Across the Seven Kingdoms: Thrones LCG Pack Review

"We will have it all back someday, sweet sister," he would promise her. Sometimes his hands shook when he talked about it. "The jewels and the silks, Dragonstone and King's Landing, the Iron Throne and the Seven Kingdoms, all they have taken from us, we will have it back."

Viserys lived for that day. All that Daenerys wanted back was the big house with the red door, the lemon tree outside her window, the childhood she had never known.

Our staff has put together a first blush analysis of the newly released “Across the Seven Kingdoms”, the first chapter pack in the War of Five Kings cycle. Cards are listed in numeric order and scored on a scale ranging from one through five, with five being the best possible score. We have 4 reviewers this time around, so the maximum score per card is 20 points.

Now onto the reviews, starting with....

The Dragon’s Tail (8 Total Points)



OKTarg - 2 out of 5
This is a weird card. I do not know if it will be playable in 2.0, but I do know that it will be better than it was in 1.0. WIth reserve, econ factors, and the like, this has the opportunity to be (theoretically) not awful. It’s also a deal card for melee, if you enjoy side events (#epicburn).
That said, giving myself a non-setup card in my deck that nets me one card while netting my opponent two cards seems….not great.

Patrickhaynes - 2 out of 5
I can see two uses for this card, if you’re playing a draw-poor rush deck that just needs card no matter the cost, and if a reserve choke deck ever becomes a thing. If you can get your opponent down to 1 or 2 reserve, it might not matter if you make them draw more cards as they’ll have to pitch them anyway.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5
Sadly, not quite a full dragon is it? Nor is it even the most useful part (we’d rather take the wings or claws any day). A Standing phase event, if there ever was one, and mainly useful when wielding Reserve reduction tech like Wraiths in their Midst. That said, even then it’s more deck thinning than proper draw, and the whole prospect seems quite far-fetched and overly cutesy - at least in the current Meta. At least it might have a corner case Melee-interaction?

scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
Dragon’s Tail belongs in very few Joust decks, due partly to the non-setup nature of events, and partly to the inherent card disadvantage. In Melee, however, it’s worth a look for decks that can sacrifice long-term card disadvantage for short-term card quality as they rush to 15 power (in other words, most Melee decks).

Robb Stark (13.5 Total Points)



OKTarg - 4 out of 5
I see you, Core Robb, being probably quite a bit better overall. I also see some great things happening here -- Ice and PTTS delivery have never been quite so easy as with King Robb, now have they? We may even see people play a claim 2 deck for once! Great with Winter is Coming…. Similar to Fat Cat, this Robb is maybe not quite as good as his Core version, but still quality in his own right. He just doesn’t go as well in existing Stark decks, and that’s not a bad thing really. He’ll go in murder decks and be fierce when he hits the field.

Patrickhaynes - 3 out of 5
He’s really good at winning military challenges, but Stark is already pretty good at doing that, so he doesn’t really blow me away. Core set Robb is just too good for this one to see play (unless we get a ton of effects that only work if you have a king in play).

Q&T Curmudgeons - 3.5 out of 5
Too good to be a 3, too much eclipsed by Core Robb to be a 4. He’ll gladly Put people to the Sword (especially his father’s), but he tends to be somewhat one-dimensional in that regard. A focal character for a currently out-of-favor deck… with Stark already ascendant, not a bad addition to their ranks.

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
I love the Highgarden-esque ability that works on both attack and defense, but the higher gold cost compared to Core Robb is a tough pill to swallow. If new Robb cost 6 gold instead of 7, there’d be a legitimate debate between them.

Riverrun (14 Total Points)



OKTarg - 4 out of 5
And Tomdidiot gets yet another tool for Blackfish Voltron….. Stark decks can be sneaky fast. And this can make them sneaky faster. Not for every deck, of course, but in a Fat Cat style power grab deck I think this could be very good indeed. As a 1.0 player, I still have a hard time bearing in mind the proper valuation of power grab cards. They’re way better than they should be….but they all seem to be good. Am I the only one that thinks that?

