AGoT Core Set Review: House Stark

Our staff has put together a first blush analysis of the newly released Game of Thrones LCG 2nd Edition Core Set. 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 Stark cards from the Core set, and we’ll be back shortly with further reviews.

Here’s a link to the relevant preview article from FFG, where you can read the designer Nate French’s thoughts behind the faction.

For comparison's sake between factions, House Stark's non-economy cards combined to earn 69.9% (475 out of 680 points). With 8 reviewers this time, scores are out of 40 possible points. Now onto the cards!

Arya Stark (36 Total Points)(90%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 5 out of 5
One of the best 3g cards in the Core with regard to board impact. Also a good card for any Banner of the Wolf decks.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
She's simply phenomenal for such a cheap cost, the first of three amazing cheap Starks that make them in my opinion the ideal banner faction. Given her price point, she essentially does what Greyjoy do, only better than Greyjoy do it.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
Really like this version of Arya. For only 3 gold we get a character with built in save, which also gives her a Military icon. Stealth on a bi-icon character will be always make attacking easier.

Oktarg: 4 out of 5
Stealth and card advantage in one shot is really nice. Could even be a five, really, at her cost point.

rave - 5 out of 5
At this point, Arya so solid that there’s really no reason to not run her if you’re playing Stark in some fashion. Lots of utility in cheap package. Even without her military icon, stealth power in the late game is really nice.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Arya doesn’t get the free duplicate if you place her on setup, and she’s vulnerable to Plaza of Punishment (which eats through dupes). Those are minor quibbles of course. All told, she's an efficient card, but not the kind that makes your opponent sweat.

VonWibble - 4 out of 5
Bicon with stealth and a dupe coming into play is really good value at this stage. Much weaker without the dupe, but as a Lady she can have a Bodyguard attached if necessary.

Siroma - 5 out of 5
Stealth is an extremely valuable keyword at this stage of the game, especially in military challenges and coming out with a free duplicate is really nice. Cheap and splashable.

Bran Stark (33 Total Points)(82.5%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
An easy 1x for all Stark and Banner of the Wolf decks for adding in some event protection.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
The second reason to banner to Stark. Cheap event cancel is very strong now that events cost gold, and since it's sacrifice rather than kill you can freely run 3 copies of this guy in your decks. Which I imagine you will do.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
Having a character that is only 2 cost, so easy claim soak, that can stop any event will be in most Stark decks for a very long time. Also since Sacrifice puts Bran in discard pile and not the dead pile can play another one to repeat the process.

Oktarg: 4 out of 5
He is not my type of card but I remember how annoying harrenhal was in trying to force through my key events so I am not looking forward to playing against him.

rave - 4 out of 5
I’m not really impressed with him, but at 2 gold, he really is quite good. It is worth mentioning that because of events costing gold now, a cancel sitting on the field is more annoying than it was in 1st ed because it’s harder to just bluff to get him off the table. Also at the price, you’re not going to want to waste Milk of the Poppy on him. Because of this, he’s becomes annoying. You know when you read the books and the Bran chapters pop up and you sigh? Very Nedly.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Like Ser Jorah, you want 3 copies of Bran in most Stark decks. He’s great on setup and cheap claim soak in a pinch. Bran’s threat of activation can play mind games with a weaker opponent, but against better opponents you’ll have to take a game sometimes -- do I cancel this moderately annoying event now, or wait to see there’s something more devastating later?

VonWibble - 4 out of 5
Walking cancel and claim soak. If used as cancel he works well with Robb and with Summer. However, very easy to burn and won’t do a lot in challenges. Also, that cancel is on the table to see and opponents may be able to bluff through relatively weak effects as a result, therefore he isn’t a 5.

Siroma - 4 out of 5
Heavily dissuades the use of any events, and being a cheap body and getting insight from summer is a minor plus. That being said, 1 str in pow is not great and he’s often a prime target to die to wildfire in most circumstances.

