Crimson and Gold - Sailing into Tournament Season

Now that store championships are rolling along, let’s analyze the early results. After that we’ll break down the strengths and weaknesses of Lanni Black Sails.

Meta Talk

Despite the recent introduction of house-specific agendas for Martell, Baratheon and Greyjoy, the meta hasn’t changed much since November. Most Bloodthirst decks follow the same tried-and-true Martell KotHH archetype, with low character counts and influence events. A Noble Cause legitimized the rush archetype, but numerous counters such as Men of Pride make it ultimately unreliable. And The Old Way hasn’t made an impact at all, perhaps because Greyjoy is a middle-tier House right now and because the Krakens have stronger alternative agendas.

As you can see for yourself from the excellent spreadsheet put together by istaril, the top three decks in the joust format are still Targ KotHH, Bara KotHH, and Lanni No Agenda, but they’re followed closely by a wide variety of competitors.

Martell has several strong options including KotHH, Bloodthirst, Quentyn and Knights of the Realm. Baratheon Black Sails is strong against almost everything, while Bara Knights and A Noble Cause are flashier but more matchup dependent. Lanni PBtT is making the cut at a surprisingly high rate, but Tunnels is quiet. Greyjoy No Agenda, Black Sails and A Song of Ice are all viable but not especially impressive. Targaryen House of Dreams (either Dragonpit or Aegon’s Hill) and No Agenda (Dothraki) have made respectable showings. And finally, House Stark shows up at the bottom of the standings, but their best bet seems to be No Agenda (either Kindly Man or Maege Mormont) followed by House of Dreams (Harrenhal or Bear Island). Beyond that, you might encounter an occasional Maester, Wildling, Song of Fire, Brotherhood or Siege deck. And that’s the current meta in a nutshell.

Lannister Black Sails

The versatility of Black Sails allows us to run cards that are situational in nature, and fetch them only when the time is right. However, in a meta dominated by control decks and constant resets, keeping our characters with naval enhancements around is not easy. At best we’ll probably access the Hold twice per game, so honestly Lanni Agenda is stronger, but sometimes it’s good to mix things up and, you know, have fun with this game. Try something different and challenge yourself.

In my last article, Know Your Enemy, we covered some of the biggest obstacles stopping Lannister enthusiasts from taking the Iron Throne. Now let’s face those fears and confront them.

Carrion Birds are cheap anti-Seasons tech. Lady of the Leaves brings repeatable blanking to the table. Coldhands, Ygritte, Varys and Ser Arys Oakheart should need no explanation – they’re simple “point and click” removal. Ser Mandon Moore stops those dirty Greyjoy saves. Jhalabor Xho and Slander and Lies slow down renown-heavy decks. Milk of the Poppy handles the Red Viper along with a host of other nuisances. Bastard is always there if and when Maesters make a comeback. Paper Shield and The Hand’s Judgement are great for when you fear a game-breaking event. If your opponent runs a host of shadows cards, you can fetch Jaime Lannister or Alchemist’s Guild Hall to punish him. And finally, opposing influence-heavy decks with the Red Keep are vulnerable to Support of the Kingdom.

Can you think of any other reasons to run Black Sails?

How Can We Reliably Win Naval Challenges?

Even if Lannister is short on naval enhanced characters, thankfully there a couple of solid neutral options in Eastwatch Envoy and Summer Sea Corsair. In-house, I’m fond of Arbor Guardsman and Fleet from the Arbor, but Blackwater Bay Veteran and Paxter Redwyne are so mediocre that I don’t even bother with them. Lannister is home to excellent cheap characters capable of getting the party started, so to speak, for our naval characters to jump in. House Clegane Outlaw is my favorite option: all three icons, survives Threat from the North, and can initiate a challenge even without a power token on him.

Here’s a sample decklist:

Deck Built with CardGameDB.com GoT Deckbuilder

Lanni Black Sails

House:
House Lannister

Agenda: (1)
1x Black Sails (RotK)

Plot: (7)
1x Valar Morghulis (Core)
1x Shadows and Spiders (LotR)
1x Rally Cry (TBG)
1x Cersei's Scheme (TPoL)
1x Rule by Decree (Core)
1x Naval Reinforcements (RotK)
1x Twist of Fate (APS)

Character: (40)
2x Carrion Bird (ASoS)
2x Doubting Septa (LotR)
3x House Clegane Outlaw (APS)
2x Eastwatch Envoy (THtW)
2x Summer Sea Corsair (RotK)
3x Arbor Guardsman (TCC)
2x Enemy Informer (Core)
3x Castellan of the Rock (BoRF)
3x Fleet from The Arbor (RotK)
1x Penny (VD)
2x Tommen Baratheon (SA)
1x Coldhands (THtW)
1x Janos Slynt (THtW)
1x Ser Boros Blount (TK)
1x The Hound (TK)
2x Ser Preston Greenfield (TK)
1x Ygritte (THtW)
1x Margaery Tyrell (AToTT)
1x Varys (SaS)
1x Qyburn (SaS)
1x Ser Arys Oakheart (PotS)
2x Ser Jaime Lannister (TK)
1x Tyrion Lannister (CoS)
1x Tywin Lannister (TK)

Attachment: (5)
1x Increased Levy (LotR)
1x Milk of the Poppy (Core)
1x Slander and Lies (HtS)
1x Widow's Wail (LotR)
1x Enslaved (THoBaW)

Event: (8)
1x I'm You Writ Small (Core)
1x A House Divided (WLL)
1x Nightmares (LoW)
2x The Bear and the Maiden Fair (TPoL)
3x Harry the Riverlands (FF)

Location: (21)
3x Pentoshi Manor (AHM)
1x Lannisport Brothel (Core)
2x The Iron Throne (LotR)
3x Golden Tooth Mines (Core)
2x Kingdom of Shadows (KotS)
3x Sunset Sea (Core)
2x The Roseroad (KotStorm)
3x The Goldroad (Core)
1x River Row (QoD)
1x Street of Sisters (Core)


I chose Castellan as the restricted card because he works well with Arbor Guardsman, but there are plenty of other options, including Narrow Escape, Threat from the East, Negotiations and Cache. The Bear and the Maiden Fair works great with Fleet from the Arbor. I'd love to hear your comments and suggestions. Thanks for reading!