Secrets and Schemes Chapter Pack Review

Our staff has put together a first blush analysis of the newly released Secrets and Schemes 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: 66.8% (334 out of 500 possible points)

Top Cards:
Dosh Khaleen
The Sea Tower
Knight of Flowers
Ser Kevan Lannister

Bottom Cards:
Enemy of the Queen
Vaes Dothrak

Now onto the reviews!
Knight of Flowers (21 Points)

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
As has been the case with several other characters this one is competing with his other variants; namely the non-kneeling Knight of Flowers. The upshot is the discard/coming out of shadows is a cost so even if the response gets canceled at least you brought him in for “free”. The random discard isn’t so great. I don’t think he does much to boost Baratheon in general (not that the house needs any at the moment) given that at least one other version is strong.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
The only problem this card has is the poor interaction with the Laughing Storm. Otherwise, discarding a card from hand barely counts as a cost for Baratheon. Two gold to put it in the shadows aside, getting essentially a free renown character AND saving someone to boot is amazingly strong. Yes he’ll go away if you use the save on a mass-removal effect like Valar or Westeros Bleeds, but even then a surprise preservation of a card is super-strong, especially in a house like Baratheon that’s more prone to storing power on characters than their house card. His main use will be saving a character after Valar has been spent to push hard for the win.

OKTarg- 5 out of 5
Saving from MIL claim can be as good as saving from a reset, and a new renown guy for free (basically) into play is pretty sweet. 5 out of 5 sweet, I think.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Surprise saves are awesome, but you might not want to save from Valar because of FAQ 3.41. Basically saves are like a dodge before the kill effect hits, so Knight of Flowers comes out of shadows, the saved character dodges Valar, then Valar kills KoF. I’m worried that I’ll keep him in shadows waiting for the right opportunity that never comes, or I’ll be afraid to risk the random discard if there’s something in hand that I can’t afford to lose.

kizerman86 - 3 out of 5
Rush builds can use it to keep Super-Stannis and Robert around for one more round to close out a game, but it comes at a heavy cost. The shadows No Agenda deck that won the Chinese National tournament is the only T1 deck I can see running this card. Hopefully that changes, because it is a very interesting effect, but the random discard keeps this at a 3 for me.

Ser Robar Royce (15 Points)

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
He grants himself a keyword automatically whenever he’s in a challenge. He’s alright, but I’m not sure if the effect is all that strong. It’s surprisingly rare when you need more than one deadly at a time and presumably you’ll only get his effect once per phase unless you give him vigilant or some other standing effect. Cost/stat wise he’s not the worst out there but not the best either in the infinitely deep pool of 3 gold characters.

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
His text tricks you into thinking he’ll be more than boringly efficient, but unless there’s a lot of synergy for having multiple Rainbow Guard characters in a single challenge it’s just basically “he has Deadly”. 3-for-3-bicon-keyword-crest is a well-trodden path at this point, and despite the average rating he won’t see play unless there’s a lot of powerful trait synergy for him.

OKTarg - 3 out of 5
Bicon, Deadly, compares unfavorably to Brightwater Man at Arms. The noble crest is nice, though, and I like theme decks. But, not in tournaments

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
The noble crest pushes Ser Robar just above binder fodder status. Depending on this cycle’s remaining Rainbow Guard synergy he could become a 4, but I’m not optimistic.

kizerman86 - 3 out of 5
3 for 3, Deadly, Noble crest isn’t bad. Depending on what other (playable) support the Ranbow Guard gets in the cycle we may see him in a few decks but he is just a bit boring for my tastes. I do expect to see Bara Noble Rush hit the meta with Aloof and Apart, however, and Robar slots right in to those builds.

Rainbow Guard Squire (17 Points)

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
On the fence. I would think many Baratheon knight decks would be employing shadows Jamie at this point in order power their draw. Cost/stat ratio is okay and at least he’d be cheap for setup. Perhaps one copy in order to supplement the primary draw engine?

