Nanterbridge - Loughborough SC Winner

Card draw simulator
Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
BitterBOMBS 0 0 0 1.0

cobrabubbles 400

Sit yourself down there, young one. There, keep warm by the fire. I have a story to tell you. It has been winter for many years - can you remember the summer? The light and the warmth and the fun you had? Yes, i'm glad. Well, forget what you thought you knew. This is the story of the strangest summer I lived in all my long years...


Yeah, I won an SC with Banterbridge. Fair warning - this deck includes a tantalising selection of intentionally suboptimal choices. Those of you who find that frustrating, who still think jank is a dirty word, GTFO. The rest of you, fellow acolytes of the church of Jank, brace yourselves. We're gonna open up this Nandora's box and have a good rummage.

No doubt you have heard legends of Banterbridge, but not all of us are lucky enough to be intimately familiar with the concept. Allow me to enlighten you, if I can. Banterbridge Encampment is, on the face of things, a Bad Card. Naturally, this drew the attention of one Josh Chambers, Jankmaster Extraordinaire. In his infinite wisdom, he realised that to make the card work, you just have to make sure that whatever you're putting down with it is always better value than what your opponent is. How to do this? Simple - don't play any characters that cost less than 4!

After seeing his initial Targ-flavoured build in glorious action, I immediately built myself a Banner of the Nan version. This oft-forgotten agenda seemed perfect for the deck, as it gives access to the correct number of copies of Old Nan. Nan is so good at storytelling that she tricks your opponent into forgetting what time of year it is, so you can use the effects of non-Summer plots and still keep your Banter rolling. Announcing that your plot is The First Snow of Summer never gets old.

Unfortunately, the 51 non-Nan non-Bridge non-Arbor cards weren't really pulling their weight. This was back in the Called to Arms meta, before Tyrell got its recent deluge of sexy-awesome cardboard, and the best 9 other Stark cards for the build were 3 each of Eddy, the Minstrel and Greatjohn's Vanguard. I built it as a rush deck, with a frankly absurd amount of renown, but that alone wasn't winning much since the deck takes a couple turns to get going anyway. I reluctantly shelved the joust version (though continued to have a blast in melee).

Fast forward to Jan 29th, in the car of DBUKFEBMNCHBBTTGANGGLP heading home from the Weekender. Dave and I were discussing plans to get to the Loughborough SC, and wondering what to play. He had the brainwave that we should both play Banterbridge, and I was of course wholly in favour, so I dug out the old Banner Nan list and had a tinker.

The result is what you see before you. Let's get into the key bits.

  • Old Nan, Banterbridge, Arbor, Summer plots (because sadly there are some games in which you don't draw Old Nan): the engine. Put a silly number of big things on the table, laugh at the confusion of your opponent when you give them free stuff, cry inside when that stuff is Tywin.
  • Harrenhal: the second most important and fun reason to play Banner of the Nan. With Banterbridge, Harrenhal makes a little combo I like to call 'Two Enter - One Leaves'. It's hilariously brutal. I had a testing game against Lanni in which I set up the combo and my opponent never put a character of cost more than 3 into play with the bridge for fear of me murdering Tywin/Cersei/whoever. That, my friends, is value.
  • House Florent Knight, Jaqen, Roose: the attrition that my previous build was sorely lacking in. The Knight is an undeniably great card which is at its greatest in Banterbridge decks. Slight anti-synergy with Old Nan, but that's a price I'm willing to pay, especially as it can now be mitigated with the Pavilion. Jaqen combos beautifully with Banterbridge. Drop him in with it, and if the thing they drop is unique, you can immediately mark it for death. Doing just that let me kill a Jaime and a Dany at the SC. Roose is pretty mean at the best of times, but King Roose is absolutely maddening - and simultaneously hilarious.
  • Riverrun Minstrel, Knight of Summer: what other deck can say that 50% of the cards at the bottom of its curve provide power gain? Going fast is pretty important with this deck. There tends to be a window in the midgame where either you've landed one of your powerful removal effects, you've hit the home run with First Snow, or your opponent has just run out of bodies to push over the bridge. You really wanna win in that window before they get their momentum back. Eddy and Renly obviously help a lot, but its these guys who provide the redundancy you need to get to that finish line in time consistently. And there's no better way to win a game than Bantering in a Minstrel. Just make sure to spend a good bit of time resolving the effects of your opponent's plot first. Every bridge has its trolls.
  • Ghosts of Harrenhal: another card chosen for its wonderful synergy with Old Nan. This deck is all about doing hilarious bullshit in the plot phase. Flip this, give it the summer trait, trigger bridge, and you get to DOUBLE your hilarious bullshit factor! Also, the aforementioned Minstrel, Jaqen and HFK all have excellent comes-into-play abilities which are even better if you can do them again after they die.
  • Marge, Nightmares: my concessions to trying to make this deck actually good. Somewhat blasphemous I know. But I wanted to actually have a chance in the Wall matchup, and Nightmares is a more banterous answer than FroSo. Marge makes Roose, Jaqen and HFK better, so I didn't feel too bad about her either, especially as I'm not running Randy.
  • Mance: he got cut during the redraft, but had to go back in when Dave reminded me of the extra Old Nan silliness he enables. Unfortunately I never got to play him at the SC.