Catelyn Stark (38 Total Points)(95%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
A good card, but not quite the monster that was Brienne of Tarth in 1.0. Even if you could weasel a Syrio’s Training on her to get her to participate in military, that would still not stop duplicates with the new rules. It’s important to note here that she does *not* stop Forced Reactions.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
I swear not every Stark card deserves a 5! But yes, Catelyn absolutely does deserve this. 4-for-4 bicon is very respectable in and of itself, but when you factor in the power of that text - in the core set alone it lets you ignore the ramifications of Dracarys!, Like Warm Rain, Tears of Lys, Queen of Thorns and several more - she’s pushed up to an exceptional power level, one of the strongest cards in the game.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
A new version of a very popular card in 1.0. We lose the military icon from that character but gain an intrigue icon. Stopping opponent effects is always useful.

Oktarg: 5 out of 5
She will be a staple for a long time since stark lacks any other big intrigue options. Her ability is very nice as well.

rave - 5 out 5
Great strength for the cost, which would be nice in any other house, but is amazing in Stark because she helps fix the intrigue deficit they have. Not having this effect on a military character is an interesting take, it makes Catelyn feel like more of a defensive card. She’s really annoying. Again, Nedly.

scantrell24 - 5 out of 5
Without Catelyn, House Stark would have a huge weakness to intrigue challenges. She’s their first line of defense, followed by Like Warm Rain, and then….nothing. Best run 2 copies to make sure you see her.

VonWibble - 5 out of 5
Prevents all sorts of opposing shenanigans. Brienne was really strong in 1st edition, and having that applied to intrigue is going to save you from a lot of nastiness - Tears of Lys, Queen of Thorns and Red Viper to name a few. Very nice with Syrio’s Training.

Siroma - 5 out of 5
Nice tears of lys protection while also nullifying a lot of annoying character abilities. As an added bonus, you get to block lanni’s draw engine. 4 for 4 while being loyal is also respectable, especially since fealty works well with gates of winterfell.

Eddard Stark (28 Total Points)(70%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
Should maybe be closer to 5 in Melee, where this guy shines. Still, a solid 7-coster that is one of the few available for Banner decks.

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
Powerful effect, but 7 gold is a large number of gold. Best in Melee (he should maybe have a 4 here just for his melee potential), where he makes a strong case for people not attacking you - IF you can afford to play him and keep him, which should absolutely not be taken for granted.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
Will stop opponent from initiating challenges to make you kneel characters as defenders due to him having renown. Downside is no intrigue icon or stealth, but I think it will be common practice at least early in the game for Stark decks to be running Little Birds.

Oktarg: 4 out of 5
If you can't deal with him, he's very annoying. If you have stealth, no problem!

rave - 3 out of 5
I feel like Eddard could’ve used 1 more strength. I don’t feel like we’re getting enough here for 7 gold. I will say he strikes me as a higher 3 because he is a useful character, but because of that cost, only when you’re already winning. He’s not loyal, which seems a little bit weird. He also swiftly steals the Cards That Look Like Jesus award from Baelor Blacktyde. Well done, Ned.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Eddard’s ability makes him one of the better “voltron” candidates in the game (equip him with Ice and Little Bird to create a formidable defender). But you need attachment removal to handle Milks (so Confiscation or Banner with another faction) because Eddard will certainly draw your opponent’s attention. I think he’ll improve with a larger card pool.

VonWibble - 4 out of 5
Makes defending a lot easier unless you are facing stealth. Works well with Little Bird. In melee I can see him putting a lot of opponents off going for you and making them choose someone else to attack.

Siroma - 3 out of 5
Definitely feels like one of the weaker 7 cost characters. His ability is useful against houses that don’t have stealth, and with a little bird he can be quite potent. When milked (and 7 costs are very prone to being milked), he is very underwhelming, making confiscation mandatory in stark.

Grey Wind (22 Total Points)(55%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
The prospect of feeding your own Stark characters to Grey Wind, in order to get Robb to stand your whole board is… an interesting motivational method.

