With Fire and Blood

Welcome to "With Fire and Blood," CardGameDB.com's article focusing on the in's and out's of Westeros' rightful rulers, House Targaryen. I am pleased to announce that there will be three dedicated minds working to bring you insightful articles on topics ranging from competitive builds, underused tech, metagame concerns, expansions on cardpool and so on, but to start with, we want to take you readers on the journey that we contributors have traveled: from the Core set to competitive Targ players. You can read a bit more about us at the bottom, but let's get to the cards. The Core set cards, that is.

The first thing that you'll notice about the Core set Targaryen cards is that they lose out to other houses in a number of ways, not least of which is in their character base. Only one renown character (Daenerys Targaryen (Core)) and even she has a terrible ability! You've got characters with no icons (Maester Aemon (Core)) and low STR (Viserys Targaryen (Core)). You've got characters with drawbacks (Daario Naharis (Core)) and really only Khal Drogo (Core) to hang your hat on. The dragons are impressive at first glance, but in practice they really aren't worth their cost. What then, does the Core set bring to the table in terms of characters that last?

Well, more than you might think. House Targaryen features more tri-cons than any other house, and the Core is where it begins. Let's start with The Titan's Bastard (Core). This guy is only 3 cost for 2 STR, but he can hop into play for free. This type of mechanic is a Targaryen staple and learning how to handle it is imperative. Khal Drogo does the same thing--jumps in for free, only he adds stealth to boot! I still include these guys in builds all the time--very solid in the right builds.

And a few plays with the Core set will show you the value of claim soak, and Targ has it in spades. Aemon, Viserys, and Strong Belwas all save from being killed, which is an invaluable property. Later on, Unburnt (QoD) and the other, good Strong Belwas will add to this theme of saves. Targ is no Greyjoy, mind you, but they're better than the other houses.

One other very solid character that often is overlooked is Jhogo (Core). Because his other incarnation is just so awesome, Core Jhogo is almost never mentioned, but a 3 cost 3 STR bicon with stealth is pretty nice. Add a weapon attachment (such as Aegon's Blade!) and you really have something.

Guys like Quartheen Fanatic, Quaithe of the Shadow, and Captain Groleo still retain narrow use, but the characters in Targaryen really aren't why you're playing the house anyway. If you want glory knights, go for Baratheon. If, however, you want surprise.....look no further than the attachments.

One card seen in almost every tournament Targaryen deck (outside of some Dothraki builds) is Flame-Kissed (Core). While not very consistent or useful in Core decks due to a lack of support, two or three in tandem is devastating. Not only can strength reduction not normally be saved from, the ability to target and kill any key character for the opposition remains Targaryen's proverbial ace in the hole. Forever Burning (Core) adds another support to burn, and, to a lesser extent, so does Poisoned Wine (Core). However, since the Wine isn't terminal nor can it ambush, you'll quickly leave it out of your decks as your pool expands, but you'll be considering Flame-kissed or Forever Burning always. It might not be going too far to call Flame-kissed the single most important card from the Core set. (Outside of the plots, of course)

Making Flame-kissed do double-duty is my personal favorite card: Lady Daenerys's Chambers (Core). This card is the first in a theme of discard and dead pile recursion. Though certainly lacking in the area of draw, Targaryen are the masters of playing things over and over again. Whether it is Archmaester Marwyn (CD), Maegi's Promise (QoD), Ride Them Down (ODG), you can guarantee yourself that key cards keep coming back to your hands.

So as we look from the Core set and its themes towards a tournament build, what cards will remain key? First, the ambushing of key characters will always be a Targ staple. What Khal Drogo and The Titan's Bastard began is carried on with things like Horseback Archers (QoD), Queen's Knight (TWot5K), the deluxe box dragons, and now the Long Lances (THoBaW). Learning when and how to trigger these effects is a key Targaryen skill. Along these same lines, learning to use influence as a resource both in play and in deckbuilding takes some time. Most of the Core houses have influence-using cards, but really only Targaryen goes on to incorporate them throughout the cardpool. Managing these dual currencies is tricky, but one of the keys to victory. Luckily, things like the Great Pyramid of Meereen (AHM) are available to help with that.

