grey Wind, etc.
hagarrr – 3.5 out of 5
I like this version of Shireen quite a lot. An opponent will need to commit multiple characters to the challenge with Shireen on the board in order to stand any chance of winning it. Just as Baratheon’s entire kneel mechanic loses steam in the face of increasing amounts of stand tech, they gain a valuable tool for what is essentially ‘removing from challenge’. Tacking on the shadow mechanic to this card however is a complete fail. It’s too expensive for its effect, which isn’t even dependent on the character emerging from shadows. Just marshal her and you’re all good to go.
Von Wibble – 3.5 out of 5
If the Red Keep didn’t exist this would be a much lower score, but the fact that this allows you to win power challenges with Shireen alone unless your opponent uses 2 defenders is a big thing for sure. OKTarg compares her to the Shadow Priestess, but if used in Shadows she is really similar – the character who lost their strength is generally knelt in the challenge after all. Yes, Shireen also contributes nothing, but you can reuse her. I’m happy to give her a go. She also looks like a good melee card as the Hand of the King title can act in a similar role to the Red Keep there.
Hybrid92 – 1.5 out of 5
The Bara tax continues. 5 gold to bring this card out of shadows? 3 gold to hardcost? It beggars belief. This is neat but hardly powerful ability on a single icon chud (that has already has an existing ubiquitous version) in a cost slot that is more crowded than a Sydney shopping centre during Boxing Day sales. She should’ve been 2 cost with Shadow (2) but it’s a yellow card so let’s jack up the cost, eh?
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 1 out of 5
“The grey death sleeps, only to wake again. The child is not clean!” – Val. What a great line to build up the identity of a shadows Shireen that is dangerous to everyone, a timebomb despite what the maesters say. A nebulous threat just off the main play area. Unfortunately, this is not that card. This card sits a little further off the play area, in the binder staring wistfully at Core Shireen and its own high gold cost.
Position of Privilege (4.2 Average)
OKTarg – 4 out of 5
This is a pretty cool card. It’s a Hand’s Judgment when you need it (against Burn, for example, or even Doran’s Game) and a soft location control when you don’t (against Astapor, for example, or even an economy location, Highgarden, Oldtown, the Wall, whatever). Usually flexible cards are pretty weak in any given use so that they can be flexible in many different situations, but this seems pretty good regardless of how it’s used. It’s no Treachery or Someone Always Tells, but it’s a good card.
scantrell24 – 4.5 out of 5
Wow, this event changes things for Baratheon! Position of Privilege is a totally different tool than the usual kneel / dom package. It’s mere existence in the card pool will give opponent’s second thoughts about planning a challenge phase around a key event or location trigger.
hagarrr – 4 out of 5
A cancel card for Baratheon! Baratheon certainly love to control your character options with their kneel mechanic, and now they gain a tool to control your locations and events too. The requirement to have not lost a power challenge does limit when it may be used, unless you already have control of the game. The only disappointment with this card is that is does almost nothing to help against the prevalence of Stark, and to a lesser extent Targaryen, with their multiple non-event and non-location stand effects. This pushes Position of Privilege toward the more power-centric Baratheon decks, which I hope will come to the fore soon.
Von Wibble – 4 out of 5
Whilst its a bit more conditional than Hand’s Judgement, it works on locations, and has a fixed cost. How often is the power challenge the first challenge issued in a round? Not that much I think – unless its the only one. That means you often get to cancel their intrigue and military effects, as well as any marshalling or plot phase shenanigans (if you can hang onto 1 gold). Nobody likes having their Kingsroad or Pleasure Barge cancelled for sure.
Hybrid92 – 4.5 out of 5
Now we’re talking. This card might as well be printed “Play to cancel Flea Bottom, Plaza of Pride or Northern Armory” because that’s what it will be used for the majority of the time. I love the flexibility of the card though, and needing not to lose a power challenge is not a big deal as it will often be played in marshalling or pre-challenge actions.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5
Broadly an upgrade on Hand’s Judgement – worse on 0g events and obviously bad after you’ve lost a power challenge, but otherwise better all-round, especially with the ability to cancel location abilities – and will replace HJ if you were running it, but probably won’t elbow its way in past other effects.
