House of Talons: A Game of Thrones Chapter Pack Review

Our staff has put together a first blush analysis of the newly released “House of Talons” chapter pack. We’ve used a one through five scale; five being the best possible score. The cards are listed in numeric order. Let us know in the comments how you feel about the cards in this pack!

Total Pack Score: 60.0% (360 out of 600 possible points)

Top Cards:
Winterfell Heart Tree
Bitterbridge Encampment
Braided Warrior
Kings of Mountain and Vale

Bottom Cards:
In Renly’s Name
Water Garden Sentry
House Tully Footman

Our team discussed potential changes to the review system after we received calls to clarify the ratings. At this time we've opted to keep the framework of the reviews intact, but each contributor is free to experiment a bit. Now onto the reviews!

Ser Parmen Crane (23 Points)


emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with him and he’s one of those characters I like because he works on his own as well as enhancing a theme. A Baratheon knight with intrigue is a nice change of pace as well. He also definitely makes life easier when dealing with several Lannister kneel effects. If you are going to go heavy on the Rainbow Guard theme then run him for sure, though this version doesn’t knock out the original Parmen Crane completely in other builds.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
Good in: Knights, Noble Cause
Best in: Decks running Withering Cold
Sign of power creep. Not for every deck despite the high rating, but any deck that likes strong tricons will approve.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Like Ser Emmon Cuy before him, Ser Parmen Crane is another rock-solid character who slots right into Knights of the Realm and Noble Cause. The intrigue icon and immunity give Bara another leg up against Lannister.

Siroma - 3 out of 5
Immune to events is one of the best immunities and having another int icon is welcome in pretty much any bara deck. The ability goes nicely with epic battles, withering cold and dominance based events, but most deck nowadays just won’t have the space to slot him in for the 3+ cost slot.

Kizerman86 – 3 out of 5
A good card for a bad deck. This would have been an easy 4 or 5 if it were included in the Bara deluxe expansion but there are simply better cards in today’s cardpool, despite fun synergies with The Withering Cold and Storm the Gate.
Efficiency – 4/5
Potential Synergies – 4/5

agktmte - 4 out of 5
(Introductory note: I am evaluating all cards strictly from a “competitive” joust perspective.)
He’s a solid card, there is some bloat at the 3 cost slot since Baratheon has some pretty great characters, but a 3 cost, 3 STR, tricon with an immunity and standing for dominance? This is a solid card. It isn’t broken or anything, but it has some great combo potential for Withering Cold or Snowed Under and hilarious anti-synergy with Valar Dohaeris. So if you start getting wrecked by these A Noble Cause Rainbow Guard decks, slot in Valar Dohaeris and laugh.

Bitterbridge Encampment (25 Points)



emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
A must have in any Baratheon deck heavy on knights. I’m not sure how you could live without it. Get a duplicate our pull out just the knight you need in order to make your rainbow guard combo work. I might even consider tossing Rickon OOH in order to double down on the tutor effect. Downside is that your limited response space is used though there isn’t much in Baratheon competing for it at the moment.

JCWamma – 4 out of 5
Good in: Any deck running key Knights and enough to trigger
Strong card. Limited response is annoying but not deal-breaking.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Repeatable card advantage has always been valuable. Bitterbridge Encampment provides just that.

Siroma - 4 out of 5
A great card in any knights deck, possibly even a x3 if you build around it. A deck that buys this is probably looking at aiming for a longer game though, as a 2 gold investment can slow a rush down by quite a bit and might even be rather difficult for a shadows deck to afford in the early stages of the game. Time will tell how well it works though.

Kizerman86 – 5 out of 5
Grabbing Jaime or Preston on demand is always worth 2g. Aside from the obvious Knights of the Realm and House of Dreams builds, I could see a Stark Conquest using this to great effect.
Efficiency – 4/5
Potential Synergies – 5/5

agktmte - 4 out of 5
This is not a 5 because it is not an auto-include for all Baratheon decks. With that said, it is an auto-include for all knight decks, likely even out of house. Also, Beric is a knight, but we all listen to Beyond the Wall, so no need to talk about that in depth.

In Renly’s Name (13 Points)


emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
Please don’t be fooled by the response. First, remember this activates on attacking characters only. Also, it’s a non-unique attachment susceptible to the usual things that make attachments somewhat unpopular at times. Really this is best for controlling linchpin characters; Beric, Red Viper, Fat Bob, etc. Finally, don’t overestimate your opponent's willingness to let you activate this.

