http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=1251

Erick's Champion card...yeah, that's pretty good, since I hear Stark needs draw.

I would like to say "thank you" to Erick The card is just amazing.

So, Devious Intentions out-of-house to give The Blackfish an Intrigue icon, stealth, and Infamy? 7 gold and one unopposed power challenge later, the Blackfish could be a 6 STR, non-kneeling, tri-con with renown and stealth. Yikes!

Yah I like the card, thank you Ser.

Put together the fact that the Blackfish is my favorite character from the whole aSoIaF universe, I might just play stark for this guy alone .

Um, yeah.

Meanhwile - back in the real world where there is no need to go OOH - this card is a bomb that immediately moves Stark up a couple of notches. Maybe a better draw engine than LIV - and also helps with the rush archetype to put pressure on the opponent. Stark isn't there eyt - but not knwoing what else is in that starter Deck - they might get a lot closer, depending on what else they get.

Nice job, FSW

At the cost value, he'd be great without the STR boost, so running him in a non-Tully deck is a good play for Stark, and in Tully decks even better. This is the kind of "auto-include" that doesn't bother me, as he is unique and House Only (couldn't imagine this in a Greyjopy deck, or heavy forbid if it was a neutral card). Really looking forward to Lords of Winter now (~yeah like I wasn't before).

**** me......

well at least he isn't immune.....

uhm......

uhm......

I'm a little scarred of what else will be coming down the pipes in future house boxes. I mean compare CS Eddard or Bobby to KotS Victarion to PotS Red Viper to Stark box Blackfish. I'm not sure If costing just got imploded but I'm trying to see how he is not 5 gold....draw, renown, nonkneeling, makes others not kneel, fuels a theme all by himself, oh and throw in a noble crest for fun (which btw, stark owns noble crest now for sure). I thought power creep was a thing of the past or at least going to be more towards the glacial side of things.....whoa.

so many combos.....

court advisor for int icon and more draw, kneel him with something and Cannot be bribed... to put more power on him, distinct and to be a to get a quick 3 power on him, make an example, him and CS catelyn, four houses with rush and Bara might be the 4th best....

~who was it in one of the threads that laughed off a stark rush deck.....obviously you didn't see the future

EDIT: Oh! and its only part one....I wonder what the other shoe to drop will be.

Very nice card, Erick. I'm happy where our Maryland Renaissance fair discussions ended up He definitely seems on the stronger side, but that's only because he fills some holes in Stark. And just to weigh in, I don't think he's any stronger than The Red Viper, shadows Tyrion, or several other Lanni characters that come to mind. Actually, Viper and Tyrion have built in protection, so if more character control is in the works, those characters could end up much more resilient than other "power cards" like the Blackfish.

By the way, I especially like that the Blackfish's response can be triggered even if he's not participating in the challenge. Very good synergy with Stark's focus on military.

I'm looking forward to see where this, and the Tully mechanic in general, takes Stark. It'd be great to see Stark hold its own at tournaments again, and I think the reemergence of old school Tully decks would be awesome. I hope it doesn't inspire you to recreate that standard Stark deck you won that Black Friday tourney with though. That thing was just brutal.

Great job Eric! You should show this to the producers of the Game of Thrones TV series and insist that this depicts the Blackfish's right-hand man Erick, a well-loved character from the books. Maybe you can land a role ;-)

I'm very happy to see this draw ability on a unique character with STR above 2. I was worried we would get the draw ability on some chump non-unique who can be killed or stolen with ease. Blackfish is such a great character from the books, I'm super excited to have him as a mainstay in Stark decks.

Geat artwork from Cris Griffin too :-)

I, too, am excited about the card and getting back to building Stark decks my house of choice once the expansion is out.

Finite, I remember playing at Black Friday IV in 2008. I *thought* I had a Stark murder deck; it had been doing a pretty good job of that and winning more than it lost in the preparations leading up to the tournament. The match was a bloodbath, but mostly mine, unfortunately . Finite won convincingly as I recall.

Twn2dn said:

neither of them draw, one of them doesn't claim power inately and the other needs some work (i.e. more then three power) to be non-kneeling and oh yeah doesn't make anyone else non-kneeling too.

Power level aside my main point was his cost is ridiculously cheap for what he does. So are future bomb cards going to get even cheaper or his he the apex (i hope) and we just have to shrugh and say its a (the? even though there are 2 more in the pipeline, Same box i wonder?) champion card?

ou yeah Tullys are back and have a fine leader

~Sounds like Nate is getting soft in his old age Letting a house specific character through...you should hear the horror stories of him helping (~?) with past World Champ cards!

I like the card though. I love uniques, and this one is done well. Good to have a little draw for Stark as well, heaven knows they need it!

Everyone: thanks for the kind words (and even accusations of power creep) about the Blackfish, I'm glad you guys are going to enjoy the new take on the persona. It was my intention for the article to come out all at once; apparently it was so long that the guys at FFG decided to squeeze two weeks of "Card of the Week" articles out of it, though, haha.

