Yeah, most of the players in my group are saying they are probably coming. We'll see if they actually do when the time comes, but I know a couple are down for playing. Miguel and Eric are out at a lake for the weekend I believe, so I don't think they'll be coming.

I hadn't checked the boards in a while, so sorry that I missed the games on Sunday! How did things go? I am working on rebuilding some classic deck ideas with modern twists. If people have come across card rulings that we want to observe stringently let me know. Otherwise, I will observe bannings as listed.

Sunday was good. Only got in one melee and one joust since I was teaching a friend two games that day, but got to meet two of Matt's friends who also play.

The one thing we noted was uniqueness regarding most recent printings. For example Lannisport Brothel. The core set has it as a non-unique but old printings had unique, so maybe we should play fair and stick to MRP which includes cards limited one per deck, or whatever.

Yeah, I can either swap out my streets of steel/sisters/silence with Royal Barracks/Gardens/...whatever, or just use the Streets and play them as the Royals until I get more copies. Shouldn't be too hard to re-tweak the decks. Also, we were talking about another game this week since a lot of people couldn't make it on Sunday. If not this week, I'm open next week too. Maybe to celebrate the release of Dance With Dragons!

So, anyone up for a mid-week game to celebrate the release of Dance with Dragons? Or can we all wait until Sunday? Heh. If not during the week, I'm definitely down for Sunday.

I can only play on Sunday. It is cleared with the wife. Midweek is always tough because of family committments. Are we going to try for 1:00 again.

I am finalizing a new/old deck that should fair better in our current meta. Pretty sure that I won't win a lot of games but at least I will feel competitive. It is hard to deck build when children are chewing on your cards. I am also going to retool my discard deck to put back in some cards that I took out to make it tourney legal and much stronger.

Also, from about 2pm today until I am finished. There will only be Dance with Dragons in my life. I am hoping to be done before Sunday.

Hope you're all enjoying Dance. I know I am, but am taking my time with it, so the next book wait won't be too long. My goal is to read 100 pages a year.

In other news I spoke to Kris at Warp, the guy running the CCG/LCG and Boardgame section, and he's open to us officially booking time for Thrones league play. Personally I can't, and wouldn't, play AGoT every Sunday, however, as I'm also trying to start running events for L5R there, I was thinking we could alternate Sundays and have both casual and league tourney play. If you guys are interested, I'll finalize our expectations, find out what theirs are if any, and talk to Kris (who also plays), about format since Thrones Sundays would have to be announced and advertised even if it is just casual play, so as no other group tries to usurp us and others may join.

Further, if any of you are interested in spearheading and organizing instead, I would be more than happy to get the ball rolling, then hand things over to you since TOing two games is going to be tiring.

I can definitely play on Sunday at 1 and will be there. Thinking of potentially playing tonight if anyone's interested, but text me instead of trying to get ahold of me here, computer's been having some problems. I am down for having alternating Sundays as some sort of officially advertised play (be that tourneys, casual, whatever), as every Sunday would definitely be a bit overkill.

As for Dance, I'm definitely enjoying it, but also trying not to rush through it. I've only sat down to read it once or twice since I got, but every time I do, I think, "Oh, just one more chapter." Next thing I know it's 3 AM. I'm about 200 pages in, and definitely won't be done by Sunday, but it's definitely been very good. The one thing I notice is how incredibly different the tone of the book is compared to Feast. Feast was really amping up the politics and scheming, where Dance so far seems to be about the mysticism and mythology of the ASOIAF universe. Hope that didn't spoil anything for anyone who's not as far as me.

BTW, anyone have any luck finding an Alayaya card for my buddy?

I could have sworn you asked for an Alayaya from Iron Throne, but she was only printed in Crown of Suns. Are you thinking of Chattaya? The point is moot for me as I have neither, but in case anyone else has one.

You are right, it's the Crown of Suns version. Chattaya might work for him to, in some cases (like if someone takes out his Brothel).

Hello all,

I think that best chance in the near future for thrones would be August 7th. Dave hasn't posted anything about league play, so I guess we will go with fun games. I will bring a combo of old broken decks and new tourney legal stuff.