JCWamma – 1 out of 5
Decks that would want to run this have better options. “Attached character cannot attack” isn’t terrible, but it’s not amazing either (Motley is better as the obvious comparison point) and this is worse than that since they can attack still in situations where you don’t want the power.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
My first thought was that Renly’s Name competes with Motley, but it doesn’t; rather the two combined mean Baratheon’s character control package looks potent now. Maybe KotHH can make a comeback? The only Condition attachment counters kinda suck -- Maester Cressen has a stronger version, and Maester Lemonwood is an Ally.

Siroma - 3 out of 5
Pretty much gives a big no to a character that wants to participate on the offence (TRV, Euron, Asha, Beric etc) and combined with motley, black cells and kingswood trail, we’re looking at some scary challenges phase control. However, running all of the above might be a little impractical and most decks won’t be able to slot it in over motley.

Kizerman86 – 2 out of 5
This is a fun, flashy card. It is very easy to play around, though, and as a result shouldn’t see much competitive play. Maybe 1x in TMP, but Motley is almost certainly a better card for that build.
Efficiency – 3/5
Potential Synergies – 2/5

agktmte - 1 out of 5
I don’t think you will see this card much. Doesn’t do enough to stop a character you really want to stop. If you are playing this along with Motley and other types of cards, you are probably losing. If you are playing this instead of using Motley, you probably shouldn’t.

Iron Island Reavers (16 Points)



emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
I’m not sure what the designers were thinking on this one. I cannot think of a time ever that someone got decked in a game that I participated in or witnessed; even with Black Sails. So unless you’ve built the most effective mill deck ever I don’t see his effect ever working. That said he’s still a cheap tri-icon with a good trait so there’s value in the right deck type.

JCWamma – 2 out of 5
Mill sucks and the effect isn’t reliable, by the time you’re triggering it you’ve basically already won. Or, more likely, lost. Being a 2-2-tricon is solid, especially for old way, but you have to do more than that nowadays, because at that slot it’s competing with Damphair’s Drowned which costs half as much for essentially the same 2-STR tricon.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Decking your opponent isn’t a win condition, so the designers created Iron Island Reavers to make it worth the considerable effort. In the meantime he’s a cheap tricon, and a Raider, but is that enough? I don’t think so. I would have rather seen another effect like Thunderer, Fishmonger’s Square, or Blackwater Raiders that benefits from the milling that you do before an opponent’s deck is empty.

Siroma - 2 out of 5
Think of him as a blank tricon raider, his ability is not going to be relevant 90+% of the time in most decks and in the games that it is relevant, you have usually already won because the enemy has no more deck. He’s not a bad card by any means but I don’t see people running this over anything else (damphair’s drowned).

Kizerman86 –3 out of 5
Another case of a good card for a bad deck. Super efficient, good traits, and decent art are outweighed by the fact that milling just isn’t consistent. I could see this guy being played in Black Sails, where tricons are in high demand.
Efficiency – 4/5
Potential Synergies – 3/5
agktmte - 3 out of 5
Solid character, 2 cost, 2 STR, tricon, Raider. Definitely fits into Raider decks, but I don’t think you’ll see this for its effect. Not sure if it is worth running just for stats and icons in Greyjoy, from a pure efficiency standpoint, maybe? But I don’t play enough Greyjoy to know for sure if it will be seen outside of mill or Raider decks.

Kettledrum (14 Points)


emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
I used to think intimidate was a massively powerful keyword; and in many ways it is. The problem is in a world with Pentoshi, text blanking and attachment removal I’m not really feeling this. It’s not terrible but if you are going to give up deck space for attachments–particularly when locations tend to reign supreme for Greyjoy–you need to have a solid concept in order to make room for this.

JCWamma – 2 out of 5
Good in: voltron builds around GJ characters. Since non-kneeling or standing is important, basically only WLL Asha or Jaqen. Not sure these decks actually exist.
Not bad in: Maesters.
Broadly not worth playing for the same reason most positive attachments aren’t. In decks taking an “in for a penny…” approach to attachments it’s not unreasonable.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
There’s synergy between the strength boost and intimidate, positive attachments provide protection from Castellan and Danerys, and the setup keyword helps a bit. But but unless you’re attaching Kettledrum to a non-kneeler like Asha then I don’t think it’s efficient enough. Maybe in a Raider / unopposed deckyou find room for a copy and put it on Victarion or Euron, either of whom can attack twice thanks to Longship Grief.

Siroma - 2 out of 5
Intimidate is a very strong keyword and getting it along with +1 str is not bad at all. Unfortunately, for decks that want to go unopposed scouting vessels and the new Euron are still probably better alternatives. Works very nicely with any of greyjoy’s int icons though, as int characters rarely pass 3 strength. Setup works wonders for it as well.

