What is the best way to solo test a new deck? Anyone want to share their favoured approach?

I own a Core set, some of the subsequent chapter packs, and a modest collection of the CCG cards. I want to introduce others to this great game, but first I want to convince myself that the decks I've built/tweaked are going to play okay.

I've pulled random 7 card hands from the decks, but beyond that what are the possibilities?

I think it's hard, boring and tiresome to test alone. Use OCTGN if you don't have playtester friends. Besides, don't be afraid to use new decks for demo. New players won't notice that something's wrong with your deck (much more important is proper rules knowlegde). Just let them win first time without arousing suspicion.

O-kay, but let's assume that I like doing tiresome and boring things.

Well, I tend to try out a setup, redraw and play until first marshalling in OCTGN, and see how the deck starts off. This can be done pretty quickly, and gives some kind of idea how the start of the game will look at with a certain deck.

You can possibly extend this to the first two turns, by killing 1-3 of your characters and randomly discarding one card... This mostly helps with checking how a decks cost to resource ratio will pan out, and give some idea of how consistent your deck is. (Whether each starting hand functions completely different from another one...)

Another idea is to build a generic Lannister kneel -deck, and 'play both sides' for the first couple of turns. This helps since that is a decktype one should anyways have in mind, when designing a deck. A really methodical player might even build a few other generic common decks (say Baratheon Rush, GJ Winter and Targaryen Burn) and check a deckbuild against each of those...

...but I'd still suggest finding a friend to playtest with, for the sake of having much more fun =)

Thanks WWDrakey. That's pretty much what I was chasing. I like the "kill 1-3 of your characters and randomly discarding a card" idea! I'll give it a try and see how my deck holds up. Cheers!

As a newish player, deck building does seem to be a lot about "feel", which I guess can only develop with experience with the game.

I'm surprised, now that the game is no longer a CCG, that Fantasy Flight doesn't regularly suggest decks themselves. You know, assume ownership of one copy of the Core sets and chapter packs, and just suggest a "try this deck" sort of thing. It would certainly encourage new players to invest in the chapter packs, and then perhaps experiment a bit more.

The card spotlights are interesting, but really assume a lot about the reader's experience in deck building, and also a familiarity with currently available cards.