NW Rains - SG Regionals Winner 7-1 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Agenda Choice

"The Rains of Castamere" was never intended to be the main concept of the deck. As a Wall player, I absolutely hated it when my opponents did challenges with 1/2 STR chuds in an attempt to get at least one UO through. At least with Rains, they would have to think twice before poking an challenge.

Fealty didn't suit my deck with only 8 loyal cards so it was definitely out of the question.

Kings of Summer & Kings of Winter both imposed strict limitations on plot choice which I didn't like hence Rains seemed to the natural choice.

Plot Choice

Building Orders: Quite a handful of players currently run Counting Coppers because of the increased card draw but I preferred Building Orders are the flexibility and certainty it provided. The ability to search for The Wall, economy and Craven/Milk of the Poppy is much better than Counting Coppers which may draw you cards that you don't need in the situation.

The Fire That Burns and For the Watch!: the MVP plots of the deck. Many decks pack at least 1 closing plot (Wardens of the North, Rise of the Kraken etc). If you are able to predict when your opponent intends to play these plots, countering with either plot of your own can set them back significantly.

The worst case scenario is that both of you pass challenges and you get power from the Wall. The best case scenario could be that they go all in so as to not waste their plot and you swing back with The Red Wedding by triggering Rains.

The deck has notably less icons than other Rains decks I've seen so in most games I actually fail to trigger Rains as often as other decks. However, at the end of the day this deck is a Wall deck so triggering Rains when it matters the most is whats important. Additionally, I packed more icons in the deck because I felt being able to successfully defend challenges was what's important.

Tourney report:

Day 1: 5-Round Swiss

Round 1 vs Fealty (Benjamin Soh): W 1-0

He had a good setup with a duped Khal Drogo, a chud and a Roseroad. I started with Qhorin Halfhand, 2 chuds and a Roseroad.

I flipped Here to Serve against his Retaliation. However, a Dragonglass Dagger on Qhorin prevented him from winning 2 challenges. With Maester Aemon (Core) on the board, he failed to damage my board significantly.

On the second plot, I flipped Building Orders to take The Wall and drew into a second dagger and Castle Black. From there on out, a double dagger Qhorin prevented him from getting any challenges through and I took the win with the Wall.

Round 2 vs Fealty (Putri Irawan): W 2-0

I set up Jon Snow (WotW), Messenger Raven and a Roseroad. She unfortunately saw a bad set up with just Grey Wind and a Roseroad.

We both flipped Here to Serve. I took Maester Aemon (Core) (surprise surprise) and she took Maester Luwin. I marshalled The Wall whilst she dropped Arya Stark (Core) and milked Jon. A 7 STR challenge with Jon allowed me to trigger Rains and flip A Game of Thrones and keep the Wall standing.

Plot 2 I flipped The Fire That Burns against her A Noble Cause making her go first. She dropped a duped Eddard Stark (WotN) whilst I played Ranging Party and Ser Waymar Royce for more icons. During challenges, she completely forgot about my plot and the STR from the Wall. She went all in for a challenge but still lost. I triggered Rains and flipped The Red Wedding, subsequently killing off the duped Fast Eddie in the and challenges. This forced her Valar Morghulis next plot but with superior board presence and economy, the Wall and dominance took the game for me.

Round 3 vs Banner of the Rose (Chris Choy): W 3-0

Ahh the infamous One-Punch Man deck as we call it here. This game was fairly straight forward because I saved my The Hand's Judgment for his You Murdered Her Children and without the combo, he conceded.

Round 4 vs The Lord of the Crossing (Martin): L 3-1

Martin is my current nemesis. I think I've lost at least 4 official games against him by now so I knew this was going to be a tough match.

I opened Here to Serve against his Varys's Riddle which unfortunately fetched him Maester Wendamyr which gave him the icon + stealth he needed for UO.

Economy was really tight for me this game as I only saw a single Kingsroad. To make matters worse, Martin managed to We Do Not Sow my Wall on turn 1. Even after seeing 2 Craven and 1 Milk of the Poppy I failed to slow him down as I lacked the gold to maintain a good board presence.

With his 2 Winter Festival he rushed incredibly quickly and closed out of the game with 2 power from Heads on Spikes.

Round 5 vs The Lord of the Crossing (Jia Hui): W 4-1

Jia Hui saw a really bad setup of Crow Killers, Plaza of Pride and a chud. I setup a Recruiter for the Watch, chuds and some economy.

I flipped Here to Serve to get Maester Aemon (Core) but unfortunately his Heads on Spikes hit Jon Snow (WotW) (Ouch!). I even had 3 copies in my hand so it hurt me quite a bit.

Turn 1 I managed to drop The Wall while he got out Slaver's Bay Port and Strong Belwas. Nothing much happened for the first plot.

Plot 2 he flipped Winter Festival while I played Building Orders to find The Haunted Forest. He marshalled Khal Drogo against my Ranging Party and The Haunted Forest. Plaza of Pride coupled with Renown on Drogo managed to slingshot him to 9 power.

I had a feeling he would attempt to close the next plot hence flipped The Fire That Burns. Sure enough, he flipped his second Festival and marshalled Daenerys Targaryen. I purposely marshalled multiple chuds and kept my big characters in my hand to bait him into going all in. He thought he could close with power from Winter Festival, renown and Crossing hence went all in. I swung back with The Red Wedding by triggering Rains, killing both Dany and Drogo. Without the power from renown, he failed to close. From then on out, my superior board presence got me the win.

Day 2: Top 8 Cut

Top 8 vs "The Rains of Castamere" (Kenn): W 5-1

I was really excited to face GJ Rains because I was expecting Varys to appear (Using Red Wedding to kill Varys is immensely satisfying). Unfortunately, Varys didn't come out of the shadows for the whole game.

