1st Place Online Worlds 2025 - Holy War 1.0

• Versiones
• 1.0

What a pleasure to compete in another Online World Championship! Thank you to all of the organizers, Hannes, Dennis, and Francis for running a smooth tournament. And congratulations to all of the fierce competition, especially Superduck for making it to another final table, and Alex and Argento for making the top 4.

The idea really started during the rotation test period when Valar Morghulis and the First Snow of Winter were not legal. Battle of the Trident has some pretty major downsides, but they weren't nearly as bad during rotation when nobody could play VM. This deck was a labor of love with Peter Shuck over the past 4 months, with some assists from Andy Boyd and others. I have to credit AyPaulie for tinkering with it and taking his version to a championship at Spring at the Wall. His victory in that tournament convinced me that the deck has legs.

From the beginning, the deck was always built around running 2xHeads on Spikes, a plot that is highly unpredictable but gets infinitely stronger when you can play Seen In Flames and Red Priest. The first draft was a completely different build based on Stannis's Host, Stannis's Cavalry, and Chef Bob. But that was far too expensive, especially with an agenda that can't play cards like Late Summer Feast, so it gradually evolved into a lower cost curve.

As the deck evolved, there were a few key discoveries in developing this list:

1. Most of the efficient armies in Bara have the seven trait, which makes The Warrior an incredible opening plot. Trident really struggles with openers, but this is perfect and you can avoid the 4 reserve by flipping into a different plot.
2. You can flip out of Robert's Rebellion during the challenges phase. This not only avoids the downside, but you can always win initiative, go second (usually), and then bait your opponent into overcommitting on the power challenge. This leaves them wide open for many 2 claim challenges and a sad face when they realize you don't lose 3 power.
3. Robert Baratheon (LMHR) was the perfect version for this because he helps close games and has tremendous synergies with Ser Davos Seaworth (FotS) and Ser Andrew Estermont, who you want to include anyway for the seven traits.

The centerpiece of the deck is being able to effectively play two 2-claim plots at the beginning and flip into Heads on Spikes. Because it's all in the plot deck, you don't need to rely on any specific cards in the draw deck, making it very consistent. Everything else builds around those core themes, maximizing the number of the seven cards and cards that can trigger the agenda. Add in plenty of control elements to keep your opponent from slowing you down. Melisandre (Core), The Faith's Decree, Milk of the Poppy, and Brother's Robes can do a lot of work.

The general game plan goes like this:

• Open with The Warrior and go second. Let them attack you (or pass), and then swing back on a 2 claim military and/or intrigue. If you can win either (with an army or commander), you can flip into Heads on Spikes. If all goes well, you will have claimed 2 military and hit 3 cards from their hand.
• Turn 2 should be Robert's Rebellion with basically the same approach. Win some 2 claim challenges and flip into Heads on Spikes. At this point, they should have no hand left and a relatively small board. You should also be somewhere in the 5 to 10 power range.
• Turn 3 is usually Forced March (R) (to control a board) or Supporting the Faith (to control shadows/ambush)
• Use Parley at Storm's End if you are behind and need to shut down a specific challenge (especially strong against Sea of Blood, Rains, or Prince that was Promised)
• Flip into Reinforcements if you need more characters
• Flip into Siege Preparations if you need more cards
• Leverage the value of your plots to make up for the fact that the characters alone are underwhelming.

Let's walk through some of the fun interactions:

• Flipping out of The Warrior, Supporting the Faith, and The Mad King's Command allows you to avoid the 4 reserve
• Flipping out of Robert's Rebellion allows you to avoid the downside of the plot, and often makes your opponent overcommit to the power challenge
• If you go first, you can attack aggressively and "overcommit", leaving yourself wide open for a challenge. Then flip into Parley at Storm's End and shut off an entire challenge type.
• If you play Parlay in plots and go second, you can flip out of it, allowing you to still do the challenge type that you denied your opponent.
• Hit a location with Seen In Flames, leaving only a key character behind to snipe with Heads on Spikes
• Hit a key character with Red Priest, empty their hand, and then let the priest die. That leaves the key character as the only target for Heads on Spikes
• Trigger Ser Davos Seaworth (FotS) on any challenge to give power to Robert Baratheon (FotS) (and trigger Bob for an extra power). This is effectively a 3 power swing for any challenge that Davos participates in.
• Trigger Reinforcements for a surprise Ser Imry Florent when you need to kneel their board and close out the game.
• Ser Andrew Estermont provides VM protection for all of the key characters. He can also passively generate power if your opponent makes a military challenge (or two power if Robert Baratheon (LMHR) is in play).
• Bonifer the Good is an insight machine. You can often draw 2-4 cards per turn with him on the board. Many games I never need to flip into Siege Prep because I'm already at 6+ cards.
• The Faith's Decree is a cheaper version of Nightmares, but it has a lot of fun advantages. You can play it during any phase, since you need no gold. You can use it to stop events or cards that are not in play (like Desert Raider (R)), and you can use it to stop multiple versions of the same card (like Underground Vault or Botley Crew).

Tournament Recap:

Round 1 vs Martell Valyrian Steel: He had Starfall and some icon stripping tech, which made it hard for me to trigger the plots I wanted to. But I was able to control the attachments with Red Priest and Seen in Flames to prevent him from getting the most of his agenda. Win, 1-0.

Round 2 vs Tyrell Lion: This was a knights deck that gave me a lot of trouble with Ser Boros Blount and Ser Mark Mullendore. He triggered each of those guys at least twice, and one of those Mark triggers even found a blind The Queen of Thorns (TMoW), allowing him to win a power challenge against my unflipped Robert's Rebellion. But I was eventually able to control the board and his hand enough to close out the game. I think I used a The Faith's Decree to stop a Mark trigger. Win, 2-0.

