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1
Red Wedding AGoT Pack Review
Jul 06 2017 09:00 AM |
scantrell24
in Strategy
Then the tabletop that the Smalljon had flung over Robb shifted, and her son struggled to his knees. He had an arrow in his side, a second in his leg, a third through his chest. Lord Walder raised a hand, and the music stopped, all but one drum. Catelyn heard the crash of distant battle, and closer the wild howling of a wolf. Grey Wind, she remembered too late. "Heh," Lord Walder cackled at Robb, "the King in the North arises. Seems we killed some of your men, Your Grace. Oh, but I'll make you an apology, that will mend them all again, heh."Our staff has put together a first blush analysis of the newly released “The Red Wedding†chapter pack. You can find answers to frequently asked rules questions in the unofficial FAQ or on the individual card pages on thronesdb.com. Cards are listed in numeric order and scored on a scale ranging from one through five, with five being the best possible score. Let us know in the comments how you feel about the cards in this pack!
Now onto the reviews, starting with....
Dacey Mormont (3.875 Average)
scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Dacey is a complete package: Solid cost/strength ratio, two icons, positive trait, and a great keyword. Most Stark decks will take a copy. She’s susceptible to Nightmares or Milk, both of which will leave her with 0 strength and no renown, but then you’re opponent spent his Nightmares on a 4 gold character rather than Robb, Eddard, etc.
Cameron D - 4 out of 5
With a very small board, even a 4 cost, 3 strength loyal Lady character with Renown is solid a little card. But Stark tends to go a little wide so it won’t be uncommon for her to even outshine Eddard in pure strength. One more character with Renown means that the Stark power-gaining machine just got that much faster. Once Robb, Eddard, Dacey and/or The Blackfish start doing their thing as a team it’s going to get out of hand real fast. Summer can also bounce her back from the dead or discard pile since her strength is X. Finally, if she happens Milked or Nightmares’d well, at the very least she can be a tasty treat for Grey Wind.
Joe From Cincinnati - 3.5 out of 5
We’re allowed to use .5 increments now, and honestly, this card is best suited at 3.5 A 3 would imply she is just okay or niche and a 4 would imply an impactful character that should likely be played in most cases. Dacey is right between those two classifications. She, to me, seems like a solid 1x character if you’re looking for some additional renown and are nervous about resets killing your unique characters. I don’t think she’s a must include, nor do I think she’ll heavily impact a high number of games. A Nightmares or Milk takes her to 0 strength and, unless neither player is playing a reset, she likely isn’t getting all that much higher than ~5 to 6 strength. That’s a lot of fluctuation in strength based on your board state that may lead to a win more situation (more characters/better board state = better Dacey. Trying to recover from a reset or rebuild? Dacey may not be worth playing). But hey, cheap renown is great. So why not play 1 copy of her?
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 4 out of 5
We like the gimmick to her (Stark’s equivalent of Ser Amory Lorch, Ser Jon Fossoway and the like is to make the STR situational instead of the renown!); we also like Renown in a good cost slot. With Stark’s Renown otherwise being conditional, or on 6+ cost bodies (less good with Duel out), she’ll be very strong for the aggro-rush hybrids Stark predominantly favours. Just watch out for Venomous Blade and Nightmares.
Winterfell Archery Range (3.25 Average)
scantrell24 - 3.5 out of 5
Archery Range works on both offense and defense, so your opponents will have a hard time both attacking and defending with chumps in military challenges. Combined with King Robb, you’ll be able to easily push through Put to the Swords and Ice. But I’m a little underwhelmed considering this is a champ card (although it’s fitting that he was a Melee champion and this card could be hilarious in Melee).
Cameron D - 4 out of 5
Aside from Winterfell, Stark doesn't have much in the way of great locations. Thankfully, this will be a nice little addition to most Stark decks. Mostly used to stop (or prevent) annoying chud challenges but it could also help to maintain your board presence if both sides don't have much for characters. If you’re running a lot of attachments it also keeps those pesky Rattleshirt Raiders at bay, which is a nice insurance policy for your Milks, Bodyguards, and Marriage Pacts. Like Winterfell Crypt, I think this card will often be forgotten or overlooked by your opponent before it’s too late. It’s a good one-of and will be a nice card to play when you don't want to overextend yourself on characters.
