(Martell) Bara - Yellow Sun

Card draw simulator
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Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
None yet.

Sojourne 1

TL;DR

“Yellow Sun” is a nod to a faction’s ability in Netrunner, that allowed lots of bouncing effects to hand while threatening violent punishment if the opponent was careless and made a move he or she should not have.

The concept of this deck is similar, and I think makes good use of the many cards the designers have put into Martell to support the idea of deadly punitive counterstrikes.

The central “puzzle” of this deck is knowing when to take hits when you can, while setting up favourable board states for The Red Viper or/ and (preferably), Doran’s Game .

Gauging when you have to take first player or not is especially significant here too as compared to other factions.

You have to aim to seal the game by the 5th or 6th round. Any longer and you will eventually lose to attrition while your tricks run out. Games tend to be close too as you will be letting in unopposed hits more often than usual. Grab power early as and when you can, to threaten Doran’s Game and to close out the game before you run out of steam.


Deck Backbones

Arianne always puts a unknown factor the opponent must always account for as long as you have cards in hand during the many phases of the game. She is a key utility card with many uses. More information further down.

Ghaston basically buys you time. Useful synergies with Heads on Spikes, and also with Seen In Flames. Seen also lets you know when is a good time to spike, or to set up for a spike with better chance to hit something.

In faction, Martell only has Viper as pseudo renown. Only use him to defend if you really must, and if you are able to get him out early, do not be afraid to keep swinging with him for small “renown” hits if you can.

Intrigue and Power plays should be your more common challenges with him. Hitting for intrigue over military even in the early game can even be better for your long game as it helps in knocking out The Hand’s Judgment or Treachery which can very effectively nullify your big Doran’s Game play or waste your 2g Ghaston Grey.

If you have the luxury, you can also swing for big military with the 2 cost-effective characters such as King’s Hunting Party and Areo Hotah.

Doran Martell is key for Insight. Martell desperately needs draw, and every bit helps. Sorry Greenblood Trader, 2g is too much for you in this deck. Expect Doran to be a Poppy and Dracarys! magnet so be careful.

Do not be greedy, if you can hit early for 2-3 power, do it. Do not let it sit in hand for too long. At the very least, it uses an opposing The Hand’s Judgment or Bran Stark so you can hit for a bigger Doran’s Game later. Hopefully.

If Catelyn Stark is around, save a Confinement or Milk of the Poppy for her.

  • The Bara package

Melisandre and her friends buy you time, and Seen In Flames is especially useful by itself, even without the synergies mentioned above. Likewise, Confinement along with r’hllor kneel can be used offensively to set up your Doran’s Game play or big Viper hit.

Maester Cressen also helps to remove opposing Little Birds, to make life easier for Doran Martell’s Insight or Game to trigger.

2x King’s Hunting Party can help stem big military threats such as Ser Jaime Lannister and/or Khal Drogo. They are great targets for Arianne Martell’s ability too to swing a military challenge your way. Furthermore, they can also provide additional cost-effective strength count to The Red Viper if you find an opportunity to swing for a big military hit.


Plots

Your Lord and Ladies, multiple Ghaston Greys and Seal of the Hand are gold hungry, Thus your plots tend to be on the richer side. A second Seal is necessary in this deck, as The Red Viper is understandably a targeted kneel magnet.

Calling the Banners is great because it has a decent initiative value too, so you can choose to go second when Sunspear is out. Same logic with Sneak Attack, good gold, and can be used both offensively and very defensively with a Sunspear out as second player.

You can afford to Wildfire Assault if things really get out of hand in certain match-ups. Prioritize Arianne, Doran and the Viper over the others, especially late game when Doran can make the other 2 monsters.

Calm Over Westeros is no Jesus Howard, but it can somewhat buy you time especially if you drew a poor set-up.

Counting Coppers is desperately needed for draw power such as to get options for Arianne’s ability, Doran’s Game when the time is ripe, and also nicely gives you enough gold by itself to drop a Ghaston Grey which can help you buy time in the turn you drop Coppers.

One possibility is switching out Calm Over Westeros for a Confiscation. Yes you have 3 Maester Cressen for Poppy control, but sometimes accidents happen and the plot gets rid of problematic opposing attachments too.


Arianne Tricks

  • Unexpected challenges

The most obvious use of Arianne is to allow you to hit for challenges that are not readily apparent from your board state even when she herself is knelt, Or to oppose challenges that you judge have to be opposed. Characters brought in by her can’t be stealthed past too.

  • Unexpected strength count

Arianne can swing a critical challenge your way if really needed, or to bring in more strength for The Red Viper hits. Areo Hotah is an obvious target, and can set up a big Viper or Game hit.

  • Discount on non-Martell characters

Especially so when you have Blood Orange Groves and Desert Scavengers out. Yes, you don’t get to trigger Melisandre’s nor Littlefinger’s reaction abilities, but those 2 are still good by themselves and can sometimes provide a more relevant ability that you need. I like to switch her out for Littlefinger just before the dominance phase to help in dominance control, and to give 1g next turn if I deem that those are more important than his 2 draw reaction.


Possible Edits

With Take The Black just out, you can try switching out 1 or more House Dayne Knights for Bastard Daughters. Maybe over 1 copy of Obara Sand too. While knocking cards out of the opponent’s hand is mostly always useful, it is especially relevant in this deck due to The Hand’s Judgment and Treachery threats. Can help with getting a Heads on Spikes hit too.

Not sure about The Long Plan yet in this deck. Yes you are going to let through more challenges than usual, but I am not sure what plot to take out for it. Calm Over Westeros maybe?

Can possibly also try Here to Serve and reducing Cressen and Caleotte duplicates. Not sure though, due to the card’s low initiative and gold values. Have to test.

Wildling Horde is possibly a good add. Perhaps over 1 copy of Littlefinger. Can be cheated in by Arianne Martell , and is cost effective too to help The Red Viper hits.

Put to the Torch instead of Tears of Lys. Winning military big is decently possible in this deck, and things like Highgarden, The Red Keep and Great Kraken can be really annoying. With The Seastone Chair now around, this could be even more important. I still like Tears of Lys here though, it’s a good one-of that goes well with your more frequent intrigue hits.

Your thoughts, and comments, are welcome!

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