“He has the power of Storm's End and Highgarden behind him, you little fool,” Cersei snapped down at him.
   –George R.R. Martin,  A Clash of Kings

The paths that lead through the Mountains of the Moon and into the Vale of Arryn are open. The forces of House Arryn are ready to lend their support to any of the Iron Throne’s claimants. You must decide whether House Arryn can help you reach your goals, or if they’ll only get in your way. Make your decision quickly, because The Blue Is Calling expansion is now available for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game, both at your local retailer and online through our webstore.

This Chapter Pack offers new House Arryn characters to join your Houses in the struggle for the Iron Throne. The Blue Is Calling also continues the major themes of the Wardens cycle, bringing more support to trait-based decks and introducing new, powerful Limited Responses to every House. You can take vengeance on the Lannisters with your Sand Snakes, lead a Dothraki khalasar, or join the knights of the Rainbow Guard. Summon your knights with The Blue Is Calling!

The Flower of Knighthood

Throughout the Wardens cycle, the Rainbow Guard trait has been gaining strength and synergies. With the release of The Blue Is Calling, all seven members of Renly Baratheon’s Rainbow Guard are present: the Knight of Flowers (Secrets and Schemes, 1), Brienne of Tarth (A Deadly Game, 21), Ser Robar Royce (Secrets and Schemes, 2), Ser Bryce Caron (The Valemen, 41), Ser Emmon Cuy (A Time for Wolves, 61), Ser Parmen Crane (House of Talons, 81), and Ser Guyard Morrigen (The Blue Is Calling, 101).

Two members of the Rainbow Guard are equally powerful whether they fight alongside their Sworn Brothers or elsewhere. The Knight of Flowers can suddenly come out of the shadows in order to save a unique character from being killed or discarded. Brienne of Tarth forces your opponent to either grant you a power or forgo his ability to play event cards during the round. With such powerful abilities, both of these characters could find places in a House Baratheon deck, even without the other Rainbow Guard members. 

The other knights that make up the Rainbow Guard, however, become dramatically more powerful when they join company with each other. Ser Bryce Caron grants renown to any Rainbow Guard character. Ser Robar Royce grants deadly to all Rainbow Guard characters while he’s participating in a challenge. After you win a challenge with any Rainbow Guard character, you can stand Ser Guyard Morrigen and give him a power icon. You can increase the power of those power challenges by raising your claim with Ser Emmon Cuy. And once all your challenges are complete, Ser Parmen Crane stands all of your Rainbow Guard characters so they count their STR for the dominance phase. Of course, the cost to bring all of these characters into play is high, but who better to unite the Rainbow Guard than Renly Baratheon (Kings of the Storm, 2)?

The power of the fully gathered Rainbow Guard is certainly impressive, and you can capitalize on your gains even more by equipping some of these knights with Margaery's Favor (The Blue Is Calling, 102). This attachment can only be given to a Rainbow Guard character or Renly Baratheon, but when you win a challenge with the attached character, you can draw a card.  Additional card draw is the lifeblood of any deck that focuses on a large team of characters like the Rainbow Guard, so Margaery’s Favor can certainly find a place in bringing more cards into your hand. In addition, because the Rainbow Guard are Knights as well, you use Bitterbridge Encampment (House of Talons, 82) to search for additional Rainbow Guard characters and bring them straight to your hand.

Finally, you can steal your opponent’s power and increase your own STR with a single event included in this Chapter Pack. By playing The Stag and Rose (The Blue Is Calling, 103) after you win a power challenge by four or more STR, you can move a power from an opponent’s card to one of your Baratheon characters. Until the end of the phase, that character gains an additional STR for each power on it. Naturally, you’ll get the greatest STR increase if you target a character that already has a lot of power. Renly Baratheon could be an ideal target, as well as any character frequently enhanced by Ser Bryce Caron. With the fully united strength of the Rainbow Guard, you can lead House Baratheon to its rightful place as the rulers of Westeros!

A New Beginning

The Blue Is Calling is the final release for the first edition of A Game of Thrones: The Card Game. Although this Chapter Pack marks the completion of the first edition, it’s far from the end of your time in Westeros. We’ve already announced the second edition of A Game of Thrones: The Card Game, which will be released this summer. You can find out much more about the second edition on its minisite, and keep watching our website for more previews in coming weeks!

Pick up your copy of The Blue Is Calling to complete the first edition, and look for more previews of A Game of Thrones: The Card Game Second Edition in coming weeks!