Okay, now that Here to Serve is out, I think it's time for another Poll of what people thought of this CP series. Feel free to explain you're answers in depth, if you feel like it. Without further ado:

General Questions

1. Which House or Houses got all the love?
2. Which House or Houses got the shortest stick?
3. Did you find the Maester-centric theme interesting? Why?
4. Do you lke the direction that the game has develop in this CP set?
5. Are you more or less hyped about the next CP set, than you were about this one? Why?

Card Awards and Medals [Optional - Feel free to nominate any/all/none]

• Sansa Award (Worst card in the set)
• Balerion Award (Best card in the set)
• Ned Award (Most thematic card in the set)
• Shagga Award (Card with the most jaw-dropping effect in the set)
• Renly Award (Card with the best art in the series)
• Hot Pie Medal (Granted to an adorable but utterly useless card)
• Jaime Medal (Granted to a very efficient card that ends up ultimately being hated)
• Kettleback Medal (Granted to a card that was greatly hyped, but ultimately had very little impact)
• Tyene Medal (Granted to a seemingly innocent, but very deadly card)
• Euron Medal (Most controversial card in the set)

General Questions

Which House or Houses got all the love?

1. Stark. / 2. Martell / 3. Targaryen / 4. Greyjoy / 5. Baratheon / 6. Lannister

Which House or Houses got the shortest stick?

Lannister, Baratheon

Did you find the Maester-centric theme interesting? Why?

Interesting for gameplay definetely, Thematically no, looks like maesters should reign Westeros with all tehse powers at their hand. Too much of teh maester support is build up on the chains in my book.

Do you lke the direction that the game has develop in this CP set?

Overall no, the house specific cards were good. The neutral maester stuff not.

Are you more or less hyped about the next CP set, than you were about this one? Why?

Definetely less hyped about the "melee set".

Card Awards and Medals [Optional - Feel free to nominate any/all/none]

• Sansa Award (Worst card in the set) : Deep Den
• Balerion Award (Best card in the set) : The Prince´s plans
• Ned Award (Most thematic card in the set) : Guardian wolf
• Shagga Award (Card with the most jaw-dropping effect in the set) : Dragon Lore (playing Balerion for 0 :-) )
• Renly Award (Card with the best art in the series) : Widow´s watch
• Hot Pie Medal (Granted to an adorable but utterly useless card) : Ser Jon Fossoway
• Jaime Medal (Granted to a very efficient card that ends up ultimately being hated) : The Prince´s plans
• Kettleback Medal (Granted to a card that was greatly hyped, but ultimately had very little impact) : too early to judge, maybe Lucas Blackwood
• Tyene Medal (Granted to a seemingly innocent, but very deadly card) : apprentice collar
• Euron Medal (Most controversial card in the set) : the maester´s path

I think it's hard to say how this set will come out now that the recent FAQ has been released. That should fundamentally change the way maesters are played, and I suspect we'll find that the chains now act more as a supplement to the maesters than as the driving mechanic. In other words, people will add in the draw chain, Tin link, Copper Link (for trait manip), etc. to fill holes in their maester decks. We'll see how it plays out, but I'm skeptical that chain-based combo will work well enough to be competitive at top levels.

As for the upcoming set, I'm very excited to see a set that's not based around a neutral mechanic. The last block we had not focused around neutrals was the King's Landing block, and because it introduced new mechanics (shadows) it ended up feeling like some houses got *MUCH* more than others. I suspect that even with a stronger focus on melee, there will be plenty of non-melee in-house cards.

This cycle contributed a lot in boring me with the game and bringing me searching "something else"... I hope in the "Miracle" of a future innovative cycle/core set adding something new to the game (house/mechanic/ecc)...

Twn2dn said:

It really depends on the house you are playing. I didn´t change one card in my Martell or Targaryen maester deck, which actually both had a lot of charachters with printed maester trait. And i saw them both as at least good decks. And i build a Stark maester & search deck lately which seems to play out quite well. So `think that the chain decks are not yet at an end. I also highly doubt that we would have really seen a lot of 12 chain decks without the new faq.