Patrickhaynes - 4 out of 5
Hot damn this is a powerful rush tool...honestly I’m all about this card, it helps Stark play even faster which is always a plus. It’s definitely not for every deck but it is awesome for Tully rush.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5
The curmudgeons like their trouts, and this is no exception. A very much pigeonholed card for a specific trait-theme, but flourishes within that context. Oh, and that 3 up there is a “High 3” (which is not to be mistaken for some kind of Mockingbirdesque variant of a common form of celebration, or come to think of it… any other form).

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
I won’t deny Riverrun’s potential, but there simply aren’t enough Tully characters who can reliably gain power yet. Blackfish’s renown, Fat Cat’s ability, Minstrel’s ability and Lady Sansa’s Rose are the only methods.

Ser Colen of Greenpools (13 Total Points)



OKTarg - 3 out of 5
He’s fine. 2 for 4 in POW challenges is great. I’ll slot him in my deck. But, due to no fault of Ser Colen, I really want something more for Tyrell. Boring STR buff is boring. What seemed in the Core like it would be a tricksy house is sadly a bit one-dimensional. Again, Ser Colen isn’t the problem there, but neither is he the solution.

Patrickhaynes - 3 out of 5
Solid card, but doesn’t knock my socks off. Tyrell needs more power cards, looking at you Renly Baratheon. #thebombthatwaspromised

Q&T Curmudgeons - 4 out of 5
A very solid and Tyrell kind of card, but not necessarily one that Tyrell really needed at this point. Another 2g Knight is not going to tip the scales in any direction, nor does poor Colen bring anything really new to the board… Still, for a cheap pound of meat, he does have a damn good stat vs. cost ratio. A 1.0 veteran pandering comparison (feel free to skip this part if not interested): He ends up being more of a unique Ancient Mariner than a cheap Ser Cortnay Penrose...

scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Cheap and/or efficient characters are nice, but Tyrell doesn’t needs chuds nearly as much as they need some beefy renown characters at the high end of the curve.

Bitterbridge Encampment (6 Total Points)



OKTarg - 2 out of 5
This card is a 0x in most decks. However, in a few decks, it will be amazing. I’m not sure what those decks are, but I LOVE Shagga cards like this.
I feel like those decks, though, do not exist yet. Those decks want me to leverage a higher quality character than my opponent on a regular basis. But you know what? Tyrell characters are, on average, worse than opponents’ characters at a given cost slot. So sad.

Patrickhaynes - 1 out of 5
When this got spoiled I was excited to try it, but after testing a few games, it left me really underwhelmed. Even if you’re vomiting out good characters (for Tyrell that means you probably have to be banner of the lion) your opponent also gets to be vomiting out good characters, and because they are not playing Tyrell, they probably have a lot more removal than you do. If you build around it, it can be okay, but it’s really dependant on draw (an unfortunately it’s more dependant on your opponent’s draw than on yours).

Q&T Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5
Ehh… The best thing we can say about the card, is that it takes a while to figure out that it’s pretty bad. Maybe if you could somehow combine it with hand destruction / reserve reduction, draw & whatnot, then you could consider slotting it in… but then your whole deck would be a contraption just waiting to get burned down by a Pyromancer.

Scantrell24 - 1 out of 5
Hard pass, for now at least. Bitterbridge Encampment is the kind of card that you build your deck’s entire strategy around, but the strategy isn’t good right now. Maybe I’ll reconsider after House of Dreams returns and there are more Summer plots and bomb characters available. I’m disappointed that FFG continues to insist on releasing cards early in the cycle that are unplayable until the cycle is completed (or even longer).

Arry (18 Total Points)



OKTarg - 4 out of 5
Hm. NW really wants 4 cost bicons to avoid first snow, so in that context, she’s great. However, she’s often a blank 4 cost bicon because NW can’t really afford to spam her out for draw very often….. If you get first snowed away, you can hop her to hand to avoid her being Marched, I guess….. IDK, I almost want to go lower here but the NW fandom is so pumped for her I’ll bow to convention and give her a 4.