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
This rating is in anticipation of FFG releasing playable Rainbow Guard characters and breaking up the Val/TLS combo. If neither of those happen drop his rating to 1. Draw is nice, being on weak body is meh, happening in challenges phase is meh. The restriction on triggering him and the ease with which Bara can currently get better draw is the biggest problem though.

OKTarg- 4 out of 5
Setup and Draw for Bara is good. Despite my esteemed colleague JCWamma arguing that Bara can draw easily, they cannot. Obviously he goes only in a Rainbow Guard deck, but let’s assume that’s coming.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
The Squire’s rating depends on the Rainbow Guard characters that we haven’t seen yet. He could be really solid but it’s hard to say.

kizerman86 - 4 out of 5
Remember that Bara Noble Rush deck I mentioned? Aloof and Apart needs 1 cost cards for setup, and Bara Rush needs draw. He is still a 1 for 2 on the most important icon for a rush deck even if you don’t have another Rainbow Guard character out. Don’t forget the KotS Rainbow Guard characters really give a boost to rush decks and are VERY playable as they are right now.

The Drumm (17 Points)

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
It’s not bad, but I’m not convinced. It lets you hit a broader range of locations than Newly Made Lord, but NML is a passive that can’t be canceled and it’s conditions haven’t really felt all that limiting to me.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
Right now Greyjoy lacks competition for Limited Responses, and location hate with no barrier on target (immunities aside) is a big deal. Triggering upon entry to the challenge rather than on winning it is big too, forcing opponents worried about your ability to win a challenge to spend their cancels early.

OKTarg - 3 out of 5
Expensive for Greyjoy, and a telegraphing of the effect. The War crest is non-negligible, but I think he’ll get squeezed out by others at his cost slot or even by the 3-drops, honestly.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Repeatable location destruction is awesome, but The Drumm is pretty expensive and he needs a buddy or a strength buff to win by 4. He's got me thinking about a Greyjoy Aloof & Apart deck with Raiders and War Crests.

kizerman86 - 3 out of 5
A bit too expensive IMO, but a very nice effect. Raider decks (are those still around?) will love him, especially with Aloof and Apart making the best raiders affordable. Unfortunately, he competes with Red Rain’s limited response, which I think is strictly better. You could still run each at 1x, though.

The Sea Tower (22 Points)

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
Average score because I’m not sure if Greyjoy needs this? One potential issue is that this is not quite as efficient as its Martell cousin, Palace Fountains, as this Greyjoy location only reduces characters while the fountains reduces any Martell card.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
It goes in every Greyjoy deck not built around Warships, so it seems a pretty easy 5 to me even if it is very boring.

OKTarg - 5 out of 5
As JC says, great but boring. Greyjoy is not a rich house by any means, but the small acceleration in Winter decks will be nice.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
I’m not sure how to rate an economy card at this stage of the game’s lifespan. Sure it goes into most Greyjoy decks, but 5 stars are reserved for Meera, Dany, etc.

kizerman86 - 5 out of 5
Pure efficiency and speed out of a house that already has some of the most efficient characters in the game. Great for both Choke and Aloof and Apart

Red Rain (18 Points)

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
So it’s similar to Danny, but on an attachment. Given the deep toolbox Greyjoy has to manipulate challenge strength or force unopposed this is highly usable. It’s a bit constrained by being limited to uniques but there are plenty of good Greyjoy uniques so it shouldn’t be a problem to get around.

JCWamma - 2 out of 5
Attachments remain vulnerable, this has a reasonably limited scope of targets, it’s conflicting with a better limited response in the chapter pack… Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that bad for an attachment and particularly great with Gran in a Naval Escort deck, but I just don’t see myself ever playing it in a world of Mel’s Favours, Coldhands, Ghaston Grey, etc.

