Three hundred years ago, Catelyn knew, those heights had been covered with forest, and only a handful of fisherfolk had lived on the north shore of the Blackwater Rush where that deep, swift river flowed into the sea. Then Aegon the Conqueror had sailed from Dragonstone. It was here that his army had put ashore, and there on the highest hill that he built his first crude redoubt of wood and earth.

Our staff has put together a first blush analysis of the newly released “The Blackwater” chapter pack. Answers to frequently asked rules questions can be found 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.

Let us know in the comments how you feel about the cards in this pack!

Smallfolk Mob (2.5 Average)

scantrell24 – 3 out of 5

It’s not bad, but Stark doesn’t have many (or any?) comes-out-of-shadows triggers, and between Wyman and Skagos they already have the on-demand sacrifice covered.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

This is a reasonable enough choice as it provides a shadow power icon (previously unavailable on a Stark card) that can be cheated in at the cost of sacrificing a likely already knelt cheap unique. As with any sacrifice tech you get triggers for the likes of Fat Cat and Meera, as well as an option for attachment removal if you have another copy of the sacrificed character in hand. You also get the Tower of the Hand trigger for this. However, Stark have good options in the 4 cost slot that have this kind of icon spread together with another ability, so you skip this unless you are going for all of the above synergies.

hagarr – 2 out of 5

Clearly designed to turbo charge the Stark sacrifice mechanics along with the free body but it seems like the designers forgot they already printed Wyman and Skagos. This has uses for clever little plays, but I don’t really want a vanilla body and I can get sacrifice tech elsewhere.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

Ah, one of those “Smallfolk” mobs we’ve been hearing so much about. We’re not entirely sure when Stark had one of those, especially the angry fiery pitchfork kind, but we’ll take FFG’s word for it. This feels like a card that would’ve been lovely earlier in the game, as a surprise body with good numbers and a sacrifice trigger whenever you want it. Unfortunately, in a post-Wyman, post-Skagos world, it feels a little bit unneeded. And ultimately 2 gold plus sacrificing a character is a lot for what you get.







Shadow of the North (2.75 Average)

scantrell24 – 3 out of 5

There might be an aggro deck that can capitalize with a plotline like Winter Reserves -> First Snow -> Winds of Winter. Stark murder isn’t my specialty, but at first glance I’m skeptical of the cost. You’re paying 2 more gold than Winter Is Coming for the chance to setup and/or recur Shadow of the North. That seems like a costly trade-off. On the plus side for Stark, opponents can’t be 100% sure that the card in shadows is Meera anymore.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

There is no denying the fact that claim raise is strong, Winter is Coming has seen regular play since the core set. A deck that can run 3 more copies of this, and play 2 in one challenge, can be mean for sure, and that’s before accounting for the extra uses you can get out of this by using it with a winter plot – Stark can run these after all. However, at 3 cost per use, this is not a cheap card, particularly given that winter plots don’t provide the most gold. For that reason I’d say you build around this card and it won’t see play in generic good stuff so much.

hagarrr – 3 out of 5

This is not a ‘good stuff’ card and it is fairly expensive, but if you build around it I believe it can be very impactful. Stark already have a very good Fealty build that runs only winter plots, and the economy in those aren’t as tight as you may think. The released Tower of the Hand benefits from the same things Shadow of the North brings; a repeatable shadows trigger in a winter plot environment. Allied with other recurring triggers such as Meera Reed and A Pinch of Powder and I think there is some potential here.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

A second card in a row that would’ve been great for Stark back when they needed card advantage. Now you probably just run draw and Winter is Coming instead. The prospect of combining this with Winter is Coming for ULTRACLAIM is something, but otherwise it’s just a relatively dull card we think will be niche at best.







Highgarden Jester (1.0 Average)

scantrell24 – 1 out of 5

I’ve tried to look for the silver lining. There isn’t one.

