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3
Quill & Tankard Regulars - Vol II, Issue 12
Aug 26 2016 03:45 PM |
istaril
in Game of Thrones
WWDrakey Istaril JCWamma Ire
Quill & Tankard Regulars - Volume 2, Issue 12Beware the Sphinx - Tywin Lannister (Lions)
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.
Tywin (Core) is one of the cards that has garnered the most attention from the competitive community - a truly game-changing body with an effect that has proven itself even more impactful in these early days of a shallow card pool with few economic options. FFG had to be asking themselves: “How do you design another Tywin that can see play when it’s competing with something as versatile as economy, which can already boost so many different themes?†And that riddle’s answer happens to be a Sphinx.
Boy is there a lot to unravel here. A 5 coster (a valuable slot Lannister isn’t exactly overflowing with), a int-power bicon, a keyword, and a triggered ability… with a point of STR over Tyrion (Core), one might say he’s Tyrion writ large. That triggered ability, though, is more than it appears at first glance, so let’s pick it apart:
- Exactly 1 card: This wording is very careful - more careful, in fact, than it needs to be (technically, “1 card†is exactly 1 in this game, while “a card†would be “at least oneâ€). Still, FFG thought they wouldn’t chance it to your fickle interpretations, and is therefore ensuring this card works with the likes of The Tickler (Core) or Pillage, but doesn’t slow the game to a crawl with a big 9 card Loot (Westeros), or The Reader (Westeros).
- “Insteadâ€: Instead is an extremely important word on all cards upon which it appears. It’s an indication of a replacement effect (RR p18), which means that what this ability is doing is not, in and of itself, discarding cards - but changing the way the existing abilities discard cards. The most important ramifications of this is that it allows effects like Ser Gregor Clegane (Westeros) or The Tickler (Core) to take advantage of this filtering, while still being the source of the discard to satisfy their abilities. There’s a second reason to have this word here; if multiple Tywins hit the board, they won’t infinitely chain off each other’s triggers; like any other replacement effect, whomever triggers last will get to apply the effect on the discard.
But of course, where he really shines right now is alongside what we like to call “Tywin’s Monstersâ€: the mad dogs he unleashes on the riverlands to sack, pillage and wreak havoc. The beauty of this is how they stack with one another; as each pillage happens in turn, multiple pillages will allow you to “dig†through a deck to set up the perfect Gregor or Tickler trigger.
Here’s how it goes:
- Attack with Tywin, pillage, and see two non-characters - ditch one.
- Attack with Wildling Horde (Core) and Gregor together.
- Resolve Wildling Horde’s pillage first (as an optional, “may†effect, the controller gets to decide which happens first), and you’ll find the non-character you didn’t ditch for Tywin’s pillage and a new card... let’s say it’s a 3 cost character. Ditch the non-character.
- You're left with Gregor’s pillage trigger - guaranteed to hit at least a 3 cost character, or whatever that 4th card from the top in his deck was.
In many ways, this new Tywin is very good at pointing Gregor (and his men) in the right direction… and allowing them to let loose. And he also acts as the “brains†of the outfit, bringing order and manipulation into their otherwise somewhat unpredictable efforts.
The Raven’s Message
The Raven’s Message exclusively reveals and discusses an up-and-coming, either mechanically or rules-wise interesting, card. The cards are from future products, and have been obtained directly via raven from the Archmaesters at the (FFG) Citadel.
Tywin is interesting, but is he good? Is he condemned to the binder by having the same name as an extremely powerful core card? While his cost-slot is probably enough to avoid true ‘binder fodder’ status with the new competition for 7-costers coming from the Lions box, we think Tywin’s true power will depend upon the “Monsters†he has at his command. Gregor, the Tickler… and Ser Gregor’s Marauders.
Aside from the fact that they get better by being more likely to stand if you have Tywin, and, by virtue of having Pillage, make Tywin (and Gregor, and the Tickler) inherently better too - these are excellently positioned at an otherwise extremely depleted Lannister 4 cost slot. Cersei Lannister (Core), Chella Daughter of Cheyk (Lions) and Gold Cloaks (Core) are the only three contenders, and these Marauders have a perfectly serviceable cost-to-STR ratio, icon pairing, and the chance at action economy.
But for the first non-unique pillage-equipped card in Lannister, they’re also likely to fuel the deck Istaril is really looking forward to building… Tywin’s Monsters.
