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AGoT Core Set Review: Night's Watch


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 Night’s Watch 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.

With 8 reviewers this time, individual card scores are out of 40 possible points. The Night’s Watch non-reducer cards combined to earn 75.7% (545 out of 720 possible points), while in previous reviews House Stark averaged 69.9% and House Lannister earned 76.3%.

Now onto the cards!

Benjen Stark (32 Total Points)(80%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
Power-gain based on something else than Challenge winning is never something to be sneezed at. While being a good solid body for his cost, Benjen’s true worth lies in him being able to “lock” the game when you reach 13 power, with your opponent not being able to use a Reset (like Wildfire Assault) without handing you the victory. The Ranger-support is just gravy on top of that.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
Ain't no stealthing past NW on military. Very thematic card, and a very powerful interrupt in the core gameplay. Maybe we can get a Bejen = Davos fan theory going, because I'm pretty sure he'll soon be very acquainted with Wildfire.

mnBroncos - 5 out of 5
I love this guy. Gives protection to some of your characters from stealth. Gains you power late game. Also, is almost never a dead draw when get more copies because when he dies goes back into your deck meaning can play another one.

Oktarg: 3 out of 5
He's good, and you'll run him, but you'll wish there was a bit more for the cost.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
The power-grab ability helps speed up an otherwise slow faction, and the anti-stealth ability will be useful occasionally, but for 5 gold I want more impact while he’s on the table.

rave - 4 out of 5
Benjen is solid. 4 gold isn’t a ton, and the 2 power on death is strong. Considering The Wall, Benjen is great to run 3x because there are only a few cards that can put him in the dead pile.

VonWibble - 5 out of 5
His icons and strength are OK for his cost, his abilities are really good. Greyjoy will hate this guy. Having Wildfire Assault as a +2 power plot will be a satisfying way to win too!

Siroma - 4 out of 5
Decent icon and strength spread. Good abilities that ensure that you get power and that he’s never a dead card in your hand (unless he got piked).

Ghost (29 Total Points)(72.5%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 5 out of 5
Stealth is important. Stealth that locks one whole character from defending any Challenges? Phenomenal.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
Right now Ghost is better for banner factions (though once NW can go full aggro themselves he'll be great again). It's a strong effect and it amuses me how much it destroys the point of Ned - a very powerful bargaining card in Melee here.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
The most aggressive card in the defensive faction. Stealth is always good but when it shuts down that character for all of your challenges it is even better. All I can say is this guy is mean in melee.

Oktarg: 3 out of 5
Stealth is really nice, but he works a bit at cross purposes with the central tech of the faction, which, incidentally, should be ignored. NW works best right now as a weenie aggro, so make that happen!

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Stealth shines in the current environment, but the can’t-defend ability will matter less often than you think. It’s interesting that Summer and Grey Wind have ties to their masters but Ghost does not.

rave - 3 out of 5
Not quite sold. I feel like 4 gold is the threshold where you’d better do something pretty awesome if you only have one icon. One icon and low STR isn’t ideal.

VonWibble - 3 out of 5
This feels more like a Stark card to me, and certainly will work well in that faction. Within Night’s Watch Ghost doesn’t help defense so much and only has 1 icon. However in attack he is one of few characters that can completely negate Eddard Stark, and that has to be worth something!

Siroma - 3 out of 5
Great in melee, shows some use in joust by stealthing characters you don’t want participating in other challenges. Stealth is still an extremely strong keyword, though Night’s watch is generally more about defense and Ghost doesn’t really help you there.

Jon Snow (34 Total Points)(85%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 5 out of 5
A beast of a focal-point for the kind of weenie-based strategy that the NW cardpool tempts towards. Strap a Longclaw on him, and he can give you the game.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
How amazing he is with Longclaw makes me weep Nedly tears of delight. Equip him with his weapon, watch out for stray dragonfire and he should win you games single-handedly. Well, not single-handedly since you need other NW characters, but you get the point.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
Key character in NW as he should be for such an iconic character. Only downside is without built in renown doesn’t help you get to the win faster. Also, downside that you can’t decide him not to be in a challenge for when that maters with some opponent effects that target participating characters. Still a strong card that helps out the faction a lot.

Oktarg: 4 out of 5
Often he can just run out and win (with longclaw) but he also requires other characters to really matter. Without renown, a static buff in challenges is nice but not game breaking. Cool card, though.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
How does one stop Jon Snow? Milk of the Poppy? No attachments except Weapon. Tears of Lys? Intrigue icon. Put to the Sword? Saved by Aemon. Kneel with Melisandre or Filthy Accusations? Okay, that one works (and it’s rather nedly too). Jon is a centerpiece that you’re either building to maximize him or not including him.

rave - 3 out 5
Jon has potential with the threat of Longclaw, that’s for sure. But you aren’t really getting that much here for 6 gold unless all of the pieces fall into place. A character that costs 6 at 4 STR is vulnerable to things such an expensive character shouldn’t be, mainly Dracarys.

