First Tilt - Deck Archetypes: Stark

DECK ARCHETYPES: STARK

Welcome back to First Tilt, a column dedicated to helping new players learn the strategies that will help them win the Game of Thrones. If this is your first time reading this column, we recommend you start with the New Player’s FAQ which addresses many common questions and provides links to a wide variety of great articles and resources.

In discussing deck builds, veteran players will often toss out terms such as Burn, Rush, Aggro, Mill, Choke, etc. But what do these terms mean? Last week, Doulos2k began our series on the basic deck archetypes for each House by covering the major archetypes fielded by the Targaryens in their quest to once again claim the Iron Throne and rule over Westeros. In this series, we are covering the basics of the major archetypes for each House, with discussion of the prominent themes that underlie the various deck types, and we also provide a sampling of the cards that typify how these archetypes work.

Keep in mind that this is just designed as a basic primer to educate new players on the basics of these themes and not meant to be in any way comprehensive. With that in mind, this week we shift focus away from the fires of the Targaryen dragons to the snows and wolves of the north. The Starks are a hardy family, accustomed to enduring generations-long winters and holding off threats from beyond the wall. The primary Stark archetypes reflect this tradition well. With a strong focus on military, most of the major Stark themes center on military challenges and making the most of the Starks’ martial prowess. Despite this emphasis on military, Stark still has the tools to excel against opponents who bring a lot of intrigue or power challenges.

Key Cards
Here are a couple of cards that you will find in almost every Stark deck, regardless of theme.

· Meera Reed (TftH) – I can’t imagine building a Stark deck that doesn’t include Meera. The ability to blank a card, and to do so repeatedly, is extraordinarily useful. Auto-include.
· Catelyn Stark (LoW) (“Jumping Cat”) – Not quite the auto-include that Meera is, as there are legitimate uses for the other Catelyns, but this version is by far the most played given its ability. Being able to jump a 3 strength character into Intrigue and Power challenges for free is just too good a deal to pass up for most players. Pair with Frozen Outpost for added fun.
· Arya Stark (CoS) (“Shadows Arya”) – One of the most popular characters in the book, Arya is a crafty and resourceful girl who ends up escaping a whole host of potentially terrible situations. This card reflects that lore well, as just when it seems Arya is going to die, she disappears—only to surface later, ready to cause more trouble for your opponent.
· Maester Luwin (FtC) – Just about every Stark deck should contain events, and this card is worth every gold given its search ability. He is also a 3 strength Maester, with all the possibilities that entails. Use At the Gates (GotC) to get him into play right away and get the event searching going!
· Frozen Solid (LoW) - A 1 cost mechanism to control locations and attachments is a great deal. While Meera can do repeated blanking, Frozen Solid is cheap and ongoing, and should also be included in almost every Stark deck.

You won’t regret throwing any of these cards into a Stark deck. But the Starks also have further resources to build more focused decks. And unlike some other Houses, where building one archetype comes at the cost of including cards from another archetype, the Starks have versatile strategies that can mix and match quite well.

Stark Murder
If killing characters is what you want to do in this game, playing the Starks will certainly help you get the job done. The Starks have access to a large number of War crest characters, a trait that will give you access to Die By The Sword so that you can kill even more characters. There are also a number of 2 claim plots that work great with the Starks (or that are even Stark exclusive) helping you maximize the bloody outcome to your military victories. Stark Murder is a theme that fits in well with other Stark builds, as we will see below, since many of the murder cards can easily be splashed into other deck types.

· No Quarter (TBC) – It would be good if all it gave you was the ability to kill an extra person after winning a military challenge, but with this event you also pick who dies. And the only cost is to have a unique involved, which is no problem for the Starks.
· Die by the Sword (LoW) – More picking of who gets to die. The cost here is having a War Crest, which the Starks have a good supply of.
· The Price of War (KotS) – Take a page from the Greyjoy playbook and raze their lands while you’re killing their people.
· Brienne of Tarth (PotS) – Don’t let your opponent deter your plans to kill his characters. With Brienne leading your assault, you won’t have to worry about triggered effects keeping you from destroying your targets or that turn a potential 2 claim victory into a defeat. And keep in mind that discarding a duplicate to save a character is a triggered effect, so with Brienne in the battle even duped characters won't be safe!
· Bear Island (AE) – The most efficient kill engine you have as the Starks. For 3 gold you can knock someone out. Every. Single. Turn. Just be sure you have only Stark affiliated cards!
· The Power of Arms (Core) – Boosts all your War crest characters and provides 2 claim for your bolstered forces.
· Regroup (KotStorm) - Two claim for more killing, and a plot effect that can potentially let you retrieve one of your used murder events.
· Qhorin Halfhand (LoW) - Not a must have, but if you have room he certainly can increase the carnage for you.
· Frozen Outpost (LoW) - Also not a necessary card, but you’ll likely have a lot of War crest characters who can really benefit from this card if you have the room for it!

Stark Knights
As a house that values honor, it is no surprise that the Starks have access to a great many knights. Besides being mostly good characters on their own, they of course pair nicely with Knights of the Realm (KotStorm) as your agenda. Add as many murder cards as you can fit, and a Stark Knights build becomes a mean, card-drawing, character killing machine. Tournament winning Knights decks here.