Patrickhaynes - 5 out of 5
Arry is amazing. Right off the bat you’ve got the fact that she is a four cost bicon with the two best icons for NW. Then on top of that she has the ability to ambush herself in the first time you play her at cost so she can be a surprise for your opponent, remember how annoying the hound is? Furthermore she makes Allister Thorne less telegraphed as your opponent won’t know which one you have. Once she is in play the good stuff just keeps coming, she is able to bounce back to your hand at any time and come back in standing. If your opponent puts a negative attachment on her that’s not named milk of the poppy she can pop back to your hand, if she’s knelt and you need another character up, you can bounce her to hand to put her back in. If you’re about to get hit by Varys, Wildfire, or Valar, you can bounce her back to hand to avoid it. And on top of all of that, when you bounce her back to hand you draw a card!! And on top of that, it’s an any phase action so you can do it during taxation after you’ve discarded for reserve!!! She is hand’s down the best card Night’s watch has gotten since the core.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 5 out of 5
Now that’s… the best card of the CP, hands down, and a unanimous 5 from the Curmudgeons. That the accolade goes NW’s way for once makes us happy. Right now Arry “only” fills a critical hole in the 4g part of NWs cost curve, but once Valar hits she’ll become oh so much more, and likely rarely leave NW decks until she rotates out. The ability to dodge reset plots, allow board widening without overcommitment, all while filling your hand is… just that good.

Scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Arry isn’t a 5, objectively speaking, but she gives Night’s Watch the 4 gold intrigue icon that they’ve been missing, and that’s good enough. Like Ser Davos, she’s too expensive to justify replaying often, but that ability will come in handy at times.

White Tree (17 Total Points)



OKTarg - 5 out of 5
Welcome back, Varys/Marched decks! Repeatable Meager Contribution is amazing, especially in an income-poor house. I think this card will be quite the thing in the meta.
I don’t think it will go in a WallStall deck, but in those NW Banner Kraken style things, this will make them relevant again.

Patrickhaynes - 4 out of 5
This card is solid, and it really opens the way fro income choke decks. A NW kings of winter deck could certainly be possible, and it certainly opens things up for the Varys deck type again.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 4 out of 5
Another unanimous score from us, and again a high one for NW. Huh. At 3g the White Tree is not cheap… but on the other hand it goes splendidly with the Sworn Brothers from the last CP of the previous Cycle and fits naturally into NW Fealty. Importantly, due to not being Limited, you can easily run multiples to make sure you can get it (and even dupe it) on setup (unlike the Arbor). Just the kind of shot in the arm that NW’s flagging Choke & Aggro themes needed, but we would not be that surprised to also find it making many Defense decks to shore up economic problems.

Scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Sworn Brother keeps getting better, as Night’s Watch Fealty decks should run 14 to 16 locations now -- 6 Limited, 2-3 White Tree, 1-2 Shadow Tower, 1-2 Castle Black, 3 Wall, and maybe an Iron Throne. I’m cautiously optimistic that with this much-needed economy engine FFG has finally pushed Night’s Watch into the competitive scene

White Raven (5 Total Points)



OKTarg - 1 out of 5
Is this too harsh? I mean, I really like Gendry and have seen firsthand how the dominance decks can non-interactively push the power up. This would add some speed and soak, but it seems pretty fragile. Perhaps the hardest thing is the plot trait restriction; in my current Bara dominance I can really only see Calm fitting in there. Maybe also Close Call, in a pinch, but if you’re in a pinch then aren’t you sacrificing this guy for losing POW challenges?

Patrickhaynes - 1 out of 5
Uck, what a terrible card. What’s that you say? I get an extra power for winning dominance? Well hot dog! What? I have to have a summer of winter plot revealed? Well that kind of sucks...I don’t really play any of those very often in my dominance decks, maybe Calm...or Close Call...but other than that I don’t really want any of them...but I guess it’s worth it for an extra power every turn! Huh? The card I built by plot deck around gets sacrificed if I lose a power challenge on attack or defense? Well yeah that’s pretty terrible then.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5
Apparently Ire was so enthralled with the prospect of a bird wearing Motley, having a Noble Lineage or being Paid Off, that he wanted to give this a 3. The rest of us set him straight. The card in itself is very cute, but it feels like the number of hoops you’re jumping through will never quite offset the risks of the birdy blowing up over your face. Not only do you need a Dominance theme AND a power challenge theme for the card to work out… but you also need to have a season one on top of all that? Sheesh, that’s one demanding wings platter.

scantrell24 - 1 out of 5
As demonstrated by Will, the “sacrifice me” downside is a serious one, and said effect completely tanks what is an otherwise stellar card. Nice artwork though?

