Top 8 Stahleck 2025 - At Daario's Command 1.0

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• 1.0

I'm back home after my second Stahleck, and it was once again an amazing experience! Thank you to Schwaig, Philine, and everyone who helps put the event together. The Thrones community owes an immense debt of gratitude to Stahleck for making us all feel like one big family.

Targaryen has become my most played faction, especially recently after being the Targ regent in 8 Regents. And, as documented elsewhere, Battle of the Trident has become my favorite agenda. I've played around with Trident in Targaryen for a while as a hybrid between Dothraki and Mercenaries, but the fit was always a little awkward. With the last pack release before Stahleck, Ser Harry Strickland was unleashed as the perfect missing piece in a Targ Trident deck. My time was somewhat limited to build and test other decks, so I decided to play my most familiar faction and my favorite agenda. Looking back on it now, I'm very happy with my decision!

If you're playing Mercenaries, why Battle of the Trident instead of Free Companies?

Great question! There are a certainly pros and cons of each option, but I'll try to summarize:

1. The Mercenaries build already plays a lot of commanders (Vargo Hoat, Ser Harry Strickland) and armies (Brave Companions, Golden Company), and there are many ways to find them. So it is easy to trigger the agenda without heavily modifying the deck.
2. While your access to bestow is reduced in Trident, I've found that I can usually get enough bestow when I need it via Vargo or Unbridled Generosity. So the loss of Free Companies is manageable.
3. Trident gives you access to incredible tempo cards and a toolbox that can help you navigate any matchup. Yes, it limits your options for resets, but I think the net gain from Trident is greater than the gain from Free Companies.
4. Free Companies is a "known" deck, whereas I prefer to bring more unusual decks to big tournaments.

Plots

The plot deck has a lot of standard Trident plots like Heads on Spikes, The Warrior, Reinforcements, and Siege Preparations. Usually For the Realm is the opener if you have an army in hand. Otherwise The Warrior and The Smith are the standard economy plots for turns 1 and 2.

The one "spicy" plot is Fallen from Favor, which is incredible in the deck. Since Mercenaries often flood the board quickly (especially with Aegon), your opponent will usually follow up with a reset. Fallen from Favor on a reset turn gives you great gold, allows you to control initiative (even against VD), and gets your key unique character off the board. If that character was Aegon, now he is in your discard pile and you can bring him in with Reinforcements to quickly reflood. You can also use Fallen from Favor if you need to trigger your Viserys Targaryen (Core).

The plot that I was on the fence about was The Smith vs A City Besieged. A City Besieged is a great option to flip into on the power challenge, opening up 2 claim on intrigue and military. But I was worried about choke, so I ultimately went with The Smith to give me another economy plot. I didn't end up facing any choke and rarely used the Smith, but I still think it was the right decision.

Key Cards

• Aegon Targaryen (TSC) is the restricted card of choice for obvious reasons.
• Daario Naharis is the main threat. You want to get him early and keep him on the board. Every time you can stand him, you're effectively standing two characters.
• Tyrion Lannister (JS) gives stealth that can be critical for triggering the agenda. You ideally want to be using his ability on Harry to get the most out of his stand ability. If Tyrion is getting low on goal, you can also use Tyrion's ability on Vargo, bestow Vargo, and then move gold over to replenish Tyrion's supply.
• Ser Harry Strickland gives everything you could want in this deck. His 4 cost is perfect to be able to stand Daario or Vargo with Plaza of Pride. You can bounce him into play with either Our Word Is Good as Gold or Tyrion Lannister (JS). And his Commander trait allows you to trigger the agenda and get better value our of Brave Companions. Sometimes he even stays on the board and accumulates power with his renown.
• Golden Company has two ideal traits, lets you keep characters in play (if you want), and provides power acceleration.
• Vargo Hoat is less reliable than in a Free Companies deck, but still a 5 STR tricon that can trigger the agenda. You often want him to be bouncing in and out of play rather than staying on the board.
• Brave Companions usually don't make the cut in my Free Companies decks, but with the armies and commanders in Trident, their card draw is more reliable. Plus, their army trait is key for triggering the agenda, and they make For the Realm more reliable as an opener. Their +STR ability is also surprisingly effective, especially when you have the threat of boosting it via Unbridled Generosity to trigger your agenda.
• Plaza of Pride generates incredible value, not just for the ability to stand Daario (who then stands someone else), but also to allow you to stock your discard pile with targets for Tyrion or Reinforcements. It's rare that I run Plaza at 3x, but it's too important in this deck. And worst case scenario, you can use the extra copies to stand Tyrion or Harry.

