Greetings, sers...
Before anything else, I would like to congratulate Peter for doing well in the tournament last weekend. Thanks to Rich for attempting to post a recount of what happened. Also, kudos to all who joined in our first ever tournament (with a new influx of new cards!) after such a long time. It's been a while and it was good to card-flop in AGOT once again.
Now to get to the meat of the matter. There are a couple of things that I want to bring up. But by the looks of things, this will be a fairly long post/email depending on where you read it. The AGOT is blog is at http://agotph.blogspot.com/ if you didn't know.
The first topic I wanted to bring up is the Booster Draft Format Tournament that I proposed running last week. We can look at doing one either this weekend or the next depending on everyone's availability. As much as possible we should a minimum of 6 players that could join. Now what would a Booster Draft Tournament entail?
1) You need to have the Draft Pack and the Draft Pack Supplement. What's in it? Here's the list:
Draft Pack Card List (11)
6x House Cards, of course
1x DR7 Alliance (Plot)
1x DR8 Counting Coppers (Plot)
1x DR9 Filthy Accusations (Plot)
1x DR10 Taxation Plot (Plot)
1x DR11 Wildfire Assault (Plot)
Draft Supplement Card List (28)
1x C13 House Umber Recruiter
1x C168 Fallow Fields
1x C34 Dissident Crier
1x U170 The God’s Eye
1x C60 Stormlands Peasant
3x U142 Narrow Sea
1x C75 Godly Fisherman
3x U143 Summer Sea
1x C100 Illyrio’s Man
3x U144 Sunset Sea
1x C113 Desert Scavenger
3x C169 Kingsroad Fiefdom
1x U227 On Ravens Wings (Plot)
3x C171 The Roseroad
1x F247 Fortified Position (Plot)
3x C172 The Searoad
2) These are boosters that we will be using for the Booster Draft Tournament.
2x ITE
1x AHOT
1x AHOTa
1x 5KE
3) The overall cost would be PHP800.00. This would just cover the cost of the boosters. The tournament fee (aka administrative fee) is waived.
4) I'm sure the lot of you are familiar with the Booster Draft Tournament mechanics one way or another. If not, please check the link: http://www.agameofthrones.com/PDF/Rules.pdf
5) We will follow the usual process of drafting the rares and uncommons for the winners.
Note: I guess that if folks are a little tight for a Draft Tournament, we can always opt for the regular Constructed Format tournament.
Two is that I wanted to bring up the dreaded issue of legality of cards. I know, I know. Re-engineering existing decks would be a challenge if we are to remove the Winter Block cards. Kudos though to Rich for doing that already with his numerous Stark decks.
As such, we are still allowing the Winter Block at this point. However, I think it would safe to "rotate" the Winter Block out once we have the complete set of Chapter Packs from the Clash of Arms block. We're still missing The Battle of Ruby Ford and Calling the Banners Chapter Packs. Unless there are violent reactions, we can make this the official rule for our local community.
Three would be ordering the remaining Chapter Packs as well as the Core Set. I know that some of us are still reeling with what we spent to get the Chapter Packs and the boxes of 5KE and AHOTa. So we don't have to discuss this in major detail at this point since we are all basking in the new cards that we have and attempting to either integrate with our existing decks or to create new decks. I just wanted to leave in the air for everyone to think about.
Well, this is a long post/email. So I guess I'll cut it short for now. Feel free to respond to this with your thoughts, reactions and ideas.
Signing off...
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Now It Comes To War!
On April 23rd the AGOT community celebrated the influx of new cards by holding their first official tournament in months. This is one person's view of that event. Names have been changed to protect the Greyjoys.
To be honest, me? I'm still exhausted. I'm not as young as I used to be, and last night we played til past four am. It was worth it, though: our first tournament, literally, in months. Everyone was excited, and everybody's schedules came together so we had a six-player tournament. It was our first time to play officially in forever, and our first chance to incorporate the new cards from the Chapter Packs. (I know, I had said I was going to write about the chapter packs after my last post on the Core Set. Forgive me.) So we expected a series of matches with both the delight of greeting an old friend, and the anticipation of seeing new tricks and strategies played out.
