A Dire Omen

“Speak the name, and death will come. On the morrow, at the turn of the moon, a year from this day, it will come. A man does not fly like a bird, but one foot moves and then another and one day a man is there, and a king dies.”
   –Jaqen H’ghar, A Clash of Kings

Stannis Baratheon strikes quickly to capture King’s Landing, riding up the coast with cavalry as his navy sails towards Blackwater Bay. In response, Tywin Lannister moves his armies south to counter Stannis, leaving Harrenhal to Ser Amory Lorch and the Brave Companions. Though the Lannisters may seem to control this cursed stronghold, change is coming as death stalks the castle, guided by the words of Arya Stark. There are ghosts in Harrenhal once more.

Ghosts of Harrenhal, the fifth Chapter Pack in the War of Five Kings cycle for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game, will be available at your local retailer on January 5th! As with the previous packs of the cycle, Ghosts of Harrenhal continues to follow the story of A Clash of Kings, introducing iconic new characters from that book, including Roose Bolton, Brienne of Tarth, Craster, Ser Davos Seaworth, and Joffrey Baratheon. 

Within this Chapter Pack, you’ll find plenty of new ways to kill your opponent’s characters, but you’ll find just as many ways to dodge death. Today, we’ll take a closer look at some of those cards from this expansion!

Cheating Death

In the Seven Kingdoms, death is never far from any man’s doorstep. Battles claim the lives of thousands, the shadow of war and pillaging soldiers kill countless smallfolk, and a Faceless Man can be hired to assassinate anyone in the world. Yet if death comes quickly, it can also be evaded.

No one lives forever—least of all in A Game of Thrones: The Card Game. The latest Chapter Pack brought the return of Valar Morghulis (There Is My Claim, 80), a plot that can immediately kill every character in play, destroying your armies and your plans if you’re not prepared. Though there’s no such plot in Ghosts of Harrenhal, you’ll still find plenty of ways to kill your opponent’s characters. House Stark receives Roose Bolton (Ghosts of Harrenhal, 81) and Harrenhal (Ghosts of Harrenhal, 82); two powerful cards that have the potential to wipe out your opponent’s characters almost as fast as they’re marshaled. 

House Lannister also gains its own King, who has a penchant for putting his subjects to death. Joffrey Baratheon (Ghosts of Harrenhal, 89) costs seven gold, which initially seems like a high price to pay for three STR and a power icon. Though Joffrey is unthreatening during challenges, you can still use him to execute traitors to the crown—after you marshal a loyal character (including Joffrey himself), you can kneel that character and your faction card to choose and kill a non-King character with a lower printed cost. Obviously, you’d want to use this effect multiple times, but even if it only triggers once, it may be worth playing Joffrey to painlessly kill a character like Eddard Stark (Wolves of the North, 3).

If some of the new cards in Ghosts of Harrenhal makes it easy for characters to die, other cards make it just as easy for your characters to return. The Night’s Watch gains Craster (Ghosts of Harrenhal, 85), a character with an unprecedented ability. As an Action, you can sacrifice Craster to put each character that was killed this phase into play from its owner’s dead pile! Craster is even immune to Omen card effects, meaning that he can survive Valar Morghulis and immediately return the slain characters to life. Better yet, Craster is non-loyal, meaning that any deck allied to the Night’s Watch can take advantage of his unique, death-defying abilities. 

Alternatively, you may include Ghosts of Harrenhal (Ghosts of Harrenhal, 100) in your plot deck, especially if your deck features one or more key characters. When revealed, this plot puts the top character of each player’s dead pile into play—without any need to pay gold. Though you may use this plot to counter or recover from Valar Morghulis, you may also come up with more daring ways to use it, such as allowing your own characters to die with Harrenhal (For Family Honor, 50) then cheating them back into play without paying gold by using Ghosts of Harrenhal. 

Within this Chapter Pack, you’ll even find a character that grows more powerful as more characters die. Silent Sisters (Ghosts of Harrenhal, 97) give you a way to profit from your opponent’s Valar Morghulis, since this character’s STR grows with every character in your dead pile. As the war rages on and your dead pile grows, it may well be worth seeking the support of The Seven and including the Silent Sisters in your deck.

All Men Must Die

Death is common in the game of thrones, but you’re also discovering new ways to escape it. Plot how you will survive and claim the Iron Throne, and look for Ghosts of Harrenhal at your local retailer on January 5th!