Lannister Intrigue/Power Rush

Overall it is a solid Lannister deck, however there are some changes I would recommend.

Now, some of these cards you may not have, and if so, please say so we can work out alternatives for you.

The biggest change I would suggest is trimming the deck down to 60 cards. Whilst 4 cards may not seem much, if you have the same number of cards in setup as your opponent, you are two turns behind them in the odds of seeingcards in your deck.

From the quantity of uniques you are using, I take it you are in favour of multiples of uniques to increase the chance of them appearing, and perhaps even getting a duplicate on them. The risk is that if they die then your extra copies will be dead cards in your hand. For non-critical uniques (pretty much, not Cersei), I would go down to a single copy. Myrcella could stay above one copy, as she is best played the turn you intend to discard her, as it reduces the chance of her being killed.

The Hound and Hear Me Roar means The Hound will return to your hand, and as such he won't be able to come into play for the entire turn. It depends on if the -1 Str for non-Intrigue characters or the 5 gold is the selling point for Hear Me Roar. If it is the gold, I would suggest All the Gold in Casterly Rock (LotR), as you will get as much gold with any two Lannister locations, and could potentially explode beyond that later in the game.

Related to that, I would advise going for a second claim 2 plot. That way you have stronger board impact, as you aren't relying solely on B&E to hit their hand hard, or kill off their characters.

In addition to Lannisport, you may want to look at Maester Creylen (FtC), as he also helps your power acceleration. With the pair of them out, assuming you have the gold, you could be earning 2 power per Intrigue challenge. Plus, on the off-chance that you somehow lose an Intrigue challenge, Creylen still lets him claim a power as someone won an Intrigue challenge.

Location wise, as the only reason for influence is Double Bluff, I would ditch the Fiefdoms. Being Limited, it can slow the deck down, and 0 cost reducers or extra gold production could do more for you, such as Shadowblack Lane (Core) due to the amount of Intrigue characters you have.
If you can get hold of one, get a third Golden Tooth Mine. They are amazing and should be maximised whenever possible.
An interesting location you may add is King's Pavillion (KotStorm), as it makes characters such as Cersei stronger, and for the turn you have Game of Thrones revealed, you are very likely to push through your challenges.

With your attachments and events, you have 19 cards that you cannot use in setup, giving you almost a third of your deck. Because of this, on average 2 cards in your opening hand will not be useful, reducing the chances of getting a good setup and thinning your deck down to help you draw into the cards you want. I would advise 9-12 in total, excluding any Setup attachments.

Finally, you don't appear to have a restricted card. Unfortunately, two of our best are from old packs, which may be why. If they are unavailble for you, what about Narrow Escape? If you have managed to bring them down to 0 hand and then they play Valar, you can Narrow Escape, knowing they cannot discard a card to cancel it.

Whilst PBtT is focused on hitting them hard on Intrigue, I would recommend some kneel effects, as it is one of Lannisters strengths, and can help you push your challenges through.

Hope that helps, and look forward to hearing back from you

First off, I would like to thank you for an actually helpful post. It was quite insightful and it shows that you actually took the time to go through a lot of the reasoning behind it (even with such a small description on my behalf:P).

About my deck being a bit, "fat". You may be right there, and I have thought about it, but that is actually connected to my preference, (as you have already pointed out), in having multiple copies of unique characters, (for reasons again mentioned above in your post). So for the time being I will most likely keep the size as is. Perhaps when I will become more experienced in the game and have more confidence in my gaming ability I might go down in the card size, but for now I want to keep the multiples as a security net for my uniques. I might ditch one copy of Myrcella though.

Now then, about the Hound, I did find him quite problematic tbh, and I was thinking of replacing him, but I was not quite certain what to replace him with. Perhaps I might go for some kneeling as you suggested. As for Hear me roar, it tended to be my opening plot, but it has more often than not, actually gimped me in the first round. All the Gold in Casterly Rock was the plot I was using before I replaced it with Hear me Roar, and by the looks of it I will probably fall back on it, because of the versatility it offers when used in mid to late game.

You also suggested that I get some sort of 2 claim plot. I was thinking of replacing Uneasy Truce with Breaking and Entering. Which is also another card I used to have in my plot deck. I think I have been too scared of losing characters in military challenges, and may have gone a bit overboard with plots that keep people from making military challenges against me.

Another card you suggested including in my deck was Maester Creylen. He's also something I was seriously considering of including, in order to focus more my power generation from intrigue and gold. Havent decided yet what I will take out to get him in though. Perhaps I will trim my evens a bit again as you suggested, and put 2 copies of him in the deck.

Now on locations, I agree that I could get rid of the Fiefdoms, but puting in a third Golden Tooth mine feels like overkill. Then again it is a brilliant card, and there have been games when then mines have never actually appeared. I will playtest my deck with 3 mines and see how it goes. As for cost reducers, I could use the Sunset Sea (Lann/Gj) location.

As far as attachments and events go, I suppose I could trim them a bit. I could ditch the Gilded plate all together, and perhaps one Slander and Lies, one Double Bluff, and one A Lannister always pays his Debts.

Narrow Escape sounds like a really interesting card. I think that if I manage to find one among my friends, I will definately use it.

Again, all in all it has been a helpful post, and I thank you for it.

I am glad you found my post helpful. Lannister has been my main house for a year now, and I have explored many different deck types with them, and used them in two regionals. That doesn't make me an expert however, but does give me a solid understanding of how the cards can work together.

In regards to trimming the deck down, I would not advise dropping characters. What I would have suggested with characters, if you had a different viewpoint on uniques, is swap them for more non-uniques, to help smooth out the deck. As it is, four cards could easily be cut elsewhere to get it to 60, but still do the job.