OKTarg - 4 out of 5
Target removal for Greyjoy is nice, but attachments suck. I never know whether to give my stars based on other card types, or for their own particular type. This easily is one of Greyjoy’s top attachments but attachments suck.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Red Rain is one of my favorite cards in the pack, but it’s hard to rate positive attachments highly, especially with the “unique only restriction”. Winning by 4 shouldn’t be hard though, and target removal is strong.

kizerman86 - 4 out of 5
Greyjoy hyperclaim gets target removal. Greyjoy choke gets target removal. Old Way gets target removal. You get the idea. Greyjoy can cancel most of the effects that would remove the attachment from play, giving it a bit more longevity than it would have out of another house. The unique character restriction keeps it from a 5 in my book.

Chella, Daughter of Cheyk (15 Points)

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
Better than core set Chella for Clansman decks. Not especially compelling outside of that given the population of the Lannister 4 cost bracket.

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
Tediously vanilla to the point where, even though she’s quite good in a “boring efficiency” way, I doubt she’ll see much play, even in Clansman decks where the original probably takes priority for giving the deck something it otherwise doesn’t have. Unless this cycle really does tip the balance of 4 cost characters becoming playable, I expect her to see less play than Garlan Tyrell. If you’re having to look Garlan up right now, I rest my case.

OKTarg 3 out of 5
French Vanilla. A handsome man on Agotcards argued that she is top-shelf French Vanilla. Imagine if she had a “return location to hand” effect….

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Chella wins win challenges for sure, so she makes sense with frequent 2-claim plots. Otherwise I’d rather have somebody that doesn’t kneel (like Core set Jaime) or that provides card advantage (like shadows Jaime). I do love the location immunity though -- Meereen Tourney Grounds can’t touch her.

kizerman86 - 3 out of 5
I want to give her a 2 pretty badly, but 3 keywords and a crest have value. I’m just not sure it is the value I look for when filling a 4g character slot, even in an Aloof and Apart deck. Lannister has a ton of 4g characters with better/more interesting abilities, she will miss the cut in most decks.

Ser Kevan Lannister (21 Points)

emptyrepublic - 5 out of 5
Get back Harrenhal, get back your Pentoshi, Iron Throne, Brothel, Mines, etc etc. The strengths of this should be quite obvious given the depth Lannister has in locations. Especially since you can use Ashemark to discard a location card to get gold to pay for Kevan to get the location back in play. Plus he works just like Dale Seaworth in terms of timing and trigger, and we all know how popular he is. Hard to imagine one copy of this Kevan doesn’t make it into nearly every Lannister deck.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
The only reason Kevan isn’t an easy 5 is that the Limited Response hurts quite a lot in Lannister. Still I imagine he goes in most Lanni decks on the back of that effect. While being a triggered character ability leaves it vulnerable to a great many cancels, it still pushes The Iron Throne from being a “must answer” card to almost a “can’t answer” card, outside of having your own.

OKTarg - 4 out of 5
He seems like a weird Dale Seaworth, who is awesome. LImited Response is hard in Lannister, but there’s lots of use here.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Ser Kevan’s synergy with Ashemark and Ashemark Knight is pretty cool. The Limited Response keeps him from a 5 though; almost every one of my Lannister decks includes Alchemist’s Guild Hall or Castellan of the Rock.

kizerman86 - 4 out of 5
The only thing keeping him from 5 is the Limited Response out of Lannister. Getting Harrenhall back from the discard is great, and even if you only use him to recover spent Sunset Seas he is doing his job. Against cities you can nullify one of their best plots. All around great card.

Enemy of the Queen (9 Points)

emptyrepublic - 1 out of 5
Would be much stronger if it was “attached character cannot stand”. Given that there are a lot of standing effects (outside the standing phase) this is hardly useful especially given the condition to discard it is not that unsurmountable if you have a reasonable amount of intrigue characters.

JCWamma - 1 out of 5
Tell me honestly if you ever will play this card, because I cannot envision a deck that I would do so in. In draft it’s not bad, but for constructed? No way.

