First Tilt - Deck Archetypes: Baratheon

Welcome back loyal readers! Today we continue our series on House Archetypes. So far, we've covered the fiery flames of House Targaryen, the bitter cold steel of House Stark, and the poisoned blade of House Martell.... Today, we move to the Stormlands and discuss House Baratheon's thirst for power. If you haven't read those previous articles, I encourage you to go back and take a look at those as Paladin and I cover a few basics in the earlier articles that these later ones will continue to build upon.

As we've discussed, there are three basic deck types in the game: Aggro, Control, and Rush. Some houses can field a solid deck in all three categories while some houses tend to focus on one or two. Baratheon is primarily known for Rush and they can field multiple decks that excel at Rush. In fact, their one primary Aggro theme is Knights and even that can tend towards having a power rush element to it. What can I say... Bara just loves grabbing as much power as it can as quickly as possible and they have multiple cards to help them do just that.

Key Cards

What I discovered in my research were a lot of combo builds and it was difficult to nail down the specific key cards, but in most Bara decks, you do see the following cards most often:

• Brienne of Tarth (PotS) - she can completely upset so many plans by simply preventing any opponents' triggered effects during the entire Challenge window in which she participates (this includes discarding a dupe for a save), when used correctly, she's brutal to face
• Marya Seaworth (KotStorm) - the ability to stand any character... ANY. Character. So much you can do with that.
• Seat of Power (WotN) - it's limited, but it's a one-off -3 reducer. With the large number of expensive characters found in many Bara decks, this is a must-include for most decks
• Maester Cressen (Core) - Condition attachments, like Frozen Solid (LoW) or Milk of the Poppy (Core) can really upset the tempo of any deck. Cressen is what you need to deal with those.
• Willas Tyrell (VM) - a newer card with just so much upside. Sure, he's an Ally and he is printed 2 STR, but against most opponents he gain Renown and against Lannister and Martell, he's just a hoss.
• Robert Baratheon (Core) - this version is the most popular version of Robert (except in some specific builds). Some decks don't run him at all (Asshai decks in particular tend not to), but in most other builds this version is the most popular to add a Rush element to the deck. Even in an Aggro deck, he can help close out a game when you couple him with some standing effects (like the aforementioned Marya Seaworth)

So, without any further ado, let's jump into the deck archetypes...

Knights

This is a theme that arrived with the Baratheon Big Box Expansion: Kings of the Storm. That box included the Knights of the Realm (KotStorm) agenda and even includes a deck list that specifically features this agenda which is actually a pretty decent start. The interesting thing about the Knights theme as I began to research this theme was the sheer versatility of it. While I like to say Targaryen has some specific versatility in that the house can field a solid deck for each theme type, Baratheon has versatility within each theme because there are just so many ways to play each deck type.

The point of this deck type is to apply pressure by getting as many Knights into play as quickly as you can to fuel your draw and maintain constant pressure on their board while grabbing power. You want to do this using high claim plots to reduce their board presence as quickly as possible. Typically, the restricted card of choice is Narrow Escape (KotStorm). If you can get a bunch of Knights out and use 2 claim plots to clear their board, you will likely force an early Valar, hopefully with Narrow Escape in hand. If you've been successful at maintaining pressure by killing off characters, Narrow Escape is leaving them with two bad options - let you bring your characters back, or discard their entire hand.

Looking at the variety of Knights decks, the following are the cards that are most key to the strategy:

• The Bastard of Nightsong (VM) - a more recent card but he's solidly costed, has the ability to create a 2 power swing (taking one from them and giving it to you) in a single challenge, and he has a very important Intrigue icon.
• Ser Cortnay Penrose (KotStorm) - almost an auto-include in every Knight's deck because of his +2 and Vigilant during Power challenges. Obviously, with him in play, you open with the Power challenge.
• The Laughing Storm (GotC) - less of an auto-include than you might think (some decks don't run him at all), but he's a Knight with Deadly that has versatility. Against certain decks, you'll want to use his Aggro capabilities and push through some solid challenges with that Deadly keyword. Against an Intrigue-heavy deck, you'll want to leave him standing to prevent your opponent from milling your hand.
• Knight of Flowers (SaS) - while his ability has become a little harder to maintain lately as Shadows cards have risen in popularity, he's a pretty solid character in his own right (even without his non-kneeling capabilities). A 3 cost, 3 STR bi-con with Renown is nothing to sneeze at. If you are facing a player with no Shadows cards (which is still most people these days), he doesn't kneel to attack OR defend. Ouch. Just a solid card all around. Almost every Knight's deck runs at least one copy of this card. Quite a few will run him at 3X.

