Lady Leonette giggled. "Perhaps you should be a singer, my lord. You rhyme as well as this Galyeon.""No, my lady," Ser Garlan said. "My lord of Lannister was made to do great deeds, not to sing of them. But for his chain and his wildfire, the foe would have been across the river. And if Tyrion's wildlings had not slain most of Lord Stannis's scouts, we would never have been able to take him unawares."His words made Tyrion feel absurdly grateful, and helped to mollify him as Galyeon sang endless verses about the valor of the boy king and his mother, the golden queen.Our staff has put together a first blush analysis of the newly released “Tyrion’s Chain” chapter pack. Check out the unofficial rules FAQ for this pack or find rulings on the individual card pages on thronesdb.com.Cards are listed in numeric order and scored on a scale ranging from one through five, with five being the best possible score. We have 5 reviewers this time around, so the maximum score per card is 25 points. Let us know in the comments how you feel about the cards in this pack!Now onto the reviews, starting with....kidohearts- 3 out of 5I’ve played Stark and I would easily replace Tumblestone with this. One less str with an upside to be one more str. Tumblestone is in every Stark Crossing or Fealty deck right? So if that’s the case, does it mean it gets a higher rating? Maybe we can get an awesome alt art of this too, wink wink.emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5Perfectly acceptable generic-ish chud that gives you options on the low end of the cost curve. Winter plots show up enough that you’ll get the bonus now and again. Otherwise unremarkable.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5So mediocre it couldn’t be any other score. It’s a simple and efficient character for a deck that doesn’t exist in a faction that doesn’t lack for cheap efficient characters. Hooray?scantrell24 - 2 out of 5Does Manderly Knight replace the remarkably similar Tumblestone Knight? No, not unless there’s a Stark deck that genuinely wants 4+ Winter plots. More pressing question: has FFG already run out design ideas two cycles into the reboot?PatrickHaynes - 3 out of 5It looks like Stark Winter aggro decks might become a thing going forward, and if so this guy will be a staple in it. 2 for 3 bicon ain’t bad.Kidohearts- 1 out of 5I’d rather have a zero cost event that replaces itself.emptyrepublic - 2 out of 5Not lasting till end of phase makes this pretty poor. There are better boosting options to push through a challenge which cost nothing. For sure there will be a narrow case where this will be useful, but there are better options like For the North out there.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5Only being until the end of the challenge makes this weak - outside of combo you’re paying a gold and a card to win a challenge and gain a power as the best case scenario. The only intriguing thing to us is the combo with Roose Bolton.scantrell24 - 2 out of 5Compared to For the North!, with Wolf in the Night you have to spend an extra gold, can only choose a Stark character attacking alone (rather than any participating Stark), and you lose the cantrip (card draw). But in return you gain an extra point of strength, the flexibility to trigger during any challenge type (not just military), and the character gains renown for the challenge.Most decks, of course, don’t want either event. The truth is that Nightmares offers more utility and consistency. However, I might sneak in a single copy occasionally just to present the threat of further surprise challenge wins.PatrickHaynes - 2 out of 5Meh, some decks might want this, especially decks that like small boards. The Renown will probably be more significant than the strength pump in most situations.Kidohearts- 3 out of 5He’s on a playmat so maybe i should give him a 4. Solid 1x in Summer decks I think. Efficient with an upside. And if you tech summer, then you could have a very good rush deck, maybe out of Stark.emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5I’ll call this a 4 in melee, but for joust not quite as strong. Passive power gain is great and in Melee the likelihood of regular Summer plot flips is much higher—but so is Winter. At least the two reactions can operate independently. Probably worth your time in Tyrell Summer decks despite the mono-icon.