OKTarg - 2 out of 5
I like it better than the other guys do.

scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
It’s not THAT hard to win intrigue by 4+ against Lanni. Also the targeted character still gets to attack during the challenges phase before it’s locked down.

kizerman86 - 3 out of 5
Keeping a key character pinned down is worth it, and Lannister shouldn’t have a problem keeping the attachment from falling off.

Ghost Hill Elite (20 Points)

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
Martell mill, huh. What I find interesting about the response is that it makes the choice on your opponent a bit more difficult than it seems. Typically an income location or unneeded attachment would be the card of choice, not a character that would be important for establishing board presence. The response, however, encourages the opponent to do just that. It’s probably not that big of a deal because the power ends up on a character that is not very hard to remove from play, but free discard is rarely bad.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
Very strong, only pushed from 5 down to 4 because there are numerous decks floating around that can easily pitch cards, particularly late-game. If you can get this on the table on setup though it can be brutal early game.

OKTarg - 4 out of 5
Free, easy card advantage is nice. War Crest is nice. I like it.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Ghost Hill Elite checks all the boxes: positive traits, war crest, the best icon pair, and a card advantage ability that doesn’t require any work to trigger.

kizerman86 - 4 out of 5
Without the Limited Response this card would be insane. Even still, I think it will be a 1x in most Martell decks for a while. Very strong card.

Prince’s Attendant (14 Points)

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
Let’s get the obligatory “You can trigger and throw Darkstar away to get him into play!” comment out of the way. Good for setup, good for fodder, good for on demand pseudo-draw. There’s better ways to get cards out of the deck obviously but if you are playing around characters exciting play then it’s even more flexible to time than Orphans.

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
The Any Phase makes this interesting to me. House Messenger goes in most decks and the effect is similar, but since you have to kill the chud for the effect rather than keep it for claimsoak, this is worse. Feels like it’s meant to be the type of card Bloodthirst was supposed to be about.

OKTarg - 3 out of 5
Flexible monocon chud for Martell. They have lots of those. Cool effect that other cards do better.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
The Any Phase flexibility is nice, and he can fulfill trigger conditions for cards like Parting Blow. You can attack with Prince’s Attendant and then use his ability in Challenges, if his strength makes a difference. Or in marshalling he’s almost like a 1 gold event.

kizerman86 - 2 out of 5
It replaces itself with a (hopefully) better card, after you have paid for it. You can’t use it as claimsoak and still get its ability. Just not enough, IMO. In Bloodthirst it makes sense, but I’m not convinced Bloodthirst is in a good spot right now. If this card’s ability was a response to it being killed (like Doubting Septa, Handmaidens, etc…) then I would be on board.

Hotah’s Axe (14 Points)

emptyrepublic - 5 out of 5
I maybe overrating, but I’m loving this in order to deal with the vast irritation that is the 2 STR mono-icon strength nullifying characters from the last cycle. Even with the tiniest amount of icon control you can lay waste to nearly any character on the board. This might even make Qhoyne useful.

JCWamma - 2 out of 5
Good for sniping monocons, interesting paired with icon removal but unspectacular - there will be dream scenarios with The Scourge and/or Brimstone, sure, but typically those scenarios will be “win more” rather than this actually being game-changing. Weird that the best wielder of Hotah’s Axe is The Red Viper, but Martell players are long-used to him being the centre of their universes so whatever. It’s still a positive attachment that isn’t phenomenal, so don’t expect a high rating.

OKTarg - 2 out of 5
It’s cool, but I’m just not sure it’s amazing. Better than Poisoned Spear, right?

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
I thought this would be one of my favorite cards, and then I realized Poisoned Spear does nearly the same thing already. Hotah’s Axe has setup and it’s unique so Dragon Thief can’t discard it. However, it’s a Limited Response and Martell should get a least one or two more of those in this cycle.

kizerman86 - 2 out of 5
The axe has a great effect, but I’m afraid it’s more situational than it appears. Sure, it hits the “specialist” characters, Syrio, etc… but I just can’t justify a card slot for it in most decks.

