Congrats to both - I admit to have followed it via Facebook as well (as I kicked all comers butt in Warstorm just to feel like I was there a little ). Catastrophe should have been the reprint...Fleeing just doesn't do it (I will say it again - characters have multiple hate plots like Valor, Wildfire, Threat...locations have one so-so plot). Sorry for the thread hijack! Still 50/50 on Kubla which would be my only Regional. Good to see Lanni on top where they belong!

1st, I don't think anyone would disagree that the 'cycle' of producing uniques is weird. I just don't understand why we have 3X of many characters and none of so many more. I just can't understand the logic (I guess unless the first version is horrible - i.e. Cercei). I really don't think it is sales (~'what, another Robb is in this pack, I HAVE to have it!!!') compared to if some favorite uniques woudl be produced (still no Lem!!!). 2nd, a decent amount of 5-cost cards see competative play. Tywin is in every Lanni build I make (then again, I play pretty much all the saves I can and love cards like Wildfire), including the 3rd place last year deck (granted not as many cards in the pool). Red Viper is played. Crow's Eye is played. New Littlefinger is played (granted, most people don't pay 5 for him). That all being said, only the Viper really is a power card if you build a deck around him. 3rd, he is powerful, but like it has been said there are a wealth of control cards to get rid of him. Characters are still fragile, be it through plots (Valor), events (Lanni Pays), burn, or attachments (already been named). Heck, even locations (Bear Island). It is 10X easier to control characters than locations. The non-kneeling is situational, and with all the stealth and deadly and kneeling out there...not that amazing really. The card draw is decent, but like the LIV or King Tommen it isn't game-breaking in any way.

We will see on June. I am sans-wife & kids until next week, and then the full move to Nebraska will be complete (witness the power of this fully armed and operational...never mind). Since I am still trying for KublaCon (San Fran in May) and GenCon (Indy in August) it might be tough to convince the family (read: my wife) of another aGoT trip She is great at letting me travel, but I can only ask for so much.

Just got back from an aGoT roadtrip - it had been a long time since I had done anything like that so thought I would post and remind people of how great it is and you should do it! Went to Muscatine, Iowa to stay w/ Maester Luke. Great little town, I have never spent much time on the Mississippi (being on the Missouri myself) and it is much different. When Luke said he lived in Iowa, I said I would visit (my town, Wayne Nebraska being 40 minutes from the NE/Iowa border). Little did I know it was 5.5 hours away if you go 75 the whole way and don't stop That is Illinois man, not Iowa! Saturday went up North to Dubuque to a great park overlooking the three states that meet up there (Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa). Who was there to meet us and surprise me - Madkasel himself! With deer sausage and homemade beer. That rocked (as anyone who went to the Trials in Madison knows). Played a few non-aGoT games before it got too cold, then went to a bar and played a few more. Then hit Clash of the Titans (not good, BTW, and I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt). Sunday hit Clu's store in Iowa City (Critial Hit Games) and played all sorts of aGoT and Warhammer with the locals. Great to see everyone, especially Clu (it had been awhile). So, thanks for all the hospitality Iowa!

Friday Worlds (~sorry, can't say another format should count...), that should be interesting. Points for all formats I am assuming, that should make the overall winner much different.

Happy b-day man! We (Luke, MadK and I) were just talking about you this weekend over grilled deer sausage and homemade beer. Hope all is well in NYC, and that I get out there soon.

~Sounds like Nate is getting soft in his old age Letting a house specific character through...you should hear the horror stories of him helping (~?) with past World Champ cards! I like the card though. I love uniques, and this one is done well. Good to have a little draw for Stark as well, heaven knows they need it!

f7eleven said: Kako K. said: The problem with more fractions imo is, that each following bb would bring to few cards so satisfy old fractions players, i guess. Which is exactly what happened to Magi-Nation... (one of, if not the coolest, CCG's ever made). Whoa...Magi-Nation? A great game I agree, wish they could have playtested a little bit more Forgot all about that game!