I thought this set was a fail. Like the Wildlings, an ill considered, overpowered neutral theme tcame to dominate the environemtn, at least in face time, if not in result. I like variety in this game, variety among the Houses, wiht different builds and different uniques shining at different points. When one htem is everywhere, it irritates me. (I like how Brotherhood was strong, but there were still other options in the environment last fall and winter).

With that in mind, and the new FAQ, I am eager to put the Maesters behind us and I am very much looking forward ot the enxt set. the focus on uniques ialready looks great and the new cards to spice up melee play should be awesome and memorable.

General Questions

Which House or Houses got all the love?

Martell, Stark

Which House or Houses got the shortest stick?

Baratheon, Lannister

Did you find the Maester-centric theme interesting? Why?

I really liked the pre-faq combo stuff. Although I think some cards were too strong, I would've loved to see a better solution balancing-wise.

Do you lke the direction that the game has developed in this CP set?

I do like new mechanics but as someone already said, it would be good to foucs not too much on neutral cards in the future. Also, I got the impression that restrictions & erratas come too easily.

Are you more or less hyped about the next CP set, than you were about this one? Why?

Right now, I'm not so impressed with the new Melee/Joust mechanic and the overall Melee foucs but that's merely a first impression.

Card Awards and Medals [Optional - Feel free to nominate any/all/none]

Sansa Award (Worst card in the set) - House of Shadow
Balerion Award (Best card in the set) - Maester Luwin
Ned Award (Most thematic card in the set) - TMP Agenda
Shagga Award (Card with the most jaw-dropping effect in the set) - Slander & Lies
Renly Award (Card with the best art in the series) - Ghaston Grey
Hot Pie Medal (Granted to an adorable but utterly useless card) - Laughing Storm
Jaime Medal (Granted to a very efficient card that ends up ultimately being hated) - Prince's Plans
Kettleback Medal (Granted to a card that was greatly hyped, but ultimately had very little impact) - Jaqen H'ghar
Tyene Medal (Granted to a seemingly innocent, but very deadly card) - Ghaston Grey
Euron Medal (Most controversial card in the set) - Laughing Storm

Stag Lord said:

What he said. Probably my least favorite cycle. I am very tired of really powerful neutral effects, and unbalanced agendas (don't worry, I won't go off on the agenda tangent again!). At least the Wildlings and Brotherhood are popular parts of the books, with a great backstory. I couldn't have picked any of the Maesters out of a line-up (other than Lewin).

I LOVE the focus on in-house uniques coming up, and of course the Lanni box. Very excited to move forward (like Stag), and forget this cycle ever happened

I agree with Stag. This cycle was possibly the most disappointing of the game in it's life as an LCG. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the maesters fade from the environment. I dislike them so much I refuse to build a maester centric deck or to use their agenda. While I'm not a huge fan of melee, I do think adding melee focused cards will be good for the game as a whole, so I have some hope for the new cycle. I also think the new keywords show some real promise for adding new strategies to the game.

I'm more or less going to restrict myself to the first four packs, as I haven't seen the others in enough (any?) action.

Which House or Houses got all the love?

Martell and Stark

Which House or Houses got the shortest stick?

Lannister and Targaryen

Did you find the Maester-centric theme interesting? Why?

Interesting? Yes definitely...just look at the explosion of different decks it created and the effect it had on the meta.

Do you lke the direction that the game has develop in this CP set?

Sure, to a point. Like Twn2dn has said more often and eloquently than I, this game could use a bit of combo, and that's what the Maester theme provided. I think it worked pretty well at adding a new element, although I do understand why some folks (like Rings and StagLord) were not pleased with the neutral theme.

Are you more or less hyped about the next CP set, than you were about this one? Why?

I'm more excited, because I think it looks more Nedly. Not to mention, a lot of beloved characters will be getting face time. Adding in some melee-specific stuff should be fun also.