Joe From Cincinnati - 2.5 out of 5
Prevents chud blocks and chud challenges, I suppose. I’m not too impressed with it otherwise. It limits what challenge it can be used for (only military) limits your target pool (3 strength or less) and requires kneeling (I.E. controllable via Lordsport Shipwright and Lay Siege). This could be potent when paired with strength reduction, such as Targaryen burn and Renly’s Pavilion. I don’t doubt this will have its uses, but will it be useful enough often enough to make the 60 card cut in many decks? I’m inclined to say no...Especially since, in my experience, Stark generally cares more about power challenges than military challenges. Stark may even prefer losing military challenges in order to kill a chud and stand their army with Robb
.The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5
It’s a potent challenge manipulation card… for one challenge type. Versatile within that challenge type though, working on attack or defense, and with curves tending slightly lower it seems like the card’s value is increasing. Now we just need to wait for Stark to get effects that actually REWARD them for winning all these military challenges.
Oldtown Informer (3.25 Average)
scantrell24 - 3.5 out of 5
A 2 gold ambush character gives Tyrell new opportunities for shenanigans, most notably with First Snow of Winter. The draw/discard ability is decent -- maybe a little pricey and inconsistent, but with lots of potential for combo decks to find their pieces, or even good stuff decks to dig for their answer cards.
Cameron D - 3.5 out of 5
The effect is nice to dig for key characters, dupes of key characters, or bodyguards. Tyrell loves their dudes with Renown so I would think most of the time that's what you’d be looking for, unless you’re trying to close out with a powergrab event. The low cost / ambush combination alone guarantees that you’ll be seeing this card played pretty often, even before Mace and the rest of Tyrell box come out. This is a good little chud muffin.
Joe From Cincinnati - 3 out of 5
Card cycling can be a very powerful ability, especially in a faction like Tyrell that can lean towards a more “toolsy†approach (lots of events and characters that are useful in different scenarios). However, she would be relatively expensive in order to achieve a more impactful effect from her and may simultaneously be the first or second choice for claim soak, especially in a small board state (heavy reset) matchup. I think her biggest strength is as a low cost ambush character with the occasional ability of bestowing her if you just have extra gold laying around (which Tyrell may have, considering the number of economy locations they have). After all, Burned Men have shown us that being a 2 cost ambush character can make you an MVP if you build your deck with a certain strategy in mind...
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5
We wrote an article on her. She’s alright.
Arbor Vineyard (3.5 Average)
scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Decks with 4+ Summer plots will love Arbor Vineyard, and the rest won’t bother. It’s always difficult to score the effective but niche cards.
Cameron D - 4 out of 5
Tyrell loves their summer plots, so they should definitely love this new gold-producing location. Summer plots are pretty common even outside of Tyrell and Kings of Summer decks, so I would expect to get the full 2 gold more often than not.
Joe From Cincinnati - 3 out of 5
Tyrell loves Summer plots in a lot of cases anyway, so why not get more gold during your high gold turns? I personally think the inverse of this location (Stark’s location, perhaps?) will be far more impactful, since Summer plots are already 5 to 6 gold (or more), whereas Winter plots typically need more help. But economy will never be a bad thing. And this triggers off of your opponent’s summer plots as well, so you don’t necessarily need to fill your deck with Summer plots to make this a useful location. It just so happens that we’re kind of getting flooded by economy recently, to the point where your choice between a location like this, your reducing location, Great Hall and Roseroad (and in Tyrell’s case, The Arbor) will depend a lot on your curve and your strategy when building.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5
We don’t want to go lower than 3 for these 2 cost limiteds because of their potential to stretch curves and the like, but make no mistake, this is the worst yet - and is shown up both by Great Hall in this cycle already, and by Redwyne Straits in the upcoming box. “Only gives you efficient gold when paired with plots that already give you lots of gold†is a middling card.
