Beheading Ned - The Kingsguard

Beheading Ned: The Kingsguard

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

Hello readers new and old. We’re here with another great article of Beheading Ned! This week's question is a little bit more tricky. Name all of Eddard Stark's siblings. I will admit, I myself sometimes stray from the Nedly path for the sake of making these decks just a tad more competitive, but that’s what sets me apart from former writers. Nedly decks that can do well in a tournament, this is my goal.

With that being said, I am proud to say that this weeks' deck is possibly the most competitive and Nedly deck I’ve made to date! Get excited with me readers; you’re in for a treat. This time around we’ll look at the new Kingsguard!

The Kingsguard chapter pack is arguably the best chapter pack in the LCG. With neutral cards like Ser Jaime Lannister (TK) and Ser Preston Greenfield (TK), any deck can now have a solid draw engine. Ser Mandon Moore (TK) is a great counter to decks with a lot of saves, while Ser Arys Oakheart (TK) helps protect you from vicious hyper-kneel builds. These Kingsguard are versatile and just plain fun to play with. This got me thinking on how I can build a deck that utilizes the awesome power of these cards while being as thematic as possible. And that’s when I remembered the agenda that works great with these guys. You know which one I’m talking about. It’s that card that is most likely collecting dust in your folder somewhere. Well we’re dusting off that bad boy and breaking out The White Book (TftRK)!

The White Book (TftRK) is a unique agenda that rewards players for playing defensively. Every time you successfully defend a challenge, you get to claim 1 power for your house if you control at least 1 Kingsguard character. With the recent release of these Kingsguard, there has been a lot of discussion on what it means exactly to “successfully defend” a challenge. Luckily FFG clarified this in the most recent version of the FAQ. To activate the agenda, all you have to do is win the challenge as a defender; plain and simple. Unfortunately, this agenda has a downside like most agendas. You have to kneel a Kingsguard character or discard a power from your house if you lose a challenge as the attacker. That’s kind of a bummer, but to be honest, we won’t be attacking unless it’s a guaranteed victory.

Now that we have our theme for the deck, the house of choice should be fairly obvious. I didn’t feel a need to run Ser Barristan Selmy (TK) in this deck due to his expensive cost and rather lack-luster ability. Without Selmy, I decided to put in his replacement, The Hound (TK). So now we have a Lannister deck and the king to guard is Joffrey.

The Characters:

Every Kingsguard needs a king to protect, and since we’re doing Lannister, that king is Joffrey Baratheon (KotS). Joffrey only has two versions that have the King trait and this one works well with our defensive build. Boosting strength every turn makes this two-cost character a beast to deal with.
I didn’t hold back on the Kingsguard with this deck, as they are the bread-and-butter. I used all seven Kingsguard that wore the cloak at the start of Joffrey’s rule. Sorry Ser Balon Swan (TWH) and Ser Osmund Kettleblack (SaS), you may have room in someone else’s White Book deck, but not mine! We’ve got two copies of Jaime and Preston in here because these guys are incredibly strong in a shadows deck. Oh yeah, it’s a shadows deck. Thought that was obvious so I didn’t feel the need to outright state it. Moving on…
Alongside Joff, we have his queens. Cersei Lannister (AToT) has a great effect in shadows decks, but my favorite part is that she doesn’t have to be attacking in order to activate it. Margaery Tyrell (AToTT) is in here for a few reasons, one of which being here ability to gain the melee keyword. This is extremely helpful when trying to win challenges on the defense.
Also beside the king, we have his Small Council. Tyrion Lannister (CoS), Littlefinger (SaS), and Varys (SaS) all fit in perfectly with this deck. Grand Maester Pycelle (Core) is here solely for a Nedly purpose.
We have your typical Lannister gold weenies and Kingsguard Squire (PotS) to help on setup. I also threw in three copies of Bringers of Law (AE) because he is a tricon that is built for defense.

The Locations:

I went with Alchemist’s Guild Hall (TBoBB) to compliment the shadows theme while also being able to kneel out your opponent’s strongest character. I’m using King’s Landing (SaS) to help with draw and The Iron Throne (LotR) because Joffrey needs a place to sit his dumb ass. We’re running Tunnels of the Red Keep (CoS) to boost our characters’ strength and help make winning those challenges on defense that much easier.

The Attachments:

Here is our restricted card. Pyromancer’s Cache (TWot5K) will make sure we always have cards in our hand and works great with the 3 kings/queens that are in the deck.

The Events:

I kept it light with the events to help better our setup, considering shadows decks tend to struggle with the gold curve. Misinformation (TWH) is amazing in this deck. It guarantees you win a challenge, either as the attacker or preferably the defender. Surprise your opponent by defending with just Cersei and throw down this awesome event to immediately turn the tides.

The Plots:

The key to this deck is winning on the defense in order to activate The White Book. The best way to go about this is making your opponent go first so you won’t have to guess how many characters to leave standing after you attack. With that in mind, I chose plots with higher initiative. I threw in some oaths for those dutiful Kingsguard, Game of Thrones (LotR) to keep our characters standing, and with a few City plots I called it a day.

The Deck:

Joffrey’s Kingsguard

Total Cards: (62)

House:
House Lannister

Agenda: (1)
1x The White Book (TftRK)

Plot: (7)
1x City of Lies (CoS)
1x A City Besieged (CD)
1x King's Landing Coup (AToTT)
1x Game of Thrones (LotR)
1x You Swore an Oath (WLL)
1x On My Oath (TK)
1x Valar Morghulis (Core)

Character: (33)
1x Joffrey Baratheon (KotS)
2x Ser Jaime Lannister (TK)
2x Ser Preston Greenfield (TK)
1x Ser Arys Oakheart (TK)
1x Ser Mandon Moore (TK)
1x Ser Meryn Trant (TK)
1x The Hound (TK)
1x Margaery Tyrell (AToTT)
1x Cersei Lannister (AToT)
1x Tyrion Lannister (CoS)
1x Littlefinger (SaS)
1x Varys (SaS)
1x Grand Maester Pycelle (Core)
1x Jhalabar Xho (TWot5K)
1x King Joffrey's Guard (TWot5K)
1x Tywin Lannister (TK)
3x Bringers of Law (AE)
2x Lannisport Councilor (RotO)
2x Lannisport Moneylender (LotR)
2x Lannisport Weaponsmith (Core)
2x Lannisport Steward (Core)
3x Kingsguard Squire (PotS)
1x Ser Boros Blount (TK)

Attachment: (3)
3x Pyromancer's Cache (TWot5K)

Event: (3)
3x Misinformation (TWH)

Location: (23)
2x Alchemist's Guild Hall (TBoBB)
3x Kingdom of Shadows (KotS)
1x Queen Cersei's Chambers (Core)
3x Sunset Sea (Core)
3x The Goldroad (Core)
1x The Iron Throne (LotR)
2x Tunnels of the Red Keep (CoS)
1x Street of Steel (Core)
1x Street of Sisters (Core)
1x River Row (QoD)
3x Twilight Market (AToT)
2x King's Landing (SaS)


Well there’s the deck. A solid Lannsiter-shadows-White Book-Kingsguard deck. Nice and simple. A few guidelines when running this deck: make your opponent go first, win on defense, rinse and repeat. I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this article. Comment if you feel like it or if you’re just bored. I like reading them regardless. As I sign off, remember this; even a Nedly player can use a Jaime.