R&D Journal
An Epic Prelude
by Nate French
OK, I'll admit it, you caught me: I'm a tease. Few things are as exquisite as the pleasure of anticipation, and the power of implication and suggestion frequently outweighs the force of explicit revelation. Delayed gratification, don't open your presents until Christmas morning, and fasting before the feast… you know the routine. With such thoughts in mind, I'd like to present Norvos as your first tease from Epic Battles, Chapter 4 of the A Clash of Arms Chapter Packs for the A Game of Thrones card game.
As a huge fan of card advantage, Norvos is one of my favorite cards in the entire A Clash of Arms set. The intrigue challenge is one of the most effective means for an opponent to gain, maintain, or increase card advantage, and Norvos singlehandedly makes it impossible to make any progress on this front. The card also works well with Martell's "revenge" theme, by taking away the a bit of the sting of a lost intrigue challenge. Finally, it has a nice little kick in the teeth for both High Tide and Frozen Solid, giving it a slight leg up on the rest of the location field as a reliable card.
;)
So there you have a simple, straightforward, effective card, and one that sits very well within the bounds of my personal play style. I could end the article right now, but then we'd both be missing the point… right?
The real reason that Norvos was chosen as the lead Epic Battles spoiler is because, in this context, it's such a tease of a card. "Discard 2 cards at random from the attacking player's hand if you trigger this response during the epic phase." During the what? The when? You can do challenges during the epic phase? How is that going to work? What does it all mean? A new effect that presents more questions than it answers: now there's a tease for the spoiler article.
The introduction of the epic phase is a marquee-level, hi-lite reel new mechanic that may very well go down as the centerpiece for which the entire A Clash of Arms expansion is remembered. As far as Norvos is concerned, you now have a card that, assuming your opponent only has a claim of one, can actually create card advantage for you by losing intrigue challenges in the epic phase. (Note that because the card doesn't kneel it will work in both the epic phase and in the challenge phase, and this "always available" effect makes it even more effective as a deterrent in melee…)
The more general mechanic, as you'll see in the weeks ahead, has a straightforward appeal, and it also has its fair share of subtlety and finesse, and once an "Epic Battle" has been declared, every player's approach to the game should change.
Saying anything more at this time would ruin the effectiveness of the tease, so you'll have to wait until next week when AGoT Line Coordinator Morgan Stana (she gets to have all the fun) spoils you rotten with a thorough examination of the epic phase. Until then, Happy Shuffling!
