The Great Fleet Card Reviews

A Song of the Sea - The Great Fleet Staff Review

62% 492 out of 800

Our staff has put together a first blush analysis of the newly released chapter pack The Great Fleet. We’ve used a one through five scale; five being the best. The cards are listed in numeric order. Our reviewers are listed in alphabetical order. Let us know in the comments how you feel about the cards in this pack!

The Reader gets rave reviews with a perfect score, while Meadowlark brings up the rear with a perfectly bad score.

Top 3
The Reader 40 out of 40
White Harbor Dromon 34 out of 40
Naval Superiority, Quentyn Martell -tie- 33 out of 40

Bottom 3
Meadowlark 8 out of 40
Longship Golden Storm, White Harbor Captain -tie- 13 out of 40


[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_paxter-redwyne-tgf.jpg'] Paxter Redwyne 24 out of 40

clu - 2 out of 5
I assume captain will be something to reckon wit at some point during this cycle, but the naval enhancement and the noble crest is really what pushes guy (barely) to a two rating. The ter is packed tight with Cercei, Lorch, Hill, and Gregor (my favorite). Paxter adds redundancy to Lanni’s already supported area of gold fetching. The aspect I like the best is what phase you get the gold. Shadow decks with Pyromancer’s Apprentice will love this guy.

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
Lannister 4 cost slot is pretty packed to begin with so he probably won’t ever rise above Bronn or LotR Cersi. That said I do see possibilities for him with the other two Lannister cards from this pack. Beyond that his ability does bypass typical income choke.

Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
Unfortunately the 4 cost slot will always be a tight one with little room. This card has its uses with getting income in before your opponent gets the chance (giving lannister a good chance to use pyromancer’s apprentice as a location control). It also has the N crest so there might soon be a dedicated Noble build in house Lannister. Still waiting to see what the captain trait will do, we are getting more and more them, but nothing that interacts with it.

JCWamma - 2 out of 5
The effect is nice, Lord trait is nice, Captain trait is potentially nice, Noble crest is nice. I also approve of "Lannister has lots of gold" as a deck theme because it's as Nedly as it gets. That said, right now the cards aren't there to make the deck a proper goer, and 4 gold is a lot of money, even in such a deck. The aforementioned combos with cards like Shadow Politics and Pyromancer's Apprentice are nice, but we're talking about niche combos in a niche deck involving a 4 cost character that already has to run other expensive niche inefficient characters for its theme. So a plus for Nedliness, but it suffers everywhere else.

mathlete - 4 out of 5
Solid character though he is a 4-cost character. In a Lanni-Hollow Hill deck, he will be amazing. I like that he is a Noble and has a Naval Enhancement

OKTarg - 3 out of 5
I like him. He’s more of a niche guy, but Hollow Hill and Shadow decks could both use his utility. Coupled with some of the other “gold saving” in this pack, I can see some tricky stuff starting to form. Nobles are always good, and the enhancement is nice. All that said, he doesn’t change games like other 4 cost cardboard like LotR Cersei, making him a bit middle of the pack.

rave - 4 out of 5
He seems like a good tool for Lanni KOHH. In every other deck he suffers a little because of his cost, but in KOHH the small boost in gold is nice to have. This gets around the agenda, and also enables wacky stuff like Pyromancer’s Apprentice before your opponent gets gold.

ShadowcatX - 3 out of 5
I’m not thrilled with his ability, it has its potential uses, but so does a porcupine quill. However, he’s a naval enhanced character on power, which allows Lannister to have all 3 icons covered so that’s useful.
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_arbor-queen-tgf.jpg'] Arbor Queen 16 out of 40

clu - 1 out of 5
Lanni already gets more reliable pump from Painted Dogs, Widow’s Wail, and I’m You Writ Small. I appreciate the thematic value but the game play is worthless. We’ll see if warships get a boost across the board.

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
The effect is a bit vanilla and probably not that useful in typical Lannister decks. Though in the right combo it could be useful.

Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
Here we thought that boats would burn nicely, but this thing can actually shield your guys with it’s hull! Strength pumps are always a great boon, especially in this Targ-rich environment. Since this is a visible pump, it will make your opponent dedicate extra characters for the challenge. It is good to remember that the Lannisters have plenty of their own does not kneel characters, with Cersei probably being the most powerful of them. With no-kneelers the fun part is that this effect is until the end of phase so you can get multiple uses out of the boost. This also fits well for the “gold matters” subtheme, since it doesn’t use up the gold when triggered.

JCWamma - 1 out of 5
1 gold makes this immediately playable. In aforementioned Lanni gold deck this card will be gravy, but otherwise the nature of gold in this game is that generally you don't have that much to spare, so most of the time you're not getting a great boost from this card. The vast majority of decks won't run it, and even in those that do it won't exactly be a key card. A ‘nice’ card, but not a good one.

mathlete - 1 out of 5
I would never play this card. Too many other good Lannister locations to play and events that bump strength and have a good effect.

OKTarg - 2 out of 5
STR buffs are good against burn and for triggering fun stuff like Hugor Hill. Having it be public is a bit of a downer, as is needing to have it in your gold pool. Ser Amory Lorch and the Poachers might synergize here, so we’ll see. All in all, I’m pretty meh on it.

rave - 3 out of 5
I don’t think this is really going to make a huge splash (ha!). I feel that cheap strength buffs are always at least decent, but even with a restricted Pentoshi Manor, this is a hard sell.

ShadowcatX - 2 out of 5
So give up playing cards for the ability to make those cards marginally better? I’d rather just play better cards.
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_lionstar-tgf.jpg'] Lionstar 17 out of 40

clu - 1 out of 5
Templated grammar aside, we are getting another source of gold outside of the marshaling phase. Unfortunately, you have to wait a turn to get any real returns from this card. I just don’t see any long range awesome from this guy, I have been playing in more games late where I have left over but the goal is to be spending everything. Besides, I already covet Coin Mint, Golden Tooth Vaults, and Favors from on High to provide gold for my shadows stuff out of phase.

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
I maybe overrating this card, but I think a one cost location to be able to carry over extra gold every other turn could provide for some interesting possibilities.

