Crimson and Gold - Lannister Restricted Options, Part 2

In my first article, we covered what Castellan of the Rock (BoRF) and Pyromancer's Cache (TWot5K) bring to the table for House Lannister. This week I’ll cover the final commonly-chosen restricted card and then briefly hit on a few other potential choices.

Pentoshi Manor (AHM)

Pentoshi Manor’s addition the restricted list was probably for the best – shocking as it might have been at the time. The many pieces of this card are innocuous enough when considered individually, but in concert they can shut down entire challenges. Pentoshi Manor’s unthreatening appearance only contributes to its power. Normally one-gold locations don’t strike fear into the hearts of opponents, but don’t let the card’s title and artwork fool you.

First of all, Pentoshi Manor is a cheap location, meaning it’s fantastic on setup. Secondly, it’s non-unique, so you won’t ever be drawing a useless card. Now as for the ability, its a lengthy one, so let’s take it one part at a time.

Challenges: Kneel Pentoshi Manor to choose an opponent's attacking character.

Okay, so our opponent has to be attacking, and we can target any character as long as that character isn’t immune to location abilities. Notably, that leaves out Cat o' the Canals (RoW) and Stannis Baratheon (VM), but not much else.

The controller of that character chooses to either have that character claim 1 power and remove it from the challenge…

Alright, our opponent has a choice to make, and his first option involves the target character leaving the challenge. Furthermore, that character will stay knelt when its removed, unless of course it didn’t kneel to begin with like Cersei Lannister (LotR) or Asha Greyjoy (WLL). After being removed, that character will claim 1 power as some consolation to our opponent.

…or that character gets -2 and loses all keywords until the end of the phase.

With the remaining option, target character stays in the challenge but will lose all keywords and have its strength lowered considerably. As ruled by Damon, the “loses all keywords” text here functionally means that the target character loses a single instance of each individual trait or keyword. If it has stealth twice, from Lost Oasis (AToT) and Poisoned Knife (ASoSilence) for example, Pentoshi Manor will only take away one instance of that keyword, leaving the character with stealth – but that’s a rare occasion. Usually, Pentoshi Manor will drop everything, so you want to trigger it in the first player action window (after attackers are declared and before stealth occurs).

Many players dismissed Pentoshi Manor at first because cards that leave the opponent room to decide his fate are generally mediocre. In this case, however, Door Number 1 and Door Number 2 are both going to be plenty painful. Removing a single character from a challenge is often the difference between winning and losing it; between fulfilling a high claim or not; and between letting your opponent trigger things like Die by the Sword (LoW) and Condemned by the Council (AToT) or not.

Don’t forget that Pentoshi Manor only works in the challenges phase, so there’s no saving it for any potential Epic phases, but keep in mind that the ability does last until the end of the challenge phase, not just the end of the particular challenge. Pentoshi Manor also pairs well with burn like Threat from the North (PotS) and Lead Link (CbtC). I’ve heard many Targ players float the idea of running it out-of-house, although that’s admittedly unlikely with the expanded restricted list.

There are even ways to use the power claimed by opposing characters to your advantage (or at least to mitigate it). If you want to get wild and crazy, Melisandre (RoR) can cause major damage, but more conventionally there’s Lion's Gate (ASoS) to strip power and simultaneously add any trait – like Ally – followed by Dissension (QoD) to discard that character. In a KotHH build, there’s Joffrey Baratheon (PotS), who gets even better when paired with You've Killed the Wrong Dwarf! (Core).

Pentoshi Manor can completely shut down an incoming challenge by popular 2-strength characters (like Meera Reed (TftH), House Payne Enforcer (MotA), Ironborn Marauder (TGF), Syrio Forel (TftRK), and Willas Tyrell (VM)) if your opponent is only able to muster a single attacker. With Pentoshi acting as a pseudo-defender, your own characters can remain standing for offense. If the opposing character has 3 or more strength, you can still weaken it and strip away keywords, or even double up with two separate Pentoshi Manor’s to knock a 4 strength character down to zero! Pentoshi also goes a long way toward slowing down rush, allowing your control to gain the proper footing, because it strips renown and vigilant. Those Baratheon Kings aren’t nearly as good when they aren’t racking up power!

Pentoshi Manor does have a few weaknesses. Being non-unique and hailing from House Lannister – home to many other excellent locations – means you’re susceptible to mass location control like Favorable Ground (QoD) or Fleeing to the Wall (Core). In addition, Pentoshi Manor is a huge target for the new attachment Seized (AToTT) and for Newly Made Lord (TftH). Be sure to keep these points in mind if you decide Pentoshi Manor is the right option for your deck.

Mountain Refugee (RoW)

I can only think of two specific decks that might even consider Mountain Refugee. House of Dreams (ARotD) with Tunnels of the Red Keep (CoS) needs the ‘Gee because he’s cheap, thus helping to mitigate the 3-gold setup, and he boasts the two icons that Lannister typically finds sparse. The other deck, focused on Tyrion Lannister (LotR) and his Clansmen friends, need this chud almost solely for his trait, especially if they’re using The Long Voyage (TPoL) and want to avoid filling the deck with too many non-Clansmen characters.

Fury of the Lion (AE)

Aside from the awesome line of 5/7/1, Lannister’s Fury can kneel mega characters out of Stark and Martell like The Blackfish (LoW), The Red Viper (PotS), and Beric Dondarrion (IG), and as a bonus it also discards all power and attachments on them. Maesters can wave goodbye to all their precious Chains.
Furthermore, the Fury is intrigue gambit plot, and one is required for To Be a Lion (SB) and Fights No Sword Can Win (TRS). There are plenty of other intrigue gambits available if you choose to go that route, such as Negotiations at the Great Sept (TPoL), Forgotten Plans (KotStorm), Frey Hospitality (LotR), and Shadows and Spiders (LotR).

The Conclave (CbtC)

The Conclave is only seen out of Lannister in The Power Behind the Throne (LotR) rush-style decks. It has renown to help gain power quickly and it doesn’t kneel on your Schemes of the Scholar (HtS) turns. Additionally the Learned crest can be used to trigger Outwit (TIoR). That’s about all there is to it.

Fear of Winter (BtW)

Fear of Winter is another card that The Power Behind the Throne (LotR) decks might want to consider. If you happen to flop a stronger setup than your opponent, Fear can freeze the board and help push through two intrigue challenges with two claim, and from there you should be in a good position.

The Maester's Path (GotC)

All of Lannister’s Maester characters are unique so it would be difficult to build a competitive deck around them. Maester Creylen (FtC) can be nice if you have gold to spare but isn’t particularly great on its own. Qyburn (SaS) is a solid character, but he’s better late in the game and you need to start taking Chains off the agenda ASAP. It’s probably best to leave Maesters to one of the other houses.

Venomous Blade (TBoBB)

Venomous Blade is an out-of-house card included via the overlooked City of Shadows (CoS) agenda. Lannister has some of the best Shadows cards in the game and plenty of gold to pay the higher price. Plus there’s a history of some success with this build, so it could be viable if you’re looking for something out of the box.

Final Thoughts

Choosing a restricted card out of House Lannister is a tough task, as House Martell is the only one hurt more by the latest FAQ list. There are a few neutral restricted cards that I’ve neglected to mention, but you’ll rarely see them used by Lannister, so with this guide you can make an informed decision and return the Lions of Casterly Rock to the top of Regional tournament standings. Hear Me Roar!