Hand's Tourney 2019 - 5th - Jon MoD has some Fresh Recruits 1.0

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• 1.0

Hi everyone !

Here's the deck I played at the Hand's Tourney 2019: https://thejoustingpavilion.com/tournaments/6566

It performed well and I was able to reach the Top 8. I played this deck and won during the Saint-Nazaire Open in France, which was a "Road to Hand's Tourney" event, offering me a BYE for the first round of Hand's Tourney.

Note: Chapter 1 was not legal because we learned the end of the French translation one week before the tournament, and many stores didn't have the English version. With the C1, I think I would find a place for Aged Craftsman, and I would play At The Gates over Calm over Westeros, +1 Gates of the Moon.

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So, about the deck. It's a multi-trait Wall Defense, with all the tools to play around the Multi-trait (Jon Snow MoD, Westwatch, Fresh Recruits).

The goal is to setup our board in the early game, trying to get as fast as possible Hobb to get a massive draw. 3x Tourney Grounds are an amazing non-limited economy to play our expensive events, and it helps to counter the conditions of Tricksy Bird, needing gold in plot phase. Westwatch is really good when all the traits are here, because it gives a good flexibility ( more economy, a save for the Wall, or the possibility to stand Castle Black and use it twice on Jon Snow to help him to make 3 challenges as defender)

The plot plan is pretty obvious: Calm T1 to protect against military ( sometimes intrigue), then Exchange. This is a great plot here, because I have cards in all types, and it's often a problem for my opponent to choose between Craven and Poppy, or Fresh Recruits and Tricksy Bird.

The deck is really Valar friendly, thanks to Aemon and Fresh Recruits. You can set up a massive amout of dupes. The real threat is Valar Dohaeris if Jon Snow is out, or Political Disaster, so Tricksy Bird helps a lot to trigger these plots in the early game.

Varys Riddle is logical with Tricksy Bird.

Kings of Summer helps a lot, giving +1 gold for Exchange ( which is huge on a 3 gold plot), and reserve to help Hobb.

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About match-up, it's weird because despite my good results, I think the deck is pretty weak in the current meta:

• Greyjoy is always a threat for a NW. With stealth, location and attachment hate, We Take Westeros ... It's really dangerous, and their cards have a really high quality compared to ours.

• Stark is a real problem too, because they have many tools to stop our gameplan. Bran counters Tricksy Bird, Rickon counters Fresh Recruits, Skagos counters attachments, Frozen Solid is painfull and their early game can be really explosive.

• Targaryen can be difficult too. The deck has many little unique characters, so Drogon can be impossible to stop, and burn in general hurts a lot Aemon, Hobb, Halder...

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Report:

Round 1 - Bye

Round 2 - Gabryel () -> A shadow deck I fear because I'm not really used to shadow cards. But my Tricksy Birds during T2 and T3 force him to play Valar and Marched really fast, and without economy, I take a huge advantage he won't be able to recover. 2-0

Round 3 - Beren Miriel (Freefolk) -> Despite an early Tricksy Bird on his Political Disaster, he grabs really fast and I can't stop it. He has many 2 claim plots, and when I start to get back in the game and lock the board, he plays 2 Last Giants on Rattleshirt and Ygrid and finishes with 15 powers with a double claim of power. 2-1

Round 4 - Achab ( Castamere) -> A tricky match-up because Castamere counters Tricksy Bird. I have 2x Tourney Grounds at setup, so he plays King in the North T1 to avoid Tricksy Bird. But I play it during the second turn, revealing his Valar. He has the choice to all-in and try triggering Castamere, or lose 2 turns. He chooses the first option, but fails to trigger Castamere (9-5), and loses his entire board (Randyll, Left&Right...). 3-1

Round 5 - Yopyop ( Fealty) -> I was fearing the Stark match-up, but my opponent doesn't find Skagos. He has a better start than me of course, but I get back quickly in the game with attachments and Westwatch, and win at the end with no real problem, thanks to Hobb giving me a huge draw. 4-1

Round 6 - Arutho () -> The most horrible match up for me with 2 difficult factions to fight. Arutho has Rickon and Bran quickly, and I'm unable to play my events. I have no economy, and he takes a huge advantage. I have to play Valar Turn 3 to kill the Stark brothers, and I start coming back in the game. During the last turn, he's winning 13-8. I blank Asha with Poppy, defend well, then take an unopposed power challenge with Jon. I intimidate Asha, then get an unopposed intrigue challenge, Wall and Dominance, and win 14-12 when the Time ends. 5-1

Round 7 - Argento ( Fealty) -> So, I was in the cut after the last victory, I lost a little bit of concentration. Argento, despite having no Skagos, made a huge start and bullied me in the first turns. Even with a not bad Valar and some attachments, he was able to finish turn 6 with YWOYD. 5-2

Top 16 - Liforre () -> A dangerous Baratheon Player, who made good results at the Worlds 2018. He has a good start with Cressen, and I don't find my Tricksy Birds. But I have a massive draw (18 cards in hand during Turn 2 marshalling), and Westwatch counters well his Selyse. He makes a little mistake about Janos Slynt icons, and finally, his Duel kills his own Selyse during the Turn 7, giving me the final win.

Top 8 - Qt ( Fealty) -> Maybe the best French Stark player. It's a difficult matchup, and Qt has a perfect start with Catelyn, GreatJon Umber, Skagos and a Frozen Solid on Castle Black. I get bullied in the first 2 turns, but I resist really well. Sadly, the tempo of the game is really slow and so, at the end of the turn 4, it's the time limit. We make the 5th turn because we were already in plot phase, but I have to play Valar, he's winning 10-5 and I can only go to 10-8 with no claim. Really disappointed because, with one more turn, I could have played Calm over Westeros ( to protect power) and marshall 2x Ranging Party + 1x Arry in ambush and maybe win the match T6 or T7.