VonWibble - 4 out of 5
A centrepiece for any Night’s Watch deck. However, he is also a target for any kneel going, so needs stand effects to get the most out of him. The fact he doesn’t kneel to “challenge” makes it easier to win dominance, which is a nice side bonus.

Siroma - 5 out of 5
Great keywords and hard to get off the board. Better hope you can blank that Dany and get The Wall or Longclaw, preferably both, out fast though.

Maester Aemon (40 Total Points)(100%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 5 out of 5
Should become a NW staple for years to come.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
Repeated save is strong, ask first edition Maester Aemon. Some extra utility with his icon and traits, though it's a shame he can't hold that Maester's Chain.

mnBroncos - 5 out of 5
Repeatable saves are huge. Even more so without a complete board wipe. The fact that he can participate in a challenge when don’t need the save is a huge boon from the 1.0 version.

Oktarg: 5 out of 5
Repeatable saves = card advantage = win

scantrell24 - 5 out of 5
I generally want a more “wow-factor” from my 5 star candidates, but Aemon’s so efficient that he deserves the accolade.

rave - 5 out of 5
The first re-usable save in the game? Aemon is awesome. He’s going to help maintain board position very well for you at a cheap cost.

VonWibble - 5 out of 5
At worst, he can save himself. He is an easy include in any deck featuring Night’s Watch.

Siroma - 5 out of 5
You can’t milk him, you can’t stop him. Lanni can try to cancel with treachery and that’s about the only way to kill him. Put to the sword happens before claim so you’re not killing aemon with that. The bastard is also unlikely to be participating in any challenge so you can’t dracarys him either. A real pain to deal with for kill centric decks.

Old Bear Mormont (16 Total Points)(40%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
The Old Bear is not necessarily a bad card, but make no mistake, he is not the strongest focal character NW has, by a longshot. For that, look back up at Jon Snow. Has a decent home in Wall decks, although combining the two cards with each other can be pretty hard on your wallet.

JCWamma - 2 out of 5
Perhaps this is harsh, but I don't see defence working well enough. If you've just spent 7 gold on one character, how are you supposed to successfully defend all three challenges? Even if you control The Wall (another 11-gold combo, hoorah!) you're still missing intrigue, and you sure as seven hells aren't running Little Birds given the "No attachments [except weapon]" present throughout the watch. The interrupt is also poorly timed - drop in the character of your choice, right after they would've helped!

mnBroncos - 2 out of 5
Very hard card to rate. On the one side I think every NW deck is going to want to get The Wall into play and when it is play you get a 6 strength character that doesn’t kneel to defend. The downside is the other effect doesn’t seem like will trigger often (or you are winning anyways) as well as being able to be knelt/stealth by makes him seem like the weakest 7 cost character.

Oktarg: 2 out of 5
Compared to Olenna, he just makes me sad :(

rave - 2 out of 5
You’re going to be sad spending 7 gold for this guy if there is any stealth at all on the board. If you’re somehow in a situation where this triggers more than once, would you really need Old Bear in the first place?

scantrell24 - 1 out of 5
It’s nearly impossible to afford both Old Bear and The Wall, so you need to marshall him first, then trigger his ability to cheat The Wall into play. Problem is, to trigger the ability you cannot lose any challenges as the defender - not an easy proposition. Maybe with Bara kneel or Martell icon control it’s possible, but don’t hold your breath. Old Bear only sees play in NW Fealty because you have no other choice.

VonWibble - 2 out of 5
Well, if you have the Wall in play alongside Benjen Stark, with Jon Snow in play, and throw a Little Bird on this guy, then you have 10 defending strength in all challenges that can’t be stealthed.
And then a kneel card is used on Old Bear Mormont and it’s all over.
That’s the problem right there, he is too easy to get around even if you get him into play, and too reliant on others.

Siroma - 2 out of 5
Against houses that have little to no stealth and while the wall is out, the old bear may have some uses. However, I can see players dropping him entirely in favour of adding more diverse characters to support Jon Snow.

Samwell Tarly (38 Total Points)(95%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
Looks like Samwell’s up to his old card advantage tricks again.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
Sam is going to do some good work. Even if you don't win intrigue challenges with him (which you probably will, especially if Jon Snow's with him), +1 reserve on a cheap body is nothing to sniff at.

mnBroncos - 5 out of 5
All you can ask for in a 2 cost character.

Oktarg: 4 out of 5
Repeatable draw can't be lower. Maybe a five and will be in decks for years to come.

rave - 5 out of 5
Cheap insight. Sam is cool :)

scantrell24 - 5 out of 5
Awesome design on multiple levels. Mr. Samwell Tarly has the Nedly factor for those of you who care about the story, and synergy between his abilities ( insight and plus reserve). The only knock is that NW doesn’t need another intrigue-monocon, especially when Banner of the Lion is naturally one of their best agendas.

