Paying Our Price in Iron – A Hand of the King Format Report

This past weekend our local meta had our Hand of the King tournament. We wereplaying a straight swiss style tournament (due to time constraints there was no cut totop four) without modified wins (when time was called the player meeting the “HandRequirement” of the format was declared the winner). Ten players showed up with everyhouse being represented. I’ll jump right in with the decks we saw and their respective Hands.

Winner – Greyjoy Winter Choke with Maester Wyndamere
Runner Up (Me) – Stark Nights Watch with Coldhands
Third Place – Targ Burn with Unknown Hand

Greyjoy Solid* with Edric Storm
Stark with Lucas Blackwood
Targ Dragons with Daenerys Targaryen
Baratheon Knights with Wex Pyke
Lannister Brotherhood with Beric Dondarrion
Stark Winter Shadows with Catelyn Stark
Martell with Unknown Hand

Instead of the standard tournament report consisting of game summaries, turning pointsand crazy card interactions, I am going to try and break down this format based on my own play experience from the tournament. Hopefully this will help everyone else who dabbles in the format enjoy it as much as possible. Here I will go into how a Hand was chosen, it’s role in the deck, and the importance of the gold cost. Naturally, thereare many more factors to consider, but these are the ones I have chosen to highlight. Afterwards, I will take a look at the strategy behind my deck and my card choices.

A War on Two Fronts

The Hand of the King format appears simple on the outside but is much more complicated than most people expect. This is rooted in the fact that you need two things, which may lead you in different directions, to win:

1) Reach your win condition (usually 15 power)
2) Have your Hand in play with more gold on it than your opponent has gold on their Hand (if in play).

What I saw a lot of the time was that a deck could do one thing extremely well, but not accomplish the other – my deck included. I saw a game where the Greyjoy “Solid” player had about 24 power, but his Hand couldn’t get more gold than his opponent’s. When time ran out, the opponent who had no power on his house won because his Hand was in play. A similar incident arose between the Stark (Lucas Blackwood) build playing againstGreyjoy Choke. The Stark player had reached well beyond her win condition with closeto 30 power, but Lucas Blackwood couldn’t stay in play and Wyndamere had about nine gold on him when the kraken finally hit 15 power.

Choosing a Hand

Every deck is different thus most decks will have a different Hand – one to suit both the deck and the player’s style. I chose Coldhand as my hand for a few reasons. Firstly it is super Nedly** despite the lack of antlers on his mount’s artwork, which makes it enjoyable for me to play with. Secondly he cannot be killed. This means that when I useValar or Wildfire most of the time my opponent’s Hand will get killed while mine will stay in play, helping me keep more gold on my Hand than theirs, and keeping them from winning for a time. Plus, a strength 4 tricon post Valar is always good, and post Wildfire I keep four characters, they will usually have three.

From what I saw, players approached the Hand choice side of deckbuilding a few different ways:

1) They chose a character from an existing deck that had an integral role, like Roose Bolton does in my last article. This would essentially keep a deck “safe” from losing that vital character – like Beric in Brotherhood or Robert in Baratheon. This really gets around targeted character hate (to an extent).

2) They chose a character they thought would work well with a deck that was already build, like throwing Wex Pyke into Knights, for example.

3) They build decks around their specific Hand character. I tried this a few weeks ago using Old Nan as my Hand in a Stark/Brotherhood deck. She would let The Blackfish become a Brotherhood character so he could rack up three power on a claim 2 power challenge (or I would use Whispers From the Hill to get him to 3 power). Then I would use her to turn Beric into a House Tully character so that he could go on three challenges with a Flaming Sword (beside The Mad Huntsman and The Blackfish) while not kneeling to attack. Depending on the roleyour Hand takes in your deck, this can be a pretty fun way to play.

4) Some players just went for flavour, which is the path I took with Coldhands. Choose a character that’s thematically relevant and just have a good time.

From what I saw, if you integrated a Hand into your deck then it took the deck into overdrive. The downside is you might need to work your deck around your Hand whenyou build it for this to work. Sometimes things just fall into place, like using Melissandre(DotN) with Greyjoy intimidate or Sixskins in a Dragon deck with lots of discard pile recursion, but the majority of the time the parts don’t always line up perfectly by just dropping a character in.