Card Awards and Medals [Optional - Feel free to nominate any/all/none]

Sansa Award (Worst card in the set) Conflict of Interest, Lucky Bones, Without his Beard, Royal Favor...take your pick, I couldn't.
Balerion Award (Best card in the set) The Maester's Path
Ned Award (Most thematic card in the set) Guardian Wolf
Shagga Award (Card with the most jaw-dropping effect in the set) The Maester's Path/Burned and Pillaged
Renly Award (Card with the best art in the series) Oberyn's Guile/Guardian Wolf
Hot Pie Medal (Granted to an adorable but utterly useless card) Shireen Baratheon
Jaime Medal (Granted to a very efficient card that ends up ultimately being hated) The Maester's Path/Ghaston Grey
Kettleback Medal (Granted to a card that was greatly hyped, but ultimately had very little impact) Jaqen H'ghar/Stormlands Bastard
Tyene Medal (Granted to a seemingly innocent, but very deadly card) Ghaston Grey/Apprentice Collar
Euron Medal (Most controversial card in the set) The Maester's Path

Whatever else you may say about it, TMP was the card on everybody's minds/lips/fingertips this cycle. Nothin came even close to inspiring as many decks, discussions, arguments, etc.

I feel like I should explain B&P getting a shared Shagga; I thought this card had a metagame effect second only to TMP because it basically made a new deck archetype (Greyjoy Choke) viable all by itself.

Old Ben said:

Clearly a melee card. I like it.

rings said:

agenda tangent again!). At least the Wildlings and Brotherhood are popular parts of the books, with a great backstory. I couldn't have picked any of the Maesters out of a line-up (other than Lewin).

~You know, I'm not even convinced you could pick out Luwin.

Which houses got the love?

Neutral

Greyjoy / Stark

Martell (only 2 cards, but they were bombs)

Which house got the shortest stick?

Baratheon by far. After Baratheon I would say Targaryen. Shadow Seer is very good, Shadow Parasite might be good, not too enthusiastic about anything else.

At least Lannister got Lady Genna, House Payne Enforcer, Maester Creylen, and Slander and Lies.

Do you find the Maester theme interesting?

No. I very much dislike the approach that was taken with them. Rather than having the theme a mostly neutral theme and the abilities being tied to attachments, I would much rather have seen house-specific Maesters with the abilities of the chains. For example, a Targaryen Maester with the attachment destruction effect of Tin Link if you kneel him to activate it. Or, a Greyjoy Maester that discards the top X cards of your deck.

This would accomplish a few things. Firstly, it would have been a balance mechanism as you must kneel the character to use the effect (a hefty cost compared to "when character is knelt") and also that character is vulnerable to dying (doesn't have access to Bodyguard, Power of Blood, dupes, etc.). The game does not have attachment removal outside of Targaryen and Tin Link. It is much easier to control characters out of any house than it is to control attachments that can be played on uber-Characters that are hard to kill.

Secondly, it would have kept the soul of each house within their own house rather than putting house thematic abilities on neutral cards. I think that would've had a very positive effect on the game. Maesters should be support-utility character within the House in my opinion.

Do you like the direction that the game has developed in this CP set?

No, I hated the way Maesters were done with a passion. I am very happy that the FAQ has forced people to use the agenda with real Maesters. I do like the love that Stark and Greyjoy got in this set.

I don't like neutral themed chapter pack cycles. I see a lot of people posting in here that they seriously dislike all the neutral focus. I don't think I will continue to play this game if expansions continue to print only 2 cards per house while neutral themes get all the attention. I want to see neutrals get 2 cards per expansion while house cards get the lime light. There are approximately 3x more Neutral cards printed than three of the houses. I think a lot of that is due to the last three chapter pack cycles being neutral themed.

Are you more or less hyped about the next CP set?

I am much more excited for the next chapter cycle. The focus is on the houses and not neutrals. I'm not a fan of melee, but I can see a few cards already that will be good in either format. I hope this cycle is a sign of things to come afterward.

