“That’s no law, just a sword. Happens I got one, too.”

–Yoren, A Clash of Kings

The final World Championship for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game is fast approaching, drawing competitors from around the world to come and take part in the only game that matters. But before you enter the lists for Joust and Melee once again, you’ll want to catch up on the latest rules!

A new FAQ (7.7 MB) is now posted for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game, including some small updates to the restricted lists. Take a look at the changes for yourself and read on for more information and insight from developer Danny Schaefer!

Danny Schaefer on the Newest FAQ Update

Hello, A Game of Thrones players!

We’ve released a new update to the FAQ, and with that update come a few changes to the Joust restricted list.

The last FAQ update, posted a few months ago, brought sweeping changes to the restricted list, and we’ve been happy with the results. In the time since the changes, the metagame has looked more balanced, with a wider variety of playable decks and no single dominant strategy. But there are still some areas of concern, which we’re looking to address with this updated list.

In the time since the last FAQ update, Night’s Watch has become the preeminent faction in the game. Buoyed by the release of a pair of very potent cards in The Blackwater chapter pack, alongside the restriction of some powerful cards in other factions, Night’s Watch has performed extremely well in recent months. In order to bring the faction’s power level more in line with the rest of the metagame, Yoren (The Blackwater, 85) and Bound for the Wall (The Blackwater, 86) are both being added to the restricted list. While the Night’s Watch has access to a number of strong cards, these two stood out for their incredible efficiency and ability to swing games.

The other deck being addressed in the update is the Tyrell-based mill combo deck. This deck exploits the combination of The Queen's Retinue (Long May He Reign, 103) and Unexpected Guile (Pit of Snakes, 44) to eventually force the opponent to draw through their entire deck and lose the game. While this deck has not yet been dominating, it is capable of winning extremely quickly and could easily become problematic if left unchecked. To that end, we are restricting The Queen’s Retinue and Unexpected Guile, along with Oldtown Informer (The Red Wedding, 63), in order to break up the combo and separate it from one of the more potent shadows draw engines.

With this new restricted list, we have high hopes for the metagame for Worlds and in the months to come. Thanks for reading!