Beheading Ned - Dothraki

Warning: This article may contain spoilers from any and all of the books.

Welcome back, everyone, to another article of Beheading Ned. This week, we take a look inside Khal Drogo’s Khalasar and see what it means to play Dothraki the Nedly way. The question this time around focuses on the legendary Valyrian Steel blades scattered around Westeros. Name the Valyrian Steel Swords owned by the following individuals: Eddard Stark, Brienne of Tarth, Joffrey Baratheon, Jon Snow, and Randyll Tarly.

Remember back to book one; back before the dragons, before winter, before everyone and their mother died. Remember when a starry-eyed Dany was forced to marry the brutal leader of an army of savages. This is where we turn our attention to this week.

Across the Summer Sea, a deal is made to wed Daenerys Targaryen to the ruthless horse lord Khal Drogo. In exchange for a bride, Khal Drogo is to help Viserys Targaryen reclaim his seat on the Iron Throne. How he would achieve such a feat, you may ask. Well, an army of over 40,000 horsed men is a force to be reckoned with. This is the force that drives the deck. Overwhelm your opponent with a sheer number of characters and destroy everything that stands between you and 15 power. So without any further delay, let’s see just what goes into a Nedly Dothraki deck.

The Characters:
The name of the game here is aggro and we achieve this by consistently flooding the board with Dothraki. But in order to make sure we always have them available to play, there are a few key cards we need to secure card advantage. Khal Drogo (QoD) is one such character that is able to do this. His deadly keyword and war crest are great compliments to the aggressive nature of this deck, but the fact that he can replace himself with at least three more characters after he dies is what makes him a beast in any Dothraki build.

When thinking of card advantage and Dothraki, Jhogo (OSaS) is never far from thought. This monster can easily have you draw capping every turn he attacks. The stealth when he attacks alone is almost useless at this point considering he will never go out by himself.

Now let’s look at a few other Dothraki that recently came into play. This deck will not be using any agenda so that we are able to play Braided Screamers (AToTT). Although he was errata’d to limit once per round, his will almost always be replacing one character you play with another. Dothraki Vanguard (FaI) is also huge in this deck. Being able to get two characters for the price of one is the very definition of card advantage.

Now at this point you’re probably thinking, “hey I thought this was supposed to be a Nedly deck. Where’s the Nedly?” Shut up, I’m getting there. This is Khal Drogo’s Khalasar, so we obviously have to include Daenerys Targaryen (GotC), duh. Beside Dany is her “faithful” companion, Ser Jorah Mormont (WLL) and her Bloodriders Aggo (RoR), Rakharo (IG), and Jhogo (OSaS). Also along for the ride is Viserys Targaryen (Core), here to make sure that he gets his army and his crown.

The Locations:
These locations may seem a tad odd, but they are all here for a reason. Meraxes (TBC) is here for draw and before you start to say, “well that’s not very Nedly,” let me just point out that this is one of those special occasions that I will turn a blind eye in order to make the deck more competitive. With that being said, that doesn’t mean we don’t have Nedly locations. Vaes Dothrak (IG) and The Womb of the World (ASoSilence) are perfect examples of this. The rest of the locations are in here simply to provide economy. This deck can be rather expensive and we have to make sure we can afford to flood the board over and over again.

The Attachments:
The only attachment going into this deck is Blood Magic Ritual (TCC). When Khal Drogo went down, a blood magic ritual was used to bring him back (sort of) and the same can be done in this deck. Or grab Jhogo, I don’t care.

The Events:
Aggro decks need aggro events and here we have them in abundance. The Price of War (KotS) to show that no land is safe when the Dothraki move over it and Die by the Sword (LoW) to attribute to, well, the swords they use to kill people. Yeah that definitely makes sense. Super Nedly connection right there. Oh and Ride Them Down (ODG) because Dothraki ride horses or something. You get the point.

The Plots:
This deck can be very expensive, but it is also meant to punish your opponent with high claim. The plots reflect this.

The Deck:
Drogo’s Khalasar

Total Cards: (62)

House:
House Targaryen

Agenda: (0)

Plot: (7)
1x A Song of Summer (ASoS)
1x Breaking and Entering (LotR)
1x Men of Pride (THoBaW)
1x Siege of Riverrun (KotS)
1x Twist of Fate (APS)
1x Wildfire Assault (Core)
1x Take Them by Surprise (LoW)

Character: (36)
1x Aggo (RoR)
3x Bitter Crone (IG)
3x Blood-Crazed Screamer (MotM)
3x Braided Screamers (AToTT)
3x Dothraki Handmaiden (DB)
3x Dothraki Outrider (AToTT)
3x Dothraki Vanguard (FaI)
3x Jhogo (OSaS)
1x Khal Drogo (QoD)
1x Rakharo (IG)
3x Refugee of the Plains (RoW)
1x Daenerys Targaryen (GotC)
1x Ser Jorah Mormont (WLL)
1x Viserys Targaryen (Core)
3x Drogo's Horde (IG)
3x True-Queen's Harbinger (QoD)

Attachment: (2)
2x Blood Magic Ritual (TCC)

Event: (7)
1x Ride Them Down (ODG)
3x The Price of War (KotS)
3x Die by the Sword (LoW)

Location: (17)
1x Meraxes (TBC)
3x Summer Sea (Core)
1x Vaes Dothrak (IG)
1x Great Pyramid of Meereen (AHM)
1x River Row (QoD)
1x Street of Sisters (Core)
1x Street of Steel (Core)
3x Myrish Villa (QoD)
1x Khal Drogo's Tent (Core)
3x Temple of the Graces (Core)
1x The Womb of the World (ASoSilence)


And that’s the deck. A Dothraki deck that is pretty Nedly and competitive as well. This deck has a lot of potential to do well in tournaments if you can get good matchups. Obviously you will have a harder time against control decks, but don’t think it is an auto-loss. As always, feel free to comment so I know someone still reads these articles. Before I go, here’s some food for thought: sometimes quantity is better than quality.