Burn Maybe Burn!? Keyword Inferno! 6-0 Northampton Regional 1.0

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Firstly I want to thank Rebecca and Richard for a great event, with some lovely extra prize support. Thank you also to Adam East for making his great new gaming centre available to us.

After a couple of years out (was it really that long?!?) from the only game that matters.... I heard that Stahleck was back on. So like many more that had fallen by the wayside due to various reasons... I dipped my toes back into the Thrones card pool and jumped back onto The Iron Throne to realise with joy that the game was in a great place. For this I have to credit the Global Operations Team and the numerous players (some who joined the game just as I was leaving) who have put in a tremendous amount of work to keep the game alive. I’ll give a special mention to Magnus and Kristin who seem to have not only boosted the online game, but created a whole new physical meta in Norway. I now know that Thrones is back! We just need to support the IRL tournaments. Build it... and they will come... right?

Two months on from my return and I’ve managed to book a room at the castle, flown out to Norway to compete (not actually compete though) and have an amazing time at Craster’s and also attend one of the UK’s two Regional tournaments for ‘22. Finishing last in Norway, and shocking myself with a 6-0 triumph in Northampton.

The Mummer's build was just meant as a fun deck that I put together for casual games while hanging out with the wonderful Norwegian meta in our downtime at Craster’s. I had planned to put together something new and hopefully more competitive for the Northampton Regional, but had an accident with my card collection, the box they were housed in, and my staircase! This meant no time to sort through my cards, to get them back into any sort of order or to build something new. I only had time to pick the collection up off the floor and place it in a busted box for re-organisation at a later date.

So my options for Northamptom became my two casual decks from Norway. These were a Storm Humbert Greyjoy Dragon voltron Euron deck or the Targaryen A Mummer's Fart deck that I had been inspired to build after first noticing the agenda a few weeks ago when Zrowrequiem posted their Fools Hate the Snow 8RoW GJ Mummer's deck posted on DB.

I opted for the Mummer’s as it was my own build and had surprised me by beating a couple of decent decks while in Norway. I also believed and hoped that Daisy may be attending the Regional with the Euron Voltron.

My original feelings regarding the Mummer’s Farce agenda was that it looked fun and would encourage me to build a deck with many of the new cards that I liked the look of. I was impressed with Shagwell's ability to spread the keywords about, and I was also keen on the idea of triggering the agenda as much as possible and thought that it might be achievable out of Targaryen using Queensguard and Plaza of Pride. I’m sure this is not an original idea, but I had not yet seen it done myself.

So here’s the bit you have probably skipped to... the bit about the deck...

Win condition

Standing Fools with Renown.

For this you need Fools who have taken up the unlikely role of guarding their Queen. You will also need Insight to be able to trigger you stand. You will benefit from Stealth and Intimidate too. Pillage is just a fun bonus. If Shagwell is online, which doesn’t take much, your two best QG targets are Patchface and Kindly Man with Flo & Jo attached. 2 and 3 cost Tricons with all the keywords, stand and STR boost from agenda... you’re onto a winner!

You could definitely lean more into the lower curve with this deck and apply more focus to the Fools, but my idea was to offer some stability to the fragile characters through the option of leaning into the mercs if necessary. This was very key on the day, as you will see in game 1. The mercs actually complimented the fools quite well, Shagwell being a merc himself. Meaning he could be fetched by Aegon Targaryen or looked for by his Brave Companions. I mean... they all benefit from a bit of gold being thrown about.

Main Characters

Shagwell - His ability to spread the keywords along with stand tech is what makes the deck powerful and fast.

Patchface - gains all Icons and Keywords which allows Shagwell to spread them about.

Fool attachment targets

Kindly Man - I was originally on 3 copies of Robin Hood, but soon realised his non kneeling for military was not ideal for Queensguard and the agenda. So after a conversation with Storm. I switched from 3 copies of Robin Hood to 3 Kindly Man - a 3 cost unique tri-con who then became one of the main targets for the Flo & Jo and a Queensguard.

