All Men must Die (unless they are on my side) - 1st place SC 1.0

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• 1.0

Nothing revolutionary here, its a deck I built as soon as I had access to Valar. Solid Lanni characters backed up by lots of saves from Greyjoy, which also gives me some nice location control.

The tournament was just a small one, 12 players, 4 rounds of Swiss, no cut.

Round 1 - Liam (Lanni Rains)

I saw Tyrion and the Hound on the flop and faced off against Janos and a chud. Although he had some nice tricks to win intrigue by putting Tywin in with Hear me Roar, I used Treachery on his Tower of the Hand. My economy earlier was stronger and I used this to fill the board nicely and get a couple of Iron Mines out. He managed a big win on intrigue plot 3 to use Widfire Assault, killing 3 of my chuds and giving Chella renown and intimidate. I used Valar turn 4, saving my guys, and played out a Captain's Daughter to prevent him doing much. I had 14 power by the end of that turn and Liam conceded.

Round 2 - Paul (Stark Fealty)

I got Tyrion again with chuds and Casterly Rock, facing duped Blackfish with chud. Early game I had hardly any mil and he had hardly any intrigue (only Jeyne Westerling, who focused on standing the Blackfish). Thankfully I had a Bodyguard for Tyrion, and found one for Tywin when he showed up early. I was also able to stop Ice with Treachery. My board was generally stronger with more icons and I got a good lead going, but had allowed the Blackfish 3 power in doing so. I figured I could just stop him getting the 4th, but Edmure and Robb turned up to help with that. Thankfully I was close enough to the 15 power to just go for power grab and let him have a few challenges unopposed, and on the 5th turn where I won I used nightmares on Blackfish to make sure he and his Tully friends had to kneel to attack.

Round 3 - Alec (Greyjoy Rains)

I didn't really get going this time despite a 5 card flop. Bronn on setup proved powerful but Alec had a 6 card flop with 2 Iron Mines and a Seastone Chair. This meant I couldn't play out Tywin until I had an attachment or save ready. I had 3 copies of Tyrion in hand and played them out instead on my first plot, but this faced against Euron, and Alec had the higher strength for a while. On top of that Tyrion was Milked. I defended that turn and kept the power low. Plot 2 saw things get worse when Pyke and Asha were also played out, dictating my own plays as I needed enough military icons to defend double stealth. In both of these plots I had been too cautious with money as I was concerned Bronn would be bought - good as he is in defense you really need Tywin to get the most out of him. In plot 3 I lost an intrigue by enough to have Wildfire used on my board, killing a couple of reducers and leaving me 3 guys. Alec's own board was knelt however so I did get 3 uo challenges and push to 9 power myself. Alec turned the game completely round with First Snow however, playing a Newly Made Lord to discard Casterly Rock. I played my own Lord out (discarding Pyke), and gave him a Bodyguard (not a common choice for this attachment but necessary!), but was now badly outnumbered and still facing stealth from Asha, plus 2 intrigue challenges once Euron stole Casterly Rock and stood thanks to the Agenda. I couldn't get a board back and Alec got to 14 power on his Assault of the Kraken turn, winning with Balon plot 6.

Game 4 - Jacob (Greyjoy Winter)

I saw Tyrion on the flop again along with Bronn, facing Balon, Kingsroad and Iron Mines (he said when he flipped that he was gabling I didn't have Marched). I flipped Noble against Winter Festival and I was made to go first. Although I knew I would lose Bronn I decided getting a reducer plus Victarion plus Milk on Balon was worth it. Bronn was bought from me and Aeron also showed up, duped. Round 2 I won initiative and Jacob only played out Great Kraken. I made a horrible mistake here, thinking I only had to tie gold with Jacob to get Bronn back (I am used to this being the case when you own him!) - I played a 2 cost guy, not using my reducer, then had 4 gold against his. I had spent 3 of it before realising my mistake, and decided it was worth then spending the 4th to ensure no We do Not Sow. I killed Bronn in a military challenge and the rest of challenges were relatively inconsequential. Round 3 saw Balon die to a military challenge with Jacob gambling on winning dom to get him back (unMilked). Jacob's board was surprisingly heavy on intrigue so I chose to play out Kevan and Pycelle (using the Kingsroad Kevan gave me) rather than Jaime. Round 4 saw my Riddle face Jacob's Valar. I kept Victarion and 1 of my 2 Iron Mines, Jacob kept a single Aemon. With me having the money for Jaime and a chud, and Jacob having little to add, plus being down on cards, I was able to grind out the win over the next 2 turns.

I finished 3-1, as did Paul, Alec, and one opther player (who had a mod win against Alec but lost to Paul). As Jacob and Liam finished 5th and 6th, my strength of schedule was good enough to put me top of that list and win.

Changes I'd consider

Cut Bronn. He can be amazing, he can also lose you games. A 3rd Burned Men is probably the more stable play. Cut Casterly Rock. Its amazing with Cersei out, doesn't do too much otherwise. Lannisport probably makes more sense. Remove 1 Fishmonger for a second Newly Made Lord. Remove Close Call (none of my key characters died except for Valar and every Valar that day was beneficial to me, plus I kept hitting Winter plots with it) - replace with Summons (I like the art on the alt art version, plus finding Captain's Daughter, Hound, Newly Made Lord, Tyrion, Littlefinger or Kevan makes for a great toolbox plot).