Scheming on the Sands - You've Been FAQed

Scheming on the Sands – “You’ve Been FAQed”

It’s time for another edition of Scheming on the Sands. For this edition we’ll review the fallout from the 4.0 FAQ and see where we’re Martell stands and how they’ll cope with the significant changes to the restricted list. I had planned to talk about Naval Enhancement but given the big changes in the new FAQ seems like it’s better to do a quick rundown of what’s going on.

New Restrictions

You’ve probably already seen the new list so I won’t bother re-posting all of it here; in case you haven’t you can find the list in the FAQ on the Fantasy Flight website.

Here are the key cards that got added for Joust: A Game of Cyvasse (ACoS), The Scourge (ODG), Refugee of the Citadel (RoW), Orphan of the Greenblood (PotS)
For Melee: The Red Viper (PotS), Hellholt Engineer (CbtC), and The Scourge (ODG)

Sidenote: I’m not clear why PoS Viper is not restricted in joust. I’ve been thinking about it since the updated FAQ was released and I can’t come to a good conclusion. Community insights on this would be welcome.

What Does This Mean?

First off, keep in mind that dynamics vary between Joust and Melee. If you are Melee centric then the updates to the list probably don’t affect you all that much. Your Maester deck is essentially in the same condition as it was before; other control decks are largely untouched with the possible exception of trading out one card for another. The only big question you need to ask yourself is if you want to use The Red Viper (PotS) or not.

For joust, things are quite different. So let’s break it down a bit:

Martell Maesters will require rethinking.
Rushy Maester decks were on the way out in the FAQ update that made The Maester's Path (GotC) restricted. With The Conclave (CbtC) and all the refugees—Refugee of the Citadel (RoW) for Martell—being restricted in joust now the consensus is that Martell Maester rush is no longer feasible. The Conclave being restricted it’s not such a big deal as the refugees fueled the cost reduction for them anyway. So the value of the refugees was really in setup efficiency. More control oriented Maester builds may still have life in them, but the global meta will need some time to determine what might work here. Oh, and Tin Link (CbtC) got restricted as well; so you’ll have to put in some effort to get rid of attachments too.

Setup efficiency took a big hit, but Martell shouldn't care.
Setup efficiency hit everyone pretty equally. Martell Knights of the Hollow Hill (MotM) doesn't care about this obviously. As previously mentioned, Martell Maesters did. The easy answer is to just use Lost Spearman (MotM) instead. Arguably they are better in every way; especially if you get them down in setup. The downside was that they didn't have good synergy with Maester builds as neatly as the Refugees of the Citadel. Many other Martell deck types used the Lost Spearman already so in the broad scheme of things Martell setup strategy won’t change much (if at all). Overall in this regard I think Martell might be up slightly relative to the other houses since several of their builds were more dependent on their refugees.

Martell control needs to become less dependent on old icon manipulation.
This is the change I personally like the least. With Orphan of the Greenblood (PotS) and The Scourge (ODG) both restricted now Martell’s options for challenge control become less obvious. Add in that A Game of Cyvasse (ACoS) is also restricted and then things get even muddier. My guess—similar to that of many others—is that Fantasy Flight is trying to get players to use new cards more to churn the meta. Greenblood Merchant (ARotD) and Qhoyne (THoBaW) come to mind straight off. Relative to Orphans and the Scourge they weren't as good. Now that we are forced into making a choice these cards might get a fair shake now. Who knows we might even come to like them.

Greenblood Merchant is possibly the best weapon against Targaryen KotHH.
In a joust environment Greenblood Merchant will give your Targaryen opponent a sort of Sophie’s choice. Spend an influence to keep icons on key challenge characters or keep the influence for Ambush. They suffer enough from a slow start; make them suffer more by soaking influence. If you like, drop in Edric Dayne (IG) to show them how you really feel.

Ghaston Grey will probably take preeminence over Cyvasse.
A Game of Cyvasse will remain a strong control card, but now it’s a much harder choice to include in your deck. I’m going to guess that Ghaston Grey (FtC) will now become the first choice for character bouncing. It wasn't bad before, but Cyvasse + Scourge/Orphans was perhaps too easy.

Like everyone else, Martell attachments will probably see a comeback.
With Tin Link less likely to ravage the board of attachments expect Taste for Blood (PotS), Poisoned Knife (ASoSilence), and maybe even Venomous Blade (TBoBB) to make a comeback. Poisoned Knife is another good control option, though not quite as reliable as Lost Oasis (AToT); at least it’s another way to force Targ KotHH to burn influence for things they don’t want to. Other Weapon attachments maybe viable depending on builds. I doubt a lot of the Condition attachments will see much more play as there’s plenty of stuff out there that can target Condition.

Play The Red Viper (APS) more.
This applies more to melee due to differing restrictions but I think it’s worth considering playing The Red Viper (APS) in joust as well. Everyone else is going to be bumping up claim, especially with Naval Superiority (TGF) out and Martell stuck on land for the time being. The stealth will be more useful as well since icon manipulation won’t quite carry the punch it used to anymore.

What Happens Now?

It’s time to go back to the drawing board and reconsider using newer cards that we felt weren't worthy of replacing older ones. As previously stated, Maester rush is pretty much out. Knights of the Hollow Hill isn't heavily effected though some decks will need a bit of tweaking. Summer decks are up in the air.

As Shadowcat remarked in last week’s Much and More, it’s time to play and test. Revisit some old under used cards (The Viper's Rage (TftRK) maybe). Look at new options that have recently come out (I think Greenblood Merchant and Qhoyne should be taken seriously). Build new decks, try things out, and discuss. The regionals will very likely bring in a lot of insights on where the meta is shifting; will old decks just be tuned or will new archetypes emerge? Will Martell Knights become a thing now?

Finally, everything I've said in this article might turn out to be completely wrong. I hope it’s not! I’m speculating based on my own experience while incorporating the analysis of the community at large. Hopefully I've given you some food for thought on how to cope for what seems like a dark period for Martell at the moment.

Next Time

On the next edition of Scheming on the Sands; well swing back on course and discuss Naval Enhancement and what Martell can do being stranded on shore.