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!