Hello Thrones community, the greatest event of the year is nearing, and with it, a new Restricted List for both Joust and Melee is coming. The team decided to try and encourage the game into a more interactive gameplay meta, and then rounded out the list with hits on fairly popular decks that have been seen as go to options for their respective factions. The Restricted List will take into effect as of October 1st, but will not be available on Thronesdb and TheIronThrones until a later date.
It’s a big one, so enough talk and here are the changes for the v1.16 Restricted List.
Joust
Baratheon
A deck emerging from the Rotation test period, Baratheon Battle of the Trident has gained in popularity after our reigning Online Worlds Champ Jim Hansen posted the deck following his win with the deck. The deck is fairly new, but seen as a deck with a clear play pattern regarding the plots to flip at what moment, and very strong at doing so. Therefore, we decided to tone it down just a bit by podding Battle of the Trident with Robert’s Rebellion, a plot that can be flipped out to negate all downsides of the plot while making great use of the stats on it before flipping it out.
Another Pod added for Baratheon is Melissandre (Core), Khorane Sathmantes and Ser Imry Florent. Ser Imry is often seen as a card that can completely close a game for control decks that use kneel as their main strategy. Since Melissandre and Khorane are not seen in decks together, we made the pod with both of them (both are kneel engines for their respective decks).
Greyjoy
For the Restricted List v1.15, we removed the Nightflyer + Nothing Burns from the Cold pod as we decided to Restrict Nightflyer outright. This was quickly seen as a mistake with both Night’s Watch Kraken, and to a lesser extent Greyjoy Kings of Winter, being able to abuse Nightflyer even as the Restricted card of choice. Therefore, we have reinstated the pod for Nightflyer and Nothing Burns with the Cold.
Another very good and stable deck across time is Greyjoy Fealty, which has seen it’s share of success piloted by our friend from Alex from France. The deck is a draw engine machine, along with it’s location control and resilience to resets, so we decided to try and take it down a notch by making it choose if they want one of their core events, or if they want to push unopposed challenges to speed up their win. Therefore, We Do Not Sow and Raiding Longship have been added to a pod together.
Lannister
Currently seen as the best Lannister deck is Lannister Lord of the Crossing, with it’s ability to rush their opponents down while also applying hand destruction with multiple intrigue challenges. It has also been fairly resilient to resets by aggressively being able to use The Mad King’s Command and Valar Dohaeris along their jumping events and stacking the bottom of the deck for a powerful I Never Bet Against My Family trigger. With that said, we have added to a Pod Casterly Rock (Core) and I Never Bet Against My Family.
Stark
Like Greyjoy, Stark has a fairly stable deck that has endured time since they got their Deluxe box released almost 10 years ago, which has also been fairly similar with a few changes here and there in that time. Stark Fealty has therefore been looked at to see how it can be brought down a bit, while trying to not hit Stark Crossing too much, even if both decks share many similarities in it’s core deck. We have come to the conclusion that adding Catelyn Stark (Core) and Wyman Manderly (R) to a pod was the right decision.
The Night’s Watch
Last year at Stahleck, it was the Night’s Watch party in all types of flavors. We have since taken action against some of those decks, but also gave back a strong weapon in Seasoned Woodsman for a strong deck in Valyrian Steel (R), and that deck has been proven to be exactly what is used to be, a resilient defense deck that draws an insane amount of cards. Therefore, we have decided to add Seasoned Woodsman back to the Restricted List.
Furthermore, another archetype that keeps on proving it’s strength are the Recruiter decks. While it was hit in a previous list, we can see a card that keeps being played heavily in Recruiters and Choke decks, and therefore, we have decided to add Recruiter for the Watch to the Restricted List. This card allows to slowly remove cheap characters on the board and then take out bigger targets with cards like Ramsay or Marched, slowly dwindling down the options for their opponents. While we want those decks to be good, they have been fairly consistent at doing that strategy and hope that this hit is enough to bring it down a bit while making it still an option for those who want it.
Targaryen
Targaryen have been in an interesting spot since the banning of Queensguard as it was given back a strong central piece to burn decks. Just like Recruiter for Night’s Watch, burn is a very oppressive archetype and Daenerys Targaryen (TFM) is really good at removing low cost characters to ensure that the the rest of the deck can kill or remove bigger characters on the board. The consistency of Targaryen Burn decks since she was released from the Restricted List is seen as a bit problematic, so we decided to add Daenerys Targaryen back onto the List.
A fairly stable deck for a long time, Targaryen Sea of Blood (R) is often seen as a hard deck to play against as it gives the player the option to jump characters fairly easily while also raising the claim to wipe the board over and over again between the high claim and an aggressive plot deck. One of the main cards in the deck is Aegon Targaryen (TSC) giving the deck consistency in finding Raiding Khalasar easily. Another issue with the deck is how much it can put Military pressure on it’s opponent, and Khal Drogo (Core) is what really helps the deck put that Military pressure. Therefore, we have decided to add Aegon Targaryen (TSC) and Khal Drogo (Core) to a pod, along with Ghost Hill Elite, which is another card seen as problematic with Aegon Targaryen (TSC) in Martell Banner Dragon decks. This pod should push Targaryen players into figuring out which option they prefer, while also keeping the Ghost Hill Elite consistency of killing cards in many phases a bit more down.
