http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=625 or here

Bay of ice is interesting, not sure if it makes as many decks as i want it to make though.

Stay of execution is a welcome (re)sight. It slots into my Bara deck and unconvential warfare slots out (no stat difference, but a better ability and i 'save' a gold)

I'm slightly underwhelmed by robb (as far as king abilities), though it does bring back stark army decks (and 3x to be a and 3x distinct mastery. any other standing?).

The price of war is interesting. Houses with the most war crests = Stark, Targ, and GJ (which is probably going ahead in the expansion) then Martell, bara, and lastly lanni (shock! ). This card also makes me glad (for once) about the amount of limited locations in LCG (which is usually a pain).

Lars said:

Robb and To Be a Wolf make an interesting Marshalling combo. My play experiences indicate that To Be A Wolf is played most often in the Challenge Phase. And most often the type of card my opponent names is Event, preventing that immediate help during challenges. However, if you have knelt Robb to put an army in play for free (House Umber Berserkers anyone?), then use To Be a Wolf to stand him, and get to go search (Another Berserkers?), since it is still your marshalling phase you have many more options.. If they name Character, I go get another To Be A Wolf for maximum annoyance.

I definately like the look of Bay of Ice, and much more so the price of war. Look ing at all my war crests has me salivating. lol.

Dobbler said:

Uh, Greg? Hate to burst your bubble on this one, but the reason you "most often" see To Be a Wolf in the Challenge phase is that it is a Challenges: action. Nice idea here, but the combo timing you suggest won't work.

I think Bay of Ice will see play. It's draw afterall. Plus, in the LCG environment - especially in Melee - winning initiative and choosing First Player is really key. I see a lot more people (in Standard, too) working to win initiative these days.

Oops, next time I'll read the card better before I start spouting hypotheticals. Nice catch Ktom.

Nice article. I like all of these cards and can't wait for this to come out.

It's good to see some more synergy with the crests returning in Price of War, even if it is the war crest. I'd like to see the other crests get some love sometime.

ktom said:

yeah this is my feeling too. But then i can't decide what i'm going to drop from my deck to slot it in for. In lanni i don't need it. In targ i'd rather have something w/ inf. Stark and bara I still think i want the gold. I guess if i ran sam i could drop him....maybe... so thats why i feel it won't be in a lot of my decks....i'll try it though. If this effect was on a +1 gold location it be an auto include.

Lars said:

I wouldn't think of it as a replacement for Sam. At best, even if you control 3 copies of this card in play, it will only net you one extra card per turn.

yeah but its one card per turn plus up to +3 int. Sam is a little less reliable.

Again though since you are having difficulty replacing this for sam it just highlights what i was saying...I thik it will have trouble fitting in most decks.

Does any of you remember when the Greyjoy expansion is coming out? End of this month or end of July?

Lars said:

It'll depend on the deckbuilder. If nothing else, it is something of a deck thinner. But you are right on one count - initiative bonuses do not make many decks.

The interesting thing to me is that up until the article, I kind of assumed the Kingdom locations would we reprints. Now, obviously not. How many more do we think we'll see in the set, and will they be completely new, too? In general, what are they likely to be? For example, will there be a +1 gold Kingdom? And what might it be if not a reprint?

The Price of War looks very nice. Makes me think of Favorable Ground, which was great if you built a Military Battle themed plot deck. As for location control in LCG for Stark decks, winning a MIL challenge with a War crest and knocking out two locations is probably a more attractive scenario than winning an INT challenge to knock out one.

Max Wax said:

July.

Price of War is very reminiscent of the old "Put to the Torch."

LGR - true, though i think stark could win an int challenge on defense if it wanted to (no limitation on INT event).

I'm quite excited about things like Bay of Ice, which seems to really hit the nail on the head in several regards. Somehow I see Stay of Execution as kind of a bummer though. There had to be a cooler Power Struggle possibility than that.

stay of execution after a power of blood lets you keep your kings/queens out of your dead pile for two turns. It really hurts resets. Plus its never a bad idea with a lot of the targeted kill floating around.

Its not awe inducing but a very solid and worthwhile card.

Kennon said:

I'd have to agree with Lars. (~ ouch!) There are certainly "sexier" Power Struggle plots than Stay of Execution, but with the focus on re-introducing some of the Kings and Queens to the environment, it is certainly a worthy choice from a thematic point of view.

Yeah, its not a flashy plot but definitely solid. It'll be going straight into my Targaryen and Baratheon decks.

