Tyrell Dark Wings, Dark Words, top 16 in Dance with Dragons 1.0

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• 1.0

Ever since the Bin pack got spoiled I have wanted to play Tyrell DWDW. Tyrell has lacked agendas and card pool to play something new and refreshing and I think DWDW is just that. Tyrell has a wide range of good events and multiple border line playable events that the agendas pushes enough to fit them in.

The idea of the deck is to play mid-range good stuff Tyrell cards and add draw and versatility from the events. In addition Tyrell has a lot of unplayed potential from their deluxe considering events. The Knight of Flowers (HoT) and especially The Queen of Thorns (HoT) push the power level of the events even further. There are also other support cards like Emissary of the Hightower and Lazy Leo. I actually decided to use The Annals of Castle Black as a restricted so that kinda let to not using Emissaries. That version of the deck is also powerful since Ebrey made top 16 with that deck too.

One of the things I like about Tyrell is also the ladies tech. Offer of a Peach is great but unfortunately because of the restricted list I wasn't able to use All Men Are Fools and "Six Maids in a Pool" :( Instead I was stuck with Lady Sansa's Rose but I have to admit the knight count is border line it to be playable. But I wanted to put some rush events like Superior Claim and Lady Sansa's Rose to be able to close the game quickly if you get an upper hand. Playing those events twice in a row is really strong! I also wanted to use Olenna's Cunning which isn't great but gives some bad options for opponent to give you a character you need, event you need or Oldtown.

Character base was pretty much decided on these parameters. I went for the Margaery Tyrell (AMAF) which lead to using more cheap lords. Of course Paxter Redwyne is already a significant econ card for this deck. Using Marge, cheap lords and ladies lead to using Heir to the Iron Throne which gives this slow starter deck some tempo. It wasn't great since I hit Barring once and misclicked the window once (luckily I only found Alerie Tyrell and Garth the Gross was actually one key piece in winning that game for me). I have also fallen in love with Wildfire Assault again which made me want to play Lysa Arryn. The Red Keep (DotE) causes Marge and Lysa to be slightly worse but luckily The Queen of Thorns (HoT) gives access to on demand Lay Waste.

Locations are just econ and good stuff draw and win condition Oldtown. I think you could play three copies of it. I decided not to play The Arbor since I don't like it in 75 cards and the setups are already tough. I played three attachments but I would actually drop Bodyguard and add another copy of Silver Hair Net. Tyrell doesn't have any stealth and boy it's good on non-kneeling defender Brienne of Tarth (GoH) or fetch what ever event you like and get insight The Queen of Thorns (HoT). Adding stand with Highgarden Courtiers makes them even more powerful. The best thing about the attachment is the econ boost. Play that for The Annals of Castle Black turn and go crazy.

Last or the first thing about the deck is plots. The double reset was probably a bad choice for the Kingdom of Shadows meta but I wanted to use Wildfire Assault aggressively but have some sort of safety net for later. I did drop "The Last of the Giants" and Varys (Core) the last minute so that could be an option. Also if The King in the North wouldn't be restricted that would be a plot go to instead of Valar Morghulis. It's just good control and even if you don't have your king you can play your events. Heir, At the Gates and Trading with the Pentoshi are just econ this deck needs a lot. Wardens of the South is just a good mid game plot that gives you strength to dominate challenges even if you are behind on board presence. Other options could have been Close Call or Pulling the Strings. Draw isn't that needed though and Pulling the Strings lacks great targets if you play At the Gates yourself.

Overall I think this faction and agenda offers multiple directions to go to and I'm pretty pleased Ebrey's list was quite different from mine. Let me know what you think and feel free to ask questions.

