Fire and Blood - Something Old and Something New

Hello and welcome back to Fire and Blood. I’m first time guest writer Matt Phillips here to discuss the Targaryen Dragon deck that recently stormed the Tulsa, OK regional. Very special thanks to Team Covenant for being such great hosts, Buz Hannon for asking me to write this article, Rick Harrelson for inspiring me to build the deck and of course all the extremely nice and ferociously competitive attendees of the Tulsa, OK event.

Preconceptions:
If you had asked any competitive AGOT player three months ago if a Dragon deck could truly be competitive I’d wager that 9 out of 10 Doctors would not have agreed. After all Dragons are expensive characters. They are also unique characters and having even one or two of them get killed during the course of a game could be disastrous. Most people would also agree that the one character you need to get on the board to make dragons really work is Daenerys Targaryen. And what dragon deck would be complete without getting out Balerion the Black and triggering one of the most effective character responses in the game!

The problem of course is that you need very specific cards to get Balerion into play and there is no guarantee that you will be able to draw into Daenerys or have the economy to play out more than one or two dragons before your opponent is able to destroy your board, wipe out your economy or rush to victory before your deck can ever really get going. Search cards do exist but plot search effects can often be dangerous and helpful to your opponent and no guarantee that events like Dance with Dragons will get drawn during the course of a game.

If only there was a way to guarantee more card draw to speed up the game in your favor from turn one?? Oh wait..

The Long Voyage agenda offers immediate card draw advantage over most opponents from the beginning of the game! Sweet! But then for the downside, a minimum deck size of 85 cards! I have to admit that I was very VERY skeptical that a deck built around this agenda would ever be competitive because I’ve been taught from birth that a deck size of even 61 cards was inefficient and decreased your chances for success. A deck size of 85? Surely you would never have consistent card draw or be able to draw the cards you REALLY wanted right?

Reality:
I’ve only been playing with the Long Voyage agenda for a couple of weeks now but my impression is that it doesn’t need to matter WHAT cards you are drawing so long as you find ways to have overall card advantage over your opponent in one way or another. So long as you have made wise choices about which particular cards to include in your deck you will always be drawing “good” cards and the sooner you can establish overall card advantage the better!

The Deck:
The deck I used for the Tulsa regional was mostly a traditional dragon deck with lots of support for the trait. I decided to minimize my reliance on events and attachments so my draw and setup would be more consistent. I included a total of 44 character cards, 26 location cards 17 of which were economy or influence providing cards, 8 events and 7 attachments. Putting too much emphasis on events and attachments seemed dangerous and may increase the likelihood of undesirable draw in a turn when you really just need another body on the board or the resources to play those juicy characters you’ve been holding back for the post-valar turn.

Characters:
Of course I included the Queen of Dragons versions of Viserion, Rhaegal and Drogon as well as a couple copies each of the Hatchlings and three copies of Balerion The Black. If I happened to draw into Rhaegal I may start trying to outrush my opponent in power. If I drew Drogon I may try getting as much military claim as possible to reduce my opponents board control and If I drew Viserion I would try and reduce my opponents economy or supporting location cards. Drawing into Daenerys Targaryen or Balerion the Black and the pieces to play him are simply bonuses to the built in effects already printed on the standard trio of Dragons. Other supporting characters included Strong Belwas for saving those all too important unique characters, Missandei for quick influence and board presence and Long Lances as my restricted choice for the important element of surprise when your opponent realizes that his chances of winning his challenges have just been greatly reduced. Carrion Birds were included for cheap cost and season control while Dany’s Handmaiden’s were included for additional attachment control.

Locations:
Since many of the characters I included in the deck have the Ambush keyword, most of the locations I used for economy included influence to get these characters into play. The “Put Into Play” effect helps to combat cards like Gylbert Farwynd, A House Divided and choke effects in general that seem popular in the current meta. The standing influence also helps keep your opponent off balance with the possibility that a Long Lances, additional Dragon or well-timed Incinerate could hit the board at any moment you see fit.

The other supporting locations included were Qarth, Meereen, Meereen Tourney Grounds and the invaluable and arguably OP Meereenese Fighting Pit. The Icon advantage, draw capacity, strength control and standing ability provided here for 1 gold each is quite a bargain. These locations are great draws for setup and easy to afford mid-game. Multiple copies of Meereen and Meereenese Fighting Pit were included for actual card advantage each turn with Meereen and maximizing characters like Balerion with the fighting pits. Nothing feels better than drawing into a dragon or Long Lances you can immediately ambush into play or drawing into a much needed incinerate.

Events and Attachments:
In an 85 card deck these slots need to be very carefully chosen and minimized to the essentials. Nightmares, Incinerate and Dance with Dragons were my event choices and I was glad to draw each of them at any given point in the games. In fact I believe that drawing into Nightmares almost literally won me the last semi-final and finals Tulsa Regional games. While Incinerate and Dance with Dragons provided incredible utility to control my opponents board or improve my own options for board position and board control depending on which Dragon I chose to search for.
My Attachments included Dragon Bite, Milk of the Poppy and Dragon Lore. Dragon Bite and Milk were included for character control when dealing with non-kneeling power rush characters such as Asha Greyjoy, Cersei Lannister, Littlefinger, The Red Viper or the dreaded Beric Dondarrion/Taste for Blood combo. Ultimately the Balerion/Dragon Lore/Maester combo was the hardest to pull off and a bit of a gamble. Thankfully with two plots to help and three copies of dragon lore it was one that paid off much more often than not.

