Fire and Blood - BURNINATING the FAQ

Welcome back to Fire and Blood, a bit earlier than expected! I've impressed upon our sterling website editor the importance of letting our intrepid readers know what we really think about the changes to the restricted list, tournament FAQ, and the other recent updates, especially just ahead of regional season. Our Tulsa regional is five short weeks away, so I've given a lot of thought already to my builds and how the new restricted list will impact both how I build my own Targ deck and how I perceive the meta heading into the tournaments.

As I'm sure you know by now, the restricted list added tons of cards, four of which were House Targaryen cards, and a few more of which saw common play in the house of the Dragons. Let's start with the Targ cards:

Refugee of the Plains (RoW): Dothraki decks take a hit with this, but I'm not sure that many Targ decks were running it otherwise. Our house has some of the tastiest low-gold choices for setup, so we can find things like Shadow Parasite, Brown Ben Plumm, or even the Defenders cycle Hatchlings to fill in. Not a big deal for our house.

Aegon's Hill (TTotH): Before John Bruno popularized this card in his winning deck at World's, this was a tough include because of its cost. Now, with Hollow Hill the dominant archetype, the cost is less of a big deal, and the combination of information, hand control, and character control that it provided was just too much. No complaints here about this one.

The Hatchlings' Feast (ASitD): People have been wanting to restrict this off and on for awhile. The Knights of the Hollow Hill agenda makes this so consistent to trigger and the powerful effect can just devastate the field. Coupled with the influx of key Ambush cards (making influence/gold dual curves easier to manage) and some new Burn cards (like Incinerate) Targ needed its options nerfed, and this was a good choice on the part of the design team. I have no complaints.

Long Lances (THoBaW): I felt this card was ridiculous the moment it came out of the Chapter Pack box, but I actually underrated it. The combos with Maesters, Dragons, Shadows, and Ambush builds is just so strong. The negative trait isn't enough to reign it in and this is a very worthy restrictable card--in fact one of the two or three people thought would go on before we received our heaping helping of soft bans. Some are upset they didn't also restrict the Street Waif, but we'll see how that plays out.

So what do all of these changes mean for Targaryen in the current meta? First off, the restriction of the refugees means slower setups all around, further lessening the setup penalty entailed in Hollow Hill's drawback. This also means a second look at First Snow of Winter in our plot decks since our opponent's setups will be so different, but that won't be too big of a deal to figure out. The harder choice is that three new cards from the House of Pain deck mean you have to choose between them. I don't know why you would choose Aegon's Hill in this archetype, so I predict Targ decks to go down one of two paths:

1. Burn-heavy route. This archetype will slot in Hatchling's Feast and lose the Long Lances. They'll replace the Lances with either a third Company of the Cat, Queen's Knight, Dragon Knight, or even a Drogon if they still want the ambush characters--no big deal. The extra standing can be had either from Meereenese Fighting Pit with Dragons or High Ground with Armies--or just not even used. Jumper decks were fine before the Lances and they should be OK especially since they can focus more on removal and less on recursion. They will need to get their card advantage elsewhere. Luckily, we have a few tricks up our sleeves here: Bay of Ice and Meraxes (TBC) are autoinclude, but Xaro's Home and Lady Daenerys's Chambers are also worth a look, especially with the new Captain Groleo (RotK). Consider using Harried by Dragons (VM) and/or Sun Stroke (QoD) with this recursion and then wonder why you weren't doing it all along! You could also slot in the River plots and get advantage from Shores of Ny Sar (VM) since (depending on your tastes) one or two of your plots are now restricted. I know that those ideas sound like ridiculous crap, but that's what people said about Waste Their Time (QoD) until a few months ago.

2. Ambush-Heavy route. This branch will lose the Feast of course and have to swap it with either Forever Burning (Core), an extra Incinerate (VM), or even an out-of-the-box option like Dragon Support (TftH) or the aforementioned attachments. It will have the advantage of the Street Waif (AToT)/Lances recursion combo, and I expect this to be the build favored by most. However, losing the Feast can not be overestimated on those Threat from the North turns. It practically gives you an extra Valar. You also have to weigh the impact you think attachments will have in the New Meta, since Tin Link makes them a bit of a safer choice and since they will preclude Feast from choosing that character as a target. Long Lances seems to be the easy choice, but is it the right one?

Making this choice of restricted card correctly will be the difference between wins and losses, but I believe either of these decks has a chance to be the best deck in the format in early regional season. As a jumper player since before it was cool, I'm not worried in the slightest about the power level of my decks. What worries me a bit more is the amount of tech they will see directed at their archetype. Let's take a peek to see how the other restrictions helped or hurt that.

1. Maesters, we hardly knew ye. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, and Greyjoy maester cancel is always hard for burn. Greyjoys can still run out a mean build, but losing Conclave, Tin Link, and Refugees hurts. I'd bet Maesters are at their lowest numbers in years, but they can still be a ridiculously powerful deck and forget them at your peril.

2. Well hello there, Greyjoy: This house was the most unhurt by the list (maesters excepted). Thus, Black Sails builds, Choke builds, and the plethora of location control must be watched out for. We Targs all know how important our influence is to our success, so the Squids are Enemy #1 for me this regionals.

3. Is that a Stag I see over there? With the softening of control, look for rush decks to have a small resurgence. Hollow Hill builds are slow and can lose by being over run quickly, so Bara could be a bit of a funny matchup for us. I favor the burn-heavy builds for this reason--you have to remove dudes with power on them, simple as that. Likewise, Brotherhood could make a comeback, as could Epic phases, especially with that very dangerous new one. Underestimate speed at your own peril.

4. What's that funny chain-link print on that card? Without Tin Link, positive attachments (and control attachments like Fishing Net) might suddenly see play again. We have to remember that House Targaryen ruled attachments pre-maesters and not forget how we did so. Dragon Thief is one way, but if you don't own that out-of-print pack or perhaps if you worry about unique attachments, there's always Meereenese Brothel. I personally am going up to three thieves and one brothel in my deck, I think.

Most players don't think enough was done to curb the leading status of Targaryen Hollow Hill decks. As a Targ player, I have to say that I agree with them. This certainly changes the meta, and with it the enemies, but Targaryen still has all the tools and answers required. The new list forces a rethink of plots and 3-4 cards in your deck, but the core of awesome is still there. Likewise, if you're a Maester player out of Targ, you're doing just fine as you have in-house attachment control for the Tin Link substitutes and can always swap in a beefy Archmaester or two for the Conclaves. You'll be a bit slower but your build is largely intact. If you're an Aggro player, you have to be loving life, as Dothraki and War Crest/Heir to the Iron Throne decks are getting a bit stronger. Suffice it to say that the field is up in the air (just how I like it) but that I bet on Targaryen Hollow Hill to come down on the right side of things after these early regionals shake out.

Howbout you? What do you think about the list's impact on Targ? Too much? Too little? How are you teching against the Dragons this season? Sound off below, and, as always, thanks for reading!