A Pinch from the Cells - 1/26 Christmas Charity BCN 1.0

• Versiones
• 1.0

When preparing for Lannister's Charity Christmas tournament (https://thejoustingpavilion.com/tournaments/7761), I was looking which of my decks is best against the avalanche of Aloof and Apart I was expecting. My Bara Assault was obviously the best: Dohaeris, Duel, Pinch, Black Cells, and Fortified can stop the big guys. I did lose against Aloof, but more on that later. If you want to learn more about the deck, you can check the older version with detailed explanations: https://thronesdb.com/decklist/view/14036/fickle-and-non-loyal-2-33-king-at-the-wall-ii-2.0.

I literally made only 4 changes:

-1 Anguy, Begging Brother, Royal Entourage, and Hand's Judgment

+1 Balerion, Davos, Cortnay Penrose, When I Woke

It makes the deck more resilient to The First Snow of Winter, and When I Woke... helps fight the big guys.

German Nationals: https://thejoustingpavilion.com/tournaments/7654

Round 1 vs. Lukas 321

This should be a bad matchup in general, but I think the deck was more teched against big guy decks with Marriage Pact and such. Ward (R) on Ser Cortnay Penrose hurt, though. I could control the power challenge, his Political Disaster didn't hit too bad, and I could just wait for his Valar Morghulis to turn the tide.

Round 2 vs. Makak Steel

I could pinch Craster turn 1 and had the better board from there on. We didn't play our resets, he only found the wall plot 4, and I could actually win unopposed twice by controlling 2 characters with 2 Shadow Priestesses and The Black Cells. Edric Storm helped me win dominance, so in the end it was a clear 15-2.

Round 3 vs. Manu 321

He had a good start with Varys (Core) into Political Disaster, and then Ravages of War, and was ahead in the beginning. I could control the power challenge, though. Fortified Position stopped his icon control (Nymeria Sand (TRtW) especially). Valar Morghulis hurt him more than me, so I could squeeze out a win with some surprise characters from shadows.

Round 4 vs. Marti Aloof and Apart

I had a decent start with pinching Balon Greyjoy (KotI) and Support of the People. But I had a small board, and he had lots of small characters instead of few big ones. King of Salt and Rock + Corpse Lake was too quick, so I lost decisively 7-15.

Round 5/Top 8 vs. Miha Brotherhood

I played against Miha twice in a row, the second game was much closer, because he had more power icons, especially Myrcella Baratheon (SoD). You can watch the top games here: https://www.twitch.tv/r480?fbclid=IwAR2Op732n-SUlUnP2Ypi1nAwzhoXRU5Es_rpJeWIN51nCetxFelzcD6Xb4I. In theory, my control doesn't work that well against Miha's deck: The Black Cells don't stop his non-kneelers, Fortified doesn't stop Ser Pounce, and Shadow Priestess cannot kneel characters protected by that mighty cat, and I cannot pinch Balerion except for my Fortified Position turn. But sometimes controlling the challenge is enough. You Win Or You Die backfired in both games, with the Ser Pounce voltron pinched back to hand.

Top 4 vs. Radek Banner of the Kraken

This was an incredibly tense game. I recommend watching it. Traitor to the Crown was the key card in this game. The Lanni Nightflyer combo discarded 7 of my locations over the course of the game, but Trade Routes (R) and Loan from the Iron Bank helped overcome this.

Final vs. Lannister Aloof and Apart

This was very one-sided because my anti-Aloof tech worked perfectly. I had The Black Cells round 1, so a Fickle Bannerman pinched both The Knight of Flowers (HoT) and Renly Baratheon (FFH). Even though he could HFK 2 of my characters on his At the Palace of Sorrows (R) turn, I was in total control and won 15-2 after 4 rounds.

Thanks a lot to Lannister for an amazing tournament. See you guys next time :)