Origins Report: Friends and Enemies
by Jonathan Benton
"A true friend stabs you in the front." –Oscar Wilde
Wilde's quote was most certainly not made about A Game of Thrones melee format, but it could have been. I count myself lucky to have several "true friends," and they all relish the opportunity to stab each other, me included, when the opportunity presents itself. With a twist of the knife, I might add. One of the big draws of going to an event like Origins is catching up with friends and acquaintances made while playing this game we all love. However, I never would have expected a friend who made the trip with me, whom I have known for over ten years, to take the advice of an opponent, thereby allowing that opponent, a relative stranger, to win the game. This is the story of one such true friend, who goes by the name of Sean.
At Friday night's draft, I was lucky enough to draft an ITE Viserion, which made my earlier choices of 2 Blacktyde Longships and a Greyjoy treaty seem almost precognitive. This made closing out my games somewhat easier (when my opponents didn't have Corrupt Goldcloaks, infinite influence, and a Stolen Crossbow on the table, that is), but it also gave me a second copy of that particular overgrown dragon for my melee deck. After the draft, I was able to trade for another piece of the puzzle — a Five Kings Rhaegal. I remembered that Matt Ley had had some Melee success with a Targaryen dragon deck, and I thought it sounded like a lot of fun.
So with the new cards in hand, gone were my plans of playing either Baratheon Brothers or a Greyjoy weenie rush. With the new Heralds, I decided (at roughly 3:00 A.M., Eastern Standard Time) to build a big Targaryen dragon deck. I threw some red bordered cards together, found a few standards of neutrals like Mord and some Wildlings, and decided to get some sleep. But early the next morning, it occurred to me that it would be quite easy to make the deck with the True Queen agenda, so I ripped out all the neutrals and set about finding the best of the best from each house. I'm sure I missed a few, but in my haste, this is what I came up with:
All the Best (Targaryen — The True Queen)
Characters (25) avg cost: 3.2
Herald of the East x3
Sacred Bonds
F56
Dragon Chaser x1
Sacred Bonds
F59
Dragon Thief x3
Ancient Enemies
F37
Eddard Stark x1
Five Kings Edition
U8
Nightfire Convert x1
Five Kings Edition
U66
Rhaegal x1
Five Kings Edition
R112
White Hatchling x2
Five Kings Edition
C116
Myrcella Lannister x1
Five Kings Edition
R132
Salty's Shadow x1
A House of Talons
C69
Khal Drogo x1
Iron Throne Edition
U92
Pyat Pree x1
Iron Throne Edition
R93
Viserion x2
Iron Throne Edition
R95
Ser Jorah Mormont x1
Iron Throne Edition
R133
Prince's Loyalist x2
A Song of Twilight
U71
Robert Baratheon x1
Winter Edition
U47
Daenerys Targaryen x1
Winter Edition
U86
The Red Viper x2
Winter Edition
R111
Character Choices
Some of these are obvious, but a few are more interesting. Heralds have been discussed as of late, with differing opinions offered, but in certain decks I like them very much. Sure, I would have preferred extra copies of the dragons, but the Heralds allowed me to consider playing the deck only two copies of Viserion and one copy of Rhaegal, making the deck much more consistent and viable. They also make great chump claim. I know Dragon Thief has gotten a ton of good press, but I'm not sure it's enough. If there's one card that has been responsible for Targ's small revival, I'd vote for this little guy. I admit I was underwhelmed when he was spoiled, but in practice, he's such a solid performer who doesn't even need to take advantage of his attachment removal text to have a positive impact on the game. Salty's Shadow is another card that I don't see too often, but I really like. He has the ability to slow down a rush deck by stealing renown, something I anticipated seeing a lot of in melee.
Locations (13) avg cost: 1.1
Castamere x2
Five Kings Edition
U47
The Lion's Mouth x1
Five Kings Edition
R48
The Vale x2
Five Kings Edition
R159
The Riverlands x1
Five Kings Edition
R161
The Reach x1
Five Kings Edition
R162
Khal Drogo's Tent x1
Iron Throne Edition
U104
Summer Sea x3
Iron Throne Edition
U143
Blacktyde Longship x2Location Choices Castamere and The Lion's Mouth are two of my favorite locations, and with only a +1 gold penalty, well worth the slots. Blacktyde Longship had lots of great targets to save in this deck, from the dragons to the Red Viper and the Prince's Loyalists.
A Song of Night
C59
Attachments (6) avg cost: 1
Pyromancer's Cache x3
The War of Five Kings
F13
Frozen Solid x3
Winter Edition
U2
Attachment Choices
Not much to say here. These are arguably the two strongest attachments in the game, and at two gold apiece, they're still a bargain.
Events (16)
To Be a Dragon x2
Sacred Bonds
F48
Put to the Question x2
A House of Thorns
R124
Trip to the Market x2
A House of Thorns
R131
Bragging Rights x1
Iron Throne Edition
C174
Azor Ahai Born Again x3
A Song of Night
C111
From Winter's Touch Returned x2
A Song of Night
C117
Massing at Twilight x3
A Song of Twilight
C127
Make an Example x1
Winter Edition
R192
Event Choices
I wasn't sure about one card, and that was Trip to the Market. I'm still not convinced it's worth it in this deck, and would substitute a second Rhaegal and third Viserion for these, now that I have them, but the Trip to the Markets are not bad. Bragging Rights would have been a second Make an Example if I had another copy of the card.
