Jaime would be here once he knew of her plight. “Come at once,” she had written to him. “Help me. Save me. I need you now as I have never needed you before. I love you. I love you. I love you. Come at once.” Qyburn had sworn that he would see that her letter reached her twin, off in the riverlands with his army. Qyburn had never returned, however. For all she knew, he might be dead, his head impaled upon a spike above the city Keep’s gates. Or perhaps he was languishing in one of the black cells beneath the Red Keep, her letter still unsent. The queen had asked after him a hundred times, but her captors would not speak of him. All she knew for certain was that Jaime had not come.
Our staff has put together a first blush analysis of the newly released “Beneath the Red Keep” chapter pack. Answers to frequently asked rules questions can be found on the individual card pages on thronesdb.com. Cards are listed in number order and scored on a scale ranging from one through five, with five being the best possible score.
Let us know in the comments how you feel about the cards in this pack!
White Harbor Watchman (2.2 Average)
scantrell24 – 2 out of 5
If I’m looking for an answer to shadows characters (and No Surprises isn’t enough), I’d rather have Last Hearth Scouts, who can mitigate other jumpers as well (ambush, Flea Bottom, etc.) Furthermore, White Harbor Watchman is a 3 gold military icon character, putting him in competition with Summer, She-Bear, Arya, Alysane and Umber Loyalist. I don’t think the Watchman will offer better value than those characters unless the meta is extremely shadows heavy following the release of the agenda later in this pack. But looking on the bright side, there may be niche situations where you want to kill your own character to trigger Fat Cat, Core Robb, or Wyman.
Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5
You run this if powerful and oppressive Shadows characters are dominating the meta. More often than not, though, you simply don’t run this at all.
hagarrr – 3 out of 5
The Watchman is a fairly boring and reactive denial card. With just the one icon and nothing else to do round after round except participate in military challenges, it’ll have little impact outside of the shadows matchup. In the shadows matchup however, it’ll be very important. Consideration must be given to the timing of the shadows trigger, lest the Watchmans’ sacrifice activate a host of effects, and also initiative becomes crucial. For example if the Stark player is first, and a Targaryen player brings Jon Connington out of shadows, the kill effect can fire before JonCon can react with his own trigger. If the Stark player can consistently go first, this card will give a lot of headaches to shadows decks. You could also consider this with Flea Bottom, but there’s no way you’re giving up Wyman for that, right?
Von Wibble – 2 out of 5
The score may imply its a bad card, and that’s not true – it’s simply a meta call. As a military monocon at 3 cost, a very competitive slot for Stark, it is just too difficult to justify inclusion unless facing a lot of shadows. Meera Reed and Aegon Targaryen alone may justify it, I’m just not convinced.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5
No Ire for us this month we’re afraid; the rest of us will do our best to be irreverent on his behalf.
The answer to the question “what happens when you make Harrenhal very niche and put it on an overcosted body” that the world was begging for. One-dimensional anti-meta cards always drop off much quicker than one might expect, and we expect this one to be no different. Unlike the aforementioned Harrenhal, it’s a lot harder to keep the Watchman on table until you want to trigger it, making it less a true denial card and more a temporary stall. And Stark has better ways to spend its money.
Tower of the Hand (2.8 Average)
scantrell24 -3 out of 5
Not many decks run shadows cards, winter plots, AND Stark characters that are worth standing. But if you can find a build that checks all of the above boxes, then Tower of the Hand is excellent value.
Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5
One of your cards needs to come out of shadows AND it needs to be winter? Even with the cheap cost it won’t see much play. Winter plots simply aren’t common enough. And the most common one is decidedly anti-Shadows anyway (Barring the Gates).
hagarrr – 4 out of 5
This seems pretty conditional- requiring both shadows cards and winter plots, but the payoff is good and the location is cheap. We’ve seen some successful Stark Winter decks and Stark Assault decks, but these are far from ‘popular’. The only Stark shadows cards that see regular play are the Bolton Flayer and Meera Reed; but the upcoming Shadow of the North seems like the perfect foil for Tower of the Hand. Don’t be surprised if this is a bit of a sleeper until CP5 hits.
Von Wibble – 3 out of 5
Shadows is generally expensive, but Winter generally wants cheaper stuff, so it feels a bit of a contradiction. That said, at 1 gold you get decent value out of just a couple of uses. Any recurrable shadows card like Meera or Shadow of the North can make this strong.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5
The marriage of winter and shadows is easier than you might think – winter is already a strong Stark theme, and it’s not tough to find a couple more shadows cards to join Meera – but even still, in a faction with as much stand as Stark has, the payout isn’t strong enough. It’s also tough to leverage the stand being once-per-phase, because there are so few phases one cares about standing a (stark) character. There is, at least, nice synergy with Withering Cold.