Next, the attachment theme remains strong. Though attachments are often denigrated (and for good reason), Targaryen is the house that can make them sing. Whether it be the attachment recursion of Griff or Lady Dany's Chambers or the attachment removal from Dragon Thief (AE) or Meereenese Brothel (BtW), Targ should be ruling the attachment world. And don't overlook the attachments that beef up your characters--Aegon's Blade (Core) is certainly worth a look. But the gold standard will always remain burn attachments. Flame-kissed is the best, but Dragon Skull (CoS) and Harried by Dragons (VM) certainly each also have their uses. Learning when and how to burn starts in the Core, but will be key always.

Finally, Targaryen players will have to get used to being outgunned character wise. The Core set cards just don't bring the beef that the other houses do, and that will always be the case. Whether it be characters with negative traits or simply without useful abilities, Targ relies less on the actual characters than any other house. This is a significant hurdle, especially in a character driven game, but it remains one for enterprising Targaryens to overcome. Recently, character-lite, ambush-driven burn decks have seen some tournament success, though no major wins so far. These skills are honed through mastery of the Core set.

We hope you have enjoyed this initial look at what House Targaryen has to offer. In the coming weeks, we will examine how to deepen your card pool and what goes into building a great Targ deck. Until then, remember to show your foes what it means to wake the dragon!

Here's a bit about us, so you can know who we are and what background and perspective we're coming from.

I'm OKTarg, and I've been playing AGoT competitively since March. From my early days, I've sworn allegiance to House Targaryen, though I dabble a bit in other houses from time to time. I'm a huge fan of the series and can't wait to see Daenerys take over her rightful throne!

I am still a relatively new player and would consider myself at an "intermediate" level. Some of you more tournament-tested types may see some holes in my logic and reasoning, but that's what this series will be all about: looking at Targ from the perspective of the Core set all the way to competitive play, hopefully debunking some myths and learning about some underexplored options along the way.

I am proud to call the Tulsa meta home, and placed fifth overall in our regional there last April running Targ Dragons in melee and Targ Wildling Burn in joust. I'm really looking forward to this series and I hope that you are too!

Hey guys, my name is Nathan Bradley, otherwise known as Widowmaker93 on pretty much every thrones board there is(FFG forums, Agotcards.org, here at CGBD, and at TeamCovenant.com which I frequent more than any other site). I am proud to be part of the Kingsport, TN meta where I get to test my talents against championship players like Jonathan Benton and Wade Freeman. They certainly make me a better player.

I have been playing Thrones since early 2008 when the LCG was introduced. Initially, I had no idea what house to play. My first ever game was with Stark using House Umber Berserkers and Icy Catapults. That was so much fun, but I wanted something more out of a house. I asked the local guys here what each house played like. After hearing that Targ reduced str to kill, had dead pile and discard pile recursion, a lot of "jumpy" characters/attachments, and Dragons! Holy crap! DRAGONS!! Ever since I have been playing Targaryen as my main house but I do also play all the other houses as well(except Bara... they suck).

Throughout this Fire and Blood series of articles I hope to lend my almost 5 years of experience playing the house of the True Queen to Buz, and Larry. Our hope is that we can help anyone out there just starting with Targaryen, and isn't sure which direction to go, to get you started building great decks for a house that I consider the hardest of them all to get right. So that being said, it's time to wake the Dragon!


Doulos2k: I've been playing seriously for about 8 months now. I started with House Targaryen in the Core Set and I've never looked back. I host a play group in South Austin in the Great Nation of Texas and because of that (and writing those other articles for First Tilt), I've expanded my sights a good bit and play Stark, Bara, and Martell a good bit here and there. There is never a night that I go without playing at least one Targ deck and most nights it's all I play. I love the synergies in this House and the fact that your opponent just has no idea what you're playing when they see your House and Agenda (though most people assume Burn).

Our goals for this series are simple: show you how much sheer fun there is to be had playing this House. Aggro, Control, Rush... whatever you want, Targ can field a competitive deck. We only hope you'll enjoy reading this nearly as much as we enjoy writing them!