Robb is solid though not spectacular, but I'm thinking CS Robb is probably still going to be the preferred choice in my Stark deck without seeing what else will be printed between now and the release of KotS. If I really need a King just for the trait in Stark, Mance Raider is already looking better with Kingdoms coming back.

If we see a reprint of Countered Plots, I think more Initiative control will become very compelling. I enjoy that prospect at least.

~we need a "jaw drop" emoticon

Bay of ice seems to be okay, the greatest drawback is that your opponent might profit from the card draw too, so you have to build a hoel deck around initiative boosts. Anyway it´s a welcome neutral draw for every house without being an auto-include.

I absolutely agree with Kennon that Stay of execution is a bummer, there were so many interesting power struggle plots that could see a reprint, but surely not this plot. And if they wanted a Valar protection they could have easily reprinted Outfox or probably a special plot follwing the tradition of Outfox/ Outmaneuver/ Safe within the walls that only cancels "when revealed kill xy charachter plots". Okay at least it´s another power struggle plot for the LCG format so i won´t whine that much about the choice. ;-)

The new Robb is interesting, especially because he doesn´t follow the "kill or claim to max!" ideology (at least not in the short run :-) ) , but picks up the ACOS Robb idea, that he works best with armies. I like it because it´s more nedly and a charachter that´s in addition a resource is never a bad thing - see house Lannister for confirmation. ~ Also, did anyone else notice the secret combo: Robb & War host of the north & the price of war? ;-)

Price of war is good, but too much Put to the torch in my book, well we´ll see how it plays, at least it boosts limited locations a lot and stops the Riverlands/Reach/Vale madness effectively.

Does anyone think Power of Faith will surface?

Other "thematic" plots:

Hunting the Boar

I would definately think power of faith will surface, especially since the other two (blood and arms) are already in the game.

Old Ben said:

I missed the double sided nature of this (i thought it was written, after you...). More reason it won't slot into a lot of decks...The only deck i really care if i go first in would be a winter deck, and i'm not sure i take out gold producing locations to fit this in (the question is do i run 3x of these on top? dunno yet)

Old Ben said:

Its so much more then valar protection (its not a save so it works w/ wilfdfire too). Got a king/queen out against a bear island deck but no attachment yet? drop this plot and make the stark player rethink his target. Need to make sure you win a challenge against a lanni player but are afraid of payinbg his debts or defending against Writ, well no you can win and not lose your character for the whole game. Go ahead and use two plus cards to burn my king/queen this turn i'll play it again. Plus, i'm not sure if i want outfox in the enviornment just yet.

Old Ben said:

I wonder if he is a sign of the overall power level of kings/queens in this set. So far there are only 2 queens that are strong (i.e. don't become claim soak with another queen in play), and ability wise tommen is far and away the best. It looks to be keeping at this level is robb is the norm (shudder if he is the best).

Old Ben said:

you have a problem w/ put to the tourch? I don;t think price of war is going to be horrible for 3 reasons. 1) there is no auto win robb anymore, 2) the war crest limit is a real limit right now, and 3) more incentive to defend is a good thing in LCG right now. In fact this one card might make me remove Missing recruit from my deck (to resist tempation) depedning on how effective it is. Though this card makes me rethink my stance that Jaime should have had a war crest....

I thought that Bay of ice would fit nicely in my Brothers at war deck, just because it´s 0 cost and has some kind of effect. But i don´t think it´ll be in any deck thrice, even if we´ll see more cards like heart of kingdom or a reprint of muddy way. My problem with cards like bay of ice is, that they become often completely uninteresting in mid game play- you are praying to draw a good charachter or a resource you could drop to the board and than you´ll probably draw a location like this! That´s in fact turning my attention to other cards for the same deck slot more often than not.

I´m aware that stay of execution can do more than just protect from Valar, but most kings and queens used to be nobles so the power of blood helps too. Also power of blood has a greater intersection, there are simply more nobles available than kings/queens you can build a deck around the noble theme. Also the stay of execution effect is just like the power of blood effect not optional, both plots help your opponent too.

I just thought how easy it would be to trigger price of war in standard/classic game play, for the LCG format it´s of course not too easy, but that could change quickly with some new chapter pack releases. But that´s of course only juding from the first glance. So i maybe wrong.

Old Ben said:

Here's the difference between Power of Blood and Stay of Execution. When you have two characters out, for example, the new Robb Stark and War Host of North, and I am using Power of Blood, when I have to lose one character for claim, I am forced to lose my beloved War Host that I paid 7 for. When I have Stay of Execution out, I can lose Robb instead, and then bring him back next turn by playing him again. Sometimes, it makes all the difference...