Alyce Graceford (1.8 Average)
scantrell24 – 2 out of 5
I don’t believe Alyce does enough to make Tyrell Faith into a viable archetype. Renown combined with the non-kneeling plot sounds good in theory, but it’s just too clunky in practice. Crossing with Knights and Ladies almost certainly remains the better rush deck.
Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5
A mediocre body that is only relevant for Tyrell Faith. It’s fine for that particular deck.
hagarrr – 1 out of 5
Is Tyrell Faith Militant a thing? No. Will it be a thing with this card? No. Do you want to pay 3 gold for Alyce Graceford so you can kneel her to give a The Seven character renown? No. Will you take this out of the binder? No.
Von Wibble – 2 out of 5
Cheap lady who clearly goes into a The Seven heavy deck and doesn’t go into any others. Pretty much the definition of a 3 out of 5, right? Well, if Tyrell Seven was a thing it would be, so 2 it is.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5
There are cheaper, more effective ways to get the power Alyce offers. The Seven isn’t a theme Tyrell particularly care for (their general gameplan being at odds with the agenda), and this isn’t going to be the piece that pushes it over the edge. The Lady trait is something at least, if that’s even relevant anymore.
The Maidenvault (2.7 Average)
scantrell24 – 3 out of 5
The flexibility to be used on offense or defense is Maidenvault’s best selling point. It’s potentially interesting with HoT Margaery to force a character to defend in multiple challenges.
Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5
I like that it can be used in attack and defence, and that it bounces in and out of shadows, but it’s pretty restrictive in that it only targets Lady characters. It also suffers from the fact that while its scope of application may be wide, it just isn’t that good. Tyrell have other better stand-and-remove effects.
hagarrr – 2 out of 5
I like the Maidenvault, but I fear the deck it belongs in is not especially competitive. As a card that likes to bounce in and out of shadows, this is good to trigger your Oldtown Undercity reasonably cheaply, and removing your Queen of Thorns from a challenge after making the opponent overcommit on defence seems okay. I don’t recall many other Tyrell ladies making the cut in shadows decks, but as a non-loyal effect this could have application elsewhere. Outside of shadows, you probably just stick with Highgarden and/or Margaery’s Influence, right?
Von Wibble – 2.5 out of 5
After the initial shadows cost it’s basically Highgarden – you save a gold and get recurring shadows triggers, but can only affect ladies, a trait you can’t guarantee your opponents have. It looks decent in Tyrell Kingdom of Shadows where you will have Arianne Martell, a lady who can also trigger her own effect. But in general Tyrell have loads of challenge removal and not that much of it sees play at high tier.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5
We were tempted to only give it a 3, simply because the actual mechanical function of the card is unclear – the way the card is worded, plus it being the Maidenvault, suggests its primary function is to use it with Ladies for kooky interactions. What it actually is is a consistent, easy additional (e.g.) Oldtown Undercity trigger. This will be a pretty tremendous boon to Shadows decks for triggering other things. Occasionally, you’ll remove an opponent’s lady from a challenge or, in very, very specific circumstances, your own.
Forest Patrol (2.6 Average)
scantrell24 – 3 out of 5
He’s a marginal upgrade on Lost Ranger in NW Sea of Blood. That’s about it.
Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5
He’s fine with other cards: with Watchers on the Wall, with The Wall, with Jaremy Rykker. But on his own he is a vanilla 2-for-6 MIL monocon that can jump in which, while decent, is uninspiring.
hagarrr – 3 out of 5
Efficient. If you’d pay 2 gold for a Lost Ranger in a Ranger deck, then you’ll pay 2 gold and kneel one of your many locations for Forest Patrol. This slots straight into the NW SoB deck but probably not a lot else.
Von Wibble – 3 out of 5
A surprise 6 strength pump in military or power (if Rykker is out) seems good. A surprise Ranger could be important too – opponents can’t overcommit to military if facing just 1 ranger and 1 card in shadows now for fear of Watchers. A cost of 2 plus a location kneel seems good too – how about that Flea Bottom Alley you were saving for next turn? In an aggro deck 6 strength is big, in a non Builder Wall defense deck this looks good. I like this.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5
Finding a Night’s Watch location you’re happy to kneel to bring in a 6 STR monocon isn’t that easy. A 1x Eastwatch-by-the-Sea? A Haunted Forest, after it’s remained standing after your opponent has finished their challenges? If you say Underground Vault, at that point this card costs you 4 gold for a 6 STR monocon, and those rarely see play. There is the shadows angle, but it’s just not a particularly useful surprise. Now, that said, the card does have potential in the future if Night’s Watch get a generally useful location that does not kneel for its effect.