Also, I can't wait to see how angry Dave is about dance with dragons.

Does Dance get really maddening? I'm on around Page 750 (seriously locked myself away for a total of about 10 hours this weekend heh) and loving it so far. As for league play, I'd be still willing to do it as well if Dave doesn't have time. I will admit though, I check these message boards pretty sporadically (might check 'em 3 times in 2 days, then not again for 10 days) so if anyone needs to get ahold of me or ask me anything, feel free to phone me.

Also, I'm fully willing to play on Sunday, July 31st. Think we had a nice bi-weekly momentum going there.

Hoser said:

If you mean because the book is full of boring Dany and sorta boring Jon chapters, then "angry" is a stretch. Annoyed would be a better word. I'm only 450 or so pages in, so if there's some events with negative outcomes for some of my favourite characters, I haven't reached them yet. But I don't need to mention that overall the book has some amazing things.

I fired off an email to Kris at Warp regarding league play. Hopefully he approves of the idea and we can go ahead. For the moment however, the bi-weekly schedule is good for me, although I will most likely be at Heritage Days this Sunday. I'll be down for gaming the following weekend though if anyone else will be.

Spoilers ahead regarding Dance, but first:

Kris emailed me back from Warp and to summarize, they would organize the events, handling pairings, scoring, prizes, but I'd probably still judge. In any case, in addition to the Game Night Kits, they're suggesting a slightly higher entry fee which would go towards chapter pack prizes as well... . I'm under the impression that the idea would be to use the league kits as one time event support rather than run it over weeks like a league. I'm fine with that, but not sure how you guys feel about it. With the store wanting to be in charge of tournament organizing, we'd be more at the mercy of their formatting which could be good or bad depending on how you look at it; my biggest fear is a preference for melee. I remember hosting events at Wizard's in the past and they were very hands off, but John hasn't kept up with product support for FFG since it's a smaller store and there hasn't been a demand over the last year.

Regarding Dance, I've been slogging through chapter after chapter of lame. There's this chunk around 400 something to who knows where that is just awful. The Bran stuff? Goodness sakes his arc has become cartoon. I feel like I'm reading a completely different series. Also I cringe everytime I flip ahead and see that the next chapter takes place across the Narrow Sea where everyone dresses in garish circus colors and lives in rainbow buildings, basking in their Star Wars names with too many Zs and Qs. Also they all have anime colored hair and are Hedonism bot. I keep hoping the dragons will just break free and torch the Free Cities et al. before dying of malaria so the book can focus on Seven Kingdoms politics and war. The others stuff is really pushing it too. I hope the white walkers thing is just a dream Jon Snow is having as he gazes out from the wall being bored because there are no such things as the others and the wildlings are too smart to attack the wall, having instead found a moderately cold, but comfortable paradise in the peaceful north.

Slight spoilers for Dance first, then the second paragraph is response to league stuff:

Gotta admit, I'm near the end of the book and felt mostly the opposite. I loooove the stuff in the East, just goes to show you how small Westeros is in the great scheme of things. I love the fleshing out of the world, because while Westeros has lots of cool stuff happening, I feel that to stay there and make the fate of the entire world dependent on events on such a small continent would be fairly limiting in it's scope, and probably it's character (how many different men in suits of armour can you have?). I think he pretty much did everything he could do within Westeros until winter hits full-on. Also, I think the events in the last 100 or 150 pages of the book really are a good payoff for the slower build up. It's also important to remember that if you're like me and read the first 3 books all at once, that's why it might seem like Dance is a bit slower; it's one book compared to three. I dunno, I liked it a lot though. Still a little in shock at the chapter I read yesterday.