Von Wibble – 1 out of 5

At a cost of 2 for a 1 strength monocon the ability needs to be good, and this one isn’t. If you can get 2 fools in play to choose the card in hand then this works well with Mark Mullendore, and knowing the top card ensures Oldtown can do its thing effectively too, but Tyrell have better deck manipulation options that struggle to see play.

hagarrr – 1 out of 5

This guy is just a shit Butterbumps; he has less STR and punishes you with variance if you win a challenge with him. Crap.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 1 out of 5

Surely you jest, presenting us with this – the card has the Fool trait, but the only fool we see is the person playing it. Tyrell have so many better ways of stacking their deck than this, why would you ever pay 2 gold for it?







Shadow of the Rose (4.0 Average)

scantrell24 – 4 out of 5

What pushes Shadow of the Rose over the top for me is that it’s an any phase action, not a reaction where you have to meet the terms and conditions first. For example, flip Trade Routes, trigger Rose in the plot phase, react with Oldtown Undercity, get Rose back in hand, profit?

Von Wibble – 4 out of 5

By placing the found card in shadows you are getting 2 of your money back – assuming the event hits, of course. This, together with the likely shadows triggers you get for revealing it, and the fact that a shadows deck really doesn’t mind running summer plots to recur this, makes it a really good option – in that one deck.

hagarrr – 4 out of 5

Searching the top 10 of your deck for a shadows card and putting it into shadows is a great effect; a necessary one given the investment of 4 gold. All successful shadows decks I’ve seen so far run at least 2x Trade Routes, and Tyrell are certainly more equipped than most to play with summer given their faction specific plot and the Arbor Vineyards. With many shadows decks preferring Marched to the Wall/the First Snow of Winter/Valar Morghulis etc. in their plot line up however, I don’t know how popular this will be.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5

The only thing keeping this off a 5 is the art – not that isn’t gorgeous, it’s just about as generic an art as can possibly be, of the Hidden Thorns school of artwork. Now that said, this is 2 gold net (4 gold total but saving you 2 to put the card you find into shadows), gives you (limited) search for the exact shadows card of your choice – a boon both for Growing Ambition combination decks and for more GoodStuff-y lists – and potentially card advantage if you reveal a Summer plot? Seems pretty amazing to us.







Yoren (4.0 Average)

scantrell24 – 4 out of 5

Robert Strong and Yoren aren’t fans of my voltron Selmy dream… This is a really nasty ability in the right circumstances, much like Ward. If you take anyone with dupes, power, or positive attachments it could be game-winning. Time will tell if Yoren is consistent enough or if he’s just too expensive and situational like Coldhands turned out to be (when was the last time anyone saw him?).

Von Wibble – 4 out of 5

Core Yoren is still a decent card even if he isn’t one for the Builder deck. Although this version is more expensive, he just requires your opponent to have a good target on the board rather than in the discard pile – much easier to achieve. Tricks like Broken Vows to trade away the character you stole, followed by Marching Yoren (or even using Journey to Oldtown) to trigger him again seem decent. When facing Night’s Watch it is going to be that much tougher to take renown on your mid-range characters like Dacey now!

hagarrr – 4 out of 5

Yoren seems pretty fearsome, and I don’t particularly relish the prospect of a Night’s Watch player stealing my power-laden Tarle the Thrice Drowned either. The limitation of keeping the character until Yoren leaves play is significant, and may encourage more sophisticated tricks than simple point-and-click removal of your board. It is likely to deter military challenges, and this Ward-esque effect after a reset is going to be very influential on the outcome of games. Still, a simple Pinch of Powder or other removal effect on Yoren, and the tempo will swing back the other way.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5

Steal is always really, really good. Shame NW don’t have a great way of killing their own characters for maximum comedy. Keeps off a five because he’s expensive and competing with a cheaper Yoren that’s probably slightly better in a dedicated steal/attrition deck. In other aggro decks, or in defensive decks with a higher curve, he’ll do a lot of work.