Kizerman86 – 2 out of 5
I have wanted an easy way to give Intimidate for years, but it is too late for this card to have any real impact. I could see 1x in an unopposed rush deck.
Efficiency – 1/5
Potential Synergies – 4/5

agktmte - 2 out of 5
Like most attachments, I don’t think this one will see much play, but Setup helps it and gaining a STR and intimidate is not bad, I think it certainly has a place in an unopposed deck.

Reborn from the Sea (18 Points)


emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
It’s not a save in the traditional sense, but otherwise it’s an amazing effect. The winning dominance condition feels like a reasonable constraint given you can pull back a 5 gold character like Euron from the grave and put him into play immediately. Not sure if it’s an auto include in every deck but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a copy sneak into many.

JCWamma – 3 out of 5
Good in: Decks with key characters
Best in: Maesters
I’d rather take Risen from the Sea 9 times out of 10. For the 10th time or if you want more than 3 Risens, Reborn isn’t a bad back-up.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
I’m generally not a fan of Dominance phase events because they have to sit in your hand through the challenges phase and thus don’t impact the board until the turn after you draw them. Furthermore, winning dominance isn’t easy unless you have a Captured Cog or two in play. So Reborn from the Sea probably only sees play in Tower Euron decks as a failsafe, or in DWDW, or maybe as a single copy in Old Way (which already runs Captured Cog) to bring back Asha or Victarion. It’s certainly thematic though.

Siroma - 2 out of 5
Dominance is a big minus, though if you run captured cogs it could be a decent card. Though it does allow you to bring back a character that died in a previous round, I don’t see the value of running this over risen, which has better utility against decks like burn. Just about the only scenario I see this being better than risen is when you’ve got a brienne on your tail, but otherwise I wouldn’t bother with it.

Kizerman86 – 3 out of 5
This card gives Build-A-Euron a little more resilience, but is probably not enough to put that build into Tier 1. Still a fun, flavorful event that will see play in a handful of Greyjoy decks.
Efficiency – 3/5
Potential Synergies – 3/5

agktmte - 3 out of 5
I like the card, but in general it is weaker than Risen from the Sea. So I think you will really only see this card for the added redundancy. So in Dark Wings, or a deck that might want more than 3 event saves. Also gains value if you are building around a specific character, like the new Euron or Jaqen.

Milk Snakes (18 Points)


emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
Usual “awesome in Clansmen decks” condition applies. In that context it’s brilliant; otherwise no point using them. Given that you feed cards to the discard pile to activate effects for clansmen the ability to recycle key characters is fantastic. Two strong keywords and a cost that is reasonable given the effects rounds them out nicely.

JCWamma – 2 out of 5
Better than: Crawn, Son of Calor, who you weren’t playing anyway. If you were, congrats, you just got an upgrade.
This isn’t bringing many Clansman to the yard.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Aloof & Apart looks more and more like the correct route for Clansmen decks, although I think No Agenda still has value. The two keywords on Milk Snakes, stealth and No attachments, are both fantastic, and the recursion is exactly what Clansmen needed. Now you can empty your hand to activate Tywin, then get a card back for Negotiations at the Great Sept.

Siroma - 3 out of 5
Good keyword, decent protection in the form of no attachments and a great ability for Clansmen decks. 4 cost is a little prohibitive outside of Aloof though, and the ability being conditional takes it down a notch for me.

Kizerman86 – 3 out of 5
The 4g cost basically means you will only play this out of Aloof and Apart. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it really feels like all the Clansman cards this cycle were designed around that agenda choice. Recursion is always strong, especially in a house that hits draw cap often.
Efficiency – 2/5
Potential Synergies – 4/5

agktmte - 3 out of 5
I think this card is really good, but only in a Clansmen deck, so it doesn’t quite get full points. However, I think this tilts Clansmen solidly into Aloof and Apart territory (it’s been pushed that way already by some earlier cards), and I think the deck will be quite good.

Sign of the Red Hand (14 Points)


emptyrepublic - 2 out of 5
Having had about a week to think about this card I’ve begun to sour on it quite a bit. The lack of “Setup” is a big deal. Had it been given that keyword then the calculus would be different. It being an attachment isn’t an issue really as it attaches to the house and is unique; so in that respect it’s not such a big liability. The issue is draw cap manipulation in reality is no where near as strong as it sounds. Tell me how well A Song of Fire is doing. Also 1 gold to get 1 gold on the next turn isn’t a great deal given increased levy is 0 gold and has setup.

