Quill & Tankard Regulars - Issue 15

Quill & Tankard Regulars - Issue 15

So, all you young initiates there on the benches with your full tankards, it seems that today I have little and less to teach you.

Oh, so can we now finally have our Valyrian Steel Links?

By the Seven, of course not. I just told you. I have Little and Less to teach you. Now, everybody, take notes...

NOTE: There has been updated information on how Little and Less functions from FFG after this article has been written. Due to the use of the word play, the card only works on Responses played from your hand, mainly events. Details for what this means are still being discussed, but the text of the article has already been fixed to suit this new information.


Beware the Sphinx – Little and Less

Beware the Sphinx is a series of articles concentrating on important cards with several peculiar, complex or unintuitive interactions. An emphasis is kept on both new and competitively relevant cards. Remember, the Sphinx is the riddle, not the riddler.

Instead of poring through old and dusty tomes for secrets and oddities long forgotten, this week we are living in the here and now, embracing change as new winds sweep across the landscape of the AGoT LCG. Most people are already aware that A Roll of Dice recently came out, concluding the Beyond the Narrow Sea Cycle. And what a Grande Finale it was, one with no expenses spared on pyromancers and jesters. Two cards in particular from this Chapter Pack will have long reaching implications on the game, and today we're going to be talking about one of them. No, not the fun one, with images of new deck ideas springing to life in your head. That other one, the one that makes you groan as you face the fact that you might actually need to learn how all of the player actions, framework actions and especially responses go. Yeah, you know the one we're talking about, the one that makes you feel like you will need to learn much and more, so that you know how to best utilize Little and Less.



SCOPE

So, what we have is an event that stops all response played from your hand (primarily events) until the end of the phase, and can be played in any response window – why is this such a big deal? Well, let's first look at a pool of competitively often seen event cards – Red Vengeance (PotS), No Quarter (TBC), Condemned by the Council (AToT)... What do you notice? Yeah, that all important Response: word in there.


What we're looking at with Little and Less is the very real possibility of no kill/location discard events being played from an aggressive Stark deck or no fear of having your challenge turned in your face with Red Vengeance (PotS)... that is the big deal.

TIMING

What does the You may play this card during any response window text on Little and Less actually mean? Well, firstly, according to FFG, it does NOT mean that you can play it also as a save/cancel response. So we're left with step 5 of each Player and Framework Action Window.

At this point it could be helpful to get out the FAQ document and open it at pages 20 and 21. See those gray boxes headed Framework Action? Well, those are Framework Action Windows, and except for the "End of Phase" Framework Action Windows, they all come with a step 5: Responses, and all offer you the chance to play Little and Less, even without responding to anything specific. Likewise, all Player Actions (including bringing a card out of Shadows) give you the opportunity to play the card. It is important to note that the depicted Framework Action Windows are there, whether the players do anything or not. You can always play Little and Less during these Framework Action Windows. On the other hand, response opportunities to Player Actions only exist when an actual player action is triggered. If no player triggers an action during a Player Action Window, you can't play Little and Less during that window.

It might be good to list some of the most common Framework and Player Action Windows where you would possibly like to play Little and Less, and then see how the interaction plays out:

Beginning of Phase Framework Action – In the Beginning of Phase Framework Action window (which starts each phase) there is a response step, that normally sees very little use. However, you can trigger Little and Less there, to prevent all responses for the whole phase. However, remember that shadows are brought out during the Framework Action (see our Citadel Custom here for details), before this step.

Shadows – After a card is brought out from shadows, the player to the left of the player bringing that card out gets the first opportunity to trigger a Response:. Effectively for Little and Less this means that if your opponent brings out a shadows event, you can play Little and Less before they have a chance to trigger it's effect.

Plots – Response: effects to choosing and revealing plots, counting initiative etc. in the main Framework Action of the Plot phase are played only after When revealed... passives, save/cancel effects to them and even other passives (Golden Tooth Mines (Core)) have already been resolved. This effectively means that you cannot play Little and Less as a response to your opponent revealing Valar Morghulis (Core), in order to stop them from using events like Risen from the Sea (KotS) or Retreat (Core). In order to stop those events during a Valar, Little and Less needs to be played earlier in the phase (Beginning of Phase Framework Action or in Response to a Player Action), before plots are even chosen. Effectively this means that you will be telegraphing your move, so your opponent will have the chance to choose their plot appropriately.