Tithe Collector (1.7 Average)
OKTarg – 2 out of 5
It looks like someone remembered that Lannister’s theme is Income! This is a ton better than the Lannisport guy from the Core set since this one isn’t limited, but still a 3/3 monocon isn’t great. The power grab ability seems a corner case, but nice gravy, with the meal being the income. We’ll see if that’s enough to make Lannister decks (or make you want to play Lannister decks, more likely). The Seven trait is interesting, and could there be a Lanni Seven deck with Poor Fellows and High Sparrows? I doubt it, but maybe!
scantrell24 – 1 out of 5
Breaking news: Most 3 gold characters still suck. They’re too expensive to be claim soak, but too cheap to have good abilities. Maybe in the first cycle Tithe Collector would have seen play, but the game’s economy has exploded since then. Also, are you really going to stack power on an Ally character with Daario so popular right now?
hagarrr – 1 out of 5
Wow, the bad Lannister cards keep on coming. Another intrigue monocon to add to all the others that are stashed away safely in the binder. The fact that it’s non limited economy will not save the Tithe Collector from being universally scorned either. Oh I know, maybe it was designed to work with event A Plot against the Queen? It’s still super bad? Oh.
Von Wibble – 1.5 out of 5
So, 3 gold for an intrigue monocon – this guy’s textbox must be good, right? Non limited economy helps his cause, but how often (aside from when you are closing the game) are you likely to trigger his effect? Perhaps I’ll be proved wrong when someone has 3 of them out and wins from 10 power with Heads on Spikes revealed. It is only fair to add that as a The Seven character he may well go with Poor Fellows and the Faith Militant, all of which add power to characters, thus minimising the risk when you play Compelled by the Faith. But it probably isn’t top tier.
Hybrid92 – 1.5 out of 5
A terrible card that will never see play, but I’ve given him a 0.5 boost in rating for being The Seven traited and being non-limited.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5
We’re higher on this for the somewhat novel design and it harkening back to Ire’s favourite first edition decks. A nice balance between being econ early and accelerating the win late, albeit not truly efficient at either.
Clever Feint (3.9 Average)
OKTarg – 4.5 out of 5
I REALLY want to give this a five, especially with something like Bowels of Casterly Rock running around. It seems that Lannister is the “shadows” house, which I’m very, very okay with. They need something and cards like this make a shadow theme worth it. If they can get a few more “come out of shadow” triggers this will really sing; as it is, hiding your characters from resets is perfectly acceptable. Good card; fun card.
scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5
I was using TIBWHID in my Tyrell Lion shadow deck so maybe Clever Feint replaces it. But I’m not sure Feint is even an improvement unless you’re returning multiple cards to shadow or want to turn around and bring a card right back out of shadows again. A lot depends on what future cards are released. So far shadows haven’t lived up to the hype for me.
hagarrr – 4.5 out of 5
I like this card a lot. We can see with the Bowels of Casterly Rock that Lannister are primed to be one of the favoured shadows factions, and as such I expect them to synergise heavily with effects that come from shadows, and have plenty of them. Clever Feint allows you to use those reactions from coming out of shadows early game, without worrying too much about saving them for the right moment, to keep the momentum running in your favour. Returning Ser Bobby Strong to shadows is not only terrifying for the opponent, but is an economic advantage of 2 gold, more gold if you return more characters to shadows to prepare for your incoming reset. I’m sure this will become an auto-include in Lannister Shadows decks in future.
Von Wibble – 4 out of 5
As long as we get enough shadows cards with powerful enters play effects this is good. Whilst I don’t think we are quite there yet, and economy definitely is a problem to consider bearing in mind the costs of the likes of Robert Strong and Aegon Targaryen, I think it won’t be long before this is a staple event.
