"He will not come," Kraznys said.

"There is a reason. A dragon is no slave." And Dany swept the lash down as hard as she could across the slaver's face. Kraznys screamed and staggered back, the blood running red down his cheeks into his perfumed beard. The harpy's fingers had torn his features half to pieces with one slash, but she did not pause to contemplate the ruin. "Drogon," she sang out loudly, sweetly, all her fear forgotten. "Dracarys."

The black dragon spread his wings and roared.

In this article, we’ll discuss why Dany and her dragons are so effective, and then we’ll construct a game plan to defeat them.

Even without any help from the game’s first chapter pack, Targaryen currently leads all factions in win percentage (according to the Iron Link database ). But back when Second Edition debuted last August, it was the usurper Robert Baratheon and the red priestess Melisandre dominating forum discussion initially, garnering “negative play experience” accusations along the way to winning several tournaments.

The Baratheon’s top dog status lasted for a little while, until savvy players turned to Targaryen's “stand” and “burn” modules to answer the oppressive “kneel” package. This turning point happened around FFG’s World Championship tournament last November, where the top 16 cut featured 10 Targ decks against just 2 for Baratheon. Most popular among them was Targ Fealty, with a variety of other Banners including Lion, Rose, and even Stag. From my experience Targ Fealty and Targ Lion are optimal.

What Does Targ Do Well?

It starts from setup. The Targaryens boast a low “cost curve” featuring cheap characters like Ser Jorah, Handmaiden, Viserion, and Viserys, and many duplicates. Even with a high count of non-setup event cards (sometimes around 13 to 15), most Targ decks have no problem routinely fielding four or five cards on setup.

They enjoy a great icon spread, with many of the aforementioned cheap characters bringing multiple icons to the battle. Also, among Targ’s most important characters, only Khal Drogo suffers from vulnerability to Tears of Lys. These two factors combined allow for flexibility during the challenges phase that’s rivaled by only the Lannisters.

The Targaryens are resilient. They can take a hit, and then hit back even harder. Thanks to Fire and Blood, any kills scored on Dany or her dragons are only temporary. Thanks to stand from Handmaiden, Magister Illyrio, and Waking the Dragon, targeted kneel from Melisandre or Filthy Accusations won’t reliably keep them down.

Milk of the Poppy doesn’t bother Targ much. You can target Dany to blank her Insight keyword and strength reduction ability, but she still gains her dragons’ bonuses. And if her big brother Viserys doesn’t leave play to clear the Milk, Targ might even use Waking or Marched in a pinch to trade a tipsy Dany for a fresh copy.

Furthermore, only Stark and perhaps Greyjoy can match the Targaryen's thirst for blood. After winning a power challenge, the Plaza of Punishment triggers. It can hit anyone without an attachment, and it lasts the entire phase. If you’re lucky it only kills a non-unique chud, but sometimes Arya, Sansa, Bran, Pycelle, Wendamyr, Caleotte, or Samwell bite the dust. Or, in the nightmare scenario, the Plaza can be combined with other strength reduction to target almost anyone. Next, the Dothraki and Dragons team up to launch multiple military challenges (sometimes with 2 claim from Winds of Winter). Then a wave of powerful events like Dracarys and Tears thins your board even more, before Marched to the Wall cleans up your lucky survivor. Sometimes everything hits in a single devastating challenge phase, and sometimes it's a game-long process of constant attrition.

How Can We Stop Them?

Emphasize strong setups with multiple characters. In first edition, many decks ran around 30 characters, but 35-ish seems correct now. You need to establish board position early, and keep drawing into reinforcements throughout the game.

Do whatever you can to prevent Targ from marshaling Daenerys. She’s unlike any other centerpiece character because she’s both the win condition and the draw engine, so keeping her off the table is a huge priority. Targ players often open the game with Noble Cause to play Dany, or Summons to find her, so consider a turn 1 Naval Superiority (unless the Targ player setup a Kingsroad). You can use a Shipwright or Treachery on an early Kingsroad, hide Dany with Bear and the Maiden Fair, or strip her from hand with Seen in Flames.

Once Dany and her dragons hit the board, you need to break them up. Wildfire does a decent job, except Fire and Blood exists, and any Targ player worth his salt will kill Viserion and Drogon (luxuries) before Rhaegal (essential). So what's plan B? Varys. You can reset the board and then March any character he had duped. Everything goes to the discard pile where it can’t be revived with Fire and Blood. Just don’t make a challenge with Varys, or he’ll be toast.

Ghaston Grey punishes Targ's affinity for duplicates. You can leave Ghaston on the board so Dany is stuck in neutral, unable to attack, or bounce a duped Dragon and then strip the remaining copy with an intrigue challenge or Heads on Spikes. In general, intrigue challenges should be emphasized because you need to discard as many events from the Targ player's hand as possible (although some smart Targ players have started running Rebuilding, a hidden gem).

Highgarden, the Hound, Ours is the Fury, and other mid-challenge effects can help you unexpectedly win Dany's first challenge of the phase. If she loses, Rhaegal doesn't trigger.

High strength and strength buffs naturally counter Targ’s burn effects. The Night’s Watch, actually, is home to several such cards like Ranging Party, Castle Black, The Wall, and Longclaw, but they don’t like to share – those effects only benefit Night’s Watch characters. Likewise, Growing Strong, Heartsbane, Doran, and Iron Fleet Scout only pump in-faction characters. However, Widow’s Wail and Margaery Tyrell are two efficient and flexible buffs that work on anyone. In addition, Lannister is home to The Hound and Tywin, two characters with high strength that are difficult to burn, which might explain Lanni’s recent surge in popularity.

Be proactive with your strength pumps, and mindful of who gets the first action. Plan your challenge math carefully. You may want to start with a mid-strength intrigue challenge to see whether the Targ player values his hand enough to defend. And don't forget that Dracarys! can do plenty of damage by swinging an important challenge even without landing a kill.

Pack plenty of cancels. Treachery prevents Rhaegal, Illyrio, or Handmaiden from standing Daenerys, and Hand’s Judgement gives some safety against an incoming Dracarys! However, many Targ decks now pack their own Hand’s Judgement primarily to cancel your cancels!

Finally, you could build a “mini-curve” type of deck. Flood the board with interchangeable characters like Bastard Daughter or Arbor Knight, and don’t break a sweat when a few of them die. The one problem with this approach is that Dany’s strength reduction drops 1 strength guys down to 0, rendering them nothing more than claim soak.

The Future

Targ’s scariest card yet, Crown of Gold , is coming soon to a store near you. I’m not thrilled by the thought of Targ players simply paying four gold to insta-kill my Tyrion. This attachment will be a staple until it rotates out in a few years, and unfortunately there’s basically no recourse.

Political Catastrophe might see play in Targ, as they don’t rely on locations other than the Plaza, and they could use help against Greyjoy’s boats.

First Snow of Winter , though it’s still a couple months away, gives us another tool for breaking up the Dany-Dragon machine.

As the card pool expands, it’s likely that more decks won’t rely heavily on specific characters. In first edition, decks ran single copies of most unique characters, with multiple copies of only the most powerful or strategically important, and I expect we’ll return to that norm soon. We already see characters like Cersei, Catelyn, and Theon usually run in single copies, so if they die there aren’t “dead draws” left in the deck. If more unique characters like Asha, Will, and Arianne follow this trend, losing one to terminal burn won’t sting quite as much because instead of a dead draw waiting in your deck, you’ll have something playable.

So, what strategies do ya’ll employ against Targaryen? Do they even deserve to be tech’d against? Share your thoughts in the comments below!