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5Passive power gain that has no interaction with the opponent is a powerful tool - see Core Sansa for reference. Robar suffers from his need for Summer plots, which paints him as a niche card for some decks but not others.scantrell24 - 4 out of 5Three gold mono-cons are generally disappointing for a variety of reasons (First Snow, Ser Ilyn Payne, etc.), but the promise of consistent power gain for little effort makes Robar worth a shot in Tyrell Summer decks (and Melee!).PatrickHaynes - 4 out of 5Definitely a staple of Tyrell Summer Knight’s decks. Consistent power game is always good, and people seem to be running First Snow less often now, so the three cost slot is more relevant than it would have been a few months ago.Kidohearts- 3 out of 5Tyrell is building a nice little card pool and their challenge math dynamics are going to get frustrating. Banner in Watch and away you go. May be closer to a 4.emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5Useful if you care about the 5 STR window in challenge wins. If it wasn’t loyal I might have gone with a 4, but it would have been too much perhaps with Targ burn. Nonetheless, it has clear utility but only if manipulation of challenge math is the issue. Otherwise Tyrell has plenty of raw STR boosting on its own.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 4 out of 5We were SO close to going with a 5 here, which for first edition players remembering Salla’s Escort Ship is unthinkable. But in second edition, with a lot more focus on challenge wins, plus a lot more focus on win by 5 triggers (if you don’t include this in your Rains deck you’re doing it wrong), plus a lot more STR 1 chuds that this can negate the challenges of, plus combos available with some of Tyrells strongest cards, notably House Florent Knight and Randyll Tarly… this card is a real gem.scantrell24 - 3 out of 5Aside from the synergy with Randyl Tarly, I like a copy in Tyrell decks that need to manipulate strength for Mare in Heat or win with a character participating alone to trigger Lady Sansa’s Rose.PatrickHaynes - 3 out of 5Obviously incredible with Randyl, and “on demand” stand for him that can’t be hit by character resets (like Margaery can be) or Confiscation (like Heartsbane or Crown of Golden Roses can be). Renly’s Pavilion might see play in Knights decks as well.Kidohearts- 4 out of 5I wasn’t that impressed with this at first and then because “I know Nothing” i realized it would work on defense. Versatility is good.emptyrepublic - 5 out of 5Despite only non-unique characters being targetable I still think the effect is highly impactful. It works on attack or defense. Doesn’t require the target to be participating and there is no 5 STR window threshold. In the early days of this card I’m fairly certain many people will completely forget his effect works on the defense so there’s a window to take advantage of that. Otherwise he’s a great banner export for more aggro focused decks.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 5 out of 5scantrell24 - 5 out of 5Even the pacifists have target kill now…. and it works on defense! Qhorin is a Ranger bicon with renown, so he checks all of the boxes for defense decks, except on price. Most Wall-defense decks run a lean character curve, preferring to save gold for locations and attachments. Will those decks pony up the extra gold for this powerful ability? I think a single copy makes sense. Also worth asking: does Qhorin breathe life into non-Wall decks?PatrickHaynes - 5 out of 5Defense decks will play one copy for the renown, though the cost will be a bit high for them. More importantly though, he’ll be huge in the Winter Choke build and any other kind of pressure build.Kidohearts- 3 out of 5I may in the minority here, but when i use NW Fealty i like putting in locations that don’t kneel for other reasons or drawbacks. Just more pumps from Halder and challenge math manipulation. In a lot of builds your rangers will be a static +2 and no stealthy.emptyrepublic - 2 out of 5Not useless, but requires you to tech around reserve which doesn’t appear to be optimal at the moment. Right now the cost for benefit for likelihood of activation doesn’t add up for me. Over time with a different card pool the relative value might go up.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 1 out of 5The global +1 (well, to rangers) is not that bad. But it’s also not worth playing in a deck that wants to defend challenges, where +1 isn’t the difference between a challenge being opposed or not. The stealth-protection isn’t terrible, but Benjen already does it. Who runs this? At least the art is nice.scantrell24 - 2 out of 5It’s relatively expensive, conditional on having higher reserve, and lacks any sort of pizzaz. I guess Halder likes it at least.PatrickHaynes - 2 out of 5Fine in the Ranger build that will inevitably be a thing. The plus one strength will probably be more relevant than the stealth given that Benjen does the same thing.Kidohearts- 2 out of 5A low score now, but when Warships and Weapons grow so will his rating.emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5A squid in stag’s clothing! I think he’s perfectly fine for builds that rely on location effects or drop in a Throwing Axe for a targeted kill on a defending character. There’s possibilities with this but not really so much as a mainline Baratheon card.