Bound for the Wall (4.9 Average)

scantrell24 – 5 out of 5

I’m not a fan of effects driven by random chance but at least it’s only the top 5 cards. Important characters aren’t safe anywhere now: Yoren and Recruiter take them from the board, The Wall takes them from your discard pile, and Bound for the Wall takes them from your deck. I suppose the dead pile is safe…

Von Wibble – 4.5 out of 5

Definitely not for every deck – it requires you to attack after all! However, in the Nights Watch decks that actually play the same game as most of the rest of the factions, you would generally expect at least 2 of the 5 revealed cards to be characters. Early game this is much stronger simply because it is less likely that the cards you reveal are uniques that are either already in play or dead – the potential for this to happen is what keeps me from scoring it 5. Rather like 10 strength Gregor, I don’t like how swingy this event is – it has the potential to be game winning even if a lot of the time it just gives you a chud. The cost may look high but there are ways around it – Sea of Blood for example.

hagarrr – 5 out of 5

Horrific. Winning a challenge as the attacker isn’t usually too difficult, and the choice of any revealed character is amazing. You’re likely to hit at least two characters at any given time, and this is surely an auto-include in recruitment decks. If you’re lucky enough to recruit a Prince or other high value target then the 2g will feel so cheap. Fortunately it is still possible to whiff completely on targets by revealing; no characters, dead characters, or unique characters already in play.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 5 out of 5

It’s pricey for a card that does nothing if you can’t win challenges, but the effect is definitely pushed hard enough for it to still be a huge force in the game. It will almost never fizzle, bringing in a standing character mid-challenge phase for extra tempo. A lot of the time, that character will be worth significantly more than the 2 gold outlay. A reasonable amount of time, it will find a key character that the opponent despairs at losing. What’s not to like? Other than, y’know, the prospect of facing it.







Ser Preston Greenfield (2.0 Average)

scantrell24 – 2 out of 5

Revenge of the Bara tax! Both Preston’s printed cost and shadow cost are way too expensive for what’s a situational ability. A real shame because the artwork is badass.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

Shotgun Mel’s best buddy – move the power then kill the character in the next challenge! Generally people prefer power on their faction card, if only to protect from resets. However, if you don’t build around this ability it isn’t doing much, so I’d say this is for shadows decks or shotgun Mel decks only.

hagarrr – 2 out of 5

Ser Preston is okay; I think he’s overcosted by 1g as he doesn’t actually *do* anything, but he does have synergy with the 6g Melisandre and shadow Varys. I don’t really understand why he has the shadows keyword, and I don’t think he’ll see too much play outside of Bara/Martell decks.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 1 out of 5

Bad card is bad. Too expensive, synergies aren’t good enough to justify it. Next.







Blackwater Rush (2.6 Average)

scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5

I’ve thought about a few different agendas to test Blackwater Rush. HRD, Assault and Crossing could all be viable if the economy works. Like most shadows decks you probably need 2x Trade Routes. Eldon Estermont can stand Blackwater Rush for 2 power per round, and Stormlands Fiefdoms can move the power from a character to your faction card. All told, it’s a lot of pieces for a “combo” that’s good but not great.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

Haven’t seen much Bara shadows yet, but with Castle Guards to return your characters to shadows, and with Fast Bob coming out next pack, there may be a build right there. It works well with Lightbringer too.

hagarrr – 2 out of 5

Another way for Baratheon to passive power their way to glory, great! Along with the Black Cells, Baratheon now have two locations that trigger from shadows cards, which means surely there’s a deck there somewhere for this. That said, I think it’s too slow, too boring, and not a wonderful fit for typical shadows decks currently, but will almost definitely get played in Assault from the Shadows. Maybe some crazy person could even sleeve up a copy of Ser Eldon Estermont for this…

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

3-4 gold for a card that gets you only one power a round and requires a gameplan to be built around it and requires you to have the character(s) you put the power on stick around. Between this and The Most Devout, we think FFG perhaps learned their lesson from Mace Tyrell a bit TOO well, and now they’re making all their passive power clocks slow, expensive and unwieldy. That is, pointless. “Fun for cross-table power gain in Melee” is the only real positive we can find.







