All Things Shagga - The Top Shagga: A Clash of Arms

This week, I thought I’d kick off a new cycle of articles here for All Things Shagga. We’ve explored a few different types of articles aside from the deckbuilding article, but this will be a new endeavor for me. For the next few weeks, All Things Shagga will be reviewing the top Shagga cards from the history of the LCG. I’ll be taking a look at cards in chapter pack cycle chunks, and looking at the Top 5 (in no particular order) Shagga cards for each cycle. We might spark some new ideas here, or we might not, but at least we’ll be looking for shiny things!

A Clash of Arms

Areo Hotah (AE)- Hotah hits the Shagga player on several levels. Sure, his stats aren’t all that impressive, but the ability is nothing to sneeze at. We’re looking both for flashy abilities (check) and ones that we can repeat (check). Sure, it’s not an easy ability to use or repeat, but that’s actually not a negative here, as that pushes the average Shagga to look for inventive ways to abuse it. Some day we may further explore the deck here. I’m thinking probably a midrange Martell deck with a decent bit of other revenge cards and lots of influence. True to Shagga form, we’ll need interesting and surprising ways to lose challenges, but if we can trigger Hotah several times once the opponent has some power on their house card, we might be able to close out the game in one fell swoop.

Drowned Prophet (AE)- Here we see what might possibly be the most flashy ability in the entire game. Nothing else has done something quite this crazy, and the card shows that in two ways- the incredibly high influence cost and the fact that he’s one of the only two cards in the history of the LCG to remove itself from the game. Due to the oppressively high influence cost in a house that has little use for influence, Drowned Prophet decks have seen little to no play. Still, the ability just jumps in your face so strongly that it’s probably good that he removes himself from the game for balance’s sake. If he didn’t, I’d almost certainly be tinkering with that deck.

King Robert's Host (TWot5K)- Now here we have a pretty classic Shagga card. Big eight strength armies generally catch the basic Shagga’s eye just based on size alone (hey, there are many criteria for shiny!) but this one also throws in a fantastic ability to boot. While it’s not as unprecedented and game mechanic altering as Drowned Prophet, the Host does indeed warp the Challenge phase with a very powerful effect. Since it’s not an engine, we’re not likely to build a whole combo deck around this, but it sure hits the “wow factor” enough to look at.

Desperate Tactics (BoRF)- Here’s a Shagga card that gives us the inkling of an idea. It’s borderline to being an engine itself, because it gives a great way to set up armies with “comes into play” abilities. The list that applies to isn’t particularly long, but one of the best options to either return or jump into play is The Viper’s Bannerman, which folks might have heard is some good. Other interesting armies to combine it with include Joffrey’s Guard and House Umber Berserkers. Desperate Tactics is a card that almost certainly hasn’t seen it’s full potential yet.

Jaqen H'ghar (SB)- Just look at all of those keywords. Now look at that flowing hair. Now back at the keywords. See how many there are? I’m on a horse! Ok, ok, more seriously now, though, has there been any card more impressive on first glance? Sure five gold for only 3 strength can be a first glance dealbreaker for a Jaime, but the Shaggas are looking at the text box first, and boy, oh boy is it a doozy. This man literally does. It. All. Combining all of the house specific keywords like this makes him a total beast. So much so, in fact, that Jaqen is one of the very, very few banned cards in the LCG format. As such, I won’t jot down ideas on things to combine with him, but wow. Just wow.

So there you have it, folks, a quick look at the Top 5 Shagga cards from the first chapter pack cycle of the LCG. Is there one you’d have put on the list instead of me? (Hint, Rhaegar Targaryen (BoRF) should probably be an honorable mention). Which would you take off? More importantly, is this length and style just about right for this cycle of articles? Would you like to see it tweaked a little for next time? Be sure to let me know in the comments or by direct message.