Beheading Ned - Fire and Blood

Fair Warning: Beheading Ned centers on story-based play and may contain spoilers. If you haven't read all of the books and don't wish to have plot points spoiled, you may have to look elsewhere. Material from all five books is fair game in this column, not just from the TV show.

Welcome back to Beheading Ned, CGDB's series focusing on story-based, or Nedly, play of the LCG. For the past several installments, this space has been exploring the playstyles of each of Westeros' great houses and how they reflect the personality of George R. R. Martin's characterizations in his epic saga, A Song of Ice and Fire. Fortunately, I have saved the best for last!

House Targaryen is my favorite of the houses, and was long before I even cracked open my LCG Core set. From the very beginning of A Game of Thrones, I was drawn to the story thread of the disenfranchised monarch. Having had their rightful throne taken away by the Usurper, Robert Baratheon, both Daenerys and Viserys Targaryen have been smuggled to the East to sojourn in exile. Not without some friends, such as Magister Illyrio, the deposed royals end up leveraging their connections into a marriage alliance with the fiercest of the Dothraki horselords, Khal Drogo.

Viserys sees this marriage between his sister Dany and the Khal as a like-for-like swap: the Khal gets a Queen (Khaleesi*) and Viserys gets ten thousand Dothraki screamers to help him take back his throne. Unfortunately, the Dothraki don't really work that way. They accept gifts and then reciprocate in kind, but only on their own terms. They are not swayed, certainly not by a thin, pale, blond prince who does not understand his new place in the world.

*I read somewhere that Khaleesi is a surprisingly popular name among new babies over the past two years. I guess I'm not the only House Targ aficionado out there.

But Viserys was right about one thing: the Dothraki are fierce warriors. As such, the LCG's Dothraki characters and support cards revolve around the theme that you might expect: the military challenge. From the unique Dothraki characters whose abilities trigger upon winning a military battle (like Aggo (RoR)) to events that allow you to surprise your foes with a second wave of Dothraki hordes (like Deadly Khalasar (IG)), Targaryen's foes are never safe from the might of the horselords. Throw in a few more characters featuring Targaryen's traditional ambush-style attacks (such as Horseback Archers (QoD)) and the ability to strike twice in a challenge phase (through Blood-Crazed Screamer (MotM)) and Targaryen Dothraki can clear your board as quickly as Khal Drogo slaughtered the Lhazareen.

It was to these mighty warriors that the remnants of House Targaryen allied their fates, and that proved to be an inspired choice, as the loyal Bloodriders have served Daenerys well even after the death of her beloved Khal Drogo. Also on her side are a motley crew of sellswords, exiled knights, glory hunters, and penniless peasants--hardly the well-trained army needed to recapture Westeros.

Perhaps typifying this mixed band of companions are the two rivals: Ser Jorah Mormont (WLL) and Daario Naharis (WLL). Those two combatants cannot even separate themselves into different chapter packs! While both are fierce warriors, each has their loyalty to Daenerys questioned in some way. It's fairly clear that Daario looks out mainly for himself while Ser Jorah has been sending reporting back to King's Landing about Dany's whereabouts and her fortunes. Because of their strength but their corresponding untrustworthiness, FFG has printed these iconic characters into two of my favorite cards in the entire LCG. Both contain negative traits, but both also possess the power to discard an opponent at will. Just like Ser Jorah and Daario won Dany many a battle in the East, so too will these efficient tricons continue to do so on the field of the LCG. Unfortunately, bearing traits like Ally and Mercenary is not a boon in the days of Dissension (QoD) and Ser Arys Oakheart (PotS). Their loyalty to your cause is not assured and they most certainly can desert you at a crucial moment....much like they did Daenerys as she ruled Meereen.

In fact, Targaryen boasts perhaps the largest fleet of Mercenaries in the LCG, and even rivals Lannister for reliance upon Allies. While this does cause deckbuilders some issues, the strength that these cards possess can make even temporary alliances beneficial. Dany was constantly garnering both new companions and foes, and mercenary companies were a logical place to find them. From Brown Ben Plumm (Core)'s The Second Sons (ARotD) to Daario's own The Golden Company (AHM), from the Company of the Cat (tHoBaW) to the illustrious Long Lances (tHoBaW), these armies will serve you well--until they desert you, that is.

