So I've dropped some money and gotten two core sets, Lions of the rock, and Queen of dragons, so as to make two somewhat customizable decks for two people. It seems like no matter what I try though, that the Lannister decks can't get around the Targaryens. After several tries with different decks and ideas, all of them lose due to a simple lack of kill spells and overall strength once the dragons come out. The tribesmen get beaten by stealth and multiple attacks, the intrigue deck gets beaten at its own game due to the targ location giving dragons intrigue and deadly, and a resource building tempo kind of deck loses momentum when it can't get around the dragon with +6 and the offensive attachments

Is there some sort of central idea I'm missing? do I not know how to play lannisters? Do I just need to get gud?

Lannister's major advantage here is card advantage and economy. Your best bet is to rely on steady card draw, and a well-timed valar morghulis; if you have 5-6 good cards in hand and manage to send a dragon or two to the dead pile, you'll be in very good shape.

Dragons are also vulnerable to Frey Hospitality, good initiative (even with dany, they'll still kneel to defend), and claim 2 plots; at four cost, its hard for the targ player to play them *and* claim soak.

Finally kneel is very effective (lannisport brothel, you killed the wrong dwarf). Your 2 cost brothel can neuter a 4 cost dragon.

Edited December 27, 2014 by -Istaril

Lannisport brothel is very helpful, as well as enemy informer I've seen.

Targs have easy claim soak in viserys however, so Frey hospitality loses some effectiveness.

What draw cards do you think are essential? Golden tooth mine is obvious, but it's the only reliable draw power in the deck right now.

Should I be using the agenda?

First things first, be aware that this edition of the game is in its last year. You may want to wait for 2ed before sinking considerable funds into the game.

That said, Lannisters are - as has been said - all about card advantage. Strong gold economy is a thing too, but where they shine is easy access to card draw. They're also pretty **** great at Intrigue, and have a subtheme of forced kneeling effects.

Key cards for Lannisters:

Agendas:

No agenda is strong for every house, thanks to many cards that key off this.

House of Dreams is Lanni's best agenda, when used with Tunnels of the Red Keep and a Shadows-heavy deck.

Power Behind the Throne is an aggressive rush game, using Claim 2+ and Intrigue Gambits.

Locations:

Golden Tooth Mines - Have three of these to draw cards like crazy.

The Mander - An alternative / bonus to GTM. Probably a 1x.

Pentoshi manor - Restricted card. Solid defensive power and keyword denial. Use 3 or none.

Sunset Sea and Goldroad - Economy cards, carry three of each.

The Iron Throne - Cancels character abilities. Carry 2x normally.

Also, all Houses benefit from Harrenhal , and from 0-cost neutral discounters, in the case of Lannisters: River Row, Shadowblack Lane, Street of Sisters .

Characters:

Mountain Refugee because it costs 0, and 0-cost characters are very good in this game.

Ser Gregor's Dog for same reason, but for obvious reasons needs some greater thought in deck construction,

Doubting Septa because card advantage is king. Tommen Baratheon (scattered armies version) for same reason.

Lannisport Councillor / Moneylender / Weaponsmith, as gold generation helps you play those cards you're drawing.

Ashermark Councillor because can win Intrigue challenges against superior forces.

Ashermark Knight is an excellent draw engine when teamed with Dragonbone Dagger .

Myrcella Lannister (lotr) for your Power Behind the Throne decks.

Podrick Payne because he's efficient.

Janos Slynt (thtw) for his card draw and double actioning.

Most Lanni decks also use some version of Cersei .

Events

Harry The Riverlands is a x3 in almost every Lannister deck.

Condemned by the Council is normally x2 to x3, as Location removal can be very useful.

Attachments

Pyromancer's Cache - a restricted choice, but a great source of card draw.

Beyond that, decks vary a great deal depending on what you're building for.

If you're working from your current card pool, I'd suggest trying to build a deck that has at least 30 characters, about 20 locations, about 7 events, and about 2-3 attachments. Generally try to play as cheaply as possible on your characters, as a big setup is generally a big advantage.

Cards you have access to, that you want to include:

Breaking and Entering

Valar Morghulis

Frey Hospitality

Cersei Lannister (lotr version), probably 3 copies with your current card pool

Doubting Septa x 3

Lannisport Moneylender x 3

Lannisport Weaponsmith x 3

Myrcella Lannister (lotr) x 3

Sunset Sea x 3

The Goldroad x 3

The Iron Throne x 2

Widow's Wail x 2

I'm You Writ Small x 3

Shadowblack Lane x 1

Street of Sisters x 1

River Row x 1

You Killed the Wrong Dwarf x 3

Beyond that, gets trickier. Add in more 1-2 cost characters, but be wary of leaving yourself too thin on Power and Military. Some cards that aren't especially optimal for the core set are handy in this meta: Raff the Sweetling , for example.

Generally speaking, once you have your deck built you should be looking at 4-5 cards being placed on setup, though this may be hard to achieve in your cardpool.

Clansmen decks aren't really optimal, though you can do pretty well (but not tourney well) with a House of Dreams / Inn at the Crossroads.

Power Behind the Throne decks are hard with your current cardpool, but generally speaking if you include lots of intrigue icons and lots of plot cards with 2 claim, you'll do ok.