Ser Jorah Mormont - I was running one copy of Jorah until Storm pointed out how wonderfully he combined with Kindly Man’s trigger. With the ability to keep removing the betrayal tokens it was a no brainer to run 3 copies of a 2 cost 4 str character with Renown. Someone who could also take Dragon Skull and with a gold on him... share these keywords with the Fools, as well as being a reasonable Fool target himself.

Haldon Halfmaester - Although a decent Flo & Jo target, his best use was his combination work with the Jester. The Jester could set him up with an event or with Aegon. But Haldon’s most useful trigger was the placing of gold and therefore the spreading of Keywords through Shagwell.

Keyword Inferno! You can choose any of your opponents keywords of course, but why rely on your opponent when you can run everything you need yourself. Be self sufficient if you can.

Unbridled Generosity and Vargo Hoat are superb for moving gold onto the relevant characters so that your fools can ignite your Keyword inferno. I try to not keep Vargo in play until I think I can win. He is nice to jump in via Aegon then return to hand, then come in from the discard pile through Tyrion... each time triggering and moving gold.

Insight - Two Dragon Eggs and three Jesters

Intimidate - Cohollo, Dragon Skull which is Targaryen character only, so not on a Tricon Fool, and make sure that Intimidate character has a gold on it.

Search/Tutoring

Aegon Targaryen is super useful for fetching Shagwell. If you already have Shagwell, Vargo Hoat is great. Vargo can trigger off himself and then place his gold where it will be most useful... Shagwell, Tyrion, and to spread Jorah’s Renown. Your opponent might also have a keyword or two that you might fancy. I would recommend you avoid any character with the No Attachments and No Attachments Except Weapon keyword. Aegon can also fetch Golden Company who have the ability to save themselves from returning, if you wish to keep them on the board (I usually don’t).

Jinglebell is a wonderfully cheap chud who dies to fetch whichever Fool you need. That's nice of him.

Brave Companions are able to fetch up to 3 cards with their marshalling trigger. An Army, a Merc and a Commander. I’m always looking for Shagwell first, anything else is a bonus. Tyrion is a good fetch, especially if you don’t see a Shagwell but have a copy in your discard pile.

Draw

The most important keyword is Insight. Without this, you’re not triggering your Queesgaurds or Plaza much are you? and therefore not gaining multiple Renown and hopefully instances of intimidation. For Insight I’ve included 2 Dragon’s Eggs and 3 Highgarden Jesters. Patchface and Shagwell will take full advantage of these cards. Remember... you don’t have to trigger insight on Jester’s, but if you have something in hand that you would like to protect under a Fool or bring into play (Aegon) with you Maester (Halfmaester), then they can assist. Your Dragon Gate is pretty easy to trigger in this deck. I’m usually triggering them to have enough discards for QG and Plaza.

Control

The deck felt quite fragile at first. It definitely has its kryptonite: No Attachments Except Weapon (bye bye QG and Dragons Egg or any further agenda triggers), Bolton Flayers, Ser Ilyn Payne, First Snow of Winter, No Stand Bob, Delena Florent - three of which the deck faced and overcame on the day. You would also not be happy to see Coldhands, Varys or Lysa without a Bogging Brether. The following cards all help to cope with the decks fragility Bogging Brethers. Milk of the Poppy The greatest city that ever was or will be The Father Dupes and 4+ cost characters help you survive FSoW. Cohollo is also handy during a FSoW flip. Tyrion is also useful here. Remember... Tyrion can trigger on any player's discard pile ;)

Warning... I’ve milled myself twice with this deck in testing. Hence the addition of two Citadel Archivists. These sometimes end up as a weapon attachment under a fool though. I’ve been known to play one, kill it, they revive with Close Call, just to stop me drawing my whole deck.

