Beheading Ned - King of Storm's End

Beheading Ned – King of Storm’s End

"The Iron Throne is mine by rights. All those who deny that are my foes." – Stannis Baratheon
"The whole of the realm denies it, brother. Old men deny it with their death rattle, and unborn children deny it in their mothers' wombs. They deny it in Dorne and they deny it on the Wall. No one wants you for their king. Sorry." – Renly Baratheon
- George R.R. Martin Clash of Kings

Renly Baratheon, the Lord Paramount of the Stormland, the youngest child of Steffon and Cassana Baratheon, and fourth in line for the Iron Throne while Robert sat on the throne. Welcome to another article of Beheading Ned, and my first Beheading Ned article. My name is Brandon and I recently did a post for Scheming on the Sands, so I won't go into a long introduction of myself. Just like many other people I got into this amazing card game because of the excellent books (and now we should include the TV show as an introduction avenue), so I'm very honored with being able to talk about the “Nedly” aspect of the game. In my first five articles I am going to discuss decks that are built to support one of the five kings, during the Clash of Kings novel. (Note that like all Beheading Ned articles there will most certainly be spoilers; however for this article if you have at least read the second book or seen second season of the HBO season it should be safe to read). So if you could guess the first deck looking at is one built around Renly Baratheon.

When building a nedly deck it is important to note that I feel it would be extremely rare to find a truly dedicated nedly deck winning any tournament. So when building a nedly deck keep in mind they are great theme decks to use for fun pickup games even and can even win an okay amount of times, but they aren't going to be setting the tournament scene on fire. If you can convince your meta it can be extremely fun to set aside those tier 1 decks and instead have a Ned tournament. Now back to the real article.

King Renly

So to start the deck off I had to decide on the character to build the deck around. When looking at the options of Renly there are three choices, however, I ignored the Lord version because I wanted this deck to be built around the King Renly.

So option one is Renly Baratheon (KotStorm). If you get Renly into play early the cost reduction of one gold for every Baratheon character can actually make a big impact in some games, so this could be a solid option.

Option two, Renly Baratheon (TRS), well to give it away this is the version of Renly I decided on, and the simple fact was when I want to build a deck around a character I want a ability that can actually build around, and while cost reduction of one for every character is nice, getting good card draw is one of the biggest needs in any Baratheon deck. Additionally the need for Power Struggle plots can have interesting impact on the whole deck.


Characters

Step two of building this nedly deck was looking at characters. Now when making a nedly deck the most important characters are clearly the unique characters, because these are the characters that are actually in the story. Lucky for us this latest chapter pack gave us a HUGE boost to this deck in the form of Renly's queen, Margaery Tyrell (AToTT). She gives us an important intrigue icon which most Baratheon decks are light on, and provides us a little control in a more rush style deck. I also added copies of Renly’s Rainbow Guard into the deck with Ser Emmon Cuy (KotStorm), Ser Guyard Morrigen (KotStorm), and Ser Parmen Crane (KotStorm), all are little boosts for Renly, but not a dedicated Rainbow Guard deck.

The other members of the Rainbow Guard are represented with Brienne of Tarth (PotS) and Knight of Flowers (TftH) (wanted to keep my restricted spot open). Both great characters and perfect fits for the Renly theme. The rest of the deck was built around three themes. First is Stormlands with characters like Knights of the Storm (KotStorm), Banner for the Storm (CtB), and Stormlands Bastard (TIoR). Second one is House Tyrell, with characters likeArrogant Contender (LotR), Maester Lomys (CbtC), and Willas Tyrell (VM). I was also going to forgo an agenda and use the new Blackcrown Knights (AToTT) but I realized after first draft of the deck it was best to go with Knights of the Realm (KotStorm). Which leads to the third character type, Knights, using cheap guys to boost the agenda and Vanguard Lancer (KotStorm) to help save Renly with Ser Parmen Crane (KotStorm), also I would have been crazy not to add The Laughing Storm (GotC).


Locations

With the high cost of characters a good setup and economy is a must, so 14 of the 17 locations are economy locations. To get more uses out of our renown characters a copy of King Robert's Hammer (TBoBB) was added. Another nedly addition is The Stormlands (KotStorm), Renly being Lord Paramount of the Stormlands means it is a perfect fit and it also helps with our Plots.

Attachments

I am running two copies of the never seen The Art of Diplomacy (PotS). It gives characters added strength to counter burn and to push through challenges.

Events

There were some options for events and I could see people decide on other options but I went withHeart of the Stag (KotStorm) to push through challenges and gives renown which speeds up the deck. It can also be used as protection on characters like Margaery if comboed with Maester Lomys. Ours is the Fury (TPoL) is a great event, especially when trying to push through multiple challenges with renown characters. Starve for Your King! (BoRF) using the many Power Struggle plots gives us an extra 4 gold which can help with getting some of the expensive characters out.

Plots

To make this simple I am using power struggle plots Fury of the Stag (AE), King's Landing Coup (AToTT), Lineage and Legacy (KotStorm), Stay of Execution (KotS),An Empty Throne (KotS), and The Red Wedding (PotS) and of course we have to run Valar Morghulis (Core). All these plots help trigger Renly’s extra draw, The Stormland claim raising, Starve for your King giving us extra gold, and all of the plots actually give us effects that can be useful in this deck.


The Deck

Deck Built with CardGameDB.com GoT Deckbuilder

King Renly

House (1)
House Baratheon (Core) x1

Agenda (1)
Knights of the Realm (KotStorm) x1

Plot (7)
Fury of the Stag (AE) x1
King's Landing Coup (AToTT) x1
Lineage and Legacy (KotStorm) x1
Stay of Execution (KotS) x1
An Empty Throne (KotS) x1
The Red Wedding (PotS) x1
Valar Morghulis (Core) x1

Character (32)
Renly Baratheon (TRS) x3
Margaery Tyrell (AToTT) x3
Arrogant Contender (LotR) x2
Knight of Flowers (TftH) x1
Maester Lomys (CbtC) x2
Willas Tyrell (VM) x1
Banner for the Storm (CtB) x2
Brienne of Tarth (PotS) x1
Knights of the Storm (KotStorm) x3
Ser Emmon Cuy (KotStorm) x1
Ser Guyard Morrigen (KotStorm) x1
Ser Parmen Crane (KotStorm) x2
Stormlands Bastard (TIoR) x2
The Laughing Storm (GotC) x3
Hedge Knight (KotStorm) x3
Vanguard Lancer (KotStorm) x2

Location (17)
Aegon's Garden (Core) x2
Flea Bottom (TGM) x1
King Robert's Hammer (TBoBB) x1
Narrow Sea (Core) x3
River Row (QoD) x1
Seat of Power (WotN) x3
Street of Sisters (Core) x1
Street of Silk (LotR) x1
Street of Steel (Core) x1
King Robert's Chambers (KotStorm) x1
The Stormlands (KotStorm) x2

Event (9)
Heart of the Stag (KotStorm) x3
Ours is the Fury (TPoL) x3
Starve for Your King! (BoRF) x3

Attachment (2)
The Art of Diplomacy (PotS) x2


Well I hope you enjoyed this nedly deck supporting the King that had the largest army yet was the first eliminated. In my playtesting I have had solid success with the deck. It can play fast and if you are aggressive in the power challenges both offensively and defensively you can see a surprisingly quick win. Next time on Beheading Ned will look at a deck focused on the King in the North!.

Love to see readers comments and what changes you would make to the deck.