Arianne raised a tear-streaked face. “How could he know?” she asked the captain. “I was so careful. How could he know?”

“Someone told.” Hotah shrugged. “Someone always tells.”

Our staff has put together a first blush analysis of the newly released “Someone Always Tells” 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.

For the next few pack reviews, several guest reviewers will contribute their thoughts for five cards each. Let us know in the comments how you feel about the cards in this pack!

Now onto the reviews, starting with….

Host of the Riverlands Host of the Riverlands House Stark Character Plot deck limit: 3. Army. House Tully. Bestow (3). No attachments.

Reaction: After a House Tully character you control gains power, discard 1 gold from Host of the Riverlands to have that character gain 1 power. (Limit once per phase.) Someone Always Tells #101 (2.0 Average)

scantrell24 – 2 out of 5

Too expensive and unnecessary when Riverrun Minstrel is a more reliable way to power up Blackfish or Catelyn, though she’s a one-shot and Host of the Riverlands can be triggered multiple times (assuming you have the gold).

Von Wibble – 2 out of 5

Really nice art. This is important as the card itself is a bit bland. If you were offered a 5 for 5 bicon with renown in general you’d hesitate before putting it in a deck (Knight of Flowers for example has this and an extra ability). Well, this card is like that, but a bit worse because you have to pay more to get the “renown”. Yes, the power can go on the usual suspects, Fat Cat and Blackfish, but there are cheaper ways to do it. Unless a lot of army based cards appear it’s just not good enough.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

We’re down one-and-a-bit curmudgeons this review (The Finns only had time for a cursory glance). As they are arguably the most cyni- krhm, realistic of us, hopefully we can at least take the opportunity to be more positive for once!

So yeah, this card is rubbish – the art is the best thing about it. It’s not that it’s outright bad, it’s just that that we’ve had so many cards that are basically the same as this, all of which barely see play. Vaguely sort-of-efficient midrange beatstick is not enough anymore. We’re of course relieved that the game-breaking potential to trigger this multiple times in a phase was curtailed.

Godswood Godswood House Stark Location Plot deck limit: 3. Old Gods. Reaction: After you win a challenge as the attacking player, if there are more Winter plot cards than Summer plot cards revealed, kneel Godswood to draw X cards. X is the claim value on your revealed plot card. Someone Always Tells #102 (2.2 Average)

scantrell24 – 4 out of 5

Godwood bumps Stark Winter up at least half a tier. Repeatable draw solves a lot of problems, and this works well with Winter Is Coming for a possible 3 cards at once.

Von Wibble – 1 out of 5

More nice art to go in the binder with the Host. Fact is, the requirement for more winter plots than summer plots pretty much kills this cards chances in any competitive deck with Targ and Tyrell so high in the meta, both being decks that run summer plots. I’d have given this at least a 4 if it had just required a winter plot revealed, such a small difference to ruin a card.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

For the time being this shouldn’t see any play. Too much summer, not enough winter, and the good winter plots that do see play are mostly not the 2 claim ones so you can’t even get double draw. That it’s non-unique and plays well with claim-raise effects like Winter is Coming and Dreadfort Maester at least means there’s the potential for it to do something useful in the future – though it certainly doesn’t do so now.

Jesse S. – 3 out of 5

At the current state of the game I think this card is a 1. However, I think any non-unique location that offers card draw for Stark is worth looking at. The condition is not very difficult to satisfy for the most part: Play a winter plot, win as attacker in any challenge, kneel to draw. The crux of this card and others like it that might hold Stark back for the entirety of this game is “If there are more Winter plot cards than Summer plot cards revealed”. If at any moment Summer plot cards become less pervasive, this card will see play. Thus I’m giving it a 3 based on what it’s effect can accomplish and not on it’s current playability.

Michael S. – 1 out of 5 As a location for drawing cards this card is very poor in comparison to Gates of Winterfell. There are too many conditions for you to be able to draw a card. First you need a winter plot while your opponent does not have a summer and then you need to win a challenge as the attacker. Gates of Winterfell only requires you to kneel it and reveal the top card. Most Stark decks already has a significant amount of Stark cards due to many of them have synergies with other Stark cards. The only potential upside is that you may possibly draw more than 1 card if you’ve either revealed 1 of the 4 winter plots with 2 claim or used something to raise the claim. However you are still at the mercy of your opponent not having revealed a summer plot.

Graham M. – 2 out of 5

But a strong 2/5. The card is obviously pretty niche and needs to be built around, but could eventually be a key contributor to Stark Winter (don’t run the Winter Agenda). Stark has ridiculously efficient cards, but has always struggled with mediocre economy, even mediocre-er card draw and a consequent weakness to board wipes. With Godswood, Stark now has three winter themed answers to those problems (alongside Northern Keep and As Hard as Winter). With the rise of Direwolves and A Time for Wolves and now that The Wars to Come allows you to run a bunch of Winter plots and also back up toolbox plots, a solid Stark Winter deck can’t be too far off.

Mace Tyrell SAT Mace Tyrell (SAT) House Tyrell Character Plot deck limit: 3. Lord. Small Council. Reaction: After Mace Tyrell is knelt, draw 2 cards. Then, choose a card in your hand and place it on top of your deck.

