Faceless lock - Winner of Czech & Slovak Nationals 9/23/17 ( 1.0

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Hi fellow AGoT players - let me post deck that I build and played at our Nationals. I'm asked to publish it however I have not much time for proper write-up. Therefore just a brief description of the deck. There is a handful of useful little interactions in the deck frequently tied to the usage of The Iron Bank Will Have Its Due however these should be pretty self-explanatory.

Notable omissions:

Vengeance for Elia - it is too costly for the deck and I decided to prefer His Viper Eyes instead. Full hand control is of primary importance here. Easy trigger is an easy cancel at the same time however if The Hand's Judgment is used then cancel is burned and your other important events are safer. With the abundance of Martell draw the dead draw against passive decks is not that painful.

Duel - it was formerly thoroughly tested in the deck however the fact is that the deck is highly aggressive and the plot in most of the time ended as a blank plot used just for its stats. I decided to replace it with Close Call. You are sacrificing an initiative for basically enabler and the card probably drawn could be handy as well. Interaction with Flea Bottom is strong and you shouldn't be afraid to kill even your important unique chars if needed (Areo Hotah, Bran Stark (Core), Arya Stark (Core).

The Hand's Judgment - cancel of events relies solely on Bran Stark (Core). It was quite a tough decision however I decided to use the spared slots for more consistency in the deck itself. You are able to at least use even one copy of Bran Stark (Core) multiple times. If The Iron Bank Will Have Its Due is cancelled the return of the character is part of the cost and thus you still bounce the character back to your hand and that is of primary importance. Thank you for the tool, Ryan Jones.

The latest addition to the deck during playtesting was Rattleshirt's Raiders and I was never sorry for that.

Tournament report below:

1st round vs. Andreas Fürst - Greyjoy Rains 1-0

Andi setuped duped Victarion Greyjoy with chud. He had to play Newly-Made Lord to discard my Ghaston Grey placed from the setup. Andi was for the whole game a bit unlucky with availability of saves and I did receive my Venomous Blade soon enhanced by the second copy and mayhem in-between chuds unfolded (Theon Greyjoy (TFoA), Lordsport Shipwright, Reducers). I was able to march Balon Greyjoy (CtA) twice and kept sooner than later triplicated Victarion Greyjoy at bay by Areo Hotah. He made one of the last attempts with Wex Pyke and Asha Greyjoy (Core) added to now lone Victarion Greyjoy. I had to deploy Venomous Blade twice to kill for sure (to prevent unopposed ) Wex Pyke due to the presence of Iron Mines and then late Varys jumped in via "The Last of the Giants" sealed the game.

2nd round vs. Reinhard Schefcik - Targ Wolf 2-0

An opportunity to play against reigning European Champion and it was a very good game. Reinhard soon populated the board with Second Sons, duped Rhaegal, Viserion, Viserys Targaryen (Core) and some reducers. And he got every locations needed like Flea Bottom, Plaza of Pride and then even Isle of Ravens. I have had Pyromancers from the setup and had to use Ward on Second Sons to improve at least my board position. I quickly realized that Pyromancers are not an option here (he denied me any power and abandoned challenges) and therefore I jumped in Varys to get rid off all the dragons into discard pile. Marched to the Wall followed and Frozen Solid on Flea Bottom and I was free of dragons. The game became game of attrition - I focused on his hand destruction and he tried to use Isle of Ravens to get back mostly at least copy of Viserys Targaryen (Core). Soon I reduced him into top deck mode and destroyed his hand with the help of my own intentional Valar Morghulis on my two copies of Bastard Daughter to discard Daenerys Targaryen and Nightmares. He struggled for board position and the game was over then. Very intense game.

3rd round vs Filip Hahn - NW Crosssing 3-0

Filip played wide board of characters in setup and during 1st marshalling + duped Maester Aemon (Core). I played Varys to wipe his board and then Marched to the Wall Maester Aemon (Core). He received third Maester Aemon (Core) instantly and that at least keep him board somehow. He did get duped Qhorin Halfhand however it didn't change much as I had Ghaston Grey. I destroyed his hand and the game was over.