Fun interactions and strategy tips:

• If you have an army in your starting hand, try to avoid setting it up. Opening For the Realm gives you the best start, and saving an army guarantees that you can use it.
• Don't be afraid to marshal Aegon, especially if you can save your Daario/Vargo with Golden Company or if you were able to find some dupes with Brave Companions.
• Use Fallen from Favor or Marched to the Wall to get your Aegon off the board, and then bring him back into play with Reinforcements.
• Make an intrigue challenge with Daario Naharis and a commander/army, steal the character with Daario, and then flip into Marched to the Wall. This takes out two of their characters, chews through dupes, and can set you up for a board wipe on the military challenge.
• Try to save Aegon for your The Mad King's Command turn. That is your chance to equalize any game as you should be able to get 5+ characters against their 3 characters. Then if you can pull of the Daario/Marched play, you can potentially wipe any board.
• Try to wait to use Our Word Is Good as Gold until one of your characters is knelt. That way you can get full value out of Ser Harry Strickland if you find him.
• Dragon Skull can be amazing, especially on Tyrion who adds stealth. He then becomes the perfect target to power up Vargo Hoat or Shagwell. With Daario or Plaza of Pride for extra stands, you can often get intimidate on all 3 challenges.
• Stalwart Shields can be a viable target for Aegon, especially if you need to assault a location or blank an army (like Great Ranging). Against big locations, the Assault keyword can also be given to Vargo.
• If you need a big beatstick to win a challenge, the 1x Dothraki Honor Guard serves that role.
• Flip into Marched to the Wall or Fallen from Favor for a surprise mid-challenge trigger of Viserys Targaryen (Core) or Septa Lemore, who can get your Aegon or Harry into shadows.
• While there are not a lot of the seven characters in the deck, don't forget that Begging Brother and Septa Lemore give you extra claim with The Warrior.

Tournament Recap:

Round 1 vs Bara Fealty (David Tegtmeyer): This was a very tight match with David getting out Robert Baratheon (LMHR), several dupes, and his dominance tech. David wisely played defensively, forcing me to choose between attacking to trigger my agenda or passing to deny his dominance. On the MKC turn, David played Ser Imry Florent and sacrificed the locations he was going to lose anyway to kneel my board, neutralizing my best opportunity to take control. He then rebuilt his board and found his Delena Florent to shut down a lot of my stands. I kept it close (something like 11-9), but he found the tools he needed to shut down my game plan. Loss, 0-1.

Round 2 vs Stark Aloof (Hugin): Hugin was playing a Tully deck and surprised me by opening Naval Superiority. The 2 gold was enough for him to play Tytos Blackwood with some reducers, but I was still able to play an army with For the Realm. Tytos was quite annoying because I couldn't use Aegon during Tytos's challenges. He also had two Last Hearth Scouts (after I milked the first one), so I couldn't leverage jumpers well. But in the end, my jumper tech and stands allowed me to push the tempo, trigger my agenda, and control the game. Win, 1-1.

Round 3 vs NW Uniting the Realm (ErgMachaon): This was a cool weapons deck running Salladhor Saan (TC) and Harma Dogshead. I had to play much more defensively than usual to prevent him from triggering his characters. Qhorin Halfhand looked like another key piece of the deck, but his head got put on spikes. Erg wasn't able to pull off any tricks, so I eventually pulled away with my tempo, stands, and renown. I didn't realize it until after the fact, but I could have stolen his Salladhor Saan with Daario and then used him to play Dragon Skull for free. Win, 2-1.