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5Why did they waste a Baratheon slot on a Greyjoy card? In the extreme short-term his stats give him a chance of sneaking into non-Greyjoy decks (and dropping in Lightbringer mid-challenge is fun), but long-term he’s only going in Greyjoy Stag or Bara Kraken decks. If he does have to be jank, at least this is our kind of jank.scantrell24 - 4 out of 5Salladhor’s powerful level depends heavily on which Warship locations and Weapon attachments you jump into play. I’ll give Bara Kraken or Greyjoy Stag with Raiding Longships a try, but it could be awhile before his potential is fully realized. In the meantime, 4 gold bi-cons like Sally are solid in their own right.PatrickHaynes - 3 out of 5Really solid Greyjoy card, don’t know how much play it will see in Bara main though, they’ll need some more warships before it’s viable.Kidohearts- 2 out of 5On first glance, i don’t see it finding a spot. It will be nice and cute, but i think people would rather spend 2 gold on Justice.emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5A potential to counter to core Tywin/Tyrion? They’re going to stick around and other factions are getting odd tricks to manipulate their gold pools so I think it’ll have value, but only because it’s cheap.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 2 out of 51 gold is cheap enough that you might see this occasionally? But contingent on the opponent saving gold, and only working on attack, means you’ll have to really need the STR boosts to justify it. Coming out in the same pack as Renly’s Pavilion does this no favours.scantrell24 - 2 out of 5It’s passable in your average matchup, but only above average against Lannister. Maybe we’ll get more cards like Trading with the Pentoshi that feed gold to the opponent (Pillage decks with Loot would like that ability as well).PatrickHaynes - 3 out of 5Fits well into the attacking/intimidate Bara deck that is starting to become a thing. Could be completely dead, or could turn your guy into a Tywin.Kidohearts- 3 out of 5On first glance he seems awesome, but then the question arises of “how many do your run” probably one as his purpose is to die. Then how is the consistency?emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5The 2 gold for a save and then have another character on the table is pretty good. The extra 2 gold to kill the attacking character I’m less sure about. Trust me, it’ll be super annoying when you get hit with it and it’ll feel super over powered. That said it’ll still require 4 gold to activate—which isn’t that hard for Lannister—but easily enough telegraphed.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5Well, it sure is one way to force a Valar from an opponent. Powerful-but-expensive swing. We must prepare for people to complain about the times it takes out their best character with it - presumably glossing over the times it does nothing and goes to intrigue claim.scantrell24 - 4 out of 5Poor on setup, but excellent value otherwise.PatrickHaynes - 4 out of 5Two gold for a save isn’t bad, and if anyone can keep back four it’s Lannister. It also isn’t too much of a giveaway as the Lanni play could easily be saving that 4 gold for The Hound, Red Keep Spy, Queen’s Assassin, or Tywin strength instead.Kidohearts- 2 out of 5This is very close to being really good. There are some good War plots to jump in during challenges as your opponent won’t see if coming from the being of the round. Reinforcements (hey extra character), Swords in a Targ Lion, Fortified after you’ve got yours, Battle of Blackwater to board wipe. Problem is, some to more of these you don’t want in your plot lineup. Too bad it wasn’t like Castamere and have this in a side pool, lol.emptyrepublic - 1 out of 5There are precisely four plots this can be used on (as of this being published). Also, as it requires the plot to be currently revealed it really begs the question on how to use this. If it allowed you to activate your Wildfire from the use pile then we are talking about something else entirely. I presume this is something for the future depending on what else gets released. Entirely pointless now given the plot effects available.