Ire & WWDrakey - 2 out of 5
Doesn’t do much all by itself and needs you to have surplus gold. This might see some play in combo-centric decks that try to abuse LotR Tywin Lannister or possibly shadows for more ways to have gold in all phases. Other than that, its uses are very limited.

JCWamma - 2 out of 5
Typing "see above" seems like cheating, but a lot of what I said for Paxter and Arbor Queen applies here too. That said, this is the best for me because it has the same shagga considerations as Paxter and is a quarter of the cost. It does suffer for the fact that both effects require it to kneel, meaning you can’t take gold off it and then dump the gold back again in the same round. The card screams out to use it for a Lannister Black Sails Naval deck, but I think the home it'll probably find is Lannister Shadows.

mathlete - 2 out of 5
A fun way to store up gold for future use for Shadows cards after Taxation. Also nice to combo with Blockade, but overall, I don’t think that I’d play this over so many better choices in locations for Lannister. Might be fun out-of-house.

OKTarg - 2 out of 5
It lets you carry over gold and avoid taxation, but shouldn’t you be seeking to spend your gold anyway? It does give you a holding tank for things like Daven Lannister or the New Tywin, but those builds are hardly reliable. Maybe you can clean out your coin mints, put the gold on this guy, and then Fleeing to the Wall them away. That sounds fun.

rave - 2 out of 5
There is potential. Once again, free Pyromancer’s Apprentice with this card, or maybe a cool trick into Blockade. But it really seems like too much building around is required for this 1 cost unique location.

ShadowcatX - 2 out of 5
If gold matters ever actually becomes a thing, this card might seem better, but it is very fragile against a lot of decks. I’d rather just spend my gold when I can (and build my deck with spending my gold in mind).
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_ironborn-marauder-tgf.jpg'] Ironborn Marauder 29 out of 40

clu - 3 out of 5
This is possibly the best “vanilla” card ever printed for Greyjoy as well as having the stylish tagname Ironborn Marauder. I’m now interested in building a raider deck for the first time! Unfortunately the two gold slot is crammed with Greyjoy goodness; Theon, Murenmure, Hopeful, Cragorn, Wex, Wendamyr, and Alannys without counting cost effective characters like Iron Fleet Raiders and Mariners. My initial excitement has cooled considerably… But, still a great add for the house of the squid seeing as how he branches out to several different theme decks.

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
I know the Greyjoy players out there are happy with this one. Cheap and efficent. The dual traits will help this guy round out a lot of decks. Naval enhancement on military to boot.

Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
So it took what, 3 cycles, to print a card that fleshes out an introduced theme? One of the best vanilla cards that fits great many themes, and mainly makes Raiders more playable, maybe even worthy of their own Black Sails build, just thanks to this well balanced weenie. It speaks volumes of AGoT design, that many decks are lacking decent “Vanilla” cards to flesh them out... it’s almost like having to eat all frosting and no donut.

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
As clu says, this is a tremendous vanilla card. Other than a Holy crest (which wouldn't make sense and might be overkill) it slots in nicely for just about every Greyjoy deck in existence. 2-cost is a spot Greyjoy can usually make room for given most of their great cards are 3 gold, and the versatility of it makes it a great utility card for the house. That said, this is nothing special. It's rare your opponent will see this card and curse the day it was created.

mathlete - 3 out of 5
Not bad for 2 cost and has a Naval icon. Will be an auto-include in Greyjoy Black Sails decks.

OKTarg - 4 out of 5
Solid. Not spectacular, but solid. Great traits means more redundancy for Raiders, Finger Dance, and Black Sails all in one go. Since I’m a big fan of theme decks and this guy fits into so many, I’m a huge fan.

rave - 4 out of 5
A solid tool for sure. Sort of unremarkable in all decktypes but Black Sails, but he synergizes well with multiple Greyjoy themes. No bad traits is also nice.

ShadowcatX - 4 out of 5
Normally I would never rate a vanilla character this highly, but really, this guy isn’t that vanilla. He has two good traits, and a naval enhancement, while still being cost efficient.
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_the-reader-tgf.jpg'] The Reader 40 out of 40

clu - 5 out of 5
Aaarrghh! It’s getting tougher to choose between all the great three cost Greyjoy characters. The Reader probably makes the cut every time even if you stripped off the naval enhancement and crest. Gaining another solid intrigue icon character is making them quite the hand ruining raiders. Greyjoy does a lot of little things well. The incremental gains hidden on many cards add up to what is going to be one of the best houses going into regionals. I’m looking forward to tooling around with the learned crest too.

emptyrepublic - 5 out of 5
This is exactly the sort of card FFG needs to be making more of. Very well balanced cost/strength/icon ratio. Good traits. Crest. Most importantly a single response that provides two distinct and useful effects. This is a guy that can work in almost any Greyjoy deck. Also, epic facial hair.

Ire & WWDrakey - 5 out of 5
Made to be good like nearly all of the champion cards. This is probably most similar to The Blackfish who is also near auto-include in every Stark build. A simple card that does exactly what it set out to do. It is also good to get more different titled Greyjoy unique characters, although GJ is now starting to have one of the most efficient lineups at that coveted 3 gold tier.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
Fantastic card. Greyjoy badly needed draw, he has the always-welcome Ironborn trait, a Learned Crest which synergises well in Maester decks (and is very appropriately Nedly besides), and 3/3/Bicon is the standard "awesome" spot in Greyjoy but The Reader goes one beyond by having a Naval Enhancement to boot. And if you're into mill he suits that theme too, although the vast majority of decks, mill included, will use him for the draw. For Nedliness, utility, and power tempered by being a balanced card, this is my favourite champ card in the game right now and props to Marti for designing it.

mathlete - 5 out of 5
3 cost and 3 STR and card draw and a Naval icon and Learned and....

OKTarg - 5 out of 5
Great card. More draw for GJ will help them, and the subtle buff to mill strategies allows for flexibility. They for sure needed more Intrigue icons as well. I don’t think this is as strong as some champ cards like Meera or Laughing Storm, but I think it will see TONS of play.

rave - 5 out of 5
Solid, and probably near auto-include status at this point with the current state of Greyjoy’s draw. Lots of great stuff for the 3 slot.

