R&D Journal
Ancient Enemies
by Nate French
The only good enemy is a dead enemy, but there is always one whose death is the most satisfying of all. Ancient rivalries have developed into passionate hatreds that guide the actions of the great Houses of Westeros throughout the War of Five Kings. The day of reckoning has arrived, and there are debts to pay…
Welcome to the first of two spoiler articles for the Ancient Enemies Chapter Pack, the second 40 card fixed set in the A Clash of Arms expansion to the A Game of Thrones card game.
One element that has never come into complete fruition in the A Game of Thrones card game is the concept of enmity and rivalry among the Houses. We've had a cycle of alliances, which, in a roundabout and excluding sort of way, implies that there are Houses that aren't very fond of one another. We've had metagame situations where certain Houses did not fare as well against other Houses, compared with the rest of the field (the current Baratheon vs. Stark traitors matchup is the latest example of such a state), and we've had other "civil war" type situations where the last thing a House wanted to see was the mirror match (A Sea of Storms era Greyjoy, with Drowned Men, The Lonely Lights, and Rise of the Kraken comes to mind). We've even had a rather unsatisfying cycle of Oaths, in A Song of Night. But, as far as House enmity and rivalry and hatred is concerned, we've never had something solid and tangible, a match-up situation we could really sink our teeth into and enjoy, something along the lines of Lakers-Celtics or Yankees-Red Sox. This type of high stakes, high adrenaline, both–decks–are–bringing–their–A–game type of match-up has been missing as a possibility in the AGoT metagame… until now.
;)
Enter a card like Fury of the Stag, and it starts to all make sense. It's a solid card in its own right (Marching Orders, anyone?), but imagine sitting down with a Martell or Targaryen deck and seeing your opponent flip the Baratheon House card with this beast in the environment. Of course, enmity and hatred tends to cut both ways, and you can bet that the Vipers and the Dragons have some fury of their own, and this should lead to even more intense games when two Houses that hate each other square off. How will it all play out? The two primary factors will be which Houses have the most useful pairings of enemies, given the composition of a tournament field, and which Houses will have the most useful weapons against those enemies, as all furies are not created equal. Given the current popularity of Martell, and the power of the "take control" mechanic, the Fury of the Stag is looking rather evil, if you ask me.
Another, more subtle aspect of the "Fury" cycle that helps reinforce ACOA's status as the sequel to the Five Kings Edition is its use of the new plot traits. As you can see, Fury of the Stag is a Power Struggle plot, but not all of the "Fury" plots have this trait. Instead, the three new traits are each paired up to 2 of the six Great Houses, and you're going to start seeing those Houses as being a little more specialized in wielding both that plot trait and its accompanying challenge type. It's a slightly different take on an old metagame wrinkle, and yet another layer to consider when thinking about House identity.
I hope you enjoyed this week's spoiler article, and I cannot wait (remember, cannot is absolute, so who knows what I'll do in the meantime!) to see the first Fury plots in action. Until then, happy shuffling!
