Beheading Ned - A Pirate's Life

Warning: This article may contain spoilers from any and all of the books.

Alright guys, I’m back again with another awesome installment of Beheading Ned! I hope after reading these articles, you start to look at the cards in a different way. No longer just how good the card is, but also how thematic it is. Do you look at Robb Stark (FF) and think, “Hey? Why is he wearing a crown if he doesn’t have the king trait?” If you find yourself wondering why Viserys Targaryen (Core) has a save effect, then I have done my job and opened your eyes to the Nedly side of this amazing LCG. In conjunction with the topic of this week’s article, the question is going along with the Greyjoys and the shenanigans that go on in the Iron Isles. Be warned, this is a tough question so don’t be upset if you can’t figure it out without referring to your book (or Wikipedia if you’re a cheater). Name everyone who raised a claim at the most recent Kingsmoot.

So for this week, I chose to go with a house that is near and dear to my heart. I started playing this game with a few friends and we decided to all pool cards together, each of us picking one house and then dividing the packs respectively. The house I started with is the infamous house Greyjoy. Something about their pirate attitude to pillage and plunder immediately drew me to them. I mean, c’mon, who doesn’t want to be a pirate?

The Greyjoys are good at a lot of things: choke, mill, and even cancel. But I tried to think of the Nedliest way to build a Greyjoy deck and it just so happens that an agenda came out recently that captures that aspect perfectly. The Old Way (FF) is more than just an agenda; it’s a way of life for these krakens! It goes back to a time when the squids were kings of the Iron Isles and they could reave and raid as they pleased. They were ruthless marauders who were feared throughout all of Westeros. So in order to capture the image of the vicious powerhouse that is Greyjoy, I went with The Old Way (FF) and decided to just go with full force destruction!

I am way too pumped about this, but this is my first shot at a Nedly Greyjoy deck so I’m a little excited and nervous about how it turns out. I wanted to go extremely heavy on the claim as way to attribute to Greyjoy’s way of taking everything your opponent has and destroying it in front of their face. If you don’t make the other player cry by the end of your game, then you don’t deserve to call yourself a kraken!

In this deck, there will obviously be a lot of unopposed challenges going on, but I didn’t want to waste any deck space with the events or attachments that revolve around this. Instead I went extremely heavy on characters and locations. I mean like a lot of locations. Like, so many locations that you’re going to look at this deck and say, “that’s a lot of locations.” But they all serve an important purpose and I feel they help the deck more than most attachments or events. So without further delay, let’s jump right into it.
The Characters:

For the characters, I went with a lot of raiders to help support the, well, raiding theme of the deck. With these raiders, I decided to add in the hoss among them, Euron Crow’s Eye (ASoSilence). This guy is an absolute beast with 4 strength, renown, and 3 shiny icons. His stealth ability will almost guarantee that you win whatever challenge you want to when he’s on the board. Probably his best feature is the part of his ability that stops your opponents from playing events while he’s attacking. Plain and simple, it comes down to a matter of brute strength will trying to oppose this guy. The Crow’s Eye won’t tolerate any of your opponent’s tricks, so make sure you use him in the most crucial challenge of the turn.

Alongside the head-honcho, we have many very good supporting raiders. Iron Fleet Captain (CD) will almost always claim that unopposed power unless your opponent wants to sacrifice a character to the old way. Euron’s Enforcers (DB) will win challenges single-handedly and most likely grab an unopposed power in the process. And of course we can’t forget Ambitious Oarsmen (RoR) in order to help mitigate the high gold curve of this deck.

To add extra hurt with every challenge, we’re going to be using some claim raising characters. We can’t have a raiding deck without the captain of the Iron Fleet himself, Victarion Greyjoy (RotK). In addition to his ability to raise claim, he has a nifty naval enhancement on his military icon which allows you to possibly catch your opponent off guard. I also decided to include Hammerhorn Raiders (THtW) because of their high strength and easy way to increase claim. With a name like Hammerhorn Raiders, you would think that they would have the raider trait, but oh well.
For the final bit, I threw in Stowaway (KotS) to give some of our Ironborn an intrigue icon if they need it. Hit your opponents hand or defend and kill off a character with the agenda.

