Okay, my rules-fu somehow gets a bit confused with the NW cards, so I thought I'd ask a few questions that quickly came to mind.

1) Can Yoren's Task target any NW character in play, not just one that I control?

2) Ditto with Recruiter for the Watch?

3) Again, same for Jon Snow?

So, can I create somekind of unholy discarding/kneeling system with the recruiter (and Old Nan) providing NW traits to enemies, while Jon and Yoren's Task allow me to discard and kneel enemy characters? (for war crests and searching of new chars...) Or did I just make some weird error in my thinking? (Something like kneeling or discarding being a cost, so I have to target one of my own characters?)

If this works like this, then there might actually be some hope for a Starkwatch deck... but somehow I'm not sure my logic is sound here.

WWDrakey said:

Do X to do Y.

When you see that, X is a cost of the effect. You can only pay costs with cards you control. Otherwise, I could kneel your Fiefdoms to play my Westeros Bleeds, right?

So both Yoren's Task and Jon Snow use this "do X to do Y" template. You cannot discard a Night's Watch character you do not control to pay the cost of Yoren's Task. You cannot kneel a Night's Watch character you do not control to pay the cost of Jon Snow's ability.

Now, you could use Old Nan to make your own Bolton Refugee a Night's Watch character, then discard him (especially if you're not going to win Dominance) to pay the cost of Yoren's Task. Or, perhaps better yet, use Old Nan to make your Midnight Sentry a Night's Watch and discard him to pay the cost of Yoren's Task (having his Stalwart put him on top of your deck after completing the search - so that you can draw him again, pay 1 gold to put him into play, and start the process all over again).

Oh, and don't forget to put an Icy Catapult on either one before you play Yoren's Task through trait manipulation.

There's still a lot you can do with trait manipulation and Night's Watch in a Stark or Targ deck. You just can't change your opponent's traits, then use them to pay the cost of such effects.

Thought as much. Knew my subconsciousness was nagging at me for a reason. =)

Although, this leaves Traitorous Crow as a good tool for targeted removal. Didn't even remember that card existed before I started looking at my cards... but Traitorous Crow, Old Nan and Recruiter for the Watch should make the combo work, right? And Yoren's Task can be used to search for the components...

WWDrakey said:

This combo doesn't work, either, because of the timing to bring Traitorous Crow out of Shadows.

Bringing cards out of Shadows is the very first thing you do each phase. It happens before you can trigger any player action that phase - and after any "until the end of the phase" effects from the last phase have worn off. You will never be able to use Old Nan or Recruiter for the Watch to make someone Night's Watch before bringing the TC out of Shadows. In Stark, the TC is pretty much only effective against cards with the printed NW or Wildling trait. Essentially, this is the same reason you cannot count gold before bringing cards out of Shadows in the Marshaling phase.

(Targ could be a different story because Rhaegar's Harp is a constant effect instead of a triggered effect.)

Thanks for the clarification, was a bit too eager to find a combo, and didn't think my ideas through...

Guess I gotta hope for some interesting synergy to arise with the later chapter packs... all we seem to have now is a way to discard some of your own characters for other ones. Sounds like a Baratheon Wall -deck that runs To Be a Stag, Retreat and Regroup and Westeros Bleeds would have better combo potential (with Yoren's Task) than Stark (except for the icy catapult, which was a good idea )

If you put Rhaegar's Harp on an opponent's character, you can discard him to traitorous crow...if you're looking for a way to get that combo to work