Stark Wars - GenCon 2018 Top 8

Card draw simulator
Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
None yet.

hattrickflyer 374

Coming into GenCon it seemed pretty obvious to me that Stark was one of the top decks and that my old standby, Tyrell Rains, was not. So I threw this together, got about three games of testing in, and figured if everything broke right, I could do well. Most things did break right, other than some bad card choices and me being AWFUL at properly planning Breaking Ties turn. I'm playing Wars because I am nothing if not a follower.

As usual I am awful with names, memory and facts so if any of this is wrong I am so sorry and just toss me a "slops" in the comments.

Round 1 vs Kristen, Tyrell/Wolf

She's playing the Ladies rush deck, but doesn't get a great draw - she's never able to rebuild her hand after I Wildfire when she has 7 or so characters. I get Wyman out doing Wyman things, and I don't muck up the Breaking Ties this game so it clinches it. 1-0

Round 2 vs Darknoj, Tyrell Wars

The first game I've seen the vaunted yellow-shirt deck. He gets a very solid start, setting up Left/Right/Oldtown/Septon/limited, gets into Renly, Hightower and Brienne quickly, and there isn't much I can do against a wall of defenders that don't kneel. 1-1

Round 3 vs CT, Lanni Crossing

This was a fun game, he drops Cersei turn 1 and has that whole engine with her and Gemma Frey up and running. The first of many games I wish I'd run Valar M. I get Ned and Rob and Dacey on board, Wildfire then drop three things to stabilize a bit, and he gets to 13 on turn 3 I believe. Going second that turn, I use two Armories to let Ned and Rob double swing getting myself to 13 as well.

I have the choice between using Weapons (which bones me if I draw Seized, and at best leads to a die roll) or just going with You Win Or You Die and defending his challenges. I opt for the latter, topdeck Wyman, and get down to one card in hand. He's able to Cersei to get to 14 but can't win a power or Crossing challenge, and scoops. 2-1

Break!

Round 4 vs Jesse, Tyrell Wars

This ish again. The game is more even as it takes him longer to really get his engine up and running, but I don't see anything particularly useful either, and he ends up with a 10-5 or so win. He pulled both Wyman and Ned out of my hand with early intrigue challenges. 2-2, need to win out

Round 5 vs my complete inability to remember stuff without writing it down

Again, I'm so sorry. This was a good person as I remember enjoying the game. 3-2

Round 6 vs Phillippe, Targaryen/Rose/Qohar

Turn 1, he has a duped Khol Drogo out against me with four attachments at something like 16 strength. This is unpleasant and leads to a turn 2 Weapons at the Door. He's ahead of me for most of the game, but has gotten rid of the Drogo dupe to keep more weenies in play for the big Danni who shows up later. I'm keeping pace in power just a few behind him, and should probably be able to clinch on a Breaking Ties turn - except I idiotically screw up and forget to Break his Handmaiden before he can stand Danni (as first player, he swings with her then stands her). With her suite of attachments and Renown, she's able to get him to 14 power but not quite over, and at this point I have Ned/Robb/Maege/Dacey in play so the swing-back wins it. 4-2 and in.

I Lyft out to deep Trump Country that night for a great time hanging out with the Thrones crew. I'm tentatively matched against Chris Vac and his Mace deck. However a drop in the cut ends up moving me to Brad Eier, same style of deck.

T32 vs Brad Eier, Tyrell Wars Mace

I know this matchup isn't good for me but I've gotta do what I've gotta do. Two things end up going in my favor - he doesn't see the Tyrell locations (tho I am holding a Seized) and he's never able to get a small character into the discard early for Flea Bottoming.

I get Robb/Dacey out and start to get as much power as possible. He has a board of Renly/Marge/Mace/Scheming and decides not to pop the Scheming, which is a shame as the next turn I hit Valar D. Another couple of turns puts me in win range, he uses Close Call to get the Scheming (which he had to use for claim the Valar D turn) into the discard but I Seized his Flea Bottom, drop Maege, and cross on Renown.

T16 vs Jim Hanson, Lanni Crossing

He tells me after the game he knew he was probably doomed when his only big characters after his t1 draw were Tyrion and Jaime (both non-loyal). And that's exactly how the game plays out, we both get some good characters, I'm able to have enough weenies to prevent unopposed challenges so I'm ahead of him on power, and then I Breaking Ties to get rid of the two of them (tho it costs me Catelyn). From there it's just a couple of turns of Renown attacking.

T8 vs Chase, Builders Wars

I'm not entirely sure of how to beat this deck with anything that isn't a) meta'd, b) a rush deck, or c) a faster passive power deck. I'm playing none of those things. I make a couple of mistakes, in particularly getting my Wildfire and Breaking Ties turns backwards, but it's never really close and he stomps me.

So in conclusion, much better than I thought I'd do both at the start of the event and the start of elims. Thanks to all my opponents for being fun to play against. And the spectators were still wrong about that power challenge in the t8.

As for the deck itself, it's pretty straightforward and just powers through on the strength of non-limited economy, Robb and Wyman. The plot deck is a hot mess of "limited testing" - there's no t2 plot, I'd have loved a Valar M in there, probably one too many econ plots. Withering Cold never really did anything for me but I understand the raw power. It also needs a draw plot as despite the amount of draw in the deck, there were games where none of it bothered showing up.

In the main deck, it really needs Milks. Jeyne Westerling was surprisingly good; Roose Bolton did nothing for me, Septa Mordane was just "a body". Bolton Flayer had some fun killing a double-duped Right but I also screwed up and lost a Sansa to it at one point. Arya's Gift was important once but in a game I had already lost. I Am No One was solid.

Feel free to make this better, comment or whatever. And thanks to all for the games and the fun times!

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