4th round vs. Martin Nemeth - Bara Summer 3-1

It was a long and super intense game. I liked the inclusion of Light of the Lord in his build. He quickly established his location base of Chamber of the Painted Table, duped The Red Keep and soon The Iron Throne joined the fray. I was under constant pressure and at least I had Ghaston Grey against his big guys. I drew like madman to get Pyromancers and Frozen Solid and in hope of Ward in case of possible Maester Cressen. He gifted my Myrcella Baratheon with Motley to complicate the things further. I did finally get the Pyromancers and Frozen Solid and freeze his duped The Red Keep and discarded The Iron Throne. My turn of tide was quickly trampled by emergence of fully loaded Begging Brother and Maester Cressen to free his The Red Keep. I did not see any Ward for the course of whole game till the very last round. The game culminated in the round 7th when we had the same INI and the same amount of power. Thus the dice decided he fate of the game. If I would go second, I'd win. The dice decided otherwise and I was chosen to be the first player. Well deserved win for Martin for sure.

5th round vs. Anabioza - Grey Crossing 4-1

Anabioza had a great start with lot of chars, notably Victarion Greyjoy and the most eminently duped Euron Crow's Eye. I had The Iron Throne and Ghaston Grey placed in setup. I played Dornish Fiefdom only during my marshalling knowing that I would need lot of gold in phases after. She made an unopposed to use We Do Not Sow on Ghaston Grey. I made a reaction with His Viper Eyes and find Nightmares in the hand. Then she initiated with Euron Crow's Eye and removed him by Areo Hotah. Then Varys via "The Last of the Giants" followed by Marched to the Wall to wipe Euron Crow's Eye made the game basically over because she was later a bit unlucky having an abundance of eco and less characters especially lacking an icon.

6th round vs. Oliver Cox - Stark Crossing 5-1

Oliver is strict Stark loyalist always polishing his Crossing. He started with wide board of small characters + Jory Cassel, Arya Stark (Core) and Sansa Stark (WotN). I have used Varys and Marched to the Wall to wipe his board completely and freeze Flea Bottom via Frozen Solid to deny him access to his discard pile. He used Confiscation of course however I had another Frozen Solid in my hand already. Early Confiscation freed my Ward to take control of his second Arya Stark (Core) (I discarded the other copy from his hand) and second Marched to the Wall took care of Catelyn Stark (Core). He was able to Ward back his warded Arya Stark (Core) however it was not enough and the game ended relatively quickly with his abundant discard pile denied to him.

I ended at 6th spot after Swiss.

Top 16 vs. Walek - NW Kraken

This became a very tough game indeed. Walek began with some stewards, Maester Aemon (Core) among them, and Victarion Greyjoy. I had to take care of Iron fleet captain and thus I dispatched Jaqen H'ghar via "The Last of the Giants" to kill Victarion Greyjoy instantly. Fortunately no save for him was on the table at that time. Then I struggled a bit with my draw and had to populate the board with help of his Begging Brother taken by my Ward to slow the pace of game a bit. He played Bowen Marsh to improve his hand via insights and soon Jon Snow (WotW) joined the fray however he had to be careful due to my Ghaston Grey. Unfortunately for him he made a mistake when he tried to push an through too much and crashed with his Maester Aemon (Core) into my Ghaston Grey. I was able to wipe the board by Valar Morghulis then. He tried to get back and populated the board again together with The Wall in an attempt to find the way to victory. After some struggle I was able to prevail and started kneeling his The Wall and the game was decided then. Good game.

Top 8 vs. Jamek - Lanni Rains

Another great guy. He was a bit unlucky at the setup with no economy. I was able to catch up his Summer Harvest with Varys's Riddle he ended up just with duped Ser Jaime Lannister (Core) + Red Cloaks. I prevented him "The Rains of Castamere" trigger whole game. Arya Stark (Core) made quite a good work on his reduced board position. Once he played Ser Ilyn Payne to take care of her with no golds left for him (he wouldn't be able to play him otherwise) and I then used Varys to wipe his board. With Flea Bottom and the fact that he cannot play duped Tywin Lannister (Core) on his hand due to the correct expectation of second Marched to the Wall the game ended very soon. Even with Tywin Lannister (Core) he would not be able to pull out "The Rains of Castamere" trigger at that board position.