I'm not going to weigh in too much on Lars's questions concerning cost versus power level beyond saying this: In testing it turned out to be very appropriately costed indeed, and it's really not as powerful as it looks at first glance. You'll see how it plays out when LoW hits the streets, though; its power level definitely is a theory versus experience thing.

I have to admit that this card was the first one in a while that gave me that great feeling of "OMG! Really? Is that fair?" that you can only get in CCG's and LCG's... So I have to congratulate the author as well. =)

On the subject of it being undercosted, I'm not that convinced. It's definately in the highest echelon of 4 gold characters with the new Khal Drogo, the upcoming Melissandre, Shadows Tyrion, Eddard Stark, Darkstar etc. But I think the problem is more with the 5 gold characters in the current environment. We have only a few 5+ gold characters right now that you'd even consider playing in a deck, and all of those either have some immunities (The Red Viper, Euron Crow's Eye) or an inherent method of reducing the price (the unique Armies, shadow armies (you can split the price), dual-house Littlefinger). I think the point I'm trying to make is that in the current environment 5 gold for a character is simply too risky in most cases due to both winter decks and good character control, and a 5 gold character has to have some way of counterbalancing this. A 5-gold character with a powerful ability and no immunities will just get controlled or end up sitting in your hand.

Besides most of the Blackfish' strength comes from synergies, and has to be built around - noble is good because of Eddard, and the Tully's not kneeling requires you to play a decent amount of them. A good, balanced and interesting card imho. =)

...or maybe I'm just too much a fan of the character in the books to be unbiased...

WWDrakey said:

Its an interesting theory, but it doesn't hold up. Under this theory eveyr 5 gold character in the core set is over costed. here's the list: War Host of the North, Tywin Lannister, Lurkers at Harrenhal, Army of the Faithful, Host of Storm's End, and Littlefinger.

On that list the only ones that come close to counter balancing are twyin who produces his own gold (~but why spend 5 gold in lanni to produce gold ) and Army of the faithful, but thats trait based just like Tully, except Tully's trait base is better as it helps every other w/ that trait, not just himself becuase of other trait)

Then there is also Kings Landing Tywin and Red Viper. Neither are immune, both have a situational ability and only one even has renown.

Also, by this theory Jaqen H'ghar should be unbanned....

WWDrakey said:

same could be said for any strong card. Eddard gets better the more you build around him, so does the viper and tyrion. The difference, as JJ mentioned, is that you don't even have to to build around the Blackfish for him to be sick. renown and noble crest in a house full of noble crests = no effort needed. Win a military challenge as the attacker in stark to draw = no deckbuilding fancy footwork. Put three power on him to at the minimum make him non-kneeling....again not much extra deckbuilding work needed there w/ to be a wolf and distinct mastery already being pretty popular in stark decks. Make other tully's non-kneeling....well we are about to get a box full of tullys...but for each one that hits that table he gets exponentially stronger. Just look at tullys around right now before we even get the box full; Go first w/ catlyn, use her as an attacker for the first time ever (most likely), knight of the tumblestone just got infinatly more playable 3x @ 2 gold, Trident Reinforcements are recursable tullys so in essence you will never run out, and if you are strained to find one you might even be able to use Maester Vyman (who is helping to protect the blackfish) to help you win an intrigue challenge in stark....

Possible spoilers below this point

WWDrakey said:

I think that has a lot to do with power characters. look at the list there is no gregory, the hound sucks, tyrion is a bomb, the red viper always has been (especially compared to his role in the books), the knight of flowers is easily controlled (and is brother in law to a queen and doesn't have a noble crest!!!), eddard is unkillable (wtf?!?) or cancles other peoples plans (ass backwards), and Victarion who spends much of his time playing second fiddle to someone else can run a deck all by himself...go figure.

sorry somehow got a double post....urgh.

The big issue for The Blackfish is Stark's lack of attachment control and the banning of Compelled by the Rock making attachments more attractive when deck building. The Blackfish will be constantly Milked, Fishnetted, or Motley'd. I expect opponents will sit on those attachments when playing a Stark deck until they are convinced that The Blackfish isn't going to make an appearance it's not like you're going to lose them from your hand due to a barage of Intrigue challenges by the Stark player. If the expansion gives Stark some attachment control, however...

Lars said:

...show me a competitive deck that runs any of these? =) Well except for King's Landing Tywin, but that's only because Lanni is the only house literally bathing in extra gold. And yes, I really think most those are overpriced. Well except for Army of the Faithful - it can inherently be reduced in price, and at least Core Set Tywin and Littlefinger give some gold back later on...

