
Seizing the North
The Fall of Astapor Is Now Available for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game
“Robb.” She stopped and held his arm. “I told you once to keep Theon Greyjoy close, and you did not listen. Listen now.”
–George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords
For the first time since the death of Khal Drogo, Daenerys Targaryen finds herself at the head of an army. Even as Astapor burns and the Good Masters fall to the spears of the Unsullied, new events unfold across the Narrow Sea, in Westeros. In a bid to regain the waning support of the Freys, Robb Stark marches his army north to the Twins for the marriage of his uncle, Edmure, but Lannister schemes have already laid the foundation for House Stark to fall into ruin.
The Fall of Astapor, the third Chapter Pack in the Blood and Gold cycle, is now available at your local United States retailer, giving you the freedom to play out the schemes and dark deeds of A Storm of Swords in your games of A Game of Thrones: The Card Game. New economy locations for the Night’s Watch and House Martell make gold more plentiful than ever, while an influx of neutral House Frey cards invite you to add this treacherous House to your decks.
Attack from the Sea
Over the course of any Living Card Game®, certain cards and even cardtypes rise and fall in popularity. With the advent of Valar Morghulis (There Is My Claim, 80), locations offered a level of certainty and reliability that could not be matched by characters in the murderous world of Westeros. Still, even locations may not be safe from the depredations of House Greyjoy as they gain new tools within this expansion.
The first Greyjoy card you’ll find is a new version of Theon Greyjoy (The Fall of Astapor, 51). Though Theon Greyjoy (Core Set, 71) has been a staple in many Greyjoy decks, the new version potentially offers an even better way to get unopposed challenges. Here, Theon Greyjoy costs only three gold, and although his STR is only two, you can see that as another advantage—while Theon Greyjoy is attacking alone, each character with a higher STR than his doesn’t contribute its STR to the challenge!
Essentially, what this means is that only your opponent’s weakest characters have a chance of stopping Theon from winning an unopposed challenge—and in many cases, those characters are the first to die when you win military challenges. If you use Theon Greyjoy to make your first challenge with The Lord of the Crossing (The King’s Peace, 60), the number of characters that can stop him is even lower. Ironically, locations that increase a defender’s STR, like The Wall (Core Set, 137) or Castle Black (Core Set, 136), only make it more likely that Theon Greyjoy can win an unopposed challenge to trigger We Do Not Sow (Core Set, 83) or The Seastone Chair (Taking the Black, 11).
It’s also important to note that House Greyjoy isn’t the only faction that gains new ways to handle locations in The Fall of Astapor Chapter Pack. In fact, any faction can use a new neutral event, Lay Siege (The Fall of Astapor, 59). The effect of Lay Siege is simple and direct—as an Action, you can choose and kneel any location. Then, if that location is Contested, it is discarded from play.
In practice, of course, Lay Siege is an incredibly versatile event, since almost every faction uses locations to some respect. Whether you use it to kneel The Kingsroad (Core Set, 39) and restrict your opponent’s economy, kneel The Red Keep (Core Set, 61) to prevent draw, or kneel The Wall to keep your opponent from gaining power, Lay Siege is perfect for giving you the upper hand. And of course, it’s even better against Contested locations, immediately discarding cards like Harrenhal (For Family Honor, 50), Harrenhal (Ghosts of Harrenhal, 82), or Astapor (The Fall of Astapor, 54).
Sow It with Salt
In Westeros, everyone knows that a character can die at a moment’s notice. Soon, locations too will share a measure of that vulnerability.
The Fall of Astapor (GT18) is now available at your local United States retailer! Pick up your copy today.