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 1 out of 5...What on earth is this?scantrell24 - 1 out of 5Would you run this card just for your Wildfire or Heads on Spikes turn? What about when it’s a dead card for the rest of the game? I’ll admit there’s at least potential depending on future War plots.PatrickHaynes - 3 out of 5There are basically two uses for this card, triggering wildfire during challenges if you aren’t playing rains and triggering Heads on Spikes multiple times. The first use is probably not worth the slot, even rains decks often struggle to set up a good situation to use Wildfire during challenges. The second use on the other hand is much more viable. A Cersei deck always likes more cards being stripped and potentially gaining three power is totally worth the card and gold.Kidohearts- 3 out of 5Seems really good, but i wonder how it plays out in reality. Crossing deck gets a boost and that extra stealth could be quite amazing. What a funny way to win: get to 14 with her out, then drop Asha for the win, nice, lol.emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5I’m probably bamboozled by the double stealth, but it’s novel and interesting. Tricon that can bypass two characters? You cannot dismiss it outright. Balancing with Asha will be the hard call here.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 5 out of 5She’s really, really good. There are answers to her, sure, but she’s a tricon with double-stealth. Run her and don’t think twice about it - note that it’s not an either/or between her and Asha, as while they can’t both be in play at once (unless the power wins you the game of course!), one hitting the dead pile does not prevent you playing the other.scantrell24 - 3 out of 5Maybe Greyjoy Rains wants Esgred over Asha because of the intrigue icon, but most Greyjoy builds will prefer Asha’s extra strength and built-in stand.PatrickHaynes - 3 out of 5Solid card, but it’s really tough to give up Asha. You could play both but at that point you basically have to hope you only see one of them. Some decks might prefer her over Asha, especially down the line when bigger board start to come back.Kidohearts- 3 out of 5Well now, this could be interesting. Hey Saan, get over her, lol. Its late and don’t want to look, if this works for you to take The Wall and trigger it, then its even better. If not, then there are still lots of good cards to get and potentially use during challenges.emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5I think there is a huge amount of utility here. Getting Ghaston out of the way, even for a turn, can be huge. As more and more locations roll out the potential options will go up. View it the same way as “Nightmares” but with the added benefit of being able to use the location yourself.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 4 out of 5There are some matches it sucks against, but there are some it near-enough decides, and those are common enough that Greyjoy decks will need to run this for the foreseeable future.scantrell24 - 4 out of 5It’s almost like a setup-able, reduce-able Nightmares for locations only. If you can actually use the stolen location, it’s even better. Banner Kraken decks have plenty of location control options available now. Rules-wise, don’t forget WUA (when until at) for end of phase timing, so you can trigger the Red Keep or Wall before control reverts.PatrickHaynes - 3 out of 5This one is pretty hit or miss depending on the meta. When big locations are prevalent, here’s your counter. This will be completely useless against some decks, but other times you’ll play against Night’s Watch and steal their Wall.Kidohearts- 3 out of 5I’m not seeing it too much right now, but i think it has potential to do very good work. Very nice on a Battle of Oxcross turn, usually.emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5A bit expensive (on Ambush) but depending on your build it might not be that hard to get 4 or 5 STR characters down to two in order to push through or beat back a challenge. What you want to figure out is how to repeat the effect.