Plots (7) avg income: 4.4
Fury of the Dragon x1
Ancient Enemies
F29
Conventions of War x1
Five Kings Edition
U222
Winter Storm x1
A House of Thorns
U137
Bounty of the Realm x1
Iron Throne Edition
R223
Take Them By Surprise x1
Iron Throne Edition
R231
Under One Banner x1
Iron Throne Edition
R239
Muster the Realm! x1
A Song of Night
U143
Plot Choices
I knew I would need lots of gold with dragons and gold penalties, and five plots at 5 or more gold seemed to do nicely. Muster the Realm is a great plot which can allow for some extra setup time early, especially in a slow-to-develop deck like this one.
In Action
The games were all equally intense. Every player seemed to have a great chance of winning each game at various points, with the balance of power shifting constantly and making for some fantastic matches.
Round One vs. Adam (Martell) and Sean (Baratheon Brothers at War)
Adam dropped House of Thorns Quentyn Martell and ITE Arianne first turn, which, understandably, made me very nervous. My deck runs sixteen events, and now I would have to measure each one to make sure it wouldn't put Adam too close to victory. He got out to 10 power quickly, and it made the decision to play each event agonizing. Luckily, I had a Prince's Loyalist on the table, holding him somewhat in check. I only had enough influence to stop his effect once per turn, though, but it was just enough. Eventually I dropped Viserion and he closed out the game for me.
Round Two vs. Aaron (Greyjoy) and Sean (Baratheon Brothers at War)
I was able to get some key cards, but not enough for a final push. Aaron had two Balon's Followers on the table, making it difficult for either Sean or I to win with the extra four power needed. However, Sean was able to control the board after the first four or five turns. Davos, Brienne, Tarth, and Marya all combined for an explosive finish in this one.
Round Three vs. Geoff (Martell Only Game that Matters) and Sean (Baratheon Brothers at War)
Ah, the game with the infamous and aforementioned betrayal. Geoff was playing a combolicious Devious Machinations deck, so when Sean intrigued two(!!) Ariannes out of his hand in the first round, he was crestfallen. I made the mistake of dropping Viserion second round and claiming six power with him, in addition to the five power on Castamere. It was probably a little too much, too soon, and I became public enemy number one. Together, Sean and Geoff schemed and threw their resources together to take down Viserion with Davos, but just barely. (Shouldn't dragons have stealth?) My protests that this would set Geoff up for the win (who had been quietly gleaning power with his Only Game that Matters agenda) fell on deaf ears as Sean attacked with the Onion Knight. Of course I cannot fault him. It was the logical play, as I could have easily won on the next turn if things had gone my way. But those facts made the twist of the knife no less painful. Geoff proceeded to hit my Castamere with The Iron Throne (ITE version) and I was completely out of the game. Then Geoff cruised to an easy win, even without his combo making an appearance, and the final table was set.
Final Round vs. Geoff (Martell Only Game that Matters), Sean (Baratheon Brothers at War), and John (Stark Only Game that Matters)
This was an amazing game from start to finish. John had slow control going with Harrenhal as well as some good defense,and the threat of Winter Has Come was looming in our future. Geoff had about 32 cards in hand in by what seemed like the second turn, so he got several intrigue challenges thrown his way that picked off very few of his combo pieces. Sean set up beautifully and had a great board from the very first, looking like a green and yellow army. I, however, was no threat whatsoever. I was only able to drop a Summer Sea and the Lion's Mouth and Castamere first turn. No characters. And the couple of characters I dropped the second turn were certainly no threat either. But as the rounds slipped by, and everyone slowly amassed practically the same amount of power, I caught up gradually, and we all sat at around 7-10 power. The innoucuos approach is surprisingly effective in a competitive melee game!
The final turn, Sean and I were both very close to ending the game. I played Take Them By Surprise and won initiative. After going first, I had a strong board including Eddard and several other characters. Sean had Jaqen with two power on him, and my Nightfire Convert persuaded him to come over to the True Queen's side. I was hoping Sean didn't have his own Convert, and luckily, he did not. But John, playing next, played Talons Littlefinger and chose my hand, revealed Make an Example, by itself threatening enough to win the game. The rest of the phase was spent plotting how to take out enough of my heavy hitters with Geoff's Student of Subtlety and copious amounts of influence, and both Only Game agendas. Jaqen was the first and obvious target for icon removal, followed by the kneeling of Eddard and Rhaegal. I still had enough smaller guys like a Dragon Thief, Salty's Shadow, and Ser Jorah to count 8 strength and win, allowing me to play Make an Example, which was going to give me the game. Until Sean cancelled it with a Paper Shield! I had to recalculate. At first, I was thinking I was out of answers, until I saw ITE Khal Drogo lurking in my hand. I played him in response to winning a challenge, standing Rhaegal with his own text, and this allowed me to make two other winning challenges. With Rhaegal's renown I had just enough for the win.
Final Analysis
Melee is not a game I enjoy, oddly enough, when it's just the local meta getting together for a night of cards. For me, multiplayer shines when I go to bigger events and I have the chance to see lots of crazy, inventive decks which would never even make it past the planning stages for a Joust tournament. Of course, there exist exceptions to this blanket statement. Some melee decks would work fine for joust and vice versa. But take my deck, for example. In my limited experience, it is very difficult to build a great joust deck with the True Queen agenda. The gold penalty, while reduced, is still enough to slow the deck down. But in multiplayer, with more variables in play and the possibility of taking a more innocuous approach, one usually has enough time to overcome that lack of speed. I have no doubt that this deck would struggle to win in a competitive joust environment, but that's one of the things that I enjoy about the melee format. I don't often get the chance to play such a "fun" deck, but in melee I can and still have the chance to win. Melee also offers enough plotting and scheming to make Martin himself proud, which can be rewarding in its own right. Even when your friends decide to ally themselves with relative strangers and plot your demise right in front of you.
