New deck: The Night's Watch 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

This is the deck I took to the Frogtown Hobbies store champs and got 4th place.

Round 1: Baratheon Banner of the Sun (0-0) I got The Wall early, and even though he got Chamber of the Painted Table turn one, he didn't see The Iron Throne, Melisandre (Core), or any big beaters early (I snagged Bob with an intrigue challenge turn 2). I was able to push or get dominance 3 of the first 4 turns, maneuvering myself into a pretty dominant position. I finally found my own Iron Throne the turn he found Mel, I used Wildfire Assault the next turn and got more bodies down, and just managed to hold him off. He got down Bob on the second to last turn, but it didn't matter, and I revealed Winter Festival for plot 8 while I was at 12 power with almost certain Dominance and the Wall to seal the deal. Fun side note, we finished 30 seconds under time.

Round 2: Targaryen Banner of the Wolf (1-0) I had a really strong setup with a duped Wall and he was lacking a lot of Miltary presence early on. I put a Craven on Mirri Maz Duur, Wildfire Assault killed a lot of his board when he tried to overextend and I managed to land a military challenge through, and The Hand's Judgment was a MVP. I used it to cancel a Dracarys! and a Fire and Blood to bring back a dragon to, I'm assuming, play another Dracarys!

Round 3: Greyjoy Banner of the Stag (2-0) I got to play Marc Kramer, at the top table on live stream, and after a spirited discussion over how great the Ultra Pro M2 Deck Boxes are for GoT, I mulliganed, and we started the weirdest game I've played in a while. I got The Iron Throne, so I was winning dominance, and he drew into a stream of chuds, Theon Greyjoy, and Ser Davos Seaworth (Core) and nothing else. I got Craster with a Practice Blade and a couple of Ranging Party (all 3 ended up on the board by the end of the game. I started getting aggro on him, and there was a lot of joking made by my meta mate sitting next to me about how he's never seen Night's Watch actually do a challenge. I found the Wall on turn 5 after we both opened Time of Plenty, I played Counting Coppers, and played Building Orders to look for it. The struggle was real. Benjen Stark made his stealth not really matter, and Craster returned the board to parity after our turn 7 Valar Morghulis vs. Wildfire Assault wiped it. That sealed the game in, and he shook my hand on plot 8 after it was obvious I was going to win by the end of the turn. The Hand's Judgement came through again by cancelling We Do Not Sow. I won't leave home without it.

Round 4: Greyjoy Kings of Winter (3-0) Justin is the T.O. for my local store, and we drove to the event together, so it was really cool playing on stream at the top table and knowing that we both probably made the cut. I'd helped him with the deck earlier in the week, and he mopped the floor with me. I had a decent start, got The Wall down turn one, and then he used Put to the Torch on it turn 1 and wrecked my hand with Wraiths in Their Midst. Turn 2, he bounced my whole board with The First Snow of Winter and then I couldn't keep half it, and by then he had Asha Greyjoy and Victarion Greyjoy on line, had gained a bunch of power, and even the comeback I mounted couldn't fight the lead he had.

Top 4: Tyrell Banner of the Watch (3-1) This was the coolest mirror match I've ever played. The deck was basically a standard Night's Watch The Wall deck with The Arbor, Pleasure Barge for on demand draw, and a surprisingly effective 1 of Maester Lomys. I didn't get The Wall. He did. We both got The Iron Throne, and the +1 strength to all his characters and +2 power per turn from The Wall meant I couldn't win challenges and lost in short order.

All in all, the deck performed well. Never leave home without The Hand's Judgment. It over-performed for me all day. Also, the 1x Unsworn Apprentice came through for me several times. I don't want more, but he was a nice one of.