There were six of us: Gil, Mikko, Aaron, Ron, Peter, and myself. Peter was a surprise addition to the ranks: no-one had anticipated his interest in AGOT to resurface so strongly. And Aaron passed on his Bleach interests in order to join us, so it would be a memorable night, in so many ways.
First off, let me say, that I can only give a limited perspective of the event: I was so caught up in my own games and the new cards that I never even got to look over at the other matches going on. So on to what little I know.
Mikko brought his newly-developed Targaryen Ambush deck, which I had playtested against 2 weeks previously and found very strong. Indeed, it inspired me to rebuild my own Targ deck, no small feat considering. But it's true: Targ got a lot of great cards in the first four chapter packs. Their splendid Ambush characters have a lot to offer. I had also been inspired by Gil's use of certain new Lannister cards, which is one of the joys of playing with people who favor other Houses than your own: both Mikko and Gil had long since identified the standout cards of their Houses and integrated them well. The Targ jumpers, Lannister's Toll Gate, the excellent Pyromancer's Cache, all great new components.
For this tournament, though, Gil brought out his Baratheon deck, the one called The Tank. Iam not sure exactly what all is in it, but knowing Gil I know two things that you can rely on:
1. It's fast.
2. It wins.
However, these beliefs were to be shaken during this tournament, to the surprise of all.
Aaron played Martell, and I know nothing of his deck except that he was looking for Wildlings beforehand. (sorry, man. I looked, but did not find. I have them somewhere, but I didn't bring my Wildling to the night's games.) Peter was running, apparently, a Lannister War-Crest deck, but as these two guyhs were the ones I din't play against, I have little to report on their deck construction, except that at one point I looked over and Aaron had revealed The First Snow Of Winter, and I remember thinking, huh: an XP first? Amazingly for a card that has virtually defined the US environment, First Snow is almost never played over here. Guess we love our weenies.
Ron, in another surprise twist, brought his Martell deck to the tournament. Ron is a devoted squid, of course, and he says he likes to play all his decks like they were Greyjoy decks. Having played against his deck in the past two weeks, I can agree.
Me? Naturally, it was Stark. And I had made some changes to my usual deck. (As you know, I have at least five Stark decks.) I hadn't incorporated that many new cards, but I had a lot of differences. One of the fun parts of getting new cards is finding new combos with old cards, and in this case, I went the extreme route of not only De-Winterizing my deck (in preparation for the eventual Winter rotation, I pulled out all Winter Block cards) but I also tried some 5KE combos that I's always wanted to see in action. Not great stuff, mind you, but hey, it was a new day, why not experiment?
Of course, the most significant loss to my deck was Massing, but there was a lot that left along with it. A lot of my big characters, went too, and it was a wrench to lose them. But it did free up some critical deck space. I was able to go into the tourney carrying a deck that was only about, oh, ten cards overweight. Included among these:
Three Winterfell tutors. I had long felt that these cards, apart from carrying the rare-for-Stark intrigue icon, also synergized well with Stalwart. I also thought they could do well with the new Wolf Heralds, especially in conjunction with Gates Of Winterfell. To further speed through this process, I added:
Three Winterfell Hot Springs. Basically card filters, I thought these locatons would help the Tutors put more cards in my hand. As it turns out, they didn't do so well: Even when I was filtering my deck, it didn't help much. Lesson learned: Draw is better than Filter. Fortunately to make up for the missing Massings I had put in:
Three Watching The Heavens. More resource-intensive than Massing, these cards are still a great bargain. What more need be said?
Bear Island. Just one, it's unique. And it actually never came out in any of these games. Bt I like it, and I don't doubt it'll be a standard, despite its somewhat restrictive absolutely-no-neutrals requirement.
Jaqen H'ghar. Another card that will make the cut, although he isn't as massively game-breaking as the US boards said he once was. His strength doesn't rise above three now because you don't dare put power on him. Still, he's a keeper.
Gates Of Winterfell. I think this card has potential but like the Springs and Heralds, it needs combos to maximize it, and that means more Drae is needed. Wait and see if it ends up staying.