Blackbird (2.1 Average)
scantrell24 – 3 out of 5
Other than economy like Underground Vault, both versions of the The Wall are the main targets for the stand ability. With Siege Preparations around, the reserve boost is relevant and might be the stronger of the two parts — it helps Protectors of the Realm, The Watch Has Need, and Three-Finger Hobb as well.
Hybrid92 – 3 out of 5
Being able to restand The Wall, Castle Black, or Abandoned Stronghold is pretty good, especially when that stand effect turns into +1 reserve thereafter.
hagarrr – 1 out of 5
I feel sorry for the Night’s Watch players, desperately craving some inventive new cards, and instead getting to feast on another rotten Cleveland Steamer. This is another boring location standing card, albeit with a reserve modifier this time. Whew. Paying 3 gold to stand a character is super expensive, let alone paying 3 gold to stand a location. The Warship trait is irrelevant, the reserve modifier is almost irrelevant, and Night’s Watch have no cards that benefit from shadows triggers. Bin.
Von Wibble – 3 out of 5
In a Wall deck (either!) it’s worth the cost, and it’s a location you can happily kneel for the Forest Patrol. In general if you want reserve pumps, Night’s Watch have better options – I’ll go for one of in a Wall deck, otherwise not sold.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 1 out of 5
Standing locations is fine, but… you have Veteran Builders. Why would you ever pay 3 gold for this instead – or even 1g for the reserve? We couldn’t even be bothered to make a Beatles joke.
Castle Guard (3.1 Average)
scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5
Castle Guard can put your own shadow characters back to re-trigger “comes out of shadows” abilities or dodge a reset. He can also bounce an opposing character at the opportune moment (mid-challenge probably). That versatility makes him worth a look for Kingdom of Shadows decks.
Hybrid92 – 3.5 out of 5
This guy is good but expensive. He’s probably too expensive to run on his own in a non-Shadows Bara deck that wants some control over opponent’s shadows characters. In a Bara Shadows deck with Black Cells though, he could be quite annoying, especially as more shadows characters get printed. And that’s his value when it comes to interacting with your opponent. He has value when interacting with your own side too: sending back to shadows an Old Bill Bone or Shadow Priestess for an additional trigger of their ability, or of the Black Cells.
hagarrr – 3 out of 5
The Castle Guard look like fun to play; allowing re-use of your shadows characters, providing you can sustain board presence. This pairs nicely with The Black Cells and Shadow Priestesses, but gains a lot more value in the banner or Kingdom of Shadows decks. I love the idea of returning my opponents’ non-native shadows character to shadows after they entered play via the Assault from the Shadows agenda, so they’re stuck there forever. Beautiful.
Von Wibble – 3.5 out of 5
He allows you to return a cheap shadow character to the shadows to get easy triggers for the Knight of Flowers or Arianne. He allows you to return an expensive opponents character to the shadows – whether that be because they used Assault or were Banished from the Light. Yes, he’s slightly on the expensive side, but in the right deck absolutely worth it.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5
Compared to the likes of Clever Feint and next pack’s Tyrion Lannister, why did this have to say “this phase”? You’re already paying 2-and-a-bit gold over the asking price just for the effect. How much money are you realistically expecting to be slinging around for these triggers? We do at least like that it’s a versatile effect that can be both constructive and destructive; it just feels like a missed opportunity.
Public Execution (4.4 Average)
scantrell24 – 4 out of 5
Strong, but feels balanced because you have to put in some work to kneel the character first. Hunting Accident accomplishes mostly the same effect by rendering the character useless, but it can be removed, so the extra gold for Public Execution is a fair trade off for being more permanent.
