Ice Choke

i suspect you havent actually played this,so i'll keep my comments for the revised version.(hint : deck is too expensive and slow for what you want to do with choke).

I think you might need more Draw, cheaper stuff overall to speed set up and keep under your own reduced gold pool. Plenty of solid choices in there, but I'd consider adding Burned and Pillaged as well as Bay of Iceand Captured Cog. Winning initiative helps control choke and challenges, and keeps the card drawing going too.

Sam for draw is fine as a secondary draw mechanism, but its too fragile a combo to dedicate 7 card slots too. The tiniest burn, and he's dead.

As to meta-premise, I think you're wrong. KotHH might have had one or two combos taken out with its errata, but the restriction of Red Keep also means that its the only reliable Influence source left. Plus, the return of refugees favours burn as well.

Thank you Asklepios for your feedback
(And Icarus for your scathing review - as you've added value in 2 other threads, I'm quite keen to hear how you would progress it)

Firstly, let me explain the theory behind the build, which I have now fine-tuned (but of course only cursorily tested)

(1) Many houses can build a very Military aggressive build and dominate the board
(2) The problem is this over-commits into a Valar so only Greyjoy can really do this
(3) Greyjoy has poor draw but great draw is of little value with Song of Ice and choke
(4) New Theon is a game changer, costs opponent the better character who survived
(5) Whilst you use enduring saves (Moqorro, Wendermyr, Aemon) to shake off Theon

Because it is Winter, any extra draw is of limited use so the deck relies on Counting Favours and Negotiations for hand refills
Yes Sam may draw cards but the purpose of the 3 Carrion Birds is because they are very cheap board control
And having Winter is pretty crucial (for Marauders, Balon, Fishermen) hence the 3 White Ravens

The deck needs to ensure greater locations (Damphair's Drowned, Goodbrothers, Balon) hence I chose 6 limited locations
The problem with (limited) Burned and Pillage is it prevents ensuring that objective (I considered Seized too restrictive)
Also the build prefers 2nd for Fishermen, Moqorro, Marauders (triggers defence), even Newly Made Lord has more targets
Only time it wants to go first is when it plays White Raven turn 1 (sadly it is unlikely to win initiative unless opened with WR)
And because Burned and Pillaged is a"go first" card (like Sparr), I chose mild choke and Sea Roads to fund my Marauders

I removed 3 Winter Armada (pricey, rushy, this build is about board control) and added 1 Black Wind and 2 more copies of Theon
I love the unopposed INT/POW wins Black Wind forces (else 2 card advantage); it's just so much more subtler than Winter Armada
Despite this unopposed, I could not justify The Reader (as then I wouldn't win unopposed!) nor Tycho, the only other draw options
Storm the Shores seemed hit-and-miss so I preferred the guaranteed location advantage and safety of Iron Mines (as well as Cliffs)
As explained, the build is all about board control and wins slow, turning the screw as Marauders, Captain, Black Wind cull the board
There is also the offensive Valar (which in this build can be quite offensive indeed)

So that's the theory behind the build, I've only had limited practice (I am brand new to Greyjoy) but I feel it works quite well
There are lots of cheap characters and locations for an impressive set-up and key characters can be saved (uniques with dupes)

Anyway, here is the revised version (costs have been reduced slightly, Icarus, following your feedback).

Deck Built with CardGameDB.com GoT Deckbuilder

Ice Choke

House (1)
House Greyjoy (Core) x1

Agenda (1)
A Song of Ice (FaI) x1

Character (34)
Balon Greyjoy (FaI) x3
Wintertime Marauders (ACoS) x3
Newly Made Lord (TftH) x3
The Sparr (APS) x1
Mance Rayder (TWoW) x1
Moqorro (VD) x1
Maester Wendamyr (KotS) x1
Maester Aemon (Core) x1
Theon Greyjoy (SoW) x3
Maester Murenmure (CbtC) x1
Gormond Goodbrother (THtW) x1
Gran Goodbrother (AHA) x1
Damphair's Drowned (FaI) x3
Ice Fisherman (TWoW) x3
Samwell Tarly (TRS) x1
Carrion Bird (ASoS) x3
Greydon Goodbrother (TK) x1
Island Refugee (RoW) x3