JCWamma - 2 out of 5
Borderline-3 here, ultimately he's just a bit too expensive for me to be happy kneeling him every round, and otherwise he's a mere monocon - albeit an intimidating one. Only really worth including if you have Robb Stark on the table as well, and at that point we're talking about a 2-card, 11 gold combo. Direwolf trait gives him some more utility, at least.

mnBroncos - 2 out of 5
There is very few targets that Grey Wind can hit. When Robb is in play it more than doubles the number of targets he has though. You have to kneel him to trigger it which often winning the military challenge and just using intimidate to kneel a character will be better. At 5 gold for one icon I just don’t see this guy making the cut even after the first cycle of cards is out.

Oktarg: 2 out of 5
Maybe not as bad as 1.0 core grey wind.

rave - 4 out of 5
Great card! Intimidate is great: one character dies for claim, another kneels from Intimidate another, and Put to the Sword kills a third. Good boy! I’m less worried about his lack of icons because he does have the kill effect. The versatility is nice -- if you don’t need him for the military might, kill their chump character before claim.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Grey Wind packs less punch than most other 5 gold uniques like Tyrion and Melisandre, but he’s still respectable. Stark decks with an abundance of military icons can potentially win initiative, attack, and kill 4 or 5 characters. For example, Sneak Attack + Winter Is Coming + Grey Wind’s kill + Put to the Sword.

VonWibble - 3 out of 5
Only just a 3 though. The burn ability has some use - until you consider he is loyal so won’t hit many characters even with Robb in play. Plus, if you use him for that, you aren’t getting his strength for military challenges and intimidate. It feels like to use him you need a strong board presence and then he will let you keep on top.

Siroma - 3 out of 5
Direwolf is looking to be a good trait, but he is a little too costly for his effect right now. That being said, Stark likes to kill stuff and grey wind is quite good when paired with sneak attack, and is an alternate way to remove 1-2 str characters so your claim (or marched to the wall) can hit bigger targets.

Robb Stark (34 Total Points)(85%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 5 out of 5
Likely the best Stark big-hitter, and an absolute pain if Stark gets more ways of reliably triggering him (see Grey Wind for an example, also any Sacrifice engine will do).

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
Mass-stand is obviously great. Not sure I need to say much more here! There are synergies with Bran, with Grey Wind, with Sansa (sorta), he's strong for his cost and only promises to get stronger in the future as more sacrifice tricks present themselves.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
I love that he stands all characters. That can prove to be very powerful if 1.0 is anything to go by. Since it works off sacrifice as well you can time it more when you want to trigger the stand.

Oktarg: 4 out of 5
This seems like something that will be amazing but you will never quite be able to trigger it on demand enough. But your opponents always will seem to.....

rave - 4 out of 5
I don’t really mind 6 gold on a bi-con character with decent strength and printed renown. Ability seems annoying at best, but by no means bad.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Robb’s long-term effectiveness depends on what kind of sacrifice effects the developers have planned for Stark (maybe something like Kindly Man + House Umber Beserkers will return). Right now, he’s fine but nothing mind blowing. The best candidates to stand - Robert, Red Viper, Euron - are loyal as well, so they won’t mix.

VonWibble - 5 out of 5
Puts the opponent off making a military against you for sure! 2 uses out of a renown character alone is worth the price of admission, the fact he stands everything you have to get high strength in attack and defense makes him one of the best characters at first blush.

Siroma - 4 out of 5
Ability looks nice on paper but ultimately isn’t extremely useful. Stark’s cards like Eddard and its plethora of kill effects generally work better when you’re first player, and your opponent can always just choose to make his military challenge last. It can help dictate the order of your opponent’s characters, but really just kind of underwhelming. Umber champions weren’t very popular in 1.0, and they could be triggered in any defending challenge.