Icy Catapult. By far my favorite addition (I put in three Karhold Master-At-Arms to maximize them) the Catapults were the first cards I picked out of the Chapter Packs. In an environment without Arya's Revenge, you gotta have something, right?
To be fair, the new additions didn't fly as well as I'd hoped, but I'm very glad I tried them. The Winterfell Tutors are solid characters even without using their ability. The Hot Springs, I dunno. Probably they should go. The Heralds can stay, although I feel they aren't AS strong as I once thought. Still, they're good, and the Tutor means that Stark can use them better than most. Jaen stays. Bear Island stays, although it may need help.
It's late now, so I'll leave the rest for another night.
To be honest, me? I'm still exhausted. I'm not as young as I used to be, and last night we played til past four am. It was worth it, though: our first tournament, literally, in months. Everyone was excited, and everybody's schedules came together so we had a six-player tournament. It was our first time to play officially in forever, and our first chance to incorporate the new cards from the Chapter Packs. (I know, I had said I was going to write about the chapter packs after my last post on the Core Set. Forgive me.) So we expected a series of matches with both the delight of greeting an old friend, and the anticipation of seeing new tricks and strategies played out.
There were six of us: Gil, Mikko, Aaron, Ron, Peter, and myself. Peter was a surprise addition to the ranks: no-one had anticipated his interest in AGOT to resurface so strongly. And Aaron passed on his Bleach interests in order to join us, so it would be a memorable night, in so many ways.
First off, let me say, that I can only give a limited perspective of the event: I was so caught up in my own games and the new cards that I never even got to look over at the other matches going on. So on to what little I know.
Mikko brought his newly-developed Targaryen Ambush deck, which I had playtested against 2 weeks previously and found very strong. Indeed, it inspired me to rebuild my own Targ deck, no small feat considering. But it's true: Targ got a lot of great cards in the first four chapter packs. Their splendid Ambush characters have a lot to offer. I had also been inspired by Gil's use of certain new Lannister cards, which is one of the joys of playing with people who favor other Houses than your own: both Mikko and Gil had long since identified the standout cards of their Houses and integrated them well. The Targ jumpers, Lannister's Toll Gate, the excellent Pyromancer's Cache, all great new components.
For this tournament, though, Gil brought out his Baratheon deck, the one called The Tank. Iam not sure exactly what all is in it, but knowing Gil I know two things that you can rely on:
1. It's fast.
2. It wins.
However, these beliefs were to be shaken during this tournament, to the surprise of all.
Aaron played Martell, and I know nothing of his deck except that he was looking for Wildlings beforehand. (sorry, man. I looked, but did not find. I have them somewhere, but I didn't bring my Wildling to the night's games.) Peter was running, apparently, a Lannister War-Crest deck, but as these two guyhs were the ones I din't play against, I have little to report on their deck construction, except that at one point I looked over and Aaron had revealed The First Snow Of Winter, and I remember thinking, huh: an XP first? Amazingly for a card that has virtually defined the US environment, First Snow is almost never played over here. Guess we love our weenies.
Ron, in another surprise twist, brought his Martell deck to the tournament. Ron is a devoted squid, of course, and he says he likes to play all his decks like they were Greyjoy decks. Having played against his deck in the past two weeks, I can agree.
Me? Naturally, it was Stark. And I had made some changes to my usual deck. (As you know, I have at least five Stark decks.) I hadn't incorporated that many new cards, but I had a lot of differences. One of the fun parts of getting new cards is finding new combos with old cards, and in this case, I went the extreme route of not only De-Winterizing my deck (in preparation for the eventual Winter rotation, I pulled out all Winter Block cards) but I also tried some 5KE combos that I's always wanted to see in action. Not great stuff, mind you, but hey, it was a new day, why not experiment?
Of course, the most significant loss to my deck was Massing, but there was a lot that left along with it. A lot of my big characters, went too, and it was a wrench to lose them. But it did free up some critical deck space. I was able to go into the tourney carrying a deck that was only about, oh, ten cards overweight. Included among these:
Three Winterfell tutors. I had long felt that these cards, apart from carrying the rare-for-Stark intrigue icon, also synergized well with Stalwart. I also thought they could do well with the new Wolf Heralds, especially in conjunction with Gates Of Winterfell. To further speed through this process, I added:
Three Winterfell Hot Springs. Basically card filters, I thought these locatons would help the Tutors put more cards in my hand. As it turns out, they didn't do so well: Even when I was filtering my deck, it didn't help much. Lesson learned: Draw is better than Filter. Fortunately to make up for the missing Massings I had put in:
Three Watching The Heavens. More resource-intensive than Massing, these cards are still a great bargain. What more need be said?