ShadowcatX - 5 out of 5
Well made card without being super over powered. Very solid and good design. Glad to see Greyjoy gaining more intrigue.
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_longship-golden-storm-tgf.jpg'] Longship Golden Storm 13 out of 40

clu - 1 out of 5
Too expensive to play out-of-house. Too weird to die. Hmmm, well, the Power of Faith already covers two out of seven plots. Is it good enough to free up a plot slot? I don’t think so and I’m not willing to wager on it by giving out a two rating.

emptyrepublic - 2 out of 5
The effect is not bad. The problem is you can have The Power of Faith twice in your plot deck which also allows you to not kneel to attack. Additionally Greyjoy is literrally overloaded with warships at this point and there are several 2 cost ships I’d take over this one, even in a holy deck.

Ire and WWDrakey - 2 out of 5
This is a good start, maybe someday we will also see Longship Sea ***** and a Joso’s Cock siege attachment.

JCWamma - 1 out of 5
It is true that a Greyjoy holy deck probably doesn't have an agenda (especially now that Winter is restricted), but I don't think this effect is nice enough to justify playing House of Dreams for. And given that, it’s not reliable to build around for a niche deck and provides a lesser version of an effect you're getting 2 turns out of 7 anyway. Only nice thing I really say is that Greyjoy always welcomes non-kneeling Warships, but even then it's usually for Raider decks where this is useless. Also if the name of the card doesn’t make you titter like a schoolboy then I pity you.

mathlete - 1 out of 5
Greyjoy doesn’t really need this card. I like it better in a Baratheon Holy deck.

OKTarg - 3 out of 5
I’m nervous since I seem to like this more than most of the other reviewers here, but I’m a fan. Making your Holy dudes tri-con is pretty nice, actually, and I’m giving this rating expecting to see a few more Holy guys come out in this cycle for Greyjoy. Yeah, Power of Faith does the same thing, but what about those other 5 turns? It’s also a Passive Warship, great for Naval Escort and other kneel requirements. It’s no LIV, but that’s fine. It is what it is.

rave - 2 out of 5
Power of faith does this much better. Too expensive overall. It’s a fun template for HoD, since you’ll create a lot of tri-cons, but I’m still not sold.

ShadowcatX - 1 out of 5
Another card that doesn’t actually do anything. I hate these type of cards.
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_river-runner-tgf.jpg'] River Runner 31 out of 40

clu - 5 out of 5
Due to the relative weakness of the Bara two gold slot this Smuggler should rock most house of stag decks. Ally is still a dangerous trait that Bara can ignore for the most part if they run Melisandra’s Scheme (I’m still not sold on that thing). Vigilant may be the most powerful keyword when paired with a character sporting more than one icon. The naval icon is cute on this guy, mostly useless outside of other effects we haven’t really seen yet. You can’t tell me folks aren’t dropping him into any deck running Smuggler’s Cove. At this point I assume it’s their cove!

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
This guy exists for two reasons: the Smuggler trait for the new Salladhor (who comes out next pack) and a cheap naval enhancement so Baratheon can easily activate Black Sails without having to over commit. The fact he’s vigilant and has a decent effect doesn’t hurt.

Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
A great enabler for Baratheon to trigger Black Sails, even during epic phases. Nice 2 cost card to help a new theme, but the Smugglers do some strange things that don’t go well hand-in-hand. Makes you wonder if they are actually meant to be a Toolboxy-theme, that benefits greatly from the Black Sails search? The printed Vigilant is rare thing to have and a very welcome sight. As Clu mentioned, this will go great together with the Cove and other power challenge effects...

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
Smuggler trait will be nice but not yet. 2 cost for a monocon Ally isn't great, albeit it's one nice textbox and the naval enhancement is swell. This guy would be a 2, but the threat of an all-conquering Smuggler deck arriving with the next chapter pack has me tempering the unimpressiveness of the card in its present form.

mathlete - 3 out of 5
I’ll lower his score by one because he’s an Ally, but otherwise, a solid character for its cost.

OKTarg - 4 out of 5
Vigilant is a GREAT keyword, let alone the Black Sails/Smuggler synergies. Since he’s a support rather than a key card, I can’t give him a 5 but he is going to be very useful for Bara.

rave - 4 out of 5
-1 for the trait. This guy is still great though. Good synergy with the emerging smuggler theme, and the potential for multiple challenges is cool.

ShadowcatX - 4 out of 5
I like this guy. He’s cost effective, he’s vigilant, and just solid. I’d rather he had an intrigue icon and gained a power, but you can’t always get everything you want in life. Still, I’m excited for the smuggler deck (though I wish smugglers had more come into play effects) coming soon.
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_ser-davos-seaworth-tgf.jpg'] Ser Davos Seaworth 30 out of 40

clu - 3 out of 5
Gah, I don’t know what to do with the half-handed, one glove wearing smuggler (wait…is Davos the original Michael Jackson?) Ok, the basics aren’t that neat considering the four cost, three strength, and two icons. Bara has the most tightly contended for four slot in AGOT, which is weird when I really hate running four costers. I only run with no more than four of them if any at all to keep my gold curve down. The positives are the keywords. By the Seven is he a beating! Between him and Olenna’s Guard the KotHH agenda will be played with Vigilant Stag and Fiery Kiss. The naval thing is a big whatever but the traits may come to mean something eventually. He does something for everyone but the four cost keeps him a balanced card. The last downfall he has is you can’t play with more than one Davos. I prefer the Where Loyalty Lies Onion Knight. He keeps your curve down, comes with a built in save, and has stealth which can easily go towards unopposed challenges. Both are good and both will see play depending on the type of deck you are piloting.

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
Once the next chapter pack with Salladhor comes out I expect a wave of Baratheon Black Sails decks with a Smuggler theme and Davos leading the way. He can’t save himself unforunately but what does it matter? Lack of a power icon is disappointing, but everything else is good. Flavor text is spot on with the card. The Nedly players should love this guy.

Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
The Baratheon 4 gold slot is jam-packed with exceptional cards, and a large percentage of those are just more efficient than this incarnation of Davos. Add to that the fact that we already have a more efficient Davos with the Smuggler trait and nice interaction with recursion... and this guy starts be pretty marginal in his uses. If Baratheon doesn’t get enough Naval enhancements otherwise, he can function as additional filler... and the intrigue icon is nice. However, I can see him easily getting marginalized quite fast even in Black Sails Smuggler decks, especially if the other Smugglers end up being decent and having enhancements.

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
Pretty much strictly better than Lady Olenna's Guard in the last pack, which rather makes you wonder why they bothered printing it. Naval Enhancement is fun, Smuggler trait is fun (although I think less important on chunkier characters). Renown and Melee is a nice and reasonably rare combo. The passive text I think is a bit of a gimmick - right now there are 5 smugglers in the game, one of them is a different version of Davos, and 2 of the others have stand effects anyway. If Bara wants to win dominance they generally will, with or without this effect. The thing that stops Davos being tremendous for me (aside from the lack of a power icon, he's one of the few characters in the game it makes sense to be a tricon and I don't know why he hasn't been made one yet) is the 4 cost. That's a big barrier for Baratheon, putting him in the same territory as the various Roberts, Stannises, and so on.

mathlete - 4 out of 5
I’m a big fan of Davos in the books and he has always had some interesting cards (CBK & Save) that thematically fit. I like the focus on another aspect of Davos and the fact that he has Renown.

OKTarg - 5 out of 5
I may be too excited for him, but Intrigue/Melee in Bara? Yes, please! Oh, and renown/melee during the Battle for the Shield Islands turns even while knelt? Yes, I’ll have some of that too! I’m actually getting pretty excited to build a Baratheon deck, and I thought I’d NEVER say that.

rave - 4 out of 5
I like him. (Is this the first Davos ever without some sort of protection or save ability?) At the very least, he is another unique renown character for Baratheon. Being able to use him twice with the new epic battle will be good with the renown he has.

ShadowcatX - 4 out of 5
More Baratheon intrigue on solid bodies, and not just that but he’s a military and an intrigue (IMO the best combination for bicons). And he wins as a defender more often than not. Very solid guy. Only about an inch short of being an auto-include.
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_black-betha-tgf.jpg'] Black Betha 27 out of 40

clu - 2 out of 5
Way too soon to understand this cards impact on the game. I generally side on the cautious until I see hands-on usage. As a general rule I don’t plan on losing meaningful challenges so this card is taking up a card slot that could just be a dude to win challenges. The idea is interesting and will be a card to watch.

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
This sounds great, and I’d have to see it in action to see if it really is any good. If you don’t care about recursion then I guess you are fine. The limit one per round seems a bit harsh. I feel it wouldn’t have been too overpowered as once per phase.

Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
So finally we get ability worthy of Kings Ground... Oh wait, it’s limited to once per round, nevermind then. Now if you have used the old smuggler Davos you will know how good dupes on demand can be and this is an excellent card for keeping your characters more safe. The limit is unfortunate since comboing this with some location stand could have been perfect... maybe even too good at that point.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
Giving Baratheon options to be more stable is something the house of the stag will welcome strongly. This is obviously more of a niche card due to requiring a naval attacker, but for naval decks being able to protect your Davos, your Salladhor (from next pack) and so on will be invaluable in making sure the Smuggler theme has some sense of stability behind it.

mathlete - 2 out of 5
Baratheon has more repeatable and consistent saves than this.

OKTarg - 4 out of 5
Not sure about this guy. It may be amazing; it may not be. Dupes are still fragile due to Burn and character ability cancel, but a free card in any form is nice for Bara. It is nice to see self-regulating limits on card-advantage cards (here’s looking at you, Street Waif!)

rave - 4 out of 5
This seems like it will be very useful for the Black Sails build. At this point, I think you should be able to field enough naval crests to get consistent use out of this. If you stack even just 2 dupes on a key renown character, this will have done its job.

ShadowcatX - 4 out of 5
Card advantage in the form of granting duplicates (which is much better than just regular old saves). It is pretty specific though so it won’t be in every deck (though very possibly every naval deck).
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_northern-sailor-tgf.jpg'] Northern Sailor 21 out of 40

clu - 4 out of 5
How angry can someone get about word templating? If you are an editor; very, very angry given that this is a reprint of the oft played Wildling Scout that read: Response: after you win a challenge in which Wilding Scout participated,discard Wildling Scout from play (cannot be saved) to choose and kill a character with STR 3 or lower. Unless you are running Boltons these guys make most decks as a x1 or x2 filling out the 2 slot nicely. Kindly Man decks will specifically go ape over this guy. Oh yeah, they also have a naval enhancement, that may mean something in this cycle.

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
He’s a touch expensive but I like him. More murder for Stark and a decent replacement for No Quarter. Also useful to get Meera to flip back into the shadows.

Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
Good naval fodder for Stark with added kill effect. It is good to see win by 4 effects resurfacing during this cycle, especially on cards that cannot win by 4 all by themselves. Nice to see Berserker -style “we both lose a character” effects also returning.

JCWamma - 2 out of 5
In pratice this just is "raise your claim by one under very conditional circumstances as a one-off effect", and for that one-off effect you pay 2 gold for a 1 strength 1 icon ally. Stark Black Sails decks might use the Sailor out of desperation for the enhancement, and he synergises well with the likes of Meera and Northern Cavalry Flank, but he's nothing remotely special.

mathlete - 3 out of 5
Cheap extra kill to replace “No Quarter”.

OKTarg - 2 out of 5
Given that people didn’t like the House of Black and White Arya’s ability calling it too expensive for the effect, I have NO idea why they will like this guy instead. He’s more conditional and gives your opponent the choice of character to kill. His only saving grace is in making people defend your MIL challenges, I guess, and the Naval stuff might be helped down the road. Not a good card, IMO.

rave - 1 out of 5
Way too expensive for a so-so ability. Not to mention how dependent he is on other cards. This is only going to do anything but hurt you when you already have board advantage. Is this guy really worth the off chance you’ll already be winning, and then be able to trap your opponent into killing a character they actually care about? The Meera synergy is nice, but man, this guy is bad.