I fear that the one after that is going to be a house Arryn-neutral themed cycle though. I'd much rather see that cycle be a dual-house themed cycle where many of the cards can be run out of two houses like Tyrells (Baratheon / Lannister), Boltons (Lannister / Stark), and so on.

Sansa Award (worst) : House of Shadow, Lonely Hills, Restrict and Restrain, Conflict of Interest, Tower Library

Baleron Award (best) : The Maester's Path (pre-errata), Ghaston Grey (post-errata)

Ned Award (thematic) : Guardian Wolf, Jaqen H'ghar

Shagga Award (jaw-dropper) : Baelor Blacktyde, Prince's Plans

Renly Award (best art) : Magister Illyrio, Oldtown Raven

Hot Pie Award (adorable, useless) : Shireen Baratheon

Jaime Medal (efficient / hated) : The Maester's Path (pre-errata)

Kettleback Medal (hyped, no impact) : Maester Luwin was very hyped, had no impact at all so far.

Tyene Medal (innocent / deadly) : Ghaston Grey - very very few people expected it to be powerful when they first saw it.

Euron (controversy) : The Maester's Path, hands down.

Which House or Houses got all the love?

Stark, Martell, Greyjoy

Which House or Houses got the shortest stick?

Baratheon

Did you find the Maester-centric theme interesting? Why?

I was quite excited about it going into it. I was intrigued by the Oldtown chapters in A Feast for Crows , and was looking forward to a cycle that explored that theme. I still think it could have been a great theme for the game, but as Stasis suggested, I wish it would have been approached from a more house-centric angle. I realize the neutral focus was to reflect the idea that the Maesters have their own agenda, but we really don't know too much about that as readers as of yet, and I think opportunities were missed to integrate the Maester/Learned theme better into existing themes and mechanics.

Do you lke the direction that the game has develop in this CP set?

I did not mind the combo-ish nature so much. What I didn't like was the incredibly tool-boxy nature of the chain attachments; how it got so easy to pad out the weak spots in almost any deck, without even having a really Maester-themed deck. I think the agenda, more than any other theme I've witnessed, watered down the house identities and did not have a big enough trade-off for the strength it provided.

Are you more or less hyped about the next CP set, than you were about this one? Why?

I'm very excited (though I am before any new set, really). Well, I'm a little bit wary of the new keywords -- but I'm certainly curious to see how they work out. However, it looks like there will be a stronger focus on house-specific cards, especially unique characters, which I think is always exciting to see. And as I usually play multiplayer games I'm not wary of the melee focus as some of the more joust-oriented players are.

WWDrakey said:

1. Not at all.

Frankly, Maesters don't interest me anywhere near as much as the other sub-groups and factions of the AGoT world. They get a fair bit of time as extras, but this cycle felt a lot like FFG trying to force a theme where one didn't exist. Given the sheer number of stronger options that haven't been explored by the LCG (and the amount of core material that hasn't been done in any depth) that seemed like a pointless fumble to make.

Sure, having a tribal trait that spanned across all six houses was pretty cool. I wouldn't have minded having Maester themed effects as a sub-theme in a cycle of packs that had a stronger overall theme (instead of being 'six months of maesters'). But a whole cycle about a monk-like sect that we (as readers) know exceptionally little about? It just didn't have any legs.

2. I can't say that I do.

I'm with Rings on disliking neutral themes that people tack builds onto the side of (i.e. Maesters/Wildlings; where you run the 'deck in a box' agenda, [run all the chains], run all the good Maesters/Wildlings, then add your chosen House's best four cards and call it a deck).

It's boring to have a single theme dominate a meta and it's tedious to watch it do the same thing in every single house. I'd far rather see FFG take an approach similar to the King's Landing / Brotherhood blocks, where each house gets distinct kit and manifests a theme differently; even if those themes take more than six months to fully flesh out. (as an aside, I wouldn't mind them doing the LotR approach of releasing a 'seeding' deluxe expansion, then six chapter packs that tied into it, if that would help).

