Lannister Aggro & Board Control (Full Explanations) 2.0

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DECK BEHAVIOR, BROADLY SPEAKING : This is the deck that I played at Toulouse (French S-W) Regional. It's a Lannister Monofaction oriented toward Board control with Kill Events + Seal of the Hand to support the natural influence and interractions of Lannister unique characters toward board control. Above the aforementionned orientation, the deck is also deckbuilded to be statistically relevant. Which means, to be stable : at setup, in his behavorial inside games, with good metagame choices that make all matchup winable (Seal of the Hand*3 is a must for that). Final goal always being to produce a deck that his able to win the tournament.

HOW THE DECK IS A REFLEXION BASED ON THE PREVIOUSLY SUCCESSFUL PUBLISHED DECKLIST : By lack of time ( university, social life, no training this last weeks), I read the winningdecklists of Buzz (TM) Dahaka (Festin) and Cas (Budapest). Thanks you, guys, for publishing them. The explanation of Buzz were full of interests. I found different viewpoints that all have their interests, and agreeing with them in many cases, i also differ on some others :

The "Jump" module (Hear me Roar, NbAmF) played By Buzz at TM was seen by me as done by the player for the player, and with a doubting variance in his efficiency ( dependent on if you have Gregor and The Hound, mainly...), thus i remove it. The non-presence of non-economic locations cumfort me in fouding that they finally reveal frequently unnecessary (Castral Roc) , slow and too expensive (Lannisport).

The list of Dahaka was an idea i have in head, and was happy to see successful. He was the basis from where I go, but evolution did not change some things I have previously identified : Naval Superiority is still risky, Confiscation is still a slow choice, loosing you the opportunity to play another plot and move forward. And the Lannister locations aren't enough impactant for their prices.

Cas published a proper decklist, but i found some choices could be ameliorated. I was also not a fan of x1 choices done by Buzz and Dahaka.

ANALYSIS OF THE DECKLIST :

Economic Plotline : Noble Cause (Usual opener, you assume being crunched by Naval), and Trading with the Pentoshi (Middle-game, several big characters to pay)

A Reset for all situations : Wildfire Assault (big tables with duplicate) and The First Snow of Winter (Tables with few duplicates, vulnerable to military claim).

A finisher to clean the board : Marched to the Wall

Reliable Card advantage : Counting Coppers ( Which allows you a second breath after playing your first hand) and Summons ( Which allows you to go serach the character you need in the situation. Crucial in a Lannister mirror match for having Tywin fast).

Heart of the family : Tywin Lannisterx3, Tyrion Lannisterx3, Ser Jaime Lannisterx3, Cersei Lannisterx3

Economy : Lannisport Merchant x3, The Kingsroad x3, The Roseroadx3, Western Fiefdomx3

Even if Lannister are good at economy, having a complete panel of it is still a goo choice for stability and setup. And Merchant are free military claim, something the deck is vulnerable...

Low-Cost Characters : Burned Menx3, Red Cloaks x2, The Tickler x1, Grand Maester Pycelle x2, The Hound x2, Brothel Madame x2

Burned Men are absorb claim and easily jumpable characters for First Snow. The Tickler is a unique character with a propensity to die, his ability being a bonus since he mainly do challenges. That's why he is in x1, standing as a replecement for a third Red Cloaks, a simple and efficient character, who absorb remaining unused gold.

The Houndand Grand Maester Pycelle are strong, justifying a *3 if they were not unique, thus fearing death on a military claim or Wildfire. Moreover, I played Hound in x3 on testing when he was released, and it reveals excessive. But the weakness of the deck on the Pow challenge could justify a x3.

Brothel Madame in x2 since you just need one, and they are mainly annoying. They lack of challenge presence, are easily countered by Lannister, can't oppose a military challenge in which they will die... Tons of default, but one gold is still one gold for many decks !

First Snow of Winter Adaptation : Gold Cloaks x2, Rattleshirt's Raidersx2

Gold Cloaksare excellent for FSoW, you can pay them in expectation for it or simply jump them. If you prevously pay them regurlaly, it's favorable for a FSoW + Marched. If you jump them, it's for having a military claim easily, increasing the number of jumpable military claims at 5 with Burned Men.

