Gold Dragons 2.0 (U.S. Nats runner-up, 2025) 1.0

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• 1.0

This deck cheats... lots of cards into play, and often gives itself the option to keep them there (Thanks, Golden Company ). It's also misleading because Aegon Targaryen (TSC) might be the restricted card, but he's not the core of the deck. The heart of this deck is a four-chambered machine made of Free Companies, Cersei's Informer, Gold Mine, and Tyrion Lannister (JS). This deck is a unique kind of monster because it draws cards. Lots of cards. All the cards. And it turns it's discard pile into a secondary hand because there are almost no bodies that end up there that Tyrion Lannister (JS) or Flea Bottom (R) can't bring back. It builds a highly interactive engine that produces advantages in almost all phases of the game, and it's very fun to play. So, I'll break it down for those who care for the details.

The deck is built on a massive econ base and leverages value advantage from start to finish. Between almost always opening At the Gates, running 3 Gold Mine in addition to standard econ, and having all the tricks (Vargo Hoat, Cersei's Informer, and Unbridled Generosity ) to stack lots of gold on The Iron Bank (R) very quickly, this deck tends to have a major gold advantage paired with highly efficienty (mostly ) bodies.

Because of all the filter provided by Cersei's Informer and Gold Mine, the tutor from Aegon Targaryen (TSC) and Our Word Is Good as Gold, search from Brave Companions and Bran the Builder, and outright draw from Counting Coppers, Fever Dreams, Close Call, and the mass insight available from Septon Utt, it tends to have a major card advantage too. Generally speaking, card advantage + econ advantage is where midrange tries to live, so the deck is in a good place there.

The deck also tends to have a strength advantage because most of these bodies are highly efficient, unusually strong bodies for their cost slot. Daario Naharis, Second Sons, and The Hound (TtB) are printed 6 strength. Vargo Hoat, Biter, Bronn (CoW), and Golden Company all have 5, both Brave Companions and Ashemark Councilor have scaling strength that can get pretty out of hand, and there have been plenty of times when the +1 to everyone from Ghost of High Heart is a huge deal. So, the deck can also lean on it's size advantage in the majority of matchups, though I have found that when I can't, it can be a problem.

Finally (and most importantly), I don't think any deck does tempo like this one. Golden Company is simply unrivaled in its impact on this front. The ability to use Aegon Targaryen (TSC) or Our Word Is Good as Gold to bring in big, important bodies like Daario Naharis, Vargo Hoat, or Tyrion Lannister (JS), kneel my faction card, put a gold on Golden Company, and keep the jumped in card there forever is something no other faction has access to. (I have an example I challenge anyone to beat in the semifinal game rundown below). And that's without taking into account the tempo damage it can do to the opponent (Daario Naharis stealing bodies either with appropriate traits or who I've equipped with Mercenary Contract, hurling A Pinch of Powder out turn after turn, etc.). So, like I said, it tends to exceed its opponent in most measurable elements of the game, with the main exception being claim pressure.

All that said, the deck didn't start out too well in this tournament, so let's go through it.

Round One: Every competitive thrones player's nightmare--two-time online world's champion Jim Hansen. He was running Clansmen The Many-Faced God, and they like to cheat too. I saw Red Keep early, which kept Jim's Harrenhal (FFH) in his hand (I know because Ghost of High Heart told me) for the whole game. Still, he saw Tyrion Lannister (LoCR) and duped him, so he was able to use those shenanigans all game. It was a wide, big-bodied board for most of the game, at least during challenge phase, and it came down to the final round after time had expired, but Jim took it. I think I had a line to victory but didn't see it until it was too late. So the deck did it's job, but I'm not sure I did mine.

Round Two: A Humbert mirror match. Colt was on / Assault from the Shadows. Many icons were taken, and A Pinch of Powder was flying at me pretty much on repeat, but The Red Keep (R) was very helpful in limiting the fallout while Begging Brother came up big for plenty of character abilities. In the end, I was able to pull it out thanks to a misplay (being made first player on the last turn by my opponent), a fully-loaded Begging Brother, and a well-timed A Pinch of Powder of my own. So, two games down, both against better players than me, and I was 1-1. Can't complain.

