Rubinon said: I think it would be more logical if Recruitment targeted a "non-unique" character. Could go either way. In the books even the Mercenary companies are led by named characters and much of The East's intrigues center around manipulations by and against the mercenary captains.

Staton said: Because I have a lot more ways to save Robert from being killed than from discard. There are a lot more ways to discard an ally than kill a noble. It generally takes more than one card to actually kill Robert, or if it is one card, you have to win a challenge or actually do something. You can discard the ally as soon as it enters play with very little ways of saving him. Whilst I wouldn't mind seeing more cards that can remove traits (ex Old Nan), I think you might be overstating the amount of ally hate you'll likely gonna see. If I look at a tourney deck, alot of the time I see 1xVarys and that's it. A Lanni or Martell deck may use both Arys and Varys but that doesn't radically improve their chances. Targeted kill on the other hand is potentially much more dangerous since its more universal and you'll have multiple copies available. Most of the ally hate is generally more useful in a dedicated trait hate deck and you're more likely to lose other characters than your allies.

I saw them on the Khazad Dum card packs as well.

Aren't you supposed to be using your work computer for, you know, work? I would think that the Andreas would be better off working on a mobile version of the site rather than working with a terrible browser made by a company that reneges on their stated intent of compliance. There are other more pressing matters like discussing this little gem currently spoiled at a different site: A House Divided Type: Event House Lannister only. Response: After a player plays a character with a Trait he already has in play, choose and return 1 character with that Trait to the top of its owner's deck. The shadowy moneymen are at again seeking to divide us. Its our right to gather and discuss our grievances without fear of reprisal. If we wish to form a union of like minded individuals sharing the same traits, its our right. Yet the shadow moneymen use their vile intrigues to keep us in disarray. Failing that they rely on the jackbooted thugs of Clegane and Lorch National Detective Agency to hurt us. This must stop. #OccupyCasterlyRock

Core game comes with only four decks and four houses. Later expansions added 2 more houses plus the neutral house card. I sometimes play melee with 5 or 6 players. Things get jumbled sometimes but we usually just rewind things a bit and let the first player things play out and so forth.

Staton said: There's a difference between a bad card and a card that is in the wrong house. Fog of War is a bad card. Its terrible. I actually get physically ill when I think of that card. That card is the cause of everything wrong in the world. Seriously, **** that card! Heir to the Iron Throne is in the wrong house. The card is in the right house but its the wrong design. Its kinda boring in comparison to the Lanni agenda. The Lanni agenda allows you to capitalize on a House strength but there's still an element of danger in using it. That's interesting. Same goes for Siege. I kinda wish Heir was more like both. Heir reduces your card advantage which is bad for a house with already weak card advantage. At least Targ's getting something a little more to help Heir though. Ride Them Down and Barristan works well with Heir. We'll see if there's some more love later.

Kennon said: playgroundpsychotic said: The other creature deck got a nice leg up with Maester of the Last Hearth. Why not a maester that aids dragons? SPOILERS!!! Well, it's hinted at rather strongly in the novels that Maesters actually played a prominent role in killing off the dragons, so I'm not sure if it's Nedly to print one that helps them. Yet not all Maesters are of all the same mind and one in particular has a rather un-Nedly version of himself.

I'm not sure Targ really needs more Dragons although I think there's plenty of room to play with the keyword. For example, Blood of the Dragon is a cool card but it was designed before QoD and it shows. It doesn't work very well with current Dragon decks. Still cards that grant the trait to other characters on a temporary or permanent basis would be interesting. More cards that help combat control against Dragons (or creatures even). The other creature deck got a nice leg up with Maester of the Last Hearth. Why not a maester that aids dragons? Targ maesters are currently only sort of useful. The one with the useful ability can't take chains, the other isn't meant for anything except fighting. There's a certain named Maester with glass candles after all. Same goes for a holy sub theme with the Asshai. Lorewise Targ seems to suffer a little from having a lot of things from ADwD which is so far unrepresented.

I think the Dragon's need some additional support that is not challenge participation based. They can get pretty frightening but it still requires you to assemble a lot of pieces and it can fall apart before you get to use anything since some of the aforementioned controls can be used before the challenge phase or between challenges. Also Targ inexplicably receives no additional advantages in terms of influence which could be used to combat control. For example, a friend managed to bounce a dragon back to my hand after a challenge but I put it directly back into play since I had the spare influence. A rare occurrence for sure but helpful. Still there's a bit of hope on the horizon. Meereenese Tourney Ground is probably the best Targ card this chapter cycle and works well with the Dragon theme. First Snow of Winter is also a big helper for high cost character decks. I suspect we may see more cards that help with having large uniques in play.

Wrecking Ball said: A Poisoned Spear was just spoiled and I must admit that seeing the card made me a little angry. I dunno. Its very good but does require some additional work to use properly. Nightfall seems distinctly better. Certainly much better than Warhammer though (which seems like something you use against Bara not with). One thing that has me interested is new support for no agendas. I'm interested although its something they should have released earlier rather than later.