Location (22)
Longship Iron Victory (KotS) x1
Longship Black Wind (CbtC) x1
Frozen Sea (TWoW) x1
The Kingsroad 23 (FaI) x3
The Iron Cliffs (HtS) x3
The Iron Mines (KotS) x3
River Blockade (RoR) x1
Gatehouse (KotS) x3
The Searoad (KotStorm) x3
Street of Steel (Core) x1
Street of Sisters (Core) x1
River Row (QoD) x1

Event (0)

Attachment (4)
Captain of the Iron Fleet (TGM) x1
White Raven (TWoW) x3

Plot (7)
A Time for Ravens (ACoS) x1
Forgotten Plans (KotStorm) x1
The Winds of Winter (TWoW) x1
Retaliation! (ASoSilence) x1
Valar Morghulis (Core) x1
Counting Favors (Core) x1
Negotiations at the Great Sept (TPoL) x1


As Icarus can testify (from a Lannister and Martell thread), I listen to feedback and learn from those more experienced
So any feedback is much appreciated

Thanks for reading

ok now i must post something ;p.i wont go too much into specific card choices but mostly on the whole strategy direction of the deck.here it goes

if i only saw the deck without seeing the agenda i would bet it was a kings of winter deck.
choke decks of old (maester,no agenda,hod-iron victory,kings of winter) were mostly controled aggro decks.you dictated the pace,you disrupted their plays with cancels,you messed with their gold curve.song of ice doesnt work like this i ve found lately.its really a one trick pony in that it has the same way to try to win each game,even though it is quite efficient at doing that.

let me elaborate : you want cards with immediate impact,below the curve and not staying in your hand.you want muptiple 1-draw advantages that can actually survive the end of dominance disadvantage your agenda has.finally you definitely want to go 1st every turn of every game and possibly lead with military to empty the little pressence that they can muster.

closing,i will point some card choices that are crucial imo.the sparr is probably THE best card in the deck.anything not setup friendly is a burden.6 limited is way to much a you are going for a turn 3,4,5 win.4 cost cards cannot be played.even 3 cost should be the bare minimum of spar,marauders and newly lords.and for the more locations theme you should play 3x bay of ice along 1-2 captured cogs which accelerate your win by winning dominance too.

song of ice is a 3 step recipe : strip their advantage t1 with your agenda,choke them hard,out-aggro the few cards they play with initiative and high claim.

UNLESS you dont make it winter 1st turn and the only reason you chose the agenda was fear of kings of summer,in which case forget everything i said.

p.s. i'm not that experienced,i have played far too few tourneys for my liking.ocgtn doesnt really measure up to that eye-to-eye pressure an irl tourney does.

Thanks, Icarus - you are so right!!! This build needs to be played in Kings of Winter like it's predecessor build here!
After more testing, it's so clunky waiting to play Winter (my first few tests never picked up on this, lucky draws I guess)
I feel embarrassed not realising this. Now I understand why you said Song of Ice needs to be so fast, cheap and go first!

Unfortunately, the Greyjoy Song of Ice deck you describe is not a deck I'd enjoy playing - it's a bit too mono for my taste
So despite the title of this thread, I am changing it to Kings of Winter and making a few other changes to fit this agenda


Deck Built with CardGameDB.com GoT Deckbuilder

Winter Choke

House (1)
House Greyjoy (Core) x1

Agenda (1)
Kings of Winter (TWoW) x1

Character (33)
Balon Greyjoy (FaI) x3
Wintertime Marauders (ACoS) x3
Newly Made Lord (TftH) x3
The Sparr (APS) x1
Mance Rayder (TWoW) x1
Tycho Nestoris (SoW) x1
Alannys Greyjoy (ODG) x1
Moqorro (VD) x1
Maester Wendamyr (KotS) x1
Maester Aemon (Core) x1
Theon Greyjoy (SoW) x3
Maester Murenmure (CbtC) x1
Gormond Goodbrother (THtW) x1
Gran Goodbrother (AHA) x1
Damphair's Drowned (FaI) x3
Ice Fisherman (TWoW) x3
Samwell Tarly (TRS) x1
Carrion Bird (ASoS) x3
Greydon Goodbrother (TK) x1