VonWibble - 5 out of 5
Cheap card draw - very difficult to say no to that.

Siroma - 5 out of 5
+1 reserve and insight is pretty decent. With the wall out, they’re either kneeling a 3+ cost character or widening the card gap by 2, which is still a pretty good deal.

Ser Waymar Royce (33 Total Points)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
In terms of pure stats and efficiency, this guy is definitely right up there.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
This rating probably seems stupidly high as he's not a flashy card, but he is a highly effective one that I expect to stick around long into this game’s life. Efficient stats and a strong interrupt that makes you regret attacking, he has almost more of a "Martell" feel to him strangely. Will be even better if and when we see Valar Morghulis.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
A three cost bicon which seems unusual for the NW faction with added bonus when is killed. Nothing wrong with this guy at all for 3 cost.

Oktarg: 4 out of 5
I really like this guy. His ability makes you want to only run one, so that's a bit strange but still will be less of an issue as the game progresses.

rave - 4 out of 5
Impressive stats and fairly annoying. Doesn’t really affect a lot, but definitely a solid one-of.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Relatively cheap, two-icon characters that are good on setup AND have an additional ability generally make the cut. Ser Waymar isn’t jaw-dropping, but he’ll be around as 1x for a year or two at least. He also has the icons Jon Snow doesn’t, which is great.

VonWibble - 4 out of 5
If he were blank he would be solid enough. A bonus effect when killed makes him a very good card.

Siroma - 4 out of 5
Knight and Ranger are both looking to be good traits, and his ability is solid. Having a 3 for 3 bicon is welcome in a house that’s looking for all the icons it can get.

Yoren (30 Total Points)(75%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
Follows in the vein of the other extremely efficient NW weenies.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
Very match-up dependant. Night's Watch doesn't have any way to force characters into the discard pile beyond marching folk to its wall, so you're relying on your opponent a lot here - Yoren likes recruiting Bran and Jorah, but who else is he really expecting to find? Still a powerful effect that will only get better as more targets emerge.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
You get two characters for 3 gold, and nothing wrong with Yoren stats on his own. I would expect March to the Wall to be popular for NW decks to go along with this guy (Which is nice because of how Nedly it is).

Oktarg: 4 out of 5
You can't fully control it, but varys/marched/reserve/claim are all decent ways to fill up the pile and steal someone.

rave - 4 out of 5
Neat! You’ll probably get use out of Yoren because you have the reserve value as well as intrigue to get cards in the discard. Two for one is very nice.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
I’m not as impressed as everyone else. You don’t want to see Yoren during setup or the first couple turns until you’ve intrigued, Marched, or Pillaged a non-unique into the opponent’s discard pile. Also, he’s yet another intrigue mono-con.

VonWibble - 4 out of 5
There is a caveat to go with this rating that you really need a way to ensure the opponent has characters in their discard pile. Marched to the Wall is one way to do it, use of Greyjoy Pillage is another, and of course intrigue challenges would be a third as long as your deck is built to do well enough at those.

Siroma - 3 out of 5
Right now, a lot of characters end up going to the dead pile instead of the discard pile, and it’s not like the watch has the strongest intrigue icons in the game at this point. As intrigue challengs become more relevant, so will yoren. Today however, is not his day.

Messenger Raven (40 Total Points)(100%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 5 out of 5
Some really efficient non-unique draw engines.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
Extremely cheap claimsoak who have a secondary function if they make it through the challenges phase? Great stuff. Watch your reserve count, sometimes they may be best kept on the table.

mnBroncos - 5 out of 5
Yes please! Best one cost character the game can probably make without something broken. Only problem is have to be careful with reserve since adds two cards before checking reserve.

Oktarg: 5 out of 5
Cheap one cost dudes for the win!

rave - 5 out of 5
This is really good! Great for setup, a chump block if you need it, and card draw to boot. I mean, it’s 1 gold. Cool card that I’m glad is unique to the faction.

scantrell24 - 5 out of 5
It’s painful to kill your draw-engine to military claim, but they’re cheap and non-unique, so even if you have to sacrifice them for the greater good you’ll find another one soon enough. You may want the Iron Throne in NW decks to increase your reserve, as the Raven will add two cards to your hand right before the reserve check.

VonWibble - 5 out of 5
Its a choice between card draw to make it a deck thinner, and 1 cost military claim.

Siroma - 5 out of 5
Good for setup and for claim. As a draw engine however, it’s only decent as it fills up your hand very quickly right before reserve ticks down. Also gets less and less gold efficient compared to the other draw options as the game goes on.

