The Grand Melee - A Pack of Wolves

The Grand Melee - A Pack of Wolves


Hello everyone! Welcome back to the Grand Melee! Today we are going to do something a bit different but hopefully more down to earth. After discussing the difference between Joust and Melee, we are now going to move on to house specific musings. In line with BenStark's article (First Tilt - Which House is for you, Part 1: Stark), we will first look at House Stark. Before we go any further I must apologise, this article will surely be full of holes and bad calls. The reason? I pride myself in disliking Starks and I having never played them at a tourney However, I hope this will still make sense and give you a feel for what the House of the Wolf can do in Melee.


The first decision facing us is wheter or not to play The Siege of Winterfell (LoW). This is obviously a good choice in Melee as extra power is key, especially since you can redirect military challenges towards you with the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Title. However, this identifies you as a big threat at the table and limits your choice of Title. For that reason, and because I like being different I am not going to play the Agenda. This will also allow me to play The Minstrel's Muse (RotO) for some extra power. To insure this happens I need to play The Iron Throne (ASitD). This can also be helped by playing some non-kneeling characters like Northern Cavalry Flank (SA).

This gives us the first direction of our deck. The second thing I would like to play here is Widow's Watch (GotC). It both makes the deck more resilient and thins it as well. two good thing. Also it will allow us to play melee specific uniques like Arya Stark (TftH) and Greatjon Umber (WLL). Thanks to this our uniques should only need to be doubled in the deck.

Finally, because this is melee, we need all the power grab we can get, such as Winter Festival (WotN), Formal Petition (PotS) and Orphaned Recruit (OSaS) the later also giving us a bit of intrigue.

With this our deck is already well underway. Let's flesh it out a bit more. We need a bit of draw,
Maester Luwin (FtC) and Guard at Riverrun (LoW) should be enough along with Titles and dealing plots. We also need a few weenies to smooth out th gold curve, like
Hungry Mob (CoS) and Bolton Refugee (RoW). Adding all this together should take care of characters.


The Grand Melee - Pack of Wolves


Character (37)
Arya Stark (TftH) x2
Catelyn Stark (LoW) x1
Greatjon Umber (WLL) x2
Maester Luwin (FtC) x2
Meera Reed (TftH) x1
Rickard Karstark (WLL) x2
Roose Bolton (DB) x2
Sansa Stark (TftRK) x2
Ser Rodrik Cassel (Core) x2
The Blackfish (LoW) x2
The Smalljon (TGM) x2
Brienne of Tarth (PotS) x1
Hungry Mob (CoS) x2
Bolton Refugee (RoW) x3
Guard at Riverrun (LoW) x3
Northern Cavalry Flank (SA) x2
Orphaned Recruit (OSaS) x2
Jojen Reed (LoW) x1
Hodor (Core) x1
Carrion Bird (TWoW) x2



Moving on to locations, we need ressources to pay for these guys, but we also need the Widow's watch and the Iron throne. Also since we are running the Muse, why not run Den of the Wolf (ACoS) for which we will need a little bit of influence.


Location (18)
Den of the Wolf (ACoS) x1
Frozen Moat (BtW) x2
Frozen Outpost (LoW) x2
Great Keep (Core) x2
Lord Eddard's Chambers (LoW) x1
Narrow Sea (Core) x3
Northern Fiefdoms (LoW) x3
River Row (QoD) x1
The Iron Throne (ASitD) x1
Widow's Watch (GotC) x2


Notice the introduction of Frozen Moat for a bit of control and Frozen Outpost as some of our characters have a war crest. Finally we need to deal with events and attachments. These can offer a bit of suprise, but mainly I stuck to the theme of power grab outside of challenges.


Event (6)
Kings in the North (Core) x2
Routing the Charge (LoW) x2
Superior Claim (KotStorm) x2



Attachment (1)
Formal Petition (PotS) x1


Finally, all the is left is plots. The Minstrel's Muse shouldn't be a surprise. If you know me, Winter festival shouldn't be either. We also need a couple of dealing plots. I suggest Building Season and Counting favors. We still don't have a restricted card so why not play the Fury of the Wolf? Some of our characters work of titles, so why not try I Fight to Win? Also Retaliation is gold in melee or maybe Bungled orders for a suprise Muse?


Plot (7)
Building Season (Core) x1
Bungled Orders (OSaS) x1
Counting Favors (Core) x1
Fury of the Wolf (AE) x1
I Fight to Win (TBC) x1
The Minstrel's Muse (RotO) x1
Winter Festival (WotN) x1

And that's it! I really hope this deck is not to bad... It's been fun thinking about it anyway. Maybe it can suprise your opponents and earn you a couple of wins. They are of course other ways to flesh it out. Maybe include winter for Summer Tax (ASoS). Or Bran Stark (Core) for rapid plot cycling? Distinct Mastery (Core) to abuse our crests?
It's up to you...

I'll be back next week with a House I'm much more familliar with, the Roaring Lions of Casterly Rock!