“Do be careful, child,” Varys urged. “King’s Landing is not wholly safe these days. I know these streets well, and yet I almost feared to come today, alone and unarmed as I was. Lawless men are everywhere in this dark time, oh, yes. Men with cold steel and colder hearts.”

Please welcome our newest reviewers, hagarrr and Hybrid92, who have agreed to join the review team full-time. As always, let us know in the comments how you feel about the cardslyr in this pack!

Umber Loyalist (3.1 Average)

scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5

FFG is making up for lost time after not giving Stark any draw for 2 years by giving them nothing but draw now. Umber Loyalist is a great tempo play for fast decks, like Crossing, and a great topdeck when your hand is empty. The problem is that he’s in the dreaded 3 gold slot (too expensive to be military claim, etc.) and doesn’t bring any relevant traits or keywords.

Von Wibble – 2.5 out of 5

Drawing 2 cards is always going to be good, and the fact that you get to choose the discarded cards helps to mitigate the drawback – in fact you can even use it as an advantage if you want to get a Flea Bottom trigger. Decent stats for the cost as well as being loyal help will help this card to make decks too. However, even accounting for the ways to get around the drawback, such as blanking him or just playing out all of your cards, I don’t see this card making decks in the current meta. The key issues beyond the drawback are that it is a horrible card to set up, and there is a lot of competition at this cost slot for Stark.

hagarrr – 3 out of 5

The Loyalist is okay, but I don’t really want to use him. He’s loyal which is relevant, and he draws you two cards, amazing! I don’t always want to play out my best cards straight away though, so that Forced Interrupt makes me twitchy; especially as you’re not always in control of when your characters leave play. As a reasonably costed filter function, he’s fine.

Hybrid92 – 3.5 out of 5 I like him. He’s a decent enough body that is loyal (very important!) and offers good tempo. He’s even better when you have an empty hand, or are in a position to vomit out your entire hand. He’s good with Flea Bottom as he essentially offers you a delayed filter effect. Above all, he’s draw in Stark.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5

Draw now, no loss of tempo, suffer later if at all is a great deal. If you’re playing a gameplan to not keep cards in hand, or to win before fearing a reset from an opponent, this is pure value. Stark are also the faction most able to control when their chuds leave play, so you should be able to ditch this at a favourable time for you. The strikes against it are that it’s awful for setup, a bad card to have stuck on the board for a reset, and 3 cost isn’t the greatest slot – 3 STR bicon is fine, but you certainly wouldn’t play a 3/3/bicon if it was blank let’s put it that way.

White Harbor (2.9 Average)

scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5

White Harbor might be worse than Dorne, but that’s a very high bar. I’ll definitely try this with Red Door in a deck that focuses on winning challenges. It might be a good idea to have a shuffle effect though so all your best cards aren’t stuck on the bottom of your deck!

Von Wibble – 2 out of 5

A much worse version of Dorne, being harder to trigger as well as giving your opponent the choice of card to give to you. There will be times where the 2 top cards are the same, or where both cards are good for you. Early game there will also be difficult decisions for your opponent – at that stage a Roseroad or chud may be more important to you than Catelyn Stark after all! That said, Stark have decent draw through their character base and Gates of Winterfell already, so do you really need this?

hagarrr – 3 out of 5

This is great when you want to snowball and gain momentum, but garbage when you’re behind. Although it’s a worse version of Dorne, you’re still getting rewarded for winning challenges so it’s fine in my book. Your opponent is going to give you the worst choice every time, but people play Exchange of Information nonetheless and that’s pretty much in the same vein as this.

Hybrid92 – 3 out of 5

Stark players should be happy with this pack: two solid draw cards. This card is a bit “win more” but hey, it’s draw in Stark, and any card that forces your opponent to make decisions just increases the chances of them making the wrong decision, so I don’t mind this card at all. Comparisons with Dorne are pointless in my opinion. If we compared every card ever to be released with Dorne, we would always be unhappy.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5

Purest win-more. That’s not always a bad thing, however – Stark is one of the better factions at getting ahead, and being able to get the card advantage (even if it’s the worst of 2 each time) from being ahead to help you stay ahead is valuable. The problem is, the very act of playing 3 gold location that adds zero presence to the actual board makes it difficult to actually get ahead in the first place. A card that can sometimes win you games but other times will be stuck in your hand all game with no opportunity to get it on the table.

Lazy Leo (1.5 Average)

scantrell24 – 1 out of 5

I can’t find any redeeming qualities here. The Maester trait still isn’t relevant, one icon doesn’t cut it, and the ability is expensive for what is likely a low return your on investment.

