Moonboy Classic

Well, it’s been a week now since people were finalizing their decklists and making last minute metagame predictions before the beginning of the Iowa Caucus of A Game of Thrones tournaments. Now that we’ve rolled around to Jaime Friday here on CardgameDB, I wanted to take a look back at the tournament. I collected a variety of stats from the staff at the store as I thought of them during the tournament, so let’s take a look at some of the more pertinent ones.

The first breakdown that I did was a look at which houses were represented at the tournament. For reference, we had:
2 Lannister
2 Stark
2 Greyjoy
3 Baratheon
3 Targaryen
3 Martell

Out of the total of fifteen players that made it, it’s actually impossible to have a more even distribution of the six houses. Despite recent errata to Ghaston Grey, many players still feel Martell to be the most powerful house in the environment, so it comes as little surprise that Martell is one of the houses represented by slightly higher numbers. As well, Baratheon being in the slightly higher category comes as little surprise. After the recent un-restriction of The Laughing Storm, many players rightly feel that Baratheon’s strength as a house has gone up considerably. Two surprising representations, however, are Targaryen and Lannister. Targaryen appears to be on an upswing in the game in both card strength and meta impact. Pushed in large part by expansive use of Ghaston Grey and Targaryen’s ability to kill low strength nobles like Myrcella Lannister, Targaryen is also quite strong against the new The Laughing Storm usage. Lannister’s performance as one of the lower represented houses is actually quite striking. Still fresh off the release of their house boxed expansion and longtime considered one of the strongest houses in the game, there seems to be little to dissuade their use. Perhaps the control segment of the metagame is turning toward permanent removal through burn or kill, rather than temporary solutions like kneel.

The top 4 maintained a solid spread as well with 1 Targaryen, 1 Greyjoy, 1 Baratheon and 1 Stark. Two of the higher represented and two of the lower represented houses continue the even spread. As well, two of those decks (Targaryen/Stark) focus on permanent removal, per the earlier theory.

The next stat that I got from the store was a breakdown on the agendas used. Let’s take a look:
Knights of the Realm 2
Alliance 2
Maester's Path 2
Kings of Summer 2
Knights of the Hollow Hill 2
Kings of Winter 1
Treaty with the South 1
No Agenda 2

Unfortunately, for those of you running a tally, it would appear that the numbers were off slightly on their agenda stats- they only total 14. Which player may have been missed, I’m uncertain. It’s possible that it may have been a “no agenda” deck that they missed in the tally.

Again, it’s difficult to have a more even break between the agendas that were at the Moonboy Classic. While there are more total agendas available than houses which means that several were not used at all, we can still glean some information from that spread. The most particular of which is the non-dominance of the Maester’s Path agenda. The previously dominant agenda, Kings of Summer, also is only represented by two decks, along with Knights of the Realm and Knights of the Hollow Hill. Taken together, the direct card advantage agendas (KotR, Maesters, Kings of Summer/Winter) are still far and away the most popular with 7 represented. The agendas that provide deckbuilding modifications (Alliance, TwtS, and KotHH) follow close on their heels with 5 total uses. While direct card advantage is still king, and creative deck building is second, strangely agendas that modify characters (The North agendas, Brotherhood, etc) and those that modify challenges (Seige, PBtT, etc.) are completely unrepresented in this particular metagame. While I really doubt people will fully abandon those during the coming Regional season, I can’t help but wonder if the move toward permanent removal has affected this somewhat, as the challenge modifying agendas generally lead toward rush style decks that can fair poorly against them when their power bearing characters are killed.

Again, the final 4 show a similar spread with 1 Knights of the Realm, 2 Maester’s Path, and 1 Kings of Winter. While there is a fair distribution of agendas by name in the Top 4, it’s worth noting that the only two Maester’s Path decks in the tournament both made the break, which demonstrates that the power of the agenda still stands, though it may have fallen partly out of favor in overall representation. As well, it’s worth noting that all four of the Top 4 were sporting card advantage agendas and that none of the numerically closely represented deck construction agendas quite made the cut.

