All Things Shagga - The Top Shagga: A Song of the Sea

With another cycle finished, All Things Shagga turns our attention now to looking at the “A Song of the Sea” cycle to determine the top 5 Shagga cards for the set. So, without further ado, let’s take a look!

Black Sails (RotK) - The Black Sails agenda has sure taken some time to pull together on the competitive front because it really needed to hit a critical mass of naval enhanced characters to reliably trigger the effect, but what Shagga among us didn’t look at this agenda when it was first released and feel that surge of electric thought at what it might make possible? There’s the chance that variance will just completely trash your deck in some small amount of games but most of the time, Black Sails gives players the chance to search up any missing piece that they might need for a given combo. And as a bonus, the Martell self mill decks even like Black Sails as a way to make their draw deck even smaller and easier to mill.

Dale Seaworth (AToTT) - Dale would probably also be on most Jaime players’ short list of best cards from the set. Of course, he also turns out to have some really fun Shagga possibilities thanks to having both an “enters play” and a “leaves play” ability, which give the opportunity for some neat ways to abuse him. For further reference, take a look at my last two articles for decks built around trying to abuse Dale.

Iron Fleet Scout (TCC) - Ok, so the Scout doesn’t set up a combo or engine the same way as some of the other cards that we love here on All Things Shagga, but it does really open up the chances that the characterless or characterlite decktype becomes truly viable in the LCG metagame. It had been possible previously in the CCG, and was regarded as a very inventive archetype in its day and age, but hadn’t quite had the legs that it needed in the current era. A new location that can change to become a character during the Challenge phase, but otherwise dodge removal and resets is just what was needed.

Desperate Measures (TCC) - Must like Black Sails, Desperate Measures gives the Shagga player a fantastic way to dig into their deck and find the pieces they need. Much like Dale, it’s highly regarded by the Jaime players as well, but Desperate Measures earns extra Shagga points for filling the discard pile with cards that you can then find Shagga ways to recycle- like Dale!

Sitting the Iron Throne (AToTT)- Once again, we have a card that brings another much needed piece to pull an archetype together that didn’t quite have enough support before. While Lannister could generate some pretty massive amounts of gold, Tywin and Daven were really the only ways to turn that into a game winning Shagga advantage. Sitting the Iron Throne gives Lannister a way to gain a steadier flow of gold into power and this lead to a win condition without actually competing in the Challenge phase. Any time Shaggas can find a way to do that, you have a pretty highly rated Shagga card. Of course, Sitting the Iron Throne can also lead to trait manipulation based shenanigans with Lion’s Gate to create an engine, which means that Sitting the Iron Throne is actually a two pronged Shagga beast.

Which five would you have chosen?