Did anyone else notice that there is a new spoiler article for Refugees of War? A new Arya (Cat o' the Canals), a new Needle (mentioned only), and some other cool cards. Thoughts?

I like Refugees of the citadel. it will really help the cost curve of my martell deck without losing too much.

Cat is interesting...i hope needle gives something really good because i'm not sold on the 2 for 1 str yet...

Gilly looks like fun...can't complain about more nuetral draw.

I wonder if the trait: Refugee will be a plus or a minus?

Lars said:

A 2-for-1 tricon may not sound like much, but really, seriously, think about the "immune to opponent's card effects" thing. She is not going anywhere. Ever. Unless you choose to do so. The immunity is gonna make her insane, even if you can't find a way to up her STR.

I'm just hoping that the Refugee trait will be as useful as the Captain trait.

This article has got me very excited to see the next Chapter of the game. I expect each house will have their own refugees, and the Dominance ties in is thematic in a way (You're not strong enough or wealthy enough to protect me, so I'm not staying."). Cat can be amazingly awesome, and may become a staple in many decks. Alannys Greyjoy will most likely provide Greyjoy with a Queen, though perhaps with the same annoyance as Jeyne and Selyse in their inactivity, but at least she helps reduce the 8 STR army.

And the plot -- after successfully using the Vale Rookery the other night, I am really getting into the plot switching. These effects have me incredibly excited about the game.

ktom said:

with den of the wolf, especially in a lanni deck, that immunity is gone.

I'm guessing from the spoilers (Alannys Greyjoy, for example) that FFG specifically listed, that we are not seeing a new Cersei in this chapter pack. So maybe the Cersei in the banner advertisement is from the final chapter pack? I for one would love to see a more useful Cersei than the Core set Cersei.

Lars said:

No it's not. That removal of immunity is a card effect. She's immune to losing her immunity. Well, unless her controller also controls the Den.

Beginning to get an idea of how big "immune to opponent's card effects" can be?

I am a little bit confused, who is Alannys Greyjoy? Balon's wife?

yup! That and Asha/Theon's Mother.

Yep that Cat o' the Canals is one scary lady. But I guess that's expected for Arya =)

Oh my God. Ktom's right. A Stark tricon that's immune to all opponent's card effects.

High Five! =)

Seriously, would this thing also be proof against stuff like, I don't know, say Knife In The Back or Moment Of Glory?

P.S. I want "Head Of a Dwarf" to be an event card featuring Shae.

I would love to see other cards that interact with the refugee trait, but I won't hold my breath. Should there be a refugee for each of the houses, I hope they are all just a little different.

That said, I really like what I see and think that this CP could quite possibly be the point where my negative opinion of the card pool slowly begins to change for the better.

karstark said:

She'd be immune to Moment of Glory's delayed kill. Even as a lasting effect with delayed initiation, it is still (ultimately) a card effect.

She would not be immune to claim replacement. The card effect works directly on claim, then claim works on the character. Claim is not a card effect - it's a game effect - so she would not be immune to it.

What about Keywords? Are Stealth and Deadly considered Card Effects for the purposes of Cat?

Yep. They're on a card and are only initiated/resolved if a card bearing the text is involved. The framework events for things like Stealth and Renown tell you when to initiate/resolve, but it's the card effect that is resolving, not a game rule. They are not character abilities, but they are card effects.

I can't believe they finally went and printed a character Immune to opponent's card effects. We had discussed the possibility of this and the implications as far back as Ice and Fire block and the character lite deck. I am very, very disappointed in this decision. No one, not even Arya should be invulnerable in the game. It damages the flavor, separating it from the source texts and potetntially causes balance issues.

Sigh.

You're just going to have to kill everything off around her and that isn't as easily done in these days of negligible weenie control.

On the other hand, i really liek Gilly - who is a nicely balanced card with a strong Ned flavor. I haven't really gotten into teh whole Plot manipulation thing yet, so i am undecided on the Plot - though more Plot options are never a bad thing. And the Martell guys are also pretty well thought out.

Stag Lord said:

~ I thought immunity wasn't introduced until the Valyrian block?

ktom said:

this is where the game irks the hell out of me, because all doesn't mean all. english can be a useful tool, why don't we use it as such instead of creating a language all our own (there are othe examples, but they been hashed over enough....even if they are wrong)

Wait, so does this make Arya Immune to Valar and Wildfire Assault? Or are plot effects and card effects essentially two different things?

Red Terror said:

Only your opponent's. So if you play Valar, she would die (though you could save her). And you would have to choose her to save with your own Wildfire.

Stag Lord said:

Of course if this card was printed on a baratheon character, such as davos, Staglord would be saying something more along the lines of, "this is a truly nedly card that accurately reflects the books and introduces a unique mechanism."

Red Terror said:

Plots do indeed count as "cards," so plot effects are card effects.

So, is anyone taking another look at Burning Sword?