Although characters like Lucas Blackwood and Jon Arryn*** are tempting because usually your Hand will be dieing more than once, letting you use a cool death ability morethan once, one must remember: when they die they lose gold. And when they lose gold,you get farther from winning. This is why I chose Coldhands and why Beric is such aBomb (See below). They don’t die, so they don’t lose gold as often, and this keepsthem with more gold than your opponents, keeping your opponents from winning the game. Anything that gives a character the deadly keyword is doubly efficient in Hand challenges, giving you an easy way to manipulate the amount of gold on your opponents Hand has.

The Role of the Hand of the King

From what I saw of the decks that I played against, a Hand can be used in varying decks for different reasons, which I have classified in the following way:

1) Supporting Hands (Hand supports Deck)

2) Meshing Hands (Hand supports Deck and Deck feeds into Hand)

3) Bombs (Deck feeds into Hand)

Supporting Hands take a role in the deck where they patch up the decks weak points or just give some general support that helps a deck out. Maester Wyndamere is aperfect example of this. Greyjoy traditionally has a lot of saves, true, but they eventually run out. Especially when the opponent (me) is running both Valar and Wildfire Assault. However,this gave him one passive save every turn of the game after the second marshalling,and once he hit two influence it would be two saves. Using Eddard (KL) out of house in a Martell Noble deck achieves the same thing – consistent support.

Meshing Hands take a role in the deck that augments what it already does, just going with the flow. If you took a Lannister trait manipulation deck (Chains, Ravens, Lion’sGates, Horns, etc.) and threw in Old Nan as your hand, she would fit in pretty well and augment what the deck already does and giving it more consistency, or even opening updeck slots. The point is that this works within a deck’s already existent strategy, instead of providing something that it does not have (or does not have very much of) the way a Supporting Hand would. Lucas Blackwood really accelerates Stark Siege builds as their Hand and would fall into this category. Take a look at Bran Stark (Core); in an ordinary deck he gives you some more passive versatility in the plot phase, taking a support role. If you build your deck to abuse Marya, Inn of the Kneeling Man, King Robert’s Hammer, Bran Stark (Core), and the City plots, then I would call him a Meshing Hand not a Support Hand, since you’ve dedicated card slots towards working and interacting with him. I’m trying to convey a general deck role here, not create definitions that will probably contradict each other.

Bombs are the all too tempting “uber charater” strategies I’ve been reading a lot about on Regional summaries. Here, the deck focus is on using the Hand as a lynchpin to win the game. This could be a safe way of storing power, a nice aggressive bulldozer, whatever. Some examples that are easy to think of are Beric + Devious Intentions, Beric+ Dragon’s Blood, Beric + Taste for Blood, Beric + Flaming Sword. So yes, mostly Beric.The downside to this style of play is that if your Hand gets controlled – either knelt out or Milked and you can’t pull out an answer, you are in a world of hurt. Got it? Got it.

What I find interesting is that when I use a Hand for a support role, it usually frees up spots in the deck. Using Tarle or Wyndamere opens up slots like Iron Mines or Risen From the Sea (at least for me) so that I can include more of, and a slightly different variety of other cards. Of course, if you just left in those Iron Mines or Risen From the Sea you would never have to worry about losing uniques (at the cost of having potentially “dead” cards in your hand).

How much Cost?

Having a high cost Hand might mean they wont even enter play before you lose the game. Having a low cost Hand might mean your going to lose a lot of Hand challenges in the late game because of their low strength, but you do get to have them in play faster and for longer. So, what is better? The short answer is that it depends on the deck. For the purpose of comparison, lets look at the two extremes – hyper rush vs. control.

If you are going to win in the first three turns or so, a low cost Hand is essential to end the game. You need them in play to win, after all. The problem is that if you don’t win quickly you can start losing hand challenges, bringing your opponent’s more costly and probably more powerful Hand into play quicker. If you plan on dragging the game out (like I did) then having a Hand that costs 4 or 5 doesn’t hurt you. In fact, I could usually get Coldhands into play by turn 3 by winning a Hand challenge in either turn 2 or turn 3 against my opponents (who happened to have low cost Hands). By that point you will have stolen some gold from their hand, storing it on yours out of play where they can’t steal it back.

Many of you are probably thinking “then why did Wyndamere win?” Good question. He provides a reusable save, so although he is low cost, he is not dieing and losing gold to a turn 3 Valar, which would instantly set another Hand back down to 1 gold, where Coldhands would stay out of play with 2 gold on him. Plus, the deck he was run in was well crafted and well piloted. Generally speaking, if you want to win quickly have a low cost hand you can get into play and start utilizing, like Wex Pyke or Edric Storm. Just make sure you don’t fall into the ever tempting “discard a gold to satisfy claim 1 military challenges since they won’t leave play” trap. It can backfire on you when your four gold down on your opponent’s Hand and well past your win
condition, but out of the game.