Aggro-Rush

So... is the Knights deck an Aggro deck or a Rush deck? Well, it's a little of both actually. You're using Knights and they all tend to have the Military icon, so there's a lot of aggro happening here. You'll be applying pressure pretty much constantly through the use of a strong military presence. But, this is a Baratheon deck. That means you have the unusual benefit of a solid slate of Renown characters... there are even 6 Knights with the Renown keyword and a few of those are non-uniques! There are also a few others with conditional Renown or other power grabbing abilities. So, along with the "standard" Knights listed above - here are a few other cards to consider (please note that the following list isn't exclusive, nor does it mean that every card is always included - these are just some common choices):

• Melisandre (RotO) - she's not a Knight but she is a huge power grab card. She can grab 4 power for the two things Baratheon does best - the Power challenge and winning Dominance. On top of that, she has Renown herself and carries her own Intrigue icon which shores up a Baratheon weakness (with the added benefit of being able to gain an additional 2 power for unopposed Intrigue challenges if you're facing the right deck)
• Edric Storm (Core) - he's not a Knight and he doesn't even have Renown! Why is he even in here!? He can win you the game by giving you the opportunity to perform an additional power challenge on the same turn. That can be the game winning turn if you time it right.
• Ser Eldon Estermont (MotM) - he's a bit expensive, but look at that ability! If you're facing a non-renown deck, he guarantees unopposed challenges after the first turn (assuming you get a power on him right away).
• Arrogant Contender (LotR) - with the Melee keyword and his ability he can net you some easy power... most of the time. If they don't think they can win the challenge, they'll likely just go unopposed because nobody wants to give away free power... but, hey, you'll take unopposed wins, too.
• Watcher of the Nightfire (AHM) - a newer card that is starting to see a lot of play because of the almost guaranteed draw, plus he's a Knight with renown - an almost perfect match for Knights Rush. Get at least two in play and you're hitting draw cap every turn with your agenda.

The Rainbow Guard

Another angle often used in a Knights deck is the inclusion of the Rainbow Guard. Every member of the Rainbow Guard is a Knight, so that synergizes well with the agenda, but they come with the added benefit of buffing all Baratheon Lords. They're also decently costed just for their stats, but if you run these guys, you'll normally run a traditional ensemble of Lords as well:

• Ser Guyard Morrigen (KotStorm) - Baratheon Lord's gain stealth
• Ser Emmon Cuy (KotStorm) - Baratheon Lord's get +1 STR
• Ser Parmen Crane (KotStorm) - Baratheon Lord's can be saved by kneeling 1 influence
• Renly Baratheon (KotStorm) - typically the only King played in a Knights deck - he's expensive, but he pays for himself through his constant reduction of all Baratheon characters
• Stannis Baratheon (Core) - he has the benefit of not having the King trait (therefore not affecting Renly's ability) and his ability can net a good number of unopposed challenges
• Robert Baratheon (Core) - we've already covered him in the key cards, but it's worth mentioning here that he's a Lord as well, so he's buffed by the Guard

Other Cards

Now, don't get me wrong - there are a bunch of other cards you can play. Just do a search under Baratheon for the Knight keyword and you can see just how many options you have. The most important piece of advice is to pay attention to your gold curve. A number of these Knights have a higher cost and if you're not paying attention, you'll find yourself in a resource pinch. A few cards to consider to balance out your curve:

• Veteran Knight (KotStorm) - 2 cost Knight character that takes away the War Crest from opposing participating characters
• Vanguard Lancer (KotStorm) - 2 cost Knight character that gives you +1 Initiative and +1 Influence
• Highgarden Squire (TftH) - 1 cost character that can give one Knight the Joust keyword for the phase
• Hedge Knight (KotStorm) - 1 cost Knight (and Ally) character... only serves to even out your curve and add to your total Knight's count

What about locations!? Events!? Attachments!? Dude - how can I build a deck if I don't know what to do with those? Okay... okay. Here's what's typically included (but this can vary considerably based upon which direction you go):

• Locations - focus on reducers and gold... no, seriously. That's what almost everyone focuses on. You can include other cards, of course, but you want to get as many powerful Knights onto the field as quickly as you can, so include every single reducer that makes sense and as much gold as you can (paying attention to your total number of Limited cards... stay below 6 of those).
  