Von Wibble – 2 out of 5

It’s a good job that a lot of rushy events are now restricted, because Leo can do a lot of work in a deck running Annals of Castle Black by ensuring your opponent can’t play out their events in response. Of course, this also works the other way, helping to protect against an Annals deck. Or you could just use him to effectively give you more copies of events in your decks. Outside of an event heavy deck, or Annals being big in the meta, I don’t see him making play though. I’ll admit I’m tempted to build Targaryen Conclave just because of Leo – it will probably be a bad deck though!

hagarrr – 1.5 out of 5

This fellow seems like a strong counter to combo. Shame combo is restricted to hell. I only see niche uses for this lad to go into decks; enabling Annals for yourself by removing the opponents’ counters, or if you’re really spamming the events and/or using HoT Queen of Thorns then he might do some work there. Even then, you have to find him to use him. To quote George Ankers: BIN.

Hybrid92 – 1 out of 5 I’m glad FFG is printing more “come out of shadows” reactions on Shadows cards. Shame this one is so bad.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

Lazy anti-combo tech, more like. Ironically with combination decks pretty much dead in the water (subject to the next card in this pack), this has now actually become a useful card for decks that are running Annals themselves, letting you clear the way by removing your opponent’s events to make the plot all upside – it would almost certainly go in the Songs deck that was runner up at Euros, f’rinstance. That said, it’s still a poor body and costs 4 gold to get the trigger, so it’s not going to pull up trees in any case.

Growing Ambition (3.1 Average)

scantrell24 – 3 out of 5

The cost is flexible, which helps. For example, you can pay 2 to place Growing Ambition into shadows during setup, then pay whatever you can afford later to bring it out of shadows. However, it’s also a Challenges action so you have to wait a round to marshal any characters, attachments or locations that your opponent is kind enough to give. Isle of Ravens should be in a lot decks right now.

Von Wibble – 4 out of 5

Whilst you take a significant tempo hit for this ability, it is really potent early game where you are pretty much choosing the cards you want – whether it be dupes for key characters, a centrepiece character, economy – basically whatever you need. The fact it is a challenges action helps to keep it in check as you will have to wait until the next marshalling phase to use a lot of the cards that are fetched, but it can be immediately impactful if used to find a Lord Renly’s Ride or a Hightower Spy, assuming you still have the money for the latter.

hagarrr – 3 out of 5

I don’t really like this card but I can understand its power. Very strong if you can get this off turn 1, but you lose tempo to do it. Luckily Tyrell seem to have stolen all of the Lannister gold reserves, and can probably afford to play this more than anyone else. As the game goes on, the likelihood that you opponent is going to give you chaff is higher, but it’ll be interesting to see if this tutor is reliable enough to see actual play. Hybrid92 – 2.5 out of 5 I like how it essentially has no ceiling in terms of what you get to fetch — the more you pay, the more you get. It has been noted that it’s quite potent in the first couple of turns when your discard pile is empty or almost empty, but its value seems to get worse as the game progresses. Perhaps its best use is to seed your discard pile with events for an Annals turn, or to fetch Flea Bottom-able characters.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5

This sparked a debate on whether “different cards” means “cards with different titles”, or whether you can fetch two different versions of a card with the same title – answer: different titles. Istaril is much higher on this than the rest of us, fearing the possibility of it being broken in combination decks – and it may well play out that way, but by their very nature it’s often unclear how combination cards will play out, and this could well be a dud. Meanwhile in non-combination, this is “pay X+2 to draw X cards, counting up from the worst cards in your discard pile+best cards in your deck that won’t just be left in the discard”. A little convoluted, to be sure, but solid. The card’s effect is more powerful early when you can control more what cards you will be given, but is tougher to afford until later, making for a curious balancing act.

Naive Scout (3.0 Average)

scantrell24 – 2 out of 5

Too vanilla to see play anywhere except maybe in a Ranger-focused deck. It’s another intrigue icon for Ranger Crossing, but Haunted Forest Scout is easily the better of the two.

Von Wibble – 2 out of 5

Whilst shadows hasn’t really got to a point where it sees a lot of play in every deck, it is only going to increase in frequency over the coming months, so when playing this in deck s you have to assume the text will be active – especially given you are probably running Janos Slynt. That said, a 4 strength bicon (potentially a tricon with Rykker) at 3 cost isn’t a bad pick per se – its just the case that you probably can do better with other cards.

hagarrr – 3 out of 5

Another middle-of-the-road Night’s Watch card. 3g for 4 STR bicon isn’t bad at all, although the drawback means if you expect shadows cards to see play, then you play him in an offensive deck. Coupled with the Ranger trait, I expect he’ll only ever be seen in the NW LotC Rangers deck that crops up every now and then with those annoying Haunted Forest Scouts.

