So after messing around with the cards I've noticed many things.

Take a stroll through my mind . . . . .

Targaryen is possibly the STRONGEST HOUSE RIGHT NOW! People think of it as weak because Targaryen doesn't claim power quick. Looking at the "melee champions decks", I've noticed the basis of all of them was to claim a lot of power quickly. When I looked at the winning Greyjoy deck, it seemed obvious that Greyjoy won due to Greyjoy having the best saves at the moment with Risen From The Sea and Iron Mines. The goal of every top 4 deck was to claim power quickly and end the game just as quickly.

That is a strategy that leaves me in UTTER SHOCK AND DISMAY. Why was there no control deck up there in the top 4? The reason being is that there are creative avenues to the game that were not recognized previously.

It does bring me back to my Character-Lite deck that remained undefeated at Gencon SoCal and Indy when I was a player, and a lot of things changed...however never underestimate the power of overlooked cards. Granted I used a rainbow deck, with tons of Control, and used Plots like Rioting, which are obviously non-existant now in the LCG.

The game is fresh and new, and I have the key to making "the unbeatable deck". Now granted this needs a lot of playtesting and tweaking, but with a current record of 24-0 vs a variety of decks, inclusive of versions of the melee decks, it shows me that the meta isn't ready to handle cards that they've never seen on the table before.

BE PREPARED! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

So as we explore these shadowed alleys of what we come to expect when playing AGOT, be prepared to see things that will shake the meta up. As I perfect the deck, I'm currently accepting all challenges via OCTGN, and would welcome anyone who wants to help me playtest these decks and tweak them to perfection. That, or, if you want to see what I am talking about, feel free to challenge me. [email protected] to setup a game via OCTGN

People Do Not Comprehend That In Which Has Never Been Brought To The Light!

<3Melnick

I do not know if you are being serious or if you are trying to troll the boards. This could go either way.

Probably a little of both Wrecking Ball!

#1, are you comparing Melee decks to your character-lite decks of the early 2000's (BTW, I know I beat you a couple times at SoCal, along with taking some lumps!)? Really? Assuming so, Melee is a much different animal. Alhtough there are a ton of resets out there (especially in Targ, which you said) it is very difficult to control 3 opponents rather than 1. Doing that at enough tables to get to the final table just isn't easy at all.

#2, if you are talking Joust, I truly agree that Targ is VERY good (every deck I have is scared of Targ...really) and character-lite/less is certainly a valid build out of Targ (they have the win condition locations).

Mark, you raise a couple good points... I noticed something at GenCon melee in '09. I was running a Martell deck with not uber-control but had plenty. It really just tried to abuse the PotS Red Viper + Lost Oasis as a finisher. It went first, first, first and last in my 4 tables of 4, I think I 5th or 6th overall for melee. In my first 3 tables there was one other control-oriented deck. A Greyjoy-Winter, a Stark and a Targ, IIRC. Between myself and that other player we kept the rush decks in order. At my final table, I had a Bara nobles & two GJ unopposed decks... And while I didn't have to worry about my Viper dying with 3 straight turns of Power of Blood, no one made much of an attempt at slowing the others down outside of defending challenges.

Also, it's good to see you back. Perhaps a game on OCTGN when I have the downtime.

Taking a stroll through Mark's mind can be a dangerous journey!

Good to see you back Mark!!!

Where is "Melnick's Card of the Week"???

OK, I'll ask a question that has been on my mind for some time - who the hell *is* this guy?

Ratatoskr said:

I second this motion. I am after all is said and done a nublet.

I want to echo what Mathlete said...It is great to see you back Mark. It has been a while.

I think Targ is strong but I hate building their decks...I sit down at the table and I pull cards out and then I put them back in because I am just not interested in them...

Melnick was one of the first really good players (Nate, Casey Galvin, John Bruno to name a few) back in 2003-4, and I had the previlege of playing him multiple times at large tourneys. I would say he was Erick before Erick, but there are a lot of differences as well.

