Dragon's Fire - Cambridge Store Championship top 8 4.0

• Versions
• 4.0
• 3.0
• 2.0

Cambridge, MA Store Championship top 8 -

This Fealty deck has been holding its own in tournaments thus far. It has placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd in Winter Kit Tournaments thus far and it made it to the top 8 cut in the store championship for Cambridge,MA with a number of players I do not recall; but I believe it to be somewhere in mid-twenties to thirties. It did lose in the first round of the cut however for the first store championship that I have had the opportunity to participate in. It has made the cut in all four tournaments that it participated in and the Boston meta has some strong opposition. I am playing back and forth with small tweaks here and there to the deck for the remaining two store championships that I will attend next weekend before focusing on another deck arch-type.

I do feel this deck has weaknesses against the other strong decks in the meta. One of its weaknesses tend to be the fact that it doesn't have many powerful characters. When Daenerys Targaryen or Khal Drogo are not found, then it tries to hold its own until they do arrive. This is often not possible against (we will say) a Banner of the Sun who has characters such as Balon Greyjoy, Euron Crow's Eye, Asha Greyjoy, Theon Greyjoy, Nymeria Sand, Arianne Martell, and Maester Cressen. These decks have a lot more dangerous options that they can fall back on. That is one reason that I am leaning towards a second Summons in this deck for the next iteration in order to get to where I need to quicker.

While there are limited options particularly in Fealty decks in general, I will go about my card choice options and thoughts on them for this deck from what I have experienced.

Character choices -

For chud, the Braided Warrior is a great low-cost military presence that can put the pressure on forcing the opponent to stop the military with strength 4 or greater on my 2 cost character which short of Ser Jorah Mormont doesn't come easily and even so at a cost. The handmaiden is in there similarly for that low cost character, but provides an additional bi-con with that is useful. Just the threat of a stand for Daenerys Targaryen can be enough, but she will most likely get her ability to fire off at a critical time when paired. What she does do for me most of the time is let me attack with Daenerys Targaryen more aggressively when active as the first player. With Handmaiden on the table, the opponent still has to worry about their 5-str unique characters eating a Dracarys! with an untimely stand. This lets you keep on the offensive while still playing defensively. I still can't decide however if 2 or 3 of them is the proper amount.

I do believe that 2 Viserys Targaryen is the proper amount. There is a thought on removing Confiscation for something else in the plot deck with the possibility of removing an attachment with him through Marched to the Wall, Waking the Dragon or just using him to satisfy claim. I would then perhaps also add in a single Rattleshirt's Raiders for a Handmaiden to fill an additional small gap with my left over neutral slot that I have. Confiscation for Summons? That is probably my changes going forward.

I go with 3 of each Rhaegal, Drogon and Viserion. I understand the desire to pick and choose some of them, but with Fealty, there are less options right now and the consistency of seeing them all with Daenerys Targaryen has a huge enough impact that it would be tough for me not to unless bannering. The Fire and Blood makes the loss of them even a boon at the right times.

We won't speak of Daenerys Targaryen, as she is self-explanatory. She will win you the game on her own, and even Milk of the Poppy on her only slows her down a little due to benefits from the dragons, so losing Confiscation as a plot choice doesn't worry me that much.

Khal Drogo can often win the games for me without Daenerys Targaryen. Forcing that second military challenge can really put the opponents on the back-foot. It doesn't even have to provide claim. But throwing a Braided Warrior at them and forcing them to then block that with The Knight of Flowers so that your second challenge with Khal Drogo himself will not claim a second life is well worth it. Even if you don't plan on making that secondary military. The threat is there afterwards and now you can focus more strongly on power. They have to decide what to dedicated for 2 potential military challenges. And of course if you can get both off then you can really start cornering them quickly turn after turn. I had played with a Drogo's Arakh at one point as a singleton because it can cause some serious headaches, but the limitation of it at the moment is just a little too much. If it was loyal I would probably run 1.

I also see Ser Jorah Mormont as only 2 in decks. However, I see it as a card I want to see in setup. If I get it early then he will typically end up as a sacrifice by turn 2 or 3 at which point when I find a second copy, I can put him into play then. Or he will be my Marched to the Wall target when I play that to impact the board. He is occasionally a card I grab with a summons at times when recovering for instance with a Varys along with another chud to build the board back up.

The Unsullied is the army that I like above the others in the other houses. It's strength varies just like Drowned Men and Wardens of the Reach, but it doesn't rely on other cards to increase its power. The limitation there is that it is offensively only, but rarely plays the defensive game. It has a way of messing up challenges and I always like that aspect. No longer can the 1 strength chud block your challenges, so your opponent needs to use something else to stop it, or if Daenerys Targaryen is present they can't block with 2 str characters either (mini-balon as you will). When Daenerys Targaryen isn't present, they present the threat of Dracarys! on their larger characters that would normally be safe. I have found that this threat alone often keeps it from being blocked as well. It is possible I will drop 1 to make room for the Rattleshirt's Raiders I am considering.

Littlefinger, Syrio Forel and Magister Illyrio are all strong situational characters that have their place in the deck. A second Summons would also let me search one of these out for the right opponent as well. If there was more gold available to me turn to turn, a second Magister Illyrio is possibly an option, but experience with him even when I had him was that I often find myself needing to spend on something else, or not playing him because other things need attention. One less dead card potential with singletons is nice as well. Having these three utility characters is important I believe and adding a fourth with Rattleshirt's Raiders paired with Summons really just opens up options.