+1 Income. Someone Always Tells #103 (2.9 Average)

scantrell24 – 3 out of 5

I’m wary of spending 6 gold on a 4 strength character that has to kneel (presumably participating in challenges) to have any effect. Burn, icon removal and Dragonstone Castle could all lock him out. The “combo” with Oldtown is okay, but you have wait until Mace kneels (again, presumably in challenges) to get the card, so you won’t have it in the marshaling phase.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

If the latest Arya and Dany can provide ways to kill off characters more quickly to make Racy Mace a thing of the past then Mace son of Gloin has a chance, after all he is as good as Littlefinger if you keep him for 2 rounds (let’s say the +1 cost is countered by the choice of draw) , better if he sticks around longer, and in addition to the draw he is providing you with a way to ensure that cards like the Hightower Spy and Oldtown are even more effective. If he had any other name he’d get a higher score, but Racy Mace is just so difficult to turn down.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5

Draw is good (in case you didn’t know), especially repeatable draw without a tricky condition to meet. The deck manipulation tech Tyrell has obviously plays well with him, too. The only problem is that name. 7-cost Mace fits so easily into Tyrell decks right now, and the ones that don’t tend to be minicurve rush with no need for this mace. Indubitably a good character, but where does he go?

Michael S – 2.5 out of 5

While Mace offers the benefit of acting as economy and essentially 1 card draw per turn, it comes at a cost of 6 with only 4 strength. Generally with 6-7 characters cost we generally expect to see either 5-6 strength with an ability that has some significant impact. While his ability can be good, Tyrell already has plenty economy cards and other ways of drawing. The worst part of this card is of course that it has the name Mace Tyrell. I struggle to see how this card will see play when Tyrell already has a large catalog of high cost characters with higher impact abilities. Perhaps it could see some play in decks where people might want to merge card draw and economy into 1 card to open up card slots and could also help if you’re looking to dig deep into your deck to look for specific answers.

This Must Be Answered Fiercely! This Must Be Answered Fiercely! House Tyrell Event Plot deck limit: 3. Reaction: After 3 or more characters are declared as attackers in a challenge against you, search your deck for a character and put it into play. Shuffle your deck. Someone Always Tells #104 (1.7 Average)

scantrell24 – 1 out of 5

Tyrell does have a few search-worthy centerpiece characters, like Tinder Marge and Blink Mace, but this event isn’t a reliable way to get them into play.

Von Wibble – 2 out of 5

Whilst the effect is strong you have to wonder how many times you are realistically going to get it to work. To be fair, there are decks that like to use lots of characters in a challenge – Stark for draw with Rodrik, any House Frey based deck, Martell to win their intrigue by 5 for Doran’s Game. It should also be added that hanging on to 2 gold is not a difficult thing for Tyrell to do given their strong economy and challenge phase ambushers, and this could maybe have a home in a deck with challenge removal that forces your opponent to put several characters into a challenge just to ensure they still have an attacker once Nysterica and Highgarden have been used.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 1 out of 5

This must be rated harshly! The actual effect is seriously great, but the problem is that triggering condition. There is challenge manipulation tech to try to trick an opponent into stepping on this particular rake, but broadly it’s going to be tough to resolve to the point where you may go entire tournaments, not just games, without having a single opportunity to trigger this.

Septon Cellador Septon Cellador The Night's Watch Character Plot deck limit: 3. The Seven. Challenges Action: Kneel Septon Cellador to choose an opponent. That player must choose and discard a character from his or her hand unless he or she reveals a hand containing no characters. Someone Always Tells #105 (3.0 Average)

scantrell24 – 3 out of 5

I’m cautiously optimistic. Even if you ignore the Night’s Watch’s steal stuff theme, stripping characters from an opponent’s hand can severely limit his or her options.However, the 4 gold price, the low strength, and the potential to backfire by pumping Flea Bottom targets into the discard pile have tempered my enthusiasm.

Von Wibble – 2 out of 5

I like this card a lot. Of course, that doesn’t mean I think it’s that strong, after all, a 4 cost character who isn’t contributing much to challenges is always going to be a bit limited in what he can do. In a steal stuff deck he is either adding to your list of options, or making your opponent discard high impact characters that you can’t take without Night Gathers, or letting you see all their events to establish whether it is worth risking a Dracarys this turn. I’m not sure that is worth the price though.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5

A card with poor stats for its cost made up for by the ability (a trait of this cycle that we’ve liked) that will actually see play? Sweet! The repeated hand attrition is nice, and if you aren’t getting to discard a card then the knowledge can be invaluable too. A potential fightback card for Night’s Watch in their losing battle against Martell jumpers… if they don’t just Blade him.

The Crow Is A Tricksy Bird The Crow is a Tricksy Bird The Night's Watch Event Plot deck limit: 3. Plot Action: Kneel your faction card to choose an opponent and look at his or her plot deck. Choose 1 plot in that deck. That player must reveal that plot as his or her next plot card, if able. Someone Always Tells #106 (3.8 Average)

scantrell24 – 3 out of 5

I’m not a fan, just as I wasn’t a fan of War of Five Kings in first edition. Plot decisions are pivotal moments in any game and should be sacred — determined by both players, head to head in a battle of wits and cunning.