As for the league, I don't care who's organizing it. From what I could tell at the 1 tournament I've played at Warp lately, they pretty much seem to just organize who plays who and who gets what prizes; the actual playing of the game leaves the players to their own devices. I don't care either way, and am also in favour of just plain fun play most of the time, with a few tourneys here and there.

chaos28 said:

As many as we have in European history? The appeal for me of the series was the (initially) primary European based medieval setting, so by comparison I just find the east cartoony. The overall plot for me isn't the issue, because I think it's fantastic. I just don't like his designs for the settings and characters across the Narrow Sea because I think they're lame. They just seem too alien compared to the west, to a degree I find ridiculous because my point of reference for comparison is that of our own Europe and distinct identities of Asian, African, etc. cultures, not a conglomerate fused with references I don't understand. It's just too much, and my perception of the setting outside of the seven kingdoms is that it's obnoxious. But I realize that I'm a minority it that criticism and overall it still doesn't ruin how good the story is.

several things to comment on:

1. we tell warp that we want to play tournaments and that they have to be joust oriented. otherwise we just continue playing for fun.

2. they want to offer chapter packs as prize support. chapter packs don't offer the same benefit as prize support that boosters do. we are not yugioh players who need a super ultra secret invisible rare. all of the cards are basically available now.

3. i just want a better rules field to make sure that we are all on the same page. tourney legal decks would mean fewer card issues and a more challenging build environment. more challenge = more fun.

4. we should get a hell ya, from everybody that is available to play this sunday, august 7th (i think). I think we should bring both kinds of deck for the time being, and just identify when we are playing tourney legal or not.

5. the most important function of tourneys is that it establishes a fixed date for new players to come out and try the game. right now we can't guarantee who will be playing and when.

6. my only problem with the east is that it feels like a delay tactic. if winter only affects westeros then who cares about living in westeros. migrate. the story can only get so big before george loses control of all his threads. once you establish complex political systems in other places then the primacy of westeros becomes questionable. the next book has to do a lot to bring all of these pieces and threads together in a way that can make me buy into the narrative the way i was with book one and two. i love the narrative and world. i will be there until the end. i just know on some level that it has become too big to satisfy my otherworldly expectations and time will only make it worse. i thought that dance was going to be held up until the hbo series came out and voila, hbo series finishes and dance is released. most of dance was already written when crows was released and 600 pages of dance was exclusive from that part of the plot. i hope and pray, that george is further along than we all think. i hope and pray that the next book doesn't take seven years. no book, as shown by dance, will ever live up to my expectations after that much time. i don't care what neil gaiman has to say.

7. starwars games by ffg. i am so ticked off that i will have to buy into new games that i don't have time or money for. i love ffg games, i love starwars. wait a minute...i love narratives that make you wait an epic amount of time to complete-make new product for. starwars was a twenty plus year wait, and i was let down by my own expectations. dance was six or seven years-whatever- and i felt let down by my own expectations. at least ffg continues to make quality games even if the movies and books are destined to let me down.

that was a lot sorry. i will go have my holiday nap now.

I can be there Sunday. Agreed on the chapter pack thing... doesn't make sense and charging more than a couple bucks to get in on the Game Night Kits is shifty, so not sure what the outcome will be if Warp is intent on charging a higher fee for tournaments. I am already planning ahead to speak to John at Wizard's.

The casual play sessions are just as good if not better for new players to come out, so even then, that is still good since Warp advertises even casual play on their website I think.

Regarding the Star Wars LCG, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed that it's not factional, in that you can't play as the darkside. Also I kinda liked Episode 3. I'm sure the game will be good though. Picked up Lord of the Rings a bit ago and it's really fun.

So, there was some small talk about playing on Sunday. Just looking for confirmation. I have a day long meeting that I might only attend half of if we are going to play thrones. I just need to confirm how much of the meeting I will miss in advance. Are we playing?

I can see the argument for the overwhelming non-European style influences suddenly introduced in Book 5. I mean, I have theories as to WHY this group is a mish-mash of strangeness, but if you were originally a fan of the European style, then yes I can see a solid criticism there. The delay tactic thing isn't just an opinion, from what I've heard; apparently a lot of Danaerys' storyline this time around was to stall to put the pieces in place for the climax (don't wanna say too much for anyone not there yet). Apparently that was the big delay of the book, he was trying to figure out how to keep her in the East for just a bit longer. Also, do we KNOW Winter only happens in Westeros? Maybe it spreads out in a different direction (like, from The Shadow, in the opposite corner of the world). I just don't think we know enough about the world to judge this part. And if that's true that winter doesn't happen in the East, then that's a good point about moving. Though I have a feeling there has to be something that would affect the whole world as a result of winter in Westeros (undoubtedly related to The Others).