Tyrion Lannister (3.5 Average)

scantrell24 – 4 out of 5

I don’t think this Tyrion fits the current top Lanni Kingdom build that abuses Varys, Nighttime Marauders, Mandon Moore and Robert Strong over and over. But it’s a very cool and unique ability that could spawn a Kingdom deck that feels more like an Assault deck. I look forward to exploring some of the tricky interactions that result from non-shadows cards being in shadows.

Von Wibble – 4 out of 5

Wow, this card has a lot of uses! In a shadows heavy deck (obviously!) he provides easy triggers of your Bowels by using his reaction on a 0 cost card such as a Roseroad, and we all know that “Trigger My Bowels” is the new “Trigger the Gift!”. If your opponent tries to Freeze your Bowels or Milk any character except Tyrion himself, you have an option to remove the attachment, even if it does cost a bit of tempo. The Lannister shadows deck is managing OK without either of the other Tyrions so he is an easy include there. However, this deck isn’t quite at tier 1 yet so I can’t give the full 5.

hagarrr – 3 out of 5

Tyrion provides a plethora of options for the Lannister shadows decks that are starting to infiltrate the metagame currently. He can provide card draw, attachment control, cheap Bowels triggers, and can recur your important shadows triggers for reuse. Having the redundancy to do the latter along with Clever Feint is great, given that Tyrell can do a similar thing repeatedly with Unexpected Guile, making that shadows deck a force to be reckoned with. I just feel that Tyrion’s’ need to remain in play in order to be consistently effective counts against him, when shadows heavy decks currently prefer the freedom of the empty board.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5

He’s an interesting centrepiece card, really cool in the interactions he has. To name a few, you can: re-use enters play effects; reduce the shadow cost on cards like Varys or Moqorro; use it as attachment control; reset limits on cards like 6g Cersei Lannister; or stand cards. The problem is the name. Lannister Kingdom of Shadows (and Lannister generally, really) is very, very greedy when it comes to gold, and Core Tyrion reliably provides 2-4 gold per round, every round, for bringing out shadows cards. This one has a lovely effect, but he’s expensive and doesn’t give you gold, so he’s sadly a really tough sell. He probably does enough to go in Lannister shadows decks, but the improvement is marginal at best.

One weird rules quirk though – Melee titles can be targeted with this ability, making them return to the title pool. This could have some value, to make it so you no longer support someone you want to attack, or someone about to win a challenge against you is no longer your rival. Not enough to nudge our rating up, mind!







A Very Large Shadow (2.5 Average)

scantrell24 – 3 out of 5

It’s nice to have a shadows 0 card to bring out in the taxation, plot or draw phase if needed. That’s the main use I can see, which is niche at best, so it’s maybe a 1x type of card unless some broken interaction surfaces. The overlap between Scheme plots and shadow decks isn’t great.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

If you don’t have your Bowels out then this is netting you 1 gold, which doesn’t merit the deck space. If you do then it’s a much better investment – you pay 2 to gain 5 (or 3 and a card back). This can put you in a position where you can get a shadows 5 character out even with no money. That potential makes this one of those cards that makes Lannister stronger without even including it in a deck (or just as a 1x) because of the bluffing potential.

hagarrr – 3 out of 5

On its own, spending a card and paying 2g for a reduction of 3g is simply not worth it. However if you can play this for free and trigger Bowels, trigger Cersei, and shadows in Bobby Strong to do a murder on the opponent’s Supporting the Faith turn, it’ll feel great. This also enables shadow triggers in the plot and draw phases for cards like Mandon Moore and Nighttime Marauders which will be supremely irritating. Does Lannister play enough Scheme plots to merit the recursion of this though?