ShadowcatX - 2 out of 5
He’s a niche card, he’s filler for black sails and helps out Meera so he’s not useless, but he’s not something you’re probably excited to play.
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_white-harbor-captain-tgf.jpg'] White Harbor Captain 13 out of 40

clu - 1 out of 5
I just can’t give the captain here a two. I wanted to label him somewhat playable but after really looking at Stark’s three slot (which is full of meh aside from Luwin, Wildling Bard, Damon, and Brienne) I would not put this guy into play over Jory Cassel or even Ser Rodrik. Three cost, two strength, and mono-con are some of my least favorite things. I hope captain and the navel enhancement are worth it!

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
I’m on the fence with this guy. He’s 3 gold for a 2 strength mono-icon. Usually that doesn’t work out so well. On the other hand he’s non-unquie has a pretty nice effect that let’s Stark be rushy in non-Siege decks.

Ire & WWDrakey - 1 out of 5
3 for 2 monocon with limited ability. Unless captain trait starts to get huge boost this card will see very little play. We just cannot see this being used for any other reason than as a Naval iller until better cards arrive And even then you should probably look at rather running something OOH.

JCWamma - 1 out of 5
Power grab that isn't renown is nice, as a rule. Otherwise, this is pretty dire. 3 gold for a 2 strength monocon, enhancement or no, is a terrible deal - for an unfair comparison, consider The Reader or Quentyn Martell from this same pack. The effect is just okay, nothing more, and it's prohibitively expensive.

mathlete - 1 out of 5
I predict this card will not be in any (good) Stark deck! The cost-STR-benefit ratio is terrible.

OKTarg - 2 out of 5
And even that is generous. Has anyone else noticed that these Manderly chuds have anti-synergy with Wyman himself? Maybe if Stark gets some slick “win by 4” events then these guys will be worth it, but for now, no thanks.

rave - 2 out of 5
Burn bait, and he doesn’t do anything useful by himself. 3 gold is the killer here. Probably only for Black Sails decks I would guess, and even then he’s pretty unremarkable.

ShadowcatX - 2 out of 5
Again filler for black sails (and not great filler at that).
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_white-harbor-dromon-tgf.jpg'] White Harbor Dromon 34 out of 40

clu - 3 out of 5
I’m uncomfortable with this location being created. I don’t think it’s overpowered (well, maybe, need to play with it to see it in action), however, Stark now will be able to run four locations and three characters that can dole out the renown keyword. I’m all for giving a house secondary themes but this seems a little too good. Maege is finding more targets as the chapter packs keep coming out. Oh, right, “random quote about naval enhancement”, Bringers of Law I’ve always wanted to play you. What keeps the rating down is the inherent need for a character to be in play…

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
Again, maybe I’m over rating again but if you consider the Naval Superiority plot that also comes in this pack then hopefully you see why this can be broken. At least it’s not super cheap. It’s non-unique though so watch out for multiple Northern Cavalry Flanks suddenly becoming an armada.

Ire & WWDrakey - 5 out of 5
On demand renown when you already know you are winning is good. Now add in that it lasts the whole phase, so no-kneelers will get more benefit and also add the fact that it gets naval to every icon. Just wow. Expect to see a lot of this in Melee.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
Even putting aside the Naval Enhancement part, this is the first location in the entire game that unconditionally gives a character renown. The enhancements are very much the icing on the Siege of Winterfell power-rush cake, here. Non-unique, so there's potential to give up to three characters renown at once and close a game out with phenomenal speed.

mathlete - 4 out of 5
The 4 could become a 5 if the Naval Enhancement bonus pays off. Or, I could drop to a 2.

OKTarg - 5 out of 5
Too good? Maybe. This can speed up any deck, even without a Naval theme. Howbout this on a Cavalry Flank? Or in an Alliance deck with a non-kneeler? Or on a Naval guy during Epic Battle for Shield Islands? It’s a better, non-unique Winterfell Practice Yard.

rave - 3 out of 5
It’s expensive, but Northern Cavalry Flank with this will be hilarious. This may be a cool way to not have to dilute your Black Sails deck with those horrible new characters also!

ShadowcatX - 5 out of 5
Lets you avoid having to run bad characters for black sails and grants non-kneelers renown. Very solid card. (And non-unique!)
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_quentyn-martell-tgf.jpg'] Quentyn martell 33 out of 40

clu - 4 out of 5
Man, Quentyn has certainly gotten the love in his incarnations, Massey’s Hook in the nigh infinite vestibule of Martell stealth anyone? This guy fits into many of the molds I look for in a card. He is efficient with a cost of three, three strength, and at least two icons. He has positive traits and (in my opinion) the best keyword and an ability that incrementally goes towards winning the game. Narrow Escape is looking even better in Martell. The house of sand is surprisingly light on everyday auto-includes in the three slot. Quentyn can easily replace a Dagos or Edric.

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
On his own he’s perfectly fine. There is nothing “wrong” with him. Good balance of cost/strength/icons and a useful keyword and ability. However, you’ll see us Martell players complaining because he doesn’t add anything to our stable of cards. In some ways Quentyn from the previous cycle is a more compelling card.

Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
Good aggressive character for Martells 3 slot which doesn’t have too many “must run” cards in it. Also the M,P icon still isn’t a very common thing in Martell. This card mostly shines in the end game where your opponent cannot get rid of it or it will risk giving you the win. This will definitely see a lot of play in melee environment as power gain is in a bigger position. The only thing keeping this cards rating down from a 5 is its lack of crest. This is one of those few characters in Lore that you could easily justify having L crest (teached ever since he was born) or N (he is nobility) or W (years and years of arms training) they could have even gone shadow route (other houses in Westeros don’t know about him) and had some nice comes out of shadows ability coupled with the current one.