JCWamma – 3 out of 5
Good in: No agenda decks running 3x Ashemark Knight or Cache as restricted
Best in: Clansman, which should always be No Agenda (accept no substitutes)
Overrated in: regular N/A
+1 gold makes Cersei’s Chamber the comparison point, and I’d rather be able to set it up, have the flexibility of making it a location, and a spare influence for Seasick/Greenblood Merchant. Don’t be tricked by the draw-cap raising unless you’re running the Knight to filter cards, because most Lanni n/a decks won’t hit up against the drawcap unless they’re comfortably winning anyway. You need to go over cap twice before this card’s actually helping you in that regard. Clansman’s the clear home here.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Sign of the Red Hand can’t be setup, and it takes two turns (in the best case scenario) to replace itself (in terms of cards and gold). If you draw and play it early, congratulations. But after turn 3, it’s basically a dead card. I’d want at least 10 draw cards in my deck to feel justified running Red Hand, so something like 3x Doubting Septa, 1x Tommen, 1x Janos, 1x Mander, 3x GTM, 1x Widow’s Wail, and maybe 1x Jaime. Alternatively, you could bring back Pyromancer’s Cache if the Targaren players in your meta aren’t packing enough attachment enough.

Siroma - 2 out of 5
If this had the setup keyword, it would be so much better. As it is, in most games it’s going to be inferior to increased levy, and few people run that as it is. Drawing 3 additional cards is pretty difficult in the first few rounds, so if you do manage to get this out, chances are it’s not going to matter for a long while.

Kizerman86 – 2 out of 5
Sure, Lanni can draw cap often. Sure, we have all wanted to trigger Janos one more time, but how often will that situation come up AFTER we have already drawn/played Sign of the Red Hand? If you are already hitting draw cap, you are probably winning. Big trap card here, you net 1 card only if you can draw 4 cards over 2 turns.
Efficiency – 1/5
Potential Synergies – 4/5

agktmte - 2 out of 5
I think this card will find its way into many no agenda Lannister decks, but certainly not all. Yes, Lannister has a lot of card draw, but not necessarily enough to hit 4/turn. Now, obviously it can be built to do so, but then you may lose out on some of the punch you had previously. I think this card is more of a “wait and see” for me, since it does have some strong potential, but I think that most no agenda decks will stick to more efficient cards for their decks.

Dorea Sand (15 Points)


emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
The Sand Snakes sub theme needs to be viewed in the same context as the Clansmen one. Together they are great, individually they are fairly useless. Dorea typifies this. I’m not particularly concerned that she collects the power. We have no problem dealing with the risk of renown characters or other characters holding power. She’s a cog that works in a particular type of machine and can activate fairly frequently; in that machine she’s good.

JCWamma – 2 out of 5
Good in: Rush builds that want to get 1 power closer to victory.
Worse than the original Dorea in most other cases. Don’t make a concerted effort to run her with other Sandsnakes (giving up on the other one), just use her as a weenie in rush and Valar when you hit 14.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Is there room for Dorea in Quentyn builds that already have Obella and Nymeria? It’s a close call. Quentyn decks can be deceptively fast thanks to all the renown, and Dorea gives them another slight push towards 15 power. The problem is that Martell already has fantastic 1 drops like Greenblood Merchant and Lost Spearman.

Siroma - 3 out of 5
The ability to gain 3 power in one turn is nothing to scoff at, and having her out in the later turns effectively makes you able to win when you hit 12 power if you have valar in your plot deck. She is, however, fragile and it’s probably best not to play her early on even if you expect a few of your characters to die.

Kizerman86 – 2 out of 5
Dorea Sand would be decent if she put the power on your house, but she will not be around long enough to accumulate much power. This is a super fun Tier 2 card, though.
Efficiency – 2/5
Potential Synergies – 3/5

agktmte - 2 out of 5
I think the old version would still work better in the new Sand Snake decks. Otherwise, this isn’t bad for a 1 cost character, I just don’t see it really seeing play. Obviously we have been given some kill and when killed synergy with Sand Snakes, but I don’t know if that is really enough to use Dorea as more than a finisher to claim 3 power all at once with Valar Morghulis or Wildfire Assault.

Water Gardens Sentry (13 Points)


emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
I’m on the fence regarding this guy. The ability to be able to commit a character to oppose any challenge is nice. He’s cheap and good for set up; his effect let’s you activate Parting Blow. Problem is you have to win on the defence which Martell almost never wants to do. Also, he will die to deadly before his return to hand effect goes off. I see some Shagga potential here but it might turn out to be nothing.

JCWamma – 1 out of 5
You don’t play Bringers of Law and you won’t play this.

scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
There’s little synergy with other Martell effects besides Bloodthirst, and I don’t think Water Garden Sentry necessarily makes the cut there. He stop chump attacks, and stealthy Ravens are everywhere right now, but that’s not enough.

Siroma - 2 out of 5
Only being on defense makes it a little less appealing, though it has obvious uses in bloodthirst. Has a little more potential in melee, where you can mess around and delay the challenges of other people. Might have some use if you for some reason want to lose a challenge as the attacker (war of attrition) but not really much to do there.