Ruby of R’hllor (8 Total Points)



OKTarg - 2 out of 5
This card rules. Except, it doesn’t. It wants to be a reprint of Altar of Fire in attachment format, but becomes a guessing game type casino card. For 3 cost, man, I don’t think that’s worth it really, especially in a house that lacks quality INT icons.
It’s fun, though. And hand knowledge is non-trivial. But, overcosted in this case. It might be most fun in a Martell Banner Sun to Ghaston stuff and hand strip with Viper Eyes, Seen, and this card, in which deck this is the seventh best hand control card….. :/

Patrickhaynes - 2 out of 5
Pretty meh, gets a two because it has the R’hllor trait and that’s nice, plus it combos with some other cards. But otherwise it’s way too expensive for a guessing game card.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5
The Finns again pushed a bit towards a higher score, but were easily swayed this time. The Ruby is a neat card… but there’s only one good body to put it on, and it’s a safe bet everybody is gunning for her anyway. On top of all that, a 3g positive attachment needs to bring a big impact to the board… and in that regard this doesn’t hold a torch to the likes of Ice or Seal of the Hand.

Scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
Maybe someday. Like Riverrun, there simply aren’t enough characters of the needed Trait (yet), so the Ruby of R’hllor is nearly unplayable before we even consider the price tag. While the effect is powerful, it’s not a good value.

Janos Slynt (16 Total Points)



OKTarg - 5 out of 5
Maybe it’s latent Lanni Trauma, but this card scares the crap out of me. Intimidate is a fantastic keyword, and paying to give a buff makes him able to kneel out pretty much whatever you need at the time. He makes me want to build a jumper deck with Tower of the Hand--so much control possible there! Just, yuck.

Patrickhaynes - 4 out of 5
Very solid card. Being able to give him extra strength to intimidate with is pretty potent, not to mention the fact that you can give it to him for defense.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5
A trap character, who poses as a gold-sink outlet to offer powerful intimidate round after round but actually will find you always wanting to spend the gold elsewhere. Are you postponing playing the Hound for this guy? Put to the Sword? Even the likes of Wardens of the West would give you pause.
Alternatively, a fine gold-sink outlet who offers a tremendous threat of activation - your opponent must simultaneously assume you do the spend gold to boost him and that you’re saving it for a powerful event, making him Schrodinger’s Gold Cloak.
This is a card that divided the Curmudgeons between 3s and 4s - but since we favour pessimism, and if burn ever becomes a serious force in the meta Janos’s power takes a significant nose-dive, we’ll settle on the lower number.

Scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Like Ser Ilyn Payne, Janos Slynt gives Lannister another solid card that will help diversify their top end of the curve and prevent dead draws of unique characters, especially post-Valar Morghulis. Does Lanni have any abilities to leverage the Intimidate though? They’re not going for a lockdown like Bara or unopposed challenges like Greyjoy.


Levies at the Rock (6 Total Points)


OKTarg - 2 out of 5
Event slots are precious, and while this is kindof some fun event control in a weird way, I can’t see this making its way into decks. Great for a future Dark Wings deck, though, and can be hilarious to waylay the best laid plans of your opponents’ PTTS, but I think it just won’t find space.

Patrickhaynes - 1 out of 5
Only really useful for stopping your opponent’s PttS, and even then you’d probably be better off playing Hand’s Judgment. There are too many good events for Lanni decks already, and this one is far too situational.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5
It may be a pseudo Hand’s Judgement for Put to the Sword, but verily it isn’t one for Nightmares, Vengeance for Elia, Consolidation of Power or a host of other mid-Challenge effects with a gold cost. Hilariously, this may find homes in either Fealty (to free up neutral slots) or Banner of the Lion (to help make the Banner count), but rarely other Lanni main decks. We expect this to quickly find it’s way into binders, so much so that Ire was convinced it’s a 1 out of 5.