Bear Island. Just one, it's unique. And it actually never came out in any of these games. Bt I like it, and I don't doubt it'll be a standard, despite its somewhat restrictive absolutely-no-neutrals requirement.
Jaqen H'ghar. Another card that will make the cut, although he isn't as massively game-breaking as the US boards said he once was. His strength doesn't rise above three now because you don't dare put power on him. Still, he's a keeper.
Gates Of Winterfell. I think this card has potential but like the Springs and Heralds, it needs combos to maximize it, and that means more Drae is needed. Wait and see if it ends up staying.
Icy Catapult. By far my favorite addition (I put in three Karhold Master-At-Arms to maximize them) the Catapults were the first cards I picked out of the Chapter Packs. In an environment without Arya's Revenge, you gotta have something, right?
To be fair, the new additions didn't fly as well as I'd hoped, but I'm very glad I tried them. The Winterfell Tutors are solid characters even without using their ability. The Hot Springs, I dunno. Probably they should go. The Heralds can stay, although I feel they aren't AS strong as I once thought. Still, they're good, and the Tutor means that Stark can use them better than most. Jaen stays. Bear Island stays, although it may need help.
It's late now, so I'll leave the rest for another night.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Wants and Needs
Greetings and salutations, sers!
It's been a while since we last posted here and kudos to Rich for posting. And yes, it's good to have new cards. With the influx of new cards, this will hopefully breath back some life into our AGOT community. And let me tell something to you. Size can be daunting...But don't be afraid...At least you can still see it. And I'm talking about our small but solid community. =]
Moving on though, as Rich mentioned, on to deck building! And with that, I wanted to post some of the cards that I need. I just want to try a fun deck that I can have fun with. So there. Anyhoo, here's the list. If any of you can lend or give me the cards just so I can try this deck out, it would be most appreciated. I wouldn't mind trading also, especially for the rare cards. But take note, the rares that I'm looking for are kinda trashy so expect trashy trades too. =P
2x Great Sept of Baelor (R from ITE)
3x Dornish Confessor (C from ASON)
2x Pious Librarian (R from ITE)
2x Septon Chayle (R from ITE)
1x Unorthodox Priest (R from AHOT)
It's pretty obvious that I'm making a crummy Septon deck but hey, I just wanna try it. Even if it is crap and doesn't do well, I wanna try it. Just for the fun of it and just to satisfy my curiousity.
To Ser Meeks: I tried checking for extra Traveling Jewelers from AHOTa but unfortunately, I only have a set and none to spare. =[
I guess that's about it. If you guys can bring the aforementioned septons (and their sept) this Satuday, we will have fun trying this deck concept out. I'll try it and you'll get to fight it. =]
It's been a while since we last posted here and kudos to Rich for posting. And yes, it's good to have new cards. With the influx of new cards, this will hopefully breath back some life into our AGOT community. And let me tell something to you. Size can be daunting...But don't be afraid...At least you can still see it. And I'm talking about our small but solid community. =]
Moving on though, as Rich mentioned, on to deck building! And with that, I wanted to post some of the cards that I need. I just want to try a fun deck that I can have fun with. So there. Anyhoo, here's the list. If any of you can lend or give me the cards just so I can try this deck out, it would be most appreciated. I wouldn't mind trading also, especially for the rare cards. But take note, the rares that I'm looking for are kinda trashy so expect trashy trades too. =P
2x Great Sept of Baelor (R from ITE)
3x Dornish Confessor (C from ASON)
2x Pious Librarian (R from ITE)
2x Septon Chayle (R from ITE)
1x Unorthodox Priest (R from AHOT)
It's pretty obvious that I'm making a crummy Septon deck but hey, I just wanna try it. Even if it is crap and doesn't do well, I wanna try it. Just for the fun of it and just to satisfy my curiousity.
