i am new to game and only play with brother so havent seen a lot of different play styles yet but why do when i look at peoples decks most only have one and few with two copies of a guy…seems like espically with charactors with renown you'd want multiple copies so they dont get killed with like when the valar plot gets played etc.

Because many game go to 5, 6 or even 8 plots. If that happens and neither of you have a hand, the last thing that you want is to draw a dead card.

but am i right that if building a deck lets say around renown would you want copies or try to prevent deaths other ways?

Duplicates aren't awful, but you have to be careful. If you let a unique die, you might well wind up with 2 other "dead" (useless) cards in your deck, and you'd hate to draw them. In addition, duplicates can be cancelled (by a very common card called "He Calls it Thinking", for instance) and there are several effects that kill a character in ways that they cannot be saved (eg, Targaryen "Burn"), or remove him from play in a similar way (Search and Detain).

So the question is, if there are 3 different unique characters that have renown, are you better off running 3 copies of one or one copy of three? The answer is almost always the latter, with the exception of decks built around a specific character. Running 3 copies isn't usually because duplicates are awesome, but rather because your deck loves this character and wants to draw it consistently (ideally every game), and a dupe wouldn't "hurt".

mnBroncos said:

AGoT can be a brutal game, and a lot of players have learned to expect characters to die - fast and often. They learn not to rely too much on any one character. In this kind of environment, unless you draw the dupe in pretty much the same round that you play the unique, it's unlikely you will get a chance to draw the dupe and protect it before it gets killed anyway. So you don't play a lot of copies of unique cards.

On the other hand, if your deck is able to draw quickly, you have ways to search out the dupes, or you just happen to play in an environment where characters do NOT die (and can be counted on to last 2-3 rounds without protection), then you'll be more likely to put in extra copies in order to draw the character more consistently, and have a decent chance to protect it if you do.

So it's a balancing act that, for a pretty sizable majority, comes down to "don't rely on any one character too much because they die within 2 rounds of being played, anyway."

thanks for all the quick responses love this game only been playing for like two weeks and trying to figure it all out (: so with that said how do you help protect cruical caractors like Cersie from LoTR when using the power behind thrown agenda or viper in martell and others like baratheon always seem important to have one of the kings and whatnot

-Istaril said:

i didnt even relise that using a unque was considered a response so i cant think of names right now but cards that u like kneel x guy to stop a response from having u can use that to cancel using a unquie? and if u do cancel using a unquie would they have to kill the guy or pick to kill a different guy if was for liking resolving a miltary challenge claim…..sorry for spelling ha

You're probably thinking of seasick - and yes, it can cancel a dupe.

You have to pick who is going to die, then save/cancel that death, so if your save is cancelled your character dies (unless you can use another save, eg Iron Mines, Bodyguard, another dupe). You can't just pick another character to die instead.

What everyone has said in response to the initial post is right on, but I'll also point out that having multiple copies of a unique in your deck is useful for drawing that unique more often. The above issues (drawing a dead card, etc.) still apply, so unless a particular unique is either critical for your deck (like one of the new character agendas) or is just so amazing that you want to have a better chance of drawing it (e.g. The Red Viper from Princes of the Sun) then adding in multiples of a unique is something to think very carefully about.

Also a duplicate means a card from hand that does not add an additional character, thereby increasing your board position. As ktom alluded to, with significant character hate in the environment, running dupes to keep a character around is rarely worth it. The only good reason now to run duplicates are to increase your chances of drawing into said character (as shenanigans points out).

Accidental double post

well thanks for all the responses (: learned alot haha so using a duplicate is considered a response? and building deck around one or two key charactors usually bad idea.

mnBroncos said:

mnBroncos said:

alright thanks (: glad this forum is pretty active ha helps alot just been looking at all the cards in chapter packs trying to figure out how to make my first real "competetive" (very loose term lol) deck. around loosing challenges and icon removale with martell and these small tips been very helpful thanks bunch.

Concerning specifically the characters you mentioned there are also ways to protect them other than duplicates, namely the already mentioned Bodyguard and The Power of Blood plot which you may use twice in your deck.

one last thing sorry this is getting into the rules section but since was tlaked on here just one more thing. does the lannistor iron throne cancle that or is it not considered to be charactors response?

mnBroncos said:

The use of a duplicate to save is a triggered ability on the character, so yes.

Note that because the ability is through gained text rather than printed text, burning bridges does not stop the use of duplicates to save characters. I previously missed that distinction and likely many others as well.