Does anyone else have an issue with the agotcards site? On both computers I have, I try to login and the screen goes opaque white with no login place. I am certainly far from a CPU expert, but cannot figure out why...

Staton said: Well yeah but if you are trying to build a rush deck, FFG says "You're doing it wrong!" ~They are right... Bara won the last GenCon, stop complaining...

Penfold said: Each player adds an additional level of complexity to the game, one of the things many joust players strongly dislike about melee (they'll dress it up with other words, but it all boils down to too many things going on for them manage and manipulate). ~Really Penfold? Really? You want to start that up again? Just for the record, complexity isn't the reason most of us non-melee people don't play/like it...

Very nice! I know FFG is starting to hit this field as well - didn't they release a board game at some point recently?

perpetual noob said: So while listening to the 2 Champs and a Chump podcast I started thinking about something - what made Martell Summer so popular this year? The Time for Ravens cylce was 3 cylces old by the time regionals came around (King's Landing, Defenders, and Brotherhood were all newer). The Martell house box came out around the same time as the King's Landing Cycle, if I'm not mistaken. And during Gencon we were in the middle of the Oldtown Cycle. I believe Erick Butzlaff was the original builder of this archetype. Did everyone else just take the idea and run with it? Did the state of the metagame this year have anything to do with popularity? I'm a fairly new player of this game, Would a typical Martell Summer deck been able to keep up with Wildlings a year ago? I would say a lot of it was timing. Wildlings were obviously VERY strong (stronger IMHO) with card draw (Val) and reduction and strength increase coupled with stealth. And a big freaking army that was hard to deal with. Martell Summer has income...draw...efficent weenies...good synergy (my favorite being the Maesters who save people by discarding cards, usually discarding Darkstar so he comes into play)...great control...nice events. Before the Restrictions, they easily had an answer to everything. Now it isn't so cut and dry, although I would put it up with GJ Winter, Lanni, and good players playing Targ at the top. The other houses are not far behind either (Stark and Bara have very nice builds.

I don't see any dominance unless some card gets REALLY OP that I haven't seen spoiled. Too many houses have answers. Too many houses have strong themes that will continue to be strong. I think I saw these should be out tomorrow? I hope so!

Well, I already got one of my wishes (thanks FFG Josh!) in the newbie thread that is starting! Unluckily no go on the bottomless alchohol that Dobbs nicely wished for me. Dobbler off the dating trail? He found Ms. Right? ~Or Ms. Right Now at least?

Rave said: Isn't it sad too? Kubla is like an hour away from where I live. hahaha. I saw Bronn as well...but also can't remember what he does Sad...hmmm...yeah, I guess sad is a word for it

So, we are almost there. Any wishes anyone wants to share? Mine: That FFG does something the most basic of games should have - a sticky thread for new players so approximately 25% of all posts are not new players asking the same questions. It is obviously needed, and the players do a good job of responding, but you would get a wealth of information with a sticky post. That I figure out to have my heavy drinking night the night OF the tourney (i.e. afterwards) rather than the first night I get there (i.e. before). That the present apparent parity continues between houses. That the game continues to grow, with an awesome Season 2 coming out on HBO. Also, that awesome fan friendly things like the Newsletter and 2C1C and all the sites. I find more time for gaming with friends. Happy New Year!

GREAT job. Truly an asset to the community. ~Glad Damon could take a break from composing soft jazz to pose for his picture

Woo-hoo! Time to be excited about building decks again

Many people believe power challenges are the weakest since they don't control the board or hand, but it is the main win condition (I have won games w/o winning a power challenge however). But getting a bunch of unopposed challenges (1 power each unopposed) puts pressure on your opponents. On Deadly, if you are attacking and have more Deadly characters than your opponent, they have to kill a participating character. So if the challenge is unopposed, Deadly doesn't matter (many times, Deadly makes the challenge unopposed), which is why 'surprise' deadly is much better (i.e. I am You Writ Small, a Lanni card). Also remember that after a challenge resolves, claim first, then passives like Deadly, then triggered responses. So if they defend with someone on a military challenge vs. a Deadly guy, your opponent can kill the defender to satisfy claim and then Deadly again doesn't do anything that challenge. Good luck!

JerusalemJones said: My favorite Lanni Iron Throne was from Winter block, which let you discard 3 cards from an opponent's deck after a card enters a dead pile. I used to run it out of house in my Greyjoy raid deck, along with the original Bastard of Bolton. Boy did people hate that deck. I won a regional draft on that card alone I swear. It was silly in draft

Sounds like a fun deck to be sure, but I still think someone would be crazy to bring it to a competative tourney.

Nitro Pirate said: rings said: I just wish there was something comparable for locations. It gets a little annoying that you can run 3-5 plots that control characters, and 1.5 for locations (Flee and maybe Assault). I don't see this at all... Fleeing and Assault are obviously in there, but so is Dry Season, so is Burning Bridges, and so is First Rains of Autumn... Maybe...good point - I like Dry Season as well, so maybe that is 1.75 (I don't see many decks thinking of playing TWO one turn limited solutions to locations). If there was a comparable Dry Season for characters (non-uniques lost their text box) it would not be played most likely. One turn blanking/kneeling < removal. *shrug* Especially specialty blanking/removal - although I know First Snow is a BIT limited as well. Bleh to Burning Bridges and Rains (really? Rains? really?)...more one turn solutions that don't cause your opponent to replay/pay or remove cards. I can come up with another 5-6 character control plots that are of that limited power level (none in the case of Rains). (BTW as always, I am talking about Joust. Melee is a different animal since you can get away with playing different cards and only one out of your 3 opponents needs to be playing location heavy...same with events on the cusp like Favorable Ground - which again is limited in its scope. Favorable Ground is great in Melee since it hits 3X as many locations).