Old Forest Hunter (31 Total Points)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
An “ok” weenie with a built-in method for turning the copious NW card advantage into gold, and thus board advantage. One of the cardtypes that really starts to shine with the inclusion of Reserve.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
A great way to use those cards the ravens fetched you. This lets you run dupes with impunity, and is going to be a key card for the Watch until we see some more economy, when his star will doubtless fade.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
Very solid character. Cheap and can add gold when you need it. Also for new players you can trigger this in plot, draw, and then in marshalling phase so you can get 3 gold before you marshalling cards. Just be careful because you are losing cards for this gold, but if you have ways to draw/recur a good amount of cards it becomes that much better.

Oktarg: 4 out of 5
Cards into gold on demand is pretty okay, especially since Econ is so strange right now.

rave - 3 out of 5
Weird, but I see the utility in the new edition. Seems like a way to dodge the reserve value pretty well. Otherwise, pretty meager for a 2 gold character.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
The threat of activation alone does work.

VonWibble - 5 out of 5
If you want to play Take the Black and have too many cards before reserves, this guy is solving all your problems. At this stage of the game, he gives you a good boost to your economy.

Siroma - 3 out of 5
There’s no action window between returning gold and discarding for reserve in the taxation phase, and in the long run trading a card for a gold is generally not worth it. Right now, he’s just a cheap loyal monocon body.

Ranging Party (30 Total Points)(75%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
Have you seen the raw stats on this thing?

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
Jon loves going out with Ranging Parties. The efficiency on display here absolutely should not be underestimated, they may not do much but they do it very well.

mnBroncos - 3 out of 5
I am actually not a big fan of any of the armies. To me cards with abilities are WAY more important than just efficient strength/cost/icon ratio.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
A touch boring, but Ranging Party is resistant to burn, has the icons Jon Snow needs, and can trigger “win by 5” events and abilities all by himself. Probably worth two slots right now.

Oktarg: 4 out of 5
Efficiency is good, right?

rave - 4 out of 5
Great stats. It’s definitely a solid non-unique choice.

VonWibble - 4 out of 5
Efficient.

Siroma - 4 out of 5
A very efficient card. Much better than many of the other comparable armies.

Steward at the Wall (40 Total Points)(100%)

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

Veteran Builder (20 Total Points)(50%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
Really cool effect, with fun synergies as a Banner card.

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
Synergy with the Wall, I get it. 3 gold is a lot to sacrifice just for a stand. In practice is this "be able to conditionally sacrifice Veteran Builder for 2 power"? That's not terrible, but the ‘conditionally’ bit is doing a lot of lifting. Maybe its best use is as a reasonably efficient 3-for-4 monocon.

mnBroncos - 3 out of 5 - 4 strength for 3 cost is above the curve and with an ability that at the right time can be extremely powerful will make this guy useable in most NW decks. Standing The Wall is not the only time this will be used.

Oktarg: 2 out of 5
I feel like he will be the first to come out of my decks when I get a CP.

rave - 2 out of 5
Pretty situational. Requires other specific cards to shine, and has to leave play to do it. Nah.

scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
Playable now, but only because he’s relatively cheap, resistant to burn, and has an icon Jon Snow needs. You’ll rarely use the ability, as sacrificing a character is an expensive cost to stand Castle Black or The Wall -- especially if cancelled by Treachery. Maybe once in 25 games you’ll stand the Wall to take power #15.

VonWibble - 3 out of 5
He isn’t loyal, so you have a lot of potential tricks to use that ability on, such as Plaza of Punishment or Highgarden. His strength is also good for the cost.

Siroma - 2 out of 5
3 for 4 monocon in power is only alright. He can net you an extra 2 gold which can be pretty good. Until we get more targets to stand, he’s not great.

Longclaw (34 Total Points)(85%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
Renown is good for you, no?

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
Renown wins games. Renown on Jon Snow wins games fast. Not bad with Old Bear either.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
Put this on Jon Snow, protect him, win the game.

Oktarg: 5 out of 5
Nice. Sneaky fast closing speed.

rave - 4 out 5
Renown attachment in a game where the characters generally have more staying power. And yeah, nice to have for Jon.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
A touch expensive for the poorest faction, and there aren’t any stellar candidates besides Jon Snow. It’s also restricted to NW-only, unlike Widow’s Wail.

VonWibble - 4 out of 5
There are only 2 targets for this that can participate in multiple challenges, namely Old Bear and Jon Snow. Even so, this is still a very strong attachment as renown is not that common, and it works very nicely with Castle Black for if you do decide to put it on Benjen Stark instead.

Siroma - 4 out of 5
Great on Jon Snow, and with the difficulty of killing anything and the recursive element of attachments, there’s almost always going to be a good target for it.

Castle Black (30 Total Points)(75%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
Good ‘ole Frozen Outpost seems to have found it’s way into Night Watch hands.

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
Frozen Outpost was strong in first edition. Castle Black is fine, but hurt a lot by being unique. It'll be a 1x in some NW decks for a long time I imagine, but there are others where it might drift away surprisingly quickly. Requiring an NW character for the trigger loses it a lot of utility it could've had in banner decks.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
This is strong because it lets you also stand that defender. Being able to use a character twice with also getting a Str buff is very useful for a 2 cost location.