Hand Management

Managing your opponent’s Hand is just as important as keeping yours operating successfully. Burn is the best way to do this on low gold Hands, where the burn effect just cuts through them until they leave play, lose all their attachments, and lose all their power. Milk of the Poppy is good, but you still need to win Hand challenges or kill them multiple times to get them out of play. Regardless, run 3x Milk of the Poppy in this format. Just build 57 card decks and slide that triplet in, because it is always a good thing to draw into.

Remember: you need to be able to play two games at once – the get to 15 power game and the keep your Hand alive while doing it. If you are only doing one, it is going to be hard to win. Overall, I think control has a real advantage here because to stop the rush you only need to disrupt one of these two things. How you choose your hand, what role it will have in your deck, and how much gold it will cost, are just three parts of the format I
wanted to highlight. From what I witnessed they are the most basic and account for most of the variability in performance.

DeckTech Runner Up:
Stark Nights Watch using Coldhands

There’s great honor serving in the Night’s Watch. The Starks have manned the wall for
thousands of years – Eddard Stark

Before I get torn up about running trip agendas and few renown characters, this is by no means a truly competitive deck. Its casual, its fun to play, but other than modified victories its not really winning you games in a tournament. That’s the fundamental problem with defense – it doesn’t help you win games, it helps slow you from losing the game, and it is a hard thing to overcome. Riverrun out of Tully does a decent job of answering this obstacle. I did my best to do just that, in a little bit of a roundabout way. The deck is a standard Night’s Watch build, using Stark as a base for Frozen Outposts
and Mole Town Brothel. These give me ways to drop in Defenders of the North or some other NW character, defend with them, then stand them, so I can use them offensively later in the challenges phase. I remember a while ago there was a 2 Champs and A Chump episode that broke down the Gate of the Citadel chapter pack. People were just trolling on Deep Den. I wasn’t running any here because I didn’t manage to buy that chapter pack in time. If I had, I would find room for it in this build. If used correctly it can be an amazing card. The biggest weak spot in this deck is if you are forced to go first
since the main strategy requires going second. What does Deep Den do? Lets you go second. Lannister Kingsguard, check. Night’s Watch, check. Stark defense, check. Tully with Riverrun, check. So ya, if you try this at home I recommend you modify it slightly to include that.

Qhorin is another card I love, which you might know if you read my article on using Bolton. He is a fun card to abuse here, dropping him in to defend with The Shadow Tower out gives you a way to kill characters while your defending, and you don’t need to worry about losing him to a valar. Brienne of Tarth (PotS) is a silver bullet to this build, since she stops you from dropping your characters in for free. Sometimes you just need to sweep the board to kill one problem character and never have to worry about her again. It might slow you down a bit early game, but a turn 2 Valar is fine if you managed
to get The Wall out, especially if your killing a huge problem character like her.

I’ve already looked at the reasons I chose Coldhands to be my Hand of the King. I was considering Robb Stark (LoW) for a while for the trait based bonus, but I went to Coldhands for the tricon. If I was doing it again I would choose someone with deadly or renown, or both, like Core Eddard. Those keywords make a huge difference in and of themselves. My hand choice naturally leads into my plot choices; Because I chose Coldhands, I was able to choose two passive sweeps (Valar and Wildfire) without a second thought. Most people will overextend after the turn 3 or turn 4 reset (if their draw is good), and don’t expect a second wrath effect. Building Season was an obvious choice in a deck that is so dependant on The Wall – if I don’t get that location out, I’m pretty much cooked. Retaliation! Lets me go second, The Minstrel’s Muse gives me good initiative and gold, with a dominance effect. Now, Herding the Masses was included over Respect of the Old Gods (blasphemy in Stark, I know) because The Wall gets around declaring defenders by just dropping them in as participants, removing the downside for me. Oxcross gives me a way to kill characters.