Personal opinions on game direction aside, I’m at a loss regarding this cards rating. Is the ability powerful enough to justify the delayed payoff and the need for plot phase gold? I’m leaning towards ‘no’, but Sam Braatz designed it, and a two-time World Champ can’t be wrong, right?

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

I also like this card a lot, even though some setting up is required. In general, the options for gaining the gold in the plot phase are Littlefinger’s Meddling, Calling the Banners, and Trade Routes, all of which can work well as plots in some builds of Night’s Watch. The power of the effect cannot be underestimated, especially if your opponent is running a reset – even better if that reset is an Omen and Craster is on the board on your side.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 5 out of 5

Force the opponent to play a specific threat early, delay it a turn, make them take a tempo hit at an inconvenient time, or choose which plot gets pinned. Plot knowledge – fewer surprises (sigh). The problem is, of course, the clunkiness. You see it before plot 1 and you can dictate the game by opening Meddling/Trade Routes/whatever; after that it’s diminishing returns to a large extent (and each subsequent one loses value), and you have to build and play to have the gold for it, so you may find you’re having to hit your own tempo as much as your opponents’. A very strong card, but probably not reliable enough to actually define or warp the meta.

Jesse S. – 4 out of 5 The option to force an opponent to play a reset plot sooner than they would like or when it’s simply not good for them is incredibly powerful. A big part of this game relies on careful timing of when and how you play your plot cards and this card dangerously rides a fine line of being a cool, unique mechanic or an NPE nightmare. -1 point because there is a situational nature to it.

Michael S. – 4 out of 5 This pack is the beginning of a new era in Thrones where there are cards that can interact with the plot deck. Both the Martell event and this one requires a bit of preparation since you normally don’t have 2 gold to spend in the plot phase. You’ll need adjust your deck to include cards that’ll enable you to play this event such as Littlefinger’s meddling, Calling the Banners, Trade Routes, Ranger’s cache, enough reducers from tourney grounds/fealty, etc. It remains to be explored as to the potential of this event, but I do look forward to see how it’ll change the meta. If it becomes popular, it’ll certainly discourage certain conditional plots that could hurt you. The most common occurance will be forcing your Greyjoy opponent to valar himself before he has sufficient saves to do a proper offensive valar or even forcing him to valar after he’s ready to offensive valar only to have you valar yourself or play varys riddle. There are too many occasions there I have a plot in my plot deck that I cannot play in any given round given the circumstances.

The Bastard of Nightsong The Bastard of Nightsong House Baratheon Character Plot deck limit: 3. Bastard. Knight. Reaction: After you win a challenge in which The Bastard of Nightsong is participating, move 1 power from the losing opponent’s faction card to your own. Someone Always Tells #107 (4.3 Average)

scantrell24 – 4.5 out of 5

1x in a lot of decks. Baratheon needs more abilities like Disputed Claim to drive home the “have more power” theme.

Von Wibble – 5 out of 5

Unlike the Stark Host, this is a 5 for 5 that provides you with a Painted Table with (human) legs if you will. Not only is he an easy include in Baratheon decks, he also looks very handy in a Martell Stag deck making use of the Bastard Viper.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5

We give this a 4 for efficiency, but for Bara it may well feel like a 5. He’s exactly the sort of efficient, midrange-costed, well-traited character they’ve been crying out for. An if-you-squint renown-on-power-challenges with a kicker that only backfires if the opponent has zero power on their faction card.

Adem K. – 5 out of 5

I’ve been saying for a long time that Bara has needed more solid body 4- and 5-cost characters. Bara has A LOT of 3-cost chuds and 6- and 7-cost bombs. Before Stannis’s Cavalry, Bara had essentially no commonly played character other than Davos for that range. Now with Penrose and the Bastard of Nightsong, we’re seeing a huge step in the right direction. The Bastard of Nightsong represents everything Baratheon has needed for some time: good strength to cost ratio in a much needed cost slot, good icons for Bara, and a powerful effect. He will have a place in any Bara deck, regardless of the deck’s theme or focus.

Todd M – 4 out of 5 Finally, the quasi bomb Bara has been waiting for to help give them some much needed punch. His ability has the power to swing games late game, but early there is rarely enough power on your opponent’s faction card to make much use of it. It is also redundant to the ability of the Painted Table so this perhaps pushes the “win power challenges” archetype rather than the Dom archetype as I don’t think you want both cards trying to draw extra power from the same source. The main reason he does not get a 5/5 for me is his lack of renown (fixable with Disputed Claim, which seems only too logical to put on him both in a Nedly sense and a fact that he makes turning it on easier with his ability) and his cost slot being easily blanked by Shadow City Bastard.

Michael S. – 4 out of 5 What’s not to like about this card? 5 strength at 5 cost with the Clash of Kings ability. Both traits have some sort of relevance too. Knights as a banner in a Tyrell knights deck and Bastard as a banner to Martell decks with bastard synergy. This card continues the theme of power claim and power challenges in Baratheon. It’s encouraging to continue steadily see good cards released for Baratheon and I really look forward to finding ways to put this guy into 2 power challenges.