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5We wavered between 3 and 4 on this one, going lower because pessimism is kind of our schtick. She’s efficient enough that you won’t feel bad if her ability does nothing. Which it often will. Probably goes in 1x.scantrell24 - 4 out of 5Not amazing, but versatile. She’s also cheaper and better on setup than similar characters like Queen’s Assassin and Red Keep Spy.PatrickHaynes - 3 out of 5Interesting card that will probably be 1x in a lot of burn decks. The main issue is that without burn it is completely useless against some decks like Night’s Watch with the Wall’s strength pump active.Kidohearts- 3 out of 5I know this is more, but people said Winterfell and the Wall were too big of a tempo hit. Just run one and get some renown characters to win the game.emptyrepublic - 2 out of 5In discussion online I’ve seen commentary that this will be best in Melee and I agree. Obviously you’ll have the most options there in order to find the best dead pile to loot. Additionally, the play style in Melee is the sort where this location can find space. That said it’s super expensive and it’s likely a one time effect per game given the cost; given that the question remains if it’s worth space in your deck.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5Fun, but too expensive now. Maybe one day. Try to dodge the Treachery, as this overtakes Varys as the worst card to get hit by it in the game. Euron will eye this up with a glint in his (Crow’s) eye, too...scantrell24 - 4 out of 5Ok, so most Targaryen decks won’t bother, but I’ll certainly try building a murder deck with House of the Undying as a finisher. Between Valar, Dracarys, and Tears/Sword, plus Viserys and Rattleshirts to remove Bodyguards, you ought to be able to kill a couple big guys over the course of a game. Also, it’s worth a shout in Melee, with more opponents to choose from.PatrickHaynes - 2 out of 5Interesting card...I honestly don’t know how much play this will see but it has the potential to be quite potent. The real problem is that there is a card named Treachery and if your opponent happens to have it you just blew six gold on nothing.Kidohearts- 3 out of 5That extra 2 gold seems silly. I mean for 2 gold i can play Haunted Forest and win games.emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5I think 2 gold is too much for an effect you’d likely only want to use on about 4-5 characters. Again, as it typically happens with cards the value will go up depending on what comes out in the future. Perhaps a single copy given there are a lot of Ally characters overall but it’ll be a call to make based on your meta.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 4 out of 5Martell have one of the most stacked 4 gold slots in the game, but Oakheart warrants his space 1x. A lot of the time he’ll only take out a reducer chud, but that’s not nothing, and occasionally he’ll get a real scalp.scantrell24 - 4 out of 5A solid 1x at this price for a bicon with potential upside. It’s a shame he can’t ride the Mare in Heat, but I guess that’s the price to pay for being un-Cravenable.PatrickHaynes - 3 out of 5This, much like Dissension, will probably fluctuate in and out of play depending on how many expensive Allies see play. He might also see a bump if we get some Kingsguard tech, or if Martell gets more Knight tech.Kidohearts- 2 out of 51 for Joust + 1 for melee = 2? Silver linings?emptyrepublic - 1 out of 5I’ll be nice and say 2 in Melee where it’s much more like to have more than 2 summer plots out at once though even then I’m not sure if it’s worth 3 miserable gold.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 1 out of 5Oh dear. For two fewer gold Fist of the First Men will do pretty much the same and more. What score did we give that again?scantrell24 - 1 out of 5You just have to Jedi-mind-trick your opponent into revealing a Summer plot on round 6 when you unleash the Viper win machine.PatrickHaynes - 1 out of 5Well...this card is...kind of bad. Even if you play seven summer plots this is mediocre. At this point in the game, Martell needs cards that do something, not cards that make their characters mildly more efficient. If this were in another faction I’d consider it, maybe if Martell improves it will be playable.Kidohearts- 3 out of 5Solid little guy. Tyrell Winter Wildlings. NW Winter Wildlings. Get them back on First Snow and jump jump again.emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5Another perfectly fine chud for certain deck builds. The cost reducing effect shouldn’t be discounted as it’ll help you squeeze out more efficiency in Winter/choke type decks.