So, I've had the game for about a month now, but I've been holding off on building Targaryen decks for a while as my friends and I are not completely through the books and I didn't want to spoil anything. Now that I'm a bit closer to being finished, I've built two Targaryen decks, a Dothraki deck and a Dragons deck. My goal is to build a competitive deck (can win home games) but not at the expense of losing a theme. Obviously the Dothraki deck is more about the first book, while the Dragon deck is more about the later books. Anyway, below is the deck build. I am still a noob, but I'm trying to learn. I am the only purchaser of cards for my group, so many cards that I would like to include may be assigned to other house decks.

Thanks in advance~!

House Card
House Targaryen

Agenda
Heir to the Iron Throne

Plots (7)
Mad King's Legacy
Spending the Winter Stores
Noose and Swordpoint
Threat From The East
Loyalty Money Can Buy
Storm of Swords
Focused Offense

Characters (29)
Daenerys Targaryen (GotC) x 2
Ser Jorah Mormont x 2
Khal Drogo (QotD) x 2
Jhogo (OSaS) x 2
Rakharo x 2
Aggo x 2
Drogo’s Horde x 3
Dothraki Honor Guard x 2
Blood-Crazed Screamer x 2
True-Queen’s Harbinger x 2
Horseback Archers x 2
Thundering Calvary x 2
Advisor to the Crown x 2
Destitute Horde x 2

Locations (15)
Plaza of Pride
Plaza of Purification
The Womb of the World
Vaes Dothrak
Temple of the Graces x 2
Khal Drogo’s Tent
Eastern Fiefdoms x 3
Summer Sea x 3
High Ground x 2

Events (12)
Maegi’s Promise x 2
Ambush from the Plains x 2
True Power
Favorable Ground
Westeros Bleeds
Deadly Khalasar x 2
Wedding Feast
Royal Favor x 2

Attachments (4)
Bloodrider’s Arakh
Aggo’s Bow
Rakharo’s Arakh
Jhogo’s Whip

Ok so first off you have to run Refugee of the Plains. A free Dothraki character is nothing to sneeze at.

Secondly, it looks like you may be a little lower on characters and high on events so you may want to drop those and add a few more dudes. There are a couple unique characters that I would drop down to just 1. Those would be Ser Jorah Mormont, and Khal Drogo. Having more than 1 of a unique character can cause you to have dead cards drawn late in the game if they die before you get a dupe out. So you want to avoide that if possible.

I know you are running Heir to the Iron Throne but having a few INT icons is still a good idea just for defense so I would add in 3x Bitter Crones. They are also good in matchups against Bara and Greyjoy since they stop save effects.

I would drop the Destitute Horde altogether along with the Dothraki Honor Guard. Those cards are just either bad or too expensive. I would add in 3x Dothraki Handmaiden. The STR boost to attacking characters can be very nice and they are cheap at only 1 gold for a 1 str INT icon character. Should help with your setups as well.

As far as the events go I would drop out the Ambush from the Plains and the Westeros Bleeds. You don't have the initiative on your plot cards to really make use of AotP and Bleeds will discard your characters which is probably not a good thing. For replacements I would boost the Harbinger and the Screamer up to 3x each. That would put you at 9 events which is pretty standard and 4 attachments is a fine number as well. These few changes should make the deck run more consistent and not have as many bad draws or 2-3 card setups.

Locations look good, as do the attachments.

Hope this helps!

~Nathan

Nathan,

Thanks, those are all great suggestions. I was on the fence about the Refugee card, favoring some of the Army cards instead, but those cards are expensive especially given the little amount of gold received compared to other house decks.

Since I'm taking the Khal Drogo card down to one, which do you prefer: the QotD version or the Wolves of the North version? I sort of lean toward the Wolves version, but chose not to put it in since I only have the one.

I will definitely include the Dothraki Handmaiden card when I get it in. I lack two chapter packs, City Of Secrets and Dreadfort Betrayal, the Handmaiden being in the latter of the two.

Again, thank you so much for your help! Stay on the look out, I may continue to put more of my decks on here as I go. I realize that there are other deck suggestions on the site, but I am trying to see the flaw in my own decks before I use other setups. Also, our group hasn't yet graduated to using Summer/Winter or Shadows yet since we are still in the learning stages, so that limits the cards that I can use.

Thanks,

- Ste

I agree with many of windowmaker's suggestions. I think you should change up the plots a little if possible; definitely take out Noose and Swordpoint since you'll have many more low STR characters, and replace it with something like Retaliation, Battle of Oxcross, Fury, or maybe Power of Arms if you have enough W crests after you revise the deck. I would also think about adding a reset, perhaps Wildfire if you don't like playing with a Valar. You could replace Spending the Winter Stores; though its nice to find those attachments that match the Dothraki characters, it may be helping your opponent more than you.
You should get rid of Wedding Feast altogether. First of all, that card is a trap - it looks good, but you will rarely, if ever, be able to make good use of it; more importantly, in this particular deck you can't ever actually play it since you can't make I challenges.
If you cut a lot of Armies out of the deck you can cut some of the Army locations too and add another Vaes Dothrak so you are more likely to draw it.
Bump Horseback Archers and Jhogo to 3x. I almost always run him at 3x since he is your main draw mechanic and you can throw out the Archers after your opponent declares defenders to hit the draw cap every turn.

In regards to the Khal Drogo question, they are all really good.
The Core version is frustrating for your opponent, free to put into play if you are concerned about the cost of your deck, and usually won't get hit by a Valar.
The DotN version can really help keep the board clear and can be used against anyone in melee after you win a challenge.
The QoD version can be a great draw mechanic if you bump his STR with Rusted Swords or some of the Dothraki attachments and can be recursed with Maegi's Promised or NE when he dies.
Good luck!

Is this primarily going to be a melee or a joust deck? What is your source of draw going to be? That is really key to a good deck - getting more cards in hand. For your particular deck, I think the easiest source of draw would be pyromancer's cache 3x. If you do that, I would run 3x Daenery's from GotC, and a bodyguard or two to protect her. Having that will be a huge boon to your deck. Vaes Dothrak will not be enough if that's what you're counting on.

I would drop the True Queen's Harbingers for the Refugees. They're both cost zero, but one can help you in a challenge (of course they do have an upkeep cost if you don't win dominance). Also, not sure if you have them, but every deck needs a flame kissed and forever burning (or 3!).

perpetual noob said:

For now, this will be primarily a joust deck, but I'd like to figure out how to be balanced for both styles, or at least have cards on hand for both styles to be easily subbed in.

Anyway, thank you both for your suggestions. I will adapt the deck according to your suggestions, then repost with what I feel the best combination to be.

THANKS!