Royalty without Banners 1.4

Always warms my heart to see someone running Rainbow Brotherhood. No comments on the deck, just wanted to say thanks for posting.

Glad you liked it. I liked the idea of using Hollow Hill to bring some useful and interesting characters that otherwise would be more expensive, and using it as part of the draw mechanic behind the deck.

I'm planning on using this in an unofficial tournament coming up in my city. I'd very much like to hear what you think of it. And, of course, al criticism is welcome!

Your gonna have to take darkstar out, he is house martell only. Try changing it for the Tourney for the hand Darkstar. Or ser eldon estermont

I may have not much experience when it comes to Brotherhood, but I am sure, you can't run Darkstar (PotS) with Neutral Faction, since he is House Martel only.

And since I am already commenting here, I will add a couple more remarks:

I believe this deck needs some thinning down and since you have a lot of events and attachments, which also makes your setup worse, I would cut some of those. I'm thinking Rusted Sword, since you have no influence to make the best use out of them, maybe Gossip and Lies (it works only for one challenge, so it's not that great) and Ill Tidings, since it's rather situational. Also I would exchange 1 or 2 Retreats for Bodyguard (Core).

As for characters, I would drop 1 or 2 copies of Ghost of High Heart and I would replace Alannys with Asha Greyjoy (WLL). You could then add some more Noble characters and exploit that theme - replace LoW Eddard with Eddard Stark (TTotH) and switch some plot(s) for The Power of Blood (Core) (or 2). Other interesting Nobles for this deck are Lyanna Stark (ODG), Sansa Stark (TftRK) and Baelor Blacktyde (TIoR).

If this is designed for joust games, I would also cut Summoning Season (Core).

And If you're going to make this character changes I suggested, you may need some more income, and in this case I would replace some of the low income plots. So assuming you replaced Summoning Season with The Power of Blood, I would also consider replacing Herding the Masses (Core) (0 initiative and 2 gold makes it not so useful) with one of those:
The First Snow of Winter (ODG) - of your cards it affect, returning Flea Bottom Scavengers and Orphaned Recruits to your hand can be a good thing, and it can really hurt your opponent.
another The Power of Blood (Core).
The Red Wedding (PotS) - has to be timed well, but can really help.
Fleeing to the Wall (Core) - if locations are really popular in your meta, this one can win you games.

Wow, you're absolutely right! I totally missed Darkstar's restriction.

I'll check on some of those other changes you mentioned, see what I can do with what I've got. It's got some thinning to do, but I didn't think much about it, since I tried to make it so that you can have a nice supply of drawing

Gossip and Lies (OSaS) has won me quite some challenges, especially when held for the right ones, and Retreat (Core) is there because I tried to build the deck around mostly Unique characters (which explains the choice for plots, as well). Would you really drop the Ghost of High Heart (WLL)? I think that card is unbelievable. The sheer power of knowing every round what's in your opponent's hand, and being able to discard the biggest threat... not to mention the pyschological blow that makes.

I hadn't thought of making the House-splash about nobles, but it might work. I'll look into it a bit more before commenting on it.

Thanks for the comments!

I'm just saying, that you don't need all 3 copies of the Ghost of High Heart. I don't deny, that it is a great card.

Nobles is just a loose idea, not really thought through, but I thought it might be fun. If you're gonna try it, let me know if it works out for you.

I actually want to take back one of my suggestions Attachments are not really popular in my meta, but I guess you may need some attachment control to protect Beric, so dropping Ill Tidings may not be the best idea. Unless you replace them with Measter Cressen or Maester of Lemonwood. If you're sticking with Ill Tidings, then consider 1-2 more maesters/learned to be able to pay for it. Willas Tyrell or Maester Aemon (Core) for example.

Some standing tech would be nice with all the renowns but that's hard to come up with in Neutral Faction. Only Distinct Mastery comes to my mind, and it won't work on Beric (+ it's another event)

I'll see if I can try it, and I'll let you know. I think I can get my hands on some of those nobles. Probably Asha and TTotH's Eddard.

Considering Darkstar has left the building, what do you think of The Red Viper (PotS) taking it's place as House Martell's Noble/Splash/Unique character? He's not cheap, but most locations I play can reduce his cost, plus with renown, a sweet immunity and the possibility of not kneeling alongside the Mad Hunstman, I think he might be a nice addition.

Oh, and my meta (which is just a couple of friends) loves attachments (I've had some Dubious Loyalties (IG) played on the Hunstman more than once), so I never doubted keeping Ill Tidings. I thought between the Ghost of High Heart, Tom Sevenstrings and Lomys, there was plenty to try and draw before having to use it.

