This is the deck which won me Best Martell title at Stahleck 2024, a result I could have never imagined and by far my best result in the post redesign era. Usually I don’t publish my lists because I think they’re not good enough, but in this case I’m super proud of what I’ve achieved with an unusual build I've been working on for almost 2 years. Some of you may know I got a preference for weird, fun and out-of-meta stuff, so combining an award with a personal creation for my favourite faction is the best thing I could have hoped for. If you're interested in this trip to jank town, sit back and enjoy the reading.

Disclaimer: This will be a quite long description, I'll try not to go too much in details

The deck

Phase I – We Guard the Viper (end of 2022-early 2023)

I love The Many-Faced God. I think it's the most brilliant agenda for creative deckbuilding that allowed tribal decks to shine in the competitive field, which before was quite unusual for Thrones (except for Knights). It gives you a lot of flexibility in the building process and different options while playing, so I want to take a second to thank Steve and the whole Design Team for offering us stimulating cards even after many years of this game, which is more fresh and alive than ever. The idea of using The Many-Faced God not for Sand Snakes (btw I think they are still amazing and probably a stronger/safer choice to bring in a big event like this) was inspired by Randyll Tarly (JS) deck developed by my meta friend Gazna using the Army trait: I was hooked by his performance at Stahleck 2022 and decided I wanted to make something similar with . I’ve always loved the Guard theme, I remember I used to play a few copies of House Manwoody Guard when they came out with no other synergy just because I liked them. So instead of creating a bomb that stands like Randyll Tarly (JS), my idea was to give the Guard trait to a strong character to make him not kneel at all. The Red Viper (Core) was of course the juicier target, but the deck was a lot different back then, using even jankier stuff like You Murdered Her Children (LoCR) to either easily kill a guard or win with the The Red Viper (Core) itself. Anders Yronwood was already there because of the synergy Yronwoods get with We Guard the Way. So the first draft was weird, super fun and often caught people off guard (lol), which was everything I loved to have in a deck.

Phase 2 – We Guard the Yronwoods (first half of 2023)

At the start of 2023 I was already planning of bringing this crazy idea to Stahleck, but testing was too unreliable: as soon as the Guard The Red Viper (Core) hit the board and I could not win that round, opponent would go crazy and reset, and the deck suffered both from Valar Morghulis (guards are non unique), Valar Dohaeris (The Red Viper (Core) + House Manwoody Guard cost 11), and Duel (Anders Yronwood + The Red Viper (Core)). So the first big change happened: I removed the 7-costers and decided to focus everything on Anders Yronwood, making him a Guard that does not kneel to defend and then strike back twice. Smoothing the curve helped it to run better, but by losing the boost from the The Red Viper (Core) the deck became too slow. It was still able to consistently do the Guard trick and win games in the long run, but if the plan was to bring it to a big tournament I needed some ways to accelerate power grab (I was so desperate I even ran The Iron Throne (Core) to win dominance). In those first phases I was also playing a lot of events like To The Spears! and Doran's Game (R) with Tower of the Sun and The Annals of Castle Black (R) for recycling them. The deck underwent many changes due to new pods and restrictions over the year so I’m not going to list them all, but at some point in summer something happened: War Scorpion was released.

Phase 3 – Armies of the Hell (second half of 2023)

At first the War Scorpion was included only for the synergy with ambush discount, and then I started to realize how strong it was. So strong, that my build was changing entirely only to get more triggers for the card, and the idea of Guards slowly switched to Armies. Around September 2023, I understood the Army combo was so powerful I couldn’t ignore it for Stahleck, so I gave up Guards and built an entirely different deck only to focus on the trick of killing big guys with the War Scorpion. My performance at Stahleck 2023 was disappointing, but Thegars showed everybody my intuition was actually right.

Phase 4 – The Royal Couple (most of 2024)

At the start of 2024 I still wanted to play Armies for the year because I thought I could do better with it, but the The Many-Faced God errata and the restrictions killed my list. So in Spring 2024 I started toying again with the Guards concept, keeping the War Scorpion in but with a less relevant role for my strategy. The Water Gardens turned in Tourney Grounds for discounting events, and Secret Schemes became the restricted choice for drawing. Testings were surprisingly good and continued throughout the summer with even better results when I gave up a lot of events and increased the attachments. I decided it was time for my idea to become public and finally shine. I can provide exact numbers if you like, but I think this is the deck I’ve played the most since I’m keeping track of my games, with over 200 entries. A big change was to focus on another unique character that could support Anders Yronwood and speed the games while being resistant to the most common resets. Myrcella Baratheon (GoH) doesn’t kneel, has renown and costs only 4: The Royal Couple was born. The last months of testing were focused on stabilizing economy and draw while not changing much in the characters roster. The last addictions were two goodstuff cards that I couldn’t ignore and I'm sure will see a lot of play in every build from now on: Ser Willam Wells and Tyene Sand (WK).