Hybrid92 – 4 out of 5 If 1st Edition is anything to go by, efficient bodies that key off there being no cards in shadows will always be around – think Knight of Flowers or Distinguished Boatswain. I think this one is no exception. 2 icons and STR higher than cost is always a good deal. He should be making it into every NW deck at the moment except the purest of Wall defence decks.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5

Plain above-curve beef. Most decks still don’t have many shadows cards, with some not even having any, and even while it can’t defend it’s still a powerful offensive card. Overall, a whiff of the Ranging Party about it.

Miner’s Pick (2.8 Average)

scantrell24 – 3 out of 5

Good for Qohor decks. Grab it if you’re short on economy, or sacrifice it if you have enough already.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

Non-limited economy is always going to be decent, but this is more fragile than most. Even if you find a character to place this on that will be difficult for your opponent to remove, people are running attachment control more than ever thanks to Qohor. This does at least only need 1 turn to pay for itself, and the +1 strength is a nice boost.

hagarrr – 3 out of 5

As usual, the Night’s Watch version of economy is clunkier than all the others. On the bright side, it is non-limited, provides a strength boost, and is good Halder fodder. On the downside, it has restricted targets, and is less likely to help you recover from a reset. With Qohor bringing with it a storm of attachment control, this might be entering the game at an unfortunate time.

Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5

It’s fine insofar that it is non-limited economy, but I don’t really like my economy hinging on attachments. With all the Practice Blades and Longclaws and Dragonglass Daggers in NW decks, I don’t think this will see much play beyond Builders and Qohor decks.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5

Efficiently-costed once it’s on the board compared to the 2-drop non-limited locations the other factions have been getting, but more restrictive to play, a weak kicker effect, and easier to disrupt once it is played. There’s potential to be combined with Political Disaster to leverage an economic advantage, but what NW deck that can use Disaster is also flush with Stewards and Builders? The lists this seems best in are the ‘Super-Steward’ style, the Builders, Qohor decks generally, and once we get next pack the Lord Commander Snow decks running Sworn to the Watch. The Finns think it’s a touch more solid, but what do they know?

Valyrian’s Crew (2.2 Average)

scantrell24 – 2 out of 5

What an out-of-nowhere ability. I guess it’s derived from the Smuggler trait? The pseudo-insight is cool but not very practical unless you’re in a mirror match. I can’t think of many decks thats that will be tempted by a 6 gold character that’s non-loyal and non-unique with no renown or power icon. Maybe if there’s some other reason to run Bara Rains, these guys fit there.

Von Wibble – 2.5 out of 5

I like this card despite the middling rating. A high strength stealth intrigue icon is nice for Baratheon, and the ability can provide some interesting interactions in the game. I am particularly looking forward to seeing this used to take a Targaryen player’s dragon, following next turn by a Dracarys! Speaking of Targaryen, this is also a nice card for them to banner for – the Mercenary trait makes it fetchable and standable by Aegon and Daario respectively.

hagarrr – 2 out of 5

This is almost a 6g for 5 vanilla bicon but for some fun, janky text added on to it. The card literally fits 0 Baratheon themes, but it’s going to fun to steal your opponents’ cards and play them out yourself! The only way you play this competitively is if you’re desperate for an amusing anecdote for the grandchildren, and even then, it’ll probably just be about yourself losing most of your games.

Hybrid92 – 1.5 out of 5 I have come to like this card less and less as time has progressed since it was spoiled. As it stands, this card is a 5-STR stealth character with a pseudo-insight and two icons that are not particularly relevant to Baratheon. It’s also non-loyal, and if top quality cards like Randyll Tarly and Victarion Greyjoy are seeing less and less play (to the point of being pushed out of decks) due to Breaking Ties, why the hell would economy-starved Baratheon play a character of the same cost that doesn’t have a power icon, doesn’t have R’hllor trait, doesn’t key off winning Dominance, and doesn’t synergise with any of their other existing cards? Honestly this card is worth a 1 but I’ve given it a 1.5 because of the hilarious jank potential it has to ‘Euron’ your opponent’s Euron.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5

It’s the 5 STR stealth intrigue part that keeps the rating up here, even if that’s not the fun bit. The effect has some pros (freezing out opponent’s uniques, giving you chaff for Nothing Burns Like the Cold [but NOT Qohor]) and some cons (the cards have no synergy with your deck, some will be outright unplayable, they’re as vulnerable as the Crew are), but can overall be summed up as ‘bad Insight’. So essentially it’s a 6g 5 STR Mil/Int Stealth Bad-Insight card, which seems…fine.