Othell Yarwick (3.375 Average)
scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
At first glance, he’s absurdly good in most Wall decks, but does the recent Builder version popularized by JCWamma even want a 6 gold character? That deck might prefer to remain diversified and spend its gold on chuds (quantity over quality).
Cameron D - 4.5 out of 5
Othell seems born to keep that damn Wall standing. But more than that, he can even be used to gross effect offensively. He gives you so much challenge flexibility it won't be hard to punch through whatever defense your opponent has going on. Othell would probably be a great include for Crossing decks as well, basically insuring that you’re able to fire off three challenges in some form or fashion. Like Halder, there’s no limit on his ability either, yeesh. He’s pricey, but potent.
Joe From Cincinnati - 3 out of 5
I know the reaction to this card was mainly “I hate builders. This is a good builder. Therefore, I hate this card.†But I don’t think this really fits the current incarnation of the builder deck. What am I gonna do with a 6 cost builder? That’s ridiculously expensive for a deck that, to this point, has only 3 characters that cost more than 3 gold (well, 6 if you count the miners, but you’re never spending more than 2 or, at most, 3 on them). In a deck that cares far more about overwhelming the board with a bunch of replaceable chuds that, together, form an incredibly strong barricade, a 6 cost character that may not even need to trigger his ability all game doesn’t seem ideal. Even in a Standard Wall deck, I already got Qhorin and New Jon Snow to decide between. Now you’re giving me another high cost character in a deck that still prefers a 2 to 4 cost curve over 6 costers.9 times out of 10, if I’m not getting the Wall’s power, it’s because of Nightmares, not an unopposed challenge. Or, if it is due to an unopposed challenge it will be because I don’t have enough defenders due to too many board wipes, in which case this guy’s ability becomes a lot less useful. There are a few combos where this character becomes a bit more interesting, like with new Samwell Tarly/Sweet Donnel Hill (blocks any challenge you got and blanks all your attacking characters) and potentially on offense to give some of your more attack prone characters more icons. But...just so expensive. Ugh.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5
At first glance, you think “oh gods, as if the Builders weren’t too good already!â€. But he breaks that deck’s cost curve, and also takes all the negative attachments the other cards can’t. The rest of us think he might find space as a one-of, maybe? ...but as usual, Drakey isn’t convinced. In a regular NW deck, especially those with a higher curve, he may feature simply to make challenge maths even harder. Emphasis on “mayâ€.
Improved Fortifications (1.25 Average)
scantrell24 - 1.5 out of 5
I can’t imagine any deck finding space for a silver bullet that’s completely blank until needed. Maybe if you want to run Political Disaster for some reason? It’s great on setup though!
Cameron D - 1.5 out of 5
Card slots are a premium and I’m not sure if this will make the cut in most Night’s Watch decks, unless we get better location hate (please, FFG) down the line. It could be cute to play three of these and run Political Disaster, but I’m not sure if that would actually be worth the slots.
Joe From Cincinnati - 1 out of 5
This card should have had additional text on it. “When you attach this card to a location, draw a card.†Because, as it stands now, this card is garbage. Is there anything more deflating than drawing a dupe of a location already in play? Especially late game when you’re potentially depending on your top decking? In 90% of match ups (conservatively low estimate) that’s a dead card that you hope gets pulled for intrigue claim. If location control reaches a breaking point, you may be forced to run this...but you definitely won’t be happy about it. In regards to Political Disaster, even if it were run in every single deck, I think I’d still prefer to just drop down a Wall and Haunted Forest rather than run bloat in my deck just to save one or maybe 2 additional locations. Or, I’ll just run more locations instead in order to refill after Political Disaster hits. It gets to stay at 1 rather than going down to a 0.5 because Halder can kneel it to add strength to a character. But then, so does literally any other NW attachment that you could run instead of this one.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 1 out of 5
JC thinks this could have space as a meta-call that you can kneel for Halder and the like, but Istaril is very bullish that this card is awful. Drakey just thinks Istaril has the right of it, but doesn’t like the term “bullishâ€. Ire’s just not a fan. It protects your locations from something that several decks in the meta still don’t even run, and even if one day the meta opens up just enough for it to have some viability, it’s equally likely that the meta gains an attachment blanking card - at which point this gets discarded by virtue of not being attached to a character and no longer having text to permit that. The Watch did not do well out of this pack.
