Bara-NW Dominance 1.0

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• 1.0

Nice deck. What’s the point of going Baratheon loyal instead of Watch? I see only Robert and the Consolidation in the mix. Wouldn’t it be better to go Watch and include the small NW people in order to benefit from the Wall?

@HidaHayabusa I see another card: The Red Keep. They say it’s pretty good. ;)

The Red Keep is critical. Building NW as main, you could use the Messenger Raven which is also good, but the STR boost to power challenges makes a big difference. Not giving up power to your opponent is mission critical to the deck.

I like that you included some strategy tips. I’m curious: would you Mulligan a five card setup without either Mel or The Red Keep?

I would almost always keep a 5 card setup as long as I’m not leaving one big character out there alone. If you look at your 5 card setup and don’t feel scared of Marched to the Wall then it’s definitely a keeper.

Yep missed the Keep. Usually I am not including more than a 2 or 3 cost location, so I saw the Wall and stopped there. Thanks for the answers.

I am about to take this in a Targaryen heavy tournament. How do you manage them? Wait for a key Fortified Position?

Power challenges become even more important; you definitely can’t let them activate Plaza of Punishment. Watch out for #Dracarys. If you sense one coming, it’s okay to overcommit on defense. Keep Daenerys Targaryen knelt as much as possible to starve their draw. You should have a much stronger late game.

Thanks for the response.

Update - this deck won Chicago Winter kit tourney, 21 person field. 4-0 in Swiss v NW-Wolf, NW-Fealty, Targ-Sun, and Bara-Kraken. Cut was just top 2 due to time constraints. Beat the Bara-Kraken deck in the finals. Can do a more complete report if there’s enough interest.

I would like to read your report @ClunarX like your deck. I am currently running a Watch/wolf deck kind of control but i see more control on yours so i´m very interested on how you did at the tourney. Regards

My first 2 games against NW were very favorable to me. The advantage on power challenges is critical. You just can’t afford to lose power challenges if you’re not contesting the board.

The Targaryen game was a brutal struggle that went to time. Between Tears of Lys and Dracarys! I lost Melisandre, Varys, and Robert Baratheon. Dornish Paramour makes it really difficult to dodge the hard removal. I was also facing Daenerys Targaryen and all 3 hatchlings. That said, I kept her knelt or blank with my plots which let me own power challenges and card advantage. I even got to 15 power in the last round.

My last 2 games against Tommy of the Chicago meta had me pretty concerned. He’s a great player that had my number throughout first edition. Also his deck included Greyjoy, which is the biggest headache for my deck.

Game 1 I mulliganed into a 1 character setup of Benjen Stark duped with a couple locations. I wanted to see him, but was worried about Marched to the Wall. Thankfully he didn’t play it. We played a long game with me keeping Asha Greyjoy knelt.

Game 2 I carried 2 major deck knowledge advantages from game 1. I knew he was playing Milk of the Poppy but not Marched. This meant I was pretty happy setting up Mel by herself with Maester Cressen in my hand. His turn 1 Milk ends up being a waste. That basically decided the game.

Sorry I don’t have more details; it’s been too long for me to remember. The last game was recorded but I’m yet to find it online.

I use a baratheon banner of the watch for a while. You deck gave me some nice inspiration, i will replace my wildfire with call of the banner I think.

I am still skeptical about Varys. Was it very useful ?

I like him a lot. He gives you a chance to comeback in otherwise hopeless cases where you’re being crushed by military claim.

But really he’s great in a close board state too. He forces your opponent to hold cards back while he can push through intrigue challenges; a great catch 22.

Ultimately, he’s a meta call though. If your meta is running a lot of big characters with dupes then you could swap him out for Milk of the Poppy. In that case, I’d cut a Consolidation of Power so that you can run a full play set.

This deck looks very nice, I decided to run it. I’m also unconvinced by Varys, are you sure Stannis wouldn’t work better? He gives value all the time while Varys is situational - or am I wrong since I haven’t played yet.

I’ve not actually tested Stannis Baratheon, so there might be something there. My instinct is that he’s bad for the deck since it usually needs 2 or more characters to do the job of 1 larger character.

