Stags With Thorns - Top 4 Cambridge SC 2.0

• Versiones
• 2.0
• 1.0

Hello again! My quest with Baratheon/Rose continues, leading to another Top 4 (can't quite seem to make it past that point, but oh well!), this time in Cambridge, MA. This event was very well run, thank you to everyone who made it possible!

Changes From Last Time:

Since the last version, I've replaced Filthy Accusations with Calling the Banners on the plot deck to open up my money options. No complaints there, worked fine all day.

Heartsbane and 1 copy of Chamber of the Painted Table have been dropped to make room for a pair of Little Birds. Heartsbane wasn't really living up to snuff in most games (it spent a lot of time on Arbor Knights and Margaery Tyrell), and 9/10 games I usually grab Chamber of the Painted Table via Support of the People anyway, so I felt they were a fair price to pay for keeping Robert Baratheon and The Knight of Flowers safe from Tears of Lys.

In the Name of Your King! has been dropped to make way for The Hand's Judgment, as Targaryen continue to be a sore spot for this deck and neutralizing Dracarys! is a step up, plus it adds another layer of protection vs. Tears of Lys. I made a snap decision the night before to replace Lady Sansa's Rose with Superior Claim since: 1) There's no gold cost 2) Requires less setup 3) Power goes straight to faction card, making the Knight on table less of a liability to protect.

Once a couple more packs have been released I'll be looking at returning to Lady Sansa's Rose, just waiting on some more knights and consistency (I'm looking at you, Redwyne twins).

Since the chivalry theme was no longer a concern, Vanguard Lancers turned into Stannis Baratheon, Shireen Baratheon turned into another copy of her mom, and the third The Knight of Flowers became a Littlefinger.

The Event: After my GPS takes me on about 3 different incorrect paths, I arrive at the store early and ready to rumble. I was actually trying to decide between playing this deck again or trying a new Martell/Lion deck I had cooked up the night before, but decided to stay with what I knew and the Top in House prize of Dracula's Tokens was a big incentive. It actually turns out that I was the only player in a field of 30 to even be running Baratheon (either as a main house or banner), so I guess my choice was correct!

I apologize in advance to any of my opponents if I get some details wrong or can't remember something, I really should have typed this up Saturday night.

Round 1 - Tyrell, Banner of the Lion

Big Bob makes an early appearance and goes to town. I don't remember if I managed to get Chamber of the Painted Table out in this game, but my opponent never saw Highgarden or The Mander, both of which could have been big game changers. Win 1-0

Round 2 - Greyjoy, Banner of the Sun

I believe my opponent opened with a 5 card start to my 3/4, with some good dudes, including a pair of Lordsport Shipwrights that kept my opening Kingsroad and early Chamber of the Painted Table from doing anything for the first 3-4 turns. I snipe his Euron Crow's Eye from hand early with a Seen In Flames, and after a Wildfire Assault clears those pesky Lordsport Shipwrights, I'm able to get ahead for the win. My opponent never saw any unique stealthers, so the typical Greyjoy shenangians stayed away. Win 2-0.

Round 3 - Night's Watch, Banner of the Lion

This was an intense game! I open with The Knight of Flowers and an Arbor Knight (There may have been a Kingsroad too), my opponent plays Marched to the Wall, sending my Arbor Knight away, which he promptly steals with Yoren. I get a duped Margaery Tyrell, Robert Baratheon and a dupe for The Knight of Flowers out, and go for some challenges. Turn two, he plays another Marched to the Wall, sending his Yoren away, and I regretfully get rid of my Knight of Flowers, as I'm not willing to let him snag Margaery with another Yoren. He gets Ghost out, and starts mega stealthing my Robert Baratheon every turn, but The Red Keep, Chamber of the Painted Table and The Iron Throne on my side keep my passive game moving. Time gets called just as we are moving on to Plot 8, both sitting on 14 power! Unfortunately for me, he goes first, uses Ghost to get around my only (Bob), and closes the game. On the 7th plot, I was 2 strength shy of winning by making a challenge to close the game (damn you Castle Black!) Loss 2-1

Round 4 - Lannister, Banner of the Sun

Can I say that I really hate seeing Tywin Lannister on setup? Thankfully I get to hand him some Milk of the Poppy right away, and Robert Baratheon shows his face early, but Varys comes along and wipes the board clean except for Tywin Lannister thanks to a dupe (who has the Milk of the Poppy removed via Confiscation. I had built up a fair lead before this though, and with a special guest appearance by The Knight of Flowers, I'm able to stabilize before my opponent does and win the game. Win 3-1

Round 5 - Greyjoy, Banner of the Sun

Final round of swiss. This game was pretty standard, we both saw typical setups for our respective decks, I had an early lead on power, but his stealth characters started showing up and sealed the deal with a good Rise of the Kraken turn. Game Highlight: Marched to the Wall goes off. I get rid of Stannis Baratheon, he gets rid of Theon Greyjoy. He top decks and marshalls a new Theon, I do the same with Stannis. It's like nothing happened! Loss 3-2

Top 8 - Night's Watch, Banner of the Lion (Rematch of Round 3)

I end swiss at 8th place, just squeaking my way into the cut on SOS. My round 3 opponent went undefeated throughout the day, and now it's time for a rematch! Unfortunately, this game isn't as close as our first game, as I see the early setup of Chamber of the Painted Table and The Iron Throne, and constantly have him at 0 power, often letting an unopposed challenge go through just so I can steal one with my Table. One point that could have been a game changer is that I did manage to play Calm Over Westeros when he attempted to Naval Superiority, but I can't claim any deep strategy there, as I actually forgot that he had it in his deck and played my Calm on a fluke. Win - Move to Top 4.

Top 4 - Night's Watch, Banner of the Kraken

Once again sitting on Top 4, this time against a deck very similar to the previous match, but with squids instead of lions. My Chamber of the Painted Table once again gives me an early lead, but my opponent sees The Iron Throne while I do not, ending that stream of power. I'm able to neutralize Asha Greyjoy for a while with some tricks, but his Varys clears my board, leaving me wide open for his duped Asha Greyjoy and Aeron Damphair to close the deal.

And so my run ends for the day. Every game I had was enjoyable, everyone was pleasant, and the event moved along without a hitch. Once again, thank you to everyone for making this a great day!

Looking to the Future:

I think some big characters may get cut in favor of some cheaper bodies to claim soak and get the board up to a more stable position. Too many times across the day I found myself sliding by on the edge of my teeth with just 2-3 unique characters on board.

Randyll Tarly is on the chopping block, I find his gold cost to be hard to meet in a lot of matches, and hasn't been pulling his weight. Stannis Baratheon may also be looking to go, his ability hasn't been extremely game changing, only helping for a turn or two. I'm thinking Bastard in Hiding and Courtesan of the Rose are probably good choices to take their place.

Other options include finding room for a third Seen In Flames to bring the card manipulation up (probably by dropping Street of the Sisters) and turning A Feast for Crows into a second copy of Calling the Banners.

A Feast for Crows is good, but I often find that I'm either in position win without it, or I set it off for the gold when I have no chance to trigger it. I'll keep testing both to see how it goes.

Thanks for checking this out!