King at the Wall King at the Wall House Baratheon Attachment Plot deck limit: 3. Title. Unique character only.

Attached character gains the King trait.

Reaction: After you win a challenge in which attached character is participating, draw 1 card for each out-of-faction location you control. Someone Always Tells #108 (2.7 Average)

scantrell24 – 4 out of 5

King trait and draw together? Yes please. It’s kinda niche but a few decks will absolutely love this attachment.

Von Wibble – 2.5 out of 5

It is worth reminding people at this point that neutral locations don’t work for this, making it a Baratheon Alliance/Banner X card. Realistically, aside from gaining the king trait (which isn’t that big an issue for Bara anyway) this is unlikely to gain you more than 2 cards at a time as the absolute best case scenario, which is actually OK but requires a lot of building around, no pun intended. The lack of a limit in number of uses does make Banner of the Dragon appealing, as you can use the Plaza of Pride to stand the character to win power on defense if your opponent obliges you. If not, that’s good too as power challenges win games.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5

We know we’re overrating this card, but we’re genuinely optimistic about it. It does two things well – firstly, enables Baratheon to play with King tech, as it pushes more reliable one-sidedness of both The King in the North and Your King Commands It; and secondly, enables some currently lacklustre banner decks to shine. Our eyes are particularly drawn to a Bara Kraken boats deck and a Bara Rose Knights deck, as both can run a 0-cost non-unique out-of-faction location at 3x. Rules lawyer warning: like Wise Master, this does not work with neutrals.

Adem K. – 1 out of 5 After the highs of the Bastard of Nightsong, we come to the lows of King at the Wall. I had been looking forward to seeing Bara’s king-making attachment, and this is a bit of a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, the potential for drawing a lot of cards is there, but it requires a very specific deck – like Baratheon Watch or a similar banner that could bring in plenty of out-of-faction locations. Perhaps if that theoretical Baratheon Watch deck used King Robert and/or King Stannis, along with this card, it could make good use of King in the North. But don’t hold your breath.

Todd M. – 2 out of 5 This loses points for being utterly useless in a non-banner build. Keep in mind, it says out of faction, so it will not trigger off of Neutral locations! Where will this shine? Banner Rose with knights using Jousting Pavillions and Honeywine is one concept I am looking at it for. Banner Kraken for Warships is probably its best play, though many of the ships are situational or only help GJ cards so it would be better in a false banner…if it didn’t have to be played on a unique Bara character. It will also work great in Bara/Watch, as the name of the card suggests giving you extra draw for having out your win condition and forests to make it easier to defend. Extra draw for winning a challenge you already like to win and have support towards winning is always a good thing, but the amount of piece you have to find to make it do anything is 3, and that is one piece too many to be consistent in my opinion. Doesn’t mean I won’t be trying all 3 of those decks in the coming months, though.

Qyburn Qyburn House Lannister Character Plot deck limit: 3. Maester. Small Council. Reaction: After a character is killed, kneel Qyburn to draw 2 cards. Then, choose and discard 1 card from your hand. Someone Always Tells #109 (2.2 Average)

scantrell24 – 1.5 out of 5

A one-trick pony if there ever was one, Qyburn sits around waiting for death without any hope of actually making it happen. Meh.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

A Maester that is immune to First Snow could help to make Lanni Conclave appealing, and any card that draws cards, even if you can’t necessarily control when, is a good thing too. Getting a choice of 2 cards and potentially fuelling Flea Bottom (though Lanni lack good targets for this currently) is worth kneeling for, especially given that Lanni are a bit low on draw. What I really want to know is why he is making candy floss?

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

The draw, like Mace, is great. We’re also happy to see a Maester that actually survives First Snow (and a vague hint of a theme that Lanni’s Maesters provide draw). The problems here are the lack of anything else Qyburn offers, as well as the lack of control you have on the trigger. Yes, characters typically die in this game, but getting draw during the claim of a challenge isn’t exactly ideal timing (and prevents you from, say, claiming Qyburn if you want the draw). Also unlike Mace he has to kneel for the effect, rather than the effect being a reaction to the kneel. We suppose that’s ‘solved’ by having him be so rubbish at challenges you wouldn’t want to use him for anything else?

A Plot Against the Queen A Plot Against The Queen House Lannister Event Plot deck limit: 3. Reaction: After you lose a challenge, return a character with 1 or more power to your hand to choose a participating character with 1 or more power and return it to its owner’s hand. Someone Always Tells #110 (1.3 Average)

scantrell24 – 1 out of 5

A Rookery option at best, if the meta is warped by characters that accumulate power like Mace, Fat Cat, etc. Even then, the character you want to target has to win a power challenge against you, which puts you at the mercy of your opponent declaring said challenge with said character.

Von Wibble – 1.5 out of 5

This is a bit of a fiddly event to really get working, as you have to have a character with power on it that you don’t mind returning to hand, and then your opponent has to also have a character with power on it – and remember they won’t gain power for renown until after this is triggered. It’s an event I can see staying in a player’s hand for a while with no way to trigger. There is a bit of a synergy with Daring Rescue, and the effect is strong enough to avoid the lowest rating, but it probably won’t see play.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

A touch of the “This Must Be Answered Fiercely!”s here, as the time when you lose a power challenge to a character with power, and you have this in hand, and a character with power on the table, and bouncing both is a fair trade, won’t necessarily come up all that often. Throw in the typical “event slots in Lanni” conundrum and this is a tough include, powerful though the ceiling is.