Ser Jason Mallister (17 Points)

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
Thank goodness for the limit once per phase. Otherwise this guy would be wrecking in melee. 4/4/4 + keyword + crest + good traits makes him a strong general character. Stark 4 gold bracket is pretty deep now so I’m not sure if he’ll make the cut unless it’s a Tully deck.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
“Choose and kill” is exceptionally powerful, make no mistake. Great for most Stark decks, as they can easily brush off that military challenge he forces and in mass-kill decks forcing your opponent’s hand hurts them a surprising amount. Maybe the 3 or lower restriction bites in this cycle, but there are too many spectacularly efficient cards he can pick off in the meantime. Inviting himself to be the centre-piece of a janky icon removal deck that uses the likes of Lineage and Legacy and Shadows and Spiders - maybe Conquest to Stark becomes the new direction for Martell icon removal? Also, hilarious meta-call against Targaryen Heir to the Iron Throne.

OKTarg - 2 out of 5
This is a great card, if it had completely different restrictions. I’d say it’s unusable in Joust, though the synergy with Lethal Counterattack is funny.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Where does Ser Jason fit: Siege? Tully Defense? Aloof and Apart? He’s a solid card but nothing mind-blowing.

kizerman86 - 4 out of 5
Stark Defense is getting SERIOUS boosts in this cycle, and they already have the best defensive cards around. Ser Jason forces your opponent to choose between letting him trigger his target kill or eating a Routing the Charge, No Quarter, or Show of Force. 4 for 4 with Deadly is just icing.

Raventree Hall (13 Points)

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
Clearly meant to play towards the Tully “defend and win theme”. The +1 is actually quite strong as that’s all you need to swing a win if you have a Joust character incoming. It’s also safe from Favorable Ground. In the end though unless you are playing “defend and win” it’s not worth the space.

JCWamma - 2 out of 5
One of those cards that is surprisingly useful in practice but you’ll never find space to actually include in your deck. Doesn’t particularly work with defense decks, because defense decks generally force an opponent to make fewer, bigger challenges rather than lots of smaller ones, and it doesn’t make the cut in other decks because it’s not “on message”. Now granted this is what I said about Bitterbridge which is now an auto-include in most Bara decks, but unless the Joust keyword becomes the focal point of the game somehow then I can’t see the analogy to this.

OKTarg - 2 out of 5
Like a love child of Winterfell Practice Yard and Frozen Outpost that was disinherited--not as good as either of them.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Immune to events is nice, but the rest of the card isn’t strong enough to make it the target of Condemned by the Council or Price of War anyways. Maybe you could build a Voltron deck with a character that doesn’t kneel to defend - Dacey Mormont, Ranger of Winter, Ser Arthur Dayne, and Ser Rodrick Cassel are options.

kizerman86 - 3 out 5
Stark Defense has beein doing serious work in Tulsa, this card slots right in to those builds by giving them speed, but will be on the chopping block for most other Stark decks. Moat Cailin has been surprisingly strong, and this is very similar.

Dosh Khaleen (23 Points)

emptyrepublic - 5 out of 5
Targaryen players won’t have too hard of a time making this fire by themselves, and the cost is to stand an influence granting card. In melee the opportunities open up even more. Above and beyond that it’s still an okay 2/2/2 Dothraki character. Just nuts.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
Right now Targaryen has no competition for limited responses, making this card amazing. It turns Flame-Kissed from an expensive card to a free cantrip. There are other uses, but make no mistake, that’s the main one. Burn’s biggest problem has always been reliable draw, and this is just one more cog in that machine.

OKTarg 4 out of 5
JCWamma has overlooked the inimitable Flaming PItch Tower as a Targaryen Limited Response But seriously, draw in Targ, influence in Targ, and what’s not to like? Just conditional enough to not be a 5.

scantrell24 - 5 out of 5
Targ decks with Flame-Kissed, Incinerate, and Long Lances (so, most of them) just got even stronger.

kizerman86 - 5 out of 5
Card advantage that fits perfectly with an archetype that needs it most. Burn baby burn!

