Reviews for N00bs - A Time of Ravens: The Raven’s Song

The Raven’s Song

Overall Theme: 5

Overall Efficiency: 4.5


This chapter pack introduces rookeries, which are a fiddly way to manipulate your plot deck outside of the plot phase. All rookeries require a trigger condition, which have varying degrees of difficulty and cost 1 gold to pull off. I don’t see much value in rookeries for a few reasons: 1) they require a couple of triggers, some of which are determined by your opponent; 2) they require you to hold a gold, so if the other trigger doesn’t happen you’ve wasted a gold; 3) if you are successful at pulling it off, you also have to have the right plot at the right moment; 4) it’s arguable that there aren’t really that many plot effects that you’d want to go through all that trouble to trigger.



Here are a few ideas for revealing new plots.

• Cycle through City plots faster, which have stronger effects with more City plots in your used pile.
• Play Valar Morghulis (Core) and reveal a new plot to get past the 0-claim. Or reveal Valar Dohaeris (TWH) if your opponent has lots of standing effects for a nasty surprise.
• Reveal something like The Power of Arms (Core) for instant buff and 2-claim surprise.
• Reveal into or out of Fear of Winter (BtW) to prevent your opponent from marshalling or playing events respectively.
• Reveal something like Winter Festival (WotN) or The Minstrel's Muse (RotO) when you are within reach of a win. Often you can turn this situation into an advantage since your opponent could do less to prevent it by challenges phase.
• Reveal Focused Offense (QoD) for the last initiated challenge, which you wouldn’t want to do if an opponent still has their challenges phase.
• If you are Greyjoy, reveal a plot with higher-income, then reveal Rise of the Kraken (KotS) after that first won military challenge.

There are probably some other ideas that would work, so you just have to experiment to see if they actually will work in practice.


Except for Samwell, Kraznys mo Nakloz, and Renly Baratheon, this pack isn’t that great.




House Stark

Overall Theme: 3

Overall Efficiency: 3


Northern Scavengers (TRS) - Theme: 2; Efficiency: 4

• This strength of this card is meta-defined. You will want to play this after considering what other people you play with typically play. If you tend to face a lot of Stark and Lannister, then this might be a good card for your deck.
• If you aren’t playing against Stark or Lannister, then the risk is that you discard a card from your hand. Since card draw is more difficult for Stark, and not as problematic for Lannister, this really will only hurt Stark, and then you have as good a chance of hurting yourself as your opponent.
• It’s a good cost-power ratio. The only thing better for the gold is Bolton characters.

Winterfell Rookery (TRS) - Theme: 4; Efficiency: 1

• This requires you to lose a military challenge to trigger, which basically means that your opponent can decide when to trigger this effect. He can wait until you don’t have a gold, or when he knows that the plot won’t make a difference. So you will continuously choke your own income, which is bad.
• Bran Stark (LoW) is better at revealing new plots.

House Lannister

Overall Theme: 4

Overall Efficiency: 3


Grand Maester Pycelle (Core) - Theme: 4; Efficiency: 4

• At 2-str it makes him a lot more vulnerable to Venomous Blade (TBoBB) and Targaryen burn effects, which makes his response a lot harder to trigger when you want. An opponent could easily kill him during any other phase.
• This effect might be good to get back good search plots, such as At the Gates (GotC), or that plot that gets stuck in your used plot pile at the end of the seventh round. How critical is that? Probably not very.

Lannisport Rookery (TRS) - Theme: 4; Efficiency: 2

• This requires you to lose an intrigue challenge to trigger, which basically means that your opponent can decide when to trigger this effect. He can wait until you don’t have a gold, or when he knows that the plot won’t make a difference. So you will continuously choke your own income, which is bad.
• The upside is that Lannister typically has the income to spare, and cycling through City plots (which work really well in a Lannister kneel deck).
• Also this could be very good combined with Lady Genna (CBtC) and Maester Creylen (FtC), since you’ll get to initiate another intrigue challenge, and you’ll have gold saved to trigger Maester Creylen’s ability.

House Baratheon

Overall Theme: 6.5

Overall Efficiency: 5


Renly Baratheon (TRS) - Theme: 9; Efficiency: 9

• Probably the best Renly Baratheon version because he is much more efficient for the cost, even despite his fickle ability. Renly Baratheon (Core) is easily killed, and Renly Baratheon (KotStorm) is too expensive.
• Play him in combination with The Stormlands (KotStorm) to get at least a card every power challenge. Card draw is lacking for Baratheon, and while this isn’t the best for draw, it might be able to draw you one every once in a while.

Dragonstone Rookery (TRS) - Theme: 4; Efficiency: 1

• This requires you to lose a power challenge to trigger, which basically means that your opponent can decide when to trigger this effect. He can wait until you don’t have a gold, or when he knows that the plot won’t make a difference. So you will continuously choke your own income, which is bad.
• I don’t think it’s ever worth losing power challenges intentionally just to trigger this effect.
• Baratheon is better at manipulating other players’ plot decks, so play Margaery Tyrell (ASitD) and wait until they trigger their rookery, so you waste their resources and screw up their plans.