Sansa Stark (34 Total Points)(85%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 5 out of 5
This card is an absolute beast, make no mistake. She’s one of the few cards able to generate extra power on your *Faction card* (not a character), does it without requiring winning challenges… and all that happens for a measly 3 gold.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
The third phenomenal cheap Stark character, Sansa's power gain is super-strong. Every turn you keep her alive you get a power on your faction, which is the main deal here - this doesn't go when she does, this is a permanent boost for you. Great design.

mnBroncos - 3 out of 5
Power gain as well as helping you in your weakness of intrigue. However, I am not a fan of having a card enter play knelt. Solid setup card though.

Oktarg: 4 out of 5
She will sneak up on you and then just win the game while you take out 'bigger' threats. Quite a tempo investment from the stark player, though.

rave - 4 out of 5
Sansa feels like she’s in that sweet spot where she’s annoying enough to be a legitimate threat, but weak enough to be a waste to use targeted kill on. Her ability isn’t dependent on anything but herself, which is nice. Coming in knelt is annoying, but that also makes her a pretty awesome setup card.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
With the limited economy we have currently, it’s painful to spend 3 gold (probably half your resources for the turn) on a long-term investment. But Sansa is usually worth the price. If played on setup, she could easily net 4 or 5 power during the game.

VonWibble - 4 out of 5
Easy power gain, and a rare intrigue icon for Stark. Slow to get going though unless you have stand, most of which you’d rather use on bigger characters than her.

Siroma - 5 out of 5
If left unchecked, Sansa can generate a lot of power, and is an invisible threat that is often underestimated. With the lack of plentiful targeted kill (and the general inefficiency of put to the sword against a house like stark), getting her off the board can also be quite difficult for houses not named Targaryen.

Summer (29 Total Points)(72.5%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
Another solid cheap unique for Stark, I think we’re seeing a pattern here...

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
Cheap, positive effect, positive trait, mostly-irrelevant Bran synergy...what's not to like?

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
I love the synergie with Bran. You cancel an event with Bran then play Summer get him back as well as giving him conditional card draw.

Oktarg: 3 out of 5
He's good. He will be better with more wolf and sacrifice synergy.

rave - 3 out 5
Actually.. kind of disappointing. Bringing the character to hand doesn’t seem that great, and Bran just in general doesn’t seem very strong. I would rate this a high 3, but still a 3.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
With this small card pool, even situational card advantage is at a premium.

VonWibble - 3 out of 5
Its a nice ability but it also restricts when you want to play Summer - setup is not really an option for example. Throw in the single icon than Stark aren’t wanting for and I’d say there are better cards around. Obviously its nice when combined with Bran, but you won’t always see both.

Siroma - 4 out of 5
Cheap, good trait, good effect that can let you get back a lot of stuff (most of stark’s characters are str 2 or lower). Pretty solid, though I do hope stark gets some strength boosting cards soon.

Direwolf Pup (19 Total Points)(47.5%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
So. Cute.

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
This rating fluctuates hard based on whether the Direwolf theme works in practice. I'm assuming it'll be "ok".

mnBroncos - 2 out of 5
Will see play early in the game because is a 2 cost character to round out the curve of your characters. However, I am not a fan of the going all in on direwolf strategy.

Oktarg: 2 out of 5
Best for triggering Like Warm Rain and dying to claim.

rave - 2 out of 5
Really underpowered. Compare this to something like Messenger Raven. In a 3 card combo you get… 3 str and 1 icon?

scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
Worse than the 2 gold non-uniques of other factions, but I guess that’s necessary since it fuels Like Warm Rain?

VonWibble - 3 out of 5
Cheap claim soak with potential to be scary.

Siroma - 2 out of 5
Cheap and… terrible. Having out all the direwolves from core set out at the same time makes these little buggers 5 strength each, and that’s paying a hefty 14 gold (which will be quickly culled by a wildfire), and that just gives you a single icon. Give us a direwolf braided warrior instead please.

Tumblestone Knight (28 Total Points)(70%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
Curve-filler with traits that can become positive in the future.

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
Assuming these are both positive traits as they were in first edition, this is a very effective weenie that will see play for a long time. Not amazing, nor intended to be.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
2 cost, 2 STR, 2 icons. Standard and efficient. Also, two good traits.

