Hey guys and gals,

I'm fairly new to the game though I've been trolling the boards a long while, and I've recently given a huge boost to my LCG collection. I currently own 3 copies of each chapter pack, (only one of the $15 ones) and atleast 1 copy of each Delux edition, save for the Kings of the storm. Now aside from two more core sets (since I already have three), and 1 copy of Kings of the Storm, does anyone know what else and the quantity I'd need to buy to ensure I had atleast three copies of every LCG card printed to date? Also, someone told me that the black border LCG cards were illegal in tournaments, does anyone know if this is true (aside from the banned list in the FAQ)?

So knowing now what I have in my library, I'm finding it fairly difficult to construct a viable competitive deck. My first love is Targ, and I believe I've got a fairly strong Dragon/Burn deck which will only get better with the next delux expansion. Yet I was attempting to build a "Knight/Lord-King" power rush deck and was having a very difficult time of doing so. So much that I might even de-construct it, and construct an Asshai/female deck.

As you can tell I love building decks off of a specific theme aside from "Win the game" so I was wondering if any of the veterans could share with the rest of us some of their experiences with other people's decks, and let us know which "Theme" decks seem to work best for each house. Doing so might give me a better handle on deck construction so that way when regionals come around, I'll be more prepared.

thanks for the info in advance.

Also as a side note... I noticed the cards all have an icon and a number representing which "set" they're from and what number card in that set they belong to. Does anyone know where I could find a legend for these icons? Thanks

Some themes that can work well:

1. Wildling themed decks. They worked so well in fact that one of their agendas were banned to tone them down.

2. Brotherhood decks. Beric Dondarrion is pretty ridiculous - there are other nice brotherhood characters like Thoros of Myr. I think Martell is one of the preferred houses to run Brotherhood out of.

3. House Tully decks. You can make pretty good decks out of house Stark based around House Tully - with cards like the Blackfish, Riverrun, Guard at Riverrun, Knight of the Red Fork, Hoster Tully, etc.

4. Baratheon Knight decks. These are quite good - they run the Knights of the Realm agenda to draw an additional card every round. Baratheon has a ton of knights. Key cards are: Robert Baratheon (Core Set), Knight of Flowers (Secrets and Spies), Melisandre (Return of the Others), Vanguard Lancer, Ser Eldon Estermont, Ser Parmen Crane, Ser Guyard Morrigen, Ser Cortnay Penrose, Knights of the Realm, Arena Knight, Stannis Baratheon (Core Set), Renly Baratheon (I prefer The Raven's Song version), Ser Axel Florent, Narrow Escape, Tourney for the Hand, etc.

5. Lannister Kneel/Shadows. Takes advantage of Castellan of the Rock, Shadows Tyrion Lannister, Qyburn, Gold Cloaks, etc.

6. Targaryen Burn decks. Use cards that reduce the STR of opponent's characters such as Dragon Skull and Forever Burning. You can also make Dothraki themed decks with Aggo, Jhogo, Khal Drago, Refugee of the Plains, etc. You'll be able to make much stronger Targaryen decks once the expac comes out.

Not sure how good Night's Watch decks are. Kingsguard decks don't look very good to me at all, they are based on winning challenges defending. You can do themes like Stark nobles or nobles of any house really. There is the House Dayne theme in Martell, Greyjoy unopposed challenges theme, Greyjoy winter theme, Stark winter theme, Martell or Baratheon summer theme. I suggest you use cardgamedb.com or agot dabbler to search for keywords and to create decks.

Black bordered LCG cards are legal. Anything from A Clash of Arms set (War of 5 Kings, Ancient Enemies, Sacred Bonds, Epic Battles, Battle of the Ruby Ford, and Calling the Banners) and later are playable.

Stasis said:

Night's Watch isn't easy to pull off, it can only really be done effectively with a Baratheon-based deck that uses the original The Wall, and even then it is very hard to fine tune in a way that works well.