Forging the Chain - Your First Deck

Welcome back to a new edition of Forging the Chain. As a new player having some success with the game I'm often asked: "I'm new, what deck should I play?" This is the same question I asked when I began the game, and it has been critical to my own development. My theory is: new players should start playing with straightforward, yet competitive, decks. So, before moving onto a specific deck, let me address this issue a bit. I have noticed a lot of newer players are adamant about building their own decks, often around their favorite AGOT characters. While I can certainly understand the idea of wanting to play a deck of your own creation, the problem is these initial decks are doomed to be terrible. It's not a reflection of the skills of the player, but rather a reflection of their lack of knowledge. As a new player, you have no way of knowing what cards you will be facing. For this reason I'm a proponent of net decking your first deck. So, here are my reasons for learning the game with a strong deck. First, you encounter auto-loss matchups far less frequently. Tournament ready decks have answers to nearly every matchup. While some may be worse than others, rarely are important deck types ignored. Second, by using a strong deck you stand a better chance of actually having fun, competitive games. There is no quicker way to become discouraged than to lose 50 straight games with a terrible deck. Third, it's much easier for players to help you tweak a decent deck then to overhaul your direwolves deck running 25 attachments and events. Not to be rude, but seasoned players are only going to spend so much time trying to help you before giving up. Fourth, by starting with a good deck you are learning the high quality cards right from the start. That's right the dirty little secret is out, all AGOT cards are not built equal. The sooner you are exposed to the most efficient cards such as Ghaston Grey and Distinguished Boatswain the better.

Hopefully I have convinced you to use a strong deck and build your pet, amazing, deck later when you have a bit more experience with the game. The final hurdle you may face is not having the cards for a particular deck, and you may not like my solution. Make proxies. Proxies are a necessary evil in this game and I will examine this topic in more detail in a future article. But, for now, keep in mind, all good players used proxies when they started the game. Okay, on to the deck.


I learned the game by playing Stark Siege, which I was tempted to suggest today. In my opinion is the easiest deck to learn, and it's a strong archetype. However, it actually teaches you a weird variant of the game in which only military matters and you do not claim power for unopposed challenges and dominance. I remember playing my first few games playing a different deck and looking like a complete beginner as I stumbled around not collecting power. So, the deck I suggest starting with is a Stark murder deck. It is based around flooding the board with military icons and using 2 claim plots and events to clear out your opponent. However, this deck is more of a template than a meta ready regionals deck. At the end of the article I will provide some potential changes to the deck based on your meta.

House (1)
House Stark (Core) x1


Agenda (0)


Character (31)
Arya Stark (CoS) x1
Catelyn Stark (LoW) x2
Bolton Refugee (RoW) x3
Hungry Mob (CoS) x3
Guard at Riverrun (LoW) x2
The Blackfish (LoW) x1
Meera Reed (TftH) x2
Osha (AKitN) x1
Old Nan (BoRF) x1
Ser Jorah Mormont (PotS) x1
Maester Luwin (FtC) x2
The Hound (PotS) x1
Brienne of Tarth (PotS) x2
Syrio Forel (TftRK) x1
Riders of the Red Fork (FtC) x1
Northern Cavalry Flank (SA) x2
The Bastard's Elite (RoR) x3
Jory Cassel (CtB) x1
Ser Edmure Tully (LoW) x1


Location (12)
Great Keep (LoW) x3
Street of Sisters (Core) x1
Street of Steel (Core) x1
Flea Bottom (TGM) x1
Frozen Outpost (LoW) x2
Harrenhal (ODG) x2
Narrow Sea (LoW) x2


Event (15)
No Quarter (TBC) x3
Die by the Sword (LoW) x3
The Price of War (KotS) x2
To Be a Wolf (SB) x2
Paper Shield (QoD) x2
Narrow Escape (KotStorm) x3


Attachment (2)
Frozen Solid (LoW) x2


Plot (7)
Retaliation! (ASoSilence) x1
At the Gates (GotC) x1
Regroup (KotStorm) x1
Respect of the Old Gods (LoW) x1
Burning Bridges (QoD) x1
Siege of Riverrun (KotS) x1
Valar Morghulis (Core) x1


What follows is a primer for understanding and playing the deck a bit better. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to post them. Let's start by taking a look at some of the critical cards of the deck.

Characters

Many of the character are in this deck because they are cheap or have a war crest for Die by the Sword. However, a number of them have a more important role.

Maester Luwin (FtC): Basically, the deck is built around Luwin fetching all of the events out of the deck. You really want to win a challenge every turn, whether it be offense or defense. Preferably, you will win an intrigue challenge with him first in order to get your kill event for your military challenge. The best approach is to get him with At the Gates first turn so you can start grabbing your events on turn 1.

Brienne of Tarth (PotS): Before I continue, read her text carefully. Yes, that's right, when she is involved in a challenge your opponent cannot save his characters (even dupes) and cannot play her events. That means with a 2 claim plot, No Quarter, a war crest character, Die by the Sword, and Price of War, you can kill 4 characters (remember they cannot be saved) and 2 locations. Now that is some serious board control.

Meera Reed (TftH): She is a critical tool for this deck. She can pop out of shadows and blank any card on the table. She is great for blanking cards like Ghaston Grey, save locations, maesters (their chain fall off if they do not have the apprentice collar yet), and endless other cards. However, she is at her best when coming out of shadows so try to put her back every turn. A good trick for this is to lose a refugee during dominance. However, a trick that does not work is having Jumping Caitlyn go back to hand at the end of the challenges phase.

