A Pinch of Salt - Top 32 Worlds & Summerhall 3 Winner

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

vexien 735

"Are you really playing solar?" - Isian Hasmuja

With the release of pack 5, I had to start working out what I was going to take to worlds. Our testing group initially started with Tyrell Rains and Stark Fealty, with targ crossing being a ‘we know this is good’ deck to use as a backup. The Tyrell ran into issues with free folk and the amount of pressure targ could throw out, whilst the Stark was a strong contender throughout and taken by James Waumsley to a top 4 finish. During this time, the discussions around raider pinch started to become more prominent so we tried it out, and it quickly became one of the top contenders for us to take. Originally i was really set on taking stark, but the more i played it the less confident i felt with it, whilst I was starting to get a good grip on the greyjoy in matchups I was worried about with the other decks.

With the group mostly focusing on the stark near the end and all growing increasingly fond of it (for good reason), I showed the greyjoy to Ryan Wood who suggested some changes to the list and helped me to get testing in with it. I wasn’t set on taking it to worlds as some issues were arising with it, but I decided i’d take it to Battles of Summerhall III as a test, then change to stark fealty if it didn’t work out. Despite a fairly odd field, I ended up winning the tournament, with all my losses feeling explainable and fixed in rematches so I went ahead and locked it in for worlds!

Fealty vs The Wars To Come

The deck started on Fealty and stayed that way for a long time, where I only started to look at other agendas nearer the end of testing. It was rare for me to ever feel like I needed the extra plots, and I liked having the extra econ option to allow me flexibility in my opening plot while still getting out a decent board. The plots that drew me to Wars such as Barring never felt like they were going to completely solve the matchups I would want it for, and I was aware of how to play them anyway. If i was initially on king tech, KITN would have been a good inclusion but the list never ended up going that way.

Throughout testing, we never really tested a mirror, which was probably a bad idea but didn’t end up being an issue at the time with the way the factions landed across day 1a and b at worlds. However, at Stahleck there was a much larger number of Greyjoy Wars and I ran into the mirror, losing both quite badly. Whilst the plots I described above were there, the ability for them to run double Forced March easily caused me a lot of issues in trying to ever get ahead.

My belief is that Fealty is generally better than Wars for Greyjoy currently in the majority of matchups, as it allows you to get that initial board presence to keep the top decks in check. But if you are expecting a higher amount of Greyjoy in a field, Wars can provide you benefits in the mirror plus still leave you in a good position versus the rest.

Notable card choices

Marched to the Wall

The main reason this plot got added to the deck initially was to answer the deck sharing rules in the Worlds cut. If it was a known quantity, it would cause people to play around it much more. It ended up staying in the list due to the potential power of pinching weaker characters in order to march the bigger one. No one typically expected marched out of Greyjoy, so it worked quite well in testing and helped deal with some problem characters during tournaments.

Balon Greyjoy (Core)

With Pinch being a big part of the deck, having a character who could win by 5 on his own or force your opponent to commit a bigger character proved to be great so we generally preferred the core version over king. King tech also seemed to be reaching a point of people just covering it rather than trying to use it themselves, so we weren’t too worried about losing out on the trait.

King Balon's Solar

This started as just a random addition to try out in the deck, with the intention that it was going to be cut very quickly. But the more I used it, the more it made sense. It’s great on set up, with the plot line up you win initiative a lot of the time, and reacts before nothing burns triggers so you can get a gold then bin it without hurting your other cards. It won’t be for everyone, and will probably get cut a lot of the time, but if you have a slot or don’t mind adding a 61st card, it’s much better now than it used to be!

Notable matchups

Targaryen

There is always going to be those moments where Targ just do their thing and roll over you with nothing you can do. I wouldn’t have made it to worlds if that wasn’t the case (shameless self promotion). However cards like Victarion and Raiding are a good way of putting a stop to it. The general stats show that Targ has a positive matchup vs Greyjoy, but I’ve mostly found it to be the other way. The location control, naturally strong characters and a free cancel allow you to maintain the damage early on, and wait for them to lose steam or valar them. Raiding to shut down Meereen is also brilliant, and typically can win you the game there and then. Play defensive, then wait for your window to hit back and kill their tempo.

Stark

Generally consider this to be a 50/50 match up, where it becomes a long bluffing game of Arya versus Forced March. Once they start that game however, it can hurt them as much as you, so just dupe anyway and maintain a similar board, leaving the required options in hand. If you can pinch her away, then your board should hopefully be better than theirs. The tougher games come where Ward and Ramsay get the better of you, and you are spending too much time trying to recover. Trade routes turns tend to be the best way back into those games, just don’t throw anything away unnecessarily before then.

