Hello everybody.

I apologize in advance for my bad english, I speak spanish as my native language.

I'm about to buy a starter and I want a bit of information about the game. I've searched the web, but I still have some doubts.

I've read all books so far and I've always been a Stark loyalist, I specially love all the things that got to do with the Winter itself and what lies beyond the wall (specially Jon Snow and Bran Stark stories), but after reading about this game I've found that Stark decks tend to be heavily "brute force" oriented and they take a very direct approach when it comes to play, which is the exact opposite of my playstyle in different kind of games, card games included.

I always like to play either defensive or using tricky combos to win, I specially love alternative win conditions.

So there's my problem, is there a (competitive) different way to play Stark than going Hulk Smashing around? or I should rather pick another house for the game?

Additional data: A friend of mine is a total Lannister fan and we intend to play together a lot, so I won't use Lannister (although for how it sounds, Lannister would the exact match for my playstyle).

If Stark doesn't have a less "brute force" deck approach, what other house, besides Lannister, have a defensive/control playstyle?

Thanks in advance.

Stark has many good builds that are not brute force. Several top players consider Stark maesters to be a T1 build and i won my regional last year playing a none brute force stark deck. I think you will find that most house have several ways you can play them if you so chose.

I will do a bit of self promoting and tell you to take a look at this blog entry to see a descritption of a none brute stark deck :) http://www.cardgamedb.com/forums/index.php?/blog/24/entry-114-the-right-tool-for-the-job/

Thanks for your answer, and that's nice to hear.

I look forward to getting my core set and start playing.

Hohe said:

What is "hulk smash" to you? Stark tends towards kill effects and revolving around high strength counts in military challenges (killing characters) and power challenges (stealing victory points). They do have a more cerebral build out of the Lords of Winter box that focuses on using Direwolves to defend all sorts of challenges as well.

mdc273 said:

Hulk Smash means (for me) getting big characters in play (or a lot of small ones) and make them as strong as possible in order to outpower your opponent, as opposed to use (apparently) weak characters, but trickier ways to win. I'm not saying one style is smarter than the other, it's just what fits me best, I like to pay attention to combos and abilities rather than stats and strength, I also like to play more on the defense than on the offensive approach, tho that depends on the game, I still don't get my core set, so I don't know how this game really works.

In other games you usually have to pick your allegiance before starting to play, but here I think I can get to play with all the houses (well, the 4 that come with the core set) before picking up a house to focus on, which sounds nice.

Solely based on your description of your preferred play style, it sounds like Martell would be a good fit for you.

I was going to say Targaryen.  Ambush/Recursion decks are so much fun they should be taxed.

I beleive Martell isn't included in the core set tho, right?

Hohe said:

Thats correct.  I suggested Martell specifically because you said you like to play defensively and with elements of control.  Martell is heavy with control effects, and their house keyword, "vengeful," centers on effects that trigger when you lose challenges.  A Martell opponent can find himself in a tough spot where he needs to make challenges to win, but will actually improve the Martell player's game position by doing so.

Definitely give Targ a try. They have some fun sneaky stuff. Stark doesn't play as a character rush deck, but they do tend to focus on winning challenges straight up. Targ tends to be more dynamic than Stark in the challenges phase. The Stark player is probably more likely to win more challenges if no effects are triggered.

Well, it seems the obvious answer is to try different houses while I get to know the game and maybe getting the Martell expansion later, it does seem to fit my playstyle very well.

Thanks everybody.