Hybrid92 – 4 out of 5
This card will be very good in about a year’s time when fully realised Lannister Shadows decks are a thing. This rating is a prospective rating for that time. ‘Till then, there are some niche uses for this but it won’t see much play.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5
We’re torn between how much we like it (very) and how good it is (not very). It does a lot of stuff – saving stuff from resets, giving you “comes out of shadows” triggers, giving you ways of boosting the number of cards in shadows – but whether that amounts to enough to justify card slots, we’re unconvinced. It does feel nice and Lannister-y though.
Victarion Greyjoy (4.0 Average)
OKTarg – 3 out of 5
I think that the other Vic is almost always better–the native renown and intimidate are a tough combo to beat. Yet, Vic is seeing less and less play with Breaking Ties around. This Vic is loyal, and that’s worth looking at. His abilities, though, aren’t amazing–renown is something the other one has, standing a vanilla 7 STR is something, but not everything, and kneeling a location is okay, but there’s not a ton you want to do in challenges. If you can soup him up some other way I think you’re happy, but he’s just “fine” and usually you want more than that. We’ll see–there’s enough potential to explore, but it just seems like not quite enough.
scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5
He’ll be fantastic with Refurbished Hulk, Greyjoy’s non-unique Warship coming in the next pack. That alone will shoot Victarion’s rating up at least a point from 3.5 to 4.5. For now, you’re looking at Great Kraken, Sea Bitch, Black Wind, Iron Victory, Jade Sea Dromond and Sweet Cersei (if you Banner Lion).
I can’t decide whether Victarion and Support of Harlaw both requiring Warship kneels is synergy or anti-synergy. If you have plenty to kneel, then it’s great, but if you have to choose between triggering Victarion or Support then it sucks.
hagarrr – 5 out of 5
Make no mistake, Victarion Greyjoy is an absolute unit. I am a huge fan of this card because it ticks some pretty important boxes for me; namely that he pushes another type of deck not really seen so far in the game with Warships, and that he encourages decision making in his multi-faceted action. The fact that his action has no limit means he can be triggered as many times as you have Warships to kneel. So when the Refurbished Hulks arrive in CP5, there’s going to be a great many Warships available for Big Vic to play with, probably even more with the Greyjoy Deluxe box on the horizon.
When we get down to it, I expect the majority of Warships to be knelt to stand him, which is enormous tempo advantage, moreso with that 7 strength backing him up, multiple times per challenge phase. Couple him with Iron Victory, Support of Harlaw, and Raiding the Bay of Ice, I think Greyjoy players have an absolute monster of a card to play with!
Von Wibble – 4.5 out of 5
Chintarion was already a 1 of in most Greyjoy decks, and not more because of Breaking Ties. Squidtarion looks like he will return Greyjoy big guy decks to a prominent place. The key thing is that you can trigger this action any number of times. Already we have a number of warships with passive text, or with maybe just a +1 strength pump that we can improve on, and the Refurbished Hulk is only going to add to this. A strength 7 character in multiple challenges is not to be ignored, and one that provides easy location control at that? Great card. The only disappointment is no natural keywords.
Hybrid92 – 4 out of 5
I like him, it’s a really interesting design, and it pushes the Warship theme further for Greyjoy. As mentioned, the arrival of Refurbished Hulks will make this Victarion into a serious threat. The flexibility is fantastic, choosing between stand, renown, or the kneeling of The Wall or Plaza of Pride or the Red Keep or any other key location is huge. Strictly speaking though I think the 6-cost Victarion is superior in every way except faction loyalty. As long as Breaking Ties is around, this Victarion will probably see more play.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5
Strikes against: you have to build around him to leverage his ability; Greyjoy are flush with good high-cost characters; there’s another really strong Victarion. Despite all that, Victarion can run the board. He’ll make location-based decks cry, and with his high STR and ability to stand with renown, he can win games by himself (well, if he’s got an iron fleet behind him). Will truly shine when Greyjoy get their (warship-traited) non-limited economy card next pack.