JCWamma - 5 out of 5
Like I said with The Reader, a 3/3/Bicon is the default template for an awesome card. Especially when you throw Stealth and 2 positive traits on said card. Especially especially when said card has a power-grab response. Ironically Quentyn's best place might be in Baratheon where he can synergise all over the shop with the likes of Narrow Escape, Glamor of Fire and Norvos in a power-grab deck. He doesn't synergise incredibly with the dominant Martell builds of the moment, but I see no reason why most builds not running the other Quentyn wouldn't run a single of him, and in certain decks he's potent. As Ire/Drakey said the lack of a crest is disappointingly un-Nedly, but otherwise this is a very good card.

mathlete - 4 out of 5
A 3-cost, 3-STR unique Load & Knight with Stealth? Pretty good and you get a bonus on the way out? How about combine him with Arianne when they are the only Lord and Lady on the table and play “The Red Wedding”. Four power to end the game in the Plot phase!

OKTarg - 4 out of 5
I like how he boosts “revenge” subthemes and gives Aggro/Tempo decks a boost. Not slotting in to stereotypical Martell builds isn’t that great, but I think it opens up some space for them and is a decent guy in his own right. More uniques are always nice.

rave - 5 out of 5
Solid all around useful card. Free 2 power on your house is always good, especially since he’s fairly costed for stats and keywords alone.

ShadowcatX - 3 out of 5
Average costed but absolutely nothing special and certainly not exciting.
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_meadowlark-tgf.jpg'] Meadowlark 8 out of 40

clu - 1 out of 5
Hmmmm, this could become quite problematic down the road. I don’t know how many enhancements FFG is planning on producing (I hope not too many more without phasing out other card mechanics) but with House of Dreams as an existing agenda this thing could create NPEs. Right now it shouldn’t see play unless Black Sails hits top eights.

emptyrepublic - 1 out of 5
At first I didn’t think this card was that bad, but now I think it’s terrible since its use is so narrow. If it was at least non-unique we could have had multiples out and more subtaintially impacted the board. The problem is smuggler discard is coming and will be yet another problem for Martell controll locations on top of Newly Made Lord and Frozen Solid. The best you could ever hope to do with this location is possibly slow down a Black Sails deck for one challenge.

Ire & WWDrakey - 1 out of 5
Can we call this card Meadowfart? That would make more sense... This card is a unique narrow counter to the new and not completely fleshed out mechanism. In event this would have probably been something in lines with By the Light of Sun card from the king’s landing cycle.
Now interesting thing is that this card currently doesn’t have an end to its ability, which means that one trigger from this boat will remove those enhancements for the rest of the game. Whether this was intended... remains debatable.

JCWamma - 1 out of 5
Right now, this is a 1. I reserve the right to change that opinion if Black Sails decks become the next Maesters. As it stands though this card is a dead draw against a large number of decks, which means you won't include it, which means it won't be there when you actually need it. Too specialised, silver bullet, etc. If you were running some sort of weird, versatile House of Dreams deck you could use it well if you saw your opponent had the Black Sails agenda, but a) that deck would probably suck, and even then this card isn’t that great, especially with the epic battle in this set. If Black Sails decks DO become incredibly prevalent though and this card becomes a Martell auto-include I could see my rating for this card shooting up as high as 2.

mathlete - 1 out of 5
A once-per-round usage that may not even be needed? No thanks!

OKTarg - 1 out of 5
LOL. Why not just take the icons instead? Oh, all those options are restricted?
In seriousness, it’s just not worth 2 and the card slot. Martell has other options to control Naval stuff and should probably use those instead.

rave - 1 out of 5
Unless Black Sails somehow takes over the competitive scene, this in horrible. Expensive, and really narrow in its use.

ShadowcatX - 1 out of 5
Paying 2 gold and using a card just to make your opponent your equal (as opposed to actually gaining a leg up) is not a winning proposition. And it is unique so you can’t safely run multiple copies, but if you don’t it is vulnerable to removal.
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_dorans-scheme-tgf.jpg'] Doran's Scheme 24 out of 40

clu - 1 out of 5
You know what’s better and hasn’t been in a top 8 deck? The Shadow of the South. I love Shadow of the South and I still don’t play it that often. By virtue of this being a plot, a card type that you only get have SEVEN of for your deck, makes it unplayable.

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
I think this has potential, but I need to play with it to see what it would really accomplish. I think it’s better as a plot intended to be revealed as part of plot cycling outside the plot phase though.

Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out fo 5
We are not quite sure on what this card is capable in Joust just yet. We do however know that this effect can easily break many melee games in the Martell players favor. A turn when your 3 opponents cannot use challenge events and you can? Lets just say that they will most likely leave you alone in fear of Martell revenge. This seems to be a card thats value will be higher in the hands of a skilled pilot, since it opens room for some creative play situations.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
A great utility plot, against the vast majority of decks this will find a use. I think this card is better for Melee than Joust, as in the former it can stop nasty surprises from being sprung in the challenges phase from 3 times as many places. But the effect is very potent, and Martell is exactly the house to make terrifying use of it.

mathlete - 3 out of 5
This will be played in many Martell decks and will be a great final Plot when protection is needed for a final push. This would’ve rocked in my old Martell Maester deck, before the FAQ raped that deck!

OKTarg - 3 out of 5
Gamebreaking in melee, I think it will also be useful in Joust games. We’ll see how it shakes out, but blocking Lannister marshalling events, Martell and Stark challenge events, or even (in a cornercase) Epic phases can all be useful. That said, plots have the most competition for space and we’ll see how powerful it actually is.

rave - 3 out of 5
Interesting, this is definitely a cool way to dodge Paper Shield if you need to get something through. Poor stats though.

ShadowcatX - 3 out of 5
To me, this is the hardest to rate card in the pack (probably the last several packs). It is very narrow in what it can accomplish, but it is also a very powerful effect. Were the initiative and gold reversed, I’d be much happier with this card.
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_pentoshi-deckhand-tgf.jpg'] Pentoshi Deckhand 23 out of 40

clu - 4 out of 5
Our first one cost naval enhancement character. Good for you guy, that will get into some decks alone. The pathetic group that is the house of dragon one gold slot just got better. The Deckhand will fight for space with the Seer but in any decks running more than five ambushers he will get the nod. Here is where naval becomes a lot more interesting and useful. Who doesn’t like to have a plus one strength boost during challenges at an affordable price?