Plots:
It must be said that I based most of my plots on the decks I expected to see at the tournament, namely Greyjoy Choke, Greyjoy Rush, Targ Burn, Lannister Rush, Brotherhood and Martel win by losing attachments. I also expected EVERYONE to be running Valar Morghulis and potentially other resets. I needed ways to avoid having my board wiped, control my opponent’s options, get the tools that I needed and put on the hurt when their board was weak. The answers I came up with were Forgotten Plans, Outwit, Spending the Winter Stores, At the Gates, Men of Pride, Calm Before the Storm and my own Valar Morghulis.

These plots served me very well and I always felt it was important to get at least one Learned Crest character on the board as early as possible in order to stave off the Valar Turn or at least make sure my opponents knew that an outwit was possible occasionally making them unsure of the correct plot to play next. The only downside was that most of the plot initiatives here are pretty low. I didn’t mind this in most games but It did come back to hurt me in a game against a Stark Siege deck run by Jeff Harris using Syrio Forel and Epic Battles (my only loss for the day). Having dragons or multiple characters with stealth makes opponents think twice about how many characters to kneel out against you since you can simply stealth past their defenses on the retaliation.

Strategy:
One of two things happened during the games I played over the weekend. Either I would gain board control early by playing out Drogon or Balerion and building position until my opponent is forced to Valar in which I play Outwit to counter (hopefully leaving my opponent out of good options to win) OR my opponent would gain board control early and I would do my best to prepare for my own Valar play making sure to limit my opponents options for saves or recovery as much as possible and outdraw my opponent to victory.

In both the semi-final game against excellent Tulsa player Steven Wooly (Greyjoy House of Dreams) and equally competitive Buz Hannon (Targ Maesters/Dragons) I was actually behind in power and board control from turn one! Dragons do take some time to get going after all. Steven had non-kneeling characters loaded with great attachments and renown while Buz had non-kneeling dragons and chain-loaded maesters early on. Both players knew a Valar was coming and both players had plans on how to deal with it. With Steven and Buz I had the luck to be holding Nightmares on the turn I planned to Valar. In Steven’s game the nightmares went to an Iron Cliffs while in the game with Buz it went to a Maester Aemon that was getting ready to save his copy of Balerion with the gained Night’s Watch trait. While Buz still had an answer for me with At the Palace of Sorrow I feel both these games were very close in which way they could have gone. Luckily I had the card draw to get what I needed and the sense to hold on to it until it made the biggest impact in the game. I also had long term card draw advantage so long as I could stop my opponents from winning too quickly.

Summary:
The Dragon characters and location support provide the tools to deal with almost any deck type while the Long Voyage Agenda increases the overall card advantage. The increased deck size does decrease the frequency of drawing specific cards but the additional card draw can be invaluable in a tightly matched game. Don’t be afraid to wipe the board and kill a unique or two of your own if it’s going to hurt your opponent more. Unless they have significant hand advantage the chances are that your increased draw will be able to outpace them on the rebound. Also, I still consider myself to be new at the game compared to many so please disregard all of the advice in this article if you don’t seem to be winning any games with it.

Here is the decklist I used at the Covenant Store’s Tulsa, OK regional. Some minor adjustments may be due but overall I feel it is a solid list. I would highly encourage anyone running a similar deck to play to their own tastes and not stick to rigidly to any decks they find online. What wins in one tournament could take home the Sansa prize at another under the right or wrong circumstances. Good luck to everyone throughout the Regional season. I’ll see you all at worlds!

Decklist:

Restricted: Long Lances

Total Cards (85)

House (1)
House Targaryen (Core) x1

Agenda (1)
The Long Voyage (TPoL) x1

Plot (7)
Forgotten Plans (KotStorm) x1
Valar Morghulis (Core) x1
Outwit (TIoR) x1
Spending the Winter Stores (QoD) x1
Men of Pride (THoBaW) x1
At the Gates (GotC) x1
Calm Before the Storm (LoW) x1

Character (44)
Dany's Handmaiden (Core) x3
Long Lances (THoBaW) x3
Strong Belwas (VD) x3
Balerion the Black (RotO) x3
Drogon (QoD) x3
Viserion (QoD) x3
Rhaegal (QoD) x3
Dragon Thief (AE) x3
True-Queen's Harbinger (QoD) x3
Linked Advisor (TIoR) x2
Advisor to the Crown (QoD) x1
Daenerys Targaryen (QoD) x3
Carrion Bird (ASoS) x3
Missandei (RotK) x2
Black Hatchling (DB) x1
Black Hatchling (QoD) x1
Green Hatchling (TWH) x1
Green Hatchling (QoD) x1
White Hatchling (AKitN) x1
White Hatchling (QoD) x1

Location (26)
Great Pyramid of Meereen (AHM) x2
Kingsroad Fiefdom (QoD) x2
Summer Sea (QoD) x3
Khal Drogo's Tent (QoD) x1
Street of Sisters (Core) x1
The Red Keep (TftRK) x2
Meereen Tourney Grounds (ODG) x1
Temple of the Graces (Core) x2
Shivering Sea (KotS) x1
Astapor (QoD) x1
Flea Bottom (TGM) x1
Qarth (QoD) x1
Meereen (QoD) x2
Meereenese Fighting Pit (ARotD) x3
Eastern Fiefdoms (QoD) x3

Attachment (7)
Dragon Bite (AE) x2
Dragon Lore (CbtC) x3
Milk of the Poppy (Core) x2

Event (8)
Nightmares (LoW) x2
Incinerate (VM) x3
Dance With Dragons (Core) x3