The final stat that I collected from the store was information on the restricted cards played. They break down as follows:
Fury of the Stag 1
Val 2
Fury of the Dragon 1
Fear of Winter 1
Narrow Escape 4
Burning on the Sands 3

This time, players running tallies will notice that we’re missing three restricted cards from the overall pool of competitors. This may be a mistake, or I wonder if perhaps, the store forgot to tally the decks that were not using a restricted card at all. I don’t know for certain at the moment if any were not using one, so we may have to just work with the numbers that we can see currently.

Narrow Escape is clearly on the rise again after some downtime on the restricted favorites list of many players. Several of the decks in this tournament were aggressive, challenge based decks which may explain the tendency toward Narrow Escape as a means of trumping various control decks. The second most used restricted card, Burning on the Sand, is also one that hard often fallen out of use in past months in favor of Martell’s other restricted cards- The Viper’s Bannermen and Venomous Blade. Interestingly, each of the non-used restricted cards tie in to one of the particular themes already mentioned. Venomous Blade is reusable permanent removal just as decks seem to be swinging toward and The Viper’s Bannerman can be extreme card advantage, just as the agenda representation supports. The use of a potent challenge control card like Burning on the Sands, would seem to suggest that some players expected a higher appearance of challenge modification agendas. Val, the third most popular restricted card, is also moving up in the charts once again on the back of The Laughing Storm becoming un-restricted. As more people explore and experiment with TLS, I expect Val to see even more play.

In the top 4, we have an interesting split- 1 Val, 1 Narrow Escape, 1 Fear of Winter, and 1 Fury of the Dragon. With the general consensus against playing Fury plots over the quality other restricted cards, the most surprising item is probably the appearance of one Fury plot in the top 4. As for the others, the only one based on strict card advantage is Val, possibly indicating that the top decks were able to pull enough card advantage out of their agendas that they felt they could leverage their restricted card in other ways.


Kevin's Moonboy Semis


Total Cards (61)

House (1)
House Greyjoy (Core) x1

Agenda (1)
Kings of Winter (TWoW) x1

Plot (7)
Twist of Fate (APS) x1
Valar Morghulis (Core) x1
Rule by Decree (Core) x1
Retaliation! (ASoSilence) x1
Blockade (Core) x1
A Time for Ravens (ACoS) x1
Fear of Winter (BtW) x1

Character (33)
Theon Greyjoy (WLL) x1
Cotter Pyke (TBC) x1
Asha Greyjoy (WLL) x1
Alannys Greyjoy (ODG) x1
Euron Crow's Eye (TGM) x1
Cragorn (ASoSilence) x1
Ice Fisherman (TWoW) x3
Wintertime Marauders (ACoS) x3
Carrion Bird (ASoS) x3
Newly Made Lord (TftH) x3
The Sparr (APS) x1
Samwell Tarly (TRS) x3
Tarle the Thrice-Drowned (RotO) x1
Balon Greyjoy (KotS) x1
Maester Wendamyr (KotS) x1
Maester Murenmure (CbtC) x1
Gylbert Farwynd (GotC) x1
Distinguished Boatswain (TftRK) x2
Baelor Blacktyde (TIoR) x1
Kingsmoot Hopeful (FtC) x2
Dagmer Cleftjaw (KotS) x1

Location (18)
The Seastone Chair (BtW) x1
Longship Iron Victory (KotS) x1
The Iron Mines (KotS) x2
Sunset Sea (Core) x3
Bloody Keep (KotS) x3
Street of Steel (Core) x1
River Blockade (RoR) x1
Street of Silk (LotR) x1
The Iron Cliffs (HtS) x2
Flea Bottom (TGM) x1
Street of Sisters (Core) x1
River Row (QoD) x1

Attachment (7)
White Raven (TWoW) x3
Captain of the Iron Fleet (TGM) x1
Burned and Pillaged (FtC) x3

Event (3)
Support of the Kingdom (Core) x3

This is not the first time that we’ve seen a Greyjoy choke list in make the cut in a tournament during the last year, but this is the first time that we’ve seen one which had access to some of the great new choke cards like The Sparr.