Scantrell24 - 1 out of 5
Extremely niche, and comparable to the horri-bad Greyjoy event that nobody plays.

Captain’s Daughter (13 Total Points)


OKTarg - 3 out of 5
A heavy cost (Faction kneel and 4 gold) for a tempo play. Yeah, tempo can be helpful, and greyjoy doesn’t always need a big board itself, but it seems a bit hefty for a card that might not hit what you really want it to (Tywin, Robert, etc).
Great for avoiding Mirri and Gregor, especially if you can then pillage them away, so it’s not without its uses, but it seems a bit difficult to include a ton of at that cost/STR ratio. We’ll see. It could easily be better than I’ve rated it here.

Patrickhaynes - 2 out of 5
Another very meh card. 4 gold, a card, and a house card kneel is steep price to pay to hit a non-loyal character. If you are playing a deck with a lot of pillage it might be worth it, as you’ll actually be able to get rid of the character. But until then, it’s just an inefficient card.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 4 out of 5
Originating from the Finnish coast, it’s no wonder that both Drakey & Ire wanted to rate this higher… while being Canadian, Istaril was not quite sold on the joys of such an enchanting creature. While she’s not likely to become an immediate 3x feature of all Greyjoy decks, especially after Valar hits, we should expect people to be taking good hard looks at her, and wondering how they could most easily slot her in, to stop their opponents from effectively re-populating.

Scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
There’s potential here. For those of ya’ll that played Duel Masters (MtG for kids) back in the mid-2000’s, Captain’s Daughter reminds me of a potent card named Corile that bounced cards back to the opponent’s deck. The downside is that with Captain’s Daughter you have to make the upfront investment of marshalling here before knowing what your opponent might marshal. The mind games will be fun.

Pyke (16 Total Points)


OKTarg - 4 out of 5
Best in banner builds, since the relevant GJ cards have native stealth anyway. Stealth for unopposed is nice, but it seems like a 1-of in a lot of decks. That said, there will be times where Stealth on your own Gregor, say, helps you drive that kill shot home.

Patrickhaynes - 4 out of 5
Very solid card. If there’s one thing Syrio Forel taught us, other than what to say to the god of death, it’s that stealth is very good. Giving a hard hitter from your banner (or main faction if you’re banner kraken) can be really strong. For best results add Mirri, Gregor, or Jaime.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 4 out of 5
This Syrio-on-a-Stick is the epitome of a clear 4 out of 5, if there ever was one. We all know what this can do, and expect to see quite a lot of it down the road… but usually as more of a 1x.

Scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Well, Greyjoy will never lack for stealth. What they really need is a way to remove opposing stealth.

Viserys Targaryen (8.5 Total Points)


OKTarg - 1 out of 5
First off, Core Vis is fantastic and one of the increasingly few reasons to mainhouse Targ. This King Vis is …. Not fantastic and certainly not a reason to mainhouse his faction :/ He’s okay-ish King control, but you’re basically wasting your POW challenge to do it. His power grab thing is fine, but he’s pretty flimsy. So, I don’t think I’ll play him. Sorry, buddy.

Patrickhaynes - 2 out of 5
This guy is significantly worse given the fact that his name is Viserys Targaryen. Core Viserys is just such a great tool in a game so devoid of attachment hate. This Viserys is still pretty solid, he can control kings, pull them into challenges for burn effects or at the very least give you some power.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 2.5 out of 5
Just as Robb was a 4 out of 5 worsened half a point by his more immediately-playable core set version, so is Viserys a 3 out of 5 worsened to a 2.5. Where he falls down compared to that Robb is that you likely won’t build around this Viserys, making him something of a utility card, making him...more directly compete with the core version. If more burn effects continue to rely on “participating” characters, and the King characters are as central as they are hyped to be, he may actually see a good amount of play in burn decks; otherwise, in a fight between stacking power on your claimsoak and a character that’s half the cost and gives amazing utility, we don’t see the Beggar King winning very often.

Scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
I actually like King Viserys,, but until we have a Throwing Axe-like effect (or the deadly keyword, for 1st edition veterans), there’s only Dracarys to leverage the forced defender. He also suffers from mono-con status, like Dornish Paramour. Another icon would have gone a long way to making new Vis playable.