House Targaryen

Overall Theme: 6

Overall Efficiency: 5.5



Kraznys mo Nakloz (TRS) - Theme: 8; Efficiency: 6

• Ally trait makes him vulnerable, but he is okay in terms of efficiency.
• This is an interesting ability, and can be used to devastating effect: take control of a player’s Bodyguard (Core) and move it to your lord or lady; take control of Shaggydog (LoW) and use him to give your opponent’s character -2; take control of a Pyromancer's Cache (TWot5K) to get additional draw. Since you’re paying the printed gold cost, it doesn’t matter if it’s out-of-house.
• Often simply taking control of it is enough. You don’t have to move it to one of your characters. If you don’t have a lord or lady for Bodyguard to go to, you can still take control and choose that opponent’s character; you still get to make the decision to trigger it, so the Bodyguard is useless for them.
• Attachment restrictions still apply, so you could not use his ability to discard attachments by moving them to inelligable characters.

Qartheen Rookery (TRS) - Theme: 4; Efficiency: 5

• This requires you to win a power challenge to trigger, which is better than the Baratheon rookery because at least you have more control over when you can trigger this effect. You can have a better idea in marshalling if can win the challenge and make the decision then to keep a gold.

House Martell

Overall Theme: 4

Overall Efficiency: 5


Rookery of Sunspear (TRS) - Theme: 4; Efficiency: 5

• This requires you to win an intrigue challenge to trigger, which is better than the Lannister rookery because at least you have more control over when you can trigger this effect. You can have a better idea in marshalling if can win the challenge and make the decision then to keep a gold.

House Greyjoy

Overall Theme: 4

Overall Efficiency: 5


Island Rookery (TRS) - Theme: 4; Efficiency: 5

• This requires you to win a military challenge to trigger, which is better than the Stark rookery because at least you have more control over when you can trigger this effect. You can have a better idea in marshalling if can win the challenge and make the decision then to keep a gold.

Neutral

Overall Efficiency: 5


Dawn (TRS) - Efficiency: 6

• Synergy with House Dayne trait and with Ser Arthur Dayne (TWoW).
• This is almost a better Ice (Core), if you have fewer, stronger characters. However, there are fewer characters that this is legal to attach to, the best candidates being Ser Arthur Dayne (TWoW), Knights of the Sun (ASoS), Darkstar (PotS), and maybe Starfall Advisor (TWH).
• Obviously, it’s better to play this defensively because you can see how many characters are committed before you commit and kill one, which is classic Martell deterrence.

Samwell Tarly (TRS) - Efficiency: 9

• This is one of the key cards in one of the best neutral draw engines in the game.
• Combine this with Carrion Birds, Oldtown Raven, and either Black Raven or White Raven, and you will be drawing a lot of cards.
• This triggers off of your opponent’s Raven cards as well.
• The only problem is keeping Samwell Tarly alive long enough to capitalize on his draw. The good thing is that even if he is killed the draw is kind of a secondary effect to the main purpose of the ravens being in your deck (i.e. Carrion Birds are just good, and you’ll run the ravens for a season).
• With The North Night’s Watch agendas (The Rangers (WotN), The Stewards (AKitN), The Builders (ASitD)), you can actually give him icons and he can do more than draw cards.

Fights No Sword Can Win (TRS) - Efficiency: 5

• Synergy with Intrigue Gambit traited plot cards. There are only 7, and only a few are good.
• This is a powerful effect though, which allows you to totally shut down an opponent’s ability to kill your characters (and since a majority of characters that have military icons also have power icons, this is a bonus). However, it also kneels your own dudes.
• Easily cancelled by Paper Shield (QoD).
• This is probably best in Lannister or Martell, or maybe a Greyjoy holy deck.

The Raven's Message (TRS) - Efficiency: 6

• Synergy with Power Struggle traited plot cards. There are only 7, and only a few are good. Play it with The Stormlands so you don’t have to worry about seeding your plot deck with bad plots to ensure this goes off when you need it to.
• This is a powerful effect though, which allows you to not have to worry about your opponent trashing your hand if you have bad draw. However, it also kneels your own dudes.
• Easily cancelled by Paper Shield.
• This is probably best in Baratheon.

At the Point of a Blade (TRS) - Efficiency: 3

• Synergy with Military Battle traited plot cards. There are only 7, and only a few are good.
• While this is a powerful effect, it is probably the least useful of the three, simply because the vast majority of characters with power icons, also have military icons, so you’d be kneeling a lot of your own characters most likely.
• Easily cancelled by Paper Shield.
• This is best in a Stark siege deck, probably with a lot of Direwolf characters.

Vale Rookery (TRS) - Efficiency: 3

• This is not extremely useful, except if you want to play Valar Dohaeris, which would be hilarious. But since that is the only very apparent combo, your opponent would likely see it coming.
• It is another way to get past the detriments of Valar Morghulis.

Heart of the Kingdom (TRS) - Efficiency: 4

• There are very few Kingdom locations that you would want to play. You may be able to kneel some Kingdom of Shadows (KotS) before their effects are triggered to get additional ammo for this card. Another option is Shivering Sea (KotS), and amazingly The Stormlands (KotStorm).
• Without additional Kingdom locations, paying 2 for +1 strength once per phase is not worth it.

The Tower of Joy (TRS) - Efficiency: 7

• Like Dawn, this triggers when you have fewer participating characters, which lends itself to Martell or House Tully strategy, or perhaps Kingsguard. Anything defensive really.
• You can kill any character, not just participating, which is very good.

Desolate Passage (TRS) - Efficiency: 5

• I’m not sure about this plot. It seems that it would be too inconsistent and may backfire on you.
• If you have tricky ways to boost or your characters, or a lot of stealth or intimidate, this may be a good plot.

The Raven's Song (TRS) - Efficiency: 2

• Why you would care enough about an opponent’s season to actually factor this into your plot deck and overall strategy, I don’t know. If you care that much about King Robert's Hammer (TBoBB), maybe?