Tyrell Stag 2nd Place Battle for Summerhall Tournament 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

This deck placed 2nd at the Battle for Summerhall in Atlanta(ish), GA on September 17th, 2016 against 22 people. This was hosted by the legendary "scantrell24" of the Cardgamedb forums. Big thanks to him and his efforts in hosting this tournament. I look forward to more tournaments hosted by him.

Many of the games were recorded, as we had two cameras. All of my top 8 games were recorded, and at least 2 of my swiss games were as well. I look forward to being able to see what mistakes I made along the way. And there might be some commentary, but I'm not certain on that.

Why Tyrell?

Because I wanted to be difficult, mostly. There were prizes for each faction, and I wanted to win something. I figured nobody would be playing Tyrell in a serious tournament, so why not play it to try to win something? I was mostly right, there was 1 other Tyrell. I enjoyed playing Tyrell, as I feel strong in potential challenge math.

Why Stag?

Originally I wanted to play Bitterbridge Encampment, and use Seen in Flames to pick out big characters, then use a Summer plot next turn to play a big guy. But at the last minute I switched the Bitterbridge to Milk of the Poppy, and do not regret doing it. This deck has troubles with Mirri Maz Duur otherwise. Then I realized you get a good amount of ladies and knights from Stag banner.

• Ser Barristan Selmy (TS) is another renown, a save, and a knight.
• Ser Davos Seaworth is a knight, stealth, and a save.
• Shireen Baratheon is a lady that is also a very good claim soak.
• Selyse Baratheon is a R'hllor, gives you a few more intrigue icons (and prevents intrigue stripping from Martell), and a lady.
• Melisandre is a lady, and you have to love the kneel package.

Observations

• A Tourney for the King is very useful. I closed almost all of the games with A Tourney for the King with 5-6 knights on the board.
• Knight of Summer was very useful, but I didn't see much The First Snow of Winter.
• There were several games where if I didn't setup The Arbor, I didn't play it. It would have taken a bit of tempo that would have been crucial in a few games.
• I saw Pleasure Barge in a few games, but only played in 1 or 2. Counting Coppers did some work these games.
• I should have probably had another Mare in Heat. When I did have it, it was very useful.
• I really didn't see any Lady Sansa's Rose. When I did, I normally didn't play them. This was probably a mistake on my part.
• 5 gold Counting Coppers is hilariously strong.
• A Song of Summer is very useful. 6 STR Knight of Summer is pretty nasty.
• I never used Put to the Sword, that I can recall. I had a few times in hand, but never really had an opportunity to use it. I don't know if this was a mistake of my own. These could probably be Highgardens, or a Support of the People and a Highgarden.
• The kneel package was useful in a few situations, but overall I didn't rely on it. I worry what's going to happen to it when Valar Morghulis comes out.

Game 1: Targaryen Kings of Winter -- WIN

I sadly don't remember much of this game. I forgot to take notes, and now wish I had for this write up. This game was on camera, and will probably get to see it in the future.

This deck went 4-1 in swiss, and placed 6th.

Game 2: Targaryen Fealty -- WIN

This game was particularly brutal. They were running a few 2 claim plots, and got Khal Drogo out very early. Ser Davos Seaworth was very useful here, and kept me enough on the board that I could eek out a victory.

This deck went 2-3 in swiss, and placed 12th.

Game 3: Stark Fealty -- LOSS

I do remember that this was a fairly close game, and the loss was probably my own mistake. I had a Ser Hobber Redwyne in hand, with a The Roseroad and a Rose Garden (and some other stuff) with 9 credits. I went for the long run, and risky play. I played Ser Hobber Redwyne and The Roseroad, and pulled Melisandre. They then got an intrigue claim and pulled Melisandre. In hindsight, I should have played the Rose Garden, Ser Hobber Redwyne, then Melisandre for the kneel. That might have swung the game in my favor.

This deck went 5-0 in swiss, and ended up placing 5th.

Game 4: Lannister Banner of the Watch -- WIN

This was a very close matchup. The games between this member of my local meta and I always are. It came down to some power to 13. He had a Benjen Stark on the table, so I couldn't do a military challenge or he would win (I've won this way too many times to forget about this). I sent The Knight of Flowers across for a power challenge, won it to put him down to 12 power. Sent the kitchen sink across in a military challenge with A Tourney for the King active. I don't remember why I had to do so, but it resulted with him at 14 power because of the Benjen Stark claim. This deck uses the strength of Lannister to keep The Wall getting power.

This deck went 3-2 in swiss, and ended up placing 4th.

Game 5: Targaryen Sun -- WIN

I felt really bad about this game. The ending power total was 15-0. They had trouble getting Mirri Maz Duur off due to a combination of intrigue icons on the board and shenanigans. I played a Seen In Flames while Melisandre was milked, just to see if they had a Dracarys! in hand (or other shenanigans), and they did. Next turn, I confiscated Milk of the Poppy, and did another Seen In Flames and happened to get another Dracarys!. That was rather critical to the game.

This deck went 3-2 in swiss, and ended up placing 8th.

Top 8: Targaryen Sun -- WIN

This was the same person as my previous game. I believe this game resulted in 15-1. They managed to get a double duped Nymeria Sand. Even though they managed to get a Mirri Maz Duur from Summons, they ended up never playing it due to the fact that I had Selyse Baratheon out, and they wouldn't have been able to win a challenge with just Mirri Maz Duur.

Top 4: Stark Fealty -- WIN

This was a very close game, and I won by a mistake on their part at the end. I played A Tourney for the King, and had a large amount of knights and power icons on the board. They played Grey Wind over Catelyn Stark (Core). If they had done so, they would have been able to win the power challenge, denied me the large amount renown that won me the game. They also played a crucial Wardens of the North that let them drag in just enough non-power strength to get very close.

This deck went 4-1 in swiss, and placed 3rd.

Finals: Greyjoy Fealty -- LOSS :(

I was dreading this match-up all day. Not because of the House, but because of the player. They are a very strong player and have been playing since the CCG days. I had them on the run early on, as they weren't able to get Balon Greyjoy out early. I probably shouldn't have let them get off so many unopposed challenges, which resulted in them drawing a handful of cards and eventually pull out Balon Greyjoy (Core). This is when I wish that the Milk of the Poppy were Highgarden instead. I would have been able to control Balon Greyjoy (Core), and Fishwhiskers a good bit more. At one point they did manage to stop a Lady Sansa's Rose from happening because they had quite a few The Hand's Judgment's in hand.

This ended up going 15-10 mostly due to the fact that he didn't try to outdo my military challenge at the end. They could have, and made the total 15-5. But this was a very good game, and I am certain I made many mistakes. I look forward to seeing this one on camera, and analyzing how many mistakes I did, and learning where I can improve.