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 1 out of 5

The shadow isn’t large enough, clearly. The effect of non-limited plus one gold is not worth the trade-off of a card. Schemes aren’t common enough to reliably recur it. It doesn’t even have synergy with Bowels because it does nothing unless you bring another card out of shadows. Ultimately it’s fiddly and the payoff isn’t good enough.







Maester Kerwin (4.0 Average)

scantrell24 – 4 out of 5

Sure, why not? Greyjoy has a lot of important bigs that need protecting. Kerwin is another piece for Conclave too I suppose, if that agenda ever gets a win condition.

Von Wibble – 4 out of 5

He is an easy 1 of in Greyjoy, particularly with Iron Mines restricted, and one of your 12 in banner Kraken for that matter. Conclave like him too. Yes, there will be times where he is burnt, or has to be claimsoak, but he’s cheap enough that you can live with that decision (even if he doesn’t).

hagarrr – 4 out of 5

Now Iron Mines is restricted, he’ll probably be a 1x in most Greyjoy decks until the end of time. Cheap, efficient, and does exactly what the faction wants.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5

Cheap save that’s easy to include, seems good.







The Bloody Cup (4.25 Average)

scantrell24 – 4 out of 5

Given Greyjoy’s proclivity for going first, Bloody Cup is even better because you can bounce an opponent’s key character before it gets to attack. Combine Bloody Cup with Pinch of Powder for a devastating one-two punch. It’s not great in Sea of Blood because you lose the chance to trigger during intrigue or power, but Prince Balon (Core) might like a couple copies.

Von Wibble – 5 out of 5

Nasty. We all know Greyjoy are good at getting unopposed challenges, and this is a stronger effect than return to hand in general – your opponent only gains 1 new card next draw phase – or you have an easy pillage to discard the character. Saves are also of little help with only dupes preventing the effect. This card is one that provides bluffing options for Greyjoy and could ensure that opponents overcommit or marshall inefficiently just to ensure all challenges are opposed.

hagarrr – 5 out of 5

Oh look, it’s Moqorro disguised as a (considerably cheaper) cup. Although The Bloody Cup has the unopposed restriction and doesn’t provide a body, getting unopposed in Greyjoy is fairly trivial these days, and this doesn’t require the over-committal of resources that Put to the Sword encourages either. The tempo advantage this can provide is huge, and I think the only reason this would not see play is the ever-growing problem of “slots m8” for the type of deck you’re building. As a non-loyal card, this will also have some great application in banner Kraken, likely allied with Stark or Martell.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5

Close to a 4, due to giving an extra dimension of threat to unopposed challenges. One of the Curmudgeons wrote a long appraisal of the card on Facebook, for those interested in further details.







Covert Loyalist (2.6 Average)

scantrell24 – 2 out of 5

Unlike Qotho, you can’t pitch Missandei, Freedman or Dragon Is No Slave to pay the Loyalist’s discard cost. He also lacks any relevant keywords, doesn’t have enough strength to trigger win-by-5s, and doesn’t even have compelling artwork or flavor text. Pass.

Von Wibble – 2.5 out of 5

At the cost to put into shadows plus a single card, this is another body that Targ can add to the board with no gold. The fact that it has to be a Targ card makes it unlikely to see play in anything other than Targ main, As with the Smallfolk Mob the issue is more likely one of space – if your deck has enough 4+ cost cards it probably struggles to decide what to cut for this.

hagarrr – 2 out of 5

The Covert Loyalist gives Targaryen its millionth unnecessary mil/int bicon combination and some pretty underwhelming text too. You might want to discard a high cost card for this if you’re running Unexpected Delay or if you have a dead duplicate in hand, but Targaryen have plenty of better cards that already give tempo advantages and better reasons to discard cards. I expect this will only see play in decks running Meereen as its restricted card, when you’re going to throw away your hand anyway.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5

Surprise beef tends to be good. Qotho is an amazing card for Targaryen right now, and this has the whiff of Qotho about it. It costs 2 gold but you only have to discard one card, and non-unique gives a further edge. The only downside is having to discard a more impactful card, but we expect Targaryen to take advantage of this still. Probably the best of these cheat-into-play shadows characters we’ve seen.