Greyjoy

General thoughts on this one are laid out in the Fealty vs Wars section.

Martell

I didn’t expect much of this going into worlds but given it managed to win and it having a bit of a resurgence it’s worth talking about. Typically this is a good matchup if you play it smart, and the ability to disrupt their backboard works wonders. In the Martell Wolf matchup, Refurbished Hulks to boost your initiative in order to Nothing Burns before they can march your warded character is great. Vince to counter Ramsay is also very important, and you sometimes have to hold him longer than you like to make sure you don’t get caught out by it. Pick first player based on how much damage they can do if they get to marshal first or second.

Changes for Stahleck

-3 Balon Greyjoy (Core)

-1 Theon Greyjoy (TFoA)

-1 Marched to the Wall

+3 Balon Greyjoy (CtA)

+1 Theon Greyjoy (Core)

+1 You Win Or You Die

For Stahleck, I wanted to change up the deck a little to keep it fresh. Core Balon had been mostly good for me at worlds, but I liked the extra pressure that could be put on with King Balon if you didn’t see the pinches early enough. Switching back to YWOYD over Marched was largely to maintain the ability to keep up the pressure, but I’m a fan of both choices and would run both in a Wars build.

Core Theon over 3g Theon felt like the more controversial choice, but was the one I liked the most. The 3g version is a great card in allowing unopposed challenges, but if you do not have a WDNS in hand or Great Kraken out he lacks synergy with the rest of your characters. Whereas core has the ability to go in alongside, push through win by 5,and possibly gain some power in the process. Ward is always going to be an issue, but my general thought was that either one is going to be a problem for me if warded, so I can just opt to not play or trigger him in those match ups.

It’s been a crazy month of thrones to end my season, and the experiences will stick around for a long time. Special thanks to Team Ukulele and Ryan Wood for helping me test everything in the run up, Team Yurop and all the Americans for making worlds an incredibly welcoming experience, the UK community for the support in getting us to worlds, and as always Gabbi for being the best person in all things ever.

If you have any questions about the list, just leave a comment and i’ll get back to you when I can!


Battles at Summerhall III

R1 - Win vs NW Greensight (Tim O'Flynn)

R2 - Win vs Free Folk (Matt Chandler)

R3 - Win vs Stark Fealty (Joel Pearson)

R4 - Loss vs Targ HRD (Ben Davy)

R5 - Loss vs Greyjoy HRD (Ryan Wood)

Top 8 - Win vs Greyjoy HRD (Ryan Wood)

Top 4 - Win vs Stark Conclave (Dave Bamford)

Final - Win vs Lanni Faith Militant (Vince Tee)


Worlds 2018

R1 - Win vs The Bye (FFG)

R2 - Win vs Targ Fealty (Adam Zuback)

R3 - Loss vs Stark Fealty (Roy Rogers)

R4 - Win vs Stark Qohor (Nick Hansen)

R5 - Win vs Targ HRD (Jake Platt)

R6 - Win vs Targ Crossing (Alex Black)

Top 64 - Win vs The Bye (FFG)

Top 32 - Loss vs Lanni Dragon (Neil Kimball)


Stahleck 2018

R1 - Win vs The Bye (Stahleck)

R2 - Loss vs Targ Rains (Gerion)

R3 - Loss vs GJ Wars (Jaino Ballesteros)

R4 - Win vs Martell Wolf (Mitya)

R5 - Win vs NW Wolf (Lukas Vaeßen)

R6 - Loss vs GJ Wars (Bambi)

R7 - Win vs Martell Wolf (Lennart Paga)

R8 - Win vs Stark Fealty (David Röhrich)

2 comments

Kingnothing 1

Are you satisfied with new Vic (enough boats?) or do you think the the old one would fit better now with the new RL? No worries /trouble with Valar Dohaeris and that much 7G characters?

Did exchange made a good job with only 3 pop? Or do you prefer the location draw?

I like your deck. Congraz to your results captain! :-)

vexien 735

@King Nothing I found new vic great, i couldve potentially had more boats but he was often fine with the number in the list. The other one is looking like a good option again, but i wanted a character to act more on defense than offense.

VD is always a potential issue, but general rule to follow with decks like this and tyrell is dont put out more than 2 big characters if you expect a vd soon.

I liked exchange in a lot of games, id sometimes open with it if i could get out a big character in the process. It was added over coppers because of pinch being the only attachment, so a chance to get it guaranteed seemed strong, and makes your opponent react to it.