Questioned by the Conclave
Questioned by the Conclave is a series of quizzes for our readers, loosely based around the topics of the Issue in question. Correct answers will be posted in the comments, after enough readers have had their chance of testing their knowledge. The difficulty of the questions will vary from those directed at Apprentices, to those best suited for Archmaesters.
- You have two Ser Gregor’s Marauders on the board, and you attack with both, kneeling them. You win the challenge, and resolve the first Marauder’s pillage, whiffing - you pillage an attachment. You resolve the second Marauder’s pillage, and - lo and behold - you pillage an event. Do you get to stand both Marauders? Why or why not?
- Your opponent decides to Loot (Westeros) you (Reaction: After you win an unopposed challenge, discard the top X cards from the losing opponent's deck.), spending your gold, but you only have 1 gold remaining - so she is going to be discarding 1 card. Can you trigger Tywin’s Interrupt?
- Jojen Reed (Kings), an upcoming card from “There is My Claimâ€, has an ability that reads:
“Reaction: After Jojen Reed stands, reveal the top card of each player's deck. You may either: discard each of those cards, or have each player draw 1 card.†How does Tywin’s ability interact with this one?
- Zouavez likes this
11 Comments
1) Yes. I believe you also can if an opponent's Ser Gregor's Marauders pillage an event.
2) Not so sure here, but my instinct is a yes as exactly 1 card is discarded.
3) If Jojen chooses to draw, nothing happens. If discard is chosen, then exactly 1 card has been discarded so again I think Tywin can trigger (on both discards).
(As a usual note, I'll avoid posting the answers until a few people have had a chance to try their luck. Expect them tonight)
1) No. Self referential abilities only apply to the card that triggers them, not to other copies of it that are in play.
2) Yes. After all the modifiers are applied the X assumes the value of 1, at which point it's eligible for Tywin to trigger.
3) I believe if discard is chosen as an option Tywin's controller can choose one of the players as target for his trigger (following the 1 activation per trigger rule).
1) No. RRG Pg. 19, Self-referential text: "When a card's text refers to its own title, it is referring to itself only, and not to other copies (by title) of the card. Therefore, only the Marauder who successfully pillaged an event will get to stand.
2) Not positive, but I think not. I feel the use of the word "exactly" in Tywin's ability is meant to keep such a scenario from occurring; only abilities which are designed to discard one card will get his boost.
3) Again, I think no. Jojen's effect is to reveal cards, not discard. The second sentence feels like an effect such as Arianne's, it just doesn't use the word "then."
1) No. For the same reason Bastard's Daughter doesn't stack off eachother. Can't remember the specifics
2) Yes? I feel like this is fine, after costs have been paid ect before the pillage resolves you know it will be 1 card and not a variable value so he can work.
3) No? Not too certain on this one but I feel like Jojen's action is creating a different scenario than Tywin can apply his ability too, since the cards are revealed already and then they either get discarded or go to the players hand. I feel like it is too late for Tywin to go back and check the top 2 instead before the discard happens. Least certain of this than the other answers
Agreed!
2. Yes. Tywin doesn't care about how many cards a card potentially discards, simply that exactly 1 card is discarded from the deck.
3. No, because the cards would be discarded from a revealed state, not from a deck. If Jojen didn't have the reveal clause, but simply discarded from each deck, them Tywin would be able to trigger once for each player.
1) No. Self-referential text is self-referential.
2) Yes. Tywin says "when exactly 1 card is discarded", doesn't matter how we got there, Loot for 1 gold will discard 1 card.
3) Hey, I think I asked that one some time ago! When Jojen chooses to discard cards, Tywin can trigger once for each player. Revealed cards are still in the deck.
1) No. Self referential rule.
2) Yes, it is ONE card discarded.
3) Tricky one, I'd say no because they are 2 cards at the same time and they are revealed.
Malkavian, parralex0889 and mplain got all 3 answers correct - congratulations! Thanks to those of you who posted answers - it tells us the quizzes are appreciated, and it can also help us calibrate our articles to cover topics that might need it more. Nobody judges someone for getting a rules question like these wrong - the very fact that we picked the question already throws people off making them wary of traps!
1. A resounding no because of the "self-referrential" rule. This is from p19 of the RR
Actually, Malkavian said that Tywin would trigger only once for both players