If you’re taking the deck to a game night, I’d love to hear how he performs, but if you don’t have time for test games, I’d stick with Varys.

Thanks for quick reply. I will try Stannis Baratheon then. Another (obvious) reason: synergy between him and Robert Baratheon.

Stannis is far better than Varys, because he is easier to play (Noble Cause, Dragonstone Port and Faithfuls) plus he is forcing the opponent to think twice before overcommiting in a challenge because your style of play can easily be to stand back and gather power by dominance and the Wall. Varys would be amazing if you had more uniques to save with duplicates, right now I think he is quite a risk to take and play.

My instinct is that Stannis would 100% backfire for the deck. If one of the characters your opponent stands has stealth and you can only stand two you could be kind of hosed. The deck like big board states with lots of characters. Varys is only to be used in absolute emergencies.

Stannis can work with the ‘sit back and let the wall do the job’ strategy. And since we are talking about replacing Varys, I think that Varys is quite risky to play in a field where every second deck runs 3 Treacheries.

That’s going to be very different from one meta to another. Varys is a lot less sexy in a Lanni heavy meta, so then maybe you cut him. He is however a great emergency valve in most match ups. Against Lanni, I normally try to hold back The Hand’s Judgment before I use Varys. I rarely find a Lanni player that’s willing to sit 2 Treachery given how many targets it has in this deck.

I can’t see a current meta not being Lanni heavy. Looking at most results, people love the faction, and the Hound just made it better. The thing with Varys is, as you mention, that he is an emergency valves, and emergency valves can’t be used under conditions. They need to do the job at the point you need them. If you are waiting for the turn that you will go second (avoid Poppy), hold gold for Varys and also hold gold for Hand’s judgement to work around Treachery, then we are talking about really special situations. Also don’t forget that Lannisters also have access to Hand’s judgement :)

Ok so here’s the thing, the worst case scenario with Varys is that you’re in a situation where you’re going to lose the game and you’re playing against Lannister and they have a good left and they have treachery and they cancel your Varys. So at worst he’s simply not saving you from a game you were already losing. Stannis on the other hand can actually actively work against your own deck and prevent you from triggering the wall or the Red Keep because you didn’t have the necessary characters standing. Especially if your opponent has more stand tech which is not hard considering this deck has none.

Then how about 2 Renly Baratheon instead of either Stannis or Varys.

I think I’d say +1 Benjen and 1 either little finger or Renly

Howdy, a few questions if I may (and if you’re still reading this). This deck is something i’ve been working on. My list is almost the same but slightly different.

Why only 2 Robert? Why only 7 limited? Why 3 builders? Would something else not be better with 2 icons or do you need them for the higher power strength? Would a second calling the banners not be better than the ANC due to you having very few targets to use with it? It also potentially gives you better leverage on a turn where you need to play one of your expensive locations. I’m not sure about Varys. From my experience you’re playing a lot of characters to overwhelm your opponent and not lose that unopposed. Varys is surely detrimental to your strategy because surely having more characters is better than none. Especially in a deck that runs few dupes.

Cheers, and thanks for the list, i’ll use it to refine my lise.

Hi Bambi,

That’s a lot of good questions!

Robert Baratheon is a great card, but a lot of his value is tied to going first. He usually just becomes a big defender. Still good but not pivotal but not 3x.

7 limited feels sufficient after extensive testing. If you swap out a lower cost character for a bigger one, you might want a 3rd The Kingsroad.

Veteran Builder helps a lot for holding The Red Keep. If you wanted to make the deck more focused on The Wall, then a bicon would be better. This build won’t usually play the wall until at least round 3 as more of a closer.

Calling the Banners is better than A Noble Cause but not enough to cut out 1 Filthy Accusations.

Varys has been pretty controversial in the deck. Overall I’ve been happy with him but if your meta plays a lot of dupes, he’s probably a good cut. definitely a meta call.

Like my mate Patrick said Benjen Stark and Littlefinger are both potential changes.

The new bastard coming out definitely will need a home in the deck, Varys could be a cut for him.