Okay, so I've been playing some melee for a while now, and I feel like I have a general idea of what it takes to put together a solid melee deck. Unlike joust though, all of my melee decks seem to end up feeling like the same basic deck. I start with some solid defense (Bringers of Law, Hodor, Ser Arthur Dayne, other characters that don't kneel to defend, etc.), add in some stealth/deadly (especially with power icons, often Former Champion) so that I can win some challenges on a crowded board, and then add in some closing ability (Robert Baratheon, Formal Petition, Make an Example, Assertion of Might, Kings in the North, etc.). I also tweak up the plots and events with some more multiplayer friendly cards like The Dragon's Tail, Counting Favors, and Condemned by the Realm.

I have had my Stannis + Robert openings beaten into submission enough to know that you have to start modestly with some solid defenders but a mostly innocuous offense and build up power slowly until you are within striking distance to make a big push. The need to avoid drawing attention to oneself leads me to avoid overemphasizing a house's main strength. Whereas in joust all the houses have their handfuls of things which they do better than anyone else and which you can exploit to take control and win the game, in melee if you do one thing too well (whether that's grabbing power with renown guys as Bara or drawing a bunch of cards as Lannister or amassing a ton of military strength as Stark), the other players often grow unsettled and team up bring you back down. So it often seems like my melee games come down to negotiating the table, drawing others' attention to potential threats, and identifying that proper moment at which to strike (all of which is cool).

I'm curious though - have people found others strategies/tactics for playing melee? Are there more varied methods to victory than the general one I've found? The most obvious wrinkle to my outline above would be to run the White Book agenda with a bunch of Kingsguard characters. That could play very differently in that you no longer need to focus on winning on the attack and when other players try to gang up on you it could end up working to your advantage. Any other thoughts? Is there anything like a control or combo strategy? Perhaps a deck with lots of resets built to withstand them better than other decks?

As one of your regular opponents, I can't add much beyond agreeing that negotiating cards (Building Season etc.) seem very helpful if they suit your play style. I often like having a 'deal-maker' plot to negotiate with when others' targeted plots resolve!

My favourite melee moment is when I invited you to attack me with a power challenge even though I had no power, so I could trigger a "when you lose" ability and you got 1 power for being unopposed. It seemed like such a clever deal (giving us both an advantage for no loss) until you Support of the Kingdom-ed me as a response! :-)

I also have noticed Stark decks seem to have done fine in melee in our group, certainly better than folks on these boards find them in their areas.

I'd have to say you pretty much summed it up. That's basically how melee games I've played in go as well. You don't want to dominate or intimidate too much in the beginning. Slowly work up some power in as non-threatening a way as you can, then when you feel the time is right, strike for the win.

Winter said:

I believe we might be even in this respect though - my memory's a bit vague, but I remember another challenge being let through in which a Carrion Bird and Old Nan were involved. : )

Winter said:

I could be wrong, but I think Stark is reasonably respected in melee on here. I think Greyjoy and Baratheon are more favored because they can grab power in quick bursts, but Stark did win the Melee World Championship last year.

The deal-maker cards are certainly a unique element of melee, but I think they fit into the basic strategy I laid out above (the "negotiating the table" part).

schrecklich said:

Yeah stark does a lot better in melee as they are almost built for melee slow starters, can defend well, if not running lots of kill seem innocuous and then can come out of nowhere with the right cards. (make an example on defense is fun). When most people are downgrading stark they(we) are usually talking about joust (~the only format that matters ).

While you call it 'basic' i think every person brings there own personal flare and emphasis to the strategy you listed above and it can be interesting to see how different people try to do the same things. For instance I offered a deal to someone in one of our last melee games. Now when I offer I deal I try to provide a deal that actually benefits both people. In this case I was going first, only had one claim soak charact, but had one person supporting me. I knew I could win all 3 challenges against the 3rd player and effectivly removes him from the game. I offered not to attack him at all if he would not attack me in military (i thought this was a very fair offer i only have to worry about 1 claim soak he gets a free pass on my attacks) he refused as he was nervous about the deal and thought this was creating something for me that he couldn't see. So, I did all three challenges against him and only had to worry about 1 claim by wiping his board. that gave me enough of an edge to go ahead and win the game the next turn...if he hadn't looked at my deal as my trying to pull something over, instead of just being. mutually benifical, he would have been in a much better position and I probable don't win the game next turn....