Grey Ghost (3.8 Average)
OKTarg – 4 out of 5
Von Wibble is pointing out that this is a bit of Creep over a Salt Wife, but I think a Raiding Longship is a better comparison point. Each costs two, and this one isn’t limited to being first player. But–nobody plays Longships so this one is probably…fine? But it does certainly seem really good and that’s why I’m giving it a 4. Can this bring the Seastone Chair back?
scantrell24 – 4 out of 5
It’s a powerful tool to push through a key challenge so Rains, Sea of Blood, and Crossing probably include a copy. Greyjoy already had Pyke and Raiding Longship, but Grey Ghost looks like an improvement, and a great bargaining chip in Melee to boot.
hagarrr – 4 out of 5
Grey Ghost is another really strong card for Greyjoy; this time for the unopposed deck. Although unopposed rush has generally fallen from favour in recent times, I still believe it to be very strong whilst control is absent from the metagame. Being able to point and click which character is unable to defend for a phase is powerful, especially when you have a high pressure plot revealed such as Rise of the Kraken. The fact that you can choose two characters without restriction upon emerging from shadows is probably the nail in the coffin for the Raiding Longship.
Von Wibble – 4 out of 5
Power creep anyone? Ignoring the shadows part for a moment we have a Salt Wife that doesn’t sacrifice herself for the effect. Come on, you didn’t want the strength 1 power monocon that much did you? Additionally you have the option to pay 2 more for an additional 1 shot – an excellent finisher when combined with the Greyjoy unopposed tech. In fact, the initials GG seem very appropriate!
Hybrid92 – 4 out of 5
Hard to see why most Greyjoy goodstuff/big guy decks don’t include a copy of this, it’s a very handy ability to have in shadows for when you need it. Even once it is in play, there’s always the threat of activation. And even if you don’t need to trigger it, you can kneel it for Victarion!
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5
A slap in the face to Victarion that it kneels for the effect! Shadows effect feels somewhat shoehorned, although it’s a fair deal for 2 gold without spending the 2 gold kicker. If you’re going first it’s worse than the rarely-played Raiding Longship, but the fact that it still works going second could be enough to have it see play in unopposed-focused decks.
Rhaegal (3.7 Average)
OKTarg – 3 out of 5
Rhaegal is almost indisputably the best of the Core hatchlings in any deck with Core Dany. Pulling him out for this one is tough to do. He’s a ‘pick ‘em’ with Viserion as the best of the blank Hatchlings, so upgrading to this one for the extra cost means you need to use his ability. That ability works pretty well with New Dany and burn, however, and you might see him there. (Tempo-free Dracarys seems great!) But that deck is so tight on character cost that it’s not a strict upgrade as the new spoiled Drogon seems to be. Is this a balanced Targ card? Say it ain’t so!
scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5
At first glance he’s obviously meant to be paired with new Dany, but do you run 3 copies? That’s a big tempo hit on setup, switching from 3 gold Rhaegal to 5 gold Rhaegal. He also can’t jump into play with Fire and Blood. His ambush keyword, extra point of strength and stand ability might make up for the extra cost compared to the Core set version, but it’s close.
hagarrr – 4 out of 5
I don’t think Rhaegal is as good as the hysteria suggested when he was spoiled. Sure, when Dracarys kills a character, he will stand. When Daenerys kills a character with her reaction he will stand. This is great, but in comparison to Aggo, kills are generally less reliable to trigger than flipping into a Summer plot. Then again, with Drogon soon to be released, killing characters is likely to be far more trivial. I do like that Rhaegal has ambush, which I expect will combine wonderfully with Hizdahr zo Loraq, and that loyal crest could bring about a revival in Fealty decks alongside the other Targaryen card in this pack.
