The World Championship 2024 is just a month away, and the Global Operations Team hereby announce the Restricted List update v1.12. As always, the aim is to provide balance among factions by reining in those decks that are performing above average, and on occasion releasing some cards from the list, in order to restore some competitive balance. It is hoped that all factions have a chance to compete on the grandest stage of the year, and so from Monday 14th October 2024 this Restricted List update will be in effect. By this date, we anticipate that both thronesdb.com and theironthrone.net will be updated accordingly.
Without further ado, let’s have a look at the changes…
Joust
Baratheon
The Red Priest has been returned to the Restricted List. This card is considered to be as efficient as they come; fairly cheap, a decent body, gives hand knowledge, and can remove a key card from your hand with very little counter-play. Recent tournaments have highlighted once again how this card can change games on its own, and the presence of Red Priest in various types of Baratheon decks illustrate its inherent “goodstuff” nature. By restricting the Red Priest, it is hoped that its use will be restricted to the decks it is designed for, and free up some space in alternative Baratheon builds.
Greyjoy
There are no changes for Greyjoy at this time.
Lannister
Castamere has been added to the Restricted List. This card has been viewed as problematic by many in the community since its release. The ability to pair military claim with intrigue at two claim or higher with cards like Core Cersei or You Win or You Die, and then add further military claim on top in a military challenge is seen as an overpowered combination. It was hoped that the win by 5 condition and the fact that it is on the board as open information would suppress the strength of this card, limiting early game steamrolling of the opponent’s board. However this has not been the case, and so the RL committee voted overwhelmingly in favour of adding this card to the Restricted List.
A pod consisting of Casterly Rock (BtB) and Bronn (HMW) has been added to the Restricted List. The combinations that Casterly Rock can provide is seen as very strong, enhancing bestow cards above and beyond their usual capabilities. Cards like Begging Brother, The Iron Bank, Seized by the Guard, Varys (TTS), and of course, Bronn have all been used with great effectiveness in Lannister in recent months. However, it is the view of GOT that certain infinite repetitions should not be so easily achieved, particularly when the combination of Casterly Rock and Bronn provide perpetual safety from resets and military claims round upon round. Therefore to limit this combination, both cards have entered a pod together and the archetype will be closely monitored going forward.
Martell
A pod consisting of The Last Greenseer and At Prince Doran’s Behest has been added to the Restricted List. Whilst the introduction of The Last Greenseer has made for some interesting plot choices and mind games, the combination with At Prince Doran’s Behest has put this interaction unfairly over the top. The ability on one given round to manipulate the opponents and your own plot values to your advantage with these plots has been deemed to be an unintended interaction, and has therefore been voted to be placed in a pod together.
Night’s Watch
There are no changes for Night’s Watch at this time.
Stark
There are no changes for Stark at this time.
Targaryen
A pod consisting of Queensguard, Trading with Qohor and Gifts for the Widow has been added to the Restricted List. With the ever-expanding card pool, we have seen the strength of agendas like Trading with Qohor and the Brotherhood without Banners increase in options and power level with each release. In particular Trading with Qohor, with its access to more and more attachments whilst providing a full deck search is resulting in a very high win rate over multiple factions, but especially high in Targaryen. Statistically speaking, this is the current best performing deck in the game. In order to tone down the power level of some specific Qohor decks, the approach has been taken to limit consistency by podding Queensguard with both Trading with Qohor and Gifts for the Widow. The latter cards both provide full deck tutor, and in podding these together, it is hoped to also reduce the relative power level of Alliance banner Qohor and banner Dragon decks by limiting easy tutor for Queensguard.
Tyrell
The pod consisting of Oldtown and Scheming Septon has been reinstated. The action economy and easy passive power of this combination is too easy to turn down in many Tyrell decks. As the combination of the two cards is extremely efficient and repeatable, GOT have decided to break this up once again and reinstate the pod.
At the risk of hitting the faction too hard with this new pod, the committee have voted in favour of removing the pod containing Randyll Tarly (JS) and Oldtown. Whilst Randyll decks terrorised the game for a period of time, he has since been conspicuous by his absence from the metagame. At the time, the non-interactive combination involving Scheming Septon, Oldtown and Goldengrove was causing an imbalance in the game, yet with the banning of Goldengrove and the reinstallation of the Oldtown and Scheming Septon pod, it has been agreed to ease up on the Randyll Tarly and Oldtown deck restriction.
Neutral
The White Swords plot has been added to the restricted list. With the Tyrell White Book deck still posting really strong win rates, it is time to impose a further restriction on the White Book decks that take full advantage of the economic and tempo advantages this plot provides. With very few options for counterplay available, and with the volume of Kingsguard traited cards since the design of this plot, it is agreed that this is the right time to add The White Swords to the restricted list.
Melee
There have been a number of additions to the melee restricted list in anticipation of the Stahleck event. These restrictions have been implemented based on the probability of abuse of non-kneeling characters, extra challenges, high claim, standing effects, and reset immunity. The melee restricted list has not seen any changes in some time, so a small shake up to the list is very welcome. There was a consideration to add even more items to the list below, but the desire to not overwhelm the player base with too many changes won out in the end.
An honourable mention for Uniting the Realm; there was indeed a discussion about whether this card needed to be banned, but whilst that would have been the safer and more boring decision, the committee has decided to be brave and allow this agenda to be legal.
Finally, The Last Greenseer has been banned in the melee format for the ability to easily abuse it, and also the fact that it is a very complex card to determine the correct rulings for many scenarios. As such, this card will be added to the ban list for melee. The full Restricted List and pod additions are listed below;
Added to the Restricted List
Baratheon – Robert’s Rebellion
Greyjoy – None
Lannister – Myrcella Baratheon
Martell – Ser Cletus Yronwood
Night’s Watch – None
Stark – I Am No One
Targaryen – None
Tyrell – None
Neutral – The White Swords, Battle on the Green Fork, The White Book
Banned
Neutral – The Last Greenseer
Podded
Neutral – The Lord of the Crossing / The Crone
As always, GOT will monitor the metagame at the World Championships in November in Stahleck. We have no doubt that you would like to feedback your impressions on this update, so feel free to contact us in the official GOT discord group here – https://discord.gg/XHCZuuE5!