Ser Axell Florent (3.375 Average)
scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
I can’t wait to attack first with Robert, Ser Axell, and Robert’s Warhammer to kneel my opponent’s entire board before he gets a chance to initiate challenges. The flexibility with bestow is especially nice here too. Depending on the circumstance, anything from 0 all the way up to 3 gold could be reasonable.
Cameron D - 3.5 out of 5
He’s pretty good. You’re basically paying four gold for a dude with four strength and two icons, and any additional gold you spend when he’s marshaled *could* kneel a character, *if* you win a challenge in which he’s participating. He’ll often get stealthed but on the other hand he can also prevent chud challenges when he’s standing. You could also just send him attacking and make your opponent forced to win on defense unless they want a key character knelt. I don't think Bara has much in the way of other four cost characters so he should slot in pretty nicely.
Joe From Cincinnati - 3 out of 5
Solid icons, solid cost, solid strength. If you got the extra gold, he can potentially provide you with some faux intimidate (better as it isn’t restricted by strength, but worse because it is limited by how much gold you gave him and can teched against with attachments). Early game, I think you’d prefer to see your big hitters before this guy. To get any kind of true benefit from him he’ll cost you 5 to 6 gold, which may be on the high side unless you have literally nothing better to play.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5
He’s a good topdeck in late game when your economy is free, and early on his numbers are good enough that you won’t be devastated to see him. A touch snowbally due to the timing of the trigger. He’s as unobjectionable as he is uninspiring.
Saving the Kingdom (3.875 Average)
scantrell24 - 3.5 out of 5
Time to dust off Visited by Shadows! Bara already has Asshai Priestess for chud kneeling, so I’m not sure how much they need/want Saving the Kingdom, though it is brutally efficient. Great against Night’s Watch and Targ.
Cameron D - 4 out of 5
A strong kneel event that you can play round after round. Nasty stuff. I like how they tied the recursion effect to dominance, though I am pretty bored with those two themes. But hey, that art is awesome.
Joe From Cincinnati - 4 out of 5
Did Baratheon really need more ways to piss off Night’s Watch players? The 3 strength or less limitation makes this card...tolerable. But being repeatable with an easy trigger to return to hand and having it essentially last 2 turns for each time you use it makes this card potentially very good not only for llimiting your opponent’s capabilities of pushing challenges through but also their ability to combat your dominance tech. Baratheon players are likely thanking their lucky stars for an answer to Targaryen’s dragons, although Targ does have more stand tech than any faction probably should have.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 4 out of 5
We were very close to giving this a 5. It’s on that cusp because it’s a revolutionary card for Baratheon as a redundant, repeatable kneel effect; yet at the same time, the STR limitation is real and until Bara get their econ location, 2 gold is expensive.
Ser Osmund Kettleblack (2.375 Average)
scantrell24 - 2.5 out of 5
He’s alright, but other than jumping in a Knight just to win a key challenge, there aren’t many combos. Tower of the Hand with Jaime. House Florent Knight. Maybe jump in Gregor if you really need a lucky pillage or Put to the Sword trigger.
Cameron D - 3 out of 5
The oddball kingsguard and knight stuff continues to slowly trickle out for Lannister. This character is probably better suited for a Banner knight deck at the moment as there is no Lannister character stipulation on the effect. The power of using one gold to drop a 6-7 cost character on your opponent's head cannot be underestimated. But it will take a good player to know when to best use his Bestow ability, because that knight will not be sticking around after the party and bestow is limited.