Kizerman86 – 3 out of 5
Very interesting card. Fits Bloodthirst (obviously), KotHH, and anything else that wants to stall without committing too much to the board at any given time.
Efficiency – 2/5
Potential Synergies – 3/5

agktmte - 2 out of 5
Not as efficient as Lost Spearman, so I think that hurts it. I think the only place it has good use is in Bloodthirst, but even then, this would mostly stop unopposed, not necessarily win you the challenge in order to return to hand. So it doesn’t quite work as a BT stall card, but could help you bolster defenses if you have multiples. In general, this card isn’t good enough on its own and I don’t think that it provides a strong enough incentive to try and combo it with other things.

House Tully Footman (13 Points)


emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
You would only play this character in a dedicated Tully deck which means you will very likely have one of the ten unique Tully characters in play as well. As such I think you can be reasonably confident that the effect will be active more often than not. Also, in theory you are playing with at least a few other STR boosting effects so the 1 STR isn’t a liability except for Venomous Blade. He’s also cheap and has two icons. As must have in Tully defense in my view.

JCWamma – 1 out of 5
Passable in: janky combo built around getting out riverrun, 15 Tullies and stalling for a single challenge phase.
Will not make the cut in regular Tully, and definitely not in other decks.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Stark didn’t have many options at the 1 gold spot until now. Tully Footman isn’t spectacular, but like Clan Scout before him, he fills a role. Now Stark players can ditch the Hungry Mobs if they want and turn the opponent’s Varys into a dead card.

Siroma - 2 out of 5
Stark has enough cheap characters to go without this card (refugees, mobs, hodor, yoren etc). Could see some use in HoD winterfell or riverrun (when was the last time we saw that?), but we’ve gotten quite a few nice tullies already.

Kizerman86 – 2 out of 5
1 drops are good, and there are enough decent unique Tully characters to keep him from kneeling most of the time. Seaguard makes these guys pretty strong, but you will often have to defend with someone else as well to successfully win on defense. Stark defense is coming together very nicely as a whole, but I don’t think these guys add much value.

Efficiency – 3/5
Potential Synergies – 3/5

agktmte - 2 out of 5
I think this will see play in nearly all Tully decks, admittedly, those are less common than some other sub-themes, but it does fill an important slot if you are building with a lot of Tullys. Though if you really have that many Tully characters, then maybe the House Tully Knight is a better choice, I just talked myself down a point.

Winterfell Heart Tree (28 Points)



emptyrepublic - 5 out of 5
Obvious candidate for Stark winter decks. Not quite as good as Palace Fountains that allows any Martell card to be reduced. Regardless, gold is fungible for covering costs so it doesn’t matter. Makes life during set up a bit more pleasant.

JCWamma – 5 out of 5
Best in: Bear Island
Unless you’re location-heavy, this is basically better than Great Keep 9 times out of 10. Being another efficient resource for Bear Island pushes this over the top.

scantrell24 - 5 out of 5
That weirwood face is comical, but this card’s efficiency isn’t.

Siroma - 5 out of 5
Stark likes winter. Stark is expensive. Winter needs money. This gives money. Stark likes money. Godswood is bad. This is good. Hodor Hodor Hodor.

Kizerman86 – 4 out of 5
This would be a 5/5 if it reduced all Stark cards. Still an awesome addition (albeit a few years late to the party).
Efficiency – 5/5
Potential Synergies – 5/5

agktmte - 4 out of 5
Great card; less efficient than a street though. This helps a lot if you are using Bear Island. Otherwise, there are still a lot of good neutral characters that Stark uses, making Street of Sisters and/or Street of Steel better choices. So that means this would take the place of Greet Keeps or Rose/Searoads. I think that in some decks they will, but that depends on how many shadows characters you plan to use, especially Arya and Meera, who want the gold more than the reduction, especially in Winter.

Lay Waste (21 Points)


emptyrepublic - 5 out of 5
The location version of No Quarter. The unique character winning in a military challenge is a really low threshold for Stark. As the eligible targets are effectively unconditional I have a hard time seeing how Stark doesn’t slot at least one or two of these in their decks. In some ways it’s even more powerful than the kill effects as locations are harder to save than characters.

JCWamma – 2 out of 5
Price of War and Condemned by the Council often won’t make the cut in Stark, and I doubt this does either. Not terrible though.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
In any other house, Lay Waste would be 5 stars, but Frozen Solid trumps Lay Waste because the attachment handles Maiden’s Bane and Ghaston Grey better. We’ll see this event in DWDW at least.

