Hearts of Fire: Top 4 at Manchester and Stockton Store Champ

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mattastrophic 719

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"These little wars are no more than a scuffle of children before what is to come. The one whose name may not be spoken is marshaling his power, Davos Seaworth, a power fell and evil and strong beyond measure. Soon comes the cold, and the night that never ends. Unless true men find the courage to fight it. Men whose hearts are fire."

This is the deck I took to a weekender of tournaments in Manchester and Stockton-on-Tees, UK, placing in the final four in both events. It is the result of my curiosity for The Withering Cold, and the deck was very fun and challenging to build and play. Baratheon is the lowest-performing faction at this point, so I hope that this deck can inspire other Stag fans to carry on with the Lord of Light's work.

The main gameplan is to leverage Melisandre's kneel effect along with stand effects from Daario, Irri, Lightbringer, and Plaza of Pride, effects that prevent standing in Withering Cold and Stannis, and effects that get around the downsides of being unable to stand in Fallen From Favor, Flea Bottom, and The Iron Bank Will Have Its Due. As a banner deck, we can make excellent use of Queen's Men to slow down our opponent's gameplan. We have Valar Dohaeris to clear the board once our opponent's side is too strong for Stannis to handle, and we have big renown characters with stand effects to finish the game. When playing this deck, do not try to rush to victory; instead weather the early rounds and overtake your opponent with well-coordinated kneel effects, stand effects, and renown.

This deck has trouble against attrition strategies like Night's Watch/Wolf and Martell/Wolf as well as against Mace Tyrell decks. Valar Dohaeris helps deal with Mace when timed well, but a Wolf attrition banner is a big problem. I have Nothing Burns Like the Cold in here largely as a plot for dealing with decks that rely heavily on Flea Bottom or The Hightower, but it didn't do the job all weekend. I recommend swapping it for another plot, either an early game money plot like A Noble Cause or a utility plot like Filthy Accusations or Besieged. A second Trade Routes might not be a bad idea either, and The King in the North looks promising.

Onto the event reports!

Part I: Fanboy Three in Manchester, Feb 17:

The event ends up hosting 22 players, meaning five rounds of Swiss with a cut to a top 8. Perfect. With Baratheon as a low-performing house, I am unlikely to sweep my way into a small cut, but a 3-2 result with a strong SoS should be enough. Also, three other players had brought Baratheon, which is both astounding and exciting.

Round 1: Wedge playing Greyjoy Red Door (Nagga's Ribs)

Wedge has a reputation as a very strong player, so I know that a win here would make me confident in finishing well, or a loss here would be great for my strength of schedule in the event I go 3-2. Wedge has an inspired start, placing a bunch of Drowned God characters on the board and using Dragon's Tail to seed his dead pile for dominance, but I am able to take control of the military and intrigue game, and I am able to push through enough challenges before Wedge is able to get his Old Wyk/Drowned God/dominance machine running.

1-0

Round 2: Kostas playing Tyrell Red Door (Bitterbridge Encampment)

Kostas is also a very strong player, so Manchester was already putting me through the gauntlet. Bitterbridge tells me that Mace is coming, so I knew I was going to have to hope I could get a strong enough board for when I'll use Valar Dohaeris, while Nothing Burns Like the Cold can catch him if he plays The Hightower. Unfortunately, Kostas is way too clever to be caught like that and marshals The Hightower along with Caswell's Keep, after putting Varys on the board with Bitterbridge Encampment. After several rounds of being on the defensive, Kostas triggers Varys, and I have to rely on Robert Baratheon with Lightbringer to carry me forward. The match comes down to Kostas with 14 power and guessing incorrectly for Oldtown. I'm glad I used Nothing Burns to take out Caswell's Keep! I then coordinate the challenges I need to scrape out the win with Robert Baratheon and Lightbringer.

2-0

Round 3: Arwel Griffith playing Stark Rains of Castamere

Going into this match, I know that Winterfell and Catelyn Stark can slow down my gameplan and that Robb Stark is a big problem, while Robb Stark with Jon Snow is a catastrophe. My setup is Stannis Baratheon, two copies of Jorah Mormont, and a location, and I open with Counting Coppers since I didn't find his small-character setup very frightening. He marshals Arya Stark, and I make a big blunder by marshaling Lightbringer onto Stannis stead of marshaling another character. Arya stealths past Stannis for military, and his Last Hearth prevents Jorah from being able to defend. He plays Winter is Coming, and I'm down to just Jorah and facing a long uphill climb. He has two Frozen Solids for my Flea Bottom, so I can't rely on it to bridge the gap in our characters. I time my Valar Dohaeris after Robb Stark hits the table, and his Valar Dohaeris the next round slows down my ability to push through after recovering. Catelyn Stark and Winterfell also keep me from being able to use Lightbringer on Robert Baratheon effectively. After edging my way back into the game, time is called, and I eke out a timed win thanks to King Robert.