Joe From Cincinnati - 2 out of 5
Will be serviceable in a knights deck. But...don’t they tend to want to stay on the board cuz of...renown and stuff? I like the combo with House Florent Knight and, obviously, dropping an unexpected Mountain on your opponent can pay large dividends. If you’re already running 3 Hear me Roar, this may make it into the deck for additional jumping redundancy. The trait limitation on him, however, makes me think this is a very niche card.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5
Istaril likes the thought of it in a Reinforcements/Tyrion’s Chain deck. The rest of us are just looking at it and placing it behind Hear Me Roar, Harrenhal and I Never Bet Against My Family. More value in Melee, or as a banner card since it’s not limited to Lanni Knights?
Tywin’s Stratagem (3.625 Average)
scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Tywin’s Stratagem is not horrible, but there’s a “win more†vibe about it, and Trial by Combat, Tears, etc are more generally useful.
Cameron D - 3.5 out of 5
Return to hand is a strong effect and can immediately stop a challenge in its tracks. Returning Burned Men that you’ve used back to your hand to bounce one of their characters seems pretty good. It can open up your opponent to a truly nasty military challenge, where they will really feel the claim and any other additional effects on top of it.
Joe From Cincinnati - 4 out of 5
The main characters that the Lannister player will bounce back to their hand with this event will likely be the Queen’s Assassin, Burned Men, Lannisport Guard and the Lannisport Merchant. The Burned Men and the Queen’s Assassin can be returned to the field with Ambush (possibly removing another character from the opponent’s board via the Assassin) and the Lannisport Guard can be replayed the following turn for another card draw. Undoubtedly will be very useful for bouncing out chud so that military claim hits even harder, but don’t underestimate the value of removing 2 cost characters in general, especially the likes of the Shadow Tower Mason and other ruthlessly efficient chuds that could result in an unopposed challenge if sequenced properly.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 4 out of 5
Lanni’s best decks are all about turning their resource advantage into board advantage, and this delivers in that regard. Interesting how it plays with Bestow - simultaneously encouraging you to run Bestow chuds (to bounce them and refill it) while discouraging opponents (since you can bounce more than 2 gold’s worth of character). This plays very nicely with comes into play effects, cheap Ambush generally, and the general efficiency of bouncing a knelt character on your side and a standing (or participating) one on your opponent’s side. In short, versatile and strong.
Silence’s Crew (4.125 Average)
scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Another 4 gold mil/pow bicon! These guys are like a Ranging Party with upside. Solid in any deck, and great for Pillage decks (though we’re still missing a few pieces there).
Cameron D - 4.5 out of 5
Silence’s Crew isn’t going to set the world on fire, but man it’s a nice boost for Greyjoy decks - which tend to have a notoriously shallow four cost slot. They’re a touch on the vanilla side but there’s just no downside here for Euron’s best buds.
Joe From Cincinnati - 4 out of 5
There is nothing overwhelmingly powerful about this card, per se but the fact that it’s practically a Ranging Party with Pillage that can get bigger through lucky pillage pulls makes them a pretty good building block regardless of what theme you’re running out of Greyjoy. Bonus points for helping to make Greyjoy’s relatively underwhelming 2 gold econ location stronger by bringing in a good pillage character into the fold.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 4 out of 5
The best 4-cost beef character since the Ranging Party (albeit in a faction that cares less about beef). Big character that gets bigger by winning (a common theme throughout second edition). We hope that the jumping raider guy becomes a meme.
Plunder (1.75 Average)
scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
It’s hard to dedicate event slots to economy (locations are preferable because they can be setup). But Plunder has potential in the mid-to-late game (quite similar to Doran’s Game).
Cameron D - 1 out of 5
Nope, I don't see this getting played. Event slots are precious, and this is way too conditional for just gaining gold. It’s a cute card that will look cute in your cute binder.
Joe From Cincinnati - 2 out of 5
Free gold for things that could wind up in the discard pile anyway. Sure, it may be a bit unreliable, but there’s application there, especially if pillage finally starts to form a coherent theme. Right now, it’s probably too janky to build around, but it’s just another card that is seeding for a pillage deck.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5
It doesn’t gel with Greyjoy’s current MO - what build that they run wants to gain masses of gold late on? - but that’s not to say it’ll be worthless in the future. A point for genuine potential.