To Ser Meeks: I tried checking for extra Traveling Jewelers from AHOTa but unfortunately, I only have a set and none to spare. =[
I guess that's about it. If you guys can bring the aforementioned septons (and their sept) this Satuday, we will have fun trying this deck concept out. I'll try it and you'll get to fight it. =]
Thursday, August 14, 2008
In with the old, in with the new!
Well, we have our first round of chapter packs! And we've been buzzing away happily at them, which is the main reason for this new post...
I want to tourney this Saturday! I want a full-blown tournament! Who can make it? What time can you be there?
I myself will be coming from rehearsals nearby, so I can either come early or catch a movie while I wait. You guys in?
In the meantime, though, I've been going over (and over and over) the new cards we have, and the new cards that we can expect in the Core Set. The Core Set makes its debut this week in the States at a Con, I believe, and so soon we will know what we have coming our way. But they've also already released spoilers, and some of them are quite a surprise. Get ready to dig deep into your old binders, because some classic cards are coming back.
The Streets, as I mentioned already, are making a return, although in a new form that only allows one per deck. No big deal, though, we'll just dig out the old ones and if we find more than one in a player's deck, we burn him alive! Or something less destructive.
WES Eddard is back in a significantly altered form. Adds a Noble crest, Deadly and Stalwart to an already esising Renown and a truly mockable ability. The good news: no one will feel bad about scribbling the new abilities on the face of the old cards, 'cause that was one weak Eddard. We'll see how the new guy plays out though.
Promo Shae is back, unchanged. If you had the old one, you can use her again with no changes, although, really, is she worth it? The best thing about the card was just that it was Shae.
Ice. Westeros Ice, not cheap and not game-breaking, but still, it's back. And, hey, it's nice to at least HAVE an Ice in Standard. I find this card to be too expensive for what it does (no strength boost! Bad, bad ancestral weapon!) but it seems to be continuing the themes of House Stark: Murder, and Really Unimpressive Reprints. (Note: now you can fetch Ice using the reprinted Winterfell Armory. Oh, undiluted joy.)
Speaking of game-breaking, which Ice is NOT, here's one that may be: Lannisport Brothel is back. The NON-UNIQUE Lannisport Brothel. Every turn, kneel a character. Run three, and hey, you've never seen so many guys unhappy about a brothel before!
Blood Of the Dragon. Ummm, yes, it's back. I can't say that I much care, but it is back. With the title Blood Of The Dragon, and a pictue of a Dothraki. Sigh.
Did I mention the Streets were back? I did? Okay.
How about Daario Noharis? And WES Littlefinger? Both in modified forms, but they are even stronger, in my opinion. Although Daario comes up with the better bargain. With Littlefinger, even if he does make 2 Gold a turn, 5 Gold is a lot for a traitor turncloak bastard. Although he does have a Learned Crest. Which makes him a well-educated traitor turncloak bastard.
Daario will see play in every Targ deck, by comparison. Tricon deadly? Dude.
WES Bran Stark. Plot: Kneel to reveal a plot card. Differs from the 5KE Bran primarily in that people can actually understand the card.
Drogon. I&F Drogon with a twist, but he's definitely affordable at 4 Gold. Plus, he can take attachments. So you can put Blood Of The Dragon on him, give him the Dragon trait during challenges, and laugh and laugh. Because, hey, double Dragon.
Westeros Bleeds. Love it or hate it, you'd beter plan for it. Location hate takes a major hit with Winter rotation, and even as it is nobody can effectively police influence locations very much. The only good news for me from this reprint? All that trading I did two years ago isn't entirely down the drain.
And the cherries on the sundae...
Blockade. That's it. Just Blockade. You know it.
Aaand....
Valar Morghulis. All Men Must Die. 2/0/0. One per plot deck. My most recent run-in with this card was playing casual games with Jacob a few months back. His Greyjoy Classic, my Stark Standard. I thought I was doing okay until he flipped a plot and reminded me of the Original Great Unprepared Kill. The original reset. Proof that while The Mother loves you and The Warrior protects you, it's The Stranger who will have you in the end.