Siroma - 3 out of 5
Nice effect, but it’s not going to be replacing frozen solid in any of my decks and event slots are usually tight. A relatively easy condition to pull off. Only run this if you really, really hate locations and aren’t willing to run meera+frozen solid.

Kizerman86 – 4 out of 5
Very strong location removal with such an easy condition to satisfy. The fact that this can hit Limited locations is nice, especially in a Winter deck.
Efficiency – 5/5
Potential Synergies – 3/5

agktmte - 3 out of 5
I love the symmetry with No Quarter, but I think that this won’t replace Frozen Solid completely (maybe not even partially). Also, with Direct Assault and Price of War, there were other options that didn’t always see play already. I like the card a lot, but I just don’t think it will make the cut that much outside of Dark Wings, which loves this card.

Jhogo (14 Points)


emptyrepublic - 2 out of 5
A limited response that requires 3 characters with a specific trait winning on the attack and discarding the character that can be totally undone by a single He Calls It Thinking or Harrenhal? No thanks. Granted if you can pull it off it’s a massive power swing, in particular if you are playing against someone with great draw. For me though it’s way too much risk.

JCWamma – 4 out of 5
Best in: Heir to the Iron Throne, foregoing military challenges.
This is not better than OSaS Jhogo, and you should never play him instead of the other one. However, in Heir there’s no Jhogo this one is competing with, you’re running loads of Dothraki (Refugee/Horselord/Outrider/Drogo), and you want to rush like mad to hit 15 power, so even only getting 2-3 power from this can make the difference. Also you may well have Fear as your restricted, trapping more cards in the opponent’s hand.

scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
You have to build around this Jhogo, unlike his cheaper, more efficient version, because you need to put cards in your opponent’s hand AND guarantee that the trigger won’t be cancelled. Maybe Heir to the Iron Throne that doesn’t use the other Jhogo anyways? Maybe Conquest to Stark or Bara for Brienne? I’m not going to waste my time trying to make it work.

Siroma - 2 out of 5
Unfortunately, this card is named Jhogo and soft control and cancel is abundant in the current metagame. The effect is very strong when it does go off, but the problem is getting it to go off as 4 gold for a keywordless character is not a great tradeoff.

Kizerman86 – 3 out of 5
This is a very tough card to rate. If he works, you win. If he doesn’t, you have wasted a lot of energy. He won’t see play in many competitive decks but I can see myself losing to this guy and being very upset about it. Fun design, with obvious synergies with First Snow, Much and More, Fear of Winter, etc….
Efficiency – 1/5
Potential Synergies – 5/5

agktmte - 1 out of 5
This won’t see play in competitive Joust decks. It may not even stay in casual decks because the likelihood of pulling off this type of combo is quite low unless you are already destroying your opponent. I guess I should add that this is especially true because of the 3 cost draw machine Jhogo.

Braided Warrior (24 Points)


emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
My favorite thing about this character is the response is not “play” it’s “come into play” so you can use Ambush from the Plains or other effects to activate the response more than once. The ability to tutor the attachment you need and bypass OOH costs opens up a lot of possibilities… for example In Renly’s Name in your Targ deck.

JCWamma – 4 out of 5
Good in: Maesters
Best in: Beric.
True story – before istaril and I settled on Targ Black Sails last year (which we respectively took to the top 8 of Worlds and Stahleck), we were strongly considering a Beric tower. Ultimately we decided (thankfully!) for the Sails, and the main reason was consistency in getting the key attachments. That Beric deck is consistent now. Look out for it.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Unlike the previous card, Braided Warrior is both janky and efficient. It’s not my cup of tea, personally, but I look forward to the fun deck designs this card will inspire. Maybe Pyromancer’s Cache makes a comeback?

Siroma - 4 out of 5
Amazing versatility for a lot of different decks. Maesters, brotherhood, etc. Comboes well with red warlock as well as you can pull out black raven with his ability, leading to some nice search power.

Kizerman86 – 4 out of 5
This is a card with amazing versatility. HoD Lady Dany’s Chambers could be relevant soon, and combo decks will love this guy. Honestly, he is a little worrisome. So many possibilities for abuse.
Efficiency – 2/5
Potential Synergies – 5/5

agktmte - 4 out of 5
Not a 5 because it doesn’t go into all Targaryen decks, but man is this crazy. Dothraki no agenda with Pyromancer’s Cache as the restricted card (or any Targ deck)? King Viserys? Ravens? Bodyguard? Bastard to protect from Mel’s Favor? The stupid combo potential is off the charts here. Notice that this guy isn’t even Targ only, so out of house or conquest shenanigans can really help those Voltron guys. Load up Jaqen with tons of great OOH attachments?

