The Lord of the Streams - Finalist @ German Nationals 2026 1.0

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Ciao guys, I normally like to write long reports but I'm a bit busy this time of the year and considering the meta is about to have a big switch with the new Redesigns I thought it was better to publish it sooner for all the people who asked me to do it.

This is the list I piloted to the final of German Nationals, the biggest national event we've had in years. Thanks Dennis and all the German organizers for making it happen, the game will not be the same without these real tournaments which are my favourite part of playing Thrones. My participation was a bit unexpected, as I planned to join just a few days before, landed and left on the same day taking a flight to Spain in between, and arrived running from Stuttgart station just in time for the first round. Was it worth it? Definitely. Location and weather were beautiful, food was great, I had enough time to chat and laugh with some friendly faces, I met new mates like Aljosha, Nijo, Helmut, Sinton, and I made it up to the final against the mighty Rein with zero starting expections.

Genesis

This is a deck I play since 2023, back then the main source of inspiration was reviving the brilliant old list by Hanno, and I even had the chance to talk with him about some changes. The deck always had decent results but my allegiance to kinda forbids me to play other factions in important tournaments, though given this result I should probably switch faction more often. In this case, following an horrible performance at Italian Nationals where I was probably more focused on organizing than playing, I needed something different, first because I wanted to play more relaxed and have fun, second because I could have been late for 1st round so a fast deck was safer. Without any time to build new stuff, I though of bringing something I knew well, could be fast and reliable, but more importantly for my playstyle, unexpected and out of meta.

Strategy

I will not go in detail but the deck's main strength is taking advantage of multiple stands, multiple renowns and a generally low curve board for surviving resets. Randyll and Loras are the stars of the deck, can survive Valar Dohaeris together, can hold tons of powers and have great synergy with events. Tom is the key of the standy engine, he's also cheap and gives you advantage on the plot everybody's playing. Actually Mad King is here mainly because I hate locations decks, but could also be First Snow to keep the board small or even Political Disaster with so few locations on our side. Withering Cold is a game changer if you set it up well and make it follow by Annals. The only card I changed before the event is Pulling the Strings, it was originally The Minstrel's Muse but I believe that plot didn't turn out well considering it struggles to find space even on a Song deck. The general plan is not fixed and really depends on how fast you can establish a solid economy, and this deck also follows the unscripted rule: "Arbor in setup you win, no Arbor in setup you lose". As a general note, I wouldn't recommend this deck for beginners as it takes a while to get used to the many events timings. Another suggestion is not to play it as you would with a standard rush list: you don't need to trigger agenda at all cost but you should do it only at the right moment, when you know you can gain enough powers to turn the game in your favour. Some people told me they like playing Songs with Brotherhood agenda, so that could also be an interesting variation.

Report

It's been already a while so I will not talk about every match. The only game I lost in Swiss was against Gabriel who outrushed me with his Crossing and double Winter Festival. The semifinal against Lukas and his Prince Great Ranging was pretty interesting and I honestly thought I wouldn't have made it. The final I recall it pretty well, it doesn't happen often to me to face a World Champion like Rein. At the end of the game I had no regrets, there's no shame in losing against one of the strongest decks available, he's a far better player than me and I'm very proud of not making clear mistakes. I started defensively to avoid being rushed by his early duped Vargo Hoat and could control the board fairly well, but in the long run the trend changed. After his economy established with The Iron Bank, he could reset with Valar Morghulis while his side grew bigger every round to a point where I could not win a single challenge anymore. The board situation felt very oppressive, like playing against a time bomb that you can't disable and it's just matter of time before it explodes. He won in round 7 or 8 and totally deserved the title, his consistency in winning and topping high in these events is remarkable. I just want to thank all my opponents, every game was fun and challenging and I received so many appreciations for my deck. Hope sharing the list can bring some fun to others as I've had during this memorable run.