Defending (Slightly) Quicker - Top 8 Australian Kingsmoot 4.0

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Hey guys,

Here is the deck that I piloted to 6th place in the swiss of the Australian Kingsmoot event. We had 30 players, and I ended up going 4-1. Unfortunately I had to drop before participating in the top 8 due to needing to go to a friends engagement party.

So the differences from my previous iteration of the deck:

Plots

-1 Fortified Position: With the introduction of Valar Morghulis and the Shadow Tower Mason, this plot was just not what it used to be in terms of a control piece. Blanking our best chud... Not good!

-1 Wildfire Assault: Valar Morghulis all the way, now that we have Craster to survive it and Qhorin Halfhand to keep their board small after the reset.

+1 Valar Morghulis: This is just so good for Nights Watch...

+1 Trading with the Pentoshi: So while the cost curve has definitely increased for Nights Watch decks, I was just far too in love with double Counting Coppers and the synergy it has with Old Forest Hunter. I wasn't having any trouble finding my economy pieces either with all the card draw, and if I needed an early boost Trading with the Pentoshi just really helped.

I was, and am, super happy with my plot line up and honestly I don't think I would change a thing at this point. It certainly requires a little more micromanaging and you sometimes need to make tough decisions with your Old Forest Hunter, but it runs really smoothly.

Characters

-1 Arry: I just found that two wasn't necessary anymore, as a dupe doesn't really ever need to get taken for claim and before the Valar you can jump her back to hand anyway.

-1 Dolorous Edd: This is a little controversial as he's such a good card, but I was just constantly using Fealty to get out a Messenger Raven once I had one in hand. As soon as I saw him, I usually knew that I was in a good position to rebuild after a Valar Morghulis. In fact, on the day of the tournament I only really used him on the turn I used Valar Morghulis and would just not jump him back to hand. So he was less of a trick, more of a solid body used to repopulate after a board wipe.

-2 Halder: I think Halder is a total meta call; at the moment the local scene doesn't have a lot of Targaryen, so getting things out of burn range just isn't as important. I cut two copies of him to make room for Craster and Qhorin Halfhand, but with the new cycle introducing a lot more burn, he may need to be put back in.

-1 Ser Waymar Royce: Solid body, but I also have taken out The Watcher on the Walls, so I wasn't in need of as many ranger cards. Qhorin Halfhand just needed 3 copies.

-1 Sweet Donnel Hill: Again, a solid body and great with a Practice Blade attached to him, but for the other cards that have been released he was one of the first to be cut.

-2 Thoren Smallwood: I tried him as a 1x, and then just dropped him altogether. He's great, but I didn't need more military icons and I didn't really often get to use his ability unless you drop down Dolorous Edd, which as I've previously stated has been increasingly less useful as a surprise and more useful as a rebuilding element.

-3 Veteran Builder: With The Haunted Forest, standing the wall just wasn't as important. I cut this for Sworn Brother.

+2 Craster: This guy is an absolute unit. Love the ability to use Valar Morghulis offensively, and with a Practice Blade attached he can also be a huge body. I don't often use his ability, but I often use an aggressive Valar Morghulis, so keeping him around is just great.

+3 Qhorin Halfhand: The man, the myth, the legend. I've often called him the most reliable source of Renown in the game - you cant put a Craven or Milk of the Poppy on him, which is just ridiculous. Combined with a killer ability which really synergises nicely with Valar Morghulis, he's just so incredible for Nights Watch.

+3 Shadow Tower Mason: These guys need no explanation. Just absolutely insane.

+2 Sworn Brother: With the increased cost curve and the fact that I'm keeping double Counting Coppers, these guys have proved really really useful. I've found that 2x is fine, and that 3x is too many. The power icon is welcome and they're another good target for Practice Blade, but their ability is just really decent.

Attachments

+1 Longclaw: Nights Watch has become such a force in the meta, and obviously everyone will be playing Qhorin Halfhand, so I figured that I just needed another character with Renown to slightly outpace my opponent in the mirror match. It proved really useful in 4/5 matches during the swiss rounds, and not just against Nights Watch mirror matches. Big power swings with Qhorin Halfhand and a Ranging Party with a Longclaw attached is just really useful on both attack and defence. I'm also not playing any plots that provide additional passive power gain in favour of extra card draw, so that was another reason to include this attachment.

