Lars: what are you seeing in this guy? Four gold cost and nets you one power per turn? Seriously - how many turns do you plan on having him around?

Tough to play 4 and 5 gold guys in a Winter deck - and i think i'm going with Balon and euron over him.

with intimidate (that can't be turned off by playing a king) and a war crest he can fuel unopposed tech. in fact when greg won gencon I was mad at alec for losing to him as we had a very similar deck but it focused on victarion (w/ winter) in our meta. Him and LIV are nice as now you've added a power and high probility of unopposed to +2 STR and draw.

in winter I actually prefer him over euron (5 gold is a little too tough) or balon, (doesn't really help winter) as now you've added more warcrest tech, another thing to use when your mauraders get knelt, wintertime armada = 3 power a turn from him (one for the warship in plot, one for renown, and one for unoposed w/ 7 intimidate STR), and fear of winter is also 3 power when flipped, especially w/ the advent of naval escort. Him armada and fear of winrter gives you 6 power in one turn and a plot phase, 8 if you get to challenges. add in one more war crest guy (randyl) and 2 other events (make and example and assertion of might) and you have 14 power in two turns or less, without dominence or claim from power challenges.

for 4 gold he isn't that hard to get out in winter, plus he is unique, ironborn, and a lord so he is very easy to protect (war crest adds in protection from targ burn too w/ randyll or right plots...)

all in all i just find him to be the most consistent and flexible of greyjoy characters (not named master wendimere) in any greyjoy build.

In my GJ War Crest Winter Deck, which you're very familiar with Chris, Victarion is actually very strong; stronger than I anticipated when I first made the deck. While I love Euron, I've become equally happy to see Victarion come into my hand. Euron may fuel the unopposed them, but Victarion really does dominate it. You might have a point about the cost being a tad expensive for GJ Winter, but as you know my deck makes up for a lower gold-curve by being character-lite and utilizing GJ's save theme.

As Lars already pointed out, Randyl and the new Naval Escorts pump Victarion. LIV and Power of Arms also gives him a big bump. Most characters are 3 str or lower; so with any str boost, Victarion will very likely win you an unopposed challenge; especially if you have Scouting Vessels or are attacking with someone who has stealth. Support of Harlaw on him get's pretty ridiculous as he can just stealth the character he can't Intimidate and stand again after the challenge is over. Wintertime Armada, which I don't run, would actually give him renown as Lars pointed out. That and Support of Harlaw could let him grab 2 power, 3 if you win a challenge of defense too. Not to mention the additional power from his ability. I also run 3 Court Advisors in my deck, so he has the potential to pull of all 3 challenge types unopposed.

Victarion also lets you close a game faster. Finished your last turn with 12 power? Reveal Winter Festival and win the game (unless your opponent cancels his ability).

As for Victarion vs. Balon, if you're running Wintertime Armada, I can see why you'd want Victarion over Balon, Lars. Otherwise, I still really like Balon as he is a King, has fake-Intimidate, and Renown.

Overall, I very much have to agree with Lars, Chris. I've found Victarion to be one of GJ's best characters, and is underestimated throughout the community. Victarion may start off with a lower utility "floor" than other GJ characters (i.e. Balon, Euron), but his "ceiling" is definitely much higher and surprisingly not that hard to reach.

I'll have to chime in with the love for Victarion. GJ has 7 characters with built-in intimidate (or equivelant) right now, and he is the only one with no clear drawbacks. He can hold attachments (Scalwag's and Pirates of Orkmont can't ) - so you can give him STR with Risen from the Sea and play Support of Harlaw on him. His intimidate can't be switched off (like Balon) ,he has no negative traits (Nute has Ally) and has two icons (Nute again). Add to that the War Crest - Price of War for location control and The Power of Arms for solid unopposed that doesn't depend on the luck of the draw.

The power from boats is more like icing on the cake really...