Strong Belwas (3.5 Average)
scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
Thankfully he’s scaled back from the 1st edition version. Targ doesn’t really need a military mono-con, but the protection for Daenerys, Drogo, Mirri, etc. will help when the meta is skewed towards Valar or aggro decks.
Cameron D - 4 out of 5
Strong, indeed. Good cost to strength, saves your bombs, and goddamn Hot Pie synergy. Are you not entertained?! Sure, he’s only got two saves at most but in most cases that should be plenty. You also have dupes to burn and Targ tends to win its military challenges anyway. Keep in mind that during a Valar, you can only use him once. Ideally I would use one save to stop something like Tears and then try to hold off on the other save in case of Valar.
Joe From Cincinnati - 3 out of 5
A big boy that can save people. Cool. I’m not a fan of bestow on 3 cost characters, but if you can pull one save off of this guy, you’ll be pretty happy. The body itself is a Drogon, who isn’t really known for his challenge prowess...
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5
This card was in first edition. It’s fine. It’ll be a one-of.
Breaker of Chains (1.5 Average)
scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
Meh. It will be good sometimes, but mediocre more often. Most decks would rather go tall than wide (protect your bombs and ride them to victory).
Cameron D - 2 out of 5
I’m not sure if you’re going to find room for a card like this. Targ players generally don't have huge hands to dump out character after character. There are better, more impactful cards that should probably be included before Breaker of Chains. But it can certainly be good during a First Snow round, sure.
Joe From Cincinnati - 1 out of 5
God, talk about Jank. Who wants to build their entire deck around 2 cost characters? Especially a faction like Targaryen that don’t exactly have inspiring draw. Maybe George Ankers will have fun with this one. 2 cost positive attachments are a hard sell in a lot of decks and I don’t see this being an exception. There may come a time when all these Targaryen attachments add up to a good deck, but I’m not sure that is any time soon...
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 1 out of 5
Bouncing chuds is...not particularly impactful. It’s an interesting effect (unless you’re Drakey, who is so tired of jumping effects that it makes him weep), and at least better than your Lights of the Lords and your Rubys of R’hllors and your what-have-yous, but it’s pretty far from playable.
Ellaria Sand (2.0 Average)
scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
Does Martell want a conditional & expensive stand effect? I don’t think so. A strange design choice, really.
Cameron D - 2 out of 5
Unfortunately I think the art really outshines the card here. That effect is just going to be hard to really get a lot of mileage out of, and the fact that you have to pay 5-7 for her to use it at all kind of blows. Could’ve seen her being just lower strength (or higher cost), getting rid of the Bestow bit, and making to ability limited to once per round. Looks like a pretty clunky Martell card, overall. Sad.
Joe From Cincinnati - 2 out of 5
I’m about ready to declare the bestow keyword a failed experiment. Astapor has been basically the only bestow card to date that is even remotely worth the effort right now. This is yet another decently costed character that becomes too expensive as soon as you consider having to spend gold to use her ability. Honestly, they could have left the icons, cost and strength alone, made her ability not require bestow and I still wouldn’t rate this a 4 or a 5 card. There just aren’t enough bastards and they are too difficult to protect from Valar to make this character viable in anything more than a for fun deck.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5
She’s so expensive just to lose with. Martell has plenty of characters with similar stats and better effects. Arianne does a similar action-advantage thing much better.
Secret Schemes (4.5 Average)
scantrell24 - 4 out of 5
The faction card kneel keeps it balanced (no combo with Shadowblack Lane sadly). Fealty was the obvious agenda choice for Martell control decks, but now maybe Kings of Summer is worth a look instead.
Cameron D - 4 out of 5
Ricasso, you beautiful son of a *****. You probably only run two of these at most, but yeah, you could certainly refill your hand late game with this beauty. By that point you should have enough economy established to be able to play most of what you draw as well. But it will be a bummer to see Secret Schemes during the first couple rounds, though.