Eastern Market (15 Points)


emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
It like from a design perspective it’s a different take on a very vanilla mechanic but it’s hard to see it being that practical outside of very specific sorts of Targaryen builds. The trait restriction wouldn’t be too big of a deal if you didn’t have to also distribute the cost reduction across three characters. The idea is interesting, but I doubt I’d use it much.

JCWamma – 2 out of 5
Passable in: Dothraki
You need to reliably be able to play 3 Dothraki or Mercenaries in a phase for this to be worth running 3x. I’m not sold any decks can do that. It’s worth noting this is still a slightly worse Sea (i.e., very good card) if you can play out only 2 Dothraki, so at a copy or two it could see play still.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
How often do you marshal 3 characters with the same trait from hand in a single turn? I don’t think more than a single copy makes the cut, if that. It’s miles worse than Vale Encampment, the new Clansmen reducer.

Siroma - 2 out of 5
Targ’s seat of power that is… inferior to seat of power. Even in dothraki, many decks would rather use influence and don’t really need another reducer.

Kizerman86 – 3 out of 5
This is a major accelerant to Dothraki decks, but I’m not sure they need it. I also think that more often than not, you will be reducing 2x Dothraki instead of the 3x the card allows. I would rather dedicate a smaller portion of my deck to more flexible, repeatable economy (Streets, Flea Bottom, etc…) that works on characters like Pyat and Dany.
Efficiency – 3/5
Potential Synergies – 4/5

agktmte - 2 out of 5
Good efficiency, but it really only works in specific decks, and the effect is not so great that you are going to go build a deck to abuse this card.

Bronze Yohn Royce (15 Points)


emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
Feels very meh. Nothing really wrong. Cost/strenght/icon wise it’s fine especially given that he has renown. Good traits. The response is a bit underwhelming unless you’re really clever and can power cycle Castle plots. Even if you are heavy on Castle plots I doubt he warrants the space in many decks.

JCWamma – 3 out of 5
Good in: Castle stall decks
Ok in: decks needing renown.
I’m probably forgetting someone, but I believe this guy’s the first neutral 3/3/Bicon/Renown with no downside (compare Vargo Hoat, who’s prized 1 and with a negative trait). Not bad for a deck needing more renown. Very few decks don’t have ample in-house options though. The response is cute but not reliable unless you fill your plot deck with subpar plots or rely on plot-cycling. If Bran came off the restricted list his value would rocket up.

scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
More like Bronze Yawn Royce. The designers really dropped the ball here. They could have tacked on “Then draw a card” or something to spice up Mr. Royce and actually give us an incentive to run Castle plots. He's another Neutral with renown though, which makes me think about dusting off The Long Voyage.

Siroma - 3 out of 5
Might go into some Martell or Lanni decks that run pentoshi etc. Could lead to some interesting power manipulation and stall as being able to make a power difference of 2 per round (ability+renown) isn’t too bad for a 3 cost character. House Arryn is also looking to be a pretty interesting trait.

Kizerman86 – 2 out of 5
Vargo Hoat actually does something interesting, and is a 3 for 3 MIL/POW body with renown. People don’t play him often, and they won’t play Bronze Yohn Royce often. I guess you could use him with Moon Door, but trait manipulation is probably a better option than cramming your deck with sub-par characters just for their trait.
Efficiency – 2/5
Potential Synergies – 3/5

agktmte - 2 out of 5
I don’t think this card sees much play at all. Plenty of other 3 cost neutral renown in the card pool already. I almost think it would see more play at cost 4, just for the Aloof and Apart synergy. But it doesn’t do anything to support that deck and there aren’t enough good Castle plots for the additional stall to matter. Although, I guess the idea for that stall ability is to give you time to make good on the Castle plot effects, so all things considered, I like the ability. It just isn’t good.

Robert Arryn (14 Points)


emptyrepublic - 2 out of 5
As a normal character he is useless (obviously). He’s only good for utility; which I suppose makes him particularly Nedly. As I said with Dorea, power on characters doesn’t bother me that much but he’s hardly durable. In my view he’s only useful builds focused on the plot deck with multiple Castle plots; otherwise he’s cheap claim soak.

JCWamma – 2 out of 5
Good in: some of the decks Bronze Yohn is good in.
Basically see Bronze Yohn, only without the sentences before “The response is cute”.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Robin actually does some things well. Early in the game he’s free claim soak. Late in the game that 2 power adds up quickly. Unfortunately, his usefulness is directly tied to Castle plots and we haven’t achieved critical mass yet (spoiler: we won’t see any Castles in the final pack, so this is it).

Siroma - 3 out of 5
Int claim against decks that run threat, but pretty decent in any other deck with 3-4 castle plots. Once again, he reduces the power you need to win by 2 if you have a castle plot revealed, and trading a 0 cost character for a targeted removal effect usually isn’t a bad deal. At worst, he’s cheap claimsoak.

