I am debating buying a Poisioned Spear. A Poisoned Spear looks okay, but not great. Then I saw house Clegane outlaw. I have a horrible judgment of cards by just reading their abilities (I thought that Karstark would be really great, and I thought that Blue-lipped warlock would suck), so could someone please tell me how effective it actually is in battle? Thanks.

I thought he was going to be a good card, but I've found that I don't ever put power on him. I always used him for claim fodder or was afraid of a valar so I just kept the power off of him. I ended up changing him out for some other low cost weenies that I could use for something other than dominance and claim.

Thanks. I was wondering if that happened to many people, since I was suspicious that I would end up not putting power on him.

You're talking about play-style, though. I know plenty of people (including myself) who are willing to take the risk of a single power for a 1-cost, 2-STR tricon, especially in non-Clansman Lanni decks where good power icons can be hard to come by.

What ktom said.

The 2 strength is very big with all the Targ running around. Yes, they still only need Threat + Forever (or Hatchling Feast), but that is one Forever not hitting someone else!

Yeah. Saying "he's 2-STR and easy to burn" should mean that all 2-STR characters are bad because they are easy to burn. Obviously not the case, right?

The "he's easy to burn" argument falls about as flat to me as the "a 3-STR tricon that doesn't kneel to defend is pretty useless if it doesn't have stealth." (And yes, people have said that about characters.) Your opponent is still going to need 1 more character with stealth for every challenge type, right?

How reliably can you get a power on house Clegane Outlaw? I would prefer not to have any situational cards because I really need to discard all of the cards in their hand before they can react, but as ktom said, good power icons are hard to find in non-clansman lannister, so I would be willing to include it if you can get power on him often.

I mean it shouldn't be too hard to get one power. Most decks get one or two on the first turn.

Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken said:

So the short answer to how reliably you can get a power on House Clegane Outlaw is "pretty darn reliably."

Seriously. It's a one gold character with 2 STR and is a tricon. Worst case scenario, you use him as claim soak. Best case scenario is he is great for the cost. He has multiple functions based on the situation which is why he's great. He will never be useless.

ktom said:

Hmmm, just thining about him still participating in a challenge even though he has no strength, and I realized that since claim and unopposed happen before the response window, as long as you get a power out of the challenge, you could have his strength count for effects like Terminal Schemes or Wars are Won with Quills on that same challenge. Just attack with another character.

AGoT DC Meta said:

But once you count and compare strength and determine challenge winner, wouldn't that be all that is responded to? So, you win UO challenge and put the power on House Clegane Outlaw. How does that strength now count in responses when it's not technically how much you won the challenge by?

Bomb said:

Very true, it's be too late to actually count the strength… That's why I try to stay out of rules conversations.

Is that correct? In the Framework for the Challenges Phase for sorting out the end of the challenge Step 1 is "Determine the winner of the challenge". I read that as the result and numbers having contributed to the challenge being determined and locked at that point. Even if the HCO gets a power from unopposed his strength was never counted.

ScottieATF said:

Nope, not true. Just me wildly speculating and being wrong. It usually takes me several such mental exercises before I actually lock into the actual rules in regards to new cards.

AGoT DC Meta said:

I think part of the game is trying to think outside the box though. So, if it was within the rules, it would be quite clever. :-)

Thanks for your help, everyone. I am going to get A Poisoned Spear.