Von Wibble – 4 out of 5
A new Rhaegal for the new Dany. I like the interaction with Dracarys! – kneel him to pay the cost, then stand him straight away! Beyond that, you simply get an efficient and reusable strength 4 character. I don’t see Rhaegal fitting into any Targ deck that isn’t running lots of burn with new Dany though – core Dany gets more out of core Rhaegal, and Dothraki heavy decks tend to lack the room, though maybe a Banner of the Wolf deck using Harrenhal, Put to the Sword, Roose and Mirri could be a thing?
Hybrid92 – 3.5 out of 5
As has been mentioned, if you’re running Core Dany you play Core Rhaegal. If you’re running 5-cost Dany you play this Rhaegal. Loyalty and being higher than 3-cost helps Rhaegal’s staying power, and the ambush and stand gives you added flexibility. Shame he no longer works with Fire and Blood.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5
Surprisingly boring for a full-grown dragon. It’s obvious where to include it (with 5 gold Daenerys and burn) and where not to include it (7 gold Daenerys and/or no burn). The effect isn’t scary, the effect isn’t complex, it’s just…fine. We’re sadly uninspired here.
Meereenese Market (4.8 Average)
OKTarg – 5 out of 5
Okay, so this might not be a true Five Bomb, but I think it stands up very well to the other abilities on the non-limited economy. In a Qohor deck, this is bananas good! Against your opponents’ Flea Bottom, this is bananas good. I mean, people are running Isle of Ravens, and this is almost the same thing with a gold attached. Wow. Yes, yes please. Even to get the Crown of Gold back into the deck seems nice!
scantrell24 – 4.5 out of 5
I would rank Meereenese Market just below Gold Mine and Northern Armory but above Stormlands Fiefdom and Summer Sea Port. It’s very good.
hagarrr – 5 out of 5
This location is a definite 5 out of 5 for me. In Burn decks, you can throw back in your burn events. In your discard deck, you recur anything of importance, and in your Qohor deck, any attachment you like is available again! If you have any ways of tutoring for cards you need, this card increases in value further, so what I’m most excited about is to play these in a HrD Meereen deck with Voltron Pyat Pree and Queensguard, yessir!
Von Wibble – 5 out of 5
There is little to say here, its a useful non limited economy location that provides the benefits of Isle of Ravens – a card that itself sees play in Targ. Maybe not for much longer…
Hybrid92 – 5 out of 5
Agree with Scantrell. After seeing the other 2-cost non-limited locations, it’s hard to imagine what they were thinking with Stormlands Fiefdom.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5
Isle of Ravens, a card Targaryen either already included or wished they could, combined with non-limited economy? Ideal, and very close to a 5 for us. Just remember to include shuffle effects (Qohor!) if you’re putting burn back in your deck.
House Manwoody Guard (2.8 Average)
OKTarg – 2 out of 5
I’m sure there’s a Guard somewhere that wouldn’t mind not kneeling to defend, but I think that the other four cost non-uniques here like Knights of the Sun and the Core Set one are just better. Then again, not kneeling stuff is super annoying so we’ll see.
scantrell24 – 3 out of 5
They’re okay. We’ve seen non-kneeling defenders before, and they can be solid in the right circumstances, potentially participating in 3 challenges. Forced March and YWoYD are prevalent right now, so going second every round is far from guaranteed.
hagarrr – 3 out of 5
These guys are quite efficient, especially if you have the initiative control to ensure you are the second player. Block the unopposed with these, Areo Hotah, and the Palace Spearman, and then strike back with everything including your Hotah’d and Sunspeared claim raises? I don’t know, it’s probably bad, but the art is cool.
Von Wibble – 2.5 out of 5
I really want to like these! As long as you go second, which isn’t that unlikely in Martell after all, they provide enough efficiency even before factoring in use of Areo Hotah. I would like to particularly try these with Dothraki Honour Guard, I hear a non kneeling strength 7+ defender is quite good after all. That said, if you are losing initiative and only see these with no backup they are mediocre.
Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5
They’re efficient if you can turn them on but they feel more like a Melee card where you have a 75% chance of not being first, as opposed to a 50% chance.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5
For a House Manwoody character, the artwork is suspiciously…erect. Don’t let that distract you from the very solid effect though. JC made the mistake of underrating Left and Right in the core set, and he’s determined not to make that mistake again. All it take is this and a Palace Spearman for challenges to feel incredibly unrewarding. Martell’s specialty has always been using a small number of relatively cheap cards to make a pain in the arse for the opponent to handle, and this sticks to the principle expertly.
A Mission to Essos (1.7 Average)
OKTarg – 1 out of 5
My least favorite kind of card: Absolutely useless until it is broken in combo. 🙁
scantrell24 – 2 out of 5
I’m having traumatic flashbacks to first edition shenanigans. Mission to Essos isn’t completely useless in a non-combo circumstance, if you ignore the deck manipulation and just look at it as “pay 4 gold to draw 3 cards”, but it probably doesn’t see competitive play until it’s solved.
hagarrr – 1 out of 5
No thanks.
Von Wibble – 1 out of 5
I completely agree with OKTarg.
Hybrid92 – 1 out of 5
Bizarre card design. Why does FFG bother with errata and restrictions if they keep printing cards that will enable combo?
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5
Firstly, the card’s fun. Secondly, the card may well create something broken someway down the line. But it’s also not terrible as a 1x now, essentially being “pay 4 gold in two installments of 2 to draw 3 cards”. The only problem is not being able to leverage it properly until your discard pile is big enough that you aren’t scared of decking yourself, which marginalises it significantly. We suppose playing it when you have fewer than 3 cards in your discard pile will be a fun ragequit though.
Wun Wun (2.1 Average)
OKTarg – 1.5 out of 5
He’s fine, but it’s not challenge beef that Wildlings lack. You can swing in with him and Mag and win by 100, but to what end? Eh, no thanks so far.
scantrell24 – 2.5 out of 5
Wun Wun might be just as useful on defense as offense. When an opponent over-commits to a challenge, his 11 strength can probably handle it, stopping an opponent’s keywords, claim, and triggers. His value increases if we get more reliable 2 gold Wildlings – the current crop is fine but uninspiring.
hagarrr – 2 out of 5
Wun Wun is big and bad and loves to tag along in challenges with his Wildling friends. I expect he’s too expensive to be included 3x in a Wildling deck, as that deck is gold hungry already with Mance, Rattleshirt, Mag, Dalla, Varamyr, and Val etc. In that case, he’s almost definitely a 1x to complement your 3x Last of the Giants to push through the challenge of your choice and get that juicy intimidate.
Von Wibble – 3 out of 5
As a 6 coster who does nothing beyond impersonate an Iron Throne without backup, I am a bit wary of this card. Clearly he can’t go in any deck lacking Wildlings. Do you really need him in such a deck when characters such as Rattleshirt, Mance, Ygritte, and Mag are already costing a lot and winning challenges? Probably not more than 1 copy. The threat of activation and the flexibility to win one of 3 challenges means you probably do take the copy though.
Hybrid92 – 1.5 out of 5
This is a win-more card insofar as he cannot do anything by himself and requires you to have a good board to augment with his ability. Naval on a giant is amusing, and he might be a 1x in a Free Folk deck that doesn’t exist yet, but would it kill FFG to give him even a single military icon?
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5
A definite Wun more card. A terrible top-deck. Big carrot, though!