Nan, is this story going to finish soon? I don't know what a Banterbridge is, and I'm sleepy...

Ah, my sweet summer child, you know so little. In my day, stories about jank ran farther than a pack of Direwolves tracking a herd of Direcaribou for forty fortnights. There is more still to tell.


Next, a few insights/boasts from key matches.

Firstly, I'm sure that I was only able to win the thing because I dodged Dave in the swiss. We played the mirror match at his a couple nights before, and it was absolutely terrifying. His build was Banner Watch, christened Shrodinger's Banter because it can be both Top Banter and Anti-Banter at the same time. Bridge-on-Bridge was a mess of challenge math, but he certainly had the edge thanks to the Wall.

That said, I did actually manage to beat a Wall deck in the top 4 of the SC. Though my opponent Chris made no play mistakes, he did make a critical error of attitude on turn 1. Realising he wasn't able to defend the Wall against Syrio, he attacked, catching me off guard and killing Old Nan! The ignominy! Obviously, this fired me right up, and I played one of the best games I've ever played to avenge her. Much and More got me Renly's Host to ensure the wall knelt turn 2, a Florent Knight discarded one Aemon from play and a second for intrigue claim, the Host's Intimidate plus Roose killed the third Aemon and knelt the Wall again, Syrio got killed and brought back as a Ghost to cure an untimely opiate addiction, and First Snow -> marshal Harrenhal against a 3 cost board guaranteed that I could close. Call me boastful, but when this pile of jank can face off against 2 Haunted Forests and the Wall from turn 1, and stop the Wall from triggering even once, without using Nightmares, I feel entitled to a little pride. #BridgesNotWalls

Before that, in the swiss I played against Lanni Fealty, Lanni Stag, Tyrell Rains and Targ Crossing, piloted respectively by Billy, Keb, Andy and, inconveniently, the only one of the 4 Daves in attendance who didn't have a distinguishing nickname. Keb was my only loss - and he beat Dave too, so he shall henceforth be known as the Burner of Bridges (or would be if that wasn't quite a cruel nickname despite the pun value). That was a great game. I got a good lead going, but Keb played a masterful Valar, taking a big hit on his own board to reset mine when I wasn't expecting it, then Tears-ing my Eddy to come out ahead. In hindsight I might have been able to pull back through though. I rebuilt my board and managed to stop Keb at 14 a couple turns later. Then, in the following challenges phase, King Roose cleared his board down to just Mel and Littlefinger, and I still had the strength to win power on attack and defense. But unfortunately I had spent a Nightmares at the start of the phase to blank Tyrion's stealth instead of Casterly Rock, forgetting Roose was going to murder the halfman anyway. The extra intrigue got Keb the unopposed he needed to finish handing my ass to me.

I should talk about the final as well - it was against Our Lord and Saviour JCWamma. I'm sure he'll publish his silly silly deck somewhere around these parts soon, so I won't say much about it. The game was decided early though, as his start was very poor and I had Bridge + Arbor by turn 2. First Snow + Jaqen wiped his board, and even though he made the masterful stroke of playing Ghosts to force me to discard Old Nan with my own Florent Knight, there was no way back.

