A King in the North - Going on a Long Voyage

The Big Agenda™ that everyone is talking about right now is the Long Voyage- sweeping through multiple regionals in the US, Europe, and Australia. It is being played out of every house, and has won regionals with every house – except Stark (as far as I know). Yet Stark is probably the most natural house for running TLV.; the lack of good in-house draw (apart from Blackfish and Guard at Riverrun), while the abundance of good in-house search really helps to make up for the slight decline in card quality, and the large numbers of efficient good strength-cost ratio characters means you’re still drawing dudes you can chuck across the table to wreck your opponent’s plans.

To give the deck a bit more survivability, and to give it some power grab potential, I’ve included a noble search subtheme based around fishing for dupes with Widow’s Watch, one of my favourite cards. This helps to thin the deck, while also allowing for protection for important renown and utility characters (i.e. Brienne and Blackfish), while giving you opportunities to search up Riders of the Red Fork.
I’ll break down the various aspects of the deck and go a little into detail about my reasoning behind card choices, to hopefully give you a feel of how the deck is supposed to work.

Characters
As previously stated, Stark has a lot of redundancy in its character base - there are loads and loads of efficient Stark characters that are very similar and fill the same role – In fact, Stark often finds it harder to cut down to a manageable size than it does trying to scrape together enough guys to throw into a deck. When building 60 card decks, I find that Stark, in particular, has serious overcrowding at 2 particular slots: the 2 cost slot and the 4 cost slot, with relatively fewer choices at the 3 cost and 1 cost slot.

We’ll look at each of the slots one by one: Firstly, because we have bad bad bad setups, we really need 3 Hungry Mobs – they also work very well against choke, which is a particular problem for Long Voyage Decks because of the relative paucity of TLV setups, and a 3 str for 0 cost is never bad! The refugees would have gone in as well – if they weren’t restricted. In my opinion, Stark’s other restricted cards (particularly Meera) are much much better than 3 refugees who probably won’t stick around for more than a turn or two.
So Far:

1x Hungry Mob (CoS)

Next, we want to look at cheap, efficient 1 costs: Jeyne Westerling.is great because she searches up a great 4 cost (Robb), and, to make sure her ability doesn’t go to waste afterwards, we’ll also stick in 3 copies of Riders of the Red Fork who can be searched up by their ability. Hodor is a solid chump blocker (who will usually win challenges on the defence), so he’s useful to have around. We’ll also toss in a few Direwolf pups, carrion birds, princes of the sun hound, and core set shaggydog for more low cost military stuff, and Lucas Blackwood to allow us to punch our opponents multiple times. Since our low cost stuff is horrifically tilted toward military icons, it’s worth throwing in a single copy of Jojen reed so we’ll have an intrigue weenie to punch/block with.
So:


1x Jeyne Westerling (ASoS)
1x Hodor (Core)
1x Shaggydog (Core)
2x Carrion Bird (ASoS)
1x Jojen Reed (LoW)
1x Direwolf Pup (Core)
1x The Hound (PotS)

The 2 slot is an incredibly crowded slot for Stark – there are great characters like Princes of the Sun Jorah, King’s Landing Sansa, Osha, Kyle Condon, Reek and lots of great non-uniques, like Guard at Riverrun and Knight of Harrenhal. I threw in all the efficient 2 costs, particularly ones that hose some decks horrifically (Old Nan is deadly against Maesters!, and a decent 2 for 2 bicon against other decks). Bran Stark is, again, an intrigue icon, and combos well with our direwolf weenies for surprise stealth/deadly to push challenges through, which is never a bad thing. Vyman is a great anti-triggered effects (so anti-burn, anti-kneel, and anti-martell bounce/icon stripping), and is fetchable with at the gates, depending on the matchup. Also, because it is important to have some sort of character and location control, I decided to run war crests, so in go 3 copies of Knight of the Tumblestone, in order to have a cheap weenie to key price of war and die by the sword off of.
So we have

1x Osha (AKitN)
1x Bran Stark (VD)
1x Maester Vyman (TWoW)
1x Old Nan (BoRF)
1x Sansa Stark (TftRK)
1x Reek (MotM)
3x Knight of the Tumblestone (Core)
1x Ser Jorah Mormont (PotS)
3x Guard at Riverrun (LoW)
1x Ser Kyle Condon (APS)

There are a lot of good Stark 3 costs – Luwin is excellent because he is searchable with At the Gates, and also digs for events, Arya Stark gives a lot of resilience to a deck post-valar, so in she goes as well. The Riders of the Red Fork are a must, because they are searchable with any effect (They are particularly useful for bringing up with Jeyne after you have Robb, or with Widow’s Watch on the various uniques without dupes, or as an “event” with Luwin’s search). Brienne is an absolute rockstar against so many decks – she locks up the board state, “As is”, and stops any stupid Martell tricks, any Greyjoy Saves, any Targ strength reduction, or any Mirror-match Stark kill – a must! Damon and Moreo provide some intrigue offense, while Varys can get rid of a particularly pesky ally!