Oktarg: 3 out of 5
2 str, unique limitations make it hard to spam. There is nothing wrong with it but it is a bit lacking.

rave - 4 out of 5
Cheap and annoying. Not much else to say. Solid card.

scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Excellent utility, and the threat of activation alone makes challenge math difficult for your opponent. However, it’s less powerful when you’ve attacked first.

VonWibble - 4 out of 5
This card forces opponents to overcommit into challenges, and grants multiple usage out of your own characters. The only reason it doesn’t get 5 is that it is unique.

Siroma - 4 out of 5
Frozen outpost was a staple for a long time in many stark decks, and any stand in general is extremely good. Though it’s unqiue, I suspect Castle Black will remain useful for a long time as a cost of 2 means a lot less in 2.0.

The Wall (26 Total Points)(65%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
Hard to rate, but as it functions as the heart for a whole decktype, it will nevertheless be an important card for the game. It is our belief that for a while NW will be split between two decktypes - aggressive ones using Jon Snow, draw and the efficient weenies to push Challenges, and defensive ones centered around the Wall, Castle Black and possibly the Old Bear. How either of these two archetypes fares in the future, depends on how the new cards pan out.

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
Strong effect, but 4 gold is a lot. Decks will be built around this, and they will be dull to play against.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
Honestly the plus one strength across the board is a bigger deal to me than the conditional two power. Also puts pressure on your opponent to force through a challenge. I just like the strategy it can bring to the game that can win without being the offensive.

Oktarg: 4 out of 5
A good card that costs tempo and then repays tempo over the game. Hard to deploy properly but I think well balanced.

rave - 3 out of 5
It’s a big investment for a location, and (probably) requires 3 characters dedicated to make it go off. In my experience, dedicated defense abilities can look decent on paper, but are really bad in practice. Even with the gold pool shifting the way it has, 4 gold is a lot.

scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
Firstly, The Wall doesn’t suit my preferred play-style. Secondly, any strategy focused around it feels ridiculously convoluted. You spend 4 gold on a location that wants you to oppose every challenge, yet it offers no help in meeting that goal. Greyjoy, Bara and Targ all have plus matchups against Wall decks, and those 3 factions are arguably the strongest right now.

VonWibble - 3 out of 5
A fairly costed card, which means if you want to include it you should really have 3 and build the deck around it. I’m going for a middling rating for now, but like any deck defining card it could easily end up as any score as the card pool grows.

Siroma - 3 out of 5
Extremely strong effect, and theres also the fact that there’s not much of a way to remove it from the game right now outside of we do not sow. +1 str across the board is quite significat with all of NW’s weenies, and 2 power a turn is nothing to scoff at. Probably better as a turn 3-4 drop when the board is relatively stable.

A Meager Contribution (34 Total Points)(85%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 5 out of 5
A key card for NW in the Cores tight economic structure, and one that again helps turn their card advantage into board advantage.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
Choke is good, especially early in this game's life. Always great going second, this does lose a little if you don't have anything to subsequently spend the gold on - on the plus side, NW's increase of "no attachments" characters does allow more room for events, where the contributions, however meager, will be welcomed.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
Doesn’t seem like much but non-limited economy is always good. This also is basically a two gold swing during the turn which can result in them getting one weaker character and you getting one stronger character.

Oktarg: 4 out of 5
Lack of setup friendliness holds it back, but a seriously annoying card.

rave - 4 out of 5
Very good. I’m not sure how much choke potential NW has this early, but this is a card to watch. Could be fun to pair with Naval Superiority, because you at least get a 3 gold start if you miss.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
So the NW is playing a long, grindy game until they can win via the Jon Snow-Longclaw combo, or defend everything and accumulate 2 power per turn with The Wall. Yet here we have short-term burst economy when we want long-term drip economy. It also hogs our precious non-setup card slots, meaning we have less room for fantastic cards like Milk, Tears, and Torch. I nearly scored A Meager Contribution even lower, but even mediocre economy is valuable at this stage of the game.

VonWibble - 5 out of 5
Maybe I’m overrating this, but there are many times where people choose plots that give them exactly the gold they need for marshalling. The potential disruption this gives makes this card well worth it. However, 3 in the deck may not be a good idea as it’s not a card you want multiples of at any time.

Siroma - 4 out of 5
Works great if you’re second player and makes naval superiority a dangerous plot. Other than that, I would have rather taken another reusable location reducer.

Take the Black (29 Total Points)(72.5%)

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Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
The effect is good, but the cost and timing make it pretty much telegraphed, allowing your opponent to maneuver accordingly (by killing their best non-uniques to claim, for example). A turn when you plan for this, but are unable to use it… is a sad turn indeed.

