I got my Change of Seasons chapter packs in today, so naturally I had to open them up and look at them.

Sam Tham's Den of the Wolf may be one of the best cards in the set, if not the best. I'm sure at some point today his DJ will go up (Hey, it better. Doesn't every winner get to do his own write up). Frankly, I'm still impressed by this card.

The artwork is amazing, done by Henning Ludvigsen. The colors are vibrant, and there is no mistaking Sam as the character in the foreground. But I bet you want more card specifics. So, here they are:

Den of the Wolf

2 gold location, neutral, non-unique

Trait: The North

Characters lose all immunities.

Any Phase: If it is not the marshalling phase, kneel 3 influence and discard Den of the Wolf from play (cannot be saved) to repeat the current phase at the end of the phase. (Limit once per game.)

Really, do I have to explain why this card totally rocks! Sam, I bow to your skills and your design work.

saw this card at gencon and started building a plot deck for it in my head, needless to say i'm glad there are no 'do not kneel to attack' plots in the LCG right now. i think this will be hardest for stark and targ (insert martell and gj here too) to pull this off, with targ having more rouble then stark. Bara and Lanni have charcaters that will love this card (renly and jaime mostly; could also see lcg saan and the repeat of the domience phase being nasty). Stark cna exlpot it with all their standing (distinct mastery and to be a wolf [its less limited then all the other to be a...]) and targ could have fun with ambush, but they are more set up intensive then bara and lanni.

What are the rest of the cards?

Devious Machinations + Iron Throne + This....

4 players = 12 power right there... Then add a few other tricks to get the other 3 power if needed.

Jon Chabot loves this card.

So... whats the new Theon?

I'm in the middle of a game of Battlestar Galactica right now, and many of these cards are wordy, but I'll drop a few for you:

Unconventional Warfare -- Plot -- 4/4/1

Any Phase: Pay 1 Gold to give UW the Military Battle, Power Struggle or Intrigue Gambit trait until the end of the phase.

Vigilant Stag (event)

Challenges: Kneel 2 influence to choose a unique Bara character. Until the end of the phase, that character gains vigilant.

Maester Aemon -- Unique -- Targ -- 2 Gold

2 Str, Intrigue Icon, Learned crest

Traits: Maester, Night's Watch

No attachments except Boon.

Any Phase: If it is not Winter, kneel Maester Aemon to save a Night's Watch character from being killed.

Theon -- 3 Gold, Greyjoy Unique

3 STR, Power, Military, War Crest

Traits: Lord, Ward

If you are playing a Stark House Card, reduce the Gold Penalty to play Theon by 1.

Response: After you win a challenge in which TG participates, choose a Stark or Greyjoy character. If it is summer, stand it. If it is Winter, Kill it.

Love Vigilant Stag - Baratheon actually needs more standing effects in LCG and even in standard. Some of teh vigilant guys (most) are just not cost effective for the effect and this card will prove pretty useful.

Maester aemon gives Targ even more in house Claim soak. Not bad - now if they could just get some more ambush stuff to work aroudn Lannister's draw, they will really move up in the rankings.

i like Sam's card as well - geez we had to wait a long, long time to get it. I think Lars analysis is pretty much spot on.

Hmm I like Theon... a good multiplayer card, and still costed well for Stark players.

And since it says response on his text, he's no risk but can be a boon even if it's the wrong season for the rest of your deck.

JerusalemJones said:

Assuming they knew this was coming (and they must have given what we know about the production schedules), you really gotta wonder why FFG bothered with the reprint in the Core Set....

ktom said:

I wondered about it, too. But you figure this guy is 4 gold out of house. It makes Targ Aemon better than neutral Aemon in that regard. The funny part if neutral Aemon is part of the Core Set Targ deck.

I think what I like better about this Aemon is Targ does get a second Learned crest (yay!). I'm so-so on the artwork. Its not bad, but I definitely like the Core Set/Blades artwork better.

Few more cards:

Shadow Stalker -- Baratheon character

4 Gold, 3 STR Mil, Int

Trait: Ally

Stealth

Response: After you win a challenge in which SS attacked alone and it is Winter, choose and kill a character.

Wartime Marauders -- Greyjoy character

3 Gold, 3 STR Mil, Power, War crest

Ironborn, Army

If it is Summer and you reveal a plot card, kneel Wintertime Marauders

Response: If it is Winter and you win a challenge in which WM is participating, choose and discard a non-unique card from play (emphasis mine).

