Forgotten Plans - Top 5 Cards You Aren't Using, but Should Be

Welcome back to Forgotten Plans, everyone! Today we are going to cover something a bit different. Generally I try and get you guys to take a look at some cards or decks that you may have forgotten about, hence the name of the article. However, as I was going over some of the different decklists that are floating around, I noticed that there were some cards that, while everyone seemed to be aware of and agreed were very good, no one was actually using them or at the very least not many were. So let's look at the top 5 cards you should be running, but aren't. Also, just as an added note, I know that some people use these cards, and I did notice that some of the top decks were running them as well, but I still feel like they are under played. Now, I'll still be extremely shocked if the first five comments aren't "I run X card all the time!" You can't say I didn't try though.

1. Paper Shield (QoD) - I know I am always going on about how precious your event slots are, and that you can't afford to be wasting slots on events that MIGHT be useful, but this is the exception to that rule. This card has gotten stronger and stronger since it was released. I don't have the time to cover every single target for this card, but there are quite a few to say the least. My favorite target is Forever Burning (Core), because if the card is canceled, then so is the deathbound part of the card. Since the deathbound doesn't resolve, the card is "stuck" in the discard pile. It's especially nice since Targ doesn't have a lot of draw so usually only get one or two of these in a game. Another card that everyone sees these days is A Game of Cyvasse (ACoS), one of the most effective control cards in the game. Being able to cancel a well timed Game of Cyvasse can sometimes win you games. Some more recent cards that I've been seeing a lot are
Finger Dance (WLL), A House Divided (WLL), and No Quarter (TBC). Now none of that surprises any of you, I'm sure. The card cancels events, you knew that already, but the real value of this card, and any cancel really, is the ability to put your opponent off track. The average player thinks ahead about 2 phases, not counting the Standing or Taxation phases usually. If you throw out a cancel, especially one like this where it might not be expected like He Calls It Thinking (PotS) might be, you just forced your opponent to reanalyze quite a few decisions that they have already made. Depending on how many choices they have to rethink, sometimes they feel pressure to get it all done in a relatively short amount of time and as a consequence can rush and make the wrong choice. It can also make your opponent think twice about using another event, even when it is clearly in his best interest to try and play the event anyway. The true power in this card is the mind games it can create.

2. Bastard (LotR) - One word. Maesters. I know people are always talking about how bad attachments are with the Tin Link (CbtC), but this attachment is a bit different. Tin Link reduces the worth of an attachment proportional to how long the attachment needs to be in play in order for the attachment to really be "worth it." If you look at Flame-Kissed (Core), Tin Link doesn't really hurt its worth at all, because you generally only play Flame Kissed when you are going to kill the character, so Flame Kissed generally only needs to be in play for a very short period of time. On the opposite side of the spectrum is Hunting Spear (BoRF), where you need to have the attachment out for two full turns, in my opinion anyway, to really get your money out of the card. Now most attachments fall somewhere in between there, but most tend to fall more towards Hunting Spear, which is why Tin Link is so strong. If you look at Bastard, it might seem like it falls in the second category too, but I think the situation determines how you need to use this card. If you are playing against a Baratheon Rush deck, then you are going to want to throw this on Robert Baratheon and you want it to stay there. However, we are talking about maesters! The first part of this card, where you discard all the attachments on a character, is the one that is going to have the biggest impact. Most players will have two of their four or five links off their agenda, Valyrian Steel Link (HtS), and either Gold Link (TIoR) or Apprentice Collar (GotC). So going into the second turn if you are able to shut down an extra one or two cards that your opponent was counting on, you just hit him pretty hard. Now it doesn't matter if they use the Tin Link to discard Bastard, because it's already done its job. It got rid of the draw link, and maybe even the gold link or the strength link, aka apprentice collar.


3. Nightmares (LoW) - This is a card that has seen a bit of an uptick in the amount of people playing it, but still isn't seeing enough play, in my opinion. We all know that blanking a card is pretty powerful, but what's nice about this card is that it also blanks traits. Which means this card is also a potential form of attachment control as well. That maester has three or four chains? Well, as long as one of them isn't Apprentice Collar, when you blank the maester it loses the maester trait and all the links on the character are suddenly illegal and must be discarded. The Any Phase portion is pretty nice as well, since you can use it during the Plot phase. If you want to Valar against Greyjoy, but they have a ton of saves, just blank Maester Wendamyr (KotS) or The Iron Cliffs (HtS) or The Iron Mines (KotS). The same trick works on Brotherhood, but it can stop them from claiming any power at all if you blank the only Brotherhood character during the challenges phase. They lose the Brotherhood trait and if they don't have another one then they can't claim any power due to the agenda. I love how flexible this card is. You aren't generally going to be hurting for targets for this card.

4. Maester Aemon (Core) - Most people tend to forget about this guy, or if they do remember him figure he's useless outside of a Night's Watch deck. Most of the time that's true of characters that work with a certain trait. If you don't have any of that trait, then there isn't anything for the card to do. Maester Aemon is a bit different, because he has a save response. He isn't about saving your key characters, like Wendamyr or Iron Mines, he's more about just minimizing military claim. Most decks can only kill one, or sometimes two, characters a turn through military challenges. Stark is the exception here, but you are going to approach that house completely differently. If they don't currently have two claim, then Aemon is essentially nullifying an entire challenge, just by perpetually saving himself for claim. I generally don't like cards like this because you might not draw them in time to be useful, but Aemon is a maester. This means you can use At the Gates (GotC) on turn 1 to fetch him. Against Aggro heavy decks like Stark and Targ Dothraki, he can still help negate part of the challenge, and can be the difference between being behind on the board and not having a board. The only problem I see here potentially is that Manning the City Walls (CD) is going to make you think long and hard before putting in At the Gates.

5. Men With No King (SA) - I think people have forgotten about this card, but I think it's going to be very good in the coming months as people start using more and more out of house cards. Being able to stop them from playing that key out of house card, or even taking control of it once it is played, is going to be pretty huge. This card gets even more silly when you think of Alliance or Treaty decks. This card is the worst kind of Silver Bullet, not only is it extremely powerful against one kind of deck, it is great even when not against that deck! Let's say you are playing against a straight Baratheon deck that uses no out of house cards. Well, you are still going to have a 5 strength army for only 4 cost, which is never a bad thing. It makes me kinda sad at just how hard this card shuts down Alliance or Treaty decks. I was considering an Alliance deck for GenCon, but then I remember this card last week. Add in the fact that the Ravens packs were all just reprinted and everyone will have this card, and I don't really see a reason not to run Men with No King. The Reinforcements deck is still pretty strong, in my opinion, and being able to potentially destroy certain deck types is a no brainer. At the very least I see a majority of decks running at least some out of house cards, because that's what this whole cycle is about. I'd also like to point out that this will take control of Neutrals as well. I expect we'll see at least one deck in the top 8 at GenCon running this card.

Well there are my 5 cards that I think you should be using, or at least taking a look at. What cards have you guys been noticing aren't getting enough play?