The tournament

This was my third Stahleck in a row, and my only regret is that I haven’t had the courage of participating earlier when the event was much bigger. I thought I wasn’t good enough to make it, but once you get there and you feel the atmosphere, you meet friends, you build amazing memories... you just can't avoid coming back. Thanks to Schwaig and Philine for making this amazing experience come true every year, you’re one of the reasons this game is still alive and keeps bringing joy to a lot of people in the world. I didn’t have big expectations for my performance, I just wanted to play my deck and show that even “bad” archetypes can have a good run if work hard on it. Sadly my memory is not great so I don’t recall much of the games, but I’ll try to give you some insights.

• Round 1 – AlexFdez07 from Spain – Targaryen Kings of Summer (WIN)

I was super happy of meeting a nice guy I often play online, but I was scared of the matchup, as aggro can be deadly if my opponent has a good start. Alex had an bad one, setupping no economy after mulligan and having his At the Gates locked by my Gulltown. I easily survived the first rounds and kept my board safe, while the War Scorpion kept in check his Dothraki Armies. Pretty unlucky game for him. 1-0

• Round 2 – barondossalas from Catalonia – Greyjoy Kings of Winter (WIN)

is probably my best matchup, so I was confident going into this one. Also running 2 Summer plots helps me survive the first rounds while I build up my economy. My opponent started strong with locations and turn 1 destroyed my hand with Hotho Humpback, but was struggling to keep a good board. He was forced to reset too early to kill Myrcella Baratheon (GoH) with tons of powers, but after that he didn’t have many characters and I just went for the win with a lot of unopposed. 2-0

• Round 3 – Margus K from Estonia – Baratheon Fealty (WIN)

is one of the worst matchups because it can either kneel the Guards or just win with passive dominance, plus Margus was already 2-0 so I was kinda ready for losing this one. To be honest I don’t remember much of what happened, Anders Yronwood was kept knelt the whole game but somehow I was able to defend all the challenges through House Manwoody Guard. I recall I discarded his scary The Laughing Storm early, so went full on and emptied his hand to a point where he had nothing good to play. Sorry Margus, feel free to add more about our game. 3-0

• Round 4 – Marius Braun from Germany – Night’s Watch The Lord of the Crossing (WIN)

I’ve known Marius for winning a lot with Voltron Jon Snow (WotW), so I feared his great experience with . He was so sweet and kind that I’m glad I was able to meet him in real life. matchup depends a lot on the build, but The Lord of the Crossing is actually favourable to me, because I can counter his non-kneeling Rangers with my non-kneeling Guards and avoid an early rush. I don’t remember many details if not that War Scorpion killed Ranging Party while doing the third power challenge, which was quite a big hit for him. 4-0

• Round 5 – Albert Lorenzo from Catalonia – Targaryen Sea of Blood (LOSS)

At this point I started wondering what was going on, as I’ve never expected to be still undefeated after 4 rounds. Despite he brutally beat me, facing Albert was a pleasure, as he’s such a funny guy that also speaks Italian. The round before he had won a mirror against my friend Khal Prono at the table next to me, and Khal warned me I was going to face a strong player and deck. I think I held up pretty well in the first 3 rounds, not having him trigger the agenda and keeping a stable board. Then I was hit by a punch in the face with The First Snow of Winter, increased claim and then Marched to the Wall on the surviving Anders Yronwood. Game was pretty over at that point, since I could not rebuild a board against his claim 2. Deserved win for him that ended up closing swiss with an impressive 7-1. Bravo Albert! 4-1

• Round 6 – Reinhard Schefcik from Austria – Targaryen The Brotherhood without Banners (LOSS)

The problem of winning too many games in the beginning is that even after a loss you can still face a World Champion. It was an honour for me playing this game and meeting a legend like Rein in person. This was the third of the day, the match was long and balanced as we were both investing a lot of resources in a duel between Jaqen H'ghar with Queensguard trying to kill my Guard Anders Yronwood. Once again, the game was decided by The First Snow of Winter that isolated the big Lord. Despite this I kept up fighting until time was called, because Rein was struggling in collecting powers and had his hand constantly emptied by Queensguard triggers and claim. We went to time while he was still at 7 powers I think, but he fully deserved the win because even with another round I couldn’t have recovered. 4-2