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
I think it’s enitrely usable. Another way for Targ to get Black Sails to activate. Annoying to help out Targ KotHH even more.

Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
Ever since refugees hit the list the use of 1 cost non-unique characters has increased so we think this will see some play in the current environment. His ability on the other hand is very limited, but it might come in handy with some of those more costly ambush characters... However, in that case you should probably be running True-Queen’s Harbinger first.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
A very MOR card, pushed up from 3 to 4 by Targaryen's dearth of good 1-drop characters. Running a few Ambush cards is enough to justify including it, and what Targaryen deck of the moment doesn't? Naval enhancement is fun but it's not a massively viable deck-build for Targaryen at the moment so not a massive deal, certainly helps though.

mathlete - 2 out of 5
Reduces Ambush but otherwise is a very weak, fragile character.

OKTarg - 2 out of 5
This is extremely meh. He basically gives you the same effect as True-Queen’s Harbinger with the bonus of the enhanced Intrigue icon. We’ll see if Targ Black Sails becomes a thing, but for now I’m not that excited. However, every deck that becomes a thing needs capable weenies and maybe this is that for the house of the dragon.

rave - 3 out of 5
It seems alright. I think Targ has a pretty weak 1-slot for characters, so this might add a new element to Targ deckbuilding.

ShadowcatX - 2 out of 5
Black sails filler again. At least it is cheaper than Stark’s black sails filler. (Not worth another star though.)
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_vhagar-tgf.jpg'] Vhagar 21 out of 40

clu - 2 out of 5
There is a reason I don’t play Xaro’s Home, having the extra influence to trigger never seems to work out. Xaro’s Home draws you a card which is better than taking the top attachment. Besides, Chamber is just better, in house this is trashy. Out of house is infinitely more exciting. I’d like to play Ice or War Scorpion every turn. Attachments are a lot more playable these days due to the restriction of Tin Link.

emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5
It’s fairly easy attachment recursion, the problem is the timing and the inability to choose which attachment that comes back. You don’t want to accidently flame kiss yourself now, do you?

Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
The important part here is the part about ‘entering play’, since you can use it for Ambush characters, creating some interesting effects... Now if we only get a character with both Ambush and Naval, then we’d be really cooking. Probably a definite include for Targaryen Maesters (which we think will still be a thing), since unlike Dany’s Chambers this doesn’t require Targaryen characters.

JCWamma - 2 out of 5
Targaryen has good effects to spend their influence on. As clu says, if you can't spare the influence to run repeatable draw, why do you care about saving a little bit of gold running this over Dany's Chambers? This being "enters play" rather than "after you play" is an improvement, but the times when you're going to use this card to bust out a sick combo of some description, probably involving Aegon's Blade, are very slim. Not to mention that most cards you drop in during the challenges phase either bounce out again, are weak chuds or have No Attachments anyway, so all in all I think Dany’s Chambers are far better than this card.

mathlete - 2 out of 5
I don’t want to waste my influence on this location. A lot of Targ’s attachments go on your opponent’s characters anyway. Could be fun in the right deck (repeatable “Bones of a Child”?).

OKTarg - 3 out of 5
Recursion is good, and Targ has plenty of attachments worth cycling. It doesn’t fit well into Hollow Hill themes, really, but is great in Maesters or weapon attachment type decks. It’s not amazing, but another very solid option for us Targs.

rave - 3 out of 5
Could be a fun way to recycle Unburnt in a Summer deck. Or maybe Bones of a Child or Maester decks. Either way, as a unique 1 cost location it’s not going to shake the game all that much at this point.

ShadowcatX - 3 out of 5
I think we’ve all realized by now that recurssion is good. And with the restricting of Tin Link, attachments are now good (or at least semi-good).
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_selmys-scheme-tgf.jpg'] Selmy's Scheme 25 out of 40

clu - 2 out of 5
Really interesting. A plot that can help close a three power gap and offer four gold should always be looked at. Reasonable armies to run include; Fleet, Long Lances, and Rattleshirt’s Raiders. High Ground works with two of them. Manning the Wall can help out with the more expensive unreasonable armies. A decent number of the mid-range Targ armies are Dothraki so you get some support there. I just don’t see enough justification there to think this will be good but enough to seriously look at it.

emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5
I don’t think this is quite as overpowered as it seems. Nonetheless, Long Lances will be more insufferable along with the dozens of other armies available to the Dragons. Decent stats as well, though perhaps initative could have been a bit higher?

Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
This plot has some great power gain potential. With some of the stand/no-kneeling tech Targ has and Heir to the Iron Throne it seems possibly to make a sort of army rush build. It is yet to be seen how effective something like this could be, but with the claim raise from Pike Phalanx it could work. This can also work as a finisher plot in melee games.

JCWamma - 3 out of 5
In certain decks this will be an auto-include. The majority of decks won't run it, but for those decks that will it's a fine closer. Extra points if you're playing against an Army deck and bring back all your opponent's Armies with Rhaenys's Hill.

mathlete - 1 out of 5
This card is good in one deck, a Targ Army deck. Otherwise, I will pass.

OKTarg - 4 out of 5
This is already great in melee, and Targ has plenty of armies worth making a theme around. Not all of the good ones have the Power icon, unfortunately, but use with High Ground or even Royal Favor with the Heir to the Iron Throne agenda could be pretty fun. Long Lances gets even more ridiculous there!
Splash in some Epics with our Fleet and good times are had by all.

rave - 4 out of 5
This is a good closer for Targ, something that Targ kind of lacks outside of Rhaenys Hill. The question is, outside of Long Lances, what other Army characters with power icons can be used to swarm for this plot? They tend to hang out in the 4 gold spot, which isn’t exactly swarm worthy. I think this is worth keeping an eye out for down the line.

