I'm just getting started with the game, and I have a quick question about shadows. When you put a card in shadows, do you have to show it to your opponents first? I know that while it's in shadows, they can't look at it, which makes me think you don't have to show it to put it into shadows, but it isn't mentioned in the rules sheet that came with my "The Kingsguard" chapter pack (my first one!). I hope this isn't a dumb question, but I couldn't find anything specific about it, and if there is a search function on the forum, I can't find it right offhand.

Not a stupid question at all!

To put a card in shadows, it needs the "s" cost/shadows crest - and normally in a competitive game you'd expect to have this be verifiable by an outside source (eg. your opponent).

What happens is this; you can place a card in shadows only if it has the shadows crest, and this costs you 2 gold. You do not need to reveal any information about it; your opponent only knows that you've marshalled a card into shadows. When the card comes out of shadows, paying the remainder of its cost, your opponent will then of course see you legally played it into shadows. If you feel your opponent cheated, you could call a TO to verify his shadows cards are legal, otherwise, at the end of a game, your opponent could ask to see any remaining cards in shadows to ensure they were legally placed there.

Shadows are quite a fun mechanic; you get to invest resources in a force amassing 'off in the distance'; your opponent doesn't quite know what your plans are, but it's hard to interact with shadows cards. That said, they're also typically fairly expensive, and the limitation in timing of pulling them out of shadows (normally only at the start of phase) means that timing your shadows use can be quite critical.

Thanks. I'm particularly interested in shadows mechanics right now because "The Kingsguard" has a lot of cards that interact with shadows. Ser Arys Oakheart (stand a character), Ser Jaime Lannister (draw either 1 or 3 cards), and Ser Meryn Trant (make an opponent kneel one of his characters or locations) give nice effects when any card (not just themselves, and not even just your cards, but opponents' cards, too) come out of shadows. Ser Barristan Selmy helps you get those and other kingsguard cards out of shadows outside the usual time limits. Ser Preston Greenfield lets you put a kingsguard character back in shadows.

Other than "The Kingsroad," I also got the Greyjoy and Martell deluxe expansions, and I'm picking up the core set that I ordered tomorrow. My first deck after playing around with just the core set decks with friends to get a better feel for the rules will probably be a Greyjoy kingsguard/shadows deck. Greyjoy will provide things to keep characters from blocking my challenges (Longship Grey Ghost, Balon Greyjoy, Scouting Vessel, Wex Pyke, etc.), so I can whittle down their board and hand with military and intrigue challenges, along with some saves (Iron Mines, Risen From the Sea). I might stick in Shadowcat just to get some more "comes out of shadows" triggers for my kingsguard characters. I don't know how good it will be, even in casual play, but it doesn't look to me like the cards in it are overcosted, and they appear to generally interact favorably with each other. My biggest concern is over how many to include of unique characters. If I put in just one of each, I could easily miss out on ever seeing key pieces of my deck. But if I put in triples of each, duplicates can be a waste if an opponent doesn't plan on killing them anyway.

Actually, players are required by the tournament rules to show all cards in shadows at the end of a game.

OK, thanks. My main concern was if you had to show them as you put them into shadows, but that's good information to have, too.

But if I put in triples of each, duplicates can be a waste if an opponent doesn't plan on killing them anyway.

I think it's pretty safe to say your opponent will always plan on killing as many of your characters as they can. If nothing else, it's a safe bet to say they will plan on initiating at least some military challenges. The far more common way for duplicates to become "useless" is drawing them too late for protection (i.e., after another copy has already been killed).

In choosing the number of uniques for a deck, people tend to balance the need for protection, the need for increased chance to draw, and the possibility of having "dead cards" they cannot play because another copy has already been killed.

Most people seem to go with:

> 3 copies if the unique is part of the backbone of the deck's strategy. The deck doesn't really work without it on the table.

> 2 copies if the unique increases the efficiency or effectiveness of the deck, but doesn't hold the deck together on its own.

> 1 copy for uniques that are fun, but not vital, in the deck.

Most people seem to go with:

> 3 copies if the unique is part of the backbone of the deck's strategy. The deck doesn't really work without it on the table.

> 2 copies if the unique increases the efficiency or effectiveness of the deck, but doesn't hold the deck together on its own.

> 1 copy for uniques that are fun, but not vital, in the deck.

Thanks for the pointers. Any tips on what ratios of characters, locations, attachments, and events to run?

It really, really, really depends on the type of deck you are building. This game does not lend itself well to formulas. There are a lot of threads and articles on the topic in the deckbuilding forums here and on other fansites (agotcards.org and cardgamedb.com, most notably). I think the consensus for a basic deck is roughly:

50% characters

20% resource cards (any type; location, attachment, events) -- i.e., cards that help you pay for other cards

30% support cards (any type; location, attachment, events) -- i.e., cards that further the way you plan to win

It's an interesting thing in this game that slots tend to be more about the goal of the card, rather than the card type. I think it is rooted in the fact that "location" isn't necessarily the same thing as "resource generator" in this game.

That's still helpful advice, thanks. I'm really looking forward to trying the game out with friends tonight (assuming the core set actually arrives).

it's also worth considering "how am I going to draw more cards." Relying on 2 cards per turn to win is going to lose against decks which pack along ways to generate card advantage.

"Card Advantage" is a nebulous concept of "how much of my deck have I been able to bring to bear?" Chess players call it "developing your position." In card games it most often takes the form of how much of your deck have you been able to dig through and leverage. You could have a deck of powerful cards that loses to a less potent deck, because that deck has gotten 40% of its total strength onto the field while you're sputtering at 25%.

Usually, this represents Draw Power, but certain houses have strong recursion options to get cards out of their dead or discard pile and back into play and hold board presence in that manner. Just food for thought. Other decks strive to throttle the opponent's ability to play the game, either by kneeling out the cards they play, stripping icons, or choking resources.

this probably won't be an issue for you playing with your friends out of a single core set, but it becomes a huge factor once you get into the depth of the game.

Draw (or alternative methods of getting cards) and economy are so critical ... if you have neither then it really does not matter how good your characters are as you wont see them or wont be able to afford them

Yeah, I've played Magic for quite a while, so I understand the importance of getting more cards and having a resource pool that will let you actually play your awesome cards.

I got to play some joust and melee with the core set last night. My friends liked it, and I think we're going to turn Wednesdays into Game of Thrones night.