In a deck with plentiful draw, our restricted card should be one that emphasises board control: Meera Reed – she is still, arguably Stark’s strongest restricted card – the flexibility she offers to target a ne card every turn, and to force your opponent to play around her, is very powerful. Finally, CAtelyn Stark (LoW) is not technically a 3 cost, but she gives the deck a lot of flexibility on the defence, so in goes 3 copies of her.

The first 5 cards in the “ 3 drop “ slot are technically 2 drops for the sakeof setup – which makes them a fair bit better!

1x Arya Stark (CoS)
1x Varys (SaS)
3x Meera Reed (TftH)
1x Maester Luwin (FtC)
3x Riders of the Red Fork (FtC)
2x Brienne of Tarth (PotS)
3x Catelyn Stark (LoW)
1x Damon Dance-For-Me (VD)
1x Moreo Tumitis (TPoL)


Finally, the 4 costs – This is a really crowded slot for Stark, because you have great nobles (Fishy, Robb), great Armies (White Harbour, the Flank), and great other characters (New Greatjon and Roose) who are all excellent n their own way. I decided to go with “pump” Robb Stark (LoW) because his ability is more generally useful than the other Robb Starks. The Blackfish has Renown and gives Draw. Since I’m running some nobles, I also decided to throw in a Ned Stark for protection and quasi-draw (you can target him with an idle old nan or frozen moat/outpost and cancel your own ability – and he can also cancel effects to buff your opponents’ nobles). Finally, no Stark deck is complete without 3 copies of Northern Cavalry Flank.

3x The Blackfish (LoW)
2x Robb Stark (LoW)
2x Eddard Stark (TTotH)
3x Northern Cavalry Flank (SA)
1x Roose Bolton (DB)

We have a slightly 4-cost heavy deck, but the quality of our 4 costs, as well as our swarm of cheap 1 and 2 drops, do make up for it slightly.

Attachments and Events
I tend to group these into the same category because they are, for all intents and purposes, cards that you can’t play on setup. Because of this, I have also thrown Catelyn Stark (LoW) into this slot as well, because, unless you are very very desperate, she will almost never hit the table permanently. In a typical deck, I would not run more than 12 attachments or events. Long voyage decks are slightly larger, but I’d still try to limit the numbers of attachments or events, as the inherent variability in Long Voyage decks mean that it is possible to get truly unlucky draws.

All the attachments and events are control cards – there are very few cards worth throwing lots of effort into protecting in this deck (though I was very tempted by a Nymeria (Core) and a Crown of Winter (Lords of Winter), but ultimately had to cut them to keep my attachments/events down). I basically threw in the standard suite of War crest control, and 3 frozen solids for double-duty attachment/location control, with a lethal counterattack to keep my opponent on edge.

3x Die by the Sword (LoW)
1x Lethal Counterattack (Core)
2x The Price of War (KotS)
3x Frozen Solid (LoW)

Locations
Stark, arguably, has some of the strongest locations in the game – no other house has an in-house non-unique location that gives a strength pump AND stands a character (Frozen Outpost), along with a card that unconditionally blanks an attacking character and turns off stealth/deadly/renown (frozen moat). And while Harrenhal may not be unconditional like Golden Tooth Mines, it sacrifices reliability (and cost!) for card quality. Finally, Widow’s Watch ensures that you’ll get dupes to protect your most impotant characters from a reset, and, in a pinch, can ensure you get some Riders of the Red Fork out onto the field.

2x Frozen Outpost (LoW)
2x Frozen Moat (BtW)
3x Harrenhal (ODG)
3x Widow's Watch (GotC)

Since, in a Long Voyage deck, setups are generally more variable, you really need to stuff a deck full of as many resource locations as it can take. This means the full standard suite (3 Limited Gold Producers, 3 Seas, 1 Chamber, All the appropriate Streets – Steel, Silk, River Row and Sisters)- I included 3 extra roseroads (for more gold!), a godswood (to pay for all those exensive characters) in order to bulk up the resource curve

We therefore have:

3x Great Keep (Core)
3x Narrow Sea (Core)
1x Lord Eddard's Chambers (Core)
1x Street of Steel (Core)
1x Street of Sisters (Core)
1x River Row (QoD)
1x Street of Silk (LotR)
3x The Roseroad (KotStorm)
1x Godswood (Core)

Plots
Plots are the key to a good deck, and this one is no exception. The concept behind this deck’s plots are simple - this is, fundamentally, an aggro deck. Aggro decks like to punch things. Punching things with 2 claim is better than punching things with 1 claim, so this deck seeks to maximise the number of 2 claim plots at its disposal. The first/best 2 claim is Respect of the Old Gods, which, for all intents and purposes, is a 4-2-2 plot. Given the number of War Crests, we’d also want to throw in 2 copies of The Power of Arms (5 STR Riders of the Red Fork are very good at pushing 2-claim challenges across). Other 2 claim plots don’t work that well for this deck

The other plots serve different purposes - to solve TLV;s two main weaknesses – bad setups and slow starts, we run At the Gates – allowing us to fetch a vital intrigue icon (Luwin), or, if we draw into a Luwin, a copy of Riders of the Red Fork (for aggro punchiness) or Vyman (to cancel opponent control effects). Forgotten Plans is vital for disrupting opponents’ plots – whether Threat from the North, Cersei’s Scheme, Mel’s Scheme, First Snow of Winter, To the Spears! or any other variety of nasty plots from your opponents. Finally, The Minstrel’s Muse is a good way to punish an opponent who valars, or can be the plot that allows you to win initiative and claim the win!