Nitro Pirate said: I was at a joust tournament in Sheffield last weekend (only 14 players) which was won by a Martell deck playing TMP (only 6 chains). Does that means it's a lite version of the deck? Does that really matter?! It's still a TMP deck. I came second with a BWB Martell deck, only using 5 brotherhood characters. Does that make it a BWB lite deck? Anyhow, of the top 5 finishes four of them were Martell (all completely different builds) and one Targ TMP deck. Alright, not a particularly large field but a completely unsurprising composition for the final tables, with the overall winner playing both Martell and TMP... I clearly stated what you would expect from a TMP Lite deck. Does having one chain on the Agenda really all that game breaking? Think about what it does for you. You have to win a challenge with a printed Maester to effectively net 1 card and 1 gold. This is clearly game breaking. Nevermind that a lot of players use At The Gates to get a useful character in play regardless of what deck they use. Thus winning a challenge with a Maester is a relatively meager feat to gain a one time small bonus. TMP might seem a little stronger with more chains on it but this leads to more disruption potential. I'll counter your example of your tournament. It seems to me the problem with your tournament is that few wanted to try to counter the Maester deck. When I look at a top deck it usually has a few different ways of dealing with potential opponents. It might neglect something but often involves variable amounts of character, attachment and location hate. If you think TMP is a danger then tech specifically against it. This leads us to Stahleck, Days of Ice and Fire and the Spanish Nationals. All heavily attended with minimal amounts of TMP placing well. That's not to say TMP is underpowered. The Spanish Nationals was won by Martell TMP although other TMP decks were eliminated early. Martell placed a little better but was largely locked out as well. To me this says more of Stukov's playing ability rather than how powerful TMP or Martell are.

Staton said: If you have two players of the same skill, TMP deck will always win. If that was the case then why isn't TMP dominating still? Seems to me its day in the sun was GenCon and those builds don't quite work anymore due to some errata. Same goes for Martell. Even when you see TMP decks they are often "TMP Lite" employing only a very limited number of chains on agenda. Slapping a single chain on TMP really doesn't make it strong. It means you get 1 gold and 1 card during the challenge phase. Clearly monstrous.

I'd settle for FFG sleeves coming in packs of 69 instead of 50.

This assault on education must stop. The shadowy moneymen are creating a distraction for us whilst using their ill gotten gold to amass armies to enslave us all. Latest scouting suggests that they're moving into position via boat with their new commander. If we can sink their fleet we may be saved. Meanwhile there's a fresh rumor that they would cast aside their own children to further their hate filled intrigues. Don't you all see? They would stop at nothing in their lust for power. They mean to keep us ignorant whilst they grab even more gold for themselves. #OccupyCasterlyRock

It was a masterfully constructed chapter pack. The idea that powerful uniques should direct melee play was in excellent idea. I imagine that Targ received a weak, boring non-unique because they're pretty overpowered in melee. Seriously, we must put a stop to that silver-haired witch and her pack of lizards. #OccupyMeereen

LordofBrewtown said: Best thread in five or six years on these boards Milord this is no laughing matter. The shadowy moneymen are working diligently to turn off the bright light of education with their vile intrigues and dare I say, dark magic. Recently a portrait was released of one of their more infamous members that is proof of their foul wizardy. The moneymen deal with all kinds of scum who show loyalty to no one, even their own paymasters. This infamous fool lost his hand to these scum yet this new portrait show it to be intact! A man cannot grow back his hand! At best, they are withholding valuable medicine from the masses. At worst, black sorcery. They spray innocent people with burning substances created with foul magic. They use sorcery to improve their bodies so they can continue to hurt others. There are now rumors that they're experimenting with grotesque necromancy to create an army of unstoppable monsters to dominate us all. This cannot stand! #OccupyCasterlyRock

Staton said: You have to forge a chain and wear it before they let you know anything of importance. Otherwise you are forced to go through a maester to gain access to the knowledge, and even then he won't let you read the source material. He will give you half answers and riddles! The maesters are hoarding knowledge just like they are hoarding the chains! You dare talk of chains! The moneymen (and lady) chained up an entire river thus impeding the flow of goods to small merchantmen everywhere. One brave soul and his devout religious followers tried a peaceful protest but the moneymen and their jackbooted alchemist thugs sprayed them with foul substances. #OccupyCasterlyRock

If it weren't for elite educational institutions like Oldtown U, Westeros would fall into darkness. Clearly this whole campaign is a sham conducted by shadowy moneyed interests against the humble scholars of the world. Anytime now these moneymen with their perverse intrigues will sweep out from the rocks and occupy the world. It could be just a few weeks away! I say NO MORE! We must stop the bastards before they doom us all! #OccupyCasterlyRock

