The Weeping Woman

"Thirty different gods stood along the walls, surrounded by their little lights. The Weeping Woman was the favorite of old women, Arya saw; rich men preferred the Lion of Night, poor men the Hooded Wayfarer. Soldiers lit candles to Bakkalon, the Pale Child, sailors to the Moon-Pale Maiden and the Merling King. The Stranger had his shrine as well, though hardly anyone ever came to him."
     –George R.R. Martin, A Feast for Crows

The second season of 2018 Organized Play for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game is nearly here, and that means it's nearly time for more fighting, lying, stealing, bitter politics, and backstabbing. It's also time to see what rewards you can claim as you step over your foes and climb the stairs to the Iron Throne!

You can practice by meeting your opponents one at a time for honorable jousts—or, perhaps, while riding a mare that will send your opponents' stallions wild. Or you can use the chaos of a melee to your advantage, holding to the edges as your foes bludgeon each other… only to swoop in at the last moment to land the final blow.

Either way, you'll find ample reward among the prizes of the 2018 Season Two Kit for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game, even if your schemes fall apart more rapidly than your rivals' armies. It may be that in the game of thrones, you win or you die, but in A Game of Thrones: The Card Game Organized Play, you can win, die, or play and go home happy with the prizes you gain simply for participating!

Top 16

Death awaits us all—especially in a place as tumultuous, violent, and unpredictable as the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. Nonetheless, most of us spend our time trying to avoid death. Most of us seek ways to prolong our lives, and if someone should die, we hope that it is someone other than ourselves.

Yet there are those to whom death appears as a sweet mercy. As the kindly man instructed Arya, there are many who view the Many-Faced God's gift as an end to their want and pain. Those people would go to the House of Black and White to pray and drink from the pool of sweet, dark water. They would lie down beneath one of the statues of the gods—the Merling King, the Pale Child, the Lion of Night, or the Weeping Woman. They would fall asleep, and they wouldn't wake up.

Each of the Top 16 players at a 2018 Season Two March to Battle tournament receive an alternate art copy of Tears of Lys that reminds of both death's finality and its gift.

Featuring artwork by Joshua Cairos, this version of Tears of Lys moves us away from King's Landing and the poison that was used against Jon Arryn, and it carries us to Braavos where the poison is just one of the many tools employed by the Faceless Men in their service of the Many-Faced God. The card's blue tones suggest death's cold embrace, and the warm oranges and yellows on the lit candles remind us of the sweet release that death offers… as well as the answers that carefully orchestrated assassinations can provide to those praying for greater power back in the Seven Kingdoms.

The 2018 A Game of Thrones: The Card Game Season Two Kit contains seventeen copies of this alternate art Tears of Lys. Sixteen are to be distributed among the players, and the seventeenth is intended for the event organizer to keep or distribute at his or her discretion.

Elite Prize Card

Avoid the deaths that others would deal you, avoid the temptation that death might present you—and you might just find yourself vying for a Top 4 spot among the participants at your local March to Battle tournament.

It's not easy to avoid the myriad pitfalls that await the lords, ladies, and knights of Westeros, but attaining a Top 4 spot at your 2018 Season Two March to Battle event allows you to claim an extra prize—either an Elite Prize Card or an Elite Prize Item. These prizes are distributed among the Top 4 in the order of your placement at the event, so the better you fare, the more likely you are to claim the prize you seek. You might even lay claim to the largest castle in the Seven Kingdoms…

The Elite Prize Card in the 2018 A Game of Thrones: The Card Game Season Two Kit is the Lannister version of Harrenhal. Originally appearing in For Family Honor, the card is given a new look in the 2018 Season Two Kit with alternate art by Tomasz Jedruszek.

Trading the original card's imagery of the castle's scarred and tattered towers for a front-row seat overlooking Ser Jaime Lannister's battle with a bear, this version of Harrenhal reminds us that every notable castle is better known for its owners and their stories than for its architecture… and that this particular castle is haunted by death.

Fortunately, the Lannisters are known for their ability to use their allies to their own benefit—and this card's ability is perfect for bringing more of these allies into play, as fodder for Lannister ambitions.

The 2018 Season Two Kit includes three copies of this card. Two are to be distributed among the Top 4 players, and the third is for the event organizer to keep or distribute.

Elite Prize Item

If you like the alternate art verison of Harrenhal and are also House Lannister fan, you will find a particularly difficult choice awaiting you should you make the Top 4. On the one hand, you can claim a stunning new version of the largest castle in the Seven Kingdoms. On the other hand, you can claim a set of tokens fashioned in the shape of a lion's head and featuring the Lannister's signature red and gold.

Use these tokens to track your power. Use them as poison tokens for your Tears of Lys. Use them as Valar Morghulis tokens on Jaqen H'ghar. Or use them ironically, treating them as betrayal tokens on Ser Jorah Mormont. However you make use of them, these tokens are bound to remind your opponents of one thing—a Lannister always pays his dues!

March to Battle in the Seven Kingdoms

Arguably the greatest thing about the prizes from the 2018 A Game of Thrones: The Card Game Season Two Kit is that they're worth winning in multiples. You'll want multiple copies of Tears of Lys, multiple copies of Harrenhal, and multiple sets of of tokens. That means you'll have plenty of reasons to keep playing—jousts, melees, and everything!

So talk to your local retailer to find out how many events they'll be running for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game and when. Then start forming your schemes; you'll want them fully matured when they're all that stands between you and poisoned blades or dragon fire!