First Tilt - The Best Kingsguard Money Can Buy

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. You should also refer to the great thread dedicated to new players here on the forums.

One of the most common questions new players ask when they first enter the exciting world of the AGoT LCG is “what should I buy next?” The most common answer has been, and remains, that they should buy the house expansions for their preferred houses. Particularly for players who have a preferred house or houses, the house expansions provide the biggest, most efficient boost to deck building options that a player can have.
And once the desired house expansions are purchased, what comes after that? The common answer has been that the best chapter packs to buy are:

Ancient Enemies – this has been a go-to pack due to its inclusion of the Fury plots, which provide each house with a fantastic 5/7/1 plot that also has a detrimental effect to two opposing houses. These plots have been restricted for quite a few cycles now, but the plots are a great starting point for new players, as you received one for each house and with those solid stats no deck tweaking is necessary to make them useful.

Refugees of War – this is recommended because of the presence of the 0-cost refugees, who were staple cards in the game for the longest time, right up until they were restricted. Even now, being restricted, they are still solid picks for many decks as their restricted choice. Being setup friendly and free, with bi-cons and 2 strength, they are fantastic additions to any deck.

Sacred Bonds – This pack contains the “To Be…” events, which provide a neat effect for each of the houses. Some of the “To Be…” cards are super-useful , and even the less useful ones still allow a player to stand a character, which is always a great ability to have access to.

The central nature of these chapter packs has been reinforced by the re-release of these older chapter packs in the modern three-copies-of-each-card format, so it would seem that the answer of “what should I buy next” would remain the same. But changes to the restricted list over the last few years, combined with recent releases in the current cycle, have resulted in a new environment that I think warrants a change in the classic advice to new players. In particular, I am thinking that the two newest packs at the time of this writing, The Kingsguard and The Horn that Wakes, merit a careful look from new players as potential early buys in expanding their card pool.

To begin with, the biggest advantage in acquiring these packs is that you gain a ton of neutral cards that are useable in almost any deck, providing a boon to new players regardless of house or even build. Whereas the other packs mentioned here provide a card a piece to each of the houses, these two packs provide a number of cards that can slot into any deck regardless of house.

The seven neutral kingsguard characters can be thrown as a lot into almost any newbie deck and without further tweaking will provide built-in synergy and powerful effects. It’s hard for me to imagine a deck built from a limited cardpool that wouldn’t benefit from the inclusion of these cards, in particular the card-drawing engine that can be built from Ser Jaime Lannister (TK) and Ser Preston Greenfield (TK). (Hint for new players: draw wins games, and these two guys will get you major draw, as well as providing two good characters. So if you do nothing else, at least add them!) The kingsguard character cards alone justify the purchase of the pack, for new players and veteran players alike.

Beyond these powerful royal guardians, new players will find that the Kingsguard chapter pack also provides a great card that can be easily slotted in for most of the houses. Lannister gets the monster that is unkneeling Tywin; Baratheon gets the lethal Shadow Assassin (TK); Targaryen receives a good shadows Jorah that goes with the theme of the pack; and Greyjoy acquires a replacement for the 0-cost refugees, albeit a unique one. Top all this off with a great revival plot for the kingsguard folk, and you have the makings of one of the best packs in the game (and maybe even THE best pack in the game).

Continuing the trend of useful universal neutral cards is the newest pack, The Horn That Wakes. If it just contained Coldhands (THtW) and Ygritte (THtW), it would still be worth purchasing by almost everyone who plays the Game of Thrones. But new players should particularly welcome these cards, as they serve as great counters to a number of deck types, and when your card pool is limited having access to such broadly applicable counters is a welcome ability. These two cards come as close to “auto-include” as cards get, and I would advise every new player to add them to their decks. Following the tradition of its predecessor pack, The Horn That Wakes also provides goodies for most of the houses. Stark gets the best version of Jon Snow (THtW) in the game, a tremendous 3-str, deadly, immune to events character who will provide a nice foundation should you ever decide to build a Night’s Watch or Wildlings deck. Lannister gets the awesome Janos Slynt, who for my money is one of the best Lannister characters in the game. At 2 cost, he is a great fit for any Lanni build and has a great ability. Baratheon acquires the potent Melisandre's Favor (THtW), a card which can change the course of games. Targaryen receives Loyal to the Last (THtW), which is a good defensive card for newer players to employ. And Greyjoy is supplemented by the fantastic Hammerhorn Raiders (THtW), which are so scary good that they may lose you friends if you bring them out against fellow new players.

Overall, each of these packs is a fantastic addition to any collection. My advice to new players would therefore be this: if you are building up the card pool for you entire playgroup, stick to the classics, since they add some staple cards to each of the houses. But if you are seeking to build up just your own decks, or have a play group that does not require six equally balanced house decks, then go with the two newest packs. The power and ability that you receive from these two chapter packs is unmatched and the most efficient way of quickly boosting your deck building potential.