More on my views of the Chapter Packs later, I'm too tired to type; and besides, now I wanna deckbuild!
I want to tourney this Saturday! I want a full-blown tournament! Who can make it? What time can you be there?
I myself will be coming from rehearsals nearby, so I can either come early or catch a movie while I wait. You guys in?
In the meantime, though, I've been going over (and over and over) the new cards we have, and the new cards that we can expect in the Core Set. The Core Set makes its debut this week in the States at a Con, I believe, and so soon we will know what we have coming our way. But they've also already released spoilers, and some of them are quite a surprise. Get ready to dig deep into your old binders, because some classic cards are coming back.
The Streets, as I mentioned already, are making a return, although in a new form that only allows one per deck. No big deal, though, we'll just dig out the old ones and if we find more than one in a player's deck, we burn him alive! Or something less destructive.
WES Eddard is back in a significantly altered form. Adds a Noble crest, Deadly and Stalwart to an already esising Renown and a truly mockable ability. The good news: no one will feel bad about scribbling the new abilities on the face of the old cards, 'cause that was one weak Eddard. We'll see how the new guy plays out though.
Promo Shae is back, unchanged. If you had the old one, you can use her again with no changes, although, really, is she worth it? The best thing about the card was just that it was Shae.
Ice. Westeros Ice, not cheap and not game-breaking, but still, it's back. And, hey, it's nice to at least HAVE an Ice in Standard. I find this card to be too expensive for what it does (no strength boost! Bad, bad ancestral weapon!) but it seems to be continuing the themes of House Stark: Murder, and Really Unimpressive Reprints. (Note: now you can fetch Ice using the reprinted Winterfell Armory. Oh, undiluted joy.)
Speaking of game-breaking, which Ice is NOT, here's one that may be: Lannisport Brothel is back. The NON-UNIQUE Lannisport Brothel. Every turn, kneel a character. Run three, and hey, you've never seen so many guys unhappy about a brothel before!
Blood Of the Dragon. Ummm, yes, it's back. I can't say that I much care, but it is back. With the title Blood Of The Dragon, and a pictue of a Dothraki. Sigh.
Did I mention the Streets were back? I did? Okay.
How about Daario Noharis? And WES Littlefinger? Both in modified forms, but they are even stronger, in my opinion. Although Daario comes up with the better bargain. With Littlefinger, even if he does make 2 Gold a turn, 5 Gold is a lot for a traitor turncloak bastard. Although he does have a Learned Crest. Which makes him a well-educated traitor turncloak bastard.
Daario will see play in every Targ deck, by comparison. Tricon deadly? Dude.
WES Bran Stark. Plot: Kneel to reveal a plot card. Differs from the 5KE Bran primarily in that people can actually understand the card.
Drogon. I&F Drogon with a twist, but he's definitely affordable at 4 Gold. Plus, he can take attachments. So you can put Blood Of The Dragon on him, give him the Dragon trait during challenges, and laugh and laugh. Because, hey, double Dragon.
Westeros Bleeds. Love it or hate it, you'd beter plan for it. Location hate takes a major hit with Winter rotation, and even as it is nobody can effectively police influence locations very much. The only good news for me from this reprint? All that trading I did two years ago isn't entirely down the drain.
And the cherries on the sundae...
Blockade. That's it. Just Blockade. You know it.
Aaand....
Valar Morghulis. All Men Must Die. 2/0/0. One per plot deck. My most recent run-in with this card was playing casual games with Jacob a few months back. His Greyjoy Classic, my Stark Standard. I thought I was doing okay until he flipped a plot and reminded me of the Original Great Unprepared Kill. The original reset. Proof that while The Mother loves you and The Warrior protects you, it's The Stranger who will have you in the end.
More on my views of the Chapter Packs later, I'm too tired to type; and besides, now I wanna deckbuild!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
the Arrival
Finally they are here...the chapter packs have arrived!
We have new cards to play with!
Too bad we couldn't play with the un-errata'd Jaqn Haqar.
Ah well.
And some of the cards got left behind. One more week for the rest but we have them and that's all we need.
:)
Friday, August 1, 2008
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