Music of Dragons (4.0 Average)

scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5

I can see a copy or two in decks focused on Dany and her dragons to help the consistency. Dragons are pretty important after all, either powering up Core Dany, kneeling for Dracarys (or at least threatening it), or dominating the board in Drogon’s case. It’s a little strange to get this card now when box Dany is coming soon with a similar ability.

Von Wibble – 3.5 out of 5

The fact this is a challenges action limits your options somewhat as you can’t fetch Hatchlings to then marshall. There are options to discard the fetched dragon for Qotho or Consuming Flames, then Flea Bottom it in of course, but whether that play justifies the space for this card I am less sure. However, if you use this to fetch dragons with ambush then you can look at this as the 4th, 5th, and 6th copies of Drogon, a card that impacts on games for sure.

hagarrr – 4 out of 5

1 measly gold to go and fetch the most dangerous and feared character in your Targaryen deck; bargain. The big dragons have ambush, so a simple TIBWHID trigger here or a Hizdahr trigger there means that Drogon could be destroying your board quicker than you thought possible. Even if you’re playing Hatchlings, this event has value, essentially being extra copies of whichever dragon you either need, haven’t seen yet, or need a duplicate for in the next round. With dragons on command, I think Burn will finally make a return to the metagame.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 5 out of 5

A pretty straightforward tribal tutor – and those are good by themselves – but also an important card for several Targaryen decks. The biggest problem with some of Targaryen’s strongest builds is their inconsistency – if they see Drogon in the first round, they win; otherwise, they’re in a very weak position. This event essentially allows you to run 6 copies of Drogon in your deck. Yes it’s a Challenges Action, but guess what? Drogon has Ambush. If you’re not on Drogon for whatever reason, or already have him in play, the fact that it’s a Challenges Action hurts it more, although fetching another dragon for next round sounds good too.







Dagos Manwoody (1.9 Average)

scantrell24 – 2 out of 5

Several of the double-traited plots fit Martell reasonably well, such as Naval and First Snow and maybe even Breaking Ties, but I don’t recommend changing your plot deck just to activate Dagos, who wouldn’t be more than a 1x even if he were good. Renown on 5 gold characters is vulnerable right now thanks to Yoren and Robert Strong.

Von Wibble – 2.5 out of 5

OK, looking at a few tournament ready Martell decks on Thronesdb it seems they like their mono-traited plots, so Dagos doesn’t fit into the recent builds there. It is possible to have him powered up early, but you can’t get around the fact that at least 3 plots have to be in the used pile, so he probably goes into a Wars deck, but the 5 cost slot is already crowded for Martell – what do you drop?

hagarrr – 2 out of 5

I really don’t like the design of this card. I don’t ever want to build my plot deck in such a way, or be forced to play my plots in a specific order, so that I can turn on some small, incremental benefits of a character that I may not even draw. He might do some work in a Core Doran late-game deck, and he’ll probably be fine in a Wars build too, but I’m very much underwhelmed.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 1 out of 5

This is a potentially interesting design space, but we’ll be damned if this isn’t a pathetically weak card. The payoff is simply not worth it. Compare and contrast with The Knight of Flowers from the frickin’ Core Set, who has Renown plus an ability right from round one. If for some reason you do build your plot deck in a very, very specific way to take advantage of it, you cannot switch him on until Round Four. Did FFG forget what Martell are meant to do? Why isn’t this something like “while you have 5 or more different traits among plot cards in your used pile, Dagos Manwoody gains ‘Action: discard each character from play’”?