Davy Back Fight said: Does anyone think joust is unbalanced as a competitive format or there is controversy deciding you won a joust match? I non-sarcastically want to hear any opinions on this because I haven't considered that. Compare it to melee please. How about getting shut out of playoff rounds due to collusion? You could not face an opponent once in joust and yet get beat by them in the standings because a couple buddies threw a some games his way. In a melee, you can at least manage your standings somewhat more since you're not required to win and other players may hold back colluding groups (or alternatively, different colluding groups face each other). I'll bring up Bobby Fischer again. He is still likely the greatest chess player ever yet he practiced and accused others of manipulation during tournaments. Back in the 60's its highly likely the Russian players practiced collusion amongst themselves and he leveled that accusation. On the other hand, his own behaviour during tournaments was often irrational and delibrately done to unnerve opponents. Also again, a card can have no additional modification for melee and yet perform differently. Consider Deadly Khalasar. Whilst always useful when its your turn to challenge, its still stronger in melee. Since it responds off of any opponents claim, you can use it to stand your characters for additional defense or to counter malicious kneeling effects. The latter effect you're less able to counter in a joust since you're solely responsible for your own military challenges. There is no additional social manipulation. This is pure card mechanics. Its in fact stronger with social manipulation since it can also be used as a bargaining chip. Plots by nature operate differently in melee vs joust. Counting Favors is tricky to play in Joust depending on your opponent. In a melee, its less problematic since you're more likely to have an opponent with strong established draw. There's less of a downside to playing it if an opponent already has a Cache or two in play. Again, pure card mechanics. It can be used as well for social manipulation since its a good bargaining chip. There are plently of cards that are more global in scope or play better if they have more trigger points due to multiple players. Similarily, malicious cards with limited trigger opportunities might work better in Joust but may not hurt you (or others) directly since you have a convenient (or not) meat shield seated beside you.

Davy Back Fight said: Davy Back Fight said: I prefer the mechanical interactions of the cards in joust over the kingmaking potential of melee. Social interactions aside, many cards have different mechanical usage in melee vs joust. Field of Fire for example is a reasonably good joust card. In melee it allows you to fry the characters of two opponents. In a Joust, you'll likely face a reset. In a melee, you'll likely face more than one. Your deck choices should reflect the need for greater survivability. Gylbert Farwynd is irritating in Joust. He'll likely piss off all 3 of your opponents in melee thus drawing you additional hate than you would prefer. Even if your opponents are not colluding, they soon will be if you give them sufficient reason. Joust is really only half a game. GoT without title manipulation is missing something. Maybe if FFG added a Joust titles, it would be better but till then, its only half a game. Lastly, even a Joust is subject to social manipulation. Just ask Bobby Fischer.

Stasis said: We are seeing power creep whether people will acknowledge it or not. Honestly some of that creep we're seeing is the designers being a little more sensible with card design. First version of Daenerys was passable but utilized a gold theme that sort of hooked into a few other core set Targ cards. It wasn't really useful or thematic though. The two subsequent versions are much more useful and representative. Sure its power creep but a necessary improvement. I'm sure everyone has their pet peeve characters and other cards that could use a serious improvement in game power (I'm looking at you Strong Belwas).

Mamut said: @Shindulus: You're wrong about first thing. You can trigger his action only when this unit is already in game. But if the guild is already in game it's not in a current chain (word "play" reffers to actual chain, like drain magic, Asuryan Cleansing). So you wont get cash/card for Guild. Thing would be different if this card would have wording like "When X enters game" Then you could trigger it (like Derricksburg Forge). This seems to conflict with the FAQ to me. "Once a card enters play at the end of an action chain, it is eligible to trigger any of its own abilities, including those that trigger off of it entering play."

Kordovan said: GJ winter is so strong (and make 1st place at european) because they dont have restricted, and play too easily Fear of winter, just as exemple Here's the slightly troublesome part of GG and Myrcella. Its a fairly strong repeatable way of dealing with bigger characters. Myrcella makes playing a large character troublesome against Martell with side order of strong attachment/power hate. This is in a house that also has a fairly strong repeatable way of dealing with weenie characters. GJ is strong because of its good at resource denial. So is Martell, just in a different way. Myrcella also arrives at the same time of an interesting plot reprint that wipes the board of weenies yet still allows you her to combo with GG to take care of a large target. And do something tasty in melee on top of that. Its interesting that this chapter cycle is about large powerful characters yet Martell has some fairly hefty hate to take care of those characters. GG/Myrcella+Icon Hate to take care of whatever's left is a lot. I'm not really advocating a ban or restriction but I'd feel more comfortable if Myrcella wasn't a Noble.

Saturnine said: playgroundpsychotic said: It was held by Roose Bolton for a time. Right. With Lyanna in the pack my brain was in "legends" mode and totally ignored the "current" time line. Good call. Although it occurs to me that maybe the card should dual Stark/Lannister. Roose held it for both Houses and its current Lord has been represented by a Stark/Lanni card. Who knows, mebbe the Lanni box will have their own version.

Saturnine said: Neutral Lyanna? That makes me a little sad. And why is Harrenhal a Stark location? It's in the Riverlands, and as far as I know, it was never held by a Stark or any other Northern house. It was held by Roose Bolton for a time.