Maester decks that revolve around the agenda (i.e. all of them) are samey and predictable. It's not so much a 'combo' as it is an exercise in getting railroaded into building the linear deck that FFG have designed for you. The fact that you can do the exact same thing out of every house just makes it worse.

3. Hell yes. It looks absolutely ******* awesome.

So far all I'm seeing is good (but not bananas and overpowered) flavour-filled cards that sound be fun to play. Lots of familiar faces, favourite characters, and bone-crunching effects. It's exactly the kind of stuff that I enjoy playing, the fact that some of it is melee focused is just icing on the cake.

Long story short, I didn't buy any of the Oldtown packs. The theme was so dull, and the majority of the cards looked so much like Wildlings2 that I just didn't want to spend the money. On the other hand, the Champions cards have me checking the FFG mainpage on a daily basis for more spoilers; they can't get here fast enough.

It seems like as one of the people who liked the set for the mechanics (namely the boost to combo), I'm in the minority. I really liked how suddenly all these combo decks cropped up, though I agree that some of them were a bit too powerful (discard combo, etc.).

On the other hand, I COMPLETELY agree about the neutral issue...there are WAY too many neutral cards. This really dilutes the feel and uniqueness of each house, and I was in particular sad to see that some of the chains specifically take away the uniqueness/strength of Targ (namely the Tin Link and "burn" link...forget the name).

I'm looking forward to a set that focuses on ANYTHING other than more neutral mechanics. Although I understand *why* FFG keeps pushing out neutral mechanics (they want each block to be a "standalone" for new players so those players don't feel behind), creating neutrals or (worse) new mechanics with poor support (House Dayne, seasons, the list goes own) is definitely NOT the best way to do it.

The disheartening thing for me is that I talked to Damon briefly at GenCon about how I really liked the direction of the next CP cycle because it's going away from neutral focus. He told me that FFG is not deliberately going away from neutrals, they just make themes each cycle that they want to pursue and that essentially they see no problems with CPs focusing on neutral themes.

I hope these forum posts persuade the designers to think again about how many neutral cards come out in relation to house cards.

Which House or Houses got all the love? Stark & Martell

Which House or Houses got the shortest stick? Lannister

Did you find the Maester-centric theme interesting? Why? Nope, not interesting at all. To be honest I bought the CPs for the few house related cards that I could use, such as Guardian Wolf and because I collect them. But I have no intention on playing maesters as a theme.

Do you lke the direction that the game has develop in this CP set? Not at all. First of all, being neutrally oriented, it gave space to an incredible number of comboes, which may have been a good thing, if it wasn't for the way overpowered Maester Robert, for example. But when you plan an entire cycle on a neutral theme, you gotta be careful, which has not been the case in this one. And we've not even seen the last of it, anyone concerned about a future Lannister-Maester deck, when Lions of the Rock hits the shelves? What concerns me is mostly the game balance, but if FFG keeps releasing broken stuff like Maester's cycle, well...

Are you more or less hyped about the next CP set, than you were about this one? Why? I'd say more, because the focus seems to be once more the six houses, which to me means more relations to the background. Also, the opportunity to see important characters not yet avaiables, like Meera Reed.

Card Awards and Medals [Optional - Feel free to nominate any/all/none]

Sansa Award (Worst card in the set) : Maester's Path (pre-errata)
Balerion Award (Best card in the set): Maester's Path (post-errata, meaning it's now balanced, and still very very good)
Ned Award (Most thematic card in the set): Guardian Wolf, Burned and Pillaged
Shagga Award (Card with the most jaw-dropping effect in the set) : Prince's Plan (even post-errata), Baelor Blacktide
Renly Award (Card with the best art in the series) : Shireen Baratheon
Hot Pie Medal (Granted to an adorable but utterly useless card) : Ser Jon Fossoway
Jaime Medal (Granted to a very efficient card that ends up ultimately being hated) : Apprentice Collar
Kettleback Medal (Granted to a card that was greatly hyped, but ultimately had very little impact) : Stormlands Bastard
Tyene Medal (Granted to a seemingly innocent, but very deadly card) : Ghaston Grey
Euron Medal (Most controversial card in the set) : The Maester's Path (pre/post-errata)