Joe From Cincinnati - 5 out of 5
A very simple grade here. 1 gold to draw multiple cards at any time. The later you see it, the better it is. Martell only has one other faction card kneel effect so far (In Doran’s Name) so there isn’t much conflicting with that either (other than Fealty and Rains, potentially)
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 5 out of 5
This is only just a 5 - the downsides being that it plays poorly with Fealty due to the faction kneel, as well as other cards it would otherwise synergize nicely with like Rains and In Doran’s Name. However, card advantage is card advantage is card advantage. With the Dornish Fiefdoms reinvigorating Martell’s competitive chances of late, this could be the card that puts them right back on the map. It may also kill off Starfall Cavalry, which probably should’ve had the effect this does...
Walder Frey (3.0 Average)
scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
The low strength is a real bummer in a Targ-heavy meta, and his supporting cast is underwhelming. Maybe if we get more effects that key off winning challenges by a lot of strength, he’ll be worth a look. For now, we’re still a couple pieces away from the heyday of Papa Frey.
Cameron D - 3 out of 5
I’m not entirely sure if all of this Frey stuff will come together into something truly competitive, but at the very least it will be fun to mess around with. As Scantrell mentioned, Walder hates the Targaryens, which will be a big hurdle for the Freys to overcome on the field.
Joe From Cincinnati - 3 out of 5
All aboard the jank train, lads! Because Frey decks are so win-more it’s ridiculous. I’m definitely going to enjoy seeing the decks people come up with now that this and Frey Hospitality have come into the game. Can anyone make that +20 consistently work? Walder definitely helps, as he can pull in every Frey you control as an attacker, whether they’re knelt or not. There should be essentially no reason that Frey is not in on your third challenge each round and you probably will never run the Freys without Lord of the Crossing. Just remember to run 3 Hand’s Judgments and maybe some kind of attachment that can give him strength boosts during marshalling, like Widow’s Wail, Dawn or Disputed Claim just in case...Gotta watch out for those Targaryens...
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5
If the Frey theme ever has a shot of working, this guy will be the reason for it. He requires a lot of protection though. ~Kudos to FFG for managing to find a way to make a low-STR character that is still all about brute-force challenge maths. Now that’s commitment! At least there’ll be fewer rules problems than the first edition version...
Frey Bastard (1.625 Average)
scantrell24 - 2 out of 5
So I’m supposed to spend 3-4 gold for a 1 strength bicon that maybe gives me an extra power?
Cameron D - 1.5 out of 5
Blood of the Dragon will take care of these bastards in a pinch, and then you lose out on not only your characters, but also any gold that you bestowed. Grey Wind also makes short work of the little Frey kids. Then there’s First Snow, Wildfire, Valar, all sorts of nasty things. It’s one of those rush or bust kind of cards, and not a very good one at that.
Joe From Cincinnati - 2 out of 5
The Freys need chud too. The fact that their chud also happens to provide the option to gain additional power is just gravy. If the theme is going to become a legitimate strategy and not just a fun idea to mess around with, they’ll need more characters that can behave as the backbone of the theme, and this little guy helps in that regard. Completely worthless in any other deck though, hence the 2.
The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 1 out of 5
Istaril wants to give this guy a 3, pretty much entirely because he’s a cheap House Frey character with two icons. The rest of us are looking at the House Maester, not so fussed about the Frey theme, and wondering what he’s smoking.
Frey Hospitality (2.5 Average)
scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
Winning the 3rd challenge in Crossing decks shouldn’t be difficult, but you have to include the mediocre Frey characters in your deck to meet the triggering condition. Also, 3 gold is an awkward amount to hold onto, so it’s almost a dead giveaway.
Cameron D - 2 out of 5
It’s pricey, and you have to jump through a couple hoops to fire it off. You need a participating (and attacking) Frey character and it has to be the third challenge. Still, being able to kill a character during an intrigue or power challenge is something, I guess. The 20 strength bit is not something you should expect to happen but in the off chance that it does, that’s going to be a bad day for your opponent.