3-0

Round 4: Keb playing Baratheon/Banner of the Dragon!

Keb is playing a near-identical deck to mine, and it made me happy to be at table 1 with him as well as scared of losing this one. Keb had an impressive start with Robert Baratheon and The Red Keep, but my counter of Melisandre, a Lightbringer on a Fickle Bannerman, Irri, and The Withering Cold was enought to seize control of the game. Keb was able to steal my Fickle Bannerman, but I was able to coordinate a challenge phase to take him back and pull out a win.

4-0

Round 5: Steven playing Stark Rains of Castamere

I go into this one expecting Steven's deck to be very similar to Arwel's, and I am largely correct. However, Steven does an excellent job of keeping me on the defensive and denying my ability to strike at him, his deck is pretty impervious to Valar Dohaeris thanks to efficient characters like Arya Stark and Wolves Sansa Stark, and I am soundly thrashed.

4-1

At this point, it turns out that the cut to 8 was going to be shrunk to a cut to 4. I come in seeded 4th, meaning I have to play Steven again immediately and I narrowly avoid a match with UK National Champion and Great Beard of Westeros Even Sorgierd.

Top 4: Steven playing Stark Rains of Castamere

After the thrashing I had just experienced, I go into this match hoping I get better draws and maybe an opportunity to land a big Nothing Burns Like the Cold. I get out Robert Baratheon and get rolling, but he uses Winterfell to keep Lightbringer from triggering. I have my Plaza of Pride to force it through, but I can't manage to draw any characters past turn 2 or so. Steven turns it around with a Roose Bolton blitz to kill Robert, and that's all she wrote.

Result: Top 4 of 22

Part II: Beanie Games in Stockton-on-Tees, Feb 18:

In between events, I dither over whether to bring Hearts of Fire to Stockton, or to swap to an iteration of The Chivalry of the South, the Tyrell Rains of Castamere deck I brought to Stahleck. Dave Bamford convinces me to keep the Baratheon party going at literally the last minute. I was filling out my decklist at the time. So I submit this one to the TO Josh Chambers and prepare for battle once more, this time with an impressive field of 32, meaning five rounds of Swiss with a cut to eight.

Round 1: Kostas playing Night's Watch/Banner of the Wolf

Uh-oh. The Wolf banner is a bad sign, especially when attached to the Watch. This deck just doesn't have the ability to spit out lots of small characters in order to keep a board when facing an onslaught of Marched to the Wall, Ward, Mutiny at Craster's Keep, Recruiter for the Watch, etc. The match with Kostas goes exactly as I fear, with Ramsey Snow, Recruiter of the Watch, and Marched to the Wall keeping me from having any board presence.

0-1

Round 2: Ian playing Stark Fealty

I sit down for this match expecting something similar to Steven and Arwel's decks from the day before, knowing that I would need to take control of the game and time my Valar Dohaeris to keep Robb Stark from running away with it. My trap of The Withering Cold, Melisandre, Stannis Baratheon, Flea Bottom, and stand effects works exactly as I intend it to, forcing Ian to use Wildfire Assault to stand all his characters with Robb Stark's ability. I respond with Valar Dohaeris to halt his recovery, even though I send Stannis to the bottom of my deck, then bring in Robert Baratheon to push to the finish line along with Melisandre and Flea Bottom.

1-1

Round 3: Bryan playing Martell Lord of the Crossing

I had been looking forward to a good Martell match. This deck and it's longer-reaching gameplan could actually be pretty strong against Martell, and I imagine that Seen in Flames and Queen's Men are particularly good in the card-advantage battle that Martell tends to fight. Using The Iron Bank Will Have Its Due to recycle Queen's Men is often a very smart play. Receiving Melisandre in my redraw was brilliant, as I was able to use the hand-battle cards all game to watch what Bryan was drawing, see his candidates for bringing in with Arianne Martell, and keep him from using Venomous Blade or marshalling Flea Bottom. Melisandre's kneel effect keeps him from matching my board presence, and through the continuing power of the Lord of Light, I seize victory.

2-1

Round 4: Josh playing Tyrell Exodia

Eight of the day's players had gotten together and built eight decks for the "Exodia Challenge." The way the challenge works is that each deck contains a single copy of six different unique in-faction locations, and at the beginning of each game, the location chosen to be brought into play through House of the Red Door would be a random one of the six. I tell Josh that I'd love to see The Mander chosen for our game, but he didn't include it. So I hope to see Highgarden, but end up choosing the one whammy location of the six: Horn Hill. With that out of the way, Josh has a lacklustre start with a Roseroad Patrol and some Jousting Pavilions, while I get out a decent board and begin the renown challenges with Daario Naharis and Jorah Mormont. Our boards escalate, and Josh's Oldtown gives him extra cards and power, and neither one of us really want to flip our reset plots, so by turn 6 both our forces are gigantic. Josh gets out Mace Tyrell and climbs up to 13 power, and instead of flipping Valar Dohaeris on turn 5 or 6, I go all-in with Robert Baratheon, Daario Naharis, Beric Dondarrion, and Ser Barristan Selmy against his massive board backed up by Wardens of the South. After some epic challenge math, I do an intrigue challenge with Daario and Jorah just to get him to kneel two characters, which pushes Robert Baratheon into just high enough of a STR number to win a 29-STR military challenge with him, Beric, Barristan, and a Fickle Bannerman to claim the last four power I need to win.