Plots

The Maiden is a no brainer opener. The extra Reserve for future Seven plots doesn’t usually matter once you are triggering your QG’s, but the Initiative boost is super useful. Only problem is that it's becoming quite ubiquitous and your opponent will likely be boosted by their own Maiden. Still, a 6 gold opener with such a low curve is super nice!

Side note... If the design for At The Gates was to trigger on an ‘in-faction’ economy location, ruling out fetching Great Hall, Gates of the Moon or Gulltown, it might not have been necessary to ban it from Joust, and therefore offer more options for opening plots. One thing I would like to encourage the design team to think about is an errata on At The Gates to bring it back... oh and more options for opening plots... please ;)

Exchange of Information will usually give you a cheap chud... which is super useful, a Roseroad, either one of your 2 key events and any of your 9 attachments. The deck has a very low curve with high plot gold outside of Exchange. I tried running The Mother in the draw slot, but it rarely draws you even 1 card. Exchange is more consistent, although you have to be more patient with the gold. Exchange is also a decent alternative to opening The Maiden.

The Smith x2 High gold with a splendid trigger. This is a no-brainer in many decks now, especially for attachment based agendas such as Qohor and Val Steel. With all of our attachments and the attachments from the agenda triggers, you should be able to make good use of this high gold plot. Just make sure you let your opponent know you may want to trade actions in the marshalling phase, and don’t forget to trigger the plot like me. If you kneel your facedown attachments, they can still be marshalled upright.

The Father is a great control plot, especially against a Voltron deck. Your Golden Company makes this plot extra interesting. With their trigger you can save whoever you choose on your side of the board. Targets you won’t want to save include Aegon and Missandei. The Father can also be used on anyone with a Milk that you can’t shake off with The greatest city that ever was or will be.

The emergency button of choice for Northampton was Valar Dohaeris. If I didn’t feel the need to run Close Call or a second Smith, I may have doubled up on resets and also included VM. It wasn’t needed on the day, but with all my dupes it is a worthy consideration. Flip VD early, VM once I have dupes (these usually find their way under my fools as playable weapon attachments).

Close Call is a great utility plot with decent gold. Not only can it bring back one of your many fragile fools, it can draw you a card or at the very least offer a negative to an opponent's Winter Festival or Long Winter.

Going into the Northampton Regional tournament I had no idea of the potential of this deck. I was just looking to play something different, new and fun. Not only was the deck confusing for most of my opponents, it also baffled and surprised myself!

Round 1 vs Ben Cotton Lannister Faith Militant (win) Ben is always a joy to play against and always seems to bring something new to the table. This was no exception. His deck was very capable of shutting mine down and very nearly did. Ser Chop Chop came out early to put an end to any hopes I had of running my fools. With no Bogging Brether to protect him, the executioner instantly brought the sword down upon Patchface, who was not the only unique fool to suffer this fate. A timely Milk put an end to this uncalled for brutality, but the damage had already been done. Along with The Red Keep, the new Commander Jaime also gave me serious considerations for my Mercs. Tyrion had trouble bringing them into play with Jaime’s trigger and I had to find ways to bait the Red Keep. This was not the game I planned. The agenda was triggered just once, and that character got the chop too!

In the end I believe I won this game due to Ben’s Valar Morghulis flip. He flipped his reset with only two cards in hand. I lost key characters from my board, but my hand was healthy and my plot offered me lots of gold. As second player Uncle Chop Chop came back out to execute another fool with QG attached, but I was eventually able to see the game out with that QG on a Golden Company.