Also, I'm not a massive Star Wars fan, but that's just insulting to say that ADWD was as disapointing as the Star Wars prequels, LOL. FFG is doing Star Wars now though? Maybe I should pitch them the Walking Dead CCG I've been working on with a buddy, seems they like franchises.

Regarding playing cards. I don't mind prizes either way, as long as we get some sort of say in the chapter packs. Then again, that's because I don't have all the chapter packs. I don't know if you guys do or not. Nonetheless, I agree that for me at least, prizes aren't necessary. Might be a good draw for new players though, if we had something to offer.

Also I am fairly sure John would be fine with us playing at Wizard's as well, except he doesn't have any product in stock as far as I know (except for old Winter Edition starters, and a pewter Martell house card if I remember right). But we used to hold tournaments there before, so i don't see why he wouldn't allow it now unless the space is being used for something. There's also Warp 2 as a possibility, we also have had tournaments there in the past, though it's more difficult for most people to get to I think.

For Sunday, I'd be down to play again. I had plans, but they have been canceled. I dunno about the rest of my play-group, but I know at least 2 of them will be playing airsoft, as they tend to do every weekend for the summer. Not like my group ever shows up anyway.

I probably won't be able to make it this Sunday but hope you guys play. Regarding the prize support angle, I think the major issue with Warp's policy to charge tourney fees is that in the case of chapter packs, if you're not winning (and most new players won't), then the buy in (suggested $10) is way too steep. You'd rather just skip two tourneys and buy a chapter pack with change, than essentially come out to get owned and purchase someone packs.

Given that the league kits are only like $17, it makes absolutely no real sense to gamble the tourney fees when prize support is basically fixed packs which any of us can buy, so what's the incentive? I mean, if players are already purchasing product from Warp, then I don't know if I like the idea of what comes down to mandatory purchases as tourney fees but distributed to only the winners. The more I think about it, the more I think Wizard's may be a better option since John isn't going to do that. Anyone have any opinion?

we played some fast and furious games today. Tom has still managed to not materialize and Dave was busy. My clansman-brotherhood deck still manages to be a sick contender against tourney legal decks. I didn't play much against legacy decks because we only had four players and the match ups didn't seem to work. I do still like Miguel's lady's of westeros deck for a fun game and my creature deck is still interesting though nearly impossible to play well the way I have constructed it. I can't wait to see what matt brings to a limited card pool because he comes up with some sick ideas in legacy format. Slowly but surely it comes back to what it was.

We talked a little more about the whole warp thing. It looks like tourneys aren`t going to happen there. It has to do with cost and prize support. If we can get John to carry the game again then maybe we shift over there. However, I think there were issues with suppliers and such the last time because Wizard`s wouldn`t bring the game in. In the short term, we will continue to play fun games at Warp. They have the product and hospitable enough.

I think we talked about looking into the 28th as the next game day. Check your schedules.

Yeah the Warp thing is odd. I find it a bit strange that they would essentially force a group purchase as prize support. I'll swing by Wizard's this weekend and see what's up.

I'm also eager to try out some of these LCG matches. I also can't wait to see what borkenzors tactics Matt comes up with (writing legal card names over his current CCG builds), particularly if he first uses them on your creature deck, which has merit, but seemed a little too trait dependent to be consistent. My advice would be to make it better.

Sup, Home-Skillets.

So If Im to get back into this game, are there any resources I should be looking into? Card lists and set legalities and what not?

http://agot.dbler.com is good as is http://www.cardgamedb.com . We use most recent printing rules for copies of older cards, but they're good and also check out the FAQ 2.4 on the support page for erratas and restricted list which basically means you can only include one of the cards on the list in your build, but can include as many copies of it as you would normally be permitted. Welcome back Tucker!