Crimson and Gold - Now My Watch Begins

Welcome back, and thanks for diving into another Crimson and Gold. First, if you’re not aware, here are the winning Houses and Agendas from the last six major Thrones tournaments:

Gencon 2012: Stark Kings of Winter
Worlds 2012: Targ KotHH
Stahleck 2012: Greyjoy Maester’s
Gencon 2013: Martell No Agenda
Worlds 2013: Lanni No Agenda
Stahleck 2013: Bara KotHH

Notice anything about that list? That’s right – every House is represented exactly once! I’ll give some props to FFG for bringing parity to the game. Recent chapter packs and changes to the restricted list have put us in a great position where every House stands a fighting chance.

If you haven’t stumbled across Stahleck results yet, here are some decklists/reports from the top 32 and streamed games from the Top 16 and Top 4.

Stark No Agenda 33rd Place
Bara Knights of the Realm Top 32
Targ KotHH Top 32
Greyjoy Song of Ice Top 32
Greyjoy Black Sails Top 32
Martell KotHH Top 32
Matell KotHH Top 16
Lanni PBtT Top 16
Targ Dothraki Top 16
Targ KotHH Top 16
Targ KotHH Top 16
Stark Knights Top 8
Targ KotHH Top 4
Targ Maesters 2nd Place
Bara KotHH 1st Place

Night’s Watch

I’ll be upfront with ya’ll – I’ve only played about 10 games either with or against a Night’s Watch deck, so I’m no expert in this field. I’m going to explain my card choices, and if you disagree with any of those decisions I’d love to discuss alternative ideas in the comments.

Agendas

The Rangers (WotN)
The Stewards (AKitN)
The Builders (ASitD)

Each agenda increases your required power to win by two. In return, all of your Night’s Watch characters will gain an icon, potentially turning them into versatile tricons if you run all three agendas. In addition, each agenda decreases the cost of Defenders of the North (AKitN) by one, meaning this uber-army could be as cheap as 4 gold. If any of the three is expendable I’d say it’s The Builders because Eastwatch Envoy and many Lannister characters already have power icons, but that’s a tough call. I’ll be testing both with and without it.

Plots

Betrayal at the Wall is a thing of beauty. It almost always wins initiative, so we can be first player and then Cersei's Scheme or an aggressive two-claim plot. We can make our opponent first player and then reveal Search and Detain to bounce his biggest threat. Or, if our opponent reveals something nasty like Mel’s Scheme, First Snow, or To the Spears!, we can flip Forgotten Plans to crush their hopes and dreams. Art of Seduction could come in handy as well.

The Draw Engine

This is a Lannister deck after all, so we’ve got access to Golden Tooth Mines and Tommen, but that’s just a starting point. Old Bear's Crow (TGM) boosts our Night’s Watch characters, but he’s also a Raven, so Samwell Tarly (TRS) fits naturally, along with Carrion Birds and the Black Raven. Since it’s Summertime, The Kingsroad 29 (FaI) and Gilly (RoW) will round out our draw engine nicely. These Summer effects make A Song of Ice a tough matchup of course, but it’s results at Worlds and Stahleck were less than stellar, so I’m not too worried.

The Restricted Card

The candidates on my short list are Search and Detain (HtS) and Negotiations at the Great Sept (TPoL). If you don’t want to use Samwell for draw then Pyromancer's Cache (TWot5K) becomes a logical alternative. If you have trouble repopulating the board after Valar then Narrow Escape (KotStorm) is an option, but it takes up valuable event slots, and Lanni decks already have enough trouble choosing between several excellent event options. If you want to be more aggressive then consider Retaliation! (ASoSilence) or Fear of Winter (BtW).

My Current Decklist

Total Cards: (50)

House:
Neutral Faction

Agenda: (2)
1x The Rangers (WotN)
1x The Stewards (AKitN)

Plot: (8)
1x A City Besieged (CD)
1x City of Soldiers (TBoBB)
1x Betrayal at the Wall (THTW)
1x Cersei's Scheme (TPoL)
1x A Song of Summer (ASoS)
1x A Time for Ravens (ACoS)
1x Search and Detain (HtS)
1x Valar Morghulis (Core)

Character: (23)
2x Carrion Bird (ASoS)
3x Ranger of the Watch (WotN)
2x Steward of the Watch (AKitN)
3x Defenders of the North (AKitN)
1x Gilly (RoW)
1x Maester Aemon (Core)
1x Stonesnake (BtW)
1x Coldhands (RotO)
2x Samwell Tarly (TRS)
2x Old Bear's Crow (TGM)
1x Tommen Baratheon (SA)
1x Varys (SaS)
1x Ser Arys Oakheart (PotS)
1x Qyburn (SaS)
1x Cersei Lannister (LotR)
3x Janos's Conspirator (THTW)
3x Eastwatch Envoy (THTW)
1x Ygritte (THTW)

Attachment: (5)
1x Longclaw (ASitD)
1x First Ranger (TBC)
1x Enslaved (THoBaW)
2x Black Raven (ASoS)

Event: (4)
2x Nightmares (LoW)
2x A House Divided (WLL)
3x Secret Orders (THTW)

Location: (18)
1x Sunset Sea (Core)
3x The Goldroad (Core)
1x River Row (QoD)
1x The Gift (EB)
1x The Roseroad (KotStorm)
3x The Kingsroad 23 (FaI)
1x The Shadow Tower (TWH)
3x Pentoshi Manor (AHM)
2x The Iron Throne (LotR)
2x Golden Tooth Mines (Core)

The Pros

Eastwatch Envoy is a 2 for 3 tricon with stealth and a naval enhancement on every icon
Janos’s Conspirator is a cheaper version of Enemy Informer
Betrayal at the Wall is super versatile
Secret Orders and City of Soldiers are so much fun together

The Cons

Ygritte punks this deck pretty hard
Economy is tricky because Street of Steel, Shadowblack, Sisters and Sunset Sea don’t work on most of your NW characters
Summer makes bullsh*t like Dragon Knight even scarier
19 or 21 power is a lot. You might have to include power rush jank like Men of Honor

Conclusion

Thanks for reading, and please leave some feedback below. Is Lanni Night's Watch a thing now? What improvements would you make? Next time I'll look at the other side of the same coin: Wildlings! Until then, always remember that you have a responsibility to trigger your response abilities!