Calls to Arms - Greyjoy

I've been asked to provide a simple summary of what to get for new players in starting AGoT over here in Singapore. Well, I'm not much an experienced player myself, but I did buy pretty much everything there is to buy for AGoT at the moment (and pretty much everybody else that I knew did the same, but I seem to be the only one with a blog. Darn.), so here it is, I try to list down what to buy for the Houses in question, and hopefully it helps to give a better idea on how much one should get.

First of all, disclaimer. This list is by no means the holy bible to the purchasing of AGoT, it's merely my own personal opinion. So if someones finds that following my summary here doesn't make sense at all, please do not burn me on the stakes.

So here it is, what I think a starting player should get if he intends to play Greyjoy only.

Well, the victory path most feasible for Greyjoy is the unopposed challenge, normally based on either Raider or Intimidate tech, where the Intimidate tech seems to be a lot easier to build. So here I list down the stuff one should get if he intends to have enough to build a Greyjoy deck centered on unopposed challenge, with options to move between Intimidate and Raider tech.

First of all, how many core sets?

For Greyjoy, I'd stick my neck out and say that ONE is perhaps enough.

As you know, Greyjoy is not represented in the Core set, so you need to get one, well, for the rules and tokens and the House card if nothing else. Greyjoys will also need a lot of those good Plot cards, such as Valar Morghulis, Wildfire Assault, the Seasons and so forth - these are essential for options. The Street of Steel and Street of Sisters are also of excellent use in most Greyjoy deck, and Core sets give you the Streets where King of the Sea doesn't. You'll probably get enough Sunset Sea from Kings of the Sea so this much is not an issue, but great if you're planning for a second Greyjoy deck sometime in the future.

Do you need more than ONE copy of Core? Well, not really, unless you find urgent need for multiple copies of Milk of the Poppy, and some of the events such as Support of the Kingdom. Really, nothing essential requires more than the single copy that you'll get in a Core set here, so you should be able to get by with just a single copy of Core.

Now, the Kings of the Sea deluxe expansion is a no brainer. A new format with 3 of each card will be released soon, so grab a copy of that. There is no reason not to, as there are too many important cards for Greyjoys to list in this set. If you're thinking of playing Greyjoy in any serious form, a copy of this is ESSENTIAL, You DON'T have a choice.

Now for the more tricky part -

Here are the chapter packs that I think one must get in order to play the Greyjoys efficiently. Note that you CAN play without these, just that many of these chapter packs will add good punch into your deck.

1 x Ancient Enemies

You need the Fury of the Kraken Plot. Case close. This pack is also good for EVERY house because it contains the necessary (or I should say, very efficient) Fury Plots for everyone. It also provides 3 copies of the lackluster Salt Wife, in case you really need them.

1-3 x Calling the Banner

The Banner for the Kraken is the most effective Banner, as Intimidate is such a great ability to have. You get 3 copies of the Banner, so no question about this. The Compelled by the Sea event card is very useful for Greyjoys since so many of their non-unique locations can be really useful - for example, the Scout Vessel - moreover, it complements the Banners nicely. Unfortunately, you only get a single copy of this event in the pack, so it's your call how many of the packs you need to get - normally I'd say 1-2 should suffice. Another great fella in this pack is Fish Whiskers, which is a great and cheap character for Greyjoy. Once again you only get 1 single copy of him, but I don't think you need much more than one of him in a deck - 2 is kinda an overkill.

1-3 x Sacred Bonds

Well, the issue here is the event card To Be a Kraken. A great card for Intimidate characters that has the No Attachment issue since they cannot make use of Support from Harlaw. Powerful characters with Intimidate such as Euron's Enforcers or the Pirate (at the right time) really benefits from this card, but you only get one in each pack, so again it's your deck-building strategy that will decide how many you'll need. You do get the 3 Herald for fun and the First Mate (who also comes only in a single copy) might be useful for Warship tech Greyjoy decks.

1 x Tower of the Hand

Ya, the 3 Seaside Urchins. And you get a copy of The Hand's Judgment, which is always handy.

1 x A Song of Summer

The 3 Fishing Nets, one of the most annoying attachment in the game.

1-3 Change of Seasons

Now, Greyjoys are excellent in Winter, and that is because of the 2 cards in this pack - the magnificent 3 x Wintertimes Marauders, and the single Theon Greyjoy in this pack. You probably don't need 3 of Theon unless you're really really into him, so 1, maybe 2 copies of this pack should suffice. But, well, just in case. Anyway, the Den of the Wolf in this pack is great to have too, and A Time of Ravens Plot is essential for Season techs.

1 x Refugees of War

Gee. Who doesn't need this?

1 x Winds of Winter

Greyjoys do good in Winter, so you'll probably be looking at Winter tech at some point.

1 x Song of Silence

Get one of these, there is that Euron in there. Also, Retaliation plot card is there too, not to mention Longship Silence and the Horn of Dragons.

1 x Dreadfort Betrayal.

Honestly, it's only for that 3 copies of Euron's Enforcers. But they're so good in Raider decks, and good enough in Intimidate decks. Well, bite the bullet and buy this one - good thing you only need 1 pack.

1 x Of Snakes and Sand

For the Bloodthirsty Crew, and also for the Refurbished Hulk for Warship tech. If you play with Banners instead, you can ignore this pack too.

1 x Rituals of R'hllor

Only for the 3 Ambitious Oarsmen - but they're definitely needed in any Raider deck - and good to have as warm bodies.

1 x Wolves of the North

Your Ahead of the Tides my friends, plus you get the Winter Festival Plot as a bonus.

1-3 x Beyond the Wall

Pretty sad, since the important thing in this pack is the single copy of Nute. But he's good, really good.

1 x Return of the Others

Tarle the Thrice Drowned is a great character to have, but you probably don't need 3 copies of him - a single one should suffice. The Kingsmoot Support might come in handy occasionally.

That's about it.

I might miss something, but most of the stuff you need should be there if you get all these that I've listed. Hopefully it's enough for you to start taking Westeros!

We DO NOT Sow!

(o.o)