Kizerman86 – 2 out of 5
Just like Dorea Sand, he will likely be killed or discarded before he gets enough power to matter. At least he has a noble crest for Power of Blood. Until castles prove themselves, I’m not convinced.
Efficiency – 2/5
Potential Synergies – 3/5

agktmte - 2 out of 5
Much better than Royce if you are trying to build a Castle. The power gain (and two!) is a much better route, especially with a 0 gold investment. Still only used in a Castle deck, which may never become a thing.

The Bloody Gate (23 Points)



emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
So versatile. Not just characters, locations too! Makes playing OOH cards much easier and makes A&A decks very efficient in terms of economy. Good for army heavy decks or many general aggro decks. Obviously not an auto include for any deck but this is a card that will see quite a bit of use for sure.

JCWamma – 4 out of 5
Great in: Aloof and Apart, Martell Ghaston Grey
Good in: decks that can’t afford to run A&A but wish they had the effect.
If you aren’t reliably playing two or more four-cost characters per round, this is a bad non-limited version of the 2-for-2 reducers. If you are though, this is a monstrously good resource accelerant. The Ghaston Grey combo is absurd. It makes decks that were on the fence about A&A able to abandon it and not feel bad – Clansman, for instance, runs this in N/A so it can keep the Sign of the Red Hand, Summoned by the Conclave and Brigands and not give its armies prized 1. The Stark defence I played a couple of times in SC season likewise can probably drop the agenda and thus a sizeable downside. If you’re committed enough to keep the agenda anyway, this is super-strong.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
The Bloody Gate belongs in very few decks, but it’s fantastic for spamming Nobles or Armies. I’m also interested to see if locations like Rhaenys’s Hill, Longship Iron Victory 2, Highgarden or Winterfell Castle see more play.

Siroma - 3 out of 5
Really, really powerful. A pity you can’t house of dreams it. A&A usually gives enough gold and you usually don’t run that many 4+ costs in other decks. It does give OOH flexibility and works well with cards like The Viper’s Bannermen, but the unreliability of obtaining it and the ease at which it can be controlled bump it down a little.

Kizerman86 – 4 out of 5
I would almost prefer this to be limited, so it would have more protection. Still a HUGE tempo swing, especially if you keep it out for a few turns.
Efficiency – 4/5
Potential Synergies – 4/5

agktmte - 4 out of 5
This will be in many decks. Any Aloof deck can certainly afford to use it, even if its on only one character, it pays for itself the turn you play it. I think this is best out of a Martell Ghaston Grey deck that can truly abuse its 4 gold value. Also, a Stark Army deck now has a backup plan if Robb dies tragically.

Kings of Mountain and Vale (24 Points)


emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
Probably one of the best Castle plots. Decent stats and can provide a net 2 card advantage over opponents that scales particularly well in Melee format. Not much more that needs to be said.

JCWamma – 4 out of 5
Great in: plot cycling decks
Good in: any deck that doesn’t have at least 7 better plots
This is a very…unevocative plot. With the exception of its Castle trait it doesn’t stand out in a way that suggests specific decks (though obviously a deck trying to empty an opponent’s hand or draw more cards will get the most use), but it’s just all round a very solid effect. At the same time, the delay on it means it’ll be tough to fit unless you’re really stumped for that 7th plot.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
It’s the best Castle plot by a smidge, but won’t make the cut very often. I’ve been trying to squeeze Kings of Mountain and Vale into some Greyjoy and Stark decks, but like with other neutral draw (such as Tycho) that seems a natural fit for these houses, it’s not easy to make room. Would you run it before Valar/Summoned/Time for Ravens/Time for Wolves/Minstrel’s Muse/Burning Bridges/Retaliation in Stark No Agenda?

Siroma - 4 out of 5
Probably the best castle out right now. Bran stark may be making a comeback. 2 card advantage along with solid stats is always welcome, and the ability to cycle it just makes it that much sweeter.

Kizerman86 – 4 out of 5
A 2 card swing shouldn’t be underestimated, but I really can’t see myself using this without heavy plot cycling. Dropping this on Turn 1, then using Wheels Within Wheels to flip into Rule By Decree in the draw phase could be absolutely brutal.
Efficiency – 3/5
Potential Synergies – 4/5

agktmte - 4 out of 5
This is the best Castle plot in my opinion. Mostly because it does not require any scenarios to be good and there are no scenarios where it can be bad. So there is no risk (even Taken Captive could be bad if you or your opponent have to valar the next turn), and a good reward. You just have to wait a turn (or cycle those plots!).