Adem K. – 1 out of 5 Too many hoops to jump through for this card to be good. You have to first lose a power challenge (never ideal!), then you have to bounce one of your own characters that has a power on it to bounce an opponent’s character that also has to have a power. If Lannister had more cheap characters with renown, this card could be a thing, but at the moment I don’t see it being commonly played. Perhaps its best use would be to bring a Cersei or Tywin that has entered play through Hear Me Roar or Never Bet back to hand… but even then you’re losing the power challenge to do that.

Graham M. – 1 out of 5

Lannister is struggling in the current meta. Lanni decks that do well win quickly. Getting rid of your own power is not the way to win quickly. Besides, who in Lanni gains power? Jaime, Tywin, Gregor, Cersei. Advice for new Lanni players: these are characters you want in play, not in your hand. Maybe if you’re really into Amory Lorch. The one use I could think of for this card (which would be a good banner card in Tyrell, Bara or Stark, but it’s loyal) would be in a Knights/Ladies rush deck (where random weenies can sometimes end up with power) to clear a Big Boy standing in your way.

Saltcliffe Sailor Saltcliffe Sailor House Greyjoy Character Plot deck limit: 3. Ally. Bestow (3).

Each character you control with 1 or more gold gains stealth.

Action: Move 1 gold from Saltcliffe Sailor to a non- character you control. Someone Always Tells #111 (3.2 Average)

scantrell24 – 3.5 out of 5

I’m a fan of anything that grants keywords for the entire challenges phase (not just one challenge), because non-kneeling attackers with multiple keywords are fun. Also, this Sailor’s ability gives stealth to all characters you control with gold, whether they got the gold from Saltcliffe Sailor or not.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

Clearly a banner card, and one with some potential. Using Unbridled Generosity as a quick way to cheat stealth onto non-Greyjoy characters has already been suggested, and that won’t even require you to bestow anything onto the Sailor. It should also be noted that a 2 cost bicon in Greyjoy is not that common, though sadly they lack the Ironborn or even Raider traits.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5

There’s a lot to like here – a second icon on a Greyjoy chud, for starters, but also the support for both bestow and banner decks in a very intelligently designed card. The only problems are the low STR in the current meta, and …well, the art isn’t bad, it’s good in fact, but it isn’t in keeping with existing aesthetics.

Driftwood Cudgel Driftwood Cudgel House Greyjoy Attachment Plot deck limit: 3. Drowned God. Weapon. Drowned God character only.

Attached character gets +1 STR for each character in your dead pile.

Interrupt: When attached character is killed, move Driftwood Cudgel to another eligible character. That character gains 1 power. (Limit once per phase.)

Errata from FAQ v1.4 Someone Always Tells #112 (5.0 Average)

scantrell24 – 5 out of 5

Barring an errata or rules change, it’s borderline-broken. Please FFG, print limits! I’m worried that this year’s Regional season could be ruined before it even begins.

Von Wibble – 5 out of 5

This is possibly the final piece to make the Drowned God deck work, and I am concerned it may do too much for it. Juggling 2 or 3 of these at once could get you a lot of power very quickly. It also helps protect against burn as both an attachment and a strength boost, making it a good meta call against Targ.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 5 out of 5

The lack of a limit on this interrupt (other than the in-baked once per character) makes it pretty silly. A couple of cudgels out, 5 Drowned God characters, and you win the game at 5 power just by Valaring – or, given the existence of Confiscation, probably Wildfiring. Maybe you were winning that dom anyway, and yeah – there are versatile counters (King plots, Someone Always Tells, Valar Dohaeris, an offensive save) but you have to live in fear as soon as this card hits your opponent’s board. Didn’t think we’d ever write that about a 2-cost positive attachment. Even apart from the game-winning combo, it’s still solid just for boosting up Tarle and Damphair in a burn-heavy meta.

Raiding Khalasar Raiding Khalasar House Targaryen Character Plot deck limit: 3. Army. Dothraki. No attachments. Pillage.

While Raiding Khalasar is attacking, if you control an attacking Bloodrider character, raise the claim value on your revealed plot card by 1. Someone Always Tells #113 (3.2 Average)

scantrell24 – 2.5 out of 5

I love claim raising as much as anyone, but abilities that require multiple characters to attack usually aren’t worth the effort. The Pillage keyword fits thematically but doesn’t connect with any other Targ strategies.

Von Wibble – 4 out of 5

This may get a lower rating if Blood of My Blood didn’t exist, or it it wasn’t so easy to cheat Qotho into play, but the fact is that Bloodrider restriction is not a difficult one to meet. If Khal Drogo is on the board and you have a Plaza of Pride ready to stand them this Khalasr has the potential to really get an aggro Targ build going.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5

It’s in the same cost slot as Khal Drogo, who also offers attrition and power grab but has more flexibility and the advantages of being a unique lord. We therefore don’t think it would replace Drogo, but for a Dothraki Bloodrider deck it might be pseudo-4th and 5th copies of him possibly. There may be more value in melee too, getting to bring him in with Dothraki Sea and still potentially having a second power challenge to raise the claim on thanks to the title.