Shierak Qiya (15 Total Points)


OKTarg - 4 out of 5
This is a good card. I think it’ll be underrated, but a surprise stand is really a nice thing. There are restrictions, sure, but double-dipping with Khal Drogo for renown, getting Dany back up, or, heck, even popping up Jhogo or Rakharo (or Mirri!) is super nice. Waking the Dragon is a good card, and I put Sheirak Qiya’s mix of positives and negatives right in that tier.

Patrickhaynes - 4 out of 5
This card definitely seems like one that will be underrated. Stand is always great, especially in a power rush deck. However, by far the best things about this card are that it doesn’t say “Targaryen character” and that it’s non-loyal. If you want to banner this into a greyjoy rush deck, or in some kind of Bara power defense deck, you could stand some huge guys with this card.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5
JC wasn’t quite as sold on this one, but the rest of us can see the value of an event without a gold cost, that can easily find a home f.e.x in decks like Targ Crossing (or Targ Rush, if ever such a thing materializes).

Scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Shierak Qiya seems like a super solid Banner card. The Faction card kneels are starting to pile up though, and that nearly pushes it down to a 3 (you can’t combo with Shadowblack Lane or Street of Sisters, sadly).

Harmen Uller (15 Total Points)


OKTarg - 4 out of 5
I just played Martell crossing for like three months and it would have LOVED this card in there. Native renown is super rare in Martell and the ability to ambush in cards like Bastard Daughter for one and even Obara for two is pretty sweet. That’s not even paying attention to the dream scenario of using your Tyrion gold to get a Nymeria who strips someone’s INT icon and gives you a Tears target. So, yeah, 6 is a lot in Martell but often he’ll be worth it.

Patrickhaynes - 4 out of 5
Really awesome card. Not only is it finally a Martell card with native renown, but he basically turns Bastard Daughters into more efficient burned men with a positive effect and turns obara into a burned man who’s a bicon on defense. Lastly, he can occasionally give you a surprise Nymeria or Tyene.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 4 out of 5
Another solid high-cost Martell character? Huzzah! The Sand Snake trait-theme deck is slowly getting more and more pieces… and happily apart from CS Obara, those pieces tend to also be nicely able to stand on their own. As a Lord with Renown he’ll pull his weight even without the Viperspawn.

Scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
I’m uncertain. Martell does need Renown, although Knights of the Sun have the same body for 2 less gold, so Uller only belongs in decks that can leverage the ambush ability. For that, you need gold, so maybe a Lion Banner, or some deck with the next card….

Tower of the Sun (8 Total Points)


OKTarg - 2 out of 5
Sadly, this is kindof a bad card, guys. I can’t see too many reasons to play this ahead of Tourney Grounds, can you?

Patrickhaynes - 2 out of 5
Yeah this card is really not great. Some day when Dark Wings Dark Words comes back this card might be good, but until then, it’s pretty subpar.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5
Surprisingly, JC was our pessimist this time around, and would have wanted to go even lower. Regardless, we’re all pretty unanimous on this being a very niche card, far inferior to the White Tree. Perhaps a niche for it will someday come around, especially if a certain 1.0 Agenda returns, but until then the only reason for it to see any play is the cash-strapped nature of Martell Fealty.

Scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
I’d have liked to see a +1 Reserve tacked on. This ability simply doesn’t impact the board enough.

Pyromancers (11 Total Points)


OKTarg - 3 out of 5
This is an interesting one. On its best day, this thing is 5/5 major blowout and victory! That’s when you can’t break the Wall-lock or Winterfell has you down. On its worst day, it’s a 5 for 2 monocon, because your opponent only has limited cards. On its median day in the current meta, it’s much more likely to see its worst day than it is its best.
It seems designed almost as a meta-future-proofing card. I won’t play it in the near term. I mean, are you playing Put to the Torch? No? This is basically a similar thing in terms of what it adds to your deck other than Winterfell control (admittedly a pretty big bonus!)