3-1

Round 5: Steven C with Tyrell Red Door (Oldtown)

I sit down to this match feeling a bit scared. Oldtown tends to mean Mace, and the passive power gain is usually too quick for me to race unless I time my Valar Dohaeris well and push hard with renown. Steven, instead of heading right for Mace Tyrell, rushes with Green Apple Knight, Jousting Knights, and Olenna's Informant. I manage to hang on defensively, and Valar Dohaeris forces him to lose Mace Tyrell, but I fail to draw the Melisandre I need to turn it around and Steven wins on the back of Oldtown.

3-2

I'm thinking that I'm out of the cut on strength of schedule at this point, but Kostas goes 5-0 and really propels me over the other 3-2s, meaning that I end the Swiss rounds at 7th place.

Top 8: Dave Bamford with Baratheon Exodia

I'm super-excited to see Dave doing so well with not only Baratheon, but with an Exodia build, and I am looking forward to an excellent match featuring two different forms of Baratheon. I set up Melisandre and open with The Withering Cold against his Trading With the Pentoshi, hoping to kneel his expensive character for two turns. Instead, he plays Milk of the Poppy on my Melisandre and marshals his own Melisandre as well as some locations, which puts me on the back foot immediately. However, I have Irri, Jorah, Flea Bottom, and a whole lotta gumption. I play Seen in Flames and remove King Stannis Baratheon from his hand, his last character, so I know I've bought myself some time to recover and seed Flea Bottom. Because I don't want to lose my Flea Bottom to Nothing Burns Like the Cold, I use The Iron Bank Will Have Its Due to reset Melisandre, and she along with Stannis Baratheon and Lightbringer put me back in the game. Thanks to using Queen's Men to remove another Milk of the Poppy from Dave's hand, I know that Melisandre is safe from being blanked. I keep his Robert Baratheon under control, and Dave is unable to kneel both my Robert Baratheon and my Stannis with Lightbringer, and he edges close to victory with his stronger start and dominance with Chamber of the Painted Table. I draw another copy of Melisandre, and I hatch a plan to flip Valar Dohaeris, keep Robert and a Fickle Bannerman, lose Stannis and Melisandre, but have enough gold to re-marshal Melisandre, play Lightbringer, and have enough gold for Flea Bottom. My vision from the flames comes to fruition, forcing Dave to cripple his board and allowing me to catch up. Dave climbs to 14 power through his Chamber, and on plot 7, I flip Nothing Burns Like the Cold to secure going first, though I lose Lightbringer and Flea Bottom, which I had drawn my second copy of. I marshal Ser Barristan Selmy, then play a Seen in Flames to kneel his Robert Baratheon, use Flea Bottom to bring in a Second Sons, and I have enough strength to win a power challenge with enough renown to hit 15 power. An epic finish to an epic match!

Elsewhere in the room, Kostas has lost his Top 8 match and Even pulls out a timed win. It's getting late, and with needing to get on the road to be back home at a reasonable time, I choose to drop out of the tournament with Even rather go on a nighttime adventure through a town I had never been to before, searching for a night train which may not exist while avoiding ambushes by ladies of the night who may turn out to be vampires. So I tag in Dave Bamford to continue in my place.

Result: Top 4 of 32

I end up with a satisfying result for the Stags, concluding my weekend with an epic victory and narrowly avoiding another game against Even Sorgierd, UK National Champion and a Great Beard of Westeros. Whether Hearts of Fire could take down Even's Targaryen Red Door build and a rematch against Steven C's Oldtown deck, we will likely never know.

4 comments

Veknus 2

Finally someone is doing more crazy stuff with baratheons...yes it is still the massive control deck that everyone hates, but it has that offensive power that bara needed sorely...i like love it hope to see more of something of this calibre in the future.

mattastrophic 719

I'm already developing Baratheon further, Veknus, to account for Favor of the Old Gods.

Veknus 2

how are you finding nothing burns like the cold? and withering cold?

mattastrophic 719

Nothing Burns Like the Cold is not working nearly as well as I want it to, and should probably be changed out for something else. We also have Seized By the Guard now for handling the locations I wanted to hit with Nothing Burns.

The Withering Cold is great, but it's definitely a high-skill plot and difficult to use well. It's great for allowing the opponent down in the early game to get set up and it synergizes well with our kneel and stand effects. It totally stays in the deck.