To Go Forward You Must Go Back To Go Forward You Must Go Back House Targaryen Event Plot deck limit: 3. Prophecy. Dominance Action: Each player may shuffle his or her hand (of at least 1 card) into his or her deck. Each player that does draws 5 cards.

Errata from FAQ v1.4 Someone Always Tells #114 (4.5 Average)

scantrell24 – 4 out of 5

Littlefinger’s Meddling will be a popular choice for Targ decks now, between Consuming Flames, A Dragon is No Slave, and To Go Forward You Must Go Back.

Von Wibble – 4 out of 5

Whilst the effect is symmetrical, the fact is that drawing 5 cards can be game winningly powerful. There are however times where letting your opponent do the same could cost you the game – and this could happen even if they get rid of an iffy hand of 4-5 cards themselves.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5

It’s expensive, unreliable, and gains at most 3 net cards unless you’re recurring it from discard. You also can’t really control the size of your opponent’s hand when you want to play this, meaning you may even help them out more than yourself. All that said however, Targ hemorrhages cards. It’s one of the few weaknesses of the faction. Simply giving the faction a ‘reload’ effect gives them enough extra pressure that this still has the value to see a ton of play.

Todd M. – 5 out of 5 I’m having flashback’s to MT:G playing Wheel of Fortune in my red decks here. In a faction where running out of cards is tantamount to having no threat whatsoever this card is fantastic. Run yourself down to 1 card in hand, refill to 5 in one shot. Not only is it good for that, but you run into a deck heavy on draw or the bulks up on its coppers turn you can actually use it to reduce your opponent’s hand size too. Its probably one of the few ways you can stall a combo deck by cutting their end of turn 1 hand in half and hopefully taking away some of the cards they really wanted to play. It even shuffles them back into the deck too, so it doesn’t set up Annals if they are still running that.

Jesse S. – 5 out of 5 I remember this effect from 1E, granted it was on a plot card, it was still good enough to get restricted. Already Consuming Flames, Plaza of Pride, and Qotho are easy additions to any Targ deck. This allows a Targ player to not think too hard about how many cards they want to spend to push tempo. The clunky nature of a 2g event that’s a dominance action might be enough to weigh it down, but I kind of doubt it.

Graham M. – 5 out of 5

I don’t know which is at a higher premium in Targ right now, plot deck slots or draw decks slots, but TGFYMGB could allow Targ players to drop down to 1 Counting Coppers, like Secret Schemes does for Martell. Or you could say screw it and run both. If there was ever a card hungry faction, its Targ, and now they have a perpetually useful draw 3 (you have to have at least one card in your hand in addition to TGF) or at the very least a cycle to find more Burn/Dany. TGF also gets cards put on the bottom of your deck (Viserys, Dany) put there by Flea Bottom and Close Call. Most of the times I’ve beaten post-new Dany Targ it’s because I outdrew them. That just got a lot harder to do. You might argue that TGF also helps your opponent, but what faction matches up to Targ in a card for card draw?

Host of the Boneway Host of the Boneway House Martell Character Plot deck limit: 3. Army. Intimidate. No attachments.

Host of the Boneway gets +1 STR for each plot card in your used pile. Someone Always Tells #115 (2.3 Average)

scantrell24 – 2.5 out of 5

Martell go first decks will appreciate the redundancy of another Intimidate character, but 6 gold is a lot for a non-unique character that can’t be reduced by Great Hall or jumped in with Arianne.

Von Wibble – 3.5 out of 5

As with many of the characters in the Martell box, this one rewards you for going first, and together with Darkstar and the Viper allows 3 instances of intimidate in Martell now. However, the rating goes down slightly because I’m not sure how viable the deck is yet.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

It’s efficient enough, but like Host of the Riverlands, Martell isn’t lacking for tools that fall into the “expensive and only do good stuff after you’ve stalled a few turns” category – does this get a look-in over Doran, or Starfall Cavalry? Throw in that it only fully realises its value going first and this is of questionable worth outside of maybe Rains. We almost went 1 just for how boring it is – a french-vanilla like this belongs in a deluxe box, not a cycle where you’re supposed to push the envelope a bit more.

Adem K. – 3.5 out of 5 I actually really like this card. The lack of a power icon is a bit sad, but intimidate and steadily increasing strength is nothing to sneeze at. With the prevalence of Wars to Come and the 0-0-0 plot, these guys could get really strong really quickly. They also have the potential to give your opponent a headache when deciding to make you first or second, as Martell traditionally prefers to go second, but the Host of the Boneway will wreak havoc if they go first. Amazing art too.

Someone Always Tells Someone Always Tells House Martell Event Plot deck limit: 3. Interrupt: When the effects of an opponent’s event or triggered plot ability would initiate, cancel those effects. Someone Always Tells #116 (3.8 Average)

scantrell24 – 4 out of 5

Like with Targ, Martell now has a great reason to run Littlefinger’s Meddling. Between Someone Always Tells, Vengeance for Elia and Last of the Giants, Martell has some serious potential for shenanigans.