Vaes Dothrak (11 Points)

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
Limited and House restriction keep this from being mental; otherwise Lannisters would be jamming this into their decks. Won’t make it into every deck, but will find life in quite a few of them I think (Heir to the Iron Throne, etc).

JCWamma - 1 out of 5
This would be a good house of dreams location if it wasn’t limited. Because it’s limited, it’s unplayable. Make no mistake - claim matters most in decks that hit hard turn one and onwards, and if you play this turn one or on setup then you are severely compromising your tempo. Turn two it’s still a major tempo hit, and any later than that it’s not worth the cost. It could be ok in janky out of house decks, but it’s House Targaryen only. It’s like FFG incisively decided to remove every way of making it worth using. And they succeeded.

OKTarg- 2 out of 5
It’s not good, guys. And 3-cost locations need to be good. When would you ever want this over Aegon’s Hill? That’s right--never.

scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
The “Limited” keyword keeps this location balanced. It can’t be used with House of Dreams, and if you marshall it turn 1 then you’re forgoing a +1 gold location, which is a huge drawback. This feels like a card that needs to be built around, but that takes too much work.

kizerman86 - 2 out of 5
Don’t get me wrong, the effect is super strong and the Limited keyword is great for protecting your investment, but it is a 3g investment. That is a lot. Paying 3g for a random discard when you can pay 3g for Aegon’s Hill and get a targeted move to dead effect, AND see your opponents hand, just isn’t worth it most of the time. You are also spending 3g less on characters that you need to win the intrigue challenge to begin with.

Greenseer’s Raven (13 Points)

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
I’d argue this raven is only useful if your meta is in love with River and City plots. In that regard he’ll certainly be useful, in particular if you can manage to recycle him from the discard pile. Otherwise, I’m not sure if 1 STR, Stealth and a power icon is that in demand. Carrion bird is far more annoying for your opponents to deal with.

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
Old Way, choke to cancel particular troublesome plots (turn one City of Lies/At the Gates, say) and for draw with Sam, and otherwise a meta call if you’re fed up of your local opponent’s River/City chains. Next.

OKTarg - 2 out of 5
I don’t like silver bullets in my own decks, but I’m glad they exist in the metagame. Put this in that category.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Aside from City and River plots, Greenseer’s Raven affects Fleeing to the Wall, The Lost Message, Called to Court, The Red Wedding, and Waste Their Time. It’s an exclusive list, but cheap stealth makes this guy a silver bullet worth trying. He also supplies additional redundancy for Samwell Tarly’s draw ability.

kizerman86 - 2 out of 5
Like OKTarg, I dislike using card slots on specific answers, unless they are answering something that shuts my deck off completely. Rivers, Cities, etc… don’t really do that. I really only see it as a card you can play in HoD, and fetch with A Time for Ravens the turn before you think your opponent will play City Beseiged. And if you do that, you are probably not doing well. Too random to count on and a dead card more often than not.

Aloof and Apart (17 Points)

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
This is hard to call. It feels like it’s somewhat competing with Conquest agenda, but not really. Maybe it’s useful for a high power noble deck where you splash in some all-stars from other houses? Maybe it lets you create a discount army deck. Either way, the only thing I keep thinking of with this agenda is that it’s not good for a Martell deck that wants to use Ghaston. We’ll have to see where the meta goes with this one.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
If being used conventionally I think this is better than I first gave it credit for - initially I thought of it as “conditional +2 gold, big whoop”, then I realised that if you’re actually building around it then of course it’s not that conditional, and if the agenda just gave +2 gold that would actually be great for aggro decks. The downside is minimal. And by minimal, I mean it’s the thing that makes this agenda amazing - combo with the likes of Unburnt, Ambush from the Plains, and, yes, even The Boneway. I’d say it was oversight to allow it, but given that almost no card effect in the game that can return a character to your hand is actually a bad thing, I can only conclude it was intentional, which frankly is bizarre.