Rattleshirt's Raiders are the choice against attachment, a necessity to counter Milk of the Poppy on Tywin. Confiscation is too slow, while Rattleshirt's Raiders allow you to move forward and are well with FSoW. Moreover, you can tutor them with Summons, so you are kinda metagaming attachment with the plotline.

Gregor : Ser Gregor Clegane

Upon his advantages, he provides a third Renown on the deck, lock the military challenge (especially useful vs Stark and their Ice), and provide a randomly gamebreaker ability (especially useful in a mirror, where all characters are strong). But he is destroyed by Nymeria ( not fully, he still win hegemony :D) and if his ability is not efficient, he is kind of expensive. I put him in x2 since he if the less important in my eyes than the other expensive family members. I hesitated in x3, i hesitated and think i will take it.

Agressive events to support board control : Put to the Swordx3, Tears of Lys x3, Trial by Combat x3

Poetry is not there. Tears of Lys are the normal kill for Lannister, and is always useful to clean the board from an intermediate cost character such as Asha, Syrio,etc... But since it leaves many characters untouched, you need a universal direct kill, and Put to the Sword stands here. Tyrion provides the gold for it, normally, but you can also have it from Tywin or Trading. The difference in 5STR is naturally done by Jaime, Tywin and Gregor, supported by the other Lannister characters and the agenda LoTC.

Trial by Combatis in x3 because i like the card a lot. But she reveals himself of unstable efficiency. It is good on a reset, where the table is clean and where you can damage the big characters, and with Cersei when you have the two at the same time along with the possibility to pay 2 gold (Tyrion). The fact of shifting is also a problem since on occurrence you prefer damage the opponent's hand. As long as the cost of the event.

Universal cancel (that you pray to have at the right time) : Treachery 2, The Hand's Judgment 2

For full polyvalence, you need to have universal cancels that you play at the right time. Need some experience to idenfity it.

The Lannilol Sword : Widow's Wail*2

The Choice that I judge necessary but that people seems to not found already : Seal of the Hand *3

If you remember one thing, this is this one : Seal of the Hand *3. This is your escape gate vs Baratheon, who is likely to play Confiscation in addition to Cressen, necessiting to not run one, not run two (since it will be luck to see both of them), but three Seal of the Hand.

This choice is also decisive in the Lannister match-up, where you are likely to make a race toward Renown. Seal of the Hand allows you to have double Tywin, which can give you a decisive lead if you are the first to put him on the table, and allow you to come back on the game if you are the second to play it. It works also with Gregor, particularly good in this matchup ! And it's good on Tyrion.

THE CHOICE THAT I DID NOT MAKE AND WHY !

Let's start with the big debate of... Lannisport !

In this deck, he is too slow. Your goal is to contest the board and play expensive events+attachments. Your gold is fully focused on that, and you are not wanting to play a 3-Gold Location that you need to use two times to rentabilize... I used to remark that Pycelle x2, Counting Coppers in x1 and Summons were enough for the card advantage. I tried x2 Counting Coppers at the start of the game and it reveals excessive and damaging for the polyvalence of the deck.

Castral Roc : Of situationnal usefulness. Same problem as Lannisport to pay it, and not necessary for activating LoTC or taking the advantage on card advantage.

Naval Superiority : Situationnal : you need to have the cards allowing you to benefit from it, and this is pretty obvious for the opponent, especially if you are on very early game.

Confiscation : Too slow. Prefer the Raider's, they metagame FSoW and could be tutored with Summons in emergency. This is a risk, but since the deck has for goal to move straight forward, you have no time to loose.

Iron Throne : Yeah, it will be relevant. But I don't think it's necessary to change the fate of a game.

Cersei's Wheelhouse : Seemed strong at first view, finally too slow for this deck.

Tourney Grounds : Judge that Tyrion, Tywin and Trading (that i used to play in middle-game) were enough to have the needed economy. It would have been pertinent, but kind of unefficient in his marginal efficiency.

3x Treachery or HJ : Seems too much, you often need them once.

Gregor x3 and the Hound x 3 : Strongly considering the option, at the place of Brothel Madame.

Syrio/Littlefinger *1 : The deck already does well what they propose to support.

-2 Brothel Madame : Honnestly, they are boring for the opponent economy, but they did not make much else, and this very difficult to judge how they indirectly impact the game by constraining opponent behavior.