• Round 7 – Lannister from Catalonia – Tyrell The Rains of Castamere (WIN)

This was by far the most difficult game of my day. I know Lannister from online, he’s a master of builds and I knew I had to be very careful against his strong deck. On the other hand, I have quite a good matchup against "The Rains of Castamere", because I can easily defend and deny the trigger. The match was full of big math challenges where he was constantly pumping strength with Growing Strong, "Lord Renly's Ride" and Garth Greenhand and I was doing the same with War Scorpion and The Prince's Plan. Calculations were long and tiring and I started making my first mistakes after a perfect day. We joked that we didn’t know how I’ve won this game, considering I was behind on the board the whole time. Maybe he recalls more than me, but when time was called I brought the win home. 5-2

• Round 8 – Derbo from Germany – Greyjoy Winter (LOSS)

Here I was, trying my chances in the last one. At this point of the day I was drained by the long games versus Rein and Lannister, but I was actually happy of going against a deck I’ve already beaten in the previous rounds. Unfortunately this was the only time of the day where my economy failed me, ironically in the match I needed it the most: I setupped a The Roseroad, played the other one and for the whole game that was all the gold I saw, which was negated by agenda and an early Ralf Kenning. My plots have an average of 4 golds, so I was basically playing chuds and trying to survive. Secret Pact and War Scorpion kept him in check so he wasn’t able to do unopposed challenges for his We Do Not Sow. When time was called, I was melting my brain in calculating how to come back from this and I almost did, reaching 13 . Unfortunately he had chosen Winter Festival as his last plot, and got to 15 in dominance phase. I want to point out that despite this being a crucial game my opponent’s been super friendly the whole time and didn’t slowplay when he was conducting it. Much appreciated Derbo, a pleasure meeting you. 5-3

General thoughts

The deck is quite difficult to pilot and it took me a long time to adapt my gamestyle to it, understanding the better choices to do in the right moment. Other players might prefer running more efficient stuff like Lord/Ladies with Doran Martell (Core), but personally I like challenging myself with “weaker” builds that can surprise the opponent. Surprise plays a huge factor when facing this deck: if the opponent knows the trick or at least expects it, he will play accordingly and then it becomes much more difficult for you. So I’m kinda aware that publishing the list can make the deck weaker for the time to come.

From my testings, this archetype performs pretty good against goodstuff build that want to win challenges and get renown: Aloof and Apart, "The Rains of Castamere", The Lord of the Crossing, goodstuff in general will struggle in passing your wall of non-kneelers, and you’ll get the advantage in the long run. On the other hand, passive decks that don’t care about challenges like with Kneel or Dominance or that defends The Wall (Core) are pretty difficult to overcome. Multiple resets can be deadly because Guards die easily to Valar Morghulis and you don’t have economy plots that allow you to recover mid-game. The First Snow of Winter is also super scary unless you have dupes for Ser Cletus Yronwood or a The Tattered Prince in shadows.

• Best Factions to face: , ,

• Worst Factions to face: ,

• depends, it can be either pretty good if it’s Dragons or super bad if it’s Dothraki

Conclusions

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations. I know I could have been shorter but it doesn’t happen often to be one of the best deck in a World Championship. I think the build has some points of improvement which maybe you want to work on. Mainly, its weakness to resets and especially The First Snow of Winter has to be addressed: the 3 games I lost were because of this plot followed by a Marched to the Wall, so the solution would be adding some ambush cards to avoid that. Next cycle doesn’t have any other Guard character in store, so I’m not sure if this deck can keep up with everything else becoming stronger. Also the rise of Shadow cards is probably not ideal for a deck that wants to control the challenges. For me it’s been a super fun experiment and I think I’ll put it to rest now for some time. If you’re interested in knowing more, feel free to ask.

And finally, a huge thank you goes to all the people I’ve met in Stahleck and I’ve exchanged a few words with, it was a great pleasure and can’t wait for next year to come for meeting you again. Thanks to my friends (old and new) from the Italian meta that gets smaller every year, but our bond becomes stronger every event we survive together. To my fellow players, especially Bookerman and Malkae, this is for you guys! Even if our beloved orange cards are on the bottom, we can only make them rise from this point!