Hybrid92 – 4 out of 5
It’s really good but really expensive. Best use for it is if the character is already knelt by the time the marshalling phase starts (due to Forced March, Filthy Accusation, Box Bob, or Withering Cold), then you can just immediately kill the character without ‘wasting’ a triggered kneel effect. I expect Bara kneel to run 1 cheeky copy without needing to change up the deck too much.
hagarrr – 5 out of 5
This event is terrifying. Simple hard control with the easiest of conditions to fulfil and the biggest threat on your opponents’ board is deleted. Many factions literally have no counter play to this, with only Targaryen and Stark blessed with multiple stand abilities that are valid in the marshalling phase. Even the Hand’s Judgment can be ineffective in cancelling a Public Execution, as the Bara player can just go first ensuring the opponent has no gold, or have already invested time controlling the counters in your hand in previous rounds. 3 gold might seem like a hit to your own momentum, but killing a 7 gold investment certainly still gives a strong tempo advantage, and if that character had gained any renown then it’s even better. The big utility maximising play is to hit with Duel and then kill the remaining Big with this event (thanks whoever mentioned that on Facebook!).
Von Wibble – 5 out of 5
Point and click kill for 3 gold is great. No need to win challenges, all you have to do is play some kind of kneel plot and they are dead. For bonus points, try box Bob or Withering Cold into the Bloody Flux to remove that double duped Victarion with 6 power and 2 Iron Mines on the table. The best of the kill events so far.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5
Our first thought was “what took this so long?”. It feels like such a natural inclusion to Baratheon’s toolkit, you’d think it should have come out in the first cycle or two, or their deluxe box. The comparison to Pit of Snakes from last chapter pack is pretty sad for the house of orange. Overall though, we just expect Bara kneel players to breathe a sigh of relief that they finally have an angle of attack against Stark and Greyjoy.
Doubting Septa (2.4 Average)
scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5
It’s similar to Acolyte of the Waves, with the downside that you have to sacrifice the character, but the upside of repeating each turn with Flea Bottom. An extra 1-2 power each turn will make a difference for Lanni Faith Militant decks, so Doubting Septa is a key card there, but not enough to make those decks tier one.
Hybrid92 – 2.5 out of 5
Seems decent for Lanni Faith and Lanni Crossing rush if those decks exist. Also cute that she can be repeatedly used each round with Flea Bottom. Other than that though, not super impressive.
hagarrr – 2 out of 5
Almost as bad as Alyce Graceford, with the caveat that Doubting Septa can be used repeatedly with Flea Bottom, which then becomes ‘pay 1 gold for 1 power’ each round providing you can win an intrigue challenge. The power gained is flexible and can be put onto ‘safe’ locations like the Small Council Chamber which is nice. Ultimately though, you’d still be wanting to use your Flea Bottom for The Hound, so whatever.
Von Wibble – 2 out of 5
This one feels a bit fiddly, you have to win the intrigue challenge, and sacrifice the character, which seems a fair bit of work for 1 power, and in the meantime you get a 1 strength monocon. There are plenty of good Lannister 2 costers in competition, and usually I want Flea Bottom for the Hound, not this.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5
This is just short of having value. An extra STR, an extra icon, a better payoff (2 power?), an easier trigger. As it is the only angle to really use it is to deploy it with Flea Bottom, and Lannister usually have better targets. Maybe Melee at a major push.
Tunnels of the Red Keep (3.8 Average)
scantrell24 – 4 out of 5
Lanni shadows decks get a big boost from this pack, with a new agenda to compete with HRD and Assault, and a new location that pairs well with Bowels of Casterly Rock. During first edition, Tunnels was one of the best anti-burn cards available, and it does a similar job now. The “Max 1 per phase” is a bummer.
Hybrid92 – 3 out of 5
It’s no Tunnels from 1.0, let me tell you, but this version will still prove annoying to play against, I suspect. The timing of the “Then,” means that it’s always guaranteed to give +1 STR at the very least even if you have no shadows cards (because it counts itself). It’ll see play in Lannister Shadows deck, of which there are already plenty running around — many of them quite janky or using tricks like trying to repeat Ser Robert Strong every round. Time will tell if this card will give those decks competitive consistency.
hagarrr – 3 out of 5
Tunnels seems like a more expensive Growing Strong that doesn’t have the element of surprise, but does have a very high ceiling. Combined with cards like Bowels of Casterly Rock, Tyrion (Core) or even a Trade Routes can help to provide the resources to pay for this repeatedly, and this can make the total strength of your characters consistently oppressive. If you have ‘win by 5’ effects in your deck, one single trigger of this can swing the game in your direction. Whilst it is loyal, it isn’t restricted to Lannister characters only, which gives it more utility in a range of different decks.
