Forgotten Plans - Small Council

Hello there, readers! This week is the "Grand Opening" of the Small Council here at Cardgamedb. Read an introductory article by Will Lentz, aka Kennon, here. So to celebrate this week, we'll be going with a Small Council theme here with our articles. I figured I'd take a look at a Baratheon City of Shadows (CoS) deck. Now this deck can be run out of any house, but I find that it works extremely well with Baratheon due to cards like Blackwater Bay (TBoBB) and Pyre of the False Gods (KotStorm). Now onto the basic premise of the deck.

You are pretty much going to be trying to get out Small Council Chamber (SaS) as soon as possible. You'll be using it to get Questioned Claim (AE) back every turn. As long as your opponent doesn't have any Kings or Queens, they are going to be severely limited in the number of challenges they can do against you. In case they do get out a King or Queen though, you'll probably want to look at using cards like Meera Reed (TftH) and Nightmares (LoW). Since Baratheon has three kings in Robert, Renly, and Stannis ( it doesn't really matter which one since they'll be shutting off each other's abilities for the most part) and they also have Selyse Baratheon (ASoS) (although since the Small Council Chambers work off of winning an intrigue challenge, you might want to use the core set version of her instead) it is pretty easy to not get hit by the event yourself. You can also use plots like Shadows and Spiders (LotR) and Lineage and Legacy (KotStorm) to further control challenges and really dictate to your opponent what challenges they can and can't do. Now the Small Council Chambers works off of you winning an intrigue challenge, you are probably going to want to look at using the Asshai faction. They actually have some really good effects that benefit from winning Intrigue challenges, such as Altar of Fire (RoR), Terminal Schemes (LotR), and Melisandre (RotO).

Now since you're running Asshai, you'll want to look at using Shadow Enchantress (OSaS). The huge strength boost here will make even the small Asshai like Old Red Priest (Core) a monster during challenges, as well as helping against Targ Burn. The added military icon from the Enchantress will also give you a much wider spread of icons since most Asshai don't have it naturally. Some other Shadows cards like The Black Cells (TftRK) and Kingswood Trail (CoS) will help you make sure you get those intrigue challenges through pretty easily. You'll also want to look at Shadow Politics (CoS) since it let's you do extra intrigue challenges, and hey! Look at that! It's a Small Council event!

Now I know that Val is the first restricted card that Baratheon players are going to look at since The Laughing Storm (GotC) is no longer restricted. However, I really think you should consider using Venomous Blade (TBoBB). The utility that it offers is probably the best in the game next to Meera Reed (TftH), but she should probably be in there too. Since your opponent won't be able to win any challenges if the deck is working right, you do run the risk of not being able to put the Venomous Blade back into Shadows. I think its worth it though, since it can really help if your deck isn't working exactly right. Plus, if you are winning, you don't really care what cards you have. You'll want to look at King's Landing (SaS) for draw since you won't be using Val. You should have more King's Landing locations since Baratheon has them in spades, like The Black Cells (TftRK), Seat of Power (WotN), King Robert's Chambers (Core), Small Council Chamber (SaS), and Kingswood Trail (CoS). You'll want to run at least two Twilight Market (AToT) as well to help with the gold curve.

Generally Asshai decks run into a problem of just not being quite fast enough at closing out a game. As a result, your opponent has some opportunities to come back from a game that you might think you have in the bag. There are a few ways to speed the deck up though. You can always use The Power of Faith (KotStorm) to get in some extra renown power out of your characters. Especially if you put Fanatic (RoR) on those three Baratheon Kings. Another card that fits in perfectly with the Shadows theme is The Queen of Thorns (TftRK). She can really claim you some quick power since you can trigger her every phase as long as you can bring a card out of Shadows. You can always use Sister of Truth (KotStorm) since she creates an infinite number of cards in Shadows. You simply bring the Sister of Truth out of Shadows, choose herself with her ability, and she goes right back into Shadows. You can keep doing this as long as you have gold, and you get a power for the Queen of Thorns each time. The last piece of the "I need lots of power very quickly" puzzle is a series of plots that include The Red Wedding (PotS), Into the Lists (TftH), and Winter Festival (WotN). You'll have lots of Lords and Ladies to make Red Wedding well worth the slot, and Winter Festival is just a quick easy power. Into the Lists is a bit less obvious though. If you were to create this deck, you'd notice there is a distinct lack of Military icons. However, we again would look to the Shadow Enchantress (OSaS) to give us those Military icons, as well as the strength boost to make sure that we are always the ones claiming 2 power. You can use one, two, or even all three of these plots depending on how much help you need in closing that game.

Well, I think that just about does it for this deck. So thanks for reading! As always, I won't be publishing an actual decklist since I prefer you guys to go experiment with it yourself and find what works best for you. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns just drop a comment here. Until next time guys and gals, where we meet up with the King Beyond the Wall.

P.S. - Since Will has graciously taken up the position of Hand of the King, I suppose it falls to me to take up the office of the Master of Whispers. I think I hear my little birds calling......