Poisoned Coin (2.1 Average)
OKTarg – 2 out of 5
I feel like this is not The Best Kill Spell In The Game, and I’m not sure why you would run this instead of Tears of Lys. I guess the Shadows makes it a surprise (but aren’t events inherently a surprise?), but the need to win with a Shadows character is a huge restriction. There’s not that many of them, you know? We’ll see, but so far I think it won’t see play really.
scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5
Winning unopposed with a shadow character is asking a lot, but I think Poisoned Coin will see play, if only to get more triggers from Bowels / Undercity / Shadow City. Also, it can be setup unlike Tears. The delayed kill might come too late in the current rush-heavy meta, although there’s also a lot of renown big dudes right now, who are tasty targets.
hagarrr – 2 out of 5
At this stage of the dual shadows cycles, it’s unlikely to be played due to the lack of available shadows characters. The likelihood that you’ll see one, win a challenge unopposed with it, and have this card ready to go, is rather slim. That said, you should probably respect the fact this card exists, especially when someone inevitably crushes you with it six months down the line because you forgot it was a thing.
Von Wibble – 2.5 out of 5
Compared to TBKSITG you hit a lot more targets, at least whilst we wait for Shadows characters to really become prevalent. Of course, as we get more shadows cards we can win the challenge with, the problem is that we also will have fewer targets as our opponents field more shadows cards! Additionally, winning unopposed challenges will also be harder. It’s OK. The question is, does this confirm the existence of a Shadows Arya?
Hybrid92 – 1.5 out of 5
I thought this was a pretty good card until I read “… unopposed challenge …”
Winning unopposed with a shadows character to kill a non-shadows character is simply too many hoops to jump through for this to be an efficient card.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 1 out of 5
On first glance, you might be thrilled at this if-you-squint Tears of Lys that works on any challenge and hits characters with intrigue icons. Then the malaise sets in as you realise it costs twice as much, the character can’t have the shadows keyword, you need to be attacking with a shadows character, AND it has to be unopposed. So much text dedicated to making it so bad, why?
The Free Folk (2.8 Average)
OKTarg – 3 out of 5
We had a neutral agenda in first edition after The Long Voyage was errata’d. This is no TLV, that’s for sure. On the other hand, it’s pretty cool. It would be fun to get multiple 2 -claim MIL challenges in a turn, or close with extra POW claims, especially with ye ol’ King Beyond the Wall. I feel like Crow Killers will be good for this…..The downside is that it gets crushed by Breaking Ties and that you can’t run in-house cards….that’s a big downside (understatement). It seems fun enough that I’ll give it a shot. Wildlings have long been one of my favorite themes, so it seems like I owe it to the universe to try my hand at it.
scantrell24 – 3 out of 5
I find it hilarious that you could run the exact same Free Folk deck with any random faction card. How will the Annals handle this affront to Qualifying Ratio statistics? I also want to have the same deck occupy all 8 front page spots on thronesdb.
Neutral cards only might be the biggest agenda downside we’ve ever seen, right up there with an 85 card deck minimum from first edition, but the bonus claim is almost equally strong. I’ll give it a shot.
hagarrr – 3 out of 5
If you play this agenda, you’ll probably get wrecked by; Breaking Ties, every other deck with a consistent economy base, every other deck that has access to actual serviceable chuds, and every other deck ever. You can’t even pull the trick of playing Tyrell and sneaking the Arbor into your deck. However, being able to run four or five 2 claim plots and get 4 claim worth of military through each round is far too tempting not to try out. I sincerely hope the extra claim benefits can outweigh the apparent negatives in this agenda. The Last of the Giants will pull its weight here and I’m looking forward to seeing someone take down a big tournament with it!
Von Wibble – 2.5 out of 5
The upside of this agenda is big – claim after all wins games. There are plenty of Wildlings capable of winning challenges as already mentioned in most reviews of Wun Wun. However, Breaking Ties aside the key issue with this agenda is the lack of choice of cards, in addition to a reliance on economy, given that claim 2 plots generally provide little. Neutral draw is also not a big thing, Littlefinger and Dalla are about the best chances there. I hope people do well with it, I’m pretty sure I won’t be one of them however. At least we know its equally strong with all factions!
Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5
A fun agenda that I’ll certainly enjoy playing, but it makes wonder when we can live in a magical utopia where the meta isn’t corrupted by the existence of Breaking Ties?
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5
We’re overrating this because we like the design actually doing a good job of being cohesive for Wildlings, despite the Wildlings themselves being quite a ragtag bunch. Wildlings have iffy icon spreads, largely trigger off attacking, and a lot of the winter plots have 2 claim – this agenda actually ties that all together surprisingly well. The thing is, it’s just a pretty major restriction still, and Wildlings still aren’t that good. Even if they were, it’s a tough sell to say this is better than just using the Brotherhood agenda.
Winter Reserves (3.8 Average)
OKTarg – 4 out of 5
You know how Winter plots are not “quite” good enough? And how we have all that cool Winter tech in stark that just can’t quite make it to the table? Well, here you go! Open with this bad boy and profit! I could even see something like this in an old-school Lanni Kings of Winter jumpers, but if it really lets Stark run their 2-cost limited and the draw location, that would be a great way to diversify that house. ⅘ would play 🙂
scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5
It’s like a mini-City or River plot from 1st edition. If you can make do with 5 gold and a blank plot to open the game, then you’ll have a good chance to throw some haymakers later with improved 2 claim plots. The reserve bump actually hurts Crow Killers.
hagarrr – 4 out of 5
This is a major shot in the arm for Winter decks. One common problem of playing Kings of Winter has been the issue of low gold and low reserve, particularly with impactful plots such as Famine, The Long Winter, and Early Frost lowering your reserve to 3. If you’re happy to sacrifice some early game impact (and your Wraiths opener!) by playing Winter Reserves, then you’ll have a stronger mid to late game. Amusingly this also has the Kingdom trait, to scare you into thinking someone might Naval you turn 1, (spoiler: they probably won’t), and I’m looking forward to trying this out with Stark Wolves (of course) and some form of Lannister hand attrition. Happy days!
Von Wibble – 4 out of 5
An excellent opener in a winter deck that does a lot to mitigate the disadvantages of the aggro winter plots. Maybe I spoke too soon on the Free Folk above! However, this does come with the price that aggressive decks often want to put early pressure on their opponents, which is unlikely to happen for the first 2 rounds if you have 0 initiative and 1 claim. It will be interesting to see whether people generally run this plot once or twice in a deck, maybe the second copy is for Wars to Come only. Nonetheless this should help winter in its current losing battle with summer.
Hybrid92 – 3 out of 5
I like the design, and flipping double Winter Reserves in the first two turns to get +2 gold and +2 reserve for the rest of the game is cute. However, winter decks are often aggro decks and, as mentioned above, it sacrifices a lot of tempo that these aggro decks need to start the game and get on top of their opponent (whether that’s through Wraiths, or 2-claim, or choke through Famine). So as much as I like it, I’m not sure if it will see consistent play, even if Kings of Winter decks. Kings of Winter desperately needs a boost, and I’m not sure this is it.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5
You’re not thrilled about opening with a blank 5-0-1-6. But winter plots are typically so low gold, and so low reserve (especially with the agenda), that there’s serious value here as a seed plot. Turning a card like Famine from a 2-0-1-3 to a 3-0-1-4 (or even a 4-0-1-5!) in a Kings of Winter deck should not be underestimated – the problem comes from the aggro deck having to open with at least one constructive plot, at the point in the game it most wants to establish board dominance.
Total Pack Average: 3.2
Top Cards:
Meera Reed 5.0
Meereenese Market 4.8
Position of Privilege 4.2
Victarion Greyjoy 4.0
Bottom Cards:
Bonds of Chivalry 1.3
Tithe Collector 1.7
Mission to Essos 1.7
If you’re hungry more content, check out the library of podcasts, articles, game video and more in the Community FAQ. Let us know in the comments how you feel about the cards in this box, and we’ll see you again soon to discuss the “In Daznak’s Pit” chapter pack!