Von Wibble – 4 out of 5
Clearly this is only for shadows decks, but in those decks I don’t see why you wouldn’t use it. The threat of activation cannot be underestimated even when your opponent knows you have this in the shadows, adding more decision points to their game and making mistakes more likely. It’s expensive, but challenge phase gold is still a decent Lannister theme, and you can always use Kevan to cheat it into play.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 5 out of 5
This is a wonderful example of taking a classic first edition card and tweaking it just the right amount for the new edition. A strong, interesting centrepiece for shadows decks. Note that while you do have to pay 2 gold each time you want its effect, that’s the same amount Bowels refunds you. You can also put it back into shadows every single phase for triggers, if you have the gold. The first edition one was a mainstay of Lanni shadows decks, and with STR mattering more this time round, and it counting itself to give you an additional STR, AND hiding in the shadows to dodge location control, we think this could be the card that finally makes Lanni Shadows the good deck it’s been threatening to be for months.
Gorold Goodbrother (3.7 Average)
scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5
Gorold fits the Greyjoy pillage theme in the most straightforward way with both the keyword and an ability that reacts to it. Had he been released during the Core set, Gorold would have seen a ton of play, but now I’m skeptical whether he can edge out any of the other big guns considering Greyjoy’s absurd wealth of options at the 6 and 7 cost slots.
Hybrid92 – 4 out of 5
Greyjoy already have a ridiculous amount of powerful 6- and 7-costers that honestly they don’t even need this guy. He will see play in dedicated pillage decks but that’s about it. Honestly why are Greyjoy getting yet another beefy 6-cost character with renown and stand effect? Give it to Baratheon or Lannister for goodness sake.
hagarrr – 4 out of 5
Gorold Goodbrother reminds me a lot of Randyll Tarly- both cards are at the 6 gold cost slot with base strength 5 including military and power icons, plus a standing ability that is limit twice per phase. The support for Gorold’s trigger include; random pillage, Raiding the Bay of Ice, We Do Not Sow, Shadow of the Isles, Nightflyer, Scouting Vessel, and Andrik the Unsmiling among others. All of these require more investment in terms of further resources or challenge participation to force a potential trigger unlike Randyll, who can trigger from a variety of simple actions, all of which actually make him stronger for future challenges. Poor Gorold, Randyll he ain’t, but he’s still pretty damn efficient in the right deck.
Von Wibble – 4 out of 5
The obvious comparison is Randyll Tarly, and in fairness I don’t think the pillage keyword quite makes up for the fact that this is tougher to trigger in general. That said, you still have options for the stand with intrigue claim, pillage, and location destruction – and I hear that high strength renown on a character in multiple challenges is good. Do Greyjoy really have room for another big in the deck though?
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5
A renown character that will often stand for another go, between Pillage, location hate and intrigue claim? Seems good to us, particularly in Melee. He’s not a complete blowout without the stand either, although overcosted at that point. It loses a point for being in Greyjoy though – the faction has so many amazing expensive characters that it is becoming seriously tough to fit them all in.
Shadow of the Isles (2.3 Average)
scantrell24 – 2 out of 5
It’s more expensive but weaker than other location control available to Greyjoy. The only advantages I see are the shadows keyword, but Greyjoy doesn’t particularly care about that (No equivalent to Bowels, Oldtown Undercity, etc.) and the recursion ability, with Forced March, We Take Westeros and Wildfire being the best War plots available. Beautiful artwork though.
Hybrid92 – 1.5 out of 5
Far too expensive given the fact that it gives the opponent a choice on what to discard and it forces you to discard a location is well. You’re better off playing one of the myriad of other superior location discard effects that Greyjoy has.
hagarrr – 3 out of 5
This reminds me a lot of The North Remembers, but more expensive and conditional. Paying a total of 3 gold to remove a non-limited location of the opponents’ choice is expensive, especially when compared to Newly-Made Lord (who provides a usable body for the cost), and We Do Not Sow, and particularly when you also need to remove one of your own non-limited locations. All I hear is “play this with Nightflyer, We Take Westeros!, and Core Euron”.
Von Wibble – 3 out of 5
3 cost plus one of your locations seems expensive, but the discard could be advantageous to you, for example discarding Nightflyer ready to play another one. We Take Westeros just got a little bit better, like it needed it…
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5
If you could play with no non-limited locations to trigger it for a one-sided effect, we’d be so much higher on this. As it is, it’s a tougher sell. Yes, Greyjoy often have chaff available to lose, but it still pigeonholes it for very specific decks, like a worse version of The North Remembers. The trait does at least vaguely play nice with the event, but recurring it won’t always be something you particularly want to do, and War plots often have lower gold anyway.
Shadowblack Assassin (3.3 Average)
scantrell24 – 4.5 out of 5
Reducer chuds are scared to death of this ability (get it? haha). There are plenty of really good 2-3 strength characters that can easily drop to 1 strength (Core Daenerys, Dragonpit, any number of other burn abilities) so Shadowblack Assassin looks like amazing value to me. The lack of a power icon or any positive trait is the only downside.