I am going to put my $$ on GenCon (early August). They love to release stuff then, when they can get a ton of buzz off something (see last year: Warhammer LCG, which sold out and was arguably the most popular new game released). Plus, FFG sometimes has a hard time getting Game of Thrones products finished when they say they will

I am probably 75% going. That being said, Game of Thrones takes precedent, so if FFG does their normal thing and schedules both of these tourneys together...I won't be happy.

Hey there BB - I play, and am up in Wayne (about 2 hours North). I have a family and everything, but try to get some gaming in where possilbe I make it down to Lincoln on occasion, and Omaha. Or I could just meet you somewhere inbetween to grab a beer and a couple of games. PM me for an e-mail address if you get into this. I have also heard of players maybe starting in Omaha and Souix Falls. That is the closest (maybe Iowa for you if there are some?).

So cool... ~you know Chaos probably wears chains all the time already

~Does this mean that Ghost of High Heart is actually playable? Just my luck that they finally print some when the card is rotated! The original had 'all brotherhood gain +1 strength and cannot be discarded'. Awesome! I just saw this. SO excited. No matter if they are good or not, I will be playing them. I have George RR's signature on all the originals - Anguy, Beric, Mad Hunts, etc. When we saw him at GenCon SoCal I got them and my Lanni House Card - that is all I needed. Better be a Lem this time or else!

I will stop by for sure if I make it (probably 60/40 right now trending the right way!) forsure. I will also be bringing the cube - we had more people for the cube draft than the normal tourney last year (including a TON of SacTowners). Darkness!!! Darkness all around me!

If I make it (50/50 at this point), I will certainly bring my cube for a cube draft which has been VERY popular at the two events it was held at (Kubla last year and the Seattle Lannisport tourney). If not, I can probably get it to Luke or someone if anyone is interested. Or, obviously, someone can just make one ~much inferior to mine of course which has been tested estensively It is 'LCG illegal' cards only - i.e. cards now not usable (including the 2 LCG ones), so a good way to play with older cards.

Not a surprise, but still sad. Nick was a great playtest buddy over the years, and had even played in a few championships (winning a Regional). A good player, and a good friend. Good luck! I am out of goods for the day...

Pretty cool mechanic. I am sure it will get better over time. The rules are a little better than the norm (with some exceptions), but W:I is certainly worse which I mainly attribute to a new game. agoT certainly went through that as well, and to be honest I still don't like some of the basic rules (i.e. moribund) which would have been solved w/ a 'chain'. But, overall, the rules have been tested pretty well by this point.

That wouldn't make it risky. You just got off a valor, and now they have to get a unique out, the attachment on him/her, and win dominance w/ a strength 8 on the table first We had a Dragon's Horn at one point, and it didn't stop the # of dragons that was for sure. However, it was silly in trait manipulation decks

Mel is pretty amazing. I, for one, love the historical characters. ~Although I would like to see Joffrey #4 instead...

1st, I agree w/ Stag that just because something is an auto-include, it shouldn't be banned. But that doesn't mean it isn't bad for the game - ESPECIALLY plots and agendas. Agendas are the worst since you start with them in play and they are basically untargetable. Plots are close, since you chose when you play with them and they recur semi-regularly. Plus, I just don't like talentless (oops, I opened the door!) 1st turn plots. We used to joke, after seeing 1st turn Fury on Fury action in 80% of our games, how amazing it was to predict each others 1st turn plot. On top of that, some houses have powerful events that only trigger when traited plots are in the discard pile, giving even more people ammo for 1st turn Furies. It is better now, with the City plots and a few other 1st turn options (Blockade, etc.). However, in a nutshell if it wasn't for Bara's ability, I wouldn't have a huge problem with them, although I would definately not cry if they were gone (as I haven't for the very few banned LCG cards so far). Is anyone really all that tore up that they banned a couple, even though that was debated at the time pretty heavily? Doubtful...both were good for the game, as this would be (adding deck variety and consistency to deck performance) 2nd, to Luke - Yes, GJ and Stark are both MIL powers. That is the issue, there are PLENTY of games where going first = taking the opposing biggest character off the board and then you can't trigger your plot. A well-built deck lessens this a bit, especially w/ more cards now...but again I saw someone leave the game over this, they tracked GJ vs. Stark (not amazing decks, but good enough) and who went first on the 1st turn won 75%+. Again, not totally scientific and I am sure everyone here could build a deck that lessens this impact, but at the cost of just not being as good of a deck overall.

