Hello dear Thrones community. We have been in a Rotation testing period for close to two months now, and with World Cup and Online Worlds around the corner, we have decided to end the Rotation period to be able to give enough time for the players involved in those events to properly prepare for them. The teams aim was to take both Stahleck feedback and Rotation testing period feedback to give us a good idea of how to move on. As always, the goal of this restricted list is both to try and keep a good balance between factions while also making sure certain card interactions are kept in check. Keep in mind that the changes made for v1.14 will be made with the full card pool in mind, and therefore work off v1.12 more than v1.13. The Restricted List will come into effect during the week of March 17 to 21, with no specific date set yet.
Without further ado, here are the changes for the v1.14 Restricted List.
Joust
Baratheon
While we are keeping a close eye on Baratheon and their success in the Team Events in the last 1.5 years, along with being the King of Swiss at Stahleck, their lack of success deep into events means we are keeping Baratheon with no changes for the moment.
Greyjoy
Like we had for the Rotation, Pods 1 and 14 are merged together. We haven’t seen anything during v1.13 that says we should undo this change, and therefore will keep them combined together. No further changes will be made to Greyjoy for the moment.
Lannister
With the recent additions of Castamere and A Lannister’s Honor, there has been an abundance of cheap kill effects rewarded for winning the Intrigue challenge. This, in combination with what is considered Lannister Good Stuff has proven to be a bit over the top in terms of efficient kill effects combined with hand destruction. Therefore, Cersei Lannister (LoCR) and A Lannister’s Honor has been podded.
During the Rotation testing period, we decided to pod Boots and Casterly Rock (Core). This pod will be staying on the Restricted List going forward.
Two pods were removed for Lannister during the Rotation testing period, and with the full card pool coming back with v1.14, those two pods will be reinstated. Therefore, Cersei Lannister (LoCR) and Heads on Spikes along with Painted Dogs and Lionstar will be back into their respective pods.
Martell
For Martell, we have seen it be the least performing faction at Stahleck and have been looking at ways to change that. The first change that will happen is that the pod with Secret Schemes, In Doran’s Name and Host of the Boneway will be disbanded completely. The team decided to release Host of the Boneway in an attempt to help the faction, and Secret Schemes and In Doran’s Name are already in another pod together, therefore the two cards remaining felt redundant to keep in the pod.
The Second change coming for Martell in hopes of giving the a slight buff is to free the At Prince Doran’s Behest and The Last Greenseer pod. This pod was added pretty quickly to the Restricted List after the release of The Last Greenseer, and freeing it to see the implication it can have in a tournament environment will be interesting. If this becomes problematic as the team seemed to think before Stahleck, we can always revisit this in the future.
Night’s Watch
Three-Finger Hobb was added on the Restricted List for v1.13, and it will be here to stay for the 1.14 List as well. He was currently played in pretty much all the top decks that made the cut at Stahleck as well as the Long Voyage deck that has been dominating the Champions of Westeros the past two seasons, no matter the difference in deck choice (Uniting the Realm, Fealty, Banner Wolf, Aloof and Apart).
Another card dominating most Night’s Watch decks currently is Sentinel Stand. While the card loves to take those monocons and make them a wall of defenders, it has become nearly impossible to even win 1 challenge against that wall of cheap defenders. Therefore, Sentinel Stand has been added to the Restricted List.
Last but not least, as attrition is seen as a dominant way to play the game out of Night’s Watch ( the most played deck at Stahleck, all combinations combined). Therefore, Mutiny at Craster’s Keep and Marched to the Wall has been podded together. This pod will replace the Mutiny at Craster’s Place + Saved by the Watch pod moving forward.
With all that said for the additions on Night’s Watch to the Restricted List, we have also decided to remove Seasoned Woodsman from the Restricted List. This should help players build a powerful deck like Valyrian Steel (R) or other attachment heavy builds.
All these changes to Night’s Watch are a lot, and it will be monitored to see if we went to harsh on the Faction guarding us from evil beyond the wall, or if these changes will bring them back on par with the rest of the Factions south of the Wall.
Stark
If we look at the v1.12 Restricted List, there has been no changes to Stark from 1.12 to 1.14. But, during Rotation testing, we had removed the pod that included Lord of the Crossing, Alysane Mormont and I Am No One. We had also removed Passing the Black Gate and had added Dacey Mormont to the Restricted List. All those changes are reverted back to how v1.12 was and therefore the Pod of Lord of the Crossing + Alysane Mormont + I Am No One is reinstated, Passing the Black Gate is back on the Restricted List, while Dacey Mormont is back to being free.
Targaryen
After seeing the continuous success and discussions on Queensguard at Stahleck, we had decided to ban this card for the Rotation test period. We can confirm that Queensguard will stay banned for the time being, as the card was seen as problematic in general. Furthermore, the pod of Trading with Qohor and Gifts for the Widow (R) will continue to be disbanded for the time being.
The big change coming to Targaryen is Daenerys Targaryen (TFM) coming off the Restricted List, just like it did for v1.13. The big difference between both restricted list is that it became obvious to the members of the team that Incinerate is a way bigger issue than A Dragon Is No Slave. Therefore the Pod that includes Daenerys Targaryen (TFM) + Incinerate + Shadow of the East will be back together.
Tyrell
The only change coming for Tyrell is that A Tourney of the King is back into the game for v1.14, which means that the pod including Green-Apple Knight with The White Book is back on the Restricted List. This pod was only removed to give a boost to Tyrell during the Rotation testing period.
Neutral
A few changes are coming to the Neutral section. First Loan from the Iron Bank is coming off the Restricted List. This will allow players to decide which high economy plot they want to play.
Next, we had added The Crone to the Restricted List the last time around, and this one is here to stay again.
The Hollow Hill, a key card to decks that play a heavy count of neutral cards, have been seen as needed for those decks as they lack proper card draw through insight. What we have been seeing in recent times though is that players find the best package of non loyal characters to leverage a powerful tutor effect to find those non loyal characters turn after turn. Therefore, The Hollow Hill has been added to the Restricted List.
Last but not least, a new Agenda stormed the scene of competitive Thrones by winning Stahleck just a month after it’s release. Since then, many players are figuring out ways to leverage the best possible options from the type of deck they’re trying to build and punishing their opponents with the multiple options the Agenda provides. Therefore Uniting the Realm has been added to the Restricted List, and will continue to be monitored to see if it continues to show issues.
Melee
There has been no changes to the Melee Restricted List.