Locations

+2 The Haunted Forest: Yes, I only have 2 of these in my deck. Crazy, right? With all the card draw you usually see a single copy, and I've found that's all I ever really need. Multiple is nice to provide extra strength on the defence, but if you lose they all kneel anyway. I cut a single one of these to put in Longclaw.

Events

-1 The Hand's Judgment: I cut 1x for another copy of Nightmares, but I'm really contemplating trying to find room for a 3rd copy. Nightmares is really popular these days.

+1 Nightmares: This wins games.

So with that, onto the matches!

Match 1, Nights Watch/Banner of the Stag (Win): This was a really great game. I can't quite remember my setup, but I know it included The Iron Throne which was massive in turning off my opponents Chamber of the Painted Table. Consistently winning dominance combined with a Ranging Party that had Longclaw attached just allowed me to outpace my opponent. This was another match that really proved that Longclaw was useful - I drew down to 28 cards, and all 3 copies of The Wall were in the bottom 20 cards of my deck.

Match 2, Nights Watch/Winter (Win): Super close game against a great player in Sydney. He didn't have a great icon spread on setup, with White Tree, Maester Aemon (Core) and Samwell Tarly (Core). My setup was The Wall, Castle Black, The Roseroad and a Messenger Raven. I had a few big units in my hand early, and really contemplated using Trading with the Pentoshi to get some extra bodies out to defend the wall, but I knew my opponent would open with Wraiths in Their Midst so I ultimately ended up using Counting Coppers as my opening plot. All I got out in the first turn was The Kingsroad, and I knelt Fealty for a second Messenger Raven. I wasn't able to defend The Wall, but as my second plot was Here to Serve I was able to rebuild my board with a Ranging Party, which turned the tide slightly in my favour. The game culminated in a double claim plot played by my opponent, followed by a Valar Morghulis into my Trading with the Pentoshi. The 0 claim on the Valar Morghulis basically lost him the game, as he had Qhorin Halfhand and #Ghost on the board, which meant while he could kill a character with Qhorin Halfhand, I would still have a single chud on the board which allowed me to not only trigger The Wall but also get an unopposed challenge.

Match 3, Tyrell/Banner of the Stag (Loss): This was an absolute white wash. My opponent setup The Arbor, Chamber of the Painted Table and The Iron Throne, which promptly proved too much for me. I drew all my tools and tricks, but Melisandre (Core) kneeling whatever needed to be knelt to win dominance combined with some huge renown swings on power... Too much!

Match 4, Lannister/Banner of the Stag (Win): I pretty much had a god hand in this game. My setup was The Wall, The Haunted Forest, The Roseroad and an Old Forest Hunter, with a Craven, Milk of the Poppy and Ranging Party in hand. My opponent setup Ser Jaime Lannister (Core), a reducer and then marshalled Tyrion Lannister (Core). A turn later Ser Jaime Lannister (Core) was a Craven and Tyrion Lannister (Core) was drinking Milk of the Poppy, and I just ran away with the game. I also got Craster out early which allowed me to aggressively play Valar Morghulis, which was a complete board wipe. I believe my opponent either got quite unlucky with draw or was just waiting until he had all three copies of Melisandre (Core) before she was marshalled, but sometimes when the Nights Watch train gets rolling it can just be too hard to stop.

Match 5, Lannister/Fealty (Win): A classic Lannister Jumpers deck, which I not only love playing against, but adore watching in action. Harrenhal (FFH), I Never Bet Against My Family and Hear Me Roar! were all used in combination with clansmen cards and Tyrion Lannister (LoCR), but my opponent was never able to completely clear my board and an early and aggressive Valar Morghulis proved to be too much.

All in all a smashing day, but unfortunately I wasn't able to compete in the top cut due to needing to leave early. My first match would've been against a Nights Watch/Winter deck that made the most of Halder and stacks of attachments. Not sure how this would've gone, but I guess we'll never know!

Cheers to all my opponents, and big thanks to the event organisers!