All Things Shagga - Shagga Meets Jaime

Here we go again with another exciting week of Shagga deck analysis. This time, we’re going cast our gaze at a deck with a decidedly more Jaime tint than usual. The most successful “combo” style deck that I’ve seen so far is almost certainly the Stark Seige rush decks. Of course, I didn’t think of it that way at first, but a Magic player who dabbled in AGOT a couple years ago pointed out that it’s really the sort of deck that wants to full playsets of any key cards and get to them as quickly as possible in order to set up a win without the opponent being able to interact (thanks to Fear of Winter). It wasn’t until sometime later when I really started to delve into the theory behind decktypes and such that I realized this means it’s really a combo deck, and this quite Shagga!

The Cards:

The Siege of Winterfell- This is the key card right here. Everything else revolves around this card and the power grab that it enables. It plays right into one of Stark’s biggest strengths in the military challenge, and winning them as quickly as possible powers right into victory.

Fear of Winter- This is the main card used to make sure that opponents have as little ability to interact with your combo as possible. Arguably that is what makes it so frustrating to play against.

Battle for the Shield Islands, Battle of the Whispering Wood, Battle of the Bay- The Epic Battles are the best way to pack in a bunch of military challenges into the first couple turns of the game, and conveniently The Seige of Winterfell’s response can still be triggered in Response to those Epic Phase military challenges. The recent addition of Battle for the Shield Islands was great for this deck as a way in increase your redundancy.

Syrio Forel, Northern Cavalry Flank, Rickard Karstark- These are the characters that will be helping you win those multiple military challenges. Syrio is the most efficient for his low cost and ability to return to Shadows after each military challenge and then pop back out at the start of the next Epic Phase in order to slam home military challenges with his stealth. Northern Cavalry Flank is probably the next best option since it won’t kneel most of the time, but it does bring higher strength and deadly to the table. Rickard is probably the least favorable of the options, but still won’t kneel to attack. Just keep in mind that his power gaining ability won’t work with Siege of Winterfell.

White Harbor Dromon- Another card new to the fold, White Harbor Dromon can help provide a tactical boost with Naval enhancements, but more importantly, it can grant one of your non kneeling characters (aside from Syrio) renown and really help speed up those couple early turns.

Thoughts on Play:

In the words of the immortal Ricky Bobby, “I wanna go fast!” That’s the key to this deck. Do whatever you have to in order to win as quickly as possible. As mentioned earlier, Fear of Winter keeps your opponent’s ability to interact with you at a minimum, but don’t forget that your Epic Battle events can be played prior to revealing plots, which leaves your single card open to be a character in order to win those challenges. Likewise, Much and More gives you the chance to dig in a combo deck to find whichever piece you need and can be played prior to the Fear of Winter reveal. Brienne of Tarth provides another great way to keep your opponent from doing anything productive during your military challenges.

The rest of the deck largely rounds out with cards that are there in consideration for Setup, which lets you dig a little closer to your gas when you need it in that first turn. Hungry Mob makes a reasonable replacement for the now restricted refugees, while Direwolf Pup, Hodor, Shaggydog, and The Hound all provide high strength in the key icon for a very low cost. Also very handy for setup is Bay of Ice as a 0 cost non-limited location, which stands a pretty good chance of drawing an extra card for you on that first turn as well as potentially the second , provided you aren’t up against Knights of the Hollow Hill.

The rest of the plot deck give you some other options that fit with the general theme, though they hopefully won’t be needed. Still, Rule By Decree combines very nicely with the pre-plot Epic Battle events, Naval Superiority can provide a crushing one sided board wipe thanks to the Dromon, and Manning the City Walls can drop a key army into play. There isn’t a traditional reset, however, because this deck is putting the pressure on in the most pure sense and really should be trying to win before a reset would be necessary. It also doesn’t hurt that the extra military challenges tend to help keep the opponent’s board pared down.


The Deck:

Deck Built with CardGameDB.com GoT Deckbuilder

Stark Seige

House (1)
House Stark (Core) x1

Agenda (1)
The Siege of Winterfell (LoW) x1


Plot (7)
After the Mummer's Ford (KotS) x1
Fear of Winter (BtW) x1
Manning the City Walls (CD) x1
Naval Superiority (TGF) x1
Respect of the Old Gods (LoW) x1
Rule by Decree (Core) x1
Storm of Swords (LoW) x1

Character (32)
Summer Sea Corsair (RotK) x3
Syrio Forel (TftRK) x3
Brienne of Tarth (PotS) x3
Damon Dance-For-Me (VD) x2
Direwolf Pup (Core) x3
Fleet from Wolf's Den (RotK) x2
Hodor (Core) x1
Hungry Mob (CoS) x3
Lucas Blackwood (GotC) x1
Northern Cavalry Flank (SA) x3
Rickard Karstark (WLL) x3
Ser Jorah Mormont (PotS) x1
Ser Kyle Condon (APS) x1
Shaggydog (Core) x1
The Blackfish (LoW) x1
The Hound (PotS) x1

Location (16)
Bay of Ice (KotS) x3
Great Keep (Core) x3
Lord Eddard's Chambers (Core) x1
Narrow Sea (Core) x3
White Harbor Dromon (TGF) x3
Street of Silk (LotR) x1
Street of Sisters (Core) x1
Street of Steel (Core) x1

Event (12)
Battle for the Shield Islands (TGF) x3
Battle of the Bay (TBoBB) x3
The Battle of the Whispering Wood (EB) x3
Much and More (AHM) x3

Attachment (0)