Blackwater Bay (4.9 Average)

scantrell24 – 5 out of 5

It’s beautiful. I’ve played a few games with an HRD Blackwater Bay deck that has a nostalgic 1st edition Lannister feel. My only concern is that Bara hyperkneel can kneel and draw its heart out, but take an hour plus to actually accumulate 15 power and win, and that’s a concern for timed games.

Von Wibble – 5 out of 5

Baratheon win this pack I think! There are plenty of ways to ensure that at least 3 opposing characters are knelt at the start of challenges, whether it be Withering Cold, Forced March, Saving the Kingdom, opponents reducers, or Consolidation of Power, to name a few. The timing of the effect renders Nightmares and Sea Bitch useless (unless accompanied by The North Remembers). This feels like a card for a House with the Red Door.

hagarrr – 4.5 out of 5

This is much better. A build-around card that Baratheon players can get behind, giving a shot into the arm for the hyperkneel deck. Given that Selyse and Stannis (Core) exists, there will be turns where you draw plenty of cards with this and you’ll be ecstatic. The timing of this is a little wonky however, meaning that at times you’ll be discarding cards for reserve, unless you tailor your events for challenge phase use too.

Hybrid92 – 5 out of 5

Just what the doctor ordered. This card will replace Red Keep in just about every Baratheon deck moving forward, except the decks running no kneel effects (if they exist). It’s just so much easier to trigger than the Red Keep, while relies on you not losing a challenge type that Baratheon actually has lots of trouble with against certain factions (Tyrell and Stark come to mind, Greyjoy too if you’re not packing or finding kneel). It also has great timing, meaning it can’t be blanked before its trigger, making it a perfect Red Door candidate.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 5 out of 5

One of the best draw engines we’ve seen in a good while. More reliable than The Red Keep, puts your opponent in a difficult position over their reducers – do they want to give you a card to improve their econ? – and there’s the potential for ‘bonanza’ turns with Selyse, Forced March, Core Stannis and Withering Cold (although beware the last one as this kneels for its own effect). The timing of the draw isn’t ideal, and kneel in general is quite bad right now with all the stand we have in the game so the deck this goes in might still be bad, but it doesn’t stop the card from being incredible – draw = win, after all.

Catspaw (1.6 Average)

scantrell24 – 2 out of 5

Bouncing to hand where Cersei or Heads on Spikes can attack is great, but it’s been done before (Red Keep Spy, TIDFL). If the ability were “cannot be saved” then I’d be more interested. Even with Lannister’s challenge phase money (Tyrion, Goldroad, etc), you still need 2 gold up front to put Catspaw into shadows, then 2 to bring it out, then X to match target character’s cost. Seems too expensive.

Von Wibble – 1 out of 5

The first bad Lannister shadows card? Even if you split the cost over a few turns, you have to spend 2 + X gold to get a body worth 1 gold, and remove an opponent’s character from the board, temporarily. There will be scenarios where you remove your opponent’s claim soak from the board and force them to claim a big guy, but for the most part you won’t have the money to do this – and there are already better ways to achieve this goal with The Things I Do For Love and Red Keep Spy.

hagarrr – 2 out of 5

This seems all flashy and terrifying, but what it actually is, is expensive. The Things I Do for Love hasn’t made Lannister decks for years but I think it’s certainly better than this. The only saving grace for the card is that it provides a shadows trigger for Bowels of Casterly Rock, and any other cards they may print in the future.

Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5 I like that it provides a shadows trigger for Bowels of Casterly Rock and other similar cards, and I like that it essentially has no ceiling on what it can target. But it’s expensive on its own, and even more costly when you factor in the cost to trigger. Additionally, at 1 STR and 1 icon, it isn’t doing much for you once it does come out of shadows.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 1 out of 5

The effect is nice, harkening back to The Things I Do For Love, but this is far too expensive to ever leave the binder. Should be at least 1 cheaper, probably 2.

Gold Mine (5.0 Average)

scantrell24 – 5 out of 5

The card itself is amazing value. My only concern is that it doesn’t mesh well with Lannister in particular, as Lanni’s best decks right now are fast, and Gold Mine gives more value in a longer game.