Southron Scavengers -- Martell Character

1 Gold, 3 STR Int

House Martell Only

After you play SS from your hand, choose a player with a Martell or Greyjoy card. Discard a card at random from that player's hand.

The Lions Law (event)

House Lannister Only

Any Phase: If there is at least 1 Military Battle plot card revealed, pay 1 gold or kneel a WAR character to choose and kneel a character or location. Then, discard 1 power from the target.

Thuggish Tactics (event)

Challenges: Choose a participating Greyjoy character. Until the end of the challenge, that character gains intimidate.

Dragon Attack (event)

Any Phase: Kneel a Dragon character to choose a character. Until the end of the phase, tht character gets -2 STR and is kille dif STR=0.

A Game of Cyvasse

House Martell Only

Challenges: Each player must choose and kneel a character with an INT icon he or she controls, if able. Then, the player who knelt the character with the highest STR may choose and return a character to its owner's hand.

Secret Hideout (Event)

House Stark Only

If it is Winter, SH gains Stalwart when you play it from your hand.

Any Phase: Until the end of the phase, players draw cards from the bottoms of their decks.

JerusalemJones said:

That was my point. The reprint is in the Core Set Targ deck and this version is superior (in every way I can think of) in a Targ deck. Granted, the neutral is a stand-alone card in any deck, but it just seems weird to take a neutral card, improve it in very way imaginable, and put a House affiliation on it.

Oh, and two observations on your "Targ gets a second Learned Crest" comment:

1) In the LCG before this CP, they had the only non-unique Learned. Add in the 2 (non-banned) neutrals and they could field 5 Learned crests (now 6) to everyone else's 3. ~ Cry me a river, ya know?

2) So what? Short of Distinct Mastery, what were you planning to do with a Learned Crest in LCG?

Granted, in "true Standard" the crest is huge as a draw mechanic. But if we're looking at the organized play program, the crest is a non-issue in the primary format (LCG).

I guess I don't look at LCG only. We still play standard, and I just don't see that changing. Besides, I have faith that the Learned crest will see more support. Just like I still believe in Martell and Greyjoy getting an expansion, and that the Tooth Fairy is going to leave money under my pillow for my tooth.

More Cards *sigh*

The Long Winter -- Stark Attachment

2 Gold, Condition Trait

Attach to a player's House Card (Limit 1 per House card)

If it is Winter, all characters with attached card's House Affiliation get -1 STR.

If it is Summer, return The Long Winter to it's owner's hand.

The Long Summer -- Targ Attachment

2 Gold, Condition Trait

Attach to a player's House Card (Limit 1 per House card)

If it is Summer, all characters with attached card's House Affiliation get +1 STR.

If it is Winter, return The Long Summer to it's owner's hand.

Taxed Dry -- Lannister Attachment

1 Gold, Condition

Attach to an opponent's income providing card.

If it is Winter, attached card does not provide an income bonus.

If it is Summer, when you count income you may also count the income bonus on the attached card.

Burning Sword -- Bara Attachment

2 Gold, Item, Weapon

Unqiue Character Only

If it is Winter, Burning Sword gains: " Any Phase : Kneel BS to give attached character +2 STR and 'immune to card effects' until the end of the phase."

You know, other than the 3 revealed cards in the write-ups, I think this is everything. Taxed Dry, Burning Sword,Wintertime Marauders,Southron Scavenger and the Events are all 3 copy cards.

JerusalemJones said:

~At this moment, this is a very cruel joke for both Martell and Greyjoy players

Thank you very much for sharing it, JerusalemJones

The link to Den of the Wolf´R&D is here Thank you very much for this card, Sam

So is this at all correct in numbering?

41 - The Long Winter
42 - Taxed Dry
43 - Burning Sword
44 - The Long Summer
45 - Demon's Dance
46 - Shadow Stalker
47 o Theon Greyjoy
48 - Wartime Marauders
49 o Maester Aemon
50 - Southron Scavengers
51 - Walder Frey
52 - A Game of Cyvasse
53 - Dragon Attack
54 - Secret Hideout
55 - The Lions Law
56 - Thuggish Tactics
57 - Vigilant Stag
58 - Den of the Wolf
59 - A Time for Ravens
60 - Unconventional Warfare

EDIT: oops forgot Ravens has a slightly different numbering pattern.

bloodycelt said:

Fixed, but not in order.

