Beheading Ned - Risen From The Sea

Fair Warning: Beheading Ned centers on story-based play and may contain spoilers. If you haven't read all of the books and don't wish to have plot points spoiled, you may have to look elsewhere. Material from all five books is fair game in this column, not just from the TV show.

After some hiatus in the Beheading Ned series, it is my pleasure to step in and hopefully provide some insight and discussion into the Nedly side of the game. As you probably know, Nedly psychographic profiles enjoy A Game of Thrones: LCG from the perspective of the narrative woven in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. This type of play is near and dear to my heart, as it is the pathway that I myself walked when I was a new player, unaware of the unparalleled depth and gameplay options offered by this master class of a card game. I remember it well--I was a Eurogamer by trade, pushing cubes and streamlining my resource conversions, when I received an unexpected gift from a friend. "Here," she said, "This is too complicated for me. You'll like it." So I opened the AGoT Core set and read the instructions. Realizing that I indeed would like this game, I went a step further and checked the game out online. Finally, I put two and two together. Having already seen a trailer for the HBO show, I grasped that this great game was based on a pre existing story line, and one that is pretty good at that.

So I headed down to my favorite purveyor of books and picked up the four pack of Martin's tomes. Neglecting all of my PhD homework, I read the first volume in one day and finished all four as rabidly and quickly as possible. During this time, I played my Core casually with some friends, all of whom were fans of the books (at my prompting, of course) and got into more competitive play as a result of the opening of the Covenant Store in my hometown of Tulsa.

Even though my decks no longer really emphasize the storyline in their construction (I do prefer to win than lose, all being equal) I have never forgotten my first Host of the True Queen deckbuild, or the House Tully deck my friend and I constructed, or anxiously piecing together Dothraki all while thinking about Khal Drogo and his role in Dany's life. From the Core set onward, I think that AGoT does an admirable job of reflecting the story in its construction. I probably wouldn't be playing it if it didn't.

Not least among the ways in which the story is emphasized is the strengths, weaknesses, and playstyle of each of the Great Houses. Over the next several weeks, this space will be taking a look at one of those Houses and exploring how its themes and sub-themes reflect "historical Westeros," insofar as such a place exists. We might as well start this week; you deserve that as a reader after such a lengthy introduction.

The Greyjoys of Pyke are one such great House. Led in the narratives by Balon Greyjoy, the Greyjoys are never happy being ruled by outsiders. First fomenting rebellion against Robert Baratheon (a war the Baratheons won with Eddard Stark's help and which resulted in Theon Greyjoy being placed as a Ward with House Stark), Balon also rose again as King of the Iron Islands during the War of the Five Kings. They are renowned for paying the Iron Price, meaning that their belongings are stolen and taken as the spoils of war. Purchasing--the Gold Price--is demeaned. The Greyjoys are a hard, fierce, battle-loving house whose words fit them well--We Do Not Sow.

One of the seminal moments for the Greyjoys is Theon's siege of Winterfell. Deluding the Stark garrison to marching out of the castle, Theon seized control of the Stark stronghold with a skeleton crew. This type of trickery and success is mirrored by the Greyjoy house theme of unopposed challenges. Through cards like Rise of the Kraken (KoTS) and Assault of the Kraken (KoTS), the Greyjoy player can enjoy similar rewards for taking on opponents without ability to defend. Further, the house keyword Intimidate helps push through these types of challenges as well.

Even a quick leafing through Greyjoy's card pool presents a sub-theme that suits this seafaring House, that of Warship locations. Whether you prefer the Longship Iron Victory (KoTS) or the new Longship Grief (CD), few Greyjoy decks leave these powerful options on the shelf. This is in keeping with the house's own admission of their inferiority on land. Remember Asha's words to Theon at the siege of Winterfell--they were too far from the sea, too few to fight on land. They rely on naval power and surprise assaults. Somewhat akin to this is the emphasis on location control, such as though the Newly Made Lord, and the choke cards like the Sparr (APS), but even more so is the Raider theme. Greyjoy features both Raider traited characters and a Raiding mechanic, in which the cards of an opponents deck are discarded. Cards like Asha Greyjoy (WLL) and Baelor Blacktyde (FtC) seize on these discards to either gain efficiency or to strangle the opponent. What better mechanic for the seafaring reavers?

One other thing setting House Greyjoy apart is their worship of the Drowned God and their hope to dine in his halls. It is said on Pyke that what is dead may never die, but rises again harder and stronger. This is borne out in two ways in the cardpool: holy crests and saves. Aaron Damphair (VM) suits both themes well, bearing a holy crest and giving a benefit whenever a Greyjoy is saved. His other iteration (KoTS) does likewise--saving himself from dying and allowing another Holy character to rise again in his place. These are two amazing cards for an amazing character.

So what do you think? Does a seafaring, swashbuckling house suit your playstyle? Are you interested in focusing on the Iron Price, taking what's yours unopposed and then destroying their strongholds after you're done? Are you looking for some strong warships of your own with which to raid opponents decks and claim the power needed to finally establish yourself as King of Pyke in your own right? If so, then House Greyjoy is probably for you.