Jumping Catelyn Stark (LoW): She is simply amazing, and coupled with Frozen Outpost, she's even better. She can jump into challenges as the defender and cannot be bypassed with stealth. Then, stand her with Frozen Outpost and you get a free 5 strength character who can defend both an intrigue and power challenge.

The Blackfish (LoW) and Guard at Riverrun (LoW): These cards make up much of your draw engine.

Events

There are a ton of events in the deck, but the goal is to fetch many of them with Luwin. This thins out your deck, and allows you to grab your direct kill cards quicker.

Narrow Escape (KotStorm): This is a key card for either stopping a Valar or providing you with a large card advantage after a Valar. Note: It has an errata which limits it to only once per phase.

Locations

Frozen Outpost (LoW): This is a great card for defense. It is especially useful with Jumping Caitlyn and all your war crest characters. Not only does it provide a strength bonus but it stands the character as well.

Harrenhal (ODG): Every turn something should be dying. Get this out quick for more draw. Remember, its a revealed effect; so, it does not count towards your draw cap.


Plots

Retaliation! (ASoSilence) - Awesome plot. Enough said.
At the Gates (GotC) - Hello Maester Luwin, nice of you to join us.
Regroup (KotStorm) - I get one of my events back, well thank you.
Respect of the Old Gods (LoW) - Basically, a 4 gold, 2 claim plot.
Burning Bridges (QoD): This is my high gold, versatility, plot. Let's say you don't have Brienne in hand. They cannot save characters with this plot. It also slows down Ghaston Grey for a turn while you hunt for Frozen Solid.
Siege of Riverrun (KotS) - A 2 claim military battle plot which activates your To Be a Wolf.
Valar Morghulis (Core) - Best card in the game? Quite possibly. Every deck should have a reset.


How to Play the Deck

The deck is fairly straightforward. Get out a lot of characters, win 2 claim military challenges, and use kill events for targeted kill. This should keep the board fairly clear.

Make sure you win a challenge with Luwin every turn. It's critical that you pull those 15 events out of your deck.

During setup you want to get a bunch of characters on the board. However, don't play Luwin on setup as you will be getting him first turn with At the Gates. If you have him, just hold him back, and bam, you have a duped up Luwin! If you get Brienne keep the hand unless it is terrible. She is simply phenomenal, especially against decks like Greyjoy or decks running a lot of dupes. However, be ready for an early Valar.

I usually open the game with At the Gates and get Luwin. From there, assuming I have a military advantage, I drop 2 claim plots to keep wiping the board. Be careful though; the plots are low on gold so plan your turn out carefully before selecting a plot. If you want to drop the Northern Cavalry, you may have to waste your Retaliation early. I normally save Regroup for the turn after I played No Quarter. Nothing is more frustrating for your opponent than playing the same No Quarter again.

While I have played this deck a fair amount, I'm not sure you can just pick it up and take it to a regional event. It is more of a template for you to tweak in light of your meta. If you are expecting a lot of seasons you may want to add Carrion Birds. If you are expecting Greyjoy winter (and you probably should be) you may want to add in another reducer or 2. It is also possible to take the deck in a more aggressive direction by adding Bear Island. You could also add the Knights of the Realm Agenda and a few knights for more draw. However, this is a risky proposition in light of the popularity of Zeiler's Moonboy Classic deck. A lot of people are running that agenda these days.

Additional Cards to Consider

Carrion Bird (ASoS), Bear Island (AE), Knights of the Realm (KotStorm), Extra Reducers

Ser Kyle Condon (APS): Great for claim soak, but too expensive for the current build of this deck.

Distinct Mastery (Core): Can be great to use on Luwin to fetch 2 events in one turn.

Seal of the Crown (APS): If your meta isn't overrun by maesters I would consider adding these for draw instead of the Guard of Riverrun.

Addendum: Let's Replace Some Events - New Players Make These Changes

A number of people have suggested that including 15 events may not be for everyone; so, I've decided to add an update for the deck. Here are some changes you can make to bring the events down to a more typical 9. I'm not saying you definitely should make these changes, but I want to give my readers more options. If you are a brand new player you shoud probably make these changes as they will provide better setups and help against seasonal matchups.

Remove:
The Price of War (KotS) x2
To Be a Wolf (SB) x2
Paper Shield (QoD) x2

And if you are removing To Be a Wolf (SB) you don't need Siege of Riverrun (KotS) x1 anymore.

Add:
Lord Eddard's Chambers (Core) x1 - More gold and helps against Seasick
Carrion Bird (ASoS) x2 - Cheap mil characters that knock off seasonal ravens.
Ser Kyle Condon (APS) x1 - Endless claim soak is always nice.
Guard at Riverrun (LoW) x1 Draw, draw, who doesn't love draw.
Frozen Solid (LoW) x1 - A third one is never a bad idea.

The Power of Arms (Core) x1 - Another 2 claim plot to replace Siege of Riverrun.


Well, that wraps up another edition of Forging the Chain. Hopefully you find this deck to be effective and fun. Until next time, keep improving.

Tiny Grimes recently migrated over to AGOT, in January 2012. Although he has not played the game long, Tiny spends far too much of his time playing and thinking about the game. He has played in two tournaments, placing first in a 15 person local event and 3rd in the first regional of the 2012 season (32 person event - Kingdom Con).