Rise of the Kraken - Weenie Characters

We're not going to go as broad as to just say "character" or "attachment" though..... trying to cover that big of a category would make a pretty tl;dr article. Instead I'll be looking to analyze a narrower range of cards which Greyjoy excels in--that of cheap or "weenie" characters. It's precisely because Greyjoy has so many strong options in the 2 cost or less range that the subject merits attention. It's going to be nigh impossible to use every single option in your deck (yes--even with The Long Voyage), so you'll need to consider which ones fit your theme/strategy best.

While Greyjoy may have a lot of great 1 and 2 cost options, they're actually the house most lacking when it comes to 0 cost characters. They literally only have 1, the refugee, which is of course restricted and therefore worthy of including in a discussion more focused on choosing a restricted card rather than exploring weenie options. Either it's your restricted card or it isn't, it can't really be compared to the non-restricted cards in its card range since the opportunity cost it presents is so different from theirs.

Oh, and don't worry, we're not going to look at *every* Greyjoy weenie here, regardless of viability. That would still make for much too lengthy of an article, I believe. Instead I'm only going to focus on those that I find particularly noteworthy (which is still a pretty healthy portion, mind you).

1 Cost Characters

Iron Islands Brigand (TCC) - I'm probably bringing this guy in more because he's a brand new card than anything else. Time has told us about the viability of most cards but this guy is still untested simply because he hasn't been around long enough. I've seen some people who consider him to have potential and others who are unimpressed. While it's true that you generally want to avoid monocons, it's also true that he lends support to a lot of different themes for only 1 gold. With his ability, naval enhancement and raider trait he can fit nicely into, for example, two of the decks we've covered recently on Rise of the Kraken (black sails and raiders), and is also worth a look for choke (though he could easily still lose out to the old standbys there).

Fishwhiskers (CtB) - Fishwhiskers requires a specific kind of deck to work, but if your deck is that type, he might as well be a unique refugee. Generally I think about his requirement the same way I think about how many limited cards to use in the deck--if I've got about a tenth of my deck or more as warships, I'll use him. Given his absurd cost-effectiveness I'd advocate at least two copies in a deck that can use him. This is exactly the kind of card that showcases the strength of Greyjoy in this category.

Distinguished Boatswain (TftRK) - Pretty much a non-restricted refugee. AFAIK any Greyjoy player should still use 3 in every deck.

Maester Kerwin (VM) - This innocuous little card packs quite a bit of utility. At least one copy seems to find its way into most Greyjoy decks and for good reason; in addition to a potentially useful ability it sports a learned crest to fuel Wendamyr during a Valar turn and cheap intrigue is very useful to a house which is relatively lacking in it. That said, he may get edged out in decks emphasizing a specific theme which he doesn't mesh with in favor of cards that better support that theme (for example, a choke deck may elect to use the newly-released Iron Islands Brigand over him for more redundancy in location control).

2 Cost Characters

Maester Murenmure (CbtC) - Pretty much a 2 cost Kerwin, but with a power icon instead of the learned crest. While he's definitely a solid card, I'd include him mainly if you need to shore up an intrigue hole, as his ability is often not really of use (outside of choke decks of course). The requirement to kneel is a fairly hefty cost--sure, you can cancel that Distraction, but you still end up down a dude. The fact that you're kneeling one of your precious intrigue icons makes it worse, as unlike a military weenie you'll very often be missing that extra int strength come the challenge phase.

Qarl the Maid (AJE) -This is another new card, and one that I really think we'll see getting a lot of use out of Greyjoy. Int and mil is a great icon combo; cheap int and mil is better; cheap naval int and mil is even better yet. Then you toss in that ability and Greyjoy's two favorite traits? I can easily see this slotting in over older 2 cost int icons like Murenmure or Kingsmoot Hopeful.

Ironborn Marauder (TGF) - Also a fairly recent addition to the cardpool, he manages to pack so much into such a simple card. Raiders that actually break even in their cost-to-strength ratio were sorely needed, and on top of that, he can kneel for Finger Dance (WLL) and make naval attacks for you. Unfortunately he is still a bit bland; naval is nice but I don't see it beating the abilities on some other cards (we just looked at one such card, Qarl the Maid). Worth a look for raider or naval focused decks though.

Maester Wendamyr (KotS) -This is one of those cards that has undergone the test of time and passed with flying colors. Much as with Distinguished Boatswain, every Greyjoy deck should use this guy, especially with Targ burn no longer as dominant as it was. He's pure gold in any other matchup. The question isn't whether to include him, but rather, how many copies? I usually go for 2 but I wouldn't judge you for 3.

Wex Pyke (KotS) -This is a card I don't see very often but one I still think has plenty of potential use. Even if the opponent has a character with a crest to defend, it's very often not a character they want to waste on defense. Most Lannister opponents are going to let your 1 str int go through rather than defend with Cersei, for example. With burn and Dissension both seeming to be on a downswing his vulnerabilities are less of a problem as well. He's worth a look for an aggro deck that's trying to win 2 claim challenges, as he certainly makes it easier to push challenges through when he's on deck. Even if he gets discarded by Dissension after one round, if he won a 2 claim int for you on that one turn, I'd say he was worth his cost. Vulnerabilities are still vulnerabilities, though, so I don't know if I'd use him outside of that type of deck.

Sea Raiders (KotS)/Kingsmoot Hopeful (FtC) --I tend to lump these two together since they're more or less the same card with an icon switched. The advent of the Long Voyage has actually made them quite a bit easier to use, I think, since you can toss in 3-4 more limited cards and still have the same limited--non limited ratio as a 60 card deck would. These cards may very well slot perfectly into those extra limited spots. Kingsmoot Hopeful seems like the obvious choice for its int icon, and it often is, but specific decks that need cost-efficient military do still exist here, with Maesters being the prime example.


There's plenty more weenies out there for Greyjoy, some of them even very viable, but only in a specific decktype which they are fairly obviously suited for. For example, obviously Ice Fisherman (TWoW) has seen use in competitive decks, but just as obviously, you're only going to use it in a winter deck, most likely of the choke variety. I could include my comments on these cards but they tend towards the self-explanatory side so I've elected not to. Given that any Greyjoy deck almost certainly fits one of these specific themes that has certain weenies geared specifically towards it, the pool of cheap characters open to you is actually going to be even larger than this article would suggest. You're going to have to weigh guys that fit your theme against those with more general strength or utility like the Kingsmoot Hopeful. With any luck, this article can at least serve as a starting point when thinking about those choices.

Until next time, my ironborn brethren!