Von Wibble – 3 out of 5

As with the Tricksy Crow, this needs setting up, though Martell at least have the Long Plan as an additional option to help them. Cancelling an opponent’s plot ability is so powerful that the threat of this card is going to make them think twice if they know you have the gold. As with so many Martell cards, this one can influence games without even being put into your deck. I like it.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 5 out of 5

The plot-cancel can be game-winning, with expert timing. Even on a miss for your Long Plan/Calling/Meddling, you buy peace of mind to avoid nasty effects. What makes this card the star of the pack is that it’s not some clunky “sometimes wins you the game, sometimes does very little of value” effect like our Tricksy friend, but also has the versatility of being event cancel on the side. This looks set to be a Martell staple.

Adem K. – 5 out of 5 This card is huge, and might be meta-defining. Plots are the most important part of the game, and the ability to cancel them outright is significant. The easiest application of this card is in the challenges phase to cancel a Rains plot, but there are ways to keep gold into the plot phase (such as Ranger’s Cache and Long Plan) to potentially cancel a VM or VD. Being able to alternately cancel an event is just gravy, and it means that this card will be rarely sitting in your hand doing nothing. Cancelling events or challenges phase plots isn’t a cost issue either with Water Gardens and Bastard of Godsgrace commonly seeing play.

Jesse S. – 2 out of 5 Cancelling an important plot seems quite good. Valar Morghulis is easy, however if you want to cancel any of the other important reset plots, Counting Coppers, or really anything over 2 initiative, you have to start thinking about using Long Plan, Ranger’s Cache, or increasing your initiative. I recognize the effect is powerful, but it definitely requires some work to cancel most plot effects and doesn’t really add much to current Martell lists in my opinion. Despite also being able to cancel events, I think ultimately this card is too inconvenient to see very much play.

Graham M. – 4 out of 5

This is card, like The Watchers on the Wall, makes every deck in the faction stronger without you ever needing to put it in your decks. I’m going to pass over the event cancel for now, which is solid. The more exciting part of this card is plot cancel. It can be hard to pull off, since you need gold in the plot phase, but with At Doran’s Behest, Trade Routes and The Long Plan being Martell mainstays, there are a number of turns you’ll be able to threaten a cancel. Even setting aside cancelling powerful plot effects, the threat of playing a Someone Always Tells may encourage your opponent to make themselves first player to prevent you from cancelling their plot on a Trade Routes or Doran’s Behest turn. Additionally, many powerful plots can be cancelled at times when you’ll have money: Breaking Ties, Power Behind the Throne, Winter Festival, First Snow and Clash of Kings to name a few.

Mya Stone Mya Stone Neutral Character Plot deck limit: 3. Bastard. Interrupt: When claim is applied for a or challenge in which you are the defending player, kneel Mya Stone to apply claim instead. Someone Always Tells #117 (1.8 Average)

scantrell24 – 1 out of 5

I can’t envision ever building a deck and wanting to slot in 4 for 2 bicon with an awkward ability. Sure, she might occasionally save a key character or card in hand from claim, but will you be able to recover from losing an extra power challenge?

Von Wibble – 1 out of 5

Decent early game, especially plot 1, but not very good at all late game, and not worth putting 3 in decks to increase the chances of seeing her early. This combined with the low strength and highish cost means I doubt she will see play. In a way I’d have prefered her to have printed strength 1, at least Septon Meribald could have let you get 2 uses from her then.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 2 out of 5

We’re at loggerheads here, with JC thinking this card is utter unplayable garbage while Istaril quite likes it, specifically for control decks early game that don’t yet have power on their faction card and need to protect their hand or key characters.

Todd M. – 3 out of 5 Tempted to give her a 4, but I think she is not a guaranteed play in many decks. I see her as most useful in decks like Bara where you have ways to take multiple power off of your opponent’s faction card or a deck that focuses on renown/character power rather than power claim as its way to push its win condition such as a Mace deck. She helps preserve your board state.

The Great Sept of Baelor The Great Sept of Baelor Neutral Location Plot deck limit: 3. King's Landing. The Seven. Bestow (3).

Reaction: After a character enters play, kneel The Great Sept of Baelor and discard 1 gold from it to treat that character’s printed text box as if it were blank (except for Traits) until the end of the round. Someone Always Tells #118 (1.4 Average)

scantrell24 – 2 out of 5

Like Seized by the Guard, I’m glad to have this option exist in the cardpool, but it feels at least half a gold too expensive to be a viable option. Unbridled Generosity and Favors from the Crown haven’t been enough to fuel Bestow decks.

Von Wibble – 1 out of 5

A silver bullet for Martell and Lannister ambushers? At that cost it simply isn’t good enough, in general the Begging Brother does a much better job.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 1 out of 5

Given the limited number of uses, the limited timing and bestow by definition costing money, and it’s mind-boggling to us that this costs 2 off the bat.

Jesse S. – 2 out of 5 I think there are plenty of cards this is relatively decent against, but my issue with it is it’s too expensive for the effect you’re getting. Also it’s perfectly capable of being controlled through a myriad of effects, and once you’ve used up your counters it does nothing for the rest of the game. Ultimately a bit too clunky, but may still see some play as a 1x.

