Exploiting Weakness

“Azor Ahai, beloved of R'hllor! The Warrior of Light, the Son of Fire! Come forth, your sword awaits you! Come forth and take it into your hand!”
   –George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings

The second edition of A Game of Thrones: The Card Game saw a massively successful limited release this year at Gen Con Indy 2015. There, hundreds of players had the chance to pick up their Core Sets and participate in the introductory Kingslayer tournament. Since then, we’ve even announced two new playmats based on the phenomenal reception they saw during demos at the show. 

Before Gen Con Indy, we offered a series of faction previews, exploring each of the eight unique factions included in A Game of Thrones: The Card Game and some of the strategies best suited to each faction. Now, in the final weeks leading up to the general release of A Game of Thrones: The Card Game, we’ll present a series of deck overviews and take a look at just a few of the possible decks that you can make right out of the Core Set. 

Today, we begin our series of deck overviews with a House Baratheon deck supported by the ironborn raiders of House Greyjoy! 

House Baratheon with Banner of the Kraken

Deck created with the CardGameDB.com A Game of Thrones 2nd Edition Deckbuilder

Total Cards: (60)

Faction: House Baratheon

Agenda: (1)

1x Banner of the Kraken (Core Set, 199B)

Plot: (7)

1x A Noble Cause (Core Set, 4)
1x Calling the Banners (Core Set, 7)
1x Calm Over Westeros (Core Set, 8)
2x Filthy Accusations (Core Set, 11)
1x Sneak Attack (Core Set, 21)
1x Summons (Core Set, 22)

Character: (34)

1x Aeron Damphair (Core Set, 65)
1x Alannys Greyjoy (Core Set, 66)
3x Asha Greyjoy (Core Set, 67)
3x Dragonstone Faithful (Core Set, 56)
3x Fiery Followers (Core Set, 54)
2x Littlefinger (Core Set, 28)
2x Lordsport Shipwright (Core Set, 75)
2x Maester Cressen (Core Set, 46)
1x Maester Wendamyr (Core Set, 70)
3x Melisandre (Core Set, 47)
3x Robert Baratheon (Core Set, 48)
2x Salty Navigator (Core Set, 76)
1x Selyse Baratheon (Core Set, 49)
1x Ser Davos Seaworth (Core Set, 50)
1x Shireen Baratheon (Core Set, 51)
3x Stannis Baratheon (Core Set, 52)
2x Theon Greyjoy (Core Set, 71)

Attachment: (6)

1x Lightbringer (Core Set, 58)
2x Little Bird (Core Set, 34)
3x Milk of the Poppy (Core Set, 35)

Event: (6)

3x Consolidation of Power (Core Set, 62)
1x Ours is the Fury (Core Set, 63)
2x Seen in Flames (Core Set, 64)

Location: (14)

1x Chamber of the Painted Table (Core Set, 60)
3x Dragonstone Port (Core Set, 59)
1x The Iron Throne (Core Set, 38)
3x The Kingsroad (Core Set, 39)
3x The Red Keep (Core Set, 61)
3x The Roseroad (Core Set, 40)

The Plots

For this deck, your objective is to kneel out your opponent’s characters, leaving them helpless against your attacks. Each of the plot cards included in this deck have a distinct purpose for helping you gain control of the game. Naturally, Filthy Accusations contributes most directly to this goal, so two copies of this plot are included. You have a lot of good targets for Summons in your deck including Stannis Baratheon, Robert Baratheon, Asha Greyjoy, Melisandre, and others. Sneak Attack can be a good opening salvo or it can close out the game if you’re just a few power away. 

Other plots help you build your board and defend against your opponent’s struggles. Calm Over Westeros helps stall your opponent’s attacks while providing a good amount of gold that can’t be reduced by Naval Superiority (Core Set, 17), which makes this plot a good opener. Finally, A Noble Cause and Calling the Banners offer significant economic boosts to play the numerous high-cost characters included in this deck. 

Some plots that are not included should also be mentioned. One notable plot not included is Wildfire Assault (Core Set, 26). Because Robert Baratheon only gains more STR as more knelt characters are in play, you want your opponent to have many characters in play – you just want them all to be knelt. Confiscation (Core Set, 9) was also passed over in favor of the attachment control offered by Maester Cressen. 

Herding the Masses

As mentioned above with the plot cards, kneeling out your opponent’s characters is one of the primary goals of this deck. To that end, there’s a host of kneeling abilities here, ranging from Melisandre and R’hllor cards, to Shireen Baratheon, to Robert Baratheon and his intimidate keyword, to the Consolidation of Power event. Of course, maintaining a lock on your opponent’s characters means that you’ll need the rigid control offered by Stannis Baratheon – along with Melisandre, he’s one of your prime targets for the Summons plot. 

Stannis Baratheon features a truly powerful ability, but to take full advantage of it, you’ll want it to affect your opponent’s characters much more than your own, which means you’ll need ways to stand characters outside of the standing phase. Fortunately, you have several of these, such as the Fiery Followers, Lightbringer, Ours Is the Fury, and Asha Greyjoy. By using these cards to stand your own characters at the proper time, you can ensure that you have the superior board presence. 

Once the majority of your opponent’s board is knelt, you’ll need to capitalize on your enemy’s weakness. That’s where House Greyjoy comes in. Stealth is a very powerful keyword in any situation, and the fewer standing characters your opponent has, the more powerful stealth becomes. Asha Greyjoy is another character worth three copies in this deck – not because she’s a linchpin on her own, but because no other character lets you capitalize on your opponent’s weakness to the same extent, especially when she’s equipped with a Little Bird. 

In addition to Asha, you’ll find extra stealth with Theon Greyjoy, Maester Wendamyr, and Ser Davos Seaworth. Each of these characters offers you the chance to slip past your opponent’s few standing defenders and destroy his advantage. Between the Baratheon’s existing power and the Greyjoy’s fearless raids, this deck invites you to force any foe to bow before the Iron Throne.

All Men Must Kneel

The general release of A Game of Thrones: The Card Game is fast approaching! We’ll return with another deck overview in two weeks and explore a vastly different way for you to claim the Iron Throne. Until then, call your banners and pre-order your copies of A Game of Thrones: The Card Game at your local retailer today!