41 - The Long Winter
42 - Taxed Dry
43 - Burning Sword
44 - The Long Summer
45 - Demon's Dance
46 - Shadow Stalker
47 - Wartime Marauders
48 o Theon Greyjoy
49 o Maester Aemon
50 - Southron Scavengers
51 o Walder Frey
52 - Secret Hideout
53 - The Lions Law
54 - Vigilant Stag
55 - Thuggish Tactics
56 - Dragon Attack
57 - A Game of Cyvasse
58 - Den of the Wolf
59 - A Time for Ravens
60 - Unconventional Warfare

Thanks.

So looking at the cards as posted....

Baratheon got some awesome cards. Lanni is continuing to be a 'we'll take advantage whatever season it is!' house. The Long <season> attachments are kind of cool, but I don't see them making the cut. Martell's cards are rather underwhelming, Greyjoy got some interesting winter (and summer) support. I like Theon, he's not as good as winter ed. theon, but he continues the theme of the worst matchup for Greyjoy is... Greyjoy.

The new plots are good... Unconvential Warfare should be interesting, it might be the best military battle plot so far :-P

i'm underwhelmed for the most part. other then Sam's card there isn't a whole lot i'm dying to try out (maybe the kill attachment spoiled). Martell got hosed, which disapoints me a bit as i thought i'd be getting some reinforcements for my martell deck. Greyjoy got some more charcaters, but is still missing the most important thing it needs (especially if wants to take advantage of winter) locations locations locations (of the income providing sort). this cp really highlights the sortsightedness of early rotation (i'm not saying they shouldn;t have done, but just decided they needed to do it a while before the did, but i should just leave that lame horse to die)

I have a small quibble with something in the R&D article. It talks about Den of the wolf comboing with Snowed under, I must be missing how.

Snowed Under: At the beginning of the standing phase, choose one kneeling character or location controlled by each player. Return all chosen cards to their owner's hands.

Den: Any Phase: If it is not the marshalling phase, kneel 3 influence and discard Den of the Wolf from play (cannot be saved) to repeat the current phase at the end of the phase.

repeating the standing phase at the end of the phase means evrything is stood up so at the begining of the 2nd standing phase you will have no valid targets for snowed under (i guess there is a long shot to pull this off with lanni, but do you want to trade a char [that you have controlled] for a 2 gold location?)

After a long break something staple for all decks. Probably will be run at least in 2 copies because can easily win a game. The best card forever and will be used in any influence deck. I hate such cards because it reminds me broken yougioh cards which were run in any deck as staple, now we have first such character in AGOT as well. To be honest will be so far used only in old standard or legacy (no influence in LCG) Rest not interesting at all.... It seems that we will get in every chapter packs something universal staple to buy all 3 packs each month, nice marketing... and I'm not gonna buy even this chapter pack so failed on me...

BTW: It is in 3 copies in this chapter or only one? In first case will be easy to get couple of them in trade.

Thank you JJ for posting all these. Can't wait to grab the new CP and see the cards myself. Thanks again JJ!

Mainn posted them on is site.

Here you can see "Den of the Wolf". What a beauty!

http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=305

Meh. I like the idea and concept of "Den of the wolf" so far. But it seems to be too overpowered even if it is once per game only, you can still insert the card *3 in your deck and that way thinks can go very quickly. Can you think of a Bara rush deck winning the game ASAP because the challenge phase was repeated for only 3 influence? And this is not only a problem for the standard (Legacy) format, but also for the LCG format e.g. fat robert and and a Banner to the storm can collect about 20 power in two following challenge phases.

You should really have a possibility to counter the effect, otherwise games might end up to be very short and uninteresting.

The way it is balanced right now, it´s just Jaqen v. 2.0.

Old Ben said:

That's a lot of cards (4 locations and 2 charcaters, not to mention support so that fat bobby is able to win challenges/stay alive. also, as it is he only gets 12 power in 2 challenge phase [not counting unopposed, but i figure there would be defense] so again you would need other cards/turns to get the remaining 8 needed to win) and no where near as simple minded as Jaqen was. It is a strong effect, but to win with it you need a lot of other set up.

The part i think is stronger is the lose of immunity and i'm not sure why the card needs it (adding another phase would not be stopped by immunity, no card is being targeted, the phase is [ala claim replacement]) and for two gold i could see lanni or targ really abusing the lose of immunity. the lose of immunity continues past the once per game use of den (maybe Den should be deathbound?) and instead of making Den a tactical choice (do i keep the lose of immunity or set off a really cool combo, it is i can do both wihtou having to worry about it).