Round 3 vs Targ Sea of Blood (Francis): Francis knows this deck well, so I was looking forward to a tough fight. Unfortunately, my setup was only a King's Gate, R'hllor Infiltrator, and a pointless Sweetsleep. I almost conceded on setup, but I was somehow able to control the first turn by playing Mel and The Holy Hundred, Assaulting Plaza of Pride, and The Faith's Decree to stop Cohollo. This allowed me to get 2 claim mil and prevent him from making any challenges. Turn 2 I knew he would play The First Snow of Winter, so I played Heads on Spikes to still go first and hit his hand, and then I would flip into Reinforcements. Unfortunately I forgot that he opened The Maiden, so he won initiative and went first. From that point he got his aggro train going, wiped my board, and never looked back. Loss, 2-1.

Round 4 vs Tyrell Assault from the Shadows (Rightwaydown): This is a tough matchup for me, and Henry is probably the best pilot of this deck in the world. We both had good starts and I let him go first, but then he played "The Last of the Giants" and Mag the Mighty to cripple my board. I started to stabilize the next turn, but then another LotG into Lysa Arryn (DotE) hit my Andrew with Vanguard Leader and Brother's Robes. Faith's Decree might have saved me there, but I didn't see it. From that point, Henry had his engine and I could never recover. Loss, 2-2.

Round 5 vs Martell Dragon Free Companies: I knew this deck would be running Aegon Targaryen (TSC) and Lord Anders's Host, which I had to dance around on the first turn. Milk shut down Tyrion Lannister (JS) and I was able to keep his Host of the Boneway knelt. He was down to one card and could have recovered with Starfall Cavalry, but I hit it with Heads on Spikes before he could play it. Win 3-2.

Round 6 vs Stark Trident (Chrisssie): This is a cool deck, but he didn't see the right pieces for it to click. Smalljon Umber with The Wolf King and Vanguard Leader was his only real threat, but I was able to keep him controlled with Melisandre (Core) and then one turn flipping into Forced March (R) during challenges. I controlled the game and he didn't get to trigger his agenda once. Win 4-2, onto the cut!

Top 16 vs Stark Crossing (CC): Crossing can be super fast, but I was able to slow him down with some kneels and Ser Davos Seaworth (FotS) triggering every turn. One of the turns I went first and then flipped into Parlay to prevent the power challenge. Towards the end I went first and played a Red Priest and saw Umber Loyalist and Bear Island Scout (R) in his hand. I hit the Scout and then named Umber Loyalist with The Faith's Decree so he didn't get the draw (but still had the downside). I think he got up to 7 or 8 power before I took control. Win.

Top 8 vs Bara Qohor (Saraaa): The battle for top Baratheon! I knew this would be tough as Saraaa is a very good player. She unfortunately didn't see Selyse Baratheon (R), Robert Baratheon (Core) or Azor Ahai Reborn, so her deck never really got off the ground. Her Melisandre (Core) slowed me down, along with a Milk on my Mel and Hunting Accident on Bob. But she never really established a footing. Even her Heir to the Iron Throne only found Shireen Baratheon (Core). Robert Baratheon (Core) and Beric Dondarrion (ATT) sat this one out. Win.

Top 4 vs NW Kraken (Alex): Choke can be scary against a deck with no plots over 6 gold, and it's being piloted by one of the best in the world. He Nightflyer'd my one econ location, but didn't set up any other choke cards and had minimal military presence to begin. Maester Mullin prevented my 2 claim military (since a The Holy Hundred was my only the seven character), but otherwise I was able to control turn one. This forced him into a turn 2 Valar Morghulis, keeping Maester Aemon (Core) alive. I went with Supporting the Faith to prevent any "The Bloody Cup", played a duped Davos with Vanguard Leader, and then triggered Reinforcements to get Andrew in. I hit his hand pretty hard and rush him down before he could lock down the attrition. Hand knowledge allowed me to play around his Recruiter for the Watch and know which events he had available. Win.

Finals vs Tyrell Knights of the Realm (Superduck): Miha streamed this game, so you can check it out on his Twitch. Superduck had a pretty strong start with several knights and Ghost of High Heart. I had enough control and juuuust enough strength to push through 2 claim military on each of the first two turns. I hit his hand pretty hard, but the extra draw from his agenda was tough to keep up with. A big turn 3 Forced March gave me another free turn of three challenges. He started to stabilize towards the end, but I had too much of a lead and Davos was getting unopposed intrigue challenges every turn, so I was able to get to 15 power. He never saw House Florent Knight, which was the centerpiece of the deck, so his deck didn't get a chance to shine. I was lucky to walk away from this one with a win and a championship!

Final Thoughts

I'm of course very pleased with how the deck performed, and I can't think of any changes I would make. The deck felt amazing during the rotation period, but I honestly did not think it would be this resilient with a full card pool. MVP definitely goes to Ser Davos Seaworth (FotS). His stealth with the Seven trait made him the best weapon for triggering Battle of the Trident. And his ability is surprisingly effective, even without Robert on the board. Ser Clayton Suggs is a good 1x going forward, and I would have included him if he were legal.

While I'd like to say the deck is amazing and I piloted it perfectly, I have to admit that I relied on a good amount of luck to get the championship. Each of my opponents in the last 3 rounds didn't find their key cards, so I was able to execute my game plan without too much disruption.

This deck also has a lot of vulnerabilities that I think people will discover as they play against it more. The element of surprise (against those who hadn't seen it before) was a major factor in my success.

Lastly, thanks again to the tournament organizers and everyone on the GOT committee! Congrats to Superduck for an amazing tournament. I can't wait to defend my title next year!