  • The Iron Throne (ASitD) - almost guaranteed dominance
  • ​Bay of Ice (KotS) - increase your initiative and card draw options
• Events - the point of the deck is to apply pressure and upset their plans, so these are solid choices:
  
  • Muster (Core) - probably the most common event because it's a search effect to boost your total Knights count
  • See who is Stronger (KotStorm) - another way to get your Knights back into play (but it requires a solid amount of Influence)
  • Direct Assault (KotStorm) - stealing gold or influence producers helps you and hurts them and can be a crucial tempo play to upset their plans
• Attachments - quite a few deck lists had zero attachments and the few that did include attachments were pretty varied. The only card that seemed somewhat common was Lightbringer (Core) as a save for one of your more important Renown characters

Asshai Holy Rush

The other archetype that has started seeing some serious play recently is the Holy Rush. In fact, a Holy Rush deck won the NA Melee Tournament at GenCon. The Rush element of this deck tends to focus on Melisandre (RotO). As I've pointed out in my Expanding House Baratheon article, during a Power of Faith turn, she can single-handedly produce a 10 power swing for you. Add any other Renown characters and you've created a potential Turn 2 win. Oh, and speaking of The Power of Faith (KotStorm)... obviously, you include two copies of that plot and a copy of Many Powers Long Asleep (RoR).

The following cards are typically found in a standard Holy Rush deck:

• Melisandre (RotO) - the absolute auto-include for the Rush form of the Holy archetype (there are other Melisandre's that work quite well in other deck types, but this one is the absolute must in a Rush ensemble)
• Acolyte of the Flame (TWH) - inexpensive Holy character that is +1 during Power of Faith turns
• Zealot of the Light (BtW) - a solid character that becomes amazing during PoF turns because you can still kneel him during Dominance to mill your opponent's hand after you've used him to pummel their board
• Bearer of the Light (KotStorm) - reduces your Asshai characters and, well, he's free (evens out your gold curve)
• Shireen Baratheon (FtC) - with the latest character agenda version of her, it's gotten a bit harder to choose (in fact, the championship deck mentioned above uses both versions), but this is the typical include because of the Holy Crest
• Selyse Baratheon (Core) - another inexpensive Holy character that has the advantage of being able to grant an Intrigue icon to another character

Where's The Red Queen's Faithful (CD)? Well, believe it or not, as great as that card is, it doesn't seem to be an auto-include for a Holy Rush deck. Why? It just doesn't help you with the Power Rush. Unless you combo that card with other cards (such as Seductive Promise (Core)), it doesn't push you toward the win condition, it just keeps your opponent from getting there before you. Still - it's a solid card, but Army of the Faithful (Core) is going to be the better bet in a Rush deck.

Now, you can go a couple of different directions here, but if you want pure Rush, you should add some additional Renown characters to fill out the mix. If you want some control and the ability to create an overwhelming force during Power of Faith turns, you'll want to include Shadow Enchantress (OSaS) with a solid slate of Shadows cards - but that does dilute the Rush potential of the deck a little bit - that's going to be a meta-call. If you need to be able to run more control, then go Shadows. Quite a few people opt to, instead, include a few of the more standard Rush elements:

• Knight of Flowers (SaS) - even without a Holy Crest, he's still a solid card to help grab power (unless you go the Shadows route, of course)
• Robert Baratheon (Core) - still seems to be the most popular include due to the "double renown"
• Stannis Baratheon (VM) - this is the newest Stannis, but his popularity is high because against most opponents you will gain the most utility from this version
• Edric Storm (Core) - again?! Yep - too good to pass up the chance to perform that second power challenge (and he's relatively cheap) - most decks seem to include him at 1X at least - you don't bank on him, but you're never sorry to see him
• Army of the Faithful (Core) - not an auto-include by any means, but with other Asshai in play (especially with Bearer of the Light), they usually come in pretty cheap and you'll then have an Army in play in case you get hit with Muster the Realm. They don't have a Holy Crest, but they do have Renown - so they can really aid in the power grab.
• Wildling Bard (CD) - although I hate discarding anything from my hand, I've personally seen great success with this card to close out the game because you can literally give any Bara character Renown. Any. Character. And you can do it for up to three characters. Get more than one copy of this non-unique into play and you can now double dip (the limit would be three per copy in play - assuming you have the cards in hand).
• Willas Tyrell (VM) - inexpensive Renown against most opponents and potentially devastating against Martell and Lannister.

