I'm brand new to the game, I played Magic: The Gathering for a long time though. I recently got a core set and I've ordered another core set as well as Lords of Winter and Kings of the Storm. I've been doing a lot of reading about the game on forums and reviewed a lot of decks. I put together a Stark and Baratheon deck. I'm only going to post the Stark deck for now. I'm hoping to get some constructive criticism from experienced players.

House Stark

Agenda :

The Siege of Winterfell

Plots :

2x The Power of Blood

1x Retaliation!

1x Fear of Winter

1x Respect of the Old Gods

1x Storm of Swords

1x After the Mummer's Ford

Characters (36):

3x Robb Stark (Lords of Winter)

3x The Blackfish

2x Catelyn Stark (Lords of Winter)

2x Eddard Stark (Lords of Winter)

1x Sansa Stark (TftRK)

3x Trident Reinforcements

3x Knight of the Tumblestone

3x Knight of the Red Fork

3x The Flayed Men

3x The Bastard's Elite

3x Bolton Refugee

1x Ser Rodrik Cassel

1x Shaggydog (Core)

1x Grey Wind (Core)

1x Edmure's Host

1x Ser Edmure Tully

1x Ser Jorah Mormont

1x The Hound (Princes of the Sun)

My goal for the deck is to try to tailor the deck around Siege of Winterfell as much as possible. I have 2 plots that allow me to do additional military challenges. The wording on Siege of Winterfell says I cannot claim power for my house outside of military challenges. I assume this does not affect the ability to claim power on characters with renown. Can anyone clarify that for me please?

I'm a little unsure of some of my choices here. Ser Jorah Mormont looked attractive as 2 cost for a 3 strength tricon with stealth - but I'm not sure if he fits. I'm not very enthusiastic about Edmure Tully' s special ability, but he's a Tully Lord with 3 str for 3 cost, so one copy seemed decent. I feel like I might have too many Bolton characters to run Knight of the Red Fork at 3 copies. I like The Bastard's Elite and The Flayed Men , but I have no playing experience to know just how dangerous their effect is. I'd like to know your thoughts on those two choices.

I really like Catelyn Stark as a defensive option. I never really have to play her from my hand. Sansa Stark is also there to help with some defense, but if no cards are in shadows, she's another renown character to attack with and gains a noble icon to be protected with Power of Blood .

Locations (10) :

3x Narrow Sea

3x Northern Fiefdoms

1x Lord Eddard's Chambers

1x Street of Steel

1x Street of Sisters

1x Riverrun

Pretty straightforward here. I feel like I have enough Tully characters (16 total) to make use of Riverrun and I have To Be a Wolf to search for the one copy.

Events (12) :

3x Narrow Escape

3x To Be a Wolf

3x Endless Endurance

3x Distinct Mastery

Narrow Escape seems like an auto-include in any rush down type of deck. To Be a Wolf is amazingly good for doing additional challenges, counteracting kneel, all while searching through the deck. I definitely feel like it's the best "To Be a..." card out there. Endless Endurance seems nice to me since it recurs and helps to insure I win challenges. Distinct Mastery seems to be in every Stark list I've seen.

Attachments (3) :

3x Frozen Solid

Please let me know what you think. There are some areas I'm not really sure about. In particular I'm unsure of my character choices (some of the Bolton characters and others). I'm not sure if my events are optimal - I can see how Endless Endurance may not be necessary and the amount of each event I run might need to be adjusted.

Stasis said:

It does affect renown, as power for renown is claimed. Basically any rule or card effect that uses the wording 'claim power' is not applicable outside a military challenge. You can only claim power for renown or an unopposed challenge during military challenges. You can still move a power from your opponent's house card to yours as claim for a power challenge.

Saturnine said:

The Siege of Winterfell

Knight of the Red Fork can be a pain - it will be often a dead card in your hand. Remember it kneels every card, locations too (heck, even your House card) - that might stop you from playing Edmure's host.

The Flayed Men and The Bastard's Elite - personally I think it's too dangerous, but maybe I'm wrong.

Ser Jorah Mormont - well he's much better than Grey Wind. You must test by yourself if he fits. BTW maybe attachment Grey Wind instead of character?

Northern Fiefdoms - why not Great Keep instead?

Stasis said:

Stasis said:

Rogue30 said:

lose the flayed, but keep the elite. w/ your agenda your focusing on the mil challenge anyway. plus if you do lose the mil challenge as defender you can always choose the elite for claim. instead of flayed you could put 1x brienne of tarth and your favorite combination of vanguard scouts, jory cassel, and dacy mormoment.

also i'd sub out the trident reinforcements for guard at riverrun.

Lars said:

If there is claim (Valar, Eddard). But maybe I exaggerate.

I didn't realize that Knight of the Red Fork knelt locations and all. I thought it only knelt characters that weren't House Tully. That makes me look at it a lot differently. I'm not sure I'd ever want to play this card outside of the setup phase.

