Prince Oberyn's spear flashed like lightning and found the gap in the heavy plate, the joint under the arm. The point punched through mail and boiled leather. Gregor gave a choked grunt as the Domishman twisted his spear and yanked it free. “Elia. Say it! Elia of Dorne!”

–George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce Oberyn’s Revenge, the fifth Chapter Pack in the Blood and Gold cycle for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game!

Many lives were lost in Robert Baratheon’s bloody rebellion. Some, such as Rhaegar Targaryen, died in honorable combat on the field of battle. Others, like Elia Martell, were brutally slain at the hands of the conquering Lannister forces. For fifteen years, House Martell has held its thirst for vengeance in check, waiting with the utmost patience. And although the Red Viper’s duel with Ser Gregor Clegane ends in tragedy for House Martell, it is also the catalyst that sets Doran Martell’s plots in motion…

Oberyn’s Revenge, the fifth Chapter Pack in the Blood and Gold cycle, continues the major themes of the cycle and invites you to play out some of the most iconic moments from A Storm of Swords. Even as dark events and schemes unfold around you, you can use your gold and the new bestow keyword to gain new levels of control over the game. As new versions of the Red Viper and Bran Stark enter the game alongside characters like Irri and Ser Garlan Tyrell, your vengeance is about to become more vicious than ever before.

A Bloodthirsty Man

When the Red Viper arrived in King’s Landing to take Doran Martell’s place on the Small Council, Tyrion Lannister immediately recognized that there would be trouble between the lords of House Martell and the Tyrell forces already in the city. Yet if anything, Tyrion mistook the true danger. House Martell’s feud with the Tyrells was a simmering anger, but their hatred for House Lannister had been stoked to an inferno over the last fifteen years. Now, Oberyn’s Revenge offers a new version of the Red Viper for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game—one who can challenge your opponent with utter ruthlessness.

The Red Viper’s dangerous arrogance and consummate skill with arms is represented in the new version of this character. The Red Viper (Oberyn’s Revenge, 95) is a six-gold, five-STR character, who features all three icons and the renown keyword. With just those stats alone, The Red Viper is a competitive option for your Martell decks, but his ability is what truly sets him apart: “While The Red Viper is attacking, each defending character with fewer than 2 challenge icons does not contribute its STR to the challenge.”

The ability to simply ignore your opponent’s defenses unless those defending characters have at least two icons cannot be overestimated. Obviously, many characters have two or three icons, but when you combine The Red Viper with Attainted (The King’s Peace, 55), Condemned (No Middle Ground, 77), and Imprisoned (True Steel, 116), your opponent’s defenses quickly begin to crumble around them. You may even use Oberyn’s daughter, Nymeria Sand (The Road to Winterfell, 35) to threaten icon removal in the midst of challenges, forcing your opponent to overcommit if he plans to even oppose the challenge.

Of course, simply pushing a challenge through isn’t enough—there need to be rewards for doing so. The Red Viper’s unique influence on challenges can allow you to trigger powerful effects like Spearmaiden (For Family Honor, 55), Tears of Lys (Core Set, 44), or Doran's Game (Core Set, 119). But there can be other rewards as well—for example using a Dornish Paramour (Core Set, 111) to pull a character with one icon into the challenge, forcing it to kneel without counting its STR. Alternatively, you may decide that it’s time for some Dornish Revenge (Oberyn’s Revenge, 96).

With Dornish Revenge, you can pull your opponent’s characters into a fight they’d much rather avoid. By playing this event after you initiate a challenge, you can choose any character controlled by the defending player. That character must be declared as a defender for this challenge, if able, and if you win the challenge by five or more STR, your opponent must choose and kill a defending character!

In every game of A Game of Thrones: The Card Game, your opponent will carefully choose which challenges he leaves unopposed or which characters he chooses to defend with—especially if he’s focused on a defensive strategy like protecting The Wall (Core Set, 137). Dornish Revenge immediately takes this crucial choice out of the hands of your opponent and puts it in your domain. In many circumstances, you can actually put your opponent in a lose-lose situation. Perhaps you initiate your first challenge, and force your opponent to defend with a crucial character like Maester Aemon (Core Set, 125). Your opponent may be able to defend with enough STR to prevent you from killing Maester Aemon—but that only kneels out more of his forces and opens the door for other characters, such as Edric Dayne (Core Set, 106) to slip past his defenses. And, of course, Dornish Revenge is even more potent if The Red Viper is there to make sure single-icon characters won’t count their STR.

The Viper Strikes

You have bided your time, hiding in the grass, stoking the fires of your anger and your hatred—but now the sun is in the eyes of your enemy, and it’s time to strike.