“We do not Sow”

Welcome to our second Loyal House card analysis. This time we’ll be delving into House Greyjoy and all their salty glory. If you would like to read our previous article focusing on House Baratheon you may do so here. The first card up is my main man Balon Greyjoy.

Balon Greyjoy

Oh Balon, why do you have to be so good? Here’s another card that you just play and it’s fantastic; set it and forget it. Balon is extremely dangerous and will need to be dealt with immediately if your opponent has any hope of coming back. Milk of the Poppy and Tears of Lys will be thrown in tandem at him and I would also watch out for Daenerys sending a dragon his way. Normally the best cards (decks) in card games are ones that keep your opponent from actually playing the game or affect multiple cards by themselves, which Balon Greyjoy does in spades. If this wasn’t enough he also works extremely well with his children, ship and main event as well as any “win by 5” cards to put you ahead even further. Being a Lord and having Renown are also fantastic additions to this powerhouse and I don’t think Balon would be to remiss if he was Hand of the King.

Works Well With: Asha Greyjoy, Theon Greyjoy, Great Kraken, We Do Not Sow, Put to the Sword, Put to the Torch, The Targaryens

Watch Out For: Milk of the Poppy, Tears of Lys, Daenerys Targaryen, Dracarys!

Joust/Melee Ranking: 5/5

Art & Flavor

Sebastian Ciaffaglion brings us our first Greyjoy card. What are you doing Balon? You look very concerned about something in this picture. What are you burning? I’m sure everything will be fine. Balon’s ability could be interpreted in a few ways. One is that he’s on the Iron Islands and it’s very hard to attack him or that they’re a ship fairing house and they are able attack easier without there adversaries striking back at full strength or perhaps it’s based on the strategy he employed during his rebellion.

“I am the Greyjoy, Lord Reaper of Pyke, King of Salt and Rock, Son of the Sea Wind, and no man gives me a crown. I pay the iron price.” – Balon Greyjoy

Euron Crow’s Eye

By the Old Gods and the New! Let’s just gaze in awe at the top half of Euron for a moment…no not like that I meant his statistics! Remember in our Card Analysis Primer we put our foot down for what we demanded in a high cost character. Euron cost seven gold, has all three icons and only trades one Strength for three abilities, unlike our favorite Viper. I’m done, I don’t even need to read the abilities, and he is an auto include in any Loyal Greyjoy deck…

Fine I’ll go over his abilities too. He has Pillage and Renown just like any Raider who sits the Seastone Chair should have. I don’t like Pillage as an ability because it doesn’t really affect the board state in anyway, but since it’s needed to trigger his Reaction it needs to be taken into account along with it. In my opinion his Reaction isn’t the best but it’s not bad either. Stealing your opponent’s locations that will most assuredly happen due to Pillage and We Do Not Sow is good depending on what locations they have, but since the core is small you should end up with something good while denying it to your opponent. Please read Dominic’s article for location denial ideas with Euron Crow’s Eye.

Dominic says, “People will play a lot of one of cards making Pillage more effective.”

Works Well With: Put to the Torch, We Do Not Sow, Seal of the Hand, A Noble Cause

Joust/Melee Ranking: 5/5

Art & Flavor

JB Casacop brings us a very angry Euron Crow’s Eye, looks like he’s raiding some locations. Speaking of which, Euron has such a great text box for who he is. He has Renown because he sits the Seastone Chair, Pillage as any pirate should have and when he’s done pillaging you he steals your own land! This card has great art and flavor.

“The Crow’s Eye worships naught but his own pride.” –Aeron Damphair

Great Kraken

Balon Greyjoy needed to be better so we introduce you to his Warship, Great Kraken. Stealth is extremely strong, even more so on Balon as he negates all Strength under his. Sending Balon to attack and taking out the character that actually could go up against him is fantastic. Oh wait that wasn’t all Great Kraken does? It also has card draw on it, an ability that can close the game and it can be done twice per round! There isn’t much more so say about this card it’s absolutely amazing even at three gold.

Works Well With: Balon Greyjoy, Drowned Men

Joust/Melee Ranking: 5/5

Art & Flavor

Jacob Murray Brings us the Great Kraken. Nothing too amazing here, Great Kraken is just going to Pillage some lands. The abilities on Great Kraken evoke Balon’s Rebellion very well by giving him stealth as well as card draw, the wind at your sails to keep going, and power advantage, raiding your most vulnerable lands.

The Kraken’s Grasp

This cost zero? It’s a done deal; I’m playing three. Oh, I should read it? I’m still playing three. The Kraken’s Grasp is an amazing card and if it wasn’t for the first player restriction it would be down right pillaging. This card, to me, is the glue that holds House Greyjoy together. If they can’t do win on their own The Kraken’s Grasp has their back. Not only does it give you a huge swing it terms of winning challenges it also triggers the plethora of cards that need to win unopposed or win by five or more. The Kraken’s Grasp triggers so many cards in the game while also being amazing on its own.

Dominic Says, “I think ensuring you go first is a steep requirement that you can’t guarantee on the crucial turn you need it.”

Works Well With: Balon Greyjoy, Asha Greyjoy, Great Kraken, Theon Greyjoy, We Do Not Sow, Put to the Sword, Put to the Torch, Salty Navigator and other +1 Initiative cards

Watch Out For: The Hand’s Judgement – Free counter spell I shudder.

Joust Ranking: 5/5

Melee Ranking: 1/5 – Twenty five percent chance to go first, hmm.

Dominic’s Joust Ranking – 3/5

Art & Flavor

Tomasz Jedruszek brings us The Kraken’s Grasp. I love this art so much. Look its Victarion Greyjoy with his Kraken Helmet and plate mail! That guy almost got his face smashed in! Maybe he should have thrown that axe instead. The art syncs up with this cards effect so well. It doesn’t kill a guy but puts him off balance enough for you to win the battle anyway.

We Do Not Sow

Finally, here it is the Greyjoy’s motto. They don’t sow, but pay the iron price instead. It’s a one cost event that let’s you destroy some of the best and most annoying cards in the game. Milk of the Poppy will most likely be a three of in most decks making this already worth it in my opinion. On top of that it protects your heavy hitters, gives Euron targets and even puts their economy on tilt. You have to win a challenge unopposed but that shouldn’t be too much trouble.

Works Well With: Balon Greyjoy

Best Targets: Milk of the Poppy, Seal of the Hand, Little Bird

Joust/Melee Ranking: 5/5

Art & Flavor

Tomasz Jedruszek brings us the second Loyal Greyjoy event as well. Look at them not sowing; they’re actually doing quite the oppostie it seems. By the Old Gods and the New why are you burning that village!? Its fine, they probably deserved it.

Final Thoughts

And there you have it, Loyal Greyjoy. I believe this to be one of the better houses to choose as your main Faction. They have a healthy spread of icons; deal with multiple characters in combat, attachments and locations. They need to be relatively quick with their wins as you want to disrupt your opponents economy early and they need to go first to use one of their best cards but with the aforementioned and Balon I think you can work around some of their short comings. And remember to like, subscribe and comment with any ideas or opinions you may have.

Next article; “Hear me Roar!”. An analysis of loyal Lannister cards and why you would want to faction them.

39.931740 -75.300389