Tyrell
A card often discussed during Restricted List conversations among the team is The Bounty of Highgarden. It is used in all Tyrell decks as it is a card that cannot be interacted with for a gain of +3 gold, in any phase as long as you have 2 gold available. We understand that not all Tyrell decks who play Bounty are S or A tier decks, but considering that it is played in every deck Tyrell has, it was believed to be a problem to deal with. With that said we have decided to Restrict The Bounty of Highgarden. Hopefully, that forces those decks at the top of the curve for Tyrell to play more economic plots if they choose to not play Bounty, or let’s them choose this high impact economic card to continue to play the low gold/high impact plot.
A deck that has been fairly strong since the release of it’s center piece is Tyrell Many-Faced God, with Randyll Tarly (JS) as it’s center piece. This deck can play an insane amount of locations to allow the Tyrell player to then cheat more locations or stand Army characters for a complete control of the challenge phase. Therefore, we have decided to add Randyll Tarly (JS) back onto the Restricted List. Our hope is that with players seeing the true power behind this deck with Randyll free, that they will choose to keep playing it and make the choice of removing Oldtown from the deck.
Neutral
A deck that has been very successful since it was brought into the spotlight, and has continued to evolve and be seen as the deck choice for Online Worlds 2025, is Tyrell Assault from the Shadows. 2nd place in Online Worlds 2024, Top 16 at Stahleck 2024, and multiple high finishes in Online Worlds 2025 has shown that this deck is resilient through time even if people are aware of it, and is also really good at playing the whole board wipe game with multiple resets and Varys (Core). On top of that, the deck really enjoys hiding Varys (Core) into shadows with the use of the Agenda, allowing their opponents little ways of interacting with it. With this said, we have decided to pod Assault from the Shadows with Varys (Core). Hopefully, this pushes Assault decks in better using their resets instead of trying to always reset the board between plots and Varys (Core).
Melee
Greyjoy
Fresh off winning the Stahleck 2024 Melee, King Balon has been noticed as a fearsome character able to do multiple standing military challenges against opponents who do not control a king. As most cards on the Restricted List are either massive power gain cards or cards that can be stood, Balon fits the narrative as an option of amassing multiple renown power a turn by not kneeling to attack. Therefore, we have added Balon Greyjoy (CtA) on the Restricted List.
While classic Greyjoy takes a hit, Drowned Gods are given a tool back to allow them to amass power. A big part of Drowned Gods is winning dominance, which was something difficult for them to do as they had to pick between a fast power gain in Drowned Disciple (R) and Nagga’s Ribs. Therefore, we have decided to remove Nagga’s Ribs from the Restricted List. Hopefully, that gives Greyjoy player an option at playing their favorite wet beards again for Melee.
Stark
A card designed to bring pain to it’s opponents that aren’t prepared is Karhold. Forcing your opponents to have winter plots to have power gain is a very strong tool, while the player using Karhold is built around this interaction. Therefore, we have decided to add Karhold to the Restricted List while also removing it from it’s pod with Winter Festival.
Targaryen
Following into the footsteps of Joust, a card seen as way above curve and problematic in Melee is Queensguard. This card allows it’s player to make many challenges with a renown character with little drawback, something even more easily abused in Melee. Therefore, like in Joust, Queensguard has been banned.
Tyrell
Tyrell is a often a force to be reckon with for Melee, with their renown characters, ability to stand and power grab tools, it is always a tough balance to figure out. Just like Targaryen, Tyrell has a Joust banned card in Goldengrove, and it will also be banned in Melee. Having seen the card in effect all the way to the finals, it allows it’s user so much flexibility and power that could grab a high amount of power quickly.
Furthermore, a card about to be released in Megga Tyrell has been quickly spotted as a card with very high potential at grabbing power fast. While it is hard to judge the card with little known data on Melee, it was seen as a cautious decision to add Megga Tyrell to the Restricted List to avoid any slips considering most cards that can gain multiple power per round are also restricted.
One last change for Tyrell, is the removal of Mace Tyrell (R) from the Restricted List. While the card has potential to gain some power fast, it can only be done on a character once, as it has to be removed from play to re enter play and gain power. With the banning of Goldengrove, and the cautious decision to Restrict Megga, giving a tool back to Tyrell that is strong but can be fragile was seen as a way to ensure that Tyrell is still seen as a potential option for Melee.
Neutral
The second of our cautious hit from a card just released is The Warden of the East. This card can gain up to 3 power per round, something that is fairly easy to do when you combine it with an Agenda like Greensight, which does exactly what the Attachment needs you to do, reveal cards. Therefore, Greensight and The Warden of the East have been added to a pod. While many other cards can be seen as possibly problematic with the attachment, we want to see it have clear result before move further onto hitting it in Melee, as an attachment can still be removed and the Arryn trait does not seem problematic in Melee for now.
One last card to make it’s way onto the Restricted List is the controversial Uniting the Realms. Melee being a chaotic environment, it is believed that this Agenda can truly try and gain the best options from any factions to help rush the game in ways that are really hard to control.
Hopefully, these changes encourage new deckbuilding for both Joust and Melee for the ongoing Nationals season and the upcoming Worlds Championship at Stahleck, where we will be celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the release of the game. We hope to see many of you at the castle by either playing cards or exchanging moments with other members of the community.