Shenanigans said:

In an Asshai deck a 1 gold holy crest is anything but useless, i wouldn't even care if her text was blank 1 gold is very cheap for the goblet of holyness

jack merridew said:

I also thought so, there´s nothing wrong with her. Even just as a cheap resource for pulling off either "for r´hllor" or "confession" she´s great.

Just to clarify, I actually do like neutral sub-themes. However, you can't have a whole cycle devoted to it otherwise IT takes over the house/deck rather than the other way around. Again, it can be done right - Brotherhood is a cool example of doing it right and have almost having another house. But usually that takes an agenda...and that is tough to balance.

This cycle seemed to have WAY more cards dedicated to it (an unbalanced agenda, a crazy plot + a good one, decent personalities, multiple events, locations, and attachments). Compared to the Brotherhood (a good agenda that only works if you dedicate your deck to it, no plot really, better personalities, maybe one attachment and location for Beric) it shows the right balance of putting cards in for a sub-theme.

rings said:

Couldn't agree more, Brotherhood is the perfect example of a neutral theme done right and Maesters Path is an example of it done wrong

Old Ben said:

Touche' gentlemen; I'll admit to having never played an Asshai and/or Holy crest deck. In retrospect, 1 gold for two icons and a crest isn't bad. I guess I just got caught up in her ability seeming rather useless, or at least late to the game, as anti-Brotherhood tech.

Also, from a Nedly point of view, why a Holy crest? I know her mother is all up in the Red God, but Shireen doesn't seem to be that way. Maybe a Noble crest would have been more appropriate.

jack merridew said:

More to the point, most of the brotherhood decks I've played against feel very similar...with the exception that Martell Brotherhood feels just like a Martell deck, except the control is slightly less reliable, the deck has a few more vulnerabilities, and To the Spears allows you to get a 3rd or 4th turn win. Other houses' brotherhood play out similarly to each other though, with a few in-house flares that add more flavor than in-game differences (I think).

In contrast, every house's maester build has felt different to play with and against. Definitely the Targ and Bara versions feel very differently. When I played against GJ maesters, which crushed me at GenCon and have beat me since (pre-FAQ), they feel more like a Winter GJ build on speed than something similar to Targ or Bara. The Lanni builds feel different too, and pre-errata sometimes focused on trait manipulation. I haven't seen a lot of Martell maester decks, but those I've seen centered around putting tons of chains on the character that then claims a lot of power (limited response after winning). That deck felt very different from both the standard Martell summer build AND other maester builds.

If you dislike neutral cards *because* you feel they take variety away from the environment, then I don't know how you can say Brotherhood is superior to maesters. If you're more interested in "balance" and/or dislike combo, then I can see why Brotherhood might appear better. Brotherhood are pretty crappy most of the time, whereas maesters felt very strong and efficient. In the end it's preference I guess, but since I love combo and variety, gotta say I MUCH prefer maesters over brotherhood.

I'd like to follow up my previous post by making sure it's not taken incorrectly.

I didn't mean to imply that Damon is bad at his job or that he doesn't respect or listen to the community. I certainly don't think that he dismisses the playerbase's opinions on matters.

I am excited for the next chapter pack cycle that is coming out, which I believe is the first one he's is the lead designer on. I also like what I've seen from the Lions of the Rock spoilers as well. If those sorts of design choices are carried forward I don't think the community will ever have the same gripe again.

My post wasn't meant to incite a riot against FFG or the designers. It was borne out of some frustration with an aspect of the game, seeing others respond with the same type of comments, and hopes that this feedback is seen and acted upon.