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
There are some good chunky armies to take here, but most non-uniques across most factions aren't too fantastic - Unsullied is probably the best grab? 3 gold is a lot to sit on and telegraphs the effect somewhat, so you'd better hope your opponent doesn't win intrigue to take it from you, and keeps their non-unique in mint condition. Obviously a powerful swing when it does come off, but very fair.

mnBroncos - 5 out of 5
Probably the strongest reason right now to pick NW as main faction. Who cares if it is nonunique only you are stealing their character so you go up one character and they go down one character that is a huge swing. Only downside is during dominance obviously.

Oktarg: 3 out of 5
Seems like an absolute bomb, but it is in practice a lot harder to make pay off that you might think.

rave - 4 out of 5
Delightfully brutal and difficult to cancel. Faction defining I feel. The dominance trigger is a shame however, and it loses 1 point for the timing.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Expensive to trigger, often lacking quality targets, and you essentially have to wait until after your opponent’s Wildfire.

VonWibble - 4 out of 5
What’s better than getting a free character? Getting a free character and making the opponent lose one of course! Having to save 3 gold by dominance is a big tempo hit however, given most events cost only 1, and this is gold you could have used for another character that turn.

Siroma - 4 out of 5
Permanantly taking control of a character is very strong, and this card is likely to get stronger as the game progresses. Tyrion lannister can also be a decent banner to make triggering this more reliable.

The Sword in the Darkness (19 Total Points)(47.5%)

Posted Image
Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
Will likely do more by existing, than by ever being played in-game.

JCWamma - 2 out of 5
This card has been carefully melee-proofed in both directions, which makes me sad and relieved at the same time. In close games with complicated challenge phases this will be very helpful, but how often are they likely to come up? Most times people push through the main challenges they want first, especially with keywords like Intimidate and Insight, so good luck getting a 5 STR win on Lanni's intrigue, Stark's military, etc.

mnBroncos - 4 out of 5
Win the first challenge and then they can’t do any more challenges against you for a turn. Seems very playable to me.

Oktarg: 2 out of 5
It's best use is for you to pretend like you play it.

rave - 2 out of 5
Interesting, yet cheap to cancel, and when it happens, you’ll be overextended.

scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
So tempting, but it’s probably a “win more” card. If you can defend by 5+ you already have a strong board position anyways.

VonWibble - 3 out of 5
The threat of this card means people aren’t going to throw weak challenges your way. This is a non-loyal card, and a good reason to take Night’s Watch as allies.

Siroma - 1 out of 5
Harsh triggering requirement, 1 cost, nonloyal. If you want events, go neutral instead.

Thought you were done reading?

Before we award the top 3 and bottom 3 non-reducer 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-Reducer Cards:
Messenger Raven (40)(100%)
Maester Aemon (40)(100%)
Samwell Tarly (38)(95%)

Bottom 3 Non-Reducer Cards:
Old Bear Mormont (16)(40%)
The Sword in the Darkness (19)(47.5%)
Veteran Bulder (20)(50%)

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


23 Comments

I totally disagree about Mormont and Sword in Darkness. The more suprised I'am that Samwell and youren scored high. 

 

If Sam can be rated for his future potential then why Sword in Darkness is not?

 

Plus Meager Contribution looks better on paper than in actual game.

did anyone rate Sam on future? I think he is one of the best characters at 2 cost now. Probably just behind Jorah. 

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Masterdinadan
Aug 14 2015 03:15 PM
Sam is good simply because your opponent really doesn't want him winning a challenge. The opponent has to hold someone back to block Sam, which means they make not be able to make a successful int challenge of their own.
Even if Sam never wins a challenge, he can substantially change how your opponent approaches the challenge phase. For 2 gold, that's a good value.
    • kizerman86 and JoeyJellico like this

Ok, I just got from a game where:

-I had Mormont, Wall and Eddard on the board

-I activated Mormont with Sword into Darkness.

-Had another Mormont activation with Game of Thrones.

 

I came back from 1:9.

I was playing against fully equiped GJ: Balon (With stealth), Euron and Theon. 

 

NW has totally different approach than other factions. When rating Mormont or SiD it has to be taken under consideration.

I was surprised at Sword in the Darkness' rating, too. Maybe it's because the reviewers in general don't seem to like the defensive play style (which, to be fair, sucked in 1E)?

 

There were lots of talk about how hard it was to meet the "no unopposed challenges" conditions, but if you can trigger this event, you've met it straight away.

Ok, I just got from a game where:
-I had Mormont, Wall and Eddard on the board
-I activated Mormont with Sword into Darkness.
-Had another Mormont activation with Game of Thrones.
 
I came back from 1:9.
I was playing against fully equiped GJ: Balon (With stealth), Euron and Theon. 
 
NW has totally different approach than other factions. When rating Mormont or SiD it has to be taken under consideration.


Against that board, how on earth did you trigger Sword in the Darkness? Did I miss something?

