As we arrive at The Grand Melee for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game , Knights and champions from across the land assemble on the tourney grounds. Lords and Ladies give them their blessings and place their bets. It is a cruel fact of aging that some who may have once ranked among the fiercest warriors inevitably grow old and lose their edge. Likewise, some individuals who revel in combat may move into positions of power where it becomes undignified to risk life and limb in tournament combat. Today, as The Grand Melee goes on sale at retailers everywhere, guest writer Joe Becker takes a look at one such character.

Joe Becker on Robert Baratheon:

One of the main goals of A Tale of Champions was to introduce cards with abilities that get stronger the more players there are in the game. We’ve already read about Euron Crow’s Eye ( The Grand Melee , 29) and Doran Martell ( The Grand Melee , 34), two characters who can hurt all your enemies when you are forced to defend against a challenge. But a melee game is also about initiating challenges, and today we’re going to look at the King of Westeros, and his desire to fight.

This pack gives us our fifth version of Robert Baratheon for the LCG environment, and this new version of Robert Baratheon ( The Grand Melee , 27) has a very interesting ability. To start, Robert is five gold for three Strength, a noble with the King and Lord traits, and Military and Power icons. Robert just wouldn’t be Robert without Renown, and he also gains the Melee keyword. But, as noted, he also has an intriguing, unique ability: “While Robert Baratheon is attacking alone in a Power challenge, each opponent you are not attacking may declare 1 eligible character as a defender.” In other words, your opponents can join in the challenge in an attempt to reign in Robert’s power. The stakes are small if they win–perhaps a power for Renown, or the chance to trigger an ability–but if you win, you get to fulfill claim against all participating players.

It may seem against the best interest of a player to join the defense against this challenge. Baratheon already has multiple ways to rush to a Power victory: why give them more fuel for their engine? But there are other times when it makes sense. If you have no power on your House card, you have nothing to lose by declaring a defender to keep the challenge from being unopposed. Maybe you have to defend, knowing that if Robert somehow wins the challenge the Baratheon player will win the game. And maybe, just maybe, you defend, knowing full well that it won’t stop Robert from winning the challenge, and you hope that by giving the King what he wants–more power–you are making an ally in the game for the next turn or two. After all, isn’t the political aspect of the melee game just as important as the cards on the table?

The King’s Warhammer

House Baratheon gets another nice card in this pack, the Warhammer ( The Grand Melee , 28). Put this card on Robert, and your opponents now have to decide if they want to defend with a character that can be discarded after the challenge resolves or let you win the extra power for an unopposed challenge. You do have to win the challenge to trigger this ability, though, so it’s a card that works best when you have some surprises up your sleeve to boost your Strength and claim the victory.

Robert Baratheon always enjoyed the melee, and if he can get free of the public’s watchful eyes and squeeze himself back into his armor, you can bet he’ll be looking forward to his chance to swing his warhammer again in The Grand Melee .

Thanks, Joe!

Now that you’ve had your appetite whetted by this and other previews, head to your local retailer or our webstore today. The Grand Melee is now on sale .