The First Tilt - Which House is For You: Targaryen, Queen of Dragons

Welcome to “The First Tilt”, a blog dedicated to helping new players get their bearings in A Game of Thrones LCG. We’ll be covering a wide variety of topics, including what to buy, basic strategies and tactics, and getting acquainted with basic themes. The next six articles for The First Tilt are going to be dedicated to discussing the various Houses of Westeros and helping you decide which house is for you. This week we’ll be discussing House Targaryen and their Queen of the Dragons. As usual we’ll start off by discussing their history, flavor, and themes.

House Targaryen is the one faction I had a hard time wrapping my head around as a player. Looking at the Core Set deck, they first appear all over the place. They have a little bit of all three Icons, and more Keywords and Traits than a Meereenese brothel. It’s hard to really get a good flavor out of Targaryen. You see the Dragons, sure, and maybe a little Dothraki but you were expecting that. Warlocks, Unsullied, Mercenaries, and Asshai, gives us a buffet of Traits. They have a very distinct Eastern feel to them (which attracted me to them in the beginning, since I majored in Asian History) but they were just so hard to pin down. But stick it out and you’ll see where Targaryen really shines.

House Targaryen is renowned for the conquest of Westeros. Aegon I and his sisters rode their dragons off of the Dragonstone and brought the Seven Kingdoms to heel. As with all ruling families, their reign was marked by both greatness and madness. The Targaryens have a unique marriage system: marrying brother to sister, etc., to keep the bloodlines pure. The Targaryen reign in Westeroes came to an end with the War of the Usurper, but Daenerys Targaryen managed to escape. And now with three dragons at her command, she is quickly becoming a power in the East. Their words are "Fire and Blood".

Play wise, House Targaryen can cater to a variety of play styles and offer a number of themes for a player to field. The major problem I’ve seen with Targaryen (from a new players point of view) is their lack of income. This shouldn’t surprise you if you’ve read the books. Daenerys and her fledgling empire are always in need of money for one reason or another. However, this can really hurt a new player who isn’t expecting it. If you started playing Stark or Greyjoy, this shouldn’t hinder you too much. But if you are approaching Targaryen from a Lannister or Baratheon perspective, the income problems are very noticeable. This problem can be circumvented with locations and high income Plot cards. But always expect to be a few gold short sometimes if you play Targaryen. However, they make up for it with a lot of cheap or free characters, and several ways to lower gold cost. They also have the Ambush keyword, which allows you to pay for a character with Ambush using influence instead of gold.

Ambush is the House keyword of Targaryen, and it's a lot of fun. You can use influence instead gold to pay for a character and it can be used any phase. This gives a Targaryen player a crazy amount of control in challenges. Ambush can quickly turn a challenge in your favor and keep your opponent off balance. And after experiencing an Ambush or two, I wouldn't be surprised if your opponent went completely on the defense. Keep in mind that you need influence for Ambush, on top of any other cards that have influence costs. Look for cards that provide lots of Influence: Advisor to the Crown (QoD) and Kingsroad Fiefdom (QoD) provide lots of influence and can help your game run smoothly.

Let’s move on to trait related themes. By and far my favorite theme from Targaryen is Dragons, for the obvious reasons. I like Dragons, they are big, breath fire, and generally inspire fear and sow chaos. There is some debate as to whether the Dragon theme is a viable strategy for Targaryen players. A recent chapter pack from the Secrets of Oldtown cycle provided a big help to this strategy with the release of Dragon Lore (CbtC). Attaching it to a Maester allows you to kneel it to lower the cost of the next Dragon you play to 0. Combine that with , Advisor to the Crown (QoD) and you have a very dangerous combo. The Advisor also provides 2 influence which can be incredibly useful in a Dragon deck, when using the the Dragons with the Ambush Keyword. Daenerys Targaryen (QoD)also keeps your Dragons from kneeling to attack, and Astapor (QoD), Meereen (QoD), and Yunkai (QoD) all provide your Dragons with benefits. The Dragon engine, as I've taken to calling it, can really be devastating if you can get all three Dragons into play at the same time and protect them.

My second favorite theme for Targaryen is the Dothraki theme. The Dothraki are clearly inspired by the Mongols, who were a favorite topic of mine in school. The Dothraki hit hard and fast and they are a great theme for new players. There a figuratively dozens of Dothraki cards, and I’m not going to take the time to go through all of them. They generally revolve around Military and Power and can get more Dothraki out quickly. The big thing to remember with Dothraki is that they need to move fast and keep the pressure up. Khal Drogo from almost any set is a great card for a Dothraki deck, as there are several different versions of him and all of them useful in some form. Wedding Feast (MotM) is a great finisher for a Dothraki theme, as it can claim you a lot of power fast.

Also consider some of the Unsullied characters as well. They are a great support theme for Targaryen, and can work well with either Dragon or Dothraki. Pike Phalanx (QoD) is great for raising Claim value, Grey Worm (QoD) offers some control by raising and lowering Strength. Jorah's Cohorts (QoD) plays strongly with Targaryen Attachment control and really throw a kink into your opponents plans.

Keep in mind that these are only a handful of themes available to Targaryen. Targaryen has great attachment control and burn strategies, but we’ll address those later as you become more familiar with the game.

Next week we’ll discuss Greyjoy, the Kings of the Sea.

Thanks for playing along,

Ben