Round 4 vs Targ Crossing (Kristin): I was surprised to discover that this Targ Crossing deck plays big dragons. Unfortunately for Kristin, she had to set up a lone Viserion (DotE) who promptly got marched to the wall. Her Heir to the Iron Throne found Khal Drogo (Core), who immediately got milked. I usually went first and stole a character with Daario Naharis, which then she often ended up killing because she had to make military challenges to trigger Crossing. This was the only round of the tournament that I actually saw and wanted to play Dragon Skull, but right as I was going to bring it out of shadows I remembered that there were dragons in play and it would be useless. Kristin's deck looked like it could have been scary, but she never found her footing after the round 1 Marched to the Wall. Win, 3-1.

Round 5 vs Bara Fealty (Libor P): That was an Azor Ahai Reborn deck built around Robert Baratheon (Core) as the primary target. He had Selyse Baratheon (R) on setup and saw two AARs (which I discarded with int claim and/or Heads on Spikes), but he didn't have any good targets to put AAR on. Without the main engine of his deck functioning, I ran away with this one. This game blended in with my other Bara Fealty game, so I don't remember as many details. Win, 4-1.

Round 6 vs Targ Assault (Tassos): With no The Hand's Judgment or few characters over 5 STR, my deck can be vulnerable to burn. So when Tassos had two dragons, Meereen (R), and The Dragonpit on turn 1, I was pretty worried. Turn 1 I marshalled Aegon to fetch Daario since I dupes in hand, and I rushed at him with Daario. I figured he'd either need to use multiple burn events or Daario would be able to control the game. Well, he had Incinerate and Consuming Flames to burn through Daario, but it meant that he needed to use 5 cards in the process. In the meantime, my remaining characters were able to trigger my agenda and keep the pressure on. My Meereenese Market was critical to get rid of his Freedmen, Mother's Men, and A Dragon Is No Slave. At some point I had no dupes and he had a duped Magister Illyrio (MaV). I suspected the Valar Morghulis and used my Marched to the Wall to clear his Illyrio after the VM. Despite my growing dead pile, I kept just enough characters on the board, including an 8+ STR Dothraki Honor Guard, to get me across the finish line. Win, 5-1.

Round 7 vs Martell FC (Dimi): This was my second game of the day that opened Naval Superiority into my For the Realm. Dimi had an attrition build with Venomous Blade, Dorea Sand, and Ghaston Grey among other things. My deck it quite strong against attrition because it can keep reflooding the board, allowing me to control the tempo. I threw my duped Daario into his Ghaston and he killed an army with War Scorpion, but neither was enough to slow me down. Win, 6-1.

Round 8 vs Martell Trading With Braavos (Lennart): I was very glad to see Lennart after I had already made it into the cut. He played an icon control deck that used the Braavos agenda for card advantage and extra triggers of Arianne Martell (PoS). I set up Daario and tried to dig for dupes with Brave Companions, but didn't find any. So Daario got killed first turn via Ghost Hill Elite. But beyond that, I was able to get a pretty good foothold and keep the pressure on. He tried to use A Pinch of Powder on one of my guys, but forgot that Golden Company saves from return to hand. I got up to 9 or 10 power and knew the VM was eventually coming, but I couldn't find any dupes before the VM hit. I marginally stabilized after that, but I couldn't find any milks to slow down his Arianne. On the last turn, he knelt a character and remove 4 icons to prevent me from making any challenges. If not for the 4th icon removal, I might have been able to push through a military challenge, flip into Reinforcements and Aegon, and swing the game in my favor. But he had the answers he needed and took the lead as time was called. Loss, 6-2.