Joe From Cincinnati - 3 out of 5
Like I said above, if anyone can consistently win +20 challenges, it’s Walder Frey. If he can pull it off, this event will be devastating, as it will also be exceptionally difficult to cancel, since it costs 3 gold. Even if you can’t get to +20, Just winning means it’s a slightly more expensive Put to the Sword that doesn’t require getting +5 and can be done in any challenge - as long as you have a Frey character attacking. I don’t know if the Frey theme will work but if it does this event will be absolutely crippling for your opponent. My first thought is definitely Lanni LotC Frey, as they have a good icon spread, a weapon that can protect Walder from being burned, stealth to win challenges, jumpers for a surprise ~12 strength boost to that final challenge and Tyrion gold to pay for this expensive event while not explicitly giving away the fact that you saved gold from marshalling to do this.
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5
Poor stat(s) and a trait-limitation to hold it back, but it has the word “kill†in it so it might have some value. Istaril likes it more than the rest of us.
The Red Wedding (2.25 Average)
scantrell24 - 3 out of 5
The awful stat line (0 reserve, 0 claim, 4 reserve) probably mean Red Wedding is binder fodder. It’s similar to Duel, in that decks without Lords and Ladies can punish decks that have them.
Cameron D - 2 out of 5
Looks like another plot for the Rains of Castamere suite. Otherwise The Red Wedding could be included in decks with no (or very few) lords and ladies. The zero claim and zero initiative sucks so if you flip this as a normal plot, chances are that you opponent is going to go first and trigger this on you before you even have a chance. I tend to not like plots that can backfire on me.
Joe From Cincinnati - 2 out of 5
Giving your opponent the ability to kill one of your high cost characters simply by winning a challenge just seems...not ideal to me. Especially since this has 0 initiative, so you’re probably going to be made to go first, in which case you can’t even guarantee you’ll be able to trigger it against the full might of your opponent’s defense. Or, they can choose to go first to kill your best character before you have a chance to trigger this yourself, board state dependent. The only factions I see playing this in their ordinary plot deck are Night’s Watch and maybe Martell. If you don’t have any lords or ladies on the board, your opponent won’t gain any benefit from this and you get a downside-free kill card that has a very low activation cost. I’ve also seen people reference the option of running this in Rains’ Scheme plot deck, going second, winning your intrigue challenge, flipping this and then, with your other 2 challenges, killing lords or ladies without giving your opponent the chance to trigger it themselves (You can’t trigger it on the intrigue challenge because, by the time you flipped this plot down, the point at which you can trigger this interrupt has passed). 4 Reserve isn’t great though...
Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5
Poor stat(s) and a trait-limitation to hold it back, but it has the word “kill†in it so it might have some value. Istaril likes it more than the rest of us.
Total Pack Average: 2.925
Top Cards:
Secret Schemes
Silence’s Crew
Bottom Cards:
Improved Fortifications
Breaker of Chains
Frey Bastard
Plunder
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6 Comments
I thought improed fortification was a good card.
It could be good in heavy GJ meta (are there places like that?), or in Nw/KoW, that would like to use Political Disaster.
Plunder is underrated unless only being considered in the short term. Being able to get +2-3 gold on a Counting Coppers or Rise of the Kraken turn is a powerful thing, and its not like Silence's Crew and Euron won't see play. It will only take a couple more decent pillagers for this to be a thing.
Also in Greyjoy Winter, with Wraiths as an opener, you could potentially profit from it on 2nd plot already.
Plunder won't see any play in a tier 1 deck until dwdw as a one of. Its just like Doran's Name and that doesn't see any play. What are you going to cut for Plunder? your nightmares? your we do not sow?
I've gotten a lot of work out of Red Wedding in my Martell deck, since Martell only has a handful of Lords/Ladies it's interested (and one, Arianne, can bounce to hand to protect herself). The look on an opponent's face when they realize they have to overcommit to protect their characters is beautiful.