I'd give meager contribution a 2/5 easily. Even if you are swimming in cards 1 gold for one card is extremly situational.

Wall, Mormont. Eddard, Ranging Party. He had those ships (2x) that boost STR. He attacked with Theon alone. Stealthed Mormont.

 

Eddard plus Ranging party (+1 STR for Wall). Castle black +2. Boom. Sword in darkness. When I played Sword it was too late to use those ships.

 

Other One was Game of Thrones. Mormont had Longclaw and Little bird.

 

=======================

BAck to the topic. Defensive play is possible but with only CS it bases mostly on cards you get. Future CP will improve such play.

 

I have games with NW that i win single challange and win 15-3/4. It is possible. And Mormont always plays key role. Let's just wait for Stealth giving attachment. 

Actually unless i'm reading wrong he could have used his ships to boost. Sword is a reaction to winning. Once you block there is an Action window where he can use his ships.

 

I have actually played NW Fealty quite a bit. I have beaten some really good decks with it. I think most of the reviews are spot on. I'm trying to be more involved in the community so here goes:

 

Meager actually is just as good in play as on paper, maybe better, esp. early game. Most people look at their plots and count gold to play exactly what they want, oops your 1 gold short now.

 

Bear: bear is amazing, i think he's great, not for his ability but the not kneeling to defend. I run 3x little bird and he can block all challenges as there isn't a ton of stealth and the Rangers can block the others. Now he may get worse as more stealth comes out or maybe he'll get something that gives him stealth like Balon.

 

Wall: it is very easy in NW to not lose an UO challenge. An almost 2 pw a turn is very good, most games i've played go 5-7 plots.

 

Sword in Darkness: i have never got it to work, think its really hard, but i'm sure it can be done.

 

Take the Black: i run 2 of this instead of Sword, its ok right now, there a a few non-uniques that are good to steal or anyone to have claim soak. But i think this card will gain value as more and more better nonuniques are released.

 

I think Benjen will become very very good. I think they will continue to release Rangers with multiple icons, I put my other littlebird on him. 

 

You may not win every challenge on D, but you just need to stem the tide

 

"I Know Nothing"

    • Erry81 likes this

You had 24 gold worth of stuff on the board (25 with sword in the darkness). He attacked with a gold worth of 4 for that challenge. If he tossed in a wendamyr, asha or balon (with great kraken) you would have lost the challenge. How long did it take to set that board up? What are the chances you aren't losing a bunch of challenges beforehand? The point is, if you're setting up such a dominant board position, you're likely going to be ahead. Most decks would be trying really hard just to reach that state in the first place. In addition, from what I gather, the other player didn't swing at intrigue against you, which would have once again knelt the wall and made sword in the darkness rather useless. The fact that the card is non-loyal as well telegraphs it to the opponent. It certainly is something a player must be wary about when making challenges, but it's not a card I would really want in my hand except in very specific situations.

    • imrahil327 and Alando like this

I actually really like the Veteran Builder. He's a solid blocker for power challenges, his ability is pretty awesome with some strong in house options as well as potential out of house. Most importantly, he will straighten The Wall in a lot of games which is never bad.

Ya I like the builder too, also if you go into Tyrell you could use with HG or Mander

I sure did have 24 gold in play (maybe even more). It is not that difficult to have so many in about 4th plot. Defence cost, so (I say it again) untill there will be good defensive plots for NW (For the Watch), only alternative is to be rich.

 

That game I used Old Forrest Hunter's ability well, even Meager Contribution. When I had all needed locations on table (Wall, Castle Black, Iron Throne) in 2nd round  (And was behind probable by 8/9 power) there was nothing else than to use Marching Orders. I've marshalled Eddard and Mormont in the very same round (3 i think). Keept them alive through 3rd round.

 

4th round was Game of Thrones which allowed me to trigger Mormont(attached with Little bird) and put Jon Snow into game that was victim to 5th round's Wildfire Assault. 6th round I managed to use Sword in Darkness and it was over in the begining of 6th.

 

Basically i won maybe two offensive challangea. Wall, Feast for Crows, Eddard's renown did the rest.

 

Asha was on the board but was wiped with Sneak Attak's double claim. Although Having Damphair he was not able to revive her (thanks to my Iron Throne).

 

Of course if my opponent would have thrown Balon and Theon on first attack he would have succeded (double stealth). However he probably wanted to weaken my defence first a little. When he noticed his ships will not help him win anyway, he decided to keep them at bay for other challanges. He allowed me to win. Then I used SiD, so it WAS too late for him, winner was already determined.

 

And this is how Sword should be played - waiting, lurking for the right moment. Had he Hand's Judgment - he might have won. But you cannot have everything on hand. SiD is not Tears of Lys that can be used every second round. It is bomb that leaves your opponent paralyzed. And if you have Mormont and are second - leaves him open for your attacks.