OKTarg- 3 out of 5
This is a cool agenda, but is it better than Hollow Hill, which also gives 2 resources (unconditional), 2 influence, and 2 initiative? I’m not sure, but we’ll see.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Agendas are notoriously difficult to judge without using them first (see: The Long Voyage). To complicate matters further, there’s currently a semi-broken interaction between Aloof and Apart and the Targaryen attachment Unburnt (Response: Save attached character from being killed, then return it to its owner's hand.) that could require an errata. Overall though, I’m not that impressed. It’s just an extra 2 gold on about 2 out of 3 turns at best.

kizerman86 - 4 out of 5
I’m still deciding how many 4g+ characters you need to make the agenda worthwhile, but overall I think a lot of interesting builds will come from this. I posted my thoughts in the thread on the forum already, but Nobles will make a comeback. The biggest problem Noble Rush decks faced before was Westeros Bleeds / Storm the Gate. Those are so rarely played right now that you can count on some strong Noble decks popping up.

Siege Preparations (20 Points)

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
This is a first or second turn plot meant to build you up and let you fire off the “To Be A…” events. In that context it’s really strong. The challenge limitation isn’t terrible in early game especially if you have alternate solutions to control the tempo of your opponent (icon removal, kneeling, burn, etc).

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
Highly-playable Military Battle that isn’t (currently) restricted is a major deal. I expect most Stark and Greyjoy decks to open with this now, unless they’re the type of deck that desperately needs high claim and/or multiple challenges round one (for instance, Siege or LIV2). Otherwise, only good for decks that desperately need a high gold plot.

OKtarg 4 out of 5
Nice stats, nice traits. People won’t usually care about giving up the early challenge to set up their To Be’s, particularly with the very nice gold.

scantrell24- 4 out of 5
Compared to the Fury plots, Siege Preparations provides one more gold, and it’s not restricted like Fury of the Wolf, Kraken, and Dragon. However, the 0 initiative is a major downside. Many Stark and Greyjoy decks that would consider replacing their Fury with Siege Prep included Bay of Ice. The text isn’t a huge problem, as first turn power challenges are relatively unimportant anyways, so you’re only sacrificing one of military or intrigue.

kizerman86 - 4 out of 5
Stark and Greyjoy needed another option for an unrestricted Military Battle. 6 gold will make it easy to field enough characters to win a Military or Intrigue challenge and defend at least one incoming challenge.

Naming the Heir (17 Points)

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
Having played some draft games (where this plot is available) and seen it in action it is flat bonkers. The stats themselves are a bit weak, but the probability that you pull a strong character out (especially good for a post-Valar) is quite high. Problem is that only happens on the next turn. The turn you reveal this you’ll have to contend with low stats which isn’t so good.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
This requires a masterful, chess-like brian to use effectively. You need to build your deck to cope with poor gold yet also utilise high cost characters (Ambush? Seat of Power?), then predict when your opponent will want to Valar and play this the plot before. Basically the point of this plot is to put your opponent in a catch-22 situation, and it’s frankly fascinating to me.

OKTarg - 3 out of 5
I think it will whiff just enough to hurt, unless it never whiffs, in which case the 2 gold hurts a lot. I’m probably wrong.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Naming the Heir could change the meta like Negotiations, but it’s tricky to time correctly. Then even if you’re correct you could wiff. Include 8 four-cost-plus characters in your 60 card deck, and you’ll see zero in the top 10 cards about 21% of the time. If you have 10 such characters, you’ll see zero about 14% of the time.

kizerman86 - 3 out of 5
Too risky for my tastes, unless you are counting on Heralds or Harwin to load the top of your deck. I love the Castle plots in general, but this effect needs to happen when you play it for the 2 gold to be palatable. Hopefully testing proves me wrong and this card turns out to be a 5 because it is a very interesting, fun ability.