Guard at Riverrun is perfect for this deck. I should be able to draw a lot of cards off of it.

I used Northern Fiefdoms over Great Hall only because I'm not sure how fast competitive decks have to be. I've played probably about 10 games with the Core set but those decks are not optimized at all. If Great Hall is fast enough I can certainly run those over Northern Fiefdoms.

I didn't include Grey Wind as an attachment because the deck is built around winning military challenges - I thought I'd kill off enough characters that way. I have 3 plot cards with claim 2 as well. I'm only theory crafting though, so I might be wrong and I might need the extra kill. If I do need more kill, maybe one copy of Bear Island would be good to add since I could search for it.

I'm glad that Siege of Winterfell doesn't prevent me from claiming power with renown. How does Siege of Winterfell work with a claim 2 plot card? Do I claim 4 power from the Agenda or is it unaffected by plots? One problem I've had with the game before is that I will get into some very complex rules questions and the manual can't address them. My friend and I are used to Magic where the "stack" dictates how everything resolves and it seems much murkier in this game.

I just realized that Siege of Winterfell allows me to claim power if I win defensive military challenges. I think that makes Endless Endurance more attractive.

My new character list would be something like:

-3 Knight of the Red Fork

-3 The Flayed Men

+3 Guard at Riverrun

+1 Brienne of Tarth

+1 (Undecided)

That leaves me with one card left to reach 60. I'm debating between Arya Stark (Core), Dacey Mormont, Host of the Bear (I only have one plot card that is 2 initiative or lower), Osha, Theon Greyjoy, or maybe double up on a character I only have one of.

I'm also thinking that it might be worth it to replace Endless Endurance with a card that stands my characters. Standing is attractive to me because it allows me to do multiple challenges as well as counteract a deck that kneels my characters. I see At Night They Howl and Cannot Be Bribed/Bought as the only other standing events. At Night They Howl seems better overall because it can be used in any situation.

I also was considering the events that allow you to make extra military challenges. The Battle of the Whispering Wood is an example. I assume I would claim the 2 power from the extra military challenge if I won.

Stasis said:

Stasis said:

Stasis said:

Stasis said:

Stasis said:

Stasis said:

Stasis said:

If I run shadows cards I think I need to remove Sansa Stark from the deck. She's decent with a card in shadows, but she's amazing without.

I like Arya Stark and Syrio Forel as recurring threats. I could see a decklist with 1x Syrio, 1x Arya, and 1x Benjen. Playing a Benjen would be a nice effect against Valar Morghulis or Wildifre Assault.

If Benjen Dies, can I choose him to die last and have his effect trigger so that all the characters who just died go back into my deck? Does Benjen get shuffled back into my deck as well?

Right now what I'm looking at is:

3x Robb Stark

3x The Blackfish

2x Catelyn Stark

2x Eddard Stark

1x Sansa Stark

1x Benjen Stark

1x Ser Edmure Tully

1x Osha

1x Ser Jorah Mormont

1x Shaggydog

1x Grey Wind (attachment)

1x The Hound

1x Ser Rodrik Cassel

1x Brienne of Tarth

3x Trident Reinforcements

3x Knight of the Tumblestone

3x Guard at Riverrun

3x The Bastard's Elite

3x Bolton Refugee

3x Frozen Solid

3x Great Keep (good suggestion)

3x Narrow Sea

1 Lord Eddard's Chambers

1x Street of Steel

1x Street of Sisters

1x Riverrun

3x Distinct Mastery

2x Endless Endurance

3x To Be a Wolf

3x Narrow Escape

3x The Battle at the Whispering Wood

.

This puts me at 62 cards with 34 characters. Thanks for your comments Rogue30, Lars, and Saturnine.

I came to the conclusion that Fury of the Wolf is better than Respect for the Old Gods in this deck. I lose one claim but I gain one net gold and I get to choose and kill a character if I win a military challenge. I also get a second military battle card that helps me use To Be a Wolf more often.

Stasis said:

You need to read about moribund idea in FAQ. In short when card leaves play (being killed, discarded, returned to deck, hand or shadows) it becomes moribund - that means it's leaving play but physically stays in play and continue to interact with the game until the player/framework action window closes. In case of Benjen, when he dies because of claim it looks like this:

1. Determine winner of challenge (you lost for example)
2. Challenge result is implemented (you kill Benjen, he dies now, but he stays on table; if claim is 2 the other guy stays on table too of course)
3. Reward for unopposed challenge is awarded
4. Renown is awarded

5. Passive effects - now Benjen's ability must happen (he stays on table so he doesn't shuffle himself).

6. Responses - e.g. you can play Die for Your King! and take copy of Robb from discard pile.

7. End of window. Moribund cards physically leave play.