Nightmares in the Crypt - 5th Bristol Regional (41 players)

Card draw simulator
Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Scrappy Dogs - 9/3 GNK & Regional weekend 1 1 0 1.0

Ryan4815 1280

This is the deck I took to 5th place at the Bristol Regional on the 7th May. There were 41 players and 5 rounds before a cut to top 8.

W vs Greyjoy Crossing

W vs Lanni Crossing

L vs Stark Fealty

W vs Martell/Watch

W vs Baratheon/Kraken

L vs Stark Fealty (Top 8)

The deck takes a lot of the denial that Stark have received recently and combines it with my old first edition favourite Nightmares to control the flow of the challenge phase. Yes the list I took was 62 cards - it most certainly needs to be refined a little, but I wanted to test out the Winterfell Crypt and Nightmares so upped both cards by a copy to make sure I saw them on the day.

My only losses all day were to the fellow Stark/Fealty deck I collaborated on with tomdidiot. It was incredibly annoying that we had to face each other (twice), knowing the intricacies and differences of each others deck (e.g. I set up one character knowing he was not running Marched to the Wall). Sadly in both games he drew significantly better than me early on and I could not keep up. His list can be found here: https://thronesdb.com/decklist/view/4450/not-so-blackfish-voltron-top-4-bristol-regional-1.0

Tourney report is below, certain matches I remember in more detail.

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Round 1: Ad S - Greyjoy Crossing (W) 1-0

I gambled hugely in this opening game, keeping a setup hand of duped Winterfell and The Roseroad. Insanity right? Well the remainder of my hand was two The Kingsroad, Robb Stark and Grey Wind. If I could get them all out quickly and play around any GJ tricks with Wintefell I thought I'd be okay.

My opponent setup three characters, a boat and some econ. My board certainly looked very lonely in comparison. I flipped Calm Over Westeros to his A Noble Cause. Balon Greyjoy and The Seastone Chair appeared and I played the Kingsroad and Greywind only, gambling on no Marched next turn. Winterfell stopped Seastone and GW retaliated for a 2 claim challenge thanks to Winter Is Coming.

Next turn I flipped my own Noble and was relieved to see no Marched opposite (Ad later told me he removed the plot just before the event!). I was able to play some chud, Bran Stark, Robb and Jon Snow on this turn, stabilising considerably. Fishwhiskers and yet more chud appeared on the opposite side. Greywind started chomping on Iron Islands Fishmonger and Lordsport Shipwright while Robb and Jon focused on defending and attacking challenges respectively. I managed to get the board down to one Fishmonger, Balon and Fishwhiskers.

The next round was my favourite of the day. I played A Time For Wolves and went first. I believe I searched for Summer here to recover a killed Bran. GW ate the fishmonger, the military took a Salty Navigator. I passed to Ad with Fishwhiskers and Balon standing. With my winter plot revealed Fishwiskers was activated and initialised a military challenge. This is where I used Jon to Sac Bran, stand my entire board and eat Fishy with Grey Wind - The Lord of the Crossing and its -1Str took him into chomping range. A stunned Ad was put out of his misery when I Marched Balon the following turn.

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Round 2: Hugo H - Lanni Crossing (W) 2-0

Early Ice, Crypts, Robb and Grey Wind wiped out most of Hugo's board until a lonely Tywin Lannister remained. Marched took care of him, and the game was pretty much decided there.

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Round 3: Tagore N - Stark Fealty (L) 2-1

The dreaded match with a friend made even worse by it being a mirror match. Tagore setup all three stewards and a Roseroad effectively allowing him to play every card he drew. I on the other hand saw no economy of any kind all game. I played super defensively, so that he did not win until plot 7, however the game was decided early on.

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Round 4: Kevin J - Martell/Watch (W) 3-1

Kev and I had travelled up on the train together, and actually played this game a few times on the way. We knew it was a very favourable matchup for me If I saw enough kill early to destroy his board. And that's what happened. Kevin never really got his board position cemented, even if he did see The Wall and The Boneway early on.

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Round 5: Keb F - Bara/Kraken (W) 4-1

This game was incredibly even throughout the first four or so rounds and then sadly flipped entirely in my favour when Keb made a mistake. We both started well, with Melisandre and Stannis Baratheon on Keb's side and Robb (alongside chud) on my own.

Robb got milked, but I was able to wittle down the board with a WiC forcing Keb to discard duped Stannis (chosen over Mel) on the Marched that followed on plot 2. I played an Ice on Robb, but he was then knelt.

Power levels rose evenly over the next few rounds, with Robb remaining knelt. Then Robert Baratheon with Lightbringer appeared. I flipped Confiscation, knowing I had to get rid of the Milk of the Poppy on Robb and start to stand my board against Fat Bob. Unfortunately Keb forgot this, and after using Robert on a challenge (keeping him stood up thanks to Lightbringer) and Stannis on the next, I was able to kill a chud and stand my entire board. This allowed Robb to swiftly execute Robert with Ice much to Keb's dismay. The Long Winter next turn killed Mel and the newly marshalled third copy of Stannis, thanks to Winterfell preventing the use of Iron Mines.

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Top 8: Tagore N - Stark Fealty (L)

Very irritatingly, Tagore and I were paired up in the top 8 so had to face each other yet again. This game was even worse than the previous, with Tagore having 3 Winter is Coming and 2 Ice triggered by the end of the second challenge phase. The rest of my board was soon wiped out and Tagore progressed onto the top 4.

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Thanks to all my opponents for the great games, Excelsior for hosting the event and Liam Hall for being a fantastic TO.

2 comments

JoePerson 499

Did Nightmares earn its spot? How do you find it compares to Milk in the same slot?

I've found Crypts to be one of my favourite Stark cards right now, are you sticking at two? I have been running three and always happy to see it.

Ryan4815 1280

Nightmares was mainly added as further tech against Mirri decks - alas I did not encounter Mirri all day. Still it was useful to stop Balon and Robert from going to town and Arriane and the Hound from returning to hand.

I prefer it over Milk for the surprise element (say they have committed Balon and kept 2 gold for Put, then you ruin their plans).

I think 2 crypts is the right number, as in most games it seems to just act as a deterrent and stops them attacking you when its on the board. If it worked with Tears it would be 3 copies.