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The Grand Melee - Psych 101: Top 5 Unforgivable Errors
Nov 28 2013 07:55 AM |
bigfomlof
in Game of Thrones
Small Council The Grand Melee bigfomlof
Instead of beginning as I usually do with a generic "Sorry it has been so long since the last article" I will merely state that I am glad to be writing again.I play the game a lot, only casually, and each time we play in our tiny meta I am surprised and abashed at the mistakes I still make--bone-headed, easy to avoid, numbskull errors. So, the title of the article is really more about self-forgiveness, since my opponents are generally overjoyed by my underwhelming performance. We play with a no take-backs rule in an effort to get better (ironically, considering), and it makes these errors even worse. The pitying, slightly condescending head shakes of the others around the table amplify the despair.
My top 5 will be based solely on personal experience, and my hope is that it will spark some good-natured conversation in the comments below--if only to make me feel better about myself when you share your demons. Cheers.
1. Read the Card
Go ahead, read the card:
The Red Viper (PotS). What you have there is possibly Thrones's most famous card, the best Viper in the business. Why is he the best? Well, damn, check out those immunities. Last week, after set-up, my opponent had his
Shireen Baratheon (FtC) blank the Viper's renown before the game's first challenges even began. Bummer, I thought, since I was getting three unopposed that turn. Then, 2 turns later I LOOKED AT THE CARD AGAIN!!! Guess how much power I had at game end? Yep. 12. Ugh.
2. Oops--Can't Actually Attach That Card...
What's more funny than burning Jaime Lannister
Ser Jaime Lannister (LotR) with a Threat from the North/Flame-Kissed combo? That's right--trying to put Flame-Kissed on him. One of a hundred reasons why I rarely play Targaryan (perhaps I should practice...).
3. Why I'll Never Win with the Maester's Path Agenda
One time, I think I actually had to win 9 challenges before I got the 5 chains off my agenda. So east to forget, especially winning on defense.
4. Limited, Limited, Limited
I want to believe this happens to everybody at some point in their Thrones career, even three years into it like I am. It's just so awesome to flop 5 cards on setup, right? It's like, you're set for the whole damn game, it feels. Maybe not when you reveal the Goldroad and the Fiefdoms, however. You look down, you shake your head, and then discard one--I chose the Fiefdoms. Discuss.
5. Timing
The timing elements in this game actually require a rocket scientist to fully understand, and we still make plenty of mistakes with regards to framework actions and Player Actions and Moribund and all that nonsense. This timing structure is key to the game's vitality, I know, but too often we play a card at the wrong time, either having to then discard it, or sheepishly return it to hand. I don't really have a specific example in mind, as we do it all the time. I would be interested in hearing specifics from y'all, though.
So, there's this article's Top 5. Please, tell some stories below, share your blunders and mishaps that my sorrow might dissipate. In my defense, we have a lot of beer when we play...
Until the next time.
- thedaffodilfish, aaronbroderickpiano, biggs369 and 1 other like this
14 Comments
So, me, being the kind person I am, trigger a reducer when it is his turn to marshall so he can get his response.
First thing he marshalls: Palace Fountains (PotS)
Made me laugh :-)
He pulls Arianne back to hand and announces that he wants to bounce my Stannis - i'm politely told that Ghaston works on characters of "equal to or less than" printed cost. I lose my 7 power and never recover, a total bugger when that text is part of the errata rather than the cards text box. I shake hands and move on. These things happen.
Someone reminds me at the start of my next game that Stannis Baratheon is immune to location effects.
The other french player, Thomas, finished 3rd in this game.
Finally, he was 17th in the melee tournament...
Thankfully Wolfgang already agreed that three rounds are not enough for this amount of players. I think one game might be a flopp, but with an additional round both of us had could make the cut with a thrid win. See you next year! : )
Say you have 128 players (about what we had at Stahleck) and use swiss-style pairings. After round 1, you have 32 players with 1 win and 96 with no wins. After round 2, you have 8 players with 2 wins, 48 with 1 win and 72 with no wins. After round 3, you have 2 players with 3 wins, 18 with 2 wins, 54 with 1 win and 54 with no wins. This means only 2 players with 2 wins don't make the cut.
With totally random pairings, you can have many more players with 3 wins (potentially 32 if they always end up at different tables). A 4th round will lower the probabilities of this happening, but it is still possible that some undefeated players do not make top 16.
At a tournament not long ago, i discarded my opponent's Catelyn Stark (LoW) as intrigue claim. He wasn't proud of that. Always check your hand!
Another friend of mine played Rusted Sword (PotS) on Yezzan's Grotesquerie (CD), i pointed out to him that the character would then not count it's own strength, and we had a good laugh. Afterwards, we found out that it's actually a pretty good combo to fend off military challenges.
Stannis is so easy to forget. Isn't he actually the only one who is immune to location abilities? When the opponent tries some dirty trick, like Scouting Vessel (KotS), i remind them of the immunity, and they go
My opponent played a Spanish language Narrow Escape (who doesn't know what Narrow Escape does? Duh!) When he asked if I wanted to cancel it, I thought he was asking if I had a Paper Shield or Finger Dance in hand.
Sadly his 5 Kingsguard, Stannis and Robert Baratheon all came back to win him the game there and then.
Even if he'd explained what the rest of the text on Narrow Escape said, or if I'd remembered, I wasn't winning that game anyway!
I just made a mistake of declaring military challenge with Tywin Lannister TK yesterday in an attempt to kneel some of his characters. Instead he defended fully and route the charge my poor Tywin (no saves ! )
I'm sorry, what? Where does it say you discard a card you play incorrectly in setup? I just checked the Core Set Rules and FAQ to see if I'd missed a rule all this time, but I can't find anything like.
I'm certainly guilty of this mistake, though I think I probably screw up more on my House of Dreams setups; it's very easy to just put 5 gold worth down in auto-pilot.
The way I've always played it, and the way I've always seen it played, is that the player who screws up their setup has to simply fix their setup, returning the offending card(s)--be it because of an extra Limited card or using more gold than you can setup with--back to their hands.
I can't see any rules one way or the other on how this situation should be played (and if I've overlooked the rule, please let me know), but this seems the far better way to play than discarding. I can imagine some perhaps abusive ways to exploit "accidentally" setting up wrong and returning a card to your hand, but I can see way more abusive ways if you instead discard. For one, even if you're not able to keep every card in play, from a draw perspective you'd still be getting the benefit of your set-up. And it gets even worse if you have any recursion. I could play Gatehouse and Kingsmoot Hopeful together "accidentally," discard the Gatehouse, then immediately recur it back with Iron Lore.