Much and More - Rush, Rush

So now rush is a thing.

There, I've said it. I've taken it and owned it. Rush is a thing. Its a bit empowering even. Rush is a thing. But even in this strange, post FAQ world we live in rush isn't the only thing, it has plenty to contend with, from 4 claim military challenges to burn decks that can grant a -3 to end of turn and discarded at 0.

But why would someone rush over something like an aggro deck? For one, rush has an excellent matchup against KotHH. Targ KotHH, specifically Bruno's version, didn't get hurt all that badly in the FAQ. However, as was pointed out to me, the loss of control cards over all (even in other houses) strengthens the rush decks, which in turn hurts the House of Pain.

Another reason someone might want to run rush is that it can be very controlling in its own right. Power Behind the Throne leading off with a decent flop into Blockade (Core) into Fear of Winter (BtW) can establish a significant amount of control while still accumulating significant amounts of power. Stark Siege flipping 3 or 4 epic battles, a non-kneeling character, and Forgotten Plans (KotStorm) can create a one sided valar effect while still working on winning the game quickly.

Rush decks also have the ability to protect their win conditions very well now that there are effectively fewer cards that they have to protect them from. The Power Behind the Throne (LotR) (aka. Power Behind Joffery) can load up on non-kneeling nobles like Cersei, Asha, and Littlefinger then drop power of blood and have their most powerful characters be protected from the easiest form of control (ie. killing) until the end of the game. (Because, let's be honest, if the rush deck doesn't win by at least turn 4, the game is probably ended regardless of how much power the not rush deck is at.) Stark Siege, while not as able to rely on nobles and thus more vulnerable to having its board wiped, can run more cancels, such as paper shield and fear cuts deeper than swords and so protect their win conditions that way (while letting their military challenges wipe their opponent's board, reducing the threat of the opposing military challenges).

Note: While I've been talking about PBtT, Bara noble rush can be substituted although it does have a slightly worse matchup against KotHH because intrigue is where it is at in that matchup. Hyper viper is also a perfectly acceptable rush deck for what I'm talking about though again he also has a bad matchup against KotHH.

Note from WWDrakey: One note about Baratheon vs. KotHH thing. Melisandre's Scheme (RotK) is painful for KotHH in that matchup, since with The Power of Blood (Core)'s in play, everything they burn early in the game actually gets discarded... hence, there tends to be a sudden resurgence of duped Nobles coming out afterwards, instead of Targ grabbing the game and running with it. The number of games I've been winning late-in-the-game with Old School Noble Rush recently has been a bit... surprising.

Rush decks, since they're generally protecting the characters that are getting them power, also make one of the best uses of positive attachments. Positive attachments, especially unique positive attachments, also help protect against burn which is a positive side effect because burn has probably the best way of dealing with power of blooded nobles (threat from the north).

So I hope you enjoyed a bit of an examination in why and how rush has started making a come back.