I think it won't be a surprise to say I am for them going away. And I am very anti-banning, I just hate it. I just don't see an easy erratta or 'silver bullet' card that would be playable. The negatives are just too great - I didn't like these cards when I first saw them (i.e. before they were printed). Crazy abilities that were only turned on part of the time, but who cares since they are 5/7/1 traited plots. Games won/lost by the flip of a coin (not just Bara, I saw plenty of Stark/GJ games go the same way). ~Everytime I think of those plots I throw up a little in my mouth... I would rather play rock/paper/scissors. Fury plots were also was responsible for having at least one player quit the game in Seattle *shrug*

I enjoyed Warcry BTW. A pretty good game for the most part (some bad playtesting at times non-withstanding).

I just got it, and have to say it is amazing. I am starting to even play some some out-of-house cards since the gold curve went up so high to help w/ draw and more control of my own (Khal Drogo...). The dupe guy is REALLY strong as well. A good pack from Bara to be sure.

Good posts! Just a few counter-counter points First, I didn't think it was a rant, and hope it really didn't come of that way - again I think things are going well, I just had pretty minor points really. Stag - I play Lanni since I play Lanni (or Martell - intrigue is my thing). I don't play kneeling Lanni, nor do I play heavy card-draw Lanni. But, I see you point. Just remember, it has been awhile since Lanni won Worlds! ~They are due! As much as I agree income + draw is good, I think burn and power rush has the same potential, as does reset/save (which is very lowly costed for GJ), and can easily overcome draw since it is harder to splash IMHO (burn for sure, you can get a little rush w/ Renown). Lars - Draw - Waif is incredible. The best costed draw card in the game. I have been playing a long time (as you have!), and believe that most games are won in the first three turns, with the first turn being most important. You still get a character out of it. You are pretty much guaranteed playing 3 of her you get to your draw limit the first turn, which helps you draw into more draw/search going forward (Messenger anyone?). I think Martell is now king of card advantage, not Lanni (the recurring death of the stupid weapon, Waif/Messenger, the increased intrigue claim of Arianne to name a few). King's Landing is a bit of a risk, but less than you would think. There are some decent locations that have that trait, all you have to do is put some in - it doesn't weaken your deck. The cost is fairly high though. Fury Card - you are telling me that if Bara steals a card, and then Martell get to put that back in their own hand, that is balanced? I guess I just disagree there. Bara loses nothing, Martell has their best card used against them for a turn 50% of the time, and then they have to pay for it again (if something like Rule by Decree doesn't hit). Bleh. The effects are just too disparagate for cards that have the same stats. Ally hate - I agree that Varys is good. But remember, Ally was supposed to be a negative trait. Right now you are only running the risk that someone draws one card (if they are running it). W/ Arys Oak I am fairly okay I guess, I just would like something a little more consistant than uniques. Bruno's plot - I am torn, I loved it as printed. I know a lot of people didn't, but I love the simplicity of costing cards if you can have 3 cost/2 strength being a disadvantage, and 2 cost/3 strength an advantage. I am the same way w/ 2/1's. I am a big believer of strength mattering a bit more than it does now, and his plot was a very elegant way to help do that. House power - While I agree that Stark is the lowest on the totem pole right now, they have a big expansion coming up. And they still can win if built right - Bear Island is still one of the most impressive locations in the environment. Bara is still strong - power rush will always be a threat. They can't weenie as much as in the past w/ Martell...but they still have strong cards especially w/ the new King's Hall and Dupe guy. Thanks though - I love talking about this stuff again

I am very excited about the CoTW. We will see if it sticks (let's just say history hasn't been kind). That being said...pretty so-so article. But, I don't mind articles aimed at beginning players, especially these days. I guess I like looking ahead more than back (WAY back), unless it is tackling something serious (like the perceived draw issues).