Dave finished 2-2 in the end, losing to both halves of the Waumsley-Frith axis. However, he did get to Bridge in Craster after a Wildfire in one game to bring back a Florent and discard a Marge, so I assume it was all worth it.

Ok, that's finally enough rambling I think. Deck is jokes. Play it to confuse your friends, have a lot of silly fun, and realise this game is not always what it seems.

Nan bless xx

32 comments

r480 158

I think I just fall in love :)

Zukin 161

Excellent deck! Andy here bigging up Tyrell rains on the day. (Pardon my mood on the day. Dad duties/lack of sleep night before)

The combos were brutal and I didn't see any of it coming. But now I'm a firm Bridge Believer. Well played sir. Deserved the win!

uBaH 139

Now We need the NW Version as well. Sounds Silly fun as well.

Vince 131

Man, I could read this report again and again :). Great performance and I believe if Nan is a storyteller that bests you, she is also the only one! Thanks for the good read and congrats!

LGB 171

Very cool! Please help me build a greyjoy knights!!! Congratulations!

netrak 1

@cobrabubbles This is strage and nice and uses some cards everyone ever ignored. So I'm in love with that! It sounds like a joke, it's tremendously hilarious and I fear it's effective, too.

So... Congrats for the result, but i have a fierce doubt about all this, hammering my head: setup.

'Cause if you see BOTH Harrenhal and Banterbridge, you have no cost 1 to fill the gap but the Kingsroads, 3/60. Also you are going to be 1/2 pg down if you don't see Florent Knight, 3/60. And with no Harrenhal you're not so likely to activate Bitterbridge, 'cause you risk a Mountain, Balon, Robb, Tywin, Fat Bob, or worst, fucking AEMON to come into play for free...

So: what are your choices?

cobrabubbles 400

@ZukinNo worries about your mood dude, it was a great game :)

@netrakI'm afraid you may have missed the point slightly. Banterbridge is the deck's raison d'etre - if you're worried about triggering it you should be playing a different deck. Regarding setup, you can also flesh out the Two Enter One Leaves setup with a Roseroad, but anyway that doesn't really matter. The basic concept of the deck is at odds with the desire for good setups, and you'll have to forgo that desire if you want to play it. I recommend meditation to cleanse yourself of these preconceptions before you try the deck out.

Zukin 161

@cobrabubbles Cheers dude! At certain points I felt like I was pulling ahead in board presence, but that thought was quickly denied me when Banterbridge and Death Stare Castle got going, Nantastic and Swallower of the Small were the delicious icing on this surprise cake!

Great game and day, looking forward to the rematch!

netrak 1

@cobrabubbles

I played Bitterbridge the whole summer, yet I'm not into it's secrets as you are. I have to meditate lot more than what I've done till now, you're right. Clear my mind. Ignore preconceptions. Got it. Follow the flow and just play PG, 'cause in the long run you're going to overcome your opponent with tons of Big Guys, while he'll finish them, sooner or later.

I think the only way to see how it works out is to try it. After some meditation. Lot.

captainslow 1265

@cobrabubbles I love this and I love you. I have loved you since the days of your 1.0 cardgamedb blog. I just thought you should know.

NickName 1

@cobrabubbles did you encounter Varys in those games? Seems you wanna put many big guys on the table and accumulate renown.

Zkov 1

why did you include Mance Rayder? just because he is 7?

cobrabubbles 400

@captainslow hugs Nice to hear someone remembers the old blog xx

@NickNameDidn't see Varys but I did see Valar, like any Tyrell deck you can generally play around resets fairly well since you have so much draw and money. Also should be noted that Harrenhal is a very hard counter to Varys.

@ZkovYeah basically, pseudo-free 5 str renowned tricons are pretty good. Also, in about 1% of games you'll find yourself with Old Nan + Mance + Raiders in hand on a turn when you don't mind there being a winter plot, and you can get some hilariously marginal value out of your Nan trigger.