The 7th plot is variable and really depends on your style – for more aggressive decks, another 2-claim in Men of Pride is useful, while for more conservative players, Loyalty Money can buy is a good “crutch” to allow the deck to set up properly. I’m not personally a fan of Valar in Stark aggro, as you should be able to keep the board under control – though, of course, many people swear by it, so there’s an option here.

So our final plot deck looks like:

2x The Power of Arms (Core)
1x At the Gates (GotC)
1x Respect of the Old Gods (LoW)
1x The Minstrel's Muse (RotO)
1x Men of Pride (THoBaW)
and EITHER Valar Morghulis (Core), 1x Forgotten Plans (KotStorm), or 1x Loyalty Money Can Buy (QoD)

Aspects of the Deck
The deck has loads of fun aspects. There are a lot of aggro elements in the form of efficient Stark characters (e.g. The Flanks, Robb Stark, Fishy, Riders, Cheap Weenies),but also has a fair amount of control, card advantage engines and fun tricks.

Control
There are a lot of things that can throw a spanner in the works in this deck – the full suite of war crest kill and location hate events, as well as 3 copies of frozen solid. Meera Reed is a repeatable catch-all that can control locations, characters, and attachments, and 3 copies of her is a must for any Stark deck nowadays! Frozen moat and Frozen Outpost both help with Stark’s defensive strengths and are very good at stopping your opponents from pushing challenges trough.

Card Advantage
You’ll be drawing loads from the agenda alone, but it’ll still be good to have a way to get extra cards! The first and easiest option is 3 copies of Guard at Riverrun, the long-term staple of Stark draw, as long as you’re not losing military challenges. To supplement this, I’ll also run 3 copies of the Blackfish – who is a great character and a ticking time-bomb for your opponent to deal with – once he gets 3 power on him, he can win games almost single handedly!

Jeyne Westerling is very conditional search – but every card she gets out of your deck will be a character that will put a lot of pressure on your opponent, so at 1 gold, she is a bargain. Luwin helps to filter the top cards of your deck for events that you can use during your military challenges, and Harrenhal, while expensive, ensures you can pick the right card for the situation.

Widow’s Watch is also a card that is heavily overlooked, but also a great card advantage engine – it thins your deck of powerful uniques, which reduces dead draws but also gives protection for Blackfishes, Neds etc. right away, and allows you to minimise the effects of Valar.

Other Fun Tricks
This deck is surprisingly flexible, and many Stark cards are very good at fulfilling multiple roles: Old Nan and the Moats, for example, can, in a pinch, be anti-maester tech. Both can also be used in combination with Ned Stark for draw, or with the Blackfish to create a non-kneeler. Osha can force your opponent into overcommitting or under omitting for a challenge, and is great for screwing up combat maths.
Summary

This deck was taken to 2 regionals, the Sheffield, UK one, on the first weekend of June, and the London, UK one, the weekend after. It made the cut at both, after coming 5th and 4th in the Swiss rounds. It lost in the Top 8 to Nate Holmes’ Targaryen Maesters deck at Sheffield (Nate would go on to win the regional), and to Marek Ustmyenko’s Greyjoy Long Voyage Deck in the London final, so all in all, it did fairly well.
It possesses a lot of punch, has a lot of redundancy, and has many things that helps to mitigate the disadvantages of the Long Voyage agenda – particularly the search and deck thinning that Stark is very good at.

This deck isn’t perfect, and it does have certain weaknesses that it finds hard to deal with. Firstly, it has a relatively high resource curve – Stark’s best characters are in the 3 and 4 cost range, and this skew means the deck has slightly unpredictable setups – it will flop 4 cards or better around 85% of the time, especially if you mulligan aggressively, but you will also see a 2 card flop once in a while (I mulliganed into a 2-card flop in the final of the London regional!), which may be too high of a risk for some players! It also has little to no event cancel, as I’ve pruned the deck slots to a minimum in order to maximise setups, so is vulnerable to Westeros Bleeds and Favorable Ground. Finally, it also struggles against rush decks if it doesn’t get its control elements or cheap weenies out, as it tends to have relatively slow starts for a Stark deck, though if it can stabilise the board position by around turn 3, it can usually turn things around and out-aggro the rush deck.