There are some interesting interactions contained in this 60. For instance, in a pinch, Burned and Pillaged can be played on a key opposing location like Ghaston Grey or Aegon’s Hill, which can then be stolen using Support of the Kingdom. Remember that a negative production is still production. Even if the Burned and Pillaged sticks around to give you a gold penalty, the option to take away a particularly key opponent’s location and cripple their deck is important to consider. Street of Silk also combines nicely with The Iron Cliffs, allowing you to discard a depleted Iron Cliffs instead of something more valuable. Playing no less than 23 choke and location control cards, this deck easily hampers the opponent’s ability to play cards out from their hand, leading to a clog that allow Rule by Decree and the Kings of Winter Agenda to do their duty as card advantage.

Despite being a tight 60 card list, there are still a few things that stand out. With only seven total nobles in the deck, and no repeats of the uniques, the singleton Seastone Chair seems to have less effect then it should. I’d most likely swap it out for the cheaper and more widely applicable third copy of The Iron Mines, which should also make Setup slightly better. On a related note, the vast majority of this deck’s income is reduction based, but as mentioned, the noble count is fairly low which makes the singleton Gilbert Farwynd a strange choice. While there will be games that it hurts your opponent greatly, there’s also a good chance that it hurts you by forcing you not to play it, or by keeping the majority of your characters from being reduced. I would likely swap it out for something like Fishwhiskers to lower the gold curve just a little further as well. While Fishwhiskers isn’t always going to work for you, it at least won’t ever work against you like Farwynd.


Greg's Moonboy Semis


Total Cards (60)

House (1)
House Targaryen (Core) x1

Agenda (1)
The Maester's Path (GotC) x1

Plot (7)
Take Them by Surprise (LoW) x1
At the Gates (GotC) x1
Fury of the Dragon (AE) x1
Retaliation! (ASoSilence) x1
Search and Detain (HtS) x1
Threat from the North (PotS) x1
Rule by Decree (Core) x1

Character (26)
Brown Ben Plumm (Core) x1
Refugee of the Plains (RoW) x2
Gilly (RoW) x1
Green Hatchling (TWH) x1
Dragon Thief (AE) x2
Black Hatchling (QoD) x1
Dragon Knight (TBC) x1
Maester Aemon (Core) x1
Ser Jorah Mormont (WLL) x1
Daenerys Targaryen (Core) x1
Linked Advisor (TIoR) x2
Advisor to the Crown (QoD) x3
Daario Naharis (WLL) x1
Rakharo (IG) x1
Jhogo (OSaS) x1
Lyanna Stark (ODG) x1
Drogon (Core) x2
Thundering Calvary (QoD) x3

Location (17)
Myrish Villa (QoD) x3
Eastern Fiefdoms (Core) x3
Bay of Ice (KotS) x2
Summer Sea (Core) x3
Lady Daenerys's Chambers (Core) x1
Kingsroad Fiefdom (QoD) x2
Meereen Tourney Grounds (ODG) x1
Meraxes (TBC) x1
Khal Drogo's Tent (Core) x1

Attachment (10)
Apprentice Collar (GotC) x1
Gold Link (TIoR) x1
Lead Link (CbtC) x1
Valyrian Steel Link (HtS) x1
Tin Link (CbtC) x1
Bronze Link (FtC) x1
Flame-Kissed (Core) x2
Black Raven (ASoS) x2

Event (7)
Ambush from the Plains (QoD) x3
The Hatchlings' Feast (ASitD) x3
Forever Burning (Core) x1

Greg’s Targaryen burn deck makes great use of The Maester’s Path agenda to provide a variety of toolbox style solutions for the deck. From the Lead Link to tie in directly to burn, the Bronze Link to recur powerful attachments, the Valyrian Steel Link to draw, the Tin Link to remove opposing attachments, and the Gold Link to boost resources, the Links attached to the agenda provide nearly anything a deck like this could want. A large portion of the efficiency of this decklist is centered on the usage of these chains. No matter what cards the natural variance of your draw deck gives you, any particular option you need is readily available to you through the agenda for the relatively low cost of winning a challenge and a maester to put those chains on is also readily available through the use of At the Gates.

