Deck Limits and the like.

By Ebonrook, in 2. AGoT Rules Discussion

Hi guys

I have had the game a long while now, but I haven't managed to get around to playing it (my own fault really). Well I was looking through the cards, rules, expansions etc. I just didn't spot anything about a Deck limit.

Now I know it says at least 60 cards for tourney play. I have no intention of playing in tourneys. Yet it isn't at all specific. Does that mean there can be 80, 90, even 100 cards in a deck? Does that include Plot deck? How many cards can I have in the plot deck? etc etc. Or are there only the 7 cards that come with the core set for plots?

I also had a question, I noticed that Greyjoy's house card was intermingled with the Stark deck. Does that mean that cards aren't house restricted like I thought or is it that Greyjoy can use Stark cards?

I didn't notice any specifically Greyjoy cards when I was looking through, so I am unaware how to play with Greyjoy (if I can at all haha).

Thanks in advance guys! :)

All easy questions, and I'm good at answering those kinds!

1. The Core set only comes with 4 of the houses/factions available in Game of Thrones, but it does come with a House card for each of the 6 total houses.

2. You must have 7 plots, and you cannot include duplicates of them unless the text on the plot expressly says you can.

3. There is only a minimum # of cards in a deck, 60. There is no max limit, but I would STRONGLY urge to try to keep it between 60-65 of performance. The more cards in the deck, the less likely you are to drawing what you need.

4. Cards are specific to the house/faction printed in the upper right corder of the card. That is the house they belong to. You can mix cards between houses (provided the card itself does not contain the text "house x only" where x is a house you are not playing) such as including some Bara cards into your Stark deck. However, not that any card that does not match your house card will cost 2 additional gold when playing them. This additional cost does not apply to neutral cards as they don't belong to any house.

5. Greyjoy and Martell are not included in the Core set, but they do offer expansion sets for them (and the other houses) that have very good cards.

Slothgodfather said:

3. There is only a minimum # of cards in a deck, 60. There is no max limit, but I would STRONGLY urge to try to keep it between 60-65 of performance. The more cards in the deck, the less likely you are to drawing what you need.

Slothgodfather said:

4. Cards are specific to the house/faction printed in the upper right corder of the card. That is the house they belong to. You can mix cards between houses (provided the card itself does not contain the text "house x only" where x is a house you are not playing) such as including some Bara cards into your Stark deck. However, not that any card that does not match your house card will cost 2 additional gold when playing them. This additional cost does not apply to neutral cards as they don't belong to any house.

ktom said:

Slothgodfather said:

3. There is only a minimum # of cards in a deck, 60. There is no max limit, but I would STRONGLY urge to try to keep it between 60-65 of performance. The more cards in the deck, the less likely you are to drawing what you need.

The tournament rules do state a subjective maximum of "no more than you can shuffle, unaided, by hand."

Slothgodfather said:

4. Cards are specific to the house/faction printed in the upper right corder of the card. That is the house they belong to. You can mix cards between houses (provided the card itself does not contain the text "house x only" where x is a house you are not playing) such as including some Bara cards into your Stark deck. However, not that any card that does not match your house card will cost 2 additional gold when playing them. This additional cost does not apply to neutral cards as they don't belong to any house.

The fact that the Greyjoy House card is wrapped with the Stark deck means nothing more than that they had to put it somewhere in the box. Follow the written rules. It's usually a bad idea in this game to assume rules based on anything other than the rules, rulings, and FAQ.

I was reading the rules and playing slowly to learn, hence my confusion when I drew the house card out of the deck. It was just in there, it wasn't at the top just under the stark card. Regardless, thank you both. I am eager to get into this game.

My friend made a point to me, there are 6 Titles yet the game says its only up to 4 player. Now I've only tried 2 player as it is, but would there be a 6 player variant so everyone can play as one of the titles?

We have played as 6 player before. It's not tourney legal, but in a friendly game it works fine.

It is possible to play a 6-player game, if you add other cards (a 2nd coreset could do, in a pinch). However, it becomes very complicated (as the number of possible interactions explodes) and extremely long.

Ebonrook said:

My friend made a point to me, there are 6 Titles yet the game says its only up to 4 player. Now I've only tried 2 player as it is, but would there be a 6 player variant so everyone can play as one of the titles?

It's probably more accurate to say that 5+ players is not "tourney format" rather than "not tourney legal." After all, the rules do state that a tournament of 5 players would be played at a single, 5-person table. There would be nothing wrong with a tourney organizer deciding to format a 10-person tournament as 2 tables of 5 (instead of 1x4 & 2x3). In fact, I know a couple of organizers that would do this in a heartbeat since standings over multiple rounds start getting muddier when you mix a lot of 4- and 3-player tables.

Well, when there aren't any ties, the point spread is about the same (and all tourneys I've played in avoid putting a player twice at a 3-player table like the plague). When there are ties, 3-player games are seriously deficient in points (I wonder why you don't get 2 points for having the same score as another player instead of 1).