Continuing Ajant's series, my ordering would be:


1. Roose
2. Balon
3. Garlan
4. Brienne
5. The Hound
6. Davos
7-11. Jaime/Obara/Greatjon/Darkstar/Randyll
12. Theon



Balon is frequently cited as the most overpowered card there is, but I think that takes for granted how Roose completely defines the entire Stark strategy and how/if you are able to attack them.  Balon is especially beast-y when Greyjoy holds the blade, though, so if you wanted to give him the top spot I wouldn't argue too hard. The two of them and Doran are the only real contenders for the top spot overall, imo.

From there, there is a significant drop off to Brienne and Garlan, who are pretty evenly matched.  Mostly though, I'll take swords over forts, and in particular a second sword can go a long way to keep whittling down your opponents forces. The Hound's second fort has that same effect in the inverse.  Given Lanni's neighbors, he's as good as the Blackfish against any card but Mace.

I'll then put Davos over the masses of identical twins that fill out the rest.  That his conditional strength kicks in right when you need it most (when you don't have your strongest card), is not dependent on other quirks of the battle or terrain (a la Mace/Victarion/Asha), and provides Bara with a badly needed extra sword makes up for the portion of the time when he functions as a medium card with no special abilities whatsoever.

Theon's ability has too many qualifiers to be all that useful. Give me a simple sword that works in every situation rather than extra strength that only works every second Tuesday.

lol, could mods please delete my thread, i created it simultaneously with ser hodor

When you use your 2 card, you are still mostly trying to win the combat, maybe without having to expend a stronger card, which is important, because many of these card have sword(s), but depending on the situation, you might also look to gain a tactical advantage or to avoid loses in a hopeless situation:

1. Balon Greyjoy - head to head strongest card in the game, beats any other card by 2 points
2. Roose Bolton - allows Stark not to have to worry about spending high cards, as much as other houses do. only problem is that attacking troops have no protection against swords, and that clever opponent might try to prevent you from losing the battle, but if used correctly, huge tactical advantage. it's very hard to rank one and two, i give advantage to Balon, because it's easier to get most out of him. Roose's strength actually works against him
3. Ser Davos Seaworth - very easy to turn into strength 3 and you gain a sword as well
4. Theon Greyjoy - not as easy to turn it into strength 3, as Ser Davos, but still, not too hard either, since you'll have to defend a castle sooner or later, also gains a sword along with strength boost
5. Brienne of Tarth - good balance with both sword and fortification, very flexible, since it can be used to inflict casualties and to avoid them
6. Ser Garlan Tyrell - fortifications are scarcer resource then swords, but Ser Garlan is usually used against houses who have no way of protecting their troops from 2 swords, as there are only 3 cards in the game that can do that, 2 of which belong to house Stark, which rarely fights Tyrell, so Garlan has better chance to utilize skills to the fullest then
7. The Hound - In theory 2 fortifications sound great, but out of 4 cards with 2 or more swords, only Ser Garlan is relatively often used against the Lani, so chance of maximizing his ability is relatively low. Still having fortifications makes this card incredibly valuable
8.-12. Greatjon Umber, Ser Jaime Lannister, Randyll Tarly, Obara Sand, Darkstar - one sword on a solid card strength is cool, but also doesn't add much to the strategy table, considering almost half of the cards are in this group. it seems to me that creators of the game ran out of ideas a little bit when they were creating this batch

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My kung fu is the best

I also would put Roose over Balon. Roose is the reason I have Eddard ranked as the #1 4-card.

I would put Davos third because he's almost always used as a 3 with a sword.

Garlan, Brienne and the Hound go next, but I would put Theon above the vanilla 1-sword cards because he protects other cards. When defending a castle, for example, your opponent can't force out Victarion in a losing attack, and the sword makes your opponent think twice before even trying.

The difference between Balon and Roose is that Balon's effects are felt in a huge way in the battle where he is used.  Roose's effects are felt everywhere but that battle.

Premium - Balon, Roose
Balon: This card would be very good if it was at zero strength and still premium at 1 strength. The fact that it's two strength is just bonkers.

Roose: The repeatable "get all your cards back" routine. The card is also amazing, but I personally dislike it. I would rather have a weaker effect (like don't return Roose for example), and give Stark some other better situational cards. This card simplifies card management for stark tremendously which I do not like.


Really Good - Davos
Davos: I'm really surprised it is not third on your list Ser Hodor. This is a 3 strength card with a sword most of the time you play it, since you are in full control of the conditional. A 3 Str card with a sword would be a good card on the 3-str tier list!

Good - Garlan, Brienne, The Hound
Garlan: Two swords are good, you are guaranteed casualties against 3 of your neighbors.

Brienne: Decent in offense and defense, only tower for Baratheon as mentioned.

The Hound: Two towers also good. Saves your units from any of your neighbors save Mace.


Meh - all 1 sword cards and Theon
Theon: Theon is conditionally a 3 strength card  with a sword like Ser Davos... The problem is, you as a player never control the conditional since the bonus is only on defense and only in a castle area.

1. Balon
2. Roose
3. Davos
4. Garlan
5. The Hound
6. Brienne
7. Theon
For Lore reasons:
8. Jamie Lannister
9. Darkstar
10. Randyll Tarly
11. Greatjon Umber
12. Obara Sand

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“The only way to treat disease is to understand disease.“

1. Balon Greyjoy
I rate him slightly higher than Roose because he's basically a Power 4 card, and easier to manage. On a sidenote, I was always interested why designers made him so deadly, I don't think Balon was THAT good of a commander in the books... or maybe he just got unlucky? It's perplexing. Anyways, as long as he sits in your hand, you're basically guaranteed a win in any (close) battle.

2. Roose Bolton
In a perfect world, you only lose minor, "fake" skirmishes every other turn and smash your enemies with Eddard and Robb/Greatjon ad nauseam. In reality, Roose is more likely to get patched or screwed by TOB cards than Greyjoy. BUT if you're good/lucky enough to cycle flawlessly, he becomes better than Balon.

- gap -

3. Garlan Tyrell
Lorewise, Garlan and Randyll should be swapped. Anyhow, Garlan is a very solid option against poor Martell/Baratheon defenses.

4. Davos Seaworth
Baratheon deck is extremely inflexible and predictable. You play Stannis early to pump Davos, you play Renly to upgrade a footman, you have one fort against Gregor. Salladhor protects the sea, Melisandre is throwaway card, Patchface - a deterrent. And even if you follow these "rules", you lose power because Stannis needs at least one round to become SSJ. Given those caveats, Davos activation is rather simple, and Combat Strength 3 with a sword is well worth it.

5. Brienne of Tarth
It's a wash between her and Sandor. I think of her as a "sword with good protection" instead of "your only fort", but if you fight Martell often, she's likely to become just that.

6. Sandor Clegane, The Hound
Basically a Super Blackfish if you don't play with TOBs. Given Lannister central position (he's as likely to face Eddard as Red Viper), there's a lot to protect from.

7-11. Randyll Tarly, Jaime Lannister, Greatjon Umber, Obara Sand, Darkstar
Given how badass Randyll and Jaime were in the books (especially Tarly), they should get more than this. Although they rank in bottom half, they're all decent. Doubled cards in Martell's deck look quite boring, but potential five swords wreck your enemies so bad.

12. Theon Greyjoy
Maybe I'm underrating the guy, but I find his ability much more restricting than Davos'. It's great to solidify Riverruns and Winterfells of the world, but I'd rather have another sword in the mix. It's good for balancing reasons though.