Von Wibble – 5 out of 5

Non-limited economy which draws cards is great, even if you do have to discard first. I like the idea that you are literally digging for cards. Not much to say here, it’s a good card, put it in your decks!

hagarrr – 5 out of 5

Yeah I like this! Non-limited non-unique economy which allows card filter seems pretty damn good. It also allows Lannister to play the Flea Bottom game more efficiently if you’re that way inclined.

Hybrid92 – 5 out of 5 Can’t help but wonder if the Stormlands Fiefdom is even from the same game as this card. Incredible.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 5 out of 5

A bonafide playable card for Lannister, huzzah! This won’t create any new decks, but it will make all existing decks better (with the possible exception of rush – sorry Crossing!). We’re suckers for a good card-filtering effect.

Drowned God Fanatic (4.6 Average)

scantrell24 – 4.5 out of 5

DGF is non-unique, so every round you can kill one copy to bring another in, netting a stand plus a trigger for Drowned God tech. The cancel effect even helps facilitate this by easily putting one copy into your dead pile for free. The 2 strength keyword-less body is good enough but keeps DGF from a perfect rating.

Von Wibble – 4 out of 5

In a deck not focused on Drowned God tech, this is a bargain basement Treachery (in that it is cheaper but weaker), as well as being a 3 cost Greyjoy character that has 2 icons, a rarity in itself! It sees play based on both of these strengths. In a Drowned God deck it’s a no-brainer, but thanks to a timely errata to the Driftwood Cudgel I don’t think that build is tier 1, at least for now.

hagarrr – 4.5 out of 5

I wonder if this is the card that finally makes Drowned God decks more competitively viable. A very valuable icon spread for DG combined with two excellent abilities means Vince will be 3x in all DG decks for the foreseeable future. Even in non-DG, the Treachery style cancel will be desired in other decks, and some may even play it just for the art… Phwoar! <3 Hybrid92 – 5 out of 5 An amazingly versatile card that should be in both Drowned God and non-Drowned God decks. For Drowned God decks, the benefits are obvious – it offers two icons that are rare among Drowned God characters, it kills a character for you (very handy especially when you want to trigger Acolyte of the Waves or the Driftwood Cudgel), and it can come into play from the dead pile for you (giving you free Disciple triggers). The cancel effect is gravy and will cause it to see play in both deck types.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 5 out of 5

A free treachery with no conditions, and it can still do tricks afterwards. Pretty unmistakably a 5. It has great Drowned God synergy as well (extra Disciple trigger plus the trait itself). And best of all, it’s not a power monocon! Note that Max not Limit is important here, as it means you can’t just repeatedly cycle 2 of these between dead pile and play over and over again infinitely.

Dragonbinder (2.6 Average)

scantrell24 – 2.5 out of 5

Intimidate is great for Asha, King Balon, etc. who can do multiple attacks each phase. I’ll probably try it because I’m a sucker for voltron decks, I’d like it better if the swap for another Greyjoy character was assured and not a “top 10 cards” gamble. Also, Dragonbinder is non-loyal and can attach to non-Greyjoy characters. You could run it in a Targ Kraken deck and steal other player’s dragons. It might be better in Melee where the odds of dragons are higher.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

Expensive, but potentially very impactful. Assuming you aren’t facing a dragon, this still allows you to search for a free character. Greyjoy have enough 6-7 costers that this will often hit – especially if you have a free kneel from that intimidate to help you to win dominance.

hagarrr – 3.5 out of 5

3 cost attachments rarely see play because they’re simply too weak to attachment hate and expensive for their effect. Dragonbinder though is fantastic and a hilarious nod to the lore, providing intimidate and allowing you to tutor a Greyjoy character and put it into play providing you win Dominance. This works well with both Drowned God/Nagga’s Ribs builds and Core Aeron/Iron Throne good stuff builds too. Banter points gained for being non-terminal so you can just do the same thing again, and being able to punish that horrible Targaryen player with his new Drogon.

Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5 Effects that search your deck and put a character into play are always good, but this is probably too many hoops to jump through: paying 3 gold, keeping it on a character for long enough, and winning dominance. It will probably only see play in Drowned God decks where winning dominance is all but assured, and where you desperately need to see key characters like Aeron or Tarle.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

A risky move to put “binder” in the name of a card that isn’t amazing. 3 gold is a lot for an attachment that, in the immediate moment, only gives Intimidate. The best-case scenario of putting this on a Fishmonger and trading them for an Asha/Balon/Euron is great, but not reliable, and only happens if you keep the character in play through the challenges phase then win dominance. (Obviously stealing a Dragon is great too, but realistically it doesn’t improve the card unless the meta becomes obscenely saturated with Targ.) It does have some value as a Qohor attachment – trading a knelt Seal for it to add Intimidate to a challenge, then getting the dom kicker.