This trend of temporary alliances, power shifts, and new friends being revealed ties in with the Targaryen house keyword of Ambush. This ability allows you to drop characters into play outside of the marshalling phase, a power that cannot be underestimated. An unexpected strength boost or even a discard effect mid-challenge can totally change the challenge result and even sometimes the game! Besides cards with printed ambush, the Dragon Egg (AHM) allows you to rain characters (or even locations and attachments!) at unexpected times. There is also the underrated Ambush from the Plains, an event that grabs characters from the discard pile (or your hand) and puts them right into play. From Dothraki surprise ambushes to the unexpected return of friends like Ser Barristan Selmy (TftH), Targaryen is always at home with new colleagues, whether in the books or the LCG.

And just why were these "friends" flocking to Dany's cause? Remember, she is a young girl with a claim to a throne a thousand miles away but with no actual means towards possessing it. Why would you throw your life and livelihood behind her movement? In a word: Dragons. Long since thought extinct, Dragons were the means by which Aegon the Conqueror united the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros in the first place, and Daenerys Targaryen is the Mother of Dragons, the possessor of the only known living dragons. Rhaegal, Drogon, and Viserion symbolize not only her house and her hopes, but also her growing power. As her dragons grow, they become uncontrollable, inciting fear even in her own cities--and who knows what fear they induce in her foes!

The LCG has some great support for these Dragon characters. They are included in the Core set, but the ones in the Queen of Dragons box put them to shame. When uniting in a challenge, these dragons grab power, kill characters, and reduce locations to rubble. Throw in some East locations like Yunkai (QoD) or Meereen (QoD) and some fancy attachments like Dragon Fear (QoD) and you will have your opponents trembling in their Night's Watch boots. I would venture to guess that these three unique dragons are the most powerful combination of characters in the game. If you add the Mother of Dragons, Daenerys Targaryen (QoD) to the mix, your dragons won't kneel to attack and are almost unstoppable in full flight.

But there is a reason that dragons haven't won back the throne yet, and that is the difficulty of bringing them to bear on the battlefield and their fragility once they arrive. Dragons are hard to marshall, hard to keep alive, and certainly vulnerable to intrigue challenges. I'm reminded of the time in the HBO show where the Warlocks of Qarth steal Dany's dragons. Stripped of them, she has no hope. All hinges on keeping them alive and safe--and the Intrigues of the Warlock and Xaro Xoan Doxos put that in peril. Dragon builds are fun and powerful, but they are fragile--just like Daenerys' hopes.

Targaryen's most feared mechanic and probably their best build is a straight Burn deck. Burn is shorthand for strength reduction, and the moniker derives from a dragon burning a character with fire. Drogon (Core) retains this ability directly, while Dragon Attack (ACoS) also fits in this theme. However, in my opinion, Burn is not a terribly Nedly theme in the game. Dany's dragons don't actually participate in battle (yet?), and while it is reasonable to foresee that (owing to the gushing about their awesomeness in the paragraphs above) I don't think that dragons spewing fire onto a battlefield quite matches with individual, targeted kill. Field of Fire (QoD) is a Nedly burn card; Incinerate! (VM) is not. Your mileage may vary.

I think a word is also deserved here at the end for the Beyond the Narrow Sea cycle as a whole. Since Targaryen's adventures take place largely in Essos, I was really hoping to see some under-represented themes come to the fore during this cycle. Don't get me wrong; Targ Burn got a huge jump, but where are the Unsullied? Where are her other Essos allies like the Shavepate? The new Illyrio is a great card, but how is his ability thematic at all? Only Young Griff (VD) to me scratches the Nedly itch at all out of this cycle, and I think that's a dissapointment in some ways.

All things considered, I hope that you will have a wonderful time this Worlds season deriving ways to help Dany inherit her rightful throne at LCG tables all across the globe--and perhaps especially at Stahleck, where I don't think House Targaryen fares particularly well historically (I could be wrong about that.....). I long for the day that the meta fears to wake the dragon.

Until then, With Fire and Blood!