The Mountain’s Skull (1.75 Average)

scantrell24 – 2 out of 5

Unlike Shield of Lannisport and Dragon Skull, anybody can have the Mountain’s Skull, which gives it some potential for non-Lanni or Targ voltron decks I guess. That’s a pretty narrow application though, and the reaction is even less reliable than Hotah’s Axe. Maybe in Prince Viper decks?

Von Wibble – 2 out of 5

Expensive unless you can pull off the kill. Duel may well be the best option to achieve this – though that removes a lot of good options of characters to give this to on your side. That said, a non loyal option for renown can’t be ignored, making this a card with good banner potential, or one for Martell Seas of Blood.

hagarrr – 1 out of 5

This card is terrible. I don’t think anybody will agree that paying 3 gold for an extra 2 STR and renown is a good deal, especially with many other positive attachments in the game with better effects for less money (that still don’t see play!). The reaction isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on, and if you play this card in a non-Qohor deck, people may openly question your sanity.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

A point for Melee, where it’s more likely to trigger and the renown is more valuable. Otherwise, this is overcosted, convoluted, and unreliable to ever get the chance to trigger against a lot of decks, all for a bland payoff. Apparently “jump through hoops to get a poor reward” is Martell’s new faction theme.







Sparrows (3.75 Average)

scantrell24 – 4 out of 5

Between Doubting Septa and Sparrows, Lanni Faith has gained substantial power acceleration of late. When you consider that both can be recycled over and over (Flea Bottom and Clever Feint or Tyrion respectively), there might be enough there for a legitimate deck.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

The word “another” makes this one for decks based around the Seven only, where its a good option. Otherwise it is very expensive, even if you factor in shadows triggers.

hagarrr – 3 out of 5

The reaction is a nice little power swing, albeit an expensive one. I don’t recall Faith Militant decks having a need for shadows triggers, but these can be a nice surprise to buff your power strength mid-defence for the 4 power swing. On the flip side, Faith Militant decks aren’t good enough for competitive play it seems, and so the playability of this is diminished accordingly. Let’s hope Tyrell don’t play these with Unexpected Guile or I might be eating my words sooner than expected.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 5 out of 5

Paying the gold price for power is a very good trade. This is even better than paying for power, since you’re paying for a power swing, simultaneously advancing your victory condition and denying someone else their’s. The prospect of combining this card with Orphan of the Greenblood, Clever Feint/Tyrion Lannister or Unexpected Guile, all should make your eyes water a bit. The only stick to beat it with is the requirement to have another The Seven card in play. Also worth pointing out it’s even stronger in Melee, where the power is more important.







White Cloak (2.4 Average)

scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5

Good for decks like my Bara Rose Qohor that have King Bob, King Renly, and a multitude of Knights that would gladly kneel to save his highness. It can probably replace Bodyguard, but that’s a marginal upgrade. From a lore perspective, I’m surprised this attachment isn’t restricted to unique Knights only.

Von Wibble – 2 out of 5

This isn’t worth it in any deck except one running the White Book agenda below. In that deck it seems decent – having the ability to stand if you win a challenge on defense is the kicker. Baratheon have the most kings that generally get saved so will want this more – and they like Trading with the Qohor so can tutor for this if needed. Barristan Selmy with this attached can save all of the royalty for Valar Morghulis as he stands to save, then kneels using this to save, then stands to save,…

hagarrr – 2 out of 5

I can’t wait to see the Kingsguard Vanguard Lancers in action! I’m sure everyone has made the connection between this and Barristan Selmy, which is probably the ultimate use of this card. This clearly goes in tandem with the White Book agenda, and I don’t fancy the idea of facing Kingsguard Ser Gregor Clegane in that deck. It’s a fun attachment, but probably too unreliable to effective on a regular basis.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

We’ll go into more details with the next card, but the Kingsguard theme just isn’t that developed. This does at least have some value as a save in a deck running Knights and Kings/Queens (say, Bara Alliance Rose Qohor) if you just completely ignore the trait part.