Hired Assassin (2.3 Average)

scantrell24 – 2 out of 5

This ability obviously gets better if/when more powerful shadow characters come out, and it’s usefulness will fluctuate with the metagame. For now, it’s a decent Rookery card. Also, I look forward to Hired Assassin assassinating other Hired Assassins.

Von Wibble – 4 out of 5

If your opponent is running shadows characters then this you are paying 4 for a 2 gold body that removes 2 gold from your opponent, which is fair. If the Assassin faces no shadows then he is 2 gold for a slightly weak body which isn’t so good. For now he isn’t great, but in a few packs time, especially if the shadows Queen of Thorns gets more cards to accompany her theme, things could change a lot. The rating here is for the future, it’s more like a 2.5 right now.

hagarrr – 3 out of 5

In the shallow pool of shadows card we have at present, Hired Assassin is more likely to be a good hit now than in the future. As the pool grows I expect there to be a more diverse array of cards in shadows, making it tougher to score the ‘kill’ you want. There may be future cards that allow you to look at shadows cards which will improve this, but otherwise this card could be underwhelming one game and a game-winner the next.

Hybrid92 – 1.5 out of 5 I think people lose their mind a bit at the potential to kill a unique character (a la Heads on Spikes), but really this card is just very expensive (and very flashy) shadows removal at a time when there aren’t that many shadows cards around anyway. Will it see play in the future? At what is effectively 4 gold and 1 STR, probably not.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 1 out of 5

You pay 4 gold for a 1 STR character with no upside once it’s in play, just to remove 2g worth of investment from your opponent’s board? And that’s the best-case scenario? We’re unimpressed. Now, if we get a repeatable way of bouncing this in and out of shadows its value will increase, but for now, meh.

Queensguard (3.2 Average)

scantrell24 – 2.5 out of 5

Another good Voltron attachment, especially for tricons like Euron, Renly, and the upcoming Jon Snow, although they can take Seal of the Hand already. In most cases Plaza of Pride gets the job done for 2 less gold, but for any non-Lords who can’t take Seal it’s intriguing. Maybe Rattleshirt? That’s certainly jank though and nowhere near tier 1.

Von Wibble – 3.5 out of 5

The resemblance in the art to Targaryen loyalist Matthew Slade is uncanny! Like Dragonbinder, this is expensive, in fact more so given the discard cost. However, 3 stands per round makes the cost possibly worth it, especially if Baratheon come back to the meta in a big way, which looks likely given how good Blackwater Bay is. This is surprisingly flexible in terms of who can take it, given it is a Targaryen attachment.

hagarrr – 4 out of 5

Another rare 3 cost attachment that I think is really really strong. In a world where Flea Bottom and Meereen exist, discarding cards is much less of a cost, and being able to discard all three cards you gain with Meereen to stand the attached character three times is amazing value. Couple this with Freedmen, Missandei, Second Sons etc. and the fact that this attachment is non-unique and not necessarily Targaryen character only, this is ripe for abuse.

Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5 This game does not need more stand effects! Luckily this won’t see play outside of Voltron decks (I expect it to slot right into Targ Alliance Qohor Rose).

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5

Meereen makes this good, in short. It lets you max out the triggers of this without suffering card disadvantage. Without Meereen it’s more like a 2. A relatively superfluous shadows keyword (yes there are advantages like Weapons at the Door, but they’re mostly niche), and Ire wants to use the opportunity to lodge a complaint on the shadows visuals generally – he doesn’t like that to check the costing on a hidden card you have to squint at the smaller text and not the big helpful number in the top corner.

Ser Archibald Yronwood (2.8 Average)

scantrell24 – 3 out of 5

Martell can use icon removal to assure losing dominance, but does Archibald’s attrition ability doesn’t mesh with the soft control of icon removal? I’m not sure it fits, and I’m concerned by the price, though he can jump in with Core Arianne at least.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

Newmeria’s best friend, coming along to make your opponent pay for winning dominance – and as a shadows card this is not a play your opponent can entirely predict either. As a body he doesn’t provide much, but the ability to defend a military challenge can be important, and he is a great target for The Prince’s Plans.

hagarrr – 2.5 out of 5

I don’t like Ser Archie very much, despite how insanely happy he looks in the art. His effect is going to be irritating at times, but the only time it’ll be that impactful is after a reset (surprise shadows Archie comin’ at ya), or in an attrition deck that likes to whittle away at your board. Even then, he’s an expensive military monocon and will probably only be a 1x there too.