Small tournament report follows:

Round 1 CT, Tyrell KoSh, a loss

Getting paired with CT on first round wasn't a nice surprise. I had played 3 games with my deck before and I was playing against well refined Tyrell KoSh deck with one of the best players in the World. It didn't end well. I was able to slow him down a bit at first but couldn't really crab power as fast as I would have liked. I also decided not to play around the obvious Ser Robert Strong since I thought I'll lose the long game anyway. That ended up being pretty brutal and one sided game. I didn't have a lot of events either and couldn't find dupes early enough (just drew dead dupes later :D ) but I think I mostly got outplayed.

Round 2, Terrance, Targ VS, a win

My second game was one of the best games in the tournament. Really close one where Terrance had Daenerys Targaryen (DotE) with all the attachments and support (dragons + Irri) and I spammed renown dudes to keep up with him. Wildfire slowed him down a bit and Wardens of the South helped with strength. I managed to win 15-13 with help from Offer of a Peach and The Faith's Decree played twice and stealth from Silver Hair Net on Brienne of Tarth (GoH). Luckily that Wildfire Assault killed his Viserion (Core)!

Round 3, Tom Kusch, Stark Winter, a win

One gold less, lower reserve and Karhold really cause me problems early in addition of Meera Reed. Luckily I found Nightmares and Lay Waste and played them twice which helped me win this one. Also Wildfire Assault was once again golden. He was also bit unlucky not to find so much stand while I had two Highgarden Courtiers in the game.

Round 4, Matthew, Stark Crossing, a win

No Return to the Fields and Passing the Black Gate doesn't stop Stark Crossing from going fast. I knew I had to play conservatively in the beginning and try to win the long game. Arya Stark (Core) and Septa Mordane caused me trouble early. Then Sansa Stark (WotN) joined the party. Still I was able to defend enough, come back with my own challenges and then hit The Annals of Castle Black for the win. In this game the power rush events where the key once again. That put enough pressure and caused a damned if I do, damned if I don't situation for Matthew for the deciding turn. He couldn't let me go first because of them but had to think carefully about the challenges himself. Silver Hair Net was once again great too!

Round 5, Rachel, NW Summer, a win

It's been a while since I played against builders. It took me couple of round to get hang of it but after I didn't mind it. I'm used to doing math with Tyrell and Tyrell generally has good match up against The Wall (Core) decks. I tried to win mil early to keep builder count low and get as much as renown I can. Nightmares and Lay Waste were golden once again. Last plot Brienne of Tarth (GoH) with Silver Hair Net was a key once again with help of Nightmares. The two power challenges from Olenna's Machinations sealed it with stealthy Brienne. I also had Melee at Bitterbridge in hand if things got bad but didn't need to use it.

Round 6, Austin Restaino, Lanni KoSh, a win

Shadows isn't the best match up for this deck but I think Lanni shadows is better than the Tyrell one. Austin let quite a number of unopposed early and I knew if I just keep enough board and cards in hand I'm ok. Lay Waste cleared away Bowels of Casterly Rock which hurt his econ. Even though he got Alchemists' Guildhall to replace it he didn't have surplus econ to use it. I also had Oldtown to speed up my win and keep cards in hand. "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" on The Annals of Castle Black turn sealed it with Oldtown.

Top 16, Ben, Tyrell KoSh, a loss

I was supposed to play a mirror with Ebrey in top 16 but he dropped and I got paired with Ben instead. He had The Arbor and Oldtown Undercity on setup. Which didn't look good on my part. I think I had middling setup which got boosted by Heir to the Iron Throne. Unfortunately Ben had or managed to draw enough econ and control to keep me in bay. Ser Robert Strong was once again giving me some problems in addition to Nighttime Marauders. Early Sparrows also decided I'm not going to run away with too much power. This ended up being another game where I had very little chance. Apparently Tyrell KoSh is a very bad match up for this deck.

Overall the tournament was well organized and it was great to play with a new agenda against players I've never played against before. Playing until 2 AM had a Stahleck kinda vibe even though I was home all the time. If something good has come out from The Bloody Flux it's the international online tournaments.