Location (23)
Winter Armada (TWoW) x3
The Kingsroad 23 (FaI) x3
Frozen Sea (TWoW) x1
The Iron Mines (KotS) x3
River Blockade (RoR) x1
Gatehouse (KotS) x3
The Searoad (KotStorm) x3
Street of Steel (Core) x1
Street of Sisters (Core) x1
River Row (QoD) x1
Sunset Sea (Core) x3

Event (0)

Attachment (4)
Captain of the Iron Fleet (TGM) x1
White Raven (TWoW) x3

Plot (7)
A Time for Ravens (ACoS) x1
Search and Detain (HtS) x1
The Winds of Winter (TWoW) x1
At the Gates (GotC) x1
Retaliation! (ASoSilence) x1
Forgotten Plans (KotStorm) x1
Valar Morghulis (Core) x1


I've gone back to Winter Armada because the deck actually needs them to force through the wins to trigger almost all of its abilities
To fully leverage the Agenda, I limited myself to Marshalling phase draw (Sam, Tycho); the big decision was Val or Search and Detain
As this prefers going second (except playing Winter), I opted for the utility of Search and Detain (which requires skill to play) over Val
This is because the build is slightly on the pricey side so Val's card draw may often be redundant (and clashes with existing card draw)
I don't know if this was the correct decision...

The build is a slow turning of the screw (I'm sure there are faster builds) but that's what I like about it
Thanks, Icarus, for the good advice

Thanks, Icarus - you are so right!!! This build needs to be played in Kings of Winter like it's predecessor build here!
After more testing, it's so clunky waiting to play Winter (my first few tests never picked up on this, lucky draws I guess)
I feel embarrassed not realising this. Now I understand why you said Song of Ice needs to be so fast, cheap and go first!

Unfortunately, the Greyjoy Song of Ice deck you describe is not a deck I'd enjoy playing - it's a bit too mono for my taste
So despite the title of this thread, I am changing it to Kings of Winter and making a few other changes to fit this agenda


Deck Built with CardGameDB.com GoT Deckbuilder

Winter Choke

House (1)
House Greyjoy (Core) x1

Agenda (1)
Kings of Winter (TWoW) x1

Character (33)
Balon Greyjoy (FaI) x3
Wintertime Marauders (ACoS) x3
Newly Made Lord (TftH) x3
The Sparr (APS) x1
Mance Rayder (TWoW) x1
Tycho Nestoris (SoW) x1
Alannys Greyjoy (ODG) x1
Moqorro (VD) x1
Maester Wendamyr (KotS) x1
Maester Aemon (Core) x1
Theon Greyjoy (SoW) x3
Maester Murenmure (CbtC) x1
Gormond Goodbrother (THtW) x1
Gran Goodbrother (AHA) x1
Damphair's Drowned (FaI) x3
Ice Fisherman (TWoW) x3
Samwell Tarly (TRS) x1
Carrion Bird (ASoS) x3
Greydon Goodbrother (TK) x1

Location (23)
Winter Armada (TWoW) x3
The Kingsroad 23 (FaI) x3
Frozen Sea (TWoW) x1
The Iron Mines (KotS) x3
River Blockade (RoR) x1
Gatehouse (KotS) x3
The Searoad (KotStorm) x3
Street of Steel (Core) x1
Street of Sisters (Core) x1
River Row (QoD) x1
Sunset Sea (Core) x3

Event (0)

Attachment (4)
Captain of the Iron Fleet (TGM) x1
White Raven (TWoW) x3

Plot (7)
A Time for Ravens (ACoS) x1
Search and Detain (HtS) x1
The Winds of Winter (TWoW) x1
At the Gates (GotC) x1
Retaliation! (ASoSilence) x1
Forgotten Plans (KotStorm) x1
Valar Morghulis (Core) x1


I've gone back to Winter Armada because the deck actually needs them to force through the wins to trigger almost all of its abilities
To fully leverage the Agenda, I limited myself to Marshalling phase draw (Sam, Tycho); the big decision was Val or Search and Detain
As this prefers going second (except playing Winter), I opted for the utility of Search and Detain (which requires skill to play) over Val
This is because the build is slightly on the pricey side so Val's card draw may often be redundant (and clashes with existing card draw)
I don't know if this was the correct decision...

The build is a slow turning of the screw (I'm sure there are faster builds) but that's what I like about it
Thanks, Icarus, for the good advice

now it seems about right.i'm glad i helped ;p