Oktarg: 3 out of 5
[no review yet]

rave - 4 out of 5
Gotta love the classics.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Good to see you again, ser.

VonWibble - 4 out of 5
The safe version of Direwolf Pup. For the Pup to be better than this in any way it needs 2 other Direwolves in play, and to be outright comparable it needs at least 3. Unless my decks focus on wolves I’m going for this as the long term choice of chud.

Siroma - 3 out of 5
Solid character, though nothing impressive. Definitely better than direwolf pup, and the traits make have interesting uses later on.

Vanguard of the North (19 Total Points)(47.5%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
Not that exciting, but a solid mid-cost non-unique. Value depends a lot on what cards enter the environment.

JCWamma - 1 out of 5
In the "expensive enough that I hate it's a monocon" bracket without Grey Wind's awesome text and keyword to make up for it. Storm of Swords synergy aside I'm thoroughly unimpressed by this card. This rating is probably harsh because it's boring, and if more cards supporting it arise in the future I may well eat these words, but meh.

mnBroncos - 3 out of 5
Can possibly not kneel to attack as well as being an army to trigger effects. Just nothing special.

Oktarg: 3 out of 5
Beefy beat sticks are better now. Not more exciting, just better.

rave - 4 out of 5
Ah, ok. Here is the reason A Storm of Swords exists: 3x these guys, 3x put to the torch, 3x put to the sword, 2x A Storm of Swords. Classic Stark.

scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
Meh. You could build an all-War plot deck if you really want to...

VonWibble - 2 out of 5
There are currently 7 war plots, including Heads on Pikes, so the ability will trigger, and I think you only need a couple of war plots yourself to get it going when you need it. However, it’s a monocon, and at that cost a monocon needs to be amazing to make me want it. Short of some amazing War plots to come, I can’t see this one making it long term.

Siroma - 1 out of 5
There are 8 different war plots available, and of them only fortified position and marching orders have a base gold of higher than 4. Mind you, neither fortified position nor marching orders are particularly good plots either. You can probably reliably have the abilities of these guys trigger 2-3 times in a 5-6 plot game, and they can’t even take the attachments to give them bonus icons. Avoid.

Winterfell Steward (40 Total Points)(100%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 5 out of 5
JCWamma - 5 out of 5
mnBroncos - 5 out of 5
Oktarg: 5 out of 5
rave - 5 out of 5
scantrell24 - 5 out of 5
VonWibble - 5 out of 5
Siroma - 5 out of 5

Ice (23 Total Points)(57.5%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
3 gold is not cheap. Still, this is usually easier to trigger than Put to the Sword…

JCWamma - 2 out of 5
I gave Put to the Sword a 2, and I think the strengths of Ice - no danger of losing it to intrigue claim if you play it, can't be Hand's Judgement'd, gives a passive STR boost, doesn't have a "win by 5" condition - and the weaknesses of Ice - vulnerable to attachment hate, no surprise element to it, requires winning with a specific character, costs 3 rather than 2 gold - about cancel each other out, so let's go with the same rating here.

mnBroncos - 2 out of 5
It is target removal and adds strength to a character....Just 3 cost is a lot for a card you have to discard to trigger.

Oktarg: 2 out of 5
Situationally very strong but just situational enough to reign it in.

rave - 4 out of 5
Ice is very strong because of the easier trigger than Put to the Sword, but it's telegraphed more. Still... targeted kill that can hit anything is very good. Those Bara and Martell control events will be annoying. Because of that, it's going to be smart to put this on a character that with Ice will end up over 4 STR.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Such easy targeted kill would rate higher if duplicates weren’t so common.

VonWibble - 3 out of 5
Targeted kill and a strength boost all in 1 card. It is expensive, and that is the only reason I’m not rating it higher.