Round Three: This one was against Peter Shuck on The Long Voyage. I saw most of the cards I would want too, but it seemed I couldn't overcome the econ of The Hightower, Redwyne Straits, Gates of the Moon, and all three The Bounty of Highgarden. I got some A Pinch of Powdertriggers off and always had Begging Brother to keep Margaery Tyrell (AMAF) in check, but I didn't have the bodies or the renown to close, and Peter took it.

Round Four: Bye. Deck performed to perfection.

Round Five: This was a very lucky game for me and a very lame game for my opponent. My opponent, Daniel, was playing as well, specifically Knights of the Realm. Unfortunately for him, I started with plenty of intrigue icons into his zero and had Second Sons to boot. The A Pinch of Powder was flying and he couldn't keep a board.

First Round Cut: This was against / Banner of the Kraken choke piloted by Henry (RightWayDown). This game could have gone either way. If choke stops this deck from getting the engine going, it can end up being very hard, but thankfully I was able to navigate his plot minefield. I normally open At the Gates, but I figured he had either Naval Superiority or City Blockade (turns out he actually had both). So, I opened Bran the Builder to avoid both. This meant he missed with City Blockade. I then flipped At the Gates turn 2, and I think I held Loan from the Iron Bank until I closed out. Getting Daario Naharis out there early and using Plaza of Pride to stand him when I could let me stack renown on him. By the end of the game, I think Daario Naharis had 7 power on him, making him my MVP.

Semifinal: This was against Darryl Webber, one of the OG top builder players in the world. Of course, he was running builders, but he was doing it out of Kings of Summer. My deck has all the answers to his deck, and I saw pretty much all of them. I drew Gates of the Moon on refill, so I opened Loan from the Iron Bank so I could play it out along with my The Red Keep (R) and Seized by the Guard with a full 4-gold stack on it. Oddly enough, he still had me on my back foot because he always makes his builders versatile. His wall blanked, he threw out some practice blades and pressed me with a 6-strength Othell Yarwyck. I was surprisingly low on military icons, so I was backpedalling, especially once he got his Milk of the Poppy on my Tyrion Lannister (JS). I fought back by stacking gold on Black Balaq, which was so annoying for him he spent 2 Craven (the second after The First Snow of Winter ) to address it. It was on the The First Snow of Winter that I made the big swing play I hinted at above, though. After marshaling, he had Othell Yarwyck, Castle Black Mason, and Grizzled Miner, and I only had a lonely, milked Tyrion Lannister (JS). But I'd saved 7 gold after putting one card in shadows. That 7 gold paid for two Our Word Is Good as Gold, which got me both Daario Naharis and Vargo Hoat as well as Aegon Targaryen (TSC), which got me a Golden Company. That's 22 gold worth of characters, for those keeping track. When Golden Company landed, I triggered Vargo Hoat to put a gold on him, then I used Free Companies to add another, and I put the third on with Unbridled Generosity. I won all the challenges on offense and defense, then used Golden Company to make all the bodies I'd cheated in permanent. Of course, he had to flip Valar Dohaeris, but it didn't matter. I kept my Vargo Hoat and my milked Tyrion Lannister (JS) (hoping to find Beneath the Gold, the Bitter Steel to drop the Milk of the Poppy ) and had another Aegon Targaryen (TSC) in shadows. He was never able to catch back up, and without The Wall (Core), there was no way forward, so I took it.

Final: This was against Tom McKenzie's / Sea of Blood. Unfortunately, this wasn't as exciting a match as it could have been. He set up Dothraki Outriders and Womb of the World (R), opened Vanquish the Unbelievers, and played out Khal Drogo (Core). I didn't have the icons or strength to stop the Womb pulls off the top of the deck, and he was able to run me over with lots of claim for two straight turns. I had a window where I maybe could have turned it if I'd decided to just use my A Pinch of Powder to bounce Khal Drogo (Core) rather than play the game of putting Mercenary Contract on him and stealing him a couple times with Daario Naharis, but I chose wrong and got greedy, so Tom pretty much walked me down before my engine could get anything serious started. So, it ended up being a good run straight into a buzzsaw, but it was a fun trip. I hope people try and enjoy the deck, it's been fun building and playing.