Lars said:

Well, I don't actually think he would be as broken in the current environment as he used to be (he's an Ally anyways), but then again stalwart is a sort of immunity for him - you can't just kill him once and be sure he never comes back. Also the combo of vengeful and vigilant makes him pretty much immune to kneel -based control (which three houses use quite a lot nowadays). So, he basically has an inherent immunity to kneel and a so-so immunity to killing? ...in addition to all the other ridiculous stuff.... so no, I don't think he should be unbanned. =)

Lars said:

Well, I do think he is very strong, don't get me wrong about that. Hypothetically I would think of him about as strong as the new Mel (come on... extra power for unopposed I and P challenges in Baratheon, renown, crest?). The abilities are a bit stronger for Blackfish, possibly, but the standing really needs that 3 power, which I don't see Stark getting as easily as you think - with all the games I've seen of Robb being abused with distinct mastery and To Be a Wolf, I've rarely seen him with 3 power before round 4-5... though that may be connected to the lack of draw, I'll grant that.

Well, I haven't seen a single Stark deck running Trident Reinforcements so far, since they aren't inherently THAT strong, so wouldn't it just be good, if they were viable? And Knight of the Tumblestone and Vyman are both 2 gold 2 Str... we all know what kills those, yes? =) So basically, I think he may become really strong (or even overpowered) if we get some really bomb Tully's in the new expansion (several, that are really solid). But before that, I don't think he is. Then again, even Darkstar may be rising to become a real powerhouse with all the Dayne love we've been having...

I'm more starting to think, that the influx of powerful uniques is meant to take the game in the direction that rings likes - not having just nameless guys vs. nameless guys. And this will be making character control (Milk etc.) more frequent in decks. At which point immunities start getting more important, and will become vital for 5 gold characters. Bit of a guesswork that though.

Possible spoilers again below this point

Lars said:

Yeah, here I have to agree with you. Seems that all the likeable characters (Viper, Tyrion, Blackfish, Eddard...) are given overly important roles, and even abilities that don't really go well with the character. The Eddard and cancel (or stalwart) is a definite WTF -moment... And the newest Tyrion that can basically do everything, and is as strong in M as Jaime is... err... =)

And on the other hand some characters really get given the short end of the stick... Knight of Flowers is a definite. Leaving Gregory out is **** weird (he's the one that should be unkillable more like...). Why's there no Bran announced in this, the North chapter pack series? And why do we have two Robb's, three Robert's, three Joffrey's... but only one Dany? And is it just me, or should old Bear Mormont be the focal point of a Night's Watch deck?

@LetsGoRed: Yeah, that's what I was trying to say up there somewhere (you posted yours while I was writing this novel...) =) And yeah, if they get attachment control, this may become a problem.

Lars said:

Am I missing something, Lars? Every expensive character in the Core Set IS overcosted. Does anyone ever play them competitively? I see Tywin occasionally, but I think that's just the deck builder's Nedliness creeping in rather than him really being the best choice for a competitive Lannister deck. The viper is not a good counterexample to Drakey's theory because his ability is a form of counterbalancing. If he gets killed, you still get a free Valar. I have never played with Jaqen, but my guess is that he is the exception that proves that it is possible to make a 5 cost character with no inherent protection or immediate return on investment so powerful that it is worth the risk. But he's banned so the question still remains whether it's possible to make a character that meets those criteria without being so powerful that it has to be banned.

Lars said:

I disagree with Drakey's premise here. I think the strength of the Blackfish is his power divorced of any other synergies. He's very strong on his own without building your deck around him (which does make it more attractive to build in some synergy around him without worrying that the deck won't work if the other pieces besides the Blackfish don't show up). Personally, I think Lanni is too strong in the LCG right now. I'm a little worried that the Blackfish is a sign that the solution to this problem will be to turn up the power in the other houses. I hope this can be done successfully though I worry about its long term effects (I'd rather ban a few more cards and just try to make new cards at the same power level).

Am I missing something, Lars?

Personally, I think Lanni is too strong in the LCG right now. I'm a little worried that the Blackfish is a sign that the solution to this problem will be to turn up the power in the other houses. I hope this can be done successfully though I worry about its long term effects (I'd rather ban a few more cards and just try to make new cards at the same power level).

kind of my intial point also...i'm getting more and more worried every box set.

wow....the boards don't want to work right for me today...sorry about that mess.

Ummm...on the whole adoration for the new Mel (which i admittedly was a part of on first blush):

New Blackfish makes a very compellinga rgument for Core set Mel to stick around in competitive Bara decks. Unless you think you can outrush Stark, you may as well try to slow them up until you get your rush off. Plus - you have Martell and Greyjoy to think about. The question is: hwo fast does new Mel accelerate Baratheon as opposed to what other Houses are getting. looks like a tough choice to em and i'm leaning towards Core Set Mel for the moment.

Yeah... The Blackfish is a solid card. But this " OMG... he's too good" is all "wow" factor. There are soooo many cards that can hose him. I dont know if I would make a Deck around him based on the house tully cards out now. I guess we shall see when Lords of Winter comes out. Auto include ... for most stark decks, but only for renown and draw. If you happen to get the 3 power on him, which I wouldn't expect most of the time, will be nice. Even if he is the only tully out.