Siroma - 4 out of 5
In practice, it is SIGNIFICANTLY stronger than put to the sword. 3 gold for 2 strength is pretty mediocre, but its conditions are significantly easier to meet and doesn’t requrie you to overcommit. Useful for killing all the weenies so you can march the guy with dupes to the wall.

Gates of Winterfell (33 Total Points)(82.5%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
Cards are good for you.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
Easy card draw is strong. This is slightly weaker in that you have to reveal the card and it has to be Stark, making it a pain for banner decks, but it's still definitely going in all Fealty decks for starters.

mnBroncos - 5 out of 5 - I am rating based on future as well as now. With that in mind this is amazing card draw for Stark decks. I love that it is any Stark card, not just character.

Oktarg: 4 out of 5
Not as good as some other draw from other houses but it's all stark has so run it x3!

rave - 5 out of 5
Not perfect, but really good odds. Will only get better as a Fealty Stark deck becomes more viable with a larger card pool.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
The design makes it difficult for Stark to effectively run any non-Fealty agenda. Draw wins games. However, revealing the top card of your deck does not.

VonWibble - 3 out of 5
Worst case its deck knowledge, best case it’s easy card draw, especially if Fealty was your agenda choice. Short term you generally need other faction cards in your deck so only 3/5 but long term this can only get better.

Siroma - 4 out of 5
In most fealty decks, it’s a 75% chance of getting a card a turn. In banners, probably more like 50-60%. Compared to cards like the red keep, it’s notably worse but it’s the only reliable draw stark has and makes fealty a pretty compelling agenda if your main houses are the wolves.

The Wolfswood (11 Total Points)(27.5%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 1 out of 5
Ohh, so there *are* actually some 1 out of 5 cards in here!

JCWamma - 2 out of 5
Ambush is very strong, but right now the wolves don't exist to justify this. Maybe in the future.

mnBroncos - 1 out of 5 - Unless we get a cycle that really pushes the Direwolf theme I am not falling for this. We had this same crap in 1.0 core set with the Direwolfs and they never saw real play.

Oktarg: 1 out of 5
Kudos to those guys who believe in this card. Love the positivity!

rave - 2 out of 5
Not worth the effort you’d have to put into it. The direwolves on the whole don’t seem that great.

scantrell24 - 1 out of 5
Such a wasted opportunity. Why is there no secondary ability to prevent Wolfswood from being utter garbage? Maybe the designers have plans to give Direwolves and ambush more support in the future so they were afraid of making it overpowered.

VonWibble - 2 out of 5
Ambushing Summer in to throw in a Direwolf Pup to give another Direwolf Pup +2 STR in the challenge seems very useful, however that’s 3 gold you spent when many events do far more for less. Long term hopefully its a nice piece of a doggie deck. Short term, I’ll pass.

Siroma - 1 out of 5
Give us better wolves or wolves that have bonus abilities that enter play through this card and it may show promise in the future. Now? Naw.

Heart Tree Grove (40 Total Points)(100%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 5 out of 5
JCWamma - 5 out of 5
mnBroncos - 5 out of 5
Oktarg: 5 out of 5
rave - 5 out of 5
scantrell24 - 5 out of 5
VonWibble - 5 out of 5
Siroma - 5 out of 5

For the North! (26 Total Points)(65%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
Decent STR buff since it cantrips (replaces itself with a new card).

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
The terms of playing this are quite restrictive, but cantrips are very strong, and winning by a certain amount matters for military challenges I hear. Between Grey Wind, Put to the Sword/Torch and just making the difference between winning and losing with zero cost to your goldpool or handsize, this is very effective...one-third of the time.

mnBroncos - 3 out of 5
Plus strength in a challenge and replaces itself, solid but nothing amazing.

Oktarg: 3 out of 5
[no review yet]

rave - 4 out of 5
Nice. Free, replaces itself, and enables the military events. Will disrupt challenges enough to be useful.

scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
How often are you going to need a strength buff during a military challenge? Events can’t be setup, so they better do something awesome to be worth the deck space.