A thrilling game and great to be back playing Thrones in the UK

Round 2 vs Rebecca Walker Tyrell Crossing (win) I was not expecting to beat Tyrell Crossing, but the fools proved to be just as fast by reaching 15 power to close round 3. Rebecca had an excellent start with Soup Claim and Lady Sansa’s Rose, but I think Tyrell Crossing lacks the intimidation that Greatjon Umber has, and therefore has no effect on your side of the board. This meant I was pretty much free to do my thing. Which was the first time really, so as much as Rebecca was confused with what my board was doing... so was I. By the end of round 2 Rebecca had a very small hand, if any? A fairly early Valar trimmed the board down, which then allowed my standing Renown Fools to close the game. At least this is how I remember it. It was very confusing!

I believe we may have miscalculated some strength in this game, as the fools are only boosted by the strength of the attachments placed by the agenda. I’m not sure, but we may have counted extra str from QG too. Luckily my next opponent was more familiar with the agenda than myself and I have to credit Paul for helping me to get to grips with the deck a bit more, as I’m sure you will see on camera. Although I’m guessing Callum and Katt won’t be thanking him for this... lol

Round 3 vs Paul Geddes Tyrell Crossing (win) On Camera Paul was my first ever Thrones opponent, so it's always a pleasure to sit across the table with him. Again I was facing Tyrell Crossing, and again I didn’t think I could beat this super fast deck. Paul was chosen to go 1st round one and flew into a healthy lead with (again) a Soup Claim and Lady Sansa's Rose. But with a lack of characters on his board and my Fools gaining all the important keywords, including stealth from his Lyn Corbray I managed to hit 15 power on round 2. Which is fastest ever finish in 92 tournaments. I even missed a stealth trigger from my Jester to grab an UO power. The deck was starting to become more clear to me now, which was just as well as I was about to face the almighty Bara Qohor.

Round 4 vs Callum Gillespie Baratheon Qohor (win) Big Bob round one with his great big weapon that works particularly well with the new Summerhall location (although Summerhall can be restrictive with your Qohor agenda). So lots of intimidate. A handy Milk on Bob round one meant no swapping Red God’s Blessing to stand Bob . My board was knelt out, but with QG and Plaza for stand and VD to trim the board, I was able to do enough to close the game.

Semi Final vs Katt Johnson Baratheon Knights of the Hollow Hill (win) On Camera This was the most interesting game for me. Queen Selyse triggered in both round one and two, before Delena came out. This gave me a choice of Milking Delena or no stand Bob. I figured my QG’s would be more useful to me than the standing phase stand, so Delena was blanked. unfortunately Katt made one error by marshalling a Red Priest before putting the Milk on my Begging Brother. She then marshalled the Milk onto my Begging Brother rather than onto Shagwell. The Milk should have always gone on Shagwell, but the Red Priest would have stopped me from winning that round at least. I'm hoping I remember this correctly. We'll see! I think Qarth did some good work in this game too.

Final vs Callum Gillespie Baratheon Qohor (win) On Camera The final was very much like our King of Swiss game tbh. Bob was out round one, as was my Milk. It seemed to follow a similar pattern from there. I was surprised to not see more Milks attached to my characters. Maybe Callum was not running many copies due to the extra Space needed for Summerhall and King Bob’s Warhammer. Callum's hand was depleted and he had nothing else to lose and so flipped into YWOYD, which had the potential to put a lot of pressure onto my board. A big military trimmed my board down to two characters. I was hoping to get away with triggering Tyrion bring in his duplicate, but Callum was quick enough to trigger his I Love Ravens to remove the dupe from my discard pile. This meant my Insight provider had to die. I think that pushing the red challenge through, left Callum short on the power challenge. I won't spoil the game too much, as this was filmed for The White Walkers You Tube channel.

I apologise to anyone who found my deck obnoxious. Personally I found it surprising, cute and fun and I’m happy to share it with you all here.

The decks kryptonite: No Attachments Except Weapon (bye bye QG and Dragons Egg), Bolton Flayers, Ser Ilyn Payne, First Snow of Winter, No Stand Bob, Delena Florent - three of which the deck faced and overcame on the day. You would also not be happy to see Coldhands, Varys or Lysa without a Bogging Brether