Gummi Bears - 2013 Baltimore Regionals 1st Place

Yay Targaryen Bleeds is now a thing. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

And Congrats btw.

Nice job. Looks like a fun deck.

Just curious, what are you trying to target with Called to Court?

Yay Targaryen Bleeds is now a thing. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

And Congrats btw.

Thanks! Bleeds was necessary with the introduction of all the cheap big armies, and the prevalence of Long Voyage going around. Hugely splashy decks and big army decks can get to be a bit much, so Bleeds had to be added to keep them at bay.

Just curious, what are you trying to target with Called to Court?

It's a versatility thing actually, I don't have just one target. Initially it was the replace Search and Detain (since I can't use that as my restricted anymore). I use it for high initiative if I need to ambush out the Thundering Cav or just guarantee a draw from BoI. I use it to bring back Jorah, Daario, or Strong Belwas so I can reuse them. Once in a great while I use it to bounce an opponent's sole expensive character back to hand, but that's unreliable. I also use it frequently as a mini-counter to valar, bringing back one crucial character.
However, I use it most for Street Waifs. I almost always use my Waifs during standing, and then if I have a Long Lances in hand or on the table, I can use this to restand at least one of them to use again before draw. If I don't have any Lances or (god forbid) they're all dead or discarded, I bring out something else without a come-into-play effect and bring them back to hand so I can play and use them again during marshalling.
All in all, it's a versatile plot and 4/9/1 (effective with KotHH) is damned good stats.

Stolen'd, well, with edits. I want a bit more burn and will totally ditch the Thundering Cavalry, at least. Do you find you need Much and More? I used to love it, but am falling out of love with it. And it could be more burn.

Sorry, what does the term "bleed" mean?

Westeros Bleeds... A core set card..

I found I had plenty of burn and that Much and More, while not necessary was very handy for making sure I had exactly what I needed. I wouldn't say I needed it, but I found it very handy. I certainly recommend replacing the Sun Strokes with Paper Shields or more burn if you prefer.
I understand not keeping the Thundering Cavalry, but I feel the need to point out they have played a crucial role in stopping swarms many times. On a Threat From The North Turn they're epic.

Ok thanks. I'm lost on the slang . Comes from not having much of a meta.

I found I had plenty of burn and that Much and More, while not necessary was very handy for making sure I had exactly what I needed. I wouldn't say I needed it, but I found it very handy. I certainly recommend replacing the Sun Strokes with Paper Shields or more burn if you prefer.
I understand not keeping the Thundering Cavalry, but I feel the need to point out they have played a crucial role in stopping swarms many times. On a Threat From The North Turn they're epic.

Trying your build wholesale. If play testing shows I need changes, I'll Letha know (style based, obviously).

GRATS!

One question... what was your experience with Ballerion?

I presume you mean the ship Balerion, not the dragon (whos not in this deck). When I first put it in, I wasn't sure it was going to be worth the 2 gold (and I had to take out a Fiefdom for it so I could break even on ambush production in the end), especially since the naval icon is virtually useless in this deck. In practice however, I found that the extra power the ambushed character comes in with to be a great power accelerant. This deck, unless you get an overwhelming start, is slow on power gain, but that extra one a turn really adds up fast, which puts psychological pressure on the opponent, and forces them to start concentrating on trying to kill enemies they otherwise might not. In the end I found it a big help, if a bit less than obviously on the surface.

I'm a fan of that Balerion as well, and the naval enhancement can be really nice, especially with Dragons.

Thanks for the response. : )
And the dragon knight? I really want to like that card, but the single icon does not make me happy out of summer themed decks... why have you run him three times? Were they their slots worth?

The Dragon Knights are absolutely worth the slots. Keep in mind that they aren't there for their challenge potential, they're there for burn. The red icon is actually a bonus, they could be no icon and I'd still keep them in. With Illyrio in play they're a -2 and create a kill condition to non-uniques. On a Threat From the North turn, they are one step closer to discarding someone (and every -1 really helps) They're allies, so they help fuel the more powerful Incinerates when I need them. And their ability is recurrable with First Snow of Winter. They don't look like much. I started this build with only 2 of them, but after realizing how incredibly useful that -1 ability is (and how often) I quickly went up to 3, and I never looked back.

In my summer burn x3, too. Imagine them with summer? Wow.

I don't have to, Summer was being run all over my regionals. It was nasty when I actually remembered they got buffed during summer.

Just wondering how this deck or similar decks do in Melee?

I have my regionals coming up, am confident in the Targ builds for Joust, but we are running Joust and Melee.

Your thoughts?

I've only played with it in a melee format once. It won, but it was a very casual game amongst players all playing with their joust decks. I'm really a joust player, so I can't really say how good it is in any other format.