I just wish there was something comparable for locations. It gets a little annoying that you can run 3-5 plots that control characters, and 1.5 for locations (Flee and maybe Assault).

Personally, I can't wait. Valar is...well...Valar, and Wildfire isn't doing it for me, so it is nice to have another control plot that helps control over-extension but still gives income and claim. Plus, as Stanton said, it is combo-riffic in many ways. I think it will hit the meta very nicely, and heavily. It did in the CCG days (although differently worded), and opened up more design space in the 3/2 cost/strength ratio, and 2/3 (which we have very few of really).

AegonTargaryen said: Round 3 of the joust tournament. I play my Targaryen KotHH vs. a former German champion's Martell Maesters, someone I consider a very good player. He has a great setup with 3 characters and two locations. He starts with At the Gates and I play Threat from the North and Hatchlings Feast, and all his characters including his Maesters are discarded. He plays a second wave of characters. I answer with Flame Kissed, Dragon Thief and I don't remember what. He loses a character to military claim and a card to my intrigue challenge. Next round I play Take Them by Surprise, draw a card with Bay of Ice, play Forever Burning, marshall Thundering Cavalry, discard his Orphan, carrion crow and another character (the victim of FB). He loses one more to military claim and more cards to intrigue (he has no intrigue icons left on the table). He plays some more characters, I think a Conclave among them. For the first time in this game, he wins a challenge with a master character on the table and places a chain. Next turn, I velar and the turn after that easily seal the deal with Ser Barristan, some other cards and Raeny's Hill. In the entire game, he was able to get one chain from his agenda. He cursed and told me he felt completely helpless in this match. True story from Stahleck. Great story - Targ is getting REALLY good right now actually, and trending better and better. Sounds like you had a pretty solid start yourself though

Wrecking Ball said: A Poisoned Spear was just spoiled and I must admit that seeing the card made me a little angry. This is the second attachment that gives Martell targeted kill. I think it seems like a decently powered card as well, I understand you must rid the icons from the character first but is that really that difficult to do? Not only that it gives a character joust! Many people probably know by now that having a joust character with stealth greatly increases your chances of winning a challenge so it will be much easier to trigger the response from the spear. I just don't understand why a house needs an answer to every aspect of the game. Rant over. It isn't bad, but really is it tier-one? They have so much more effiecent control already, and the negatives are pretty strong: 1. It is an attachment. Enough said. There have been all of 4-5 positive (on your own characters) attachments that have been playable on their own w/o an agenda to help out. 2. You have to participate with that character. Lots of removal or kneeling out there. 3. You ahve to rid the character of icons. Again, usually that means another moving part (although it seems that more is coming down the pike for Martell). A good card, but I could just use GG + Noble, or intrigue plus Game of C, or put in other control cards that might work even better.

MIKE CHECK! Lol, great thread. Although the 1% ARE the 'win creators' and without them, you would have no wins. We need to lose any erratta/restrictions on Maesters, and lose the taxation phase for any Maester deck. Only then, will we be able to have wins again.

Awesome! (Chances this would work with my wife, unless Gualdo is actually Johnny Depp - 0%).

clu said: Thanks to everyone for their help in constructing this list. I'm putting together a deck building workshop for the locals and thought about arbitrary themes. I've never tried to put them all into one deck before but it will make a good example. Remember, there are no bad ideas, just better solutions. I just put that last quote on a poster of a kitten and put it up on my wall. Oh, and melee rocks! 'Competative' melee however... But, anything that brings new players into the game - which melee has DEFINATELY done - is great in my books. I just would like to see how many of last year's participants/viewers think it is a good idea competatively...5%? 1%? It was 0% that I saw. *will never revisit this thread again* And VERY happy that the Euro-zone gets to design a card, that really did need to happen great players and people. ~So I can travel there and win one someday (j/k!). Especially after it sounds like the continent is going to fall into the sea if you listen to the press...(good luck Italy!).

bbleers said: Does anybody happen to know when Lions of the Rock will be in stores in the States? The website previously said November 21st but now just says on the boat. I assume this means it's coming soon but I have heard about things being late before. I guess I'm just wondering if it will make it before Christmas. Anybody know the status on this? Last time I heard, mid-December, but that wasnt' in stone. Sorry - I can't even build a deck until it is out it seems, so am in the same boat.

At non-super-competative tourneys I always bring a second deck, to have a fun game afterwards. I also do try to shy away from non-interactive decks at those events (GJ choke, Stark epics plots, etc.). But in anything mroe competative, it should all be good!

dh098017 said: If you get one of your deck's key cards in your setup/first draw, but you have no way to protect him yet....play him, or hold him back (and why)? Are you scared of Valar I assume? Really I just play the key card. If they want to 1st turn Valar, hopefully your deck can punish him for doing that. Obviously if I have Roose Bolton (1X in my deck) or Robb Stark (3X in my deck) both in my hand, I woudl play Roose on the flop, but if I don't have a choice I don't mind 1st turn Valar's that much.