I've been working on editing some decks lately that previously were not running an agenda. Now I've decided to add The Maester's Path with one copy of Apprentice Chain to the deck. (I could add a second chain if I'm feeling saucy, or have a few legitimate maesters in the deck).

It allows me to make the deck 59 cards, gives my best character some protection against some burn cards (and +1 strength), and will allow me to run a copy of Citadel Custom to get a free power challenge once per game.

Here's my thought: why shouldn't every single deck not already running an agenda do the same thing?

The two Stark armies, Northern Infantry and Northern Cavalry Flank aren't much of a difference, and I'm going to put KLE Red Viper in any deck I build.

IMO, I think FFG should make a bunch more cards like the Stark armies, KLE Red Viper, and the old HOTH Tywin that care whether a person is running an agenda or not.

Or am I missing something, and this isn't as mindless of a decision as it currently seems?

No - you're not.

If you aren't running an Agenda it is foolish not to run the Maester's Path and shave a few cards off your count to increase efficiency. I have a growing suspicion that those who predicted a replay of Wildling like prevalence with the Maesters will be proven right. Maesters are going to be pretty ubiquitous unless you have specificall chosen another Agenda.

Stag Lord said:

Do you (or anyone) think that it will top the Summer agenda? While it's true that not all decks get along well with Summer, it's just such a consistent drawing mechanism that it's hard not to want to build everything as it, in my opinion.

Yeah. Summer is a fad at the moment. As Greyjoy WInter sees more play - people will stop running it. The (-1) card dra is a killer drawback.

i';ll run some summer effects - i'll never run teh Summer agenda again - even out of targ its too big a risk.

Stag Lord said:

I have to second that, after getting roasted the other night vs a Winter deck using my Targ deck. It was just silly, and stupid.

I'm not sure those saying that Maesters were going to be the new wildings were talking about how frequently you'd see that agenda, that certainly wasn't how it seemed to me in any case. I was under the impression they were saying that the decks would be maester decks (as in the majority or the cards enabling you to kick butt were maesters) and they would dominate the metas.

If they did just really mean that the agenda itself would be seen frequently with only a 1 or 2 cards attached to it and no other maesters to speak of in the deck, and neither the agenda nor the maesters present were part of your path to victory then perhaps they were right.

The problem is that Martell can protect its Summer a lot better (by protecting vs. Birds w/ Blade and various events). It is a BIT of a rock/paper w/ GJ Winter, but not that big - you usually outdraw GJ regardless.

On the Path, I agree - right when it was spoiled I said 'this goes in every deck w/o an agenda'. And it does. My main worry is that (as SL said) it is going to be MUCH bigger after a few more are out. They are already pretty good ones, and more and more playable Maesters.

Yeah, I agree that there is no reason not to run the agenda and single chain, unless you have some strange character light deck in which the characters have the "No attachments" ability.

We have to wait a little bit to see what happens when the whole Maester cycle is out, but it is looking like the Maester trait could have a warping effect on the environment. Running the agenda is already free (i.e. not running it is a cost) and some of the other chains are starting to show up in decks. Then, there is At the Gates. I think it is only a matter of time before At the Gates ends up on the restricted list since it goes into basically every deck and seems too good compared to other plots.

schrecklich said:

Seriously - why not grab Maester Luwin in every deck?

Well..... if you're running Beric and want to get Cressen instead? Or it's melee and you want to do the insane Pycelle tricks. But that's about it.

Maester Luwin should've absolutely been House Stark only. I don't like the fact that he's better in non-Stark decks and that there is an agenda that makes sure he's in play turn 1 every game with no gold penalty.

Stasis said:

I think Rings said it best. "****"

you are probably right Rings - Martell can probably protect the Agenda better than most - but teh Hosues that really need the draw boost can't agaisnt winter, unless they surprise people with a rogue summer deck in a seasons ligth environment like orclrob's Satrk build recently. But Martell doesn't need the darw anyway - taht's just garvy for them./ too much of a risk for this Baratheon loyalist's blood.

And agreed with all - Luwon should really be House Stark only. I mean - seriously: what were theyt hinking?

I don't think we will ever see the Maester's Path reach Wildling level proportions when it comes to the competitive scene, but I do expect it to be popular.

At its core the Maester's Path provides two things, a fixed-set card advantage and a fixed-set deck thinning. Of course that fixed-set is offset by the possibility of not being able to win the game if you make it too large. And that fixed-set also provides a very small benefit if you only set it at 1 card or 2.

Really, if you are playing the Maester's Path for just the Apprentice collar, the marginal gain you have given yourself is so small I actually feel it not as large as the opportunity cost for not playing another agenda. However, I do understand the argument that if you not already playing another agenda that playing the Maester's Path for the Collar and perhaps one other chain is a bit of a no-brainer. However, 90% of my decks already run an agenda, so for me, running the Maester's Path has to be worth the loss of whatever Agenda I was already running.

Dobbler said:

I agree with this - Wildlings had the combo of a awesome draw card (Val), income (effectively +2 gold a turn, or a -5 on a great army many turns), strength boosts, and stealth in one convienent package. On top of that, there was just good cards printed to go along with it.

Maesters have a great plot, some interesting draw/control mechanics but not the overall crazyness of Wildlings (or even worse Wildlings plus NW).

This is a strange suggestion, but they could fix this by not allowing you to attach Apprentice Collar to TMP. I'm sure it would take some goofy errata (making it an item attachment instead of a chain, for example) but this would prevent every deck from running the Agenda, since you would actually need some Maesters to get the chains off...

But changing that would also change the interaction between Tin Link and Apprentice's Collar, thereby making AC just that much easier to remove, honestly I'm not sure it's really a problem that needs to be fixed. It could be that I'm just new to the game, it could be my magic roots, but I pretty much never put together a deck without an agenda anyways, there's always something that strengthens the deck to choose from (and thus far it's pretty much never been the Path + 2 chains).