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 3 out of 5An efficient chud for any winter decks, which kinda makes the Manderly Knight feel a little redundant. Greyjoy likes having another cheap bicon they can run.scantrell24 - 3 out of 5Better than your average chud in the decks that want him. However, in the post-Valar meta I’ve been more inclined to build tall (dupes, bodyguards, positive attachments, and a few quality characters) rather than wide.PatrickHaynes - 3 out of 5Solid chud for any winter deck. The Stark and Greyjoy variants of Kings of Winter are still somewhat lacking in intrigue icons so getting one that effectively cost one is pretty sweet. Plus, those decks need to make all they can out of what little gold they have so the cheaper the better.Kidohearts- 3 out of 5Rush, Aggro, free Informant, Khal, Cersei, Crossing. I really like it, but I rated it lower b/c i think it will find a hard time finding a spot in decks and will need a specific build. Valar and the control decks popping up make win by X harder.emptyrepublic - 4 out of 5Lovely addition to aggro builds. Lots of factions will be able to make something of this as the only threshold is the 5 STR window which most everyone is familiar how to build for at this point. The only catch is managing the number of effects that use the faction card.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 4 out of 5Being able to do repeat 2-claim challenges with a multi-use high STR character like Randyll or King Balon is a highly powerful effect. We just need a deck that doesn’t care about kneeling its faction card otherwise - so that’d be Greyjoy Winter or Tyrell Summer/Crossing, then? It’s situational, but boy is it splashy. It’ll also feature heavily in Melee, we suspect.scantrell24 - 4 out of 5Together with Clash of Kings, Bara and Greyjoy power-challenge-oriented decks have quite the finishing combination.PatrickHaynes - 4 out of 5Solid card for aggro decks, especially Stark ones that have a lot of military icons. Tyrell or Bara decks will potentially like this for power challenges. The biggest downside is of course balancing the faction card kneel as there are a lot of good cards that require them.Kidohearts- 2 out of 5Could be fun in Targ or Cersei decks, but a card slot is a hard sell.emptyrepublic - 2 out of 5With other effects that can see an opponent's hand then this is a workable event, but you have to tech for it specifically. It’s a narrow case but if you can manage to make it workable I think it’s worth your time.Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 1 out of 5So it’s just a 1-for-1 trade that costs a gold and is contingent on you winning a challenge? Where do we sign?!scantrell24 - 2 out of 5Only potentially worthwhile in decks with hand control. Whittle the opponent’s hand away (intrigue claim, reserve shenanigans, Seen in Flames, His Viper Eyes, etc), then bounce a bomb with Ghaston, Tower or Things I Do for Love, then follow up with Tarred Heads to kill it. That’s a lot of effort, and most decks are more diverse now and less reliant on any single character, so probably not worth your effort.PatrickHaynes - 3 out of 5This is another card that I can basically only see being playing in a Lions Cersei deck. The power gain is easily the best part of Heads on Spikes, the dead pile part is often pretty meh unless you get incredibly lucky and hit a Tywin or something. Basically if you’re playing a deck that feels that a 1 for 1 card trade is fair, play this, if not, don’t.Kidohearts- 2 out of 5Plot slots are tough to come by, and I don’t think this makes it except in very Aggro decks. There are few character decks rising and NW doesn’t dupe much so the last thing you want is a deadish plot.emptyrepublic - 3 out of 5I’m on the fence until I see how this works in the real world. Theoretically it sounds powerful but the problem remains the timing. Duplicates can appear later in the same round during marshalling (and of course in future rounds). It’s a target for Tyrion’s chain but the likelihood that being a useful combo is very low. If you’re flush with other saves it’s useful, especially as the initiative allows you to go first to activate the effect _before_ a revealed Valar (again, assuming the timing works).Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons - 2 out of 5The effect is nice, probably most notably out of Greyjoy which saves through other means. But plot deck spaces are the toughest thing to justify in the game, and what deck is going to spend one on this?scantrell24 - 3 out of 5I’m glad this card exists as a check on duplicates, which were previously nigh untouchable, but I’m unlikely to have space for such a situational plot with mediocre stats.PatrickHaynes - 3 out of 5If your deck doesn’t run dupes, or doesn’t run a lot of dupes, this could really screw decks that do run dupes.57.8% (289 out of 500 possible points)Qhorin HalfhandRelentless AssaultPodrick PayneEsgredSea *****The GreenbloodTyrion’s ChainWolf in the NightFist of the First MenTarred HeadsIf you're hungry more content, check out the list of podcasts, articles, game video and more in the Community FAQ . Let us know in the comments how you feel about the cards in this box, and we’ll see you again soon to kickoff the next cycle with “All Men Are Fools”.