Worlds 29th Place: Targ Crossing 5.0

• Versions
• 5.0
• 4.0
• 3.0
• 2.0

Tweaked to beat Lanni after seeing 7 in the top 10 of the warmup tournament. After the real tourney, I don't think I'd change anything. The deck performed well.

Rd 1: vs Lanni Dragon by Darren from Wisconsin

After turn 1 marshalling, Darren had four characters on the table. I saw an opportunity and seized it, playing Crown and Dracarys, winning a military challenge to claim the chud, and then Marching Tywin to the Wall. Meanwhile my duped Rhaegal, Jhogo and Unsullied dissuaded Darren from ever playing First Snow. I steadily accumulated power and later Milked his Jaime and Mirri to seal the deal.

1-0

Rd 2: vs Tyrell Summer by Chris from Minnesota

The game started inauspiciously as my Counting Coppers was matched by Varys's Riddle. Chris marshalled The Arbor early, while I tried to steadily gain power past his Highgarden & Mare in Heat defense. During the mid-game, I survived a Varys trigger and Milked his good characters (KoF and Randyll) in the post-Varys rebuild. So Chris played a second Varys and popped him again, but I managed to emphasize power challenges and grind out a win after time was called.

2-0

Rd 3: vs Lanni Winter by Brad from Northern California

Calm over Westeros (a late addition to my deck) prevented a turn 1 FSoW blowout. I Milked his Gregor to slow down the power gain and prevent Casino kills, but later made the mistake of not using Dracarys on Brad's Rattleshirts Raiders, which then removed the Milk. I played Crown on a Brothel Madame, trying to setup a great Marched target, but Brad played around it correctly by not attacking and saving his military icons for defense.

2-1

Rd 4: vs Stark Crossing by Colby from Sacramento

I hit Trading with Summer Harvest on turn 1, but unfortunately chose to setup Littlefinger/Handmaiden rather than Jhogo/Dragon, so I didn't have LF to draw more cards to spend all that cash on. I did, however, kill LF for claim and use Funeral Pyre to draw 3. I had no way to stop 2 different Ice triggers, but the first only killed Rhaegal and the second killed a superfluous Khal Drogo. 2 claim military on my Winds of Winter turn followed by Marched cleared his board.

3-1

Rd 5: vs Lanni Winter by Eric from Northern California

I opened Summer Harvest vs Winter Festival, chose to be first player, and Milked Tywin before Eric could collect his income. A couple turns later I played Crown on Cersei, stole Bronn, Dracarys's a Rattleshirts, and Marched Tywin.

4-1

Rd 6: vs Stark Sun by Dan "Kidd" Seedfelt from Wisconsin

I had a good setup with Beggar King, and once again hit Trading with Summer Harvest. I Crowned his Arianne and forced Dan to use Bran early, cancelling Funeral Pyre. Without enough claim soak on his board, my turn 3 Winds of Winter + Khal Drogo combo did work.

5-1, if I win either of the next 2 games I make top 16

Rd 7: vs Night's Watch Fealty by Ryan Wood from England

Ryan saw Shadow Tower early, and that card wrecks Crossing decks by preventing the chump challenge. I hit low gold plots with both Summer Harvests (Here to Serve and Coppers) and struggled to win power challenges with the Crossing bonus just to stay relevant in the game. I saw both of my attachment removal cards early, but Ryan smartly waited until post-Wildfire to play Craven on Mirri. I fell just short of having enough strength to free her with Rattleshirts, and then my defeat became inevitable. My only good play was Nighmares + Crown on a duped Aemon, but it wasn't enough when Ryan had a fistful of cards to marshal to defend the Wall. This was the only game all day that I missed Confiscation.

5-2, if I win the next game I make top 16

Rd 8: vs Bara Watch by Lucas Sydlaske from Southern California

Lucas had Chamber + Throne on turn 1, and Red Keep on turn 2. He didn't marshall many characters, but two In the Name of Your King! events kept me from wiping his board. He also played 2 Seen in Flames, but the real blow to my hand was having Dracarys pulled for intrigue claim (the only one I would see all game). I had plenty of cards in hand thanks to Coppers and Funeral Pyre, but hardly saw any economy all game, so I had to select which characters to marshall extremely carefully. In the mid-game, I had a chance to blow the game open, but forgot to trigger my Rattleshirts to remove Craven from Mirri, and that mistake gave Lucas an opening to claw back in, winning a power challenge and continuing to trigger Chamber every turn. It turned out to be a game-deciding split-second of forgetfulness on my part.

5-3, I miss the top 16 and finish 29th

I'm still not over the last game, but I managed to forget it long enough to enjoy draft, watching the top 16, and hanging out with a great group of players. Going forward, I think there's a spot in this deck for 1 Barristan Selmy from the Lions box, maybe over the 2nd Unsullied or 2nd Jhogo. Let me know what you think or if you have any questions. Cheers.