At the 2nd GenCon, I believe he was the #1 seed (?) and the favorite to win along with Casey Galvin, but the infamous 'smoke break' occurance happened, which let Dobbler in as the 8th seed, and Dobbs ended up winning it (sidenote: props to Dobbs, the first one 'didn't count' in many people's eyes, but he went ahead and won another). He won GenCon SoCal at least once I believe as well (~stopping my couple years of dominance!).

Mel was pretty abrasive back in the day, and is the only banned person from the old forums that I know of. However, his outside the box thinking really propelled the game and the variation of decks (especially character-less and character-lite). Lastly, he was never shy about breaking a card, but then posting said break on the forums to see if it was truly broken and needed help (in my memory, he broke the silly Story Events so they got nerfed).

(BTW all of this is in my memory from 8+ years ago, so details might be wrong)

Id love a game against this mad deck of yours, I added you to my google chat window...Thing. What time/timezone would you usually be on?

rings said:

Besides being a good player, Melnick would really look at deck stats and tried his best to make as many broken decks as possible. He provided the community with lots of good ideas and strategy as well as water cooler material.

rings said:

At Worlds in 2004, MeInick and Casey were paired against each other of the final round of swiss and had planned on taking a draw (when this was still legal) and there was some miscommunication and both guys took a loss and did not make the Top 8 allowing the 9th and 10th players to make the Top 8. I was undefeated in the rounds of Swiss and either myself or the winner of Casey/Melnick would have been undefeated and one of us would've been the #1 seed. I ended up the #1 seed since they were dropped.

rings said:

GenCon ran a GenCon SoCal for a few years between 2003-2006 and I ran the tournies for FFG for the first three years. Melnick won the first one, Rings the next two. I played the fourth year and ended Rings's dominance.

rings said:

Wow...war stories from the oldtimers...it's like watching history COME ALIVE.

OK, I have a follow up question - what's the infamous smoke break occurence?

melnick said:

The Melee tournaments and Joust tournament sare two completely different beasts. While there are some principals for deck building that carry over to both venues, for the most part they are very very different.

This general rule applies...in Joust - Control wins. In Melee - Rush wins. This is simplistic and obviously doesn't hold true 100% of the time, but it is the consistent theme.

Ratatoskr said:

~If by war stories you mean boring old stories from boring old guys (present company included)

The smoke break was the part that Mathlete discussed. Casey and Melnick - both undefeated - decided to take the draw and go smoke. How I understand it, niether of them reported this to the judge therefore neither showed up at their table and both got losses. Actually they both must have been dropped from the tourney (?right?), considering even with one loss (against another one-loss in the last round) I can't believe that neither of them would have gotten in the Top 8 with only one undefeated. I think that was the main controversy, considering at the worst case they thought they should get a game loss rather than a drop? Anyways, a long time ago.

Plus, Mathlete got the #1 seed and lost. He would have to wait a year boo-hoo. ~And the fact is I won the most GenCon SoCal's, and not even his sharp words can take that away from me, no matter how hard he tries!

rings said:

Great to see you back, and with broken ideas, Melnick!

Last time I played Targ Kothh at a torney, I felt infact reminded of your char lite UBER deck.

They have so many Get in play & out of play effects now (esp: ambush from the plains), so many resets: (valar+threat+bleeds+ first snow(was a great starter plot) and maybe the cavalry),and some really nice challenge effects, i really could get away with havng one char in play most of the time.

To say the least, it has great potential. I can´t wait to see your decklist

Bump...

Did anyone get a chance to play melnick? What will be the next thing to challenge the meta???

I think he might be talking about the Rhaenys's Hill/ Aegon's Hill/ Refurbished Hulk/ Iron Lore alliance deck

Really? cant be he said it was undefeated....must be some other deck...think its targ

I am up for a game vs it any time....tongiht?