Lannister/Kraken (5th Swiss, Top 4 - UK Nationals) 1.0

• Versions

Swiss

Lannister/Wolf - Win - Not one I've played against much before and I started off slow. I assumed seeing Bran Stark on the board that they wouldn't be playing The Hand's Judgment so I saved Put to the Sword and Tears of Lys until played The First Snow of Winter to turn the game in my favour.

Lannister/Dragon - Win - Opponent didn't see Tywin Lannister (Core) or Mirri Maz Duur so I was pretty comfortable.

Martel/Lion - Win - Opened with Tywin Lannister (Core) and my opponent Ghaston Grey so I was tentative about making any challenges. Once I saw Lordsport Shipwright I was free to start stealing power where I could and controlled the game quite comfortably. First game I've played in front of a camera and my opponent even said I seemed a bit nervous at first but after a couple of rounds and focusing on the game I begun to relax. (YouTube - Knight of the Blackwater)

Stark/Fealty - Lose - Ward on Theon Greyjoy the turn after playing Confiscation to remove a Milk of the Poppy from Tywin Lannister (Core) absolutely ruined me.

Lannister/Fealty? - Win - Really nice guy but I don't remember a whole lot about the game. Sorry! Game went to time but I was able to steal enough power to clinch it.

Baratheon/Lion - Win - Another game where my opponent didn't see key characters until quite late when I was comfortably in control of the game.

Top 16 Cut

Martell/Fealty - The pupil becomes the master. I've been playing the game since March and a lot of my training has been getting beaten by Even and Kostas week in and week out. In this game Even didn't have much luck. He had a decent start putting Attainted and Imprisoned and Ser Jaime Lannister (Core) and a Milk of the Poppy on Tywin Lannister (Core) but not much else. I saw all but one of my economy cards opposed to his none. Managed to Tears of Lys Nymeria Sand the turn she entered play who quite often causes me trouble and got plenty of dupes on the table to prevent a possible Varys seeing out the game quite comfortably. Better luck next time buddy!

Baratheon/Fealty - I know Tom Smith through Netrunner but we've never actually played each other in either game. He got Robert Baratheon with Lightbringer and Melisandre out after a couple of turns and things were beginning to look a bit hairy for me. I had the Tears of Lys in hand to take down Big Rob but forgetting my Tyrion Lannister (Core) money on a couple of occasions wasn't helping me out. Tom was well ahead sitting on 10-11 power opposed to my 3ish but I think he got a bit cocky with his challenges and spending all of his money giving my an opening to Tears Rob and Put to the Sword Mel.

Lannister/Fealty - I started this game really well Ser Gregor Clegane on the table soon to be accompanied by The Tickler. They did some work but never hit anything critical. Opening with Calm Over Westeros to avoid Naval Superiority gave me a massive advantage as well. I soon got Asha Greyjoy on the board as well and was quite comfortable despite not seeing any economy. I wanted to turn the screw leaving myself with 2 gold and a Put to the Sword in hand. I let my opponent have an unopposed military challenge when they played their own Put to the Sword. We traded The Hand's Judgment but the mountain was down and I was on the defensive. Cersei Lannister (Core) was putting serious pressure on my hand and my lack of economy cards really put me in the corner. I Summons'ed for Tyrion Lannister (Core) but he never got on the board as I had nothing to soak up military challenges. Cersei eventually took my Tywin and Tyrion from hand and once Ser Gregor Clegane hit his side of the table I saw no out and conceded the game.

I was naturally gutted having lost, especially taking a gamble which didn't pay off. After the dust settled I can't describe how delighted I am with how the day went. I got a fair bit of luck but also some good play to get me to where I finished. I said before hand if I made the top 16 I'd be amazed so I can't complain much about a top 4 finish. Some might even say I had a Quality Time.

I dabbled with putting in a couple of last minute Captain's Daughter on the day but I decided to play with what I know as I've been playing variants of the deck for a couple of months now (a near identical deck which took me to top 8 at this years UK Board Game Expo regional).

Thanks to Matthew Addison for booking everything and actually getting me down there. As well as him and a bunch of the other Netrunner guys coming along to support me despite knowing very little about the game. Even Sor for taking the time in teaching me and putting up with me missing all the timing windows time after time (was a little weird to play you and not having you correcting me the whole time).