ShadowcatX - 3 out of 5
This is going to be a niche plot I think, but it is very solid. Perhaps this will let Dothrakai make a come back?
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_battle-for-the-shield-islands-tgf.jpg'] Battle for the Shield Islands 30 out of 40

clu - 2 out of 5
Neat! An epic event? I’m always happy to see old themes come back around especially the cool names. Now, if we can get battle fields again that get a bonus during epic turns… Stark gets a boost in the older Siege archetype. The benefit is alright but really won’t make any decks aside from the fore mentioned. Loosing…guh…

emptyrepublic - 5 out of 5
This would be no where near as broken if naval enhanced characters weren’t allowed to particpate while knelt. Black Sails decks have no reason NOT to run this. HoD locations are vulnerable and if you play against Baratheon Smugglers you are going to struggle to hold on to a location.

Ire & WWDrakey - 3 out of 5
Seeing how effective old epic battles don’t see play at all these days, we’re already questioning on how much this will see play. We guess this will be mostly 1 of in naval heavy decks so that they have answer for HoD decks and new possibilities to trigger their agenda. The problem with this epic is the same with the others, there is big risk that your opponent will also benefit from it unless you are really heavy on the naval stuff. To successfully stop your opponent from getting a challenge through, you would need naval enhancements on all icons, and with good strength to boot... When Black Sails becomes a thing this will be run out of them, but probably not in anywhere else as it will be a gamble on if you have naval superiority. Being in an event slot just isn’t easy.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
I'm always up for a good epic event, and this is a doozy. In Black Sails decks it will be Godly, because you'll probably win your challenge (and your opponents' if he/she/they even make any) AND you get to trigger your agenda again if you remembered to keep a Naval icon standing (they can't be declared naval attackers or defenders when knelt, note). In non-Black Sails decks this is still a very solid event card, albeit of variable use given some opponents will care about their locations more than others. Also, keep in mind that if you're going first the opponent can just steal their location straight back if you're not careful, and it's difficult to guarantee having enough strength after dominance to be able to win two challenges. House of Dreams obviously suffers since the Claim-Replacement effect means it gets round the immunity, and the people annoyed about that...well, that's fair, although to be honest I don't think it's that hard to stop yourself losing the location if you really need it. So it's a good card, just make sure you're not the loosing opponent!

mathlete - 4 out of 5
Will be a lot of fun to play to steal a location “protected” by House of Dreams. Can be double-edged, but seems like a good control card.

OKTarg - 3 out of 5
I’m really torn here. Epic phase stuff is still strong, especially in melee, and this is more options for those builds. However, the fact that the challenge can be of any type means that you just might lose as much as you gain. Another pinch on the House of Dreams as well, which seems weird. All told, I’m giving this a bit “wait and see.” Oh, and I hate typos on cards. Gr.

rave - 4 out of 5
This is good for sure, but will definitely require some finesse. It IS claim replacement, so as Greyjoy or Stark, I can see having your location just being stolen back by an intrigue weenie pretty often. Stealing any location and enabling the Black Sails agenda twice is pretty nice though, especially if you have a fleet with renown.

ShadowcatX - 5 out of 5
Let me start out saying I hate this card. Letting naval characters participate while knelt is just salt in Martell’s wounds, and the fact that it can totally trump House of Dream’s protections is ridiculous. However, it is incredibly powerful and I fully expect it to get a ton of play in everything from black sails to siege of winterfell.
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[CRB='forums/uploads/got/med_naval-superiority-tgf.jpg'] Naval Superiority 33 out of 40

clu - 3 out of 5
As amazing as claim three with a limitation is, it’s not going to be in every deck because of the limitation. Stark can make good use of it when paired with White Harbor Dromon. I predict a rise in the popularity of Forgotten Plans. It seems crazy that Stark could casually pull off a claim three turn and gain renown. Ug, be prepared to be boarded me mateys by wolfy deck hands!

emptyrepublic - 5 out of 5
Hello future restricted card, nice to meet you. Why is there no limit at all on this? Once per round, once per phase? The threshold to activate this is so low it borders on absurd, and this is before we talk about new Victarion or any other claim raising effects from the previous cycle. Simply insane.

Ire & WWDrakey - 4 out of 5
Firstly we have to say that this is not a 3 claim plot. To have it be real 3 claim would mean that you have insanely good board position and if that is happening chances are you don’t need 3 claim for anything at that point. Now, this usually allows the Naval deck to do probably 1x successful 3 claim challenge, and if the opponent cannot control them, then probably they get to cherry pick the challenge they want to really hurt. However currently naval effects can be easily seen coming and are also not too hard to control. This card will possibly jump and be 5 if the other new Naval characters will be sufficiently high in power-level. A good thing to remember is that this plot is a lot easier to disrupt via Control, than a solid 2-claim plot like Retaliation!.

JCWamma - 4 out of 5
The thought of dropping in some random piece of tat like the Northern Sailor or White Harbor Captain and getting 2 more claim amuses me. That said, in practice you're probably getting 3 claim for 1 challenge, 2, tops. With an unimpressive Gold and Initative amount, this is leaning into "Win More" territory, so I can't justify giving 5. That said, the "Win More" territory it's in is "Win A LOT More", so I can see what makes it so impressive.

mathlete - 3 out of 5
Victarion Greyjoy will create a 4 claim MIL challenge? Wow! Bye-bye characters!

OKTarg - 4 out of 5
Super strong, but I have to wonder if this isn’t the Red Queen’s Faithful of the cycle. You know, the card that looked super OP that actually turned out to be pretty OK. To be a true 3-claim, you have to have 6 dudes out, three of which have enhancements that match the icons on the other dudes, and you have to win all of your challenges. That being said, you only really need the claim to hit on one challenge to be effective. Victarion + This + MIL challenge will be nasty.

rave - 5 out of 5
3 claim man... 3 claim... Without any drawback at all. Obviously good in Black Sails decks. I can see use in Stark Siege, and Lanni PBTT... actually, pretty much any deck that runs a subtheme of naval characters.

ShadowcatX - 5 out of 5
And we get to the only card I loathe more than the epic battle. 5 out of 6 houses now seriously have to look at their naval characters and go “if I run these I can run naval superiority” no matter how bad those characters may be. It isn’t an auto-include unless you’re running a black sails deck, but it is very close to it.
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