Patrickhaynes - 1 out of 5
This card is not good right now. There is only one deck that should play this card right now, a martell deck that uses Arianne, Tyene and Tears, and is plagued by a Stark heavy meta. If you are not playing that deck don’t play this card. It’s incredibly inefficient and will be a completely dead card against too many good decks. That said, it is good future proofing if wall decks ever get out of hand.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5
Huh. For 1.0 veteran eyes, that on-demand neutral location removal on legs makes for a pretty scary card. Still, the proper costs are all there, making this a hard card to include… but when the Meta swings in the right direction, make no mistake, these guys will be there burning down the house.

Scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Unlike Newly Made Lord, the Pyromancer’s can handle Winterfell, and that alone is enough to justify the high-ish rating. I have a feeling we’ll see more location-heavy Night’s Watch decks soon as well. However, the drawback of waiting until the Dominance phase to trigger hurts a bit, and nearly pushes this card down to a 3.

Rains of Autumn (6 Total Points)


OKTarg - 2 out of 5
Not sure why Tywin didn’t just buy an umbrella :/
It’s okay, but generally this would be used to lock in a reducer advantage or superior board state. The four natural gold doesn’t seem like quite enough to really get this over the finish line. It might be good in a winter choke deck (like something with White Tree) but who knows. I won’t be the one who finds out by playing it

Patrickhaynes - 2 out of 5
If this plot had the winter trait it would be great. Unfortunately it doesn’t, but it still might see play in choke decks. Other than that, you really shouldn’t play it.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 1 out of 5
Sadly, 4g is just way too little for a two-sided plot (might have worked as one-sided?), which really only functions as a desperate anti-Lannister/Tyrell Meta-answer, screwing most decks themselves in the process. Perhaps if truly micro-curve Choke-decks emerge at some point, they’ll have a look at this card… only to put it back in the binder, and choose something like Naval Superiority or Famine instead. Sigh.

Scantrell24 - 1 out of 5
Not now, and maybe not ever. Could have been playable with the same effect, 3 gold, and 2 claim.

Varys’s Riddle (9 Total Points)


OKTarg - 2 out of 5
It’s okay. It has a great upside--double Valar, say, or double marched. It’s more likely to get something like double summons or …. Who knows. I don’t like it as well as even Pulling the Strings, since it’s harder to predict a when revealed than it is to see the used pile, and Pulling hasn’t made much of a splash.
This reminds me of a time in 1.0 joust when the great Dodd Harris played Good for the Gander (basically Varys’ Riddle) in his Lanni/GJ alliance choke deck to double Rule by Decree people. This was not a good idea, mind you, but he made two fantastic blowout plays at our regional, including one so bad that he basically caused a player to quit the game altogether. Dodd matched his Gander with the opponents’ valar to clear the board of all dupes and sail to an easy victory. THAT’S the game of thrones, people--you win or you die.

Patrickhaynes - 1 out of 5
Rating this on it’s playability in the current meta, which is terrible. You have to be really good at guessing plots to have this card do anything good for you. If we get some plot cycling abilities in the future though I could definitely see this getting played. Flipping into it when you know your opponents plot is pretty solid.

Q&T Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5
If the previous returning card (Rains of Autumn) had gotten an unneeded stat-drop, it looks like the 1.0 CS card Good for the Gander has gotten both a more apt name, as well as a huge stat boost. Just look at those stats! With a lineup like that, you’ll not really be bothered by ever whiffing with the plot… and if you manage to hit something good (like the ever-present Counting Coppers), you’ll be forging ahead splendidly. Definitely a card to watch out for… so much so, that Drakey decided to hedge his bets and would have rated it even higher, while JC (being spoiled with the delightful Pulling the Strings in Tyrell) wasn’t quite as enthused.

Scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Too risky and/or inconsistent for most tournament decks, but I love the idea and the stat-line.

Total Pack Score:
56.5% (226 out of 400 possible points)(the worst pack so far by over 6%)

Top Cards:
Arry
White Tree
Janos Slynt
Pyke

Bottom Cards:
White Raven
Bitterbridge Encampment
Levies at the Rock
Rains of Autumn

If you're hungry more content, check out the list of podcasts, articles, game video and more in the Community FAQ. Let us know in the comments how you feel about the cards in this pack, and we’ll see you again in a few weeks to analyze "Called to Arms"!