If you do decide to go the Shadows route, the card choices differ considerably, but I will say that, in my experience, Shadows does dilute the decks Rush potential. While you're able to perform some amazing buffs with Shadow Enchantress - it doesn't directly support your power grab, will slow down your overall tempo due to the inherent Shadows delay, and it tends to negatively impact your gold curve.

Noble Power Rush

This is probably the template that Baratheon is most known for, but it has fallen out of favor somewhat due to its dependence on Renown characters. It used to be played a lot (and still is played - but it seems that more people have moved to Knights Rush or Holy Rush) and the familiarity people had with Fat Bob and his minions caused certain anticipated moves. With the rise in popularity of Search and Detain (HtS), Rush decks based purely on Renown became more difficult to play and that one card seemed to put a dampening effect on this deck type. Holy Rush with Melisandre isn't nearly as fragile because most of the power she generates ends up on your House card and that deck type seems to be rising in popularity. With the restriction of Search and Detain... will we see a resurgence in Power Rush? Time will tell.

The primary focus of this deck is Power. Everything else is secondary. Grab as much power as possible as quickly as you can. Yes - that's all. Power, more power, and then grab some more power. Crazy Turn 2 wins were possible with the right cards in play. The way this works: get Noble crested renown characters onto the field, dupe them, and use standing effects to keep up the power grab. Also, protect them with The Power of Blood (Core). That plot is a centerpiece to the deck. You want to time that plot in such a way that your power-grab characters are completely protected during the two turns you need to win the game.

The key cards for this deck type are:

• The Power of Blood (Core) - already mentioned above. This is the key protection card for your power grabbing nobles
• Distinct Mastery (Core) - a key standing event to stand a Noble
• Robert Baratheon (Core) - his ability to grab double power for every challenge you win with him as a participant can rack up some power pretty quickly
• Stannis Baratheon (Core) - this is still the most popular one because his ability can guarantee you challenge wins in many situations and the lack of the King trait opens up other possibilities for you
• Eddard Stark (TTotH) - while he is an OOH card, his penalty is reduced by 1 due to running a Bara House card. Now look very carefully at his text. What is his cost for performing his cancel? That's right... there is none. Do not underestimate the power of this card. He's worth the cost. Non-kneeling cancel with card draw on a Renown Noble... just about perfect.
• Margaery Tyrell (ASitD) - a primarily defensive card used to force out a plot that could cause you difficulty during marshaling or challenges (like Fear of Winter)
• Marya Seaworth (KotStorm) - mentioned in the key cards section, she's a no-brainer for this deck type
• Loyal Guard (WotN) - extra dupes for your Nobles
• Other ancillary standing effects - depending on what you're running and how the deck plays out, you want to include other effects that allow you to stand your Renown characters to allow them to participate in additional challenges. Some effects that are used are:
  
• King Robert's Hammer (TBoBB) - if seasons see a lot of play in your meta, this could be a risky card, but it's fairly well costed for its effect
• Massey's Hook (ASoSilence) - works well when combined with Smuggler's Cove (KotStorm) (your Nobles don't typically have stealth)
• Obey the King (KotStorm) - another stand effect for a character with power on it
• To Be a Stag (SB) - allows you to stand a character to pull another character into your hand from your discard pile - this one is more conditional, but could be useful for its stand effect

As you can see, the deck is relying on some fairly expensive characters, so you want to dupe them as soon as you can. You'll want to round out the deck with a few chuds to claim soak as needed and that should help even out your gold curve. You may want to include Milk of the Poppy (Core) or other cards of its ilk to deal with problem cards that upset your tempo (like Melisandre (Core)).


Conclusions

Of the three archetypes, my favorite is the Holy Rush because it can be just so much fun to play. You're winning without even killing off their field - it can be maddening to play against. That said, the aggro capabilities of those Knights should not be taken lightly - they have the potential to wipe out your board while grabbing power for their Lords in spades and you can find yourself completely overwhelmed. Power Rush still has yet to convince me of its viability in the current meta, but I'm looking to be proven wrong!

Overall, I've enjoyed experimenting with Baratheon decks as they're not a house I usually play. And due to this fact, this article was greatly helped by WWDrakey's experience. All the stuff I got right is probably his and anything I got wrong is almost certainly mine. Thanks again Ser!

Did I miss key cards? Tell me about it! Like I said, I don't always play this House, so I would not at all be surprised if there was something that you Bara players see as blindingly obvious that I just completely overlooked.