Top 32 vs NW Assault (Valnitrik): I wasn't sure what to expect from this deck, other than a lot of tricks. He had a double-duped Bowen Marsh (TTS) turn 1, which I assume is a centerpiece of his deck, but I luckily had a Milk in hand to neutralize him. Other than that, he ran The Wall (Core) (which he brought out of shadows after I had made my challenges) and a lot of other tricks to slow me down. In the end, I was able to keep up the tempo and power gain, led by a duped Ser Harry Strickland, and closed it out at something like 15-6. Win.

Top 16 vs Targ FC (Marti Farrera): Targ FC was one of the matchups I didn't want to see, because Daario and Tyrion can be crazy and Begging Brothers can really mess with my gameplan. First turn he played Late Summer Feast and I let him go first because I had Milk in my hand. He played his Daario and I milked him, but much to my dismay, he had a Shadow of the East to remove the Milk. This was a disaster. He made an intrigue challenge with Daario, stole my Golden Company that was bestowed, and then Pinched my other Golden Company that wasn't bestowed. Then he stood Daario and swung military against my lone Brown Ben Plumm. I was about to get my board wiped turn 1 and have my tournament ended. My only hope was Our Word Is Good as Gold, which luckily found the Daario that I needed. I defended the challenge, stood my Daario with Plaza. Then I attacked intrigue, stole back my Golden Company (which let me keep Daario in play), and made a military challenge to flip into Heads on Spikes. Finding Daario there took me from the brink of elimination and put me into an advantageous position. I don't remember a lot of details from that point other than that I found a Daario dupe, we both had Tyrions, and I had a Begging Bro to stop his Aegon. I found all 3 copies of Our Word Is Good as Gold, which allowed me to win the tempo game and close things out. This game was amazing and definitely the highlight of the tournament for me. Congrats to Marti on a great run as King of Swiss! Win.

Top 8 vs Lanni Kingdom of Shadows (Raius): I knew I would need to win this game fast, but unfortunately my setup failed me (only Daario + Plaza of Pride) and I didn't see any limited until round 3 or 4. Meanwhile, Raius had a great setup including The Red Keep (R), which meant that I couldn't rely on a lot of my abilities. I found a dupe for Daario and was able to keep him all game, but my poor econ and his Red Keep meant that I couldn't push the tempo like normal. I tried to trigger my agenda a couple of times, but he used Old Bill Bone twice to block me. Then by turn 3 or 4 I was left with no armies or commanders, had no cards in hand, and was forced to actually play Siege Preparations during plots instead of flipping into it with my agenda. Next turn I could go into MKC and had an Aegon in shadows, but Raius killed him with a Hired Assassin. I also had a Tyrion bestowed with 3 gold, but could never trigger him because of Red Keep. I got to 9 or 10 power, but eventually he had all of his key locations like Bowels of Casterly Rock and Tunnels of the Red Keep, and I could no longer win challenges. I think this is a very winnable matchup if I get a better setup, but in this match he saw what he needed and had all of the answers. I don't want to take anything away from Raius though, because he piloted the deck perfectly (and went on to become champion). Well played, and congrats on your championship, Raius! Loss.

Final Thoughts

I am very pleased with how the deck performed and my result in the tournament. I didn't make any major mistakes and got to at least 8 or 9 power in every game. Until the last game, I felt like I was effectively able to execute my game plan. If I could go back in time, I'm not sure that I would make any changes to the deck. Perhaps I would have added a second Begging Brother (and cut Black Balaq), if for no other reason than getting extra claim with The Warrior.

Going forward, War Elephants are tailor-made for this deck and will be a tremendous addition. I really wished they would have been available for Stahleck, but at least I got Ser Harry Strickland. I'd have to test how they play, but I expect I would include 2 copies of the Elephants and cut Black Balaq and then maybe Dothraki Honor Guard. I would also switch to running 2x Reinforcements instead of 2x Heads on Spikes.

Lastly, I'd like to once again thank Schwaig, Philine, and everyone involved with Stahleck for creating this unforgettable experience. It was so amazing to meet people like Superduck, Raius, Gabi, and so many others in the community that I've mostly interacted with online. I hope to return to Stahleck before too long!