Kenn setup Asha Greyjoy, Priest of the Drowned God and an Iron Fleet Scout. I setup Recruiter for the Watch, Ser Denys Mallister and a Roseroad.

I flipped Trading with the Pentoshi against his A Noble Cause making him go first. He marshalled Aeron Damphair (TIMC) and Rattleshirt's Raiders. I cravened Asha and marshalled Qhorin, a reducer and a practice blade. I could have played The Wall out first turn but I thought I could successfully prevent his Rains trigger without the STR boost from the Wall. Unfortunately I forgot about the STR boost from Priest of the Drowned God. He successfully flipped Filthy Accusations to kneel Qhorin to prevent me from killing his Raiders.

However, I flipped Retaliation plot 2 and brought out Jon Snow (WotW). He made a mistake by going all in on a challenge which I won with both Jon & Qhorin, killing Raiders with Qhorin. I restood Qhorin and Jon and went in for a 2 claim challenge.

Expecting the board reset from him, I flipped Here to Serve to counter and sure enough he played Valar Morghulis. I went first to fish out Maester Aemon (Core) to save Jon. Though Jon was knelt by Aeron, his board was completely wiped because he saw no saves. I marshalled Ser Waymar Royce against his Theon Greyjoy (Core). I went in with a challenge with Waymar. He defended with 4 STR thanks to the fleet scout but I ambushed in a practice blade to kill Theon.

Plot 4 I brought out the Wall and took the win before my last plot (Valar).

Top 4 vs Fealty (CK): W 6-1

CK is our resident Stark player here in SG so I knew this was going to be an intense match as well.

He setup Jory Cassel, Jeyne Westerling and a Roseroad. I setup 2 Ranging Party and a Roseroad of my own.

Plot 1 I flipped Here to Serve against his A Noble Cause. He marshalled Robb Stark (Core) with a Bodyguard and Arya Stark (Core). I marshalled The Wall. The first turn went by quite uneventful with him kneeling the wall and getting 1 renown power but I got one back with a challenge.

Plot 2 I flipped Trading with the Pentoshi against his Retaliation. I dropped Jon Snow (Core) with a Dragonglass Dagger, The Haunted Forest and milked Robb. He marshalled his own Jon Snow (WotN), Bran Stark, a chud and Ice. He also played Arya's Gift to remove the milk from Robb.

I forgot about double claim on his end because of Retaliation and went in for an challenge to flip Wildfire Assault to clean up his board but he kept Jon, Arya & Robb. Together with Ice, he did a 3 claim challenge, leaving only my Jon Snow (Core) standing (Aemon ate 2 claim).

Though plot 2 was rough for me, CK failed to see any other renown characters all game. I drew into my second milk which delayed him a lot. He drew into Catelyn Stark (Core) but with stealth on my Jon, Catelyn didn't pose much of a threat and CK couldn't close.

I slowly rebuilt my board presence whilst his hand remained mostly empty hence I slowly clawed back board control. He confiscated the Milk but I topdecked 2 Craven for Arya and Robb.

Plot 5 he tried to close the game with Wardens of the North but let me go first which was a mistake. I had a double dagger Jon and Halder on board. He didn't want to use Catelyn to defend the challenge because he needed her to win the challenge he wanted to do. I triggered Rains and flipped A Game of Thrones. With Halder, he couldn't push through the challenge. He conceded plot 6.

Finals vs "The Rains of Castamere" (Jason): W 7-1

Jason setup Ser Ilyn Payne, Red Cloaks and a Roseroad. I set up Ser Denys Mallister, Shadow Tower Mason and an Underground Vault.

Out of respect for Ilyn Payne, I flipped Here to Serve to get Maester Aemon (Core) out while he flipped A Noble Cause. Jason went first, dropping down duped Tywin Lannister (Core). He attempted to use Ilyn to kill Aemon but fortunately for me had no Treachery to cancel Aemon's save. I duped Aemon and played The Haunted Forest, Messenger Raven and a reducer.

He successfully triggered Rains with Tywin on an challenge, flipping A Game of Thrones because he didn't want me to push a challenge through. I took dominance.

Plot 2 I flipped Trading with the Pentoshi into his Calling the Banners leaving him a whoping 13 gold to bring out both Cersei Lannister (LoCR) and Ser Jaime Lannister (Core). I marshalled Jon Snow (WotW) with a Dragonglass Dagger, Halder and cravened Cersei.

Jason completely forgot about all the Halder shenanigans and did an challenge in an attempt to trigger Rains but still lost to Jon. He followed with a with Jaime which only killed my reducer. On my challenges, I went in with an challenge stealthing Cersei. He defended with Jaime but with the STR boost from Halder, I still successfully triggered Rains and flipped The Red Wedding. Winning both the and challenges, I managed to finish off duped Tywin.

Plot 3, I expected him to play Ghosts of Harrenhal hence I responded with Valar Morghulis. He went first triggering Valar. I used Aemon to save Jon whilst Ghosts brought back Cersei and Halder. I cravened Cersei a second time. Fortunately for him, he saw a Cersei dupe which prevented me from finishing the Queen off even with increased claim by triggering Rains

Plot 4 I found The Wall with Building Orders while he played Confiscation to get rid of Craven on Cersei. He marshalled Tyrion Lannister (Core) but couldn't win any challenges because he couldn't stealth Jon. A second Dragonglass Dagger on Jon made him practical unbeatable. Jason couldn't find his milk to answer Jon either and after the first plot he failed to trigger Rains again. With the Wall, I took the win slowly but surely.