You could swap the Hound for Creylen, as it won't change the number of characters in your deck, and you like the idea of trying him out, and were thinking of dropping the Hound anyway.

Breaking and Entering is a solid option for a claim 2 plot. As you are Intrigue rush and kneeling/control, you want a better chance at going first. At a push, Above the Sorrows (VM) could be used, as it has a high initiative, increasing your chances of going first. The ability isn't amazing, but it is tied for highest outside of Retaliation, which goes against the purpose of the deck, and offers no downside unlike Dry Season or Feast or Famine.

I assure you a third Mine is not overkill. Hitting your draw cap is never overkill It increases the chance that you see one, and also means you are less reliant on Tommen or Widow's Wail for card draw.

The Seas are good for a one-off reduction. It does depend on how long your games will go on for. If 4+ turns, then the neutral reducers may serve you better. It depends if you would keep them in play to help pay for Double Bluff, or just be discarding them right away to get more characters out.

Out of your attachments and events, the first one that comes to mind is Slander and Lies. I imagine it may be a meta choice, and that the people you play with use lots of Renown characters? The problem is if they don't have such characters, it is a dead card in your hand. Even if they do, it implies they are winning challenges against you, which is not what you want. Two copies of them and two Gilded Plate without any other changes would bring you down to 60. (Though see below for further thoughts)

How do you feel about switching Insidious Ways for I'm You Writ Small (Core)? The card draw from Insidious Ways only really gives you an extra card, as it replaces itself. But once you are drawing two cards from other sources, it loses the effectiveness. Meanwhile by attaching IYWS, you get the same strength boost, and add Dadly on an attack they were not expecting. So wait until they declare a defender, and when it is one you want to kill off, play IYWS, win and kill them off. The best part is that the character who gets the attachment doesn't have to be the same one who was given Deadly.

The best piece of advice I can offer you and your friends is to proxy cards. It allows you to work out what card you want, which helps you decide if a card is worth using and thus buying. It is also great when more people in a group want to use cards then there are copies of, such as Valar Morghulis when there are more decks then core sets.

These are some changes I would suggest:
-1 Uneasy Truce (Core)
-1 Hear Me Roar (Core)
-2 The Hound (PotS)
-2 Western Fiefdoms (Core)
-2 Gilded Plate (Core)
-3 Slander and Lies (HtS)
-2 Insidious Ways (Core)
-3 Double Bluff (LotR)

+1 All the Gold in Casterly Rock (LotR)
+1 Breaking and Entering (LotR)
+2 Maester Creylen (FtC)
+1 Ser Arys Oakheart (PotS) (Renown and can get rid of certain characters)
+1 Golden Tooth Mines (Core)
+3 I'm You Writ Small (Core)
+3 Narrow Escape (KotStorm)

Overall, 4 cards lost.

What do you think?

I think you are right on the fact that my friends use a lot of renown characters. Perhaps because almost all of them do so, must have made choosing Slander and lies seem like a generic, and not specific deck targeting choice. :S But yes, you are right that if my opponent does not use renown, then I will be stuck with cards that will be useless.

Now for the changes, I agree with most of them, and I will make the changes as I have the cards for it, apart from two things. Firstly I do not have Ser Arys Oakheart, and secondly, what about some kneeling? Then that got me thinking..."how much kneeling do I put in the deck for it to be effective, but without dilluting the effectiveness of its core mechanics?".

Secondly, as I do not have Narrow Escape readily available, and it might some time until I do get it, is there some other event I could use perhaps?

PS: As for Tommen, he's there mainly because he counters "If he is the only king" text of other kings, without being overly expensive, and he does have a nice ability if he actually is the only king present.

Perhaps a brothel, and a few brothel guards, or Cercei's attendant, or Enemy Informer?

What I would suggest is not really look at too much kneeling for this deck, and after getting some experience with the deck and Lannister on the whole, then move to a hyperkneel deck. Then after trying both extremes, you will get an idea for what balance between the two you prefer.

I enjoy hyperkneel decks more (my friends do not!), but am currently looking at more rush/murder decks recently, for a change of pace.

As you don't own Arys, then the other character I was going to suggest was Joffrey Baratheon (PotS) as he is the cheapest Renown available for Lannister, though he does lack Intrigue.

A solid alternative for Narrow Escape, which would let you dabble at kneeling, but also give you an emergency means to gain power, is You've Killed the Wrong Dwarf! (Core). Being able to kneel any non-Noble, and in exchange give them a power, can help push through your challenges. So what if their massive army gains a power, if it means it leaves them defenseless against your Military attack? Or if you are on 14 power in the draw phase after drawing into it, play it on one of your characters and win.

I imagine you have one or more Baratheon players locally then, based on what you have said about Renown and Tommen? Rush against rush can lead to games that explode with power, and end quickly. If you do try a hyperkneel deck, it will give them a change of pace that they won't know how to cope with.

Here are some cards that I have used in a hyperkneel deck in the past:
Cersei Lannister (AToT)
Castellan of the Rock (BoRF)
Ser Jaime Lannister (TftH)
You've Killed the Wrong Dwarf! (Core)
Lannisport Tourney Grounds (ODG)
Lannisport Brothel (Core)
Brothel Guard (LotR)
Distraction (Core)
Alchemist's Guild Hall (TBoBB)
City of Sin (AToT)
Penny (VD)
Volantis Inn (AHM)

I did it based from a shadow build and the City plots, as well as added support from Maesters. The agenda wasn't restricted however, so I could combine it with Castellan.