NastyJack 1

Can you tell us what jcwamma was playing at least? Is there another fun Tyrell deck list to look forward to? I want to believe there is.

cockbongo 1

Respect. #BridgesNotWalls

bored2excess 452

I've been playing assorted variants of this deck ever since my articles, kudos on stringing this many wins together. I've found Harrenhal to be diceyer here in the mid-atlantic US, I thought it (and Roose and Jaqen) screamed for this deck as well, but iron mines, aemon and treachery proved too consistent of answers for it in this meta.

One tip from my experiences: Street of Silk's time is finally here. It hits A LOT in decks like this and is another sticky location.

cobrabubbles 400

@NastyJackSorry but that's up to Wamma :)

@bored2excessUm, are you sure about Street of Silk? In my build at least it only has 6 targets, and it would be third effect requiring a faction kneel, which seems less than ideal.

HidaHayabusa 73

A great list and a great write-up. My only problem with running this deck, is some awkward first turns in case my opponent plays something bigger. But as you said, it's a price you need to pay for having an awesome list.

Lldrian 1

Thanks for the inclusion in the write up and great game for my first time in the cut! I thought I'd taken out the key when nan bit it early but didn't know I'd wake the beast!

There was a mistake I made not being more judgemental on much and more looking back, but still happy you didn't see any mistakes!

Jimmyjenkins 1

This report had me laughing out loud. Need more silliness/genius in the game like this!

KenkakuKnight 1

I'm curious about how necessary Old Nan is. I love the interaction between Banterbridge and your plot deck, but how does Old Nan help if you're already consistently triggering the encampment (there are only two plots that don't have the Summer trait).

HidaHayabusa 73

Depends on how many Treacheries you face. If Bridge gets hit with Treachery, it won't kneel so it can react to another plot being revealed. I guess Nan works overtime against Lannisters giving their plot Summer, preventing Treachery from ruining the entire plan.

cobrabubbles 400

@KenkakuKnightDon't have a choice, I'm running Banner of the Nan. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

@HidaHayabusaGood point, but that's suuuper niche given that Lanni rarely has gold for Treachery in the plot phase. Not that I'm against super niche things, but that's a stretch even for me, and I don't need that argument to justify her inclusion.

HidaHayabusa 73

But Rains Lannister is all over the place.

cobrabubbles 400

@HidaHayabusaTouché

HidaHayabusa 73

By the way, took your list for a test drive in a 4 round tournament last weekend. My only replacements was to add a Close Call over Ghosts of Harenhall and adding one more copy of Last Hearth Scouts over one Old Nan.

Won 3 (2 Lanni Towers, 1 NW/Wall), lost one (NW/Wall) where I failed to find any economy or Bridge. Overall, it's a great deck and I think that your list is optimal.

Thanks for sharing again.

cobrabubbles 400

"Your list is optimal" - @HidaHayabusaHow very dare you!!

(jk - thanks and glad to hear it's performing for you. For the record I do think Ghosts is 100% better than Call)

HidaHayabusa 73

Probably. To be honest, I never played it, so I don't really know, but my thought process was the following:

1) I expect many Lanni Towers 2) I need 2 Scouts 3) I can only cut one Nan 4) If i cut one Nan, I'll need more Summers

Voila!

Buster_NL 1

Great fun build! I've tried 2 games with this deck and both times got slaughtered, maybe it's my poor skills... Round 1: Didn't see bitterbridge or Arbor in the first 30 cards. Greyjoy Summer: Old Nan could steal 1 gold wile making winter plots, but a free Crows Eye made me cry, just imagine him taking Harrenhall from you.

blp 1

Just played around with this deck against a friend who isn't great at deck building, so I slaughtered him. Never got to pull off the Bitterbridge/Harrenhal shenanigans, but I enjoyed the deck.

HidaHayabusa 73

Any updates with the new pack?

cobrabubbles 400

@HidaHayabusaProbably not. It's certainly not the deck for Large Marge since you don't wanna be playing the little lords to trade out of and the Tully stuff is pretty uninspiring when you can't play the Blackfish.

You could play Ygritte if you wanted I guess, she's solid cost/stats for the deck and makes Mance better. Late Summer Feast is also an option, but I think it's probably worse than the ones I have.