1. Loras Tyrell
The reason to play House Tyrell. Allows insane conquests in final rounds, but even suboptimal use changes the game (darting to Stoney Sept, faster cycling, options are endless). Playing him on offense is pure joy.

2. Gregor Clegane
Vulgar display of power. Not as gamebreaking as Loras is, but once in a blue moon you'll hack two knights or more. He also works great in defense and as a deterrent. It's difficult to trick your opponent though.

- gap -

3. Victarion Greyjoy
Fantastic at reclaiming seas, even with a single ship. Useless when GJ's fleet is attacked, which happens quite often. In any case, he greatly affects the way your neighbours manage sea areas.

- gap -

4. Robb Stark
His skill kicks in fairly often, but it takes a coordinated effort to actually make it shine. Situational card, but fun to use.

5. Renly Baratheon
Would be much better if provided a single muster point in embattled area after victory (spawning ships in ESS/Narrow Sea). Upgrading just one footman rarely makes a difference...

6. Areo Hotah
...but still comes ahead of a 3 card with fortification. Renly provides a modest power pumping, while Areo is almost a blank - it becomes handy only if you miscalculated or got screwed with TOBs.

Last edited by Jester on 2019-Mar-21 15:30, edited 1x in total

I have learned to like Robb more since he's the only card in Stark's arsenal that allows for fancy/surprising moves.  Stark is a very strong house, but they can be very rote to play.

But you are spot on that most players don't utilize Loras fully because they don't look for opportunities to use his ability in useful but not immediately back-breaking ways.  Extra card cycling, extending into empty areas, forcing another player to play a card they don't want to...these can all move the ball in ways that are still important.

Last edited by Ser Hodor on 2019-Mar-22 01:47, edited 1x in total

What I like about Robb is that he seldom feels like a blank 3. I think Renly's or Vic's skill kicks in on less often (although the latter is vastly superior), not to mention Areo.

If you remember some fantastic uses of Robb here in Thronemaster, I'd be glad to take a look.

Are you guys discussing how valuable cards are to their own houses or how valuable they'd be more generally, such as in a draft situation? Because I feel like that would affect how I decide between Gregor and Victarion. Victarion can feel almost redundant in GJ's hand with Balon, but any other house has so much more to gain than GJ for taking a Sea (Stark or Martell in Shipbreaker's, Baratheon taking the narrow Sea and making the Shivering Sea an easy target, Tyrell in ESS, even Lanni in Ironman's Bay).

Either way, I'm probably still saying Loras, Victarion, Gregor, Robb, Aero, Renly. Sea control is so key, and Loras just opens up so many possibilities. I'd rate him the best card in the game (including expansions), I think.

In round 8 of this game I used Robb to keep a GJ knight where I could easily kill him, but it gave GJ a card cycle for it just to kill a knight so I'm not sure it was worth it. It's kind of annoying having to leave an uncontrolled territory within your area to entrap them in, but it can be nice for wiping out full armies if someone gets too cocky. I also just noticed I had to fight a GJ with all 3 dominance tokens for 7 rounds, which is kinda bullshit. https://www.game.thronemaster.net/?game=132346&review=1
I also seem to remember moving out of whiteharbour to leave it empty, attacking GJ in Moat Cailin to make them retreat to whiteharbour, and then wiping them out in whiteharbour but I can't find it currently and even the fact that it took an extra move and usually lets GJ cycle another card is kind of annoying.

Last edited by deranger on 2019-Apr-10 07:56, edited 1x in total

I've had a look at the game you linked. I think you used Robb twice, Round 6 and 8, correct?

In round six you just beautifully surrounded the guy with troops in Widow's Watch, WF and a power token. Robb wasn't much of use, they'd die anyway; very good march. Round 8... you trapped him in Castle Black. I think it was a good move, but it was already too late to stop GJ anyway. Nice that you managed to keep Winterfell in the end.

What did you think about the game in general? Do you think Lannister should've stabbed GJ?

What did you think about the game in general? Do you think Lannister should've stabbed GJ?
I was hoping Lannister would, but can't really expect that when they're that close of neighbours. I think they could've made a better effort to protect riverrun in the last turn since it was obvious GJ would take it. It's pretty crazy (un-)lucky that GJ got to keep 3 dominance tokens for 7 rounds without a bid, not much that can be done about that.

Are mods going to come after us for going off topic.