Hybrid92 – 2.5 out of 5 I thought the 4-cost Nymeria wouldn’t see much play over the 5-cost version, and I was wrong. With that in mind, I think the Big Man will be a 1x in a fair few Martell decks, especially since he can be cheated in with Arianne. Having only 1 icon is pretty sad though, and I just wish more shadows cards actually had a “come out of shadows” reaction.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5

Very expensive just to kill the worst character – and attrition decks will struggle to lose dominance, while soft-control decks won’t care so much about attritioning the board, so he’s in a bit of a deadzone in what deck he goes in. The shadows keyword improves him though as he can sit for minimal investment until you’re actually getting value out of the trigger, and he looks like an ogre in the artwork so that’s fun.

Summer Sea Port (3.1 Average)

scantrell24 – 3 out of 5

It’s fine, but Martell already have one of the best economy cards in Dornish Fiefdom, so they don’t need it as much as Stark or Lanni.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

Good as non-limited economy is, this one looks a bit too expensive for the benefits it gives. A lot of Martell plots have decent reserve, and Dorne provides more already. It still sees play as it allows more storage of cards such as Doran’s Game for later, but compared to stand or card filter Martell have lost out a bit here.

hagarrr – 3.5 out of 5

This one feels a lot more lucklustre than the Stark and Lannister counterparts for sure. That said, the reserve isn’t insignificant, especially in builds that run Dorne and Secret Schemes and like to hold one million cards in hand.

Hybrid92 – 3 out of 5 It’s very good, particularly with the reserve boost, but Martell is spoiled for choice when it comes to economy. It would probably be a 4 if it was in another faction that actually needed something like this.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5

It’s good, in short. Martell values raised reserves highly, whether it’s for the “lots of Dorne triggers every round” varieties or the “almost all these plots are 4 or 5 reserve” varieties. And econ that isn’t disruptable by everyone’s favourite King plot is valuable too.

Poor Fellows (4.2 Average)

scantrell24 – 4 out of 5

Maybe not a great card, but certainly a good one. Is it enough to push Faith Militant into the meta? Maybe after Wars is inevitably restricted next month (right?).

Von Wibble – 3.5 out of 5

For 2 gold you are getting a good deal here, basically a bicon with insight or renown. A lot of the time it will be renown, as often these are your claim soak, but there are ways to make sure that power doesn’t go to waste, such as the Stormlands Fiefdom. 1 strength can be a positive too, as Septon Meribald can stand them.

hagarrr – 3.5 out of 5

This ragtag army of peasants actually seem quite strong on the face of it. Pseudo-insight/renown on a 2 cost bicon is great value for money. Likely a popular chud in the Bara/Stark Faith Militant builds and in those increasingly popular ‘Muster the Realm’ decks. No? Okay then.

Hybrid92 – 5 out of 5 The best neutral character to be printed outside of the core set? An insanely efficient chud that will either net you a power or a card for just 2 gold, or force your opponent to waste characters in blocking its annoying challenges. This is all without even going into the boost that it gives for Faith Militant decks. Factions with a glut of 3-cost characters, such as Baratheon, will welcome this chud to smooth out the cost curve.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 5 out of 5

A 2 gold non-unique neutral character with (admittedly your opponent’s choice of) renown or insight? Great! Especially strong in Melee. Really good for the cost, excellent utility/curve-filler, and a potentially helpful trait as an extra cherry on top. Nothing bad about this.

King’s Landing (2.8 Average)

scantrell24 – 4 out of 5

King’s Landing requires a specific deck tailored to abuse it. So far I’ve had early success with a Martell Kraken deck that uses 29 locations including Flea Bottom, King’s Landing, Ghaston Grey, Sea Bitch, Kingsroad, Water Gardens, Dorne, and Iron Mines. The Challenges phase timing for the draw holds me back from a higher score, but I do like KL already after a few games.