VonWibble - 3 out of 5
Strength and card draw is nice enough. 0 cost is also nice. If it makes you win a challenge you would have lost it is saving/killing a character, maybe 2. Nothing wrong with that, the only thing that makes me rate it no higher is the competition with other events.

Siroma - 4 out of 5
Surprise +2 strength can often help a lot when it seems like you’re behind on board position. If you have a dominating lead, toss it and draw another card.

Like Warm Rain (25 Total Points)(62.5%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
The real reason for running Direwolves. Remember that with the new timings, this gets played before intrigue claim.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
One of the few targeted kill cards in the core, and it happens before intrigue claim. The only thing stopping it being phenomenal right now is that the only truly good Direwolf is Summer. When we see more (as we presumably will), this effect will increase in power. A Direwolf Pays His Debts.

mnBroncos - 3 out of 5
Really pushed card to help Direwolves, only problem is that means I have to run Direwolves and right now Summer is only one I really wanna run. This can easily become a 5 if we end up getting better Direwolves at sometime.

Oktarg: 3 out of 5
Much better with the timing changes, requiring me to run wolves is really the downside. More practically, this card is why I would run wolves and not the other way around. It's a five for power level and a three because of what it does to my deck.

rave - 2 out of 5
Seems unreliable. You also have to have subpar characters (well, most of them) standing to trigger this.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Surprise! Now that reactions are before claim, you don’t have to worry about losing it before getting the opportunity to trigger. The only problem: Direwolves are meh.

VonWibble - 3 out of 5
A good reason to have Direwolves in your deck right here. Targeted kill (sort of) which is in short supply is very powerful. Trouble is, the Direwolves aren’t so good yet.

Siroma - 3 out of 5
You’re likely to lose intrigue challenges, but at the same time, you’re unlikely to have many direwolves out to trigger this thing. Both summer and grey wind are relatively costly and the pups are plain bad. Maybe if it had cannot be saved, but as it is right now, not very promising.

Winter Is Coming (37 Total Points)(92.5%)



Ire & WWDrakey - 5 out of 5
A good classic card, and the Loyal here helps Stark Fealty decks a lot.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
For a core environment I think this is a 5, as the extra claim means a LOT when playing out characters is at such a premium. In the future this will drop slightly I suspect. Right now it's the most convincing argument to me to try out the Fealty agenda, for what that's worth.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
Increase claim during any challenge will see play in any aggressive Stark deck.

Oktarg: 5 out of 5
Very, very good.

rave - 5 out of 5
A classic. Lots of opportunity to do damage with this. Turns a 2 claim plot into a bloodbath.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Versatile, but almost always used during military challenges, except later when you need power to close the game. Going from 2 claim to 3 is exponentially more powerful than going from 1 claim to 2.

VonWibble - 5 out of 5
There are plenty of times where people play enough characters out to survive the military claim of an opponent’s plot card and no more. An extra claim literally kills such strategies. I can see this plus Sneak Attack turn 1 to leave the opponent’s board very short of characters.

Siroma - 5 out of 5
One of the best events in the game, hands down. Claim matters a lot, and with wildfire, a 2 claim plot, and ice, it’s not terribly difficult to kill pretty much everything on an opponent’s board. Very versatile and cheap.

Thought you were done reading?

Before we award the top 3 and bottom 3 non-economy cards based on cumulative points, I'd like to take a second to plug the New Player FAQ thread. It includes background information and general knowledge about the game itself, links to various resources like podcasts and player maps, and much more. It's a work in progress that receives constant updates, so please share it with new players, and check back yourself every now and then. Also please let me know if there's anything you'd like to see added! Now without further ado...

Top 3 Non-Economy Cards:
Catelyn Stark (38)
Winter Is Coming (37)
Arya Stark (36)

Bottom 3 Non-Economy Cards:
Wolfswood (11)
Direwolf Pup (19)
Vanguard of the North (19)

Feel free to chime in below. Did we nail it? Make any horrible oversights? Let us hear it, and we'll be back on Wednesday with Lannister cards from the Core.