I'm in a bit of a disjunction regarding Summoning Season:

My roommate (and the guy I play most my games with) says it's an essential part of the deck, and that he can't think of cutting it. I see his point: Beric is just a key component of the deck, especially in trying to keep all your power safe. However, since I'm trying to get this polished to play jousts in a recent unofficial tournament, I feel the downside of giving your only opponent one of his key characters too might just be a bit too much.

Anyone's got any opinions on it?


Edit: I've also been pondering on the use of The Pale Mare (THoBaW). Has anyone got a chance to try it?

I guess you have already had your tournament. Sorry, I don't have as much time for agot (in real life or online) lately as I would like to. Still, I am going to answer

Summoning Season is really bad for joust, unless it is absolutely necessary to have certain guy out turn 1. IMO what you can and should do is (I am repeating myself here) cut down to 60 cards in your deck. And while doing this, try to get rid of cards, that are bad for setup: attachments, events, expensive characters. This way you are increasing chances to draw either Beric or cards that let you draw (which further increases your chances of getting Beric). Plots are vital in AGOT and you can only include 7 in your deck, so it is a shame to waste this slot. Other plot I haven't mentioned yet in this topic, that could help you is Negotiations at the Great Sept, try it out.

As for The Pale Mare: I have never played it and I think I never will. You give yourself 0 gold to discard all of your opponent's non-uniques, except the one he cares most about. I really believe Relentless Persecution + Joff is all the "non-unique hate" you are going to need. Dedicating so many plots to fight this particular theme is very limiting, while again, plots are one of your most reliable tool and therefore should be universal.

Actually, the tournament hasn't happened yet. They're still figuring out which day to hold it, but it'll probably be by the end of May. So, thanks for taking the time, anyways

I've made some changes to the deck. First, cut it down to 60 cards, though it wasn't easy. Despite attachments being quite popular in my meta, I got rid of Ill Tidings (IG), because in the end, you end up using it one game every so often, and when you need it, it's pretty unreliable. Won't be the first deck without attachment control. I tried building the rainbow around nobles, but so far, it hasn't proved too useful. The idea is quite interesting, but with so little copies of out-of-House characters, it's not worth it. Asha Greyjoy (WLL), nonetheless, was an auto-include as soon as you mentioned it, replacing Alannys, and The Red Viper (PotS) came in to replace Darkstar. I actually managed to play it in one game, have it survive Valar and claim 2 or 3 power for renown. Useful, though a bit expensive.

Summoning Season and Herding the Masses have left the building, and Alliance (PotS) and Shadows and Spiders (LotR) took their place (Loyalty Money Can Buy (QoD) is a close second for that last one, it just needs some trying).

Now I've just got the problem that I feel I've got too many out-of-House, so I'll see how I go around that, and I'll be posting a new decklist tomorrow probably. I'd like to hear any comments you've got, though

I think it looks much better now with 60 cards. Only change I would consider is dropping The Red Viper (PotS), he may be just too expensive for your deck. If you want someone with power-grabbing capability, then I suggest another copy of Asha or The Bastard of Nightsong (VM), or (if you are not worried about Ally trait) Harmen Uller (PotS) or Willas Tyrell (VM). Or Knight of Flowers (SaS), but that would require changing your restricted card. Or if you think that your deck would benefit from some more control, then maybe Margaery Tyrell (AToTT) or Brienne of Tarth (PotS). And since you got rid of Ill Tidings, I would say goodbye to Lomys as well. Those choices are meta-dependent, so I only listed some possibilities.

I made a few more changes (don't think they're visible yet). Dropped The Red Viper (I love that character, but the deck's character curve is already steep enough) and dropped Estermont as well (though that really hurt). In it's place, I added an extra Roseroad and Searoad. Mostly because I played a couple of games with it and I noticed I'm not drawing as much locations, and I was having big trouble marshalling things.

I'm thinking The Bastard of Nightsong (VM) might be a nice addition to the deck, but I'm a little too attached to Lomys to take him out. I think he might be a great way to keep those characters with renown alive when the time is right. What do you think of changing the Bastard for Robert Baratheon (Core), thus, at the same time reducing the gold curve a little bit further? Though Robert's ability is very cool, I think The Bastard's might be comparable, and he is cheaper.


I actually considered Harmen before I read your comment, but then thought that, since this deck is not super heavy in draw, it's ability might trigger only rarely, making it not so attractive. I'll keep trying it and let you know of any other developments. Of course, any comments and critics are still welcome

Well, now it's updated. I've been thinking of switching Robert Baratheon (Core) with The Bastard of Nightsong (VM), thus making it a bit cheaper. Still, Robert is just TOO good. The other option would be switching it for Lomys instead of Robert, but Lomys's ability is so good as well. Plus, that wouldn't bring down costs.