Hybrid92 – 4 out of 5
This is obviously a good card in burn decks as it gives you an easy kill against a character that wouldn’t normally be 1 strength. However, even in non-burn decks I think it’s worth looking at. Sniping a 1-strength reducer chud can be critical in swinging a turn and leading to military claim against a character of importance — as our past experiences with Venomous Blade and Ward have shown us. It’s also free with Jon Connington!
hagarrr – 2 out of 5
The Assassin gives Targaryen its millionth unnecessary mil/int bicon combination and some pretty underwhelming text too. Paying a total of 4 gold to kill something with a strength of 1 is bad, and if you want to get more bang for your buck, then you need to invest further gold and card resources into STR reduction, which then adversely impacts your tempo. We’d all rather just play Filthy Accusations and pay 3 gold to kill whomever we like with Public Execution! This does combine nicely with the Dragonpit, but I still don’t feel that’s enough to rescue what was supposed to be Targaryen’s flagship Burn location from the depths of Tier 2.
Von Wibble – 3 out of 5
In a burn deck, this makes opponents scared to go into a challenge where they even go to 1 strength now, which is a good thing. However, as the Assassin doesn’t actually lower strength, saves are allowed. In non burn decks I’d still consider him as there are decent 1 strength targets such as Meera Reed, and even killing a Desert Scavenger can be powerful if it leads to your military challenge actually claiming a big character. I think its a well balanced card.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5
It’s pricey, but we think it has a natural home in an aggro deck, where it doesn’t actually play the role of a burn card but instead says “kill your opponent’s claimsoak”. Throw in the juicier 1 STR characters as targets – Meera Reed being the most notable and obvious – and the in-faction synergies available (e.g. either version of Daenerys) and this is a neat little card.
Dragon Skull (2.1 Average)
scantrell24 – 3 out of 5
Two extra keywords, especially in this faction with all their stand effects, seems quite potent. However, “Targ character only” is a huge limit. Does Jon Snow count? The only real options are Core Dany (but then you can’t run Dragons), Barristan, Aggo, Qotho, Jhogo, Mirri and Hizdahr.
Hybrid92 – 1.5 out of 5
This will pretty much only see play in the Voltron Dany / Barristan builds that use a plethora of other positive attachments to build up those characters.
hagarrr – 2 out of 5
Dragon Skull is expensive, but intimidate and renown in Targaryen are not to be sniffed at. It really feels like the Voltron build will one day be assembled and take over the world, and as this attachment can be fetched and intimidate and renown triggered immediately in a Qohor deck, that seems to be the most natural home. This is also another decent target for Black Market Merchant in case you fail to find that Queensguard you were searching for.
Von Wibble – 2 out of 5
For voltron builds together with Tokar and Queensguard this is powerful for sure. You can even leave out Queensguard if you use Barristan. But it’s expensive and in all likelihood forces your deck away from burn – and that information is very useful for an opponent. This has a lot of potential in Qohor as another target to discard to fetch Queensguard. Fairly niche overall though.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5
It’s expensive, even for 2 fantastic keywords. 3 gold win-more attachments mostly struggle to see play, with the few that see play (Seal, Queensguard) being those that help you win challenges in the first place. The dragon requirement isn’t actually too hard – unless you’re specifically running a deck with either Dracarys or 7g Daenerys in, you’re basically only giving up 6g Drogon for it – but boy will it suck when your attachment-driven Dothraki deck running this comes up against a Dragon deck, what with its condition being dual-sided.
Sarella Sand (4.0 Average)
scantrell24 – 4 out of 5
Solid piece for more aggressive Martell decks that run 2 claim plots (or even 3 claim plots).
Hybrid92 – 4 out of 5
Good stats, ability, traits, and icons. The ability itself is pretty irritating and it almost guarantees that the challenge that Sarella is in will be pushed through. This card is good enough to see play in all Martell decks but it’s yet another Sand Snake / Bastard for that particular archetype too.
hagarrr – 4 out of 5
Despite my rational hatred for Martell, I like this card. It opens up different lines of play in the challenge phase, and encourages the actual doing of said challenges; which is sometimes quite a novel concept for Martell decks. Joking aside, I expect Sarella to help push through specific challenges by whittling down the ability of the opponent to defend them in multiples. She also seems like a good fit for that terrible attachment Blood of the Viper… Yeah, I didn’t remember what it did either.