With respect to events, I would make sure there are three Yoren’s Task, since the only game I lost was against the choke deck (see below) and I did not pull a Defenders of the North. Direct Assault would be a nice x3 in this deck as well. You go on the claim zero power challenge or military challenge with a str 2 Steward and they let it through. I managed to steal two Scouting Vessels exactly like that over the course of the day, and it hits big. What isn’t in this deck is Lethal Counterattack. When I was putting my list together I found most of the time I was holding characters (like Lost Ranger or Defenders of the North) in my hand instead of playing them. Furthermore, to get the most out of The Wall I wanted Night’s Watch characters, most of whom are neutral. Very few times in actual play did I see myself with two Stark characters standing so that I could drop a Letal. The deck would surely benefit from it, especially since you can still drop in a Night’s Watch to defend the challenge from any survivors, I just didn’t manage to build my character base in a way to support it. Everything else in the list is pretty self explanatory, but if you have questions feel free to ask.

Total Main Deck: 62
House Card (1): Stark
Agenda (3): The Rangers, The Stewards, The Builders
Hand of the King (1): Coldhands (RotO)

Plot (7):
Retaliation! x1
The Minstrel’s Muse x1
Battle of Oxcross x1
Building Season x1
Wildfire Assault x1
Herding The Masses x1
Valar Morghulis x1

Character (36):
Defenders of the North x3
Jon Snow (Core) x1
Ghost (Core) x1
Qhorin Halfhand x2
Benjen Stark (DotN) x2
Wolves of the North x3
Mance Rayder (DotN) x3
Arya Stark (Core) x3
Stonesnake x1
Builder of the Watch x2
Maester Aemon (Core) x2
Steward of the Watch x3
Lost Ranger x3
Jeyne Westerling x2
Ranger of the Watch x3
Carrion Bird x2

Location (17):
The Wall (DotN) x3
Frozen Outpost x3
Mole Town Brothel x1
The Tower of Joy x1
The Shadow Tower x1
Frozen Moat x1
Lord Eddard’s Chambers x1
River Row x1
The Gift x2
Great Keep x3

Attachment (6):
Frozen Solid x3
Pyromancer’s Cache x3

Event (3):
Yoren’s Task x2
Direct Assault x1

Deck List First Place: Greyjoy Winter Choke using Maester Wyndamere

I didn’t make it, so I can’t explain all the card choices. What I can say about this build after playing against it a few times is that it is solid, and it makes me regret not hitting a turn 1 Forgotten Plans. Choke is simple: if your opponent can’t play cards, they shouldn’t win. If you get two Wintertime Marauders in play with a Scouting Vessel, you shouldn’t lose. It is known.

“When men see my sails, they pray.” – Euron ‘Crow’s Eye’ Greyjoy

Total Main Deck: 64
House Card (1): Greyjoy
Agenda (1): Kings of Winter Agenda
Hand of the King (1): Maester Wyndamere

Plot (7):
A Time for Ravens
Blockade
Fear of Winter
Rule by Decree
Loyalty Money Can Buy
The Winds of Winter
Valar Morghulis

Character (26):
Wintertime Marauders x3
Ice Fisherman x3
Carrion Bird x3
Distinguished Boatswain x3
Island Refugees x2
Herald of the Sea
Ancient Mariner
Kingsmoot Hopeful
Mercenaries from Pyke
Saltwife
Theon Greyjoy (AToR)
Asha Greyjoy
Dagmer Cleftjaw

Gylbert Farwynd
Wex Pyke
Cragorn
Fishwhiskers

Location (19):
Gatehouse x3
Iron Island Fiefdoms x3
Aerons Chambers
Bloody Keep
Refurbished Hulk
River Blockade
Sunset Sea
Iron Mines x2
Scouting Vessel x2
Winter Armada x2
Longship Iron Victory
Frozen Sea

Attachment (10):
White Raven x2
Burned and Pillaged x3
Veteran Marauder x2
Support of Harlaw x1
Driftwood Crown x1
War horn x1

Event (9):
Risen from the Sea x3
Winter Reserves x2
Die By the Sword x2
Price of War x2

* - Greyjoy Solid refers to a deck made with a bunch of good Greyjoy cards. They usually do pretty well for themselves.

** - Nedly is a player archetype that focuses on being flavourful and ‘true’ to the novels. “Jaime” players focus on winning, and “Shagga” players enjoy interesting and obscure card combinations. To me, the Hand of the King format is made for Shagga players.

*** - There are exceptions to everything. The Red Viper (KL) and Rhaegar Targaryen are exceptions to this. Oberyn would kill all other characters in play, lowering their Hand down a gold as well, and could be abused in the right Gates of Winterfell/Stalwart strategy. Rhaegar Targaryen can let you stall the game out in a beautiful fashion, if you can manage to keep killing him.