The Locations:

The Ironborn are known and feared for their massive naval strength and it is heartily represented in this deck. Like all good decks, this one needs draw and I found several options that fit our theme and our need. Bay of Ice (KotS) and Captured Cog (AHM) will almost guarantee draw and winning dominance and initiative. Remember, dominating your opponent is the name of the game. In addition to Bay of Ice, we have Longship Iron Victory (KotS) for easy card draw and to make your opponent think twice about attacking. There’s also Longship Silence (ASoSilence) to work in tandem with all of our raiders and give us some more draw.
Adding to the fleet, this deck is using Longship Grief (CD) to maximize the strength of our raiders as well as Longship Maiden’s Bane (AHA) to make your opponent fear every single challenge they make for risk of losing a character. Naval Escort (ASitD) is here to boost the strength of multiple characters to use for offense or defense. Add in a little economy and saves and we’re all set.

The Attachments:

What did I say earlier?! We aren’t wasting our time with these gimmicks. We are Ironborn and we will murder stuff with our bare hands if we have to!

The Events:

I kept this area empty as well except for one card, Plunder (THtW). This deck is hurting for gold and what better way to get it than with a card called Plunder? It’s so Nedly!

The Plots:

Hit your opponent and hit them hard. We’re using almost all 2 claim plots here with higher initiative to help with Bay of Ice. Negotiations at the Great Sept (TPol) will be our restricted card as it allows us to keep the pressure on at all times. Cards like Breaking and Entering (LotR) and Siege of Riverrun (KotS) just scream Nedly.

The Deck:

A Pirate’s Life

Total Cards: (63)

House: Greyjoy (Core)

Agenda: (1)
1x The Old Way (FF)

Plots: (7)
1x Valar Morghulis (Core)
1x Siege of Riverrun (KotS)
1x Breaking and Entering (LotR)
1x Twist of Fate (APS)
1x Rise of the Kraken (KotS)
1x Negotiations at the Great Sept (TPol)
1x Victarion’s Scheme (TPol)

Characters: (33)
3x Bloodthirsty Crew (OSaS)
3x Iron Fleet Captain (CD)
3x Newly Made Lord (TftH)
1x Qarl the Maid (AJE)
3x Ironborn Marauder (TGF)
1x Victarion Greyjoy (RotK)
1x Dagmer Cleftjaw (KotS)
3x Distinguished Boatswain (TftRK)
1x Fishwhiskers (CtB)
3x Stowaway (KotS)
3x Euron Crow's Eye (ASoSilence)
3x Ambitious Oarsmen (RoR)
2x Euron's Enforcers (DB)
3x Hammerhorn Raiders (THtW)

Locations: (27)
3x Bay of Ice (KotS)
2x Captured Cog (AHM)
3x Gatehouse (KotS)
1x Longship Grief (CD)
1x Longship Iron Victory (KotS)
3x Naval Escort (ASitD)
3x Sunset Sea (KotS)
2x The Iron Cliffs (HtS)
3x The Iron Mines (KotS)
1x Street of Sisters (Core)
1x Street of Steel (Core)
1x River Row (QoD)
1x Aeron’s Chambers (KotS)
1x Lonship Maiden’s Bane (AHA)
1x Lonship Silence (ASoSilence)


Attachments: (0)

Events: (3)
3x Plunder (THtW)

Gaaaarrrrrr! That’s a pirate’s life for you. Pillage and plunder your way to victory. Crush your opponent with superior strength and break their spirit with your heavy claim. Will this deck be easily controlled? Maybe, but don’t go down without a fight! We are Ironborn and we will drink in the watery halls of the Drowned God should we fall! Comment with any thoughts or suggestions or to tell me I’m using too many exclamation points. Before you go, remember, what is dead may never die!