Michael S. – 1 out of 5 I’ve always found bestow mechanics to be somewhat risky and costly. Gold is generally always tight. Unless you’re already winning, you generally don’t have a lot of gold to bestow onto cards. Bestowing more than 1 gold onto a card runs the risk of your opponent finding a way to remove the card from play before you can use all the gold. This card unfortunately competes with nightmares, but at higher cost and front loaded cost. Not only do you need to pay 2 gold to marshall which cannot be reduced by faction reducing location, but you also have to bestow 1 gold for each nightmare you wish to trigger. It’s too risky and too much of a tempo hit to bestow more than 1 gold, but if you only bestow 1 gold, then you are essentially paying 3 gold for the effect of nightmares on top of the location being essentially useless after the gold is spent. This card is also less flexible compared to nightmares since it’s effects is telegraphed and it doesn’t target locations.

The Seven-Pointed Star The Seven-Pointed Star Neutral Attachment Plot deck limit: 3. Item. The Seven. Attached character gains The Seven trait.

Marshaling Action: Kneel attached character to reduce the cost of the next The Seven card you marshal this phase by 2. Someone Always Tells #119 (2.8 Average)

scantrell24 – 3 out of 5

Should encourage more Faith Militant decks. Good for setup, as you can place it on a chud temporarily, kneel them to get your big guys out, then kill the chud and re-assign The Seven-Pointed Star.

Von Wibble – 2.5 out of 5

As an economy card it isn’t bad, placed on a1 cost reducer it doubles the effect after all. The key point about this card is the trait it grants though, and this is a key component of decks based around the Faith Militant Agenda. How good this card is will be largely determined by how well the agenda does.

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 3 out of 5

If The Seven is a thing, so is this. If not, it isn’t. The jury is still out. In any case, the name is misleading, because it sure isn’t the Star of this pack.

You Win or You Die You Win Or You Die Neutral Plot Income: 5. Initiative: 8. Claim: 2. Plot deck limit: 1. Scheme. When Revealed: Draw 2 cards. Someone Always Tells #120 (4.0 Average)

scantrell24 – 5 out of 5

We haven’t seen Draw and high initiative together on a plot until now with good reason. YWoYD basically renders Clash obsolete as a “closer”. Though if everyone plays this, Clash ironically becomes even better because the initiative on Clash is one higher.

Von Wibble – 4 out of 5

It will be hard to turn down this plot, especially as you can always use Counting Coppers or at least Time of Plenty as your next plot should you need it. Flea Bottom can also help get around the reserve, and Night’s Watch can always run reserve boosters. However, some decks need to consider that other finisher plots can still do more work for them with less risk. Martell have Gossip and Lies which has the same initiative and gives them a free challenge. Tyrell have Clash which has more initiative and effectively is a 2 claim plot on the challenge they are actually bothered about. Interesting to note that as a Scheme you can’t use Rains to get out of it – though you may want to use it to get 2 claim and 2 cards of course. Watch out for Valar the turn after using this!

The Quill & Tankard Curmudgeons – 4 out of 5

You Win or You Don’t. A thematic hit and mechanically very interesting too. We look forward to predicting Wraiths in Their Midst and playing this with no downside. It can be a go-to closer for a lot of decks, especially ones that can either double-down with another closer afterwards that works well with little to play (say, Rise of the Kraken) or can hold a recovery plot until afterwards (say, Counting Coppers). Throw in applications with Rains and actually being able to leverage the low reserve through Nagga’s Ribs, and this is a very solid plot all-round.

Todd M. – 4 out of 5 Super powerful closing plot. Strong econ, great init, 2 claim, and bonus draw. Follow this up with a low econ plot. Its not a 5 in that its situational when you can play it. You probably aren’t going to open with this or drop it turn 2 no matter how well set your board is as you will be left top decking the rest of the game. That said, I plan to have this and Rise of the Kraken both in my GJ decks for a while as I can easily see flipping this plot, and then once I should already have an established board the 2 gold on Rise won’t really bother me. I am unlikely to top deck a card I really have to play to close anyways on+ce I start the closing push.

Graham M. – 3 out of 5

The stats are bonkers, but the card name is true. Every tier 1 deck right now will spank an opponent who starts a turn without a hand. The plot slots most naturally into play-out-your-hand kill everything kinds of decks like Night’s Watch Brotherhood, but it doesn’t offer enough over something like Retaliation to push those decks into tier 1 or even tier 1.5. It could also be used as a finisher in Big Boy/Meatball Tyrell, Bara or Greyjoy or really any Wars decks that doesn’t expect to go to 10 plots. It could also potentially be used with double Counting Targ to really make your opponent’s life a living hell for a turn before refilling with Counting, but this seems strongest against the decks Targ is already strongest against and unhelpful in their weaker matchups. Keep your eye on this plot moving forward, though, I don’t think it will take a lot to break it.

Total Pack Average: 2.9

Top Cards:

Driftwood Cudgel 5.0

To Go Forward You Must Go Back 4.5

The Bastard of Nightsong 4.3

You Win or You Die 4.0

Bottom Cards:

Plot Against the Queen 1.3

Great Sept of Baelor 1.4

This Must Be Answered Fiercely 1.7

Mya Stone 1.8

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