That said, I feel that most of the list is tied up in the strength of The Maester’s Path, such that the efficiency of the draw deck is somewhat neglected. There are a great deal of one and two copy cards in this deck, many of which are some of the acknowledged all stars of the Targaryen arsenal. While I’m not certain off hand what I would cut from this list, with this deck’s ability to power out influence sources through draw and usage of At the Gates I would strongly look at increasing the copies of Forever Burning and the new Dragon Knight. Forever Burning allows a variety of effects to kill larger creatures and provides an alternative way to eliminate multiple characters on your Threat from the North turn, while Dragon Knight provides burn and a body. With the desire to save Ambush cards for the opportune moment, having a solid Setup of other cards is quite important to a deck like this, so the double copies of Bay of Ice and Refugee of the Plains are both options that I would look at increasing to three. Bay of Ice gives added interactions with Ambush from the Plains by giving initiative boosts high enough to jump in key characters on a wider variety of turns.


Kat's Moonboy 2nd Place


Total Cards (67)

House (1)
House Baratheon (Core) x1

Agenda (1)
The Maester's Path (GotC) x1

Plot (7)
Take Them by Surprise (LoW) x1
Valar Morghulis (Core) x1
The King's Law (KotStorm) x1
Search and Detain (HtS) x1
You Swore an Oath (WLL) x1
At the Gates (GotC) x1
Calm Before the Storm (LoW) x1

Character (39)
Val (RotO) x3
Arena Knight (RoW) x3
Maester Cressen (Core) x1
Maester Pylos (KotStorm) x1
Melisandre (RotO) x2
Royal Entourage (TTotH) x2
Ser Cortnay Penrose (KotStorm) x2
Ser Eldon Estermont (MotM) x2
Oldtown Scholar (FtC) x2
The Laughing Storm (GotC) x3
Highgarden Refugee (RoW) x3
Banner for the Storm (CtB) x3
Edric Storm (Core) x2
Knight of Flowers (SaS) x2
Marya Seaworth (KotStorm) x1
Bastard of Robert (Core) x2
Maester Lomys (CbtC) x2
Archmaester Ebrose (CbtC) x1
Robert Baratheon (KotStorm) x2

Location (12)
Street of Sisters (Core) x1
Narrow Sea (Core) x3
The Roseroad (KotStorm) x2
Street of Steel (Core) x1
Seat of Power (WotN) x3
Shadowblack Lane (Core) x1
King Robert's Chambers (KotStorm) x1

Attachment (6)
Jousting Steed (TTotH) x2
Gold Link (TIoR) x1
Apprentice Collar (GotC) x1
Tin Link (CbtC) x1
Lead Link (CbtC) x1

Event (10)
Citadel Custom (CbtC) x2
Paper Shield (QoD) x2
Wars Are Won with Quills (PotS) x2
Superior Claim (KotStorm) x2
Heart of the Stag (KotStorm) x2


Kat’s list is another deck riding high on the utility provided by The Maester’s Path, but in a significantly different manner than Greg’s I think. Kat is also using her chains for extra resources with the Gold Link, as well as attachment control with Tin Link and strength reduction from Lead Link but leverages those advantages to keep up the pressure of a pretty standard Baratheon power rush deck, rather than utilizing them to power a control engine. Use of several Maesters in the deck also allows the deck to play Citadel Custom to provide extra power challenges on top of the Baratheon challenge granting effects like Edric Storm and Robert Baratheon, which really allow the Vigilant characters in the deck to shine.

While the deck is utilizing the newly un-restricted The Laughing Storm along with Val as a super powered draw engine along with the card advantage of The Maester’s Path, one large thing keeps it from being as efficient as it should be. Over the course of my Crafting the Theory articles, you’ll see how efficiency is the key friend of an aggressive deck and one of the best ways to make certain that you’re as efficient as possible is to run a lean 60 card deck. The Maester’s Path not only provides utility through chain attachments, but another benefit that’s just as large is the ability to lower the effective size of your draw deck. Thus, running a deck over 60 cards even with the chains not counted greatly magnifies the possible efficiency that’s being wasted. As well, the larger deck makes it more difficult to get both pieces of the Val/ Laughing Storm engine in place wince there’s no plot to search for either of them.

Well, it was a fantastic weekend to play in and analyze after the fact. I hope you all have enjoyed this first peek into the metagame that we can expect going into the Regional season. It will be very interesting to compare stats at the end of the season versus the information that we see now. Check back later today for detailed analysis of Brett Zeiler’s winning decklist with Clu!