· Ser Kyle Condon (APS) – With his Stalwart, you’ll always have access to a knight, helping you keep more knights in play than your opponent.
· Knight of Harrenhal (TBC) – Knights are trained in the military arts, not in courtly intrigues or espionage. You might therefore find yourself lacking in intrigue icons when fielding a knight deck. With the support of Harrenhal however, you can ensure that you decide what gets discarded from your hand, rather than (potentially bad) luck deciding your discards.
· Knight of the Tumblestone (Core) – A cheap and useful card, with a War Crest for Die By the Sword!
· Knight of the Red Fork (LoW) – Another cheapo, also with a War Crest. More situational though than Tumblestone.
· Robb Stark (LoW) - With his trait based strength boosting, Robb can be a crucial card to keeping your knights stronger than whatever your opponent fields.
· Harrenhal (ODG) - Card advantage is your thing with the Knights, so why not boost it further?

Stark Siege
The Siege of Winterfell (LoW) is an agenda included in the Lords of Winter boxed set that allows the Starks to focus squarely on their strong suit, military challenges. The agenda is a great one, allowing the Starks to accelerate their power gathering, especially when you realize that the agenda is not as restrictive as it may seem at first glance. The card says "You cannot claim power for your House except during a Military challenge." Parse through that sentence carefully, and you will realize you can/can't claim power in the following ways:

Military challenges: You can receive military claim, power for renown, power for unopposed, and 2 power from the agenda.
Intrigue challenges: You can receive intrigue claim, and power for renown. No power for unopposed, which is claimed.
Power challenges: You can receive power from claim, power from renown, but no power from unopposed. (Why do you still receive power for claim? Because the agenda restricts only how you "claim" power for your House, and in a power challenge you are technically "moving" power from another house to yours to satisfy claim, not "claiming" power to satisfy a claim. See here for more on why this is the case.)
Dominance: Receive no power for winning dominance.

Given this level of potential, one will often hear of Stark Siege decks, but what a Siege deck means in terms of specific cards and deck builds can actually be quite broad. The Key Cards mentioned earlier are of course central components to most Stark Siege decks. A Siege deck clearly relies on military challenges to secure power, and so also pairs nicely with Stark Murder. Moreover, because Siege focuses almost exclusively on military challenges, martial-oriented knights can also fit in well, but as your agenda is Siege, you lose the card draw but gain the ability to be more selective in which knights you bring along.

A few cards that you will likely find in a Siege deck:

· The Blackfish (LoW) - With his renown and card drawing, he can really accelerate the spoils you will secure from your military victories. Think of this: on a successful 2 claim military challenge with the Blackfish, you would get the following spoils: 2 enemy deaths from claim, 2 power from Siege, 1 power from renown, 1 card draw from his ability. If the challenge is unopposed, that's another power, and if you have a murder card that's another death. So in one challenge you could get 3 kills, 4 power, and 1 card! And once he has 3 power on him, he can pull this trick on offense then defense, and on power challenges and military challenges, further accelerating your path to victory.
· Northern Cavalry Flank (SA) - This is another card that will fit well into many Stark decks, but goes particularly great with Siege. The War crest icon is also nice.
· Lethal Counterattack (Core) - This is a great card that can help you keep the military advantage if your opponent gets aggressive.
· Narrow Escape (KotStorm) - One card that goes well in pretty much every single Stark deck is Narrow Escape, which will help you maintain your military momentum by keeping your characters alive.
· Lucas Blackwood (GotC) - If you can kill him off, you get to launch another military challenge and hopefully claim more power!
· Storm of Swords (LoW) - More military challenges = more power.
· After the Mummer's Ford (KotS) - Again, more military means more power!
· Guard at Riverrun (LoW) - Card draw is always nice, isn't it?
· The Bastard's Elite (RoR) - Cheap and strong, and with a Siege deck the one thing you plan on winning a lot of are military challenges.

Direwolves/Search
Though not currently a top tier deck build, a Direwolf deck can be quite potent when you get the right mix of cards. The Lords of Winter box has a nice deck list to get you started for a basic wolf deck. With some neat wolf attachment cards and some useful search abilities, a direwolf deck can quickly accelerate into a feral bloodbath. Here are the cards you want to keep in mind when making a wolf deck:

· Robb Stark (LoW) - Robb is a great character to place your wolf attachments on, especially if you get Jeyne in play.
· Jeyne Westerling (ASoS) - She can search for Robb to get your wolf pack going. Once Robb is in play, she can search for duplicates to keep Robb well protected.
· Grey Wind (LoW) - Probably the nastiest wolf in the game. He can go hunt and kill enemies directly. Goes great in a murder deck as well.
· Shaggydog (LoW) - Give Grey Wind some help by having Shaggydog injure opponents and bring them to Grey Wind to finish off.
· Wolf Dreams (LoW) - If you're building a wolf deck, you may as well get those wolves out as quickly as possible.
· At Night They Howl (LoW) - What's worse than one round of wolf attacks? Two rounds!
· Widow's Watch (GotC) - If you are running multiple copies of the same wolves, this card will help you thin out your deck and keep your unique wolves protected.