Rejoice Wardens of the North! ASOIAF 2023 update is here for your faction. This article goes over the changes to the forces of the North/Riverlands and speculates over the future of the game for them. I want to give an early warning. This update was not good for Starks. They need some reworks to diversify the choices rather than indirect nerfs, however I do think that there are a few positives with the update worth mentioning.
Pre Update
Starks don’t feel like they are struggling to remain relevant in 2022, however they are showing signs of potentially falling into tougher times. There are a few units, NCUs and Commanders holding the faction up but the other choices are not the end of the road if taken. Eddard Stark and Greatjon are holding the force together with Stark Sworn Swords being a solid base and Tully Cavaliers being a key player in their success. A few tweaks to units and Commanders would be welcomed but I think the faction needs some more time to figure out what issues they may have as it isn’t quite as clear.
Factions performing very well like Night’s Watch or Free Folk being brought down, whilst a few tweaks to Starks bringing them up will be all that is needed. However, do bear in mind the aim of this patch. CMON wanted to change the general rules and then let the meta settle before a big update. Whilst this is not what the community wants and being starved for any form of update, it is what we got. I just hope it is not a year until the next “Update”.
Brynden Tully
Brynden Tully Commander on foot was nerfed a little bit with their tactics card War Cry. As mentioned in the General Changes article, War Cry really shouldn’t have changed on cards due to their twice per game usage. Brynden was not normally taken that often due to his underwhelming rules, but he did have some nice gimmicks that most other Commanders just don’t see, such as Set for Charge being a unique ability in the Stark Army.
There was nothing warranting a nerf to Brynden, and rather than making him align with everyone, he should have been considered individually within his faction. Everything Tully apart from the Cavaliers needs a substantial face lift. CMON must recognise this and improve them. It would have been nice to replace the War Cry card for something else here since they were already rewriting the card.
The Result – A Commander picked very few times will either see the same pick rate or less.
Mormonts
3 changes affected the Mormont forces. War Cry change to She-Bears, Points reduction on Bruisers, and then Hardened change on Veteran.
Did Mormont Bruisers need a points reduction? Yes. Quite simply put they were always outshone by every other 7pts unit and even some 6pts units. Bringing them to 6pts no longer means they are forgotten; however it might still not be enough. They