The White Book (1.25 Average)

scantrell24 – 1 out of 5

It’s disappointing, not only because it’s likely underpowered, but because it’s boring. Why did we need more stand? What’s the end game to standing your Kingsguard characters anyways? To win an extra challenge with dudes who generally lack keywords or triggers to winning challenges? Trait-based synergies in second edition have been very hit or miss with Kingsguard firmly in the “miss” category.

Von Wibble – 2 out of 5

To date, including this pack, there are 10 Kingsguard characters, all of whom are non-loyal, and all bar one are also knights. In all likelihood it looks like this agenda is one for knight and rush decks, and will favour the factions that already like these themes. But I’m not sure if it beats just taking Crossing…

hagarrr – 1 out of 5

Is this even good? What’s the objective here? I suppose you could get loads of Kingsguard out for whatever reason and do some challenges and maybe do some standing. But why? This just isn’t fun, there’s little cohesion in the theme, and I want this to go away. What a waste.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 1 out of 5

The tempo of a mass-stand is a really good gain. However, you need to use Kingsguard characters, and that’s where the problem lies. FFG have been drip-feeding Kingsguard characters into the game since the first cycle, but there is no unifying theme – do a search for characters with the Kingsguard trait and tell us what the deck *does*. Three of them have effects when they come out of shadows, with a fourth one also having shadows, is that it? But what does that have to do with the others? Or with Kings/Queens, or with winning challenges with those characters? We would’ve loved to see a great agenda, but all we see is a throwback to the first edition shadows cycle – a naff Kingsguard agenda.







King’s Landing Riot (2.5 Average)

scantrell24 – 3 out of 5

At first glance KL Riot looks like it can’t happen until turn 4, because you need 3 Cities in your used pile, but it’s really more like turn 5 because it happens after challenges are over. Plus what if you use a non-City plot on turn 2 or 3? Then your reset is delayed further. On the plus side, if you’re ahead and don’t want to reset, you could reveal this before having 3 used Cities and let it do nothing.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

Interesting – a delayed action reset that gives you claim. If you are behind in the game and need the reset then letting your opponent get another challenges phase off could be too costly. The requirement to have 3 city plots in the used pile is not trivial either, few decks I have seen run more than 2 cities so far. The other negative is that this is easier to cancel or blank than other resets, Martell don’t need to worry about gold in the plot phase for example. Where this does shine is in decks that can start and finish challenges phases with an empty board – shadows or clansmen decks for example.

hagarrr – 2 out of 5

The delayed reset is a really interesting idea, but the requirement of having three city plots in the used pile is likely a step too far. If this had slightly better stats and a slightly easier requirement to trigger then it might be worth a punt in some decks. As it is, I feel it’s just too much work for the benefit. I suppose it works nicely with Flea Bottom and Shadow-based decks if you like those kinds of things. I do feel like we need more different styles of reset in this game, but this one misses the mark.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

The first City plot where we actually like the design principles, hurrah! Shame that the other City plots it requires just aren’t up to snuff. Or at least, don’t make for a coherent plot deck if you include a lot of them. Because this can’t be your reset until round four at the earliest, you probably can’t afford to make it your only one. At that point your plot deck is what, Gates, this, your other reset, at least two more City plots none of which work well with a double-reset plot deck, and then two plots that actually do something. Ultimately a good plot let down by its peers.







Total Pack Average: 2.91

Top Cards:

Bound for the Wall 4.9

The Bloody Cup 4.25

Shadow of the Rose 4.0

Yoren 4.0

Maester Kerwin 4.0

Music of Dragons 4.0

Bottom Cards:

Highgarden Jester 1.0

The White Book 1.25

The Mountain’s Skull 1.75

Dagos Manwoody 1.9

If you’re hungry more content, check out the library 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 discuss the “Long May He Reign” chapter pack!