bloodycelt said:

Are you referring to the 2009 Red Sox?  Oh the horror... the horror...

Stag Lord said:

~Hmm, I had assumed that you NYC guys know by now just to mail me the trophies for your bigger tourneys so as to help me save on time and bus fare :-)

I think there's a good chance I'll be able to make it, and I know that Casey plans on going too. There's a good chance Corey will come as well; I'm pretty sure Dan is out due to family obligations.

I think we should have a serious discussion on whether we should ban the Castellan of the Rock for the tournament, whether or not we have Martell by then I think it would go a long way toward opening up the competitiveness of the other houses over Lannister, whose non-shadows build still seems to be overpowered with Castellan hanging around. Discussion?

Bring on the Castellans. If you have enough removal you can handle them. I plan on crushing Lannisters even with all their little toys.

I'm willing ot entertain arguments though.

finitesquarewell said:

Translation: Eric wants to man up and play a different house for black friday but doesn't want to get pwn'd by castellans.

Just a theory, but I think a greyjoy save deck might have a chance against lannister kneel.

It's Stag's call, but I'd rather this be a "true" LCG environment event.  It's clear from recent errata that Nate/FFG are keeping an eye on the game and the balance of the cards, and it would seem that they think the Castellan is fine in the environment, so I side with leaving it in.

Sithlord Threadkiller said:

~ Greyjoy winter might have a good chance against Lannister kneel. Just sayin'....

Throw a Support of Harlaw on Wintertime Marauders and the Castellan is not likely to be a problem for long. The Castellan, while powerful, has never really been a problem card.

i w/ ktom and LRG. CotR is just a symptom not a cause.

ktom said:

I have to disagree with this. Castellan makes a HUGE difference in every game it makes an appearance, unless your opponent happens to have an answer in hand. If that's the case, thenlike all charactersCastellan's affect is minimal the turn he comes out. If, however, the opponent can't deal with him for a couple of turns, he can easily wreck an opponent's position. Combined with Lanni's other control tech, his repeatable, easily triggered ability can be a big problemmore than any other character, I think. (He regularly forces Valar, and after a Valar reset he makes it very, very difficult for an opponent to come backmore so than other characters.)

One quick qualifier to the above (grain of salt and all that), I haven't played much with the most recent chapter pack, so things could have changed a little in the last several weeks.

In terms of Black Friday, I'd like to attend, but I'm not 100% sure either waymy grandparents (dad's parents) passed away this past summer and my dad is alone this Thanksgiving. I've asked him to come visit me on the east coast for Thanksgiving, but I'm not sure yet if he'll be up for an early trip to NYC the day after.

Twn2dn said:

That must be the difference. Around here, people can consistently deal with the Castellan quickly, or play around it. In fact, the Wintertime Marauders with Support of Harlaw (~ which no one ever plays, right?) thing is an answer to the Castellan. Bara Vigilant decks don't worry too much about him, either. He does make a difference in every game, but that difference is as often to draw the targeted character control as it is to aggressively kneel things.

ktom said:

I don't think the fact that one decktype (Winter GJ), or two if "standing" = neutralizing, can deal with this character means that he's healthy for the environment. And even if those two houses have decent ways of dealing with him, that still leaves three other houses with serious problems. I dunno, maybe he's more balanced now than a month or so ago, and I'm glad your meta found ways to deal with him. I guess we're just a little slower out here... (Care to post any decktypes or elaborate a bit on your non-GJ strategies?)

EDIT: For grammar...apparently the computer I'm using won't let me use emdashes/double hyphens.

Twn2dn said:

This is why i think he is more a symptom then the cause. Its that lanni does so much other things that makes his effect so much greater. If its just him its not a huge problem. If you take him out of the environment lanni still has no problem kneeling people. now if you wanted to talk about flogged and chained (which triggers of off another kneel) then i'm listening.

I'm not sure how you compare F&C with CotR.  For one more cost I get a character who will reliably trigger every round against any character w/o an attachment, vs. a kneel whose only advantage is that it hits a character with attachments but requires that I have another kneel effect, which is probable, but not as likely, esp. without the CotR.

On a more germane note:  Since FFG doesn't do "release dates" per se.  Should I assume that the appearance of Princes of the South on the FFG website (the last resort for anyone who doesn't get it promptly at their home store) will be the most reliable determinant of when it's legal for the tournament.  Could the organizers give us a "last possible date of release" that would make it legal for play?  We still haven't seen dates, but I'm assuming based on the announcement order (which could be wishful thinking) that PotS will follow KL and precede Wolves.

Two weeks before the event.

So if it is out by Friday 11/13, it will be legal for Black Friday.

Concerning the Castellan, well, okay, but don't say I didn't warn you guys :-P

Maester_LUke said:

Castellan requires me to play a card in marshalling every phase and there are times where i don't want to do that. do i really need to play that 2nd gold road when i already have 6 locations and fleeing hasn't been played or a mountain refugee w/ 5 characters and no valar played yet? plus if you play F&C on a character with a bodyguard F&C survives your valor and castellan won't. Oh and if/when you do get castellan off, F&C justs adds to it, as well as lannisport brothel, killed the wrong dwarf, distraction, jaime, cersei, to be a lion, etc, etc. i don't think lanni has trouble getting a guaranteed kneel off a turn, w/ F&C that one kneel becomes 2, 3, or 4 kneels....