Attachment Choices -

Crown of Gold seems quite obvious, especially at 3 cost in Fealty. It was a pleasure to see what effect it had on the game the times that I found it at store champs. It really broke open some characters that I may not have had the opportunity to get normally like Margaery Tyrell and Nymeria Sand.

I am still on the fence about Milk of the Poppy in the deck. The only issues I have without it is that there are some characters like Robert Baratheon or Tywin Lannister that just can't be dealt with so easily without them. But, I don't like the consideration that Confiscation will likely mean that I only get an advantage for a single turn. At least you might be tempting their plot choice for the next turn by doing so, which also could be worth something.

Seal of the Hand was a bit more of a card that I favored earlier on. It has less impact now and I am not seeing as much as there used to be. It is nice on Khal Drogo, but Daenerys Targaryen usually stands herself and there are Handmaiden in the deck to stand her on demand if needed as well. So, she typically doesn't need it as much. It is nice to get 2 challenges with her and keep her standing (or you have Syrio's Training out for 3 challenges with Daenerys Targaryen) but Seal of the Hand might not fit in here.

The attachment section is where I might consider some changes for the follow-up tournament next week.

Location choices -

I am definitely on the side that says you should almost always be running 3 Plaza of Punishment. The card can really just win you games by itself. You want to see it, and if you get it out on setup that's a plus as well. Although if I can prevent from doing so and its in my starting hand, I will put something else down and pay only 2 for it with Fealty turn 1 along with something else. Its repeat kill that puts pressure on your opponent and takes care of those annoying characters on the side like Bran Stark and Brothel Madame who may not be worth other kill cards or won't participate in a challenge. It warms your fiery heart to send them to the arena. Repeat kill, card advantage, messes up challenge order timing for your opponent and works defensively; it's good enough to warrant 3 of them.

Event choices -

Dracarys! we won't communicate about. I believe 2 Fire and Blood is the appropriate choice. I don't have a full mental reasoning about it, other than I feel like a single of it wouldn't be enough and 3 would be introducing something that isn't good until mid-game and isn't good on setup. But Fire and Blood can act as a surprise ambush challenge against your opponent that they were not expecting from one of the hatchlings or it can relieve you from a mistake if someone managed to get Khal Drogo or Daenerys Targaryen with a targeted kill when you have eventually found that second copy.

The Hand's Judgment saves games. There are far too many critical moments decided on a well placed event that I don't build any decks (unless they have Bran Stark) without 2 copies of The Hand's Judgment. In the store championship, there were two games saved by cancelling their own The Hand's Judgment on a Dracarys!, The Things I Do For Love on a one of the heavy hitters with renown on it. Other times in the tournament they were more minor cancellations but still impactful.

Originally I had run 2 Waking the Dragon, but often found as though it was tough to find the right time to use it. Some games it wouldn't find a use in my hand while other times it did some great things. I had to make room for Crown of Gold and this was where I cut it from. After going down to one I think it is the proper number. I did get several uses out of it this tournament that were beneficial. One instance involved a knelt board to stand a hatchling, kneel the house card and Dracarys! Arya Stark, another to get some work out of Ser Jorah Mormont before replaying him the following turn to get more done. Other uses of course involve Viserys Targaryen for attachment removal and if you are first player saving one of your characters from Tears of Lys as well as other small beneficial circumstances. It's an interesting card, but I feel I would want to stick with just one of them.

Plot choices -

The deck is centered around Daenerys Targaryen, therefor I want to get her out on turn 1 if the opportunity is there. That is the reason that A Noble Cause exists in the plot deck. On subsequent turns in the game I can get her out in Fealty without the plot, but that is not always possible in the first round or two. Summons is there to find her, or if found there are plenty of other useful targets and it is one of those cards that can help you recover from a Varys. A second Summons is preferably going to work it's way into the deck.

Calm Over Westeros is another potential opener that would let you get some breathing room if the setup wasn't that good, but also good late game and comes with solid gold. Every once in a while the effect isn't doing anything and is just being played for gold. I don't see enough Naval Superiority to worry about standing up to that. It's a decent plot at the moment, but not a favored on in the deck.

Confiscation in this deck is often not used to remove milk, but more often to remove targets such as Seal of the Hand or Heartsbane. Still, there are options for removal other than a plot choice in , so this might be pulled out at the next iteration.

There is always a turn where I want to use Counting Coppers in this deck. It gets played on turns where the board is stable and I want to rebuild for follow-up turns much like playing The Long Plan but for card advantage instead of gold advantage. Or it is used when I could really use an event to protect the game state. If you can hold off on using the The Kingsroad until a turn you play Counting Coppers, you can still manage to play out a character of importance that turn even if it comes to it.

Filthy Accusations I keep considering as a potential replacement, but it has its moments in many games to provide that relief that's needed for a turn. Twice in the tournament against different opponents it was used on The Hound when had huge amounts of gold. The best thing I could do was kneel him at that point and keep multiple challenges at bay from him, but each game found a turn where it was doing some work at a moment where it would be needed. The turn after hopefully you are now in a better position.

Marched to the Wall is probably the only plot that I include in every deck at the moment. It gets played every game, often to critical effect after you have removed chud with Plaza of Punishment and challenges to take someone out that the opposing player would much rather have in play than you do one of your Ser Jorah Mormont who was on his way out, Viserys Targaryen for attachment removal or a chud of your own.