Von Wibble – 2 out of 5

I want to like this. The idea of repeatable Sea Bitch, Ghaston Gray, or even just Kingsroads, seems very appealing. However, 4 cost is very high, especially with Seized by the Guard being so popular in the meta, both as a card run in Qohor decks and as a counter to the new Wall. This is definitely a card with long term and Shagga potential however.

hagarrr – 4 out of 5

I think this card has the potential to be a great engine for draw and recycling used or discarded locations. It can be a failsafe if your locations get destroyed or lost, or you can throw away anything you like for a card. The timing is slightly slow, meaning you cannot simply discard a location, draw the card, and marshal the card, which hampers the fluidity somewhat, and at 4 gold, it is a significant investment, particularly with counters to the Wall being widely considered. Repeatable Ghaston Grey or Sea Bitch is going to be a huge pain in the arse to play against.

Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5 This is an interesting design, and I would like to play this card, but 4 gold for a neutral (read: non-loyal) location with a ‘sometimes good’ effect is just too much in the current meta. A huge tempo hit and susceptible to Breaking Ties, Seized by the Guard, or any of the myriad of location hate effects out there.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

We’re really interested by this card, even if we’re not sold that it’s any good. It does a lot of different things pretty well – lets you repeat a sacrifice location every round; lets you chuck bad location topdecks later on to get fresh cards in hand; and potentially just acts as a draw per turn. Unfortunately, 4 gold is a huge tempo hit, especially with Breaking Ties and location hate both holding strong presence in the current meta. And given the safe design FFG often employ (at least for non-champ cards), we don’t expect any amazing repeatable locations any time soon to make this sing. A good card for another time.

Glass Candle (3.0 Average)

scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5

Will I try this in a Greensight Mill deck? Why yes I will. The lack of quality Masters is astounding though, when you look at the list, especially given their history in first edition and winning the choose-an-agenda weekend in 2016, and that’s what holds me back from a slightly higher grade.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

As a non-unique card that discards a card from your opponent’s deck per turn this will see play at least in pillage/Greensight decks. Some decks might even give it to a Maester, though sadly for Lannister they gain little benefit by attaching it to Pycelle!

hagarrr – 2.5 out of 5

If you squint, it looks a little bit like FFG printed tech for The Conclave! Unfortunately, it’ll see more play in Greensight or pillage oriented decks I suspect. I don’t particularly like pillage decks, and I’m not enthusiastic about playing this, but at 1 gold and non-unique I suppose it scratches an itch for those nefarious deckers out there.

Hybrid92 – 2 out of 5

Seems good for Conclave and Pillage decks. It won’t leave the binder for any other reason.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5

The Curmudgeons who know what it means are muttering something about Sensei’s Divining Top. There are few specialist decks this is very good in (most obviously pillage), but don’t expect it in your common or garden decks.

Uneasy Truce (3.3 Average)

scantrell24 – 3 out of 5

A good plot when you’re behind and need time to recover. Plot deck limit 1 makes it hard to abuse though. If it were possible to double up then you could really build around it, but an Uneasy Truce can only last for one round before it breaks.

Von Wibble – 4 out of 5

This is a strong stall plot, allowing Night’s Watch a turn to setup before playing their Wall. Alternatively, it is an answer to dominance decks (like they need it for now!). Or, it could just be a finisher plot for a deck on about 12-14 power with a few renown characters. Rush decks and Baratheon like this plot early game as it can place power on your opponent’s faction card, ready to steal in a power challenge, or using abilities such as the Bastard of Nightsong. Finally, it is a strong melee plot, slowing the game down and allowing more potential for deal-making.

hagarrr – 2.5 out of 5

Ugh, a stall plot that disincentivises challenges, slows down the game, and rewards power gain that doesn’t go onto your faction card. In fact, the remit of the passive text here is quite narrow, as it doesn’t stop Mace power, renowns, power claim etc. It does stop Winter Festival, and plenty of power gaining during dominance. This probably gains more points in melee for its ability to affect all players and encouragement of deal-making around the table.

Hybrid92 – 3 out of 5

Remember the Baratheon plot “The King’s Peace”? The Forced Reaction on this plot is probably what it should’ve been. Amazing what 3 years of power creep does to a game. Anyway, this is a great stall plot with good initiative. I like it.

Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5

Being as this only stops power going on your faction card (though not being moved over), expect to see this in a character-based passive power deck near you soon – we’re thinking Mace and Drowned God. Will also be useful for stall decks that just want to make it to the next round. Lastly, there are potentially some interesting (not necessarily good, but interesting) Melee applications.

Total Pack Average: 3.1

Top Cards:

Gold Mine 5.0

Blackwater Bay 4.9

Drowned God Fanatic 4.6

Poor Fellows 4.2

Bottom Cards:

Lazy Leo 1.5

Catspaw 1.8

Valyrian’s Crew 2.2

Hired Assassin 2.3

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 “Music of Dragons” chapter pack!