Love these reviews, guys. Thanks for taking the time to write and compile them.

 

Now to build a Night's Watch / Lannister deck. With Tyrion's assistance, I'm going to make someone take the black!

And this is how Sword should be played - waiting, lurking for the right moment. Had he Hand's Judgment - he might have won. But you cannot have everything on hand. SiD is not Tears of Lys that can be used every second round. It is bomb that leaves your opponent paralyzed. And if you have Mormont and are second - leaves him open for your attacks.

 

Your assessment is clouded by your recent succes. Like the reviewers say: win-more card. With that board, you've already won. You could play with a blank card instead of Sword and you still would've won.

 

But you're right: Sword should be played like that. Waiting, lurking, endlessly holding it until you realise 95% of the times you'll be discarding it for intrigue claim as those decks ravage your hand. :P And if you do trigger it, it's often going to blank anyway. The reviewers are right: It's bad now, and will always be inferior to alternatives. But every card has its use. You should feel good for actually triggering it. The worst part is that you have to keep 1G at bay to trigger it... and again the next round, and maybe the round after that. Eventually, you are behind in the sense that you won't be able to generate the conditions to play the card.

 

It might be good for fun meleegames, but then again, they'll just attack someone else instead. But that was probably their plan anyway if you have +5 power on the board (as it won't be coming from nowhere, except maybe Tyrell).

 

But the reviewers are wrong: Its best use is probably to discard it for Old Forest Hunter, if the latter ends up in your deck. There can always be a card that might benefit want to attack alone (claim soaks trying to kneel a 'bigger' character), but usually people go for surety or not at all.

May those 5% be during maches with players like yourself then.

 

I realize there are cheap events, like those that GJ have. This one is sophistiacted one and you just miss the subtelity of it. 

 

Sometime opponent throw a challange that it's only purpose is to kneel one of your defenders. This is where it shines.

Sometime opponent throw a challange that it's only purpose is to kneel one of your defenders. This is where it shines.


As I said in my review, the fact people know this card exists means that any decent player should not be doing that against a Nights Watch deck. My relatively high score for the card is more based on the mind games element it provides than actually ever getting to use it.

I wonder if Jon Snow's rating would drop if Longclaw didn't exist, as 5 of the 8 reviewers specifically mentioned that combo in their review.

 

I've never seen Snow as an Intrique type of character, so that is a little wierd, and it seems to me that the "always participating in challenges" is more of a penalty than a boon since you can't turn it off.

I've never seen Snow as an Intrique type of character, so that is a little wierd, and it seems to me that the "always participating in challenges" is more of a penalty than a boon since you can't turn it off.

 

Wow, I think the opposite.  Him joining the Wildlings as a spy was all about getting information on their numbers and plans.  He probably could have every icon too.  Haha.

Completely disagree with their assessment on The Wall.  The Night's Watch has 3 mono-con characters that are all cheap and decent, with an Int, Pow, Mil respectively.  It's EASY to chump block in the 2.0 environment, especially because deadly is gone from the game and each House only has 1 character with Stealth.  All The Wall does is sit there and win the game for you, toss in Benjen and Aemon and Military challenges barely matter, Int doesnt either with the Messenger Ravens, and the lack of solid 2 claim plots in the environment severly limits the power challenge.  With the Old Bear out instead of just defending every challenge the Night's watch comes close to damn near winning every challenge just by sitting there.  

 

 

Their biggest weaknesses right now are to Tears of Lys which can kill the Bear and their efficient army dude, and to Milk of the Poppy, and honestly, thats where most Houses weaknesses are right now.  

Sure The Wall's great if you get out basically all of their characters at once (on top of your 4-cost location), but most factions do well in those circumstances. That also sounds like an auto-loss vs Balon, Knight of Flowers, Targaryen generally, Treachery, kneel, etc., and is also exceptionally vulnerable to both Wildfire and Varys.

The knight of Flowers danger is because of his renown, not his ability.  Chump blocking is good for Night's Watch.  And I disagree with them being especially vulnerable to Wildfire.  Keeping 3 characters is fine, especially when your card draw isnt hurt by it because they aren't out when Wildfire is revealed.  Besides, Wildfire is overrated as hell anyway, and will get dumped whenever the next iteration of Valar comes.  People are only using it because they have to right now.  

 

 

Regarding Varys I honestly haven't seen him played enough to comment.  I could see that being an issue, but the silver lining is that it's discard only and not kill, so I don't know.  

 

 

Balon is a fair point.  Practically anything is weak to him anyway except for targeted removal.  

Hi guys, just want to be clear I understand this correctly.  For Jon Snow, does he have to kneel to when he is "considered to be participating" in another Night Watch member's challenge?  It seems not.  Also, it sounds like his ability allows him to participate in challenges for which he does not have an icon.  Is that also correct?  So he could be potentially be involved in 3 different challenges a turn?