Marshalling – Marshalling a card by paying its cost is a Player Action, so again the opponent to your left gets the first opportunity to respond. This means that you can play Little and Less as a response to your opponent making a player action.

Challenges (Framework Actions) – In the Challenges phase there are a huge number of possible spots for playing Little and Less, let's look at a few of them. Declaring and kneeling attackers for a challenge is a Framework Action, and there's another one where you choose stealth targets and your opponent declares and kneels defenders. Then there's also the one where responses are usually played, the Framework Action where the winner of the challenge is determined, claim is settled, keywords take effect etc. As these are all Framework events, the First Player always gets the first opportunity to respond. It should also be stressed that responses can only be played in step 5 of the Framework Action Window, once all Framework events and all passive effects have happened. Effects like Red Vengeance (PotS), Misinformation (TWH) or Burning on the Sand (RotO) are cancel responses - in order to stop them you will need to telegraph the move by playing Little and Less earlier in the phase, before that actual "Resolve Challenge" Framework Action begins.

Challenges (Player Actions) – Between each of the Framework Actions in the Challenge-phase, there are Player Action opportunities. If any player plays a Player Action (A Game of Cyvasse (ACoS), triggering Robb Stark (LoW) etc.), then you can respond to that via Little and Less. As these are player actions, the player to the left of the triggering player gets the first opportunity to respond. Again, if no player triggers an action during those windows, there is no opportunity to play Little and Less either.

Dominance – There is no Player Action opportunity between the Beginning of Phase Framework Action and the counting of dominance Framework Action, so if you want to completely cancel responses to winning dominance, it is easiest to play Little and Less in the Beginning of Phase Framework Action. You can also play it in response to the counting dominance Framework Action, but remember that First Player again gets the first Response: opportunity.

As you can see, Little and Less is a tricky card, a true Sphinx to say the least. How do you feel about Little and Less, and the effects it has on the game? Tell us in the comments below!

Dear Archmaester

Dear Archmaester collects interesting, unusual and unexpected rulings from the FFG Rules forum.

Q: Dear Archmaester, I kneel my glorious Refurbished Hulk (OSaS) to pay the cost of Flood Waters (ARotD). I have several river plots in my used pile and I decide to activate Before the Black Walls (VD). There is also On Dagger Lake (VD) below it in the used pile, am I allowed to trigger it as well since Before the Black Walls says "Then, if this is your revealed plot card, trigger the 'when revealed' effect of the top River plot card in your used pile."?

A: No. Since Before the Black Walls isn't your revealed plot card you cannot use its then effect even when you are mimicking the plots revealing. See here for details.

Antti Korventausta (WWDrakey) is a self-proclaimed Finnish AGoT philosopher and nitpicker, who also used to practice Quantum Mechanics, but found that it paled to AGoT in both interest and complexity. As a Stahleck regular and judge, he sometimes has oddly vivid dreams of understanding portions of the game. In AGoT, he'll play anything as long as it's suitably twisted... often ending up with something that has horns on it.

Helmut Hohberger (Ratatoskr) started playing AGoT in September 2010 and has never looked back (although his wife has, longingly). As a German, he loves rules - and I mean *loves* 'em. Try triggering a Response at the end of a phase on his watch, and he'll probably invade your country. He has actually read the FAQ, and was made a judge at Stahleck 2011 and at various other events. He sometimes answers rules questions on boardgamegeek and the FFG rules board. Some of his answers haven't even been contradicted, corrected or expanded upon by ktom - there is no higher accolade for a rules board morlock.

Every Maester needs a Raven on his shoulder. As a Finn, Iiro Jalonen (Ire) got pulled under the waves by Krakens years ago, and has never looked back. A self-inflicted Shagga and active member of the global AGoT community, he has always strived to know the rules of the game, in order to make them do ridiculous things.