Von Wibble – 4 out of 5
Decent stats, and an ability that like all good Martell abilities forces your opponent to make tough choices, often they will just chud block because it costs too many resources to do more.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5
A fair price and a very solid ability. At the point in the game where Martell decides it wants to attack (which could be as early as round one, for instance in a Bastard Crossing deck), the effect is truly “rock and hard place” for the opponent, like all the best classic Martell cards.
Meadowlark (2.0 Average)
scantrell24 – 3 out of 5
You’re unlikely to ever fetch anyone above cost 3, but trading 1 gold for 2 or 3 after a turn or two is a tempo hit that Martell can probably afford to take. It could see play as a 1x in decks that usually save their Behest for the mid-game. Being an action that can be used during any window saves makes it interesting and saves the card from being rubbish.
Hybrid92 – 1.5 out of 5
Too slow in the current meta. Not worth the card slot.
hagarrr – 2 out of 5
The ability to search your deck for a character and put it into play is very good. It’s almost certainly too slow to reliably find a mid-to-high curve character every game, but I could possibly see this being used for searching out specific lower curve characters, such as Ricasso and… err… … ah who am I kidding, I’m just going to find Desert Raider aren’t I.
Von Wibble – 1.5 out of 5
With Greyjoy so prominent in the meta any location that needs to be in play for 3 or more rounds seems too risky to me. Doran’s Behest helps to speed it up, and Rains of Castamere is another option. In matchups facing less location control, spending 3 tokens for an Areo to change the outcome of a challenge, or Quentyn as a finisher seems good. But this is the last card you want to draw when the game is at 10 all in power. Overall I like the idea, and it’s better than 1st edition Meadowfart for sure, but it’s not strong enough.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5
If you find it on setup, you’re laughing. After that the value drops off significantly, as it makes for a terrible topdeck (although if a Martell deck is topdecking it’s usually already lost). It could have some small value in a combination deck, but far more likely we think you use it to fetch a Greenblood Trader, Desert Raider or even Desert Scavenger. It’s a shame it isn’t worded to play nicely with Change of Plans or Gerris Drinkwater. We’re not sure if Martell Rains is a thing anymore, but if it is then it will do well there, at least?
Advisor to the Crown (3.0 Average)
scantrell24 – 3 out of 5
If there were any Maesters worth reducing, then Advisor would be worth a couple slots. The lack of 5 and 6 gold Maesters is one of the travesties of 2nd edition. During 1st edtion, Greyjoy Maesters with Marywn and Ebrose was one of my first decks, but there’s been no support after the reboot other than an endless line of marginal chuds. This grade should really be “incomplete”.
Hybrid92 – 4 out of 5
Obviously an auto-include for Conclave decks but wow it’s nice to get another 1cost chud in the game. Greyjoy and Baratheon will appreciate the intrigue icon and the cost to smooth out cost curve.
hagarrr – 2 out of 5
Thank the Gods that FFG have decided to deal with the single biggest problem in the history of aGoT LCG 2.0. We’ve all been crying out for a solution for years now, struggling to manage our cost curves whilst these high cost Maesters proliferated and flooded our beloved game. Fear no more, for now you can get yourself a Maester Lomys for only TWO THIRDS of the price, with your very own (non-unique) Advisor to the Crown! With a bargain like that, you may never lose a game ever again.
Von Wibble – 3 out of 5
I love me some Maesters, and any chuds that help provide claim soak seem an easy include for Conclave decks. In decks running mass 7 costers I’d seriously consider it too for setups – Greyjoy are an obvious choice, and they benefit from the cheap intrigue icon as well.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5
In the current meta this rating should really be a 2, as broadly Maester decks aren’t a thing and a 1g reducer chud isn’t what the deck was badly in need of, even if it does still help them. We give it a 1 higher rating, in the admittedly-futile hope that we get one or two good beefy characters for the deck at some future point.
Knights of the Mind (1.6 Average)
scantrell24 – 1 out of 5
Even if Maester decks existed, I don’t think they would care much about military challenges.
Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5
Considering the military icon is the rarest icon among Maesters, this feels like a necessary card to print. Time will tell if Conclave decks will find the space for this though as they don’t usually have much hinging on the military challenge.
hagarrr – 2 out of 5
Giving multiple characters a military icon at the cost of 1 gold is damn good value. Sadly, all applicable characters are insignificant and not especially good at winning challenges (or even games!). *shrug*
Von Wibble – 1 out of 5
If a Maester with a decent keyword and high strength existed this could be good, but your best case scenario is probably in conclave, and probably involves giving Caleotte and Pylos icons. It might win you a military challenge, but most Conclave decks aren’t about attrition. It might let you win a military on defense, too. But honestly, I’d rather run Off to Gulltown, which gives all the icons for more flexibility, and works on characters that actually can win challenges alone, and draws a card on top. Unless a Maester with strength 5 plus and 2 of stealth, renown and intimidate (or a really nice effect for winning challenges) is printed this is unplayable.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5
A fun little card (unless you’re Drakey, who has fallen asleep by this point), but it’s overpriced and for a theme that, as mentioned above, doesn’t have enough going for it yet.
Kingdom of Shadows (4.0 Average)
scantrell24 – 4 out of 5
With Assault, you lose a gold guaranteed but effectively gain two back by putting a card into shadows for free. With Kingdom, you lose a gold each time you marshal a character, but gain 2 back if you bring a character out of shadows. That seems similar enough between the two agendas. So the real difference is whether you want to put non-shadows cards into shadows, or gain access to out-of-faction shadows cards. I think we’ll see both options played plenty. Here’s my first draft out of Lannister that’s been really fun so far.
Hybrid92 – 4 out of 5
How agendas should be: strong, fun, interesting, and radically changing deckbuilding. Looking forward to building with this and coming up against it!
hagarrr – 4 out of 5
Kingdom provides a lot of options for shadows, but I’m sure this will be more heavily favoured by those with relevant shadow engines; Martell, Lannister, and Tyrell. I do think that being able to splash non-loyal shadow characters from all factions will be a great boost for shadows decks, but at the same time makes them even more vulnerable to decks running 2x Barring the Gates and the like. I’m cautiously optimistic that this will be popular and fun, but I fear that ‘goodstuff’ Stark may shut these decks down too easily for competitive play.
Von Wibble – 4 out of 5
Wow, this provides a lot of options! This is really hard to judge, whilst there are some great synergies with shadows to be had across all 8 factions, the downside is a serious one. Better deck builders than me will make this work I am sure, which means I will err on the side of generosity with the rating.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5
The downside of this card is pretty huge. That said, the upside is arguably the best of any agenda yet – a guaranteed reduction of 2 gold a round if you build for it, which makes it twice as good as Fealty or Kings of Summer, plus access to a whole bunch of new cards, something that gets our minds whirring for new decks. But that downside… This will require specific decks to leverage it – our brains go to a char-lite build that goes second and brings characters out to attack while using control effects on defence – but if decks can work around the drawback, they will be left with a highly, highly potent agenda.
City of Spiders (2.8 Average)
scantrell24 – 3 out of 5
It will take a stand-out City plot in the final packs of the cycle, à la Negotiations at the Great Sept, for City of Spiders to be worthwhile. Currently, City of Spiders basically reads “on turn 4 or later, either draw 2 or kneel 2 locations”. That’s fine but a luxury and not a necessity for most decks.
Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5
This was a better plot in 1st Edition when City plots felt a lot more oppressive. As of right now, your options for repeat effects are pretty limited and don’t really set the world on fire. This plot’s stats are decent though.
hagarrr – 3 out of 5
At the moment, this plot doesn’t seem particularly exciting. The best options are to copy the when revealed of A City Besieged (pretty good), or Manning the City Walls (also okay). The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that it’s also Scheme-traited, so I’m 100% going to trigger Rains to copy Manning the City Walls for free Roaming Wolfpacks and Wolves of the North thankyouverymuch. I really hope the City plots in the final two chapter packs work with this plot otherwise it’ll be really disappointing.
Von Wibble – 3 out of 5
The statline is OK, but not good enough to merit this plot’s inclusion in a deck alone. At the moment the options for the ability are to kneel 2 locations, have both players draw 2 cards (probably!), and play out a 6 cost or lower non unique. Maybe a deck exists that really wants to cheat out 6 cost armies and runs this, otherwise I’m not convinced you need the other effects twice. In the long term this only gets better though, and the rating is higher to take this into account.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5
Boring. We’ve ranted about City plots before and won’t bother to repeat ourselves here; but this does deserve a special shout-out for diluting the plot game even further, decreasing variety in arguably the most fun part of the entire game.
Total Pack Average: 2.65 (substantially lower than most packs)
Top Cards:
Public Execution 4.4
Kingdom of Shadows 4.0
Sarella Sand 4.0
Bottom Cards:
Knights of the Mind 1.6
Alyce Graceford 1.8
Meadowlark 2.0
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 “The Blackwater” chapter pack!