Top 4 vs. Martin Nemeth - Bara Summer

Time for revenge :) I had a great setup indeed with Ghaston Grey and The Iron Throne. He did get everything he needed (Robert Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon (Core), Chamber of the Painted Table, The Red Keep, Light of the Lord) with one crucial exception in shape of The Iron Throne. I have had the time then and build an immense economy and big hand to have responses. Venomous Blade destroyed his and I was able to discard Melisandre (GtR) twice from his hand. I postponed my Varys's Riddle to catch up something of value and got Counting Coppers. Maester Cressen ended taken by Ward and The Red Keep freezed by Frozen Solid. Martin correctly realized that the path to victory is leading only through dominance even against the presence of my The Iron Throne. He used duped Robert Baratheon with Light of the Lord and triplicated Stannis Baratheon (Core) to challenge dominance. I had to marshal Jaqen H'ghar to exhaust Robert's duplicates (he got even third one) repeatedly via to be able to Valar Morghulis him. This game was great, one of the best and at the end I won. Thank you for both games at that day, Martin.

Final vs. Gabriel Ranner - Bara Alliance

Here we are. First of all I have to emphasize that is amazing to reach the finals of bigger event with Alliance. Great achievement, Gabriel, really! He flopped soon some important locations like Plaza of Pride, Iron Mines and Spears of the Merling King and used two Newly-Made Lord (one of them he found via Summons) in succession to get rid off my Flea Bottom and The Iron Throne. I used Varys via "The Last of the Giants" to get rid off Victarion Greyjoy. Soon he rebuilded with yet another Newly-Made Lord (this time no target available), Irri and duped Ser Barristan Selmy (TS). Good old knight troubled me and made challenge pointless with available lords (he added Littlefinger soon). I started killing off chuds via Venomous Blade and Irri had to be killed twice due to the save used. I had to use Ward on Newly-Made Lord to reduce his board position again and improve mine. I was forced to use both Marched to the Wall to get rid off the lords on the table to have no valid target for Ser Barristan Selmy (TS). Good old knight was resilient enough as befitted to him and got Lightbringer to trouble me even more. At this point Gabriel was well ahead of power count and was threatening to finish the game soon more to the fact that Plaza of Pride was on table and no Frozen Solid for me. Gabriel used his high INI plot to forced me go first, hampering my economy and more importantly to deny me adequate reactions. I was able to flop my Rattleshirt's Raiders during marshalling and Gabriel had for challenges duped Ser Barristan Selmy (TS) and Rattleshirt's Raiders as well. I pulled out an challenge to reduce his hand for Plaza of Pride and then went for with Rattleshirt's Raiders. Gabriel defended with Ser Barristan Selmy (TS) and i used Areo Hotah get rid off Lightbringer and kill Rattleshirt's Raiders (Gabriel knew I played both Marched to the Wall however not Valar Morghulis. Two plots later I was able to Marched to the Wall him. Gabriel made another attempt via Robert Baratheon however I was able to secure the game with Arya Stark (Core), Maester Caleotte used in defense to deny icon for Robert Baratheon to prevent his stand via Plaza of Pride against Bastard Daughter and then Arya Stark (Core) stealthed him for . Two powers remaining and three golds left - I jumped Pyromancers via "The Last of the Giants" for unopposed and one gold left awarded me last power remaining for dom. Good game.

I'd like to thank all the participants to make the tournament great experience as it was. I'm deeply indebted to my organization team who sacrificed a lot to allow me to play at the event (as head organizer). Last but not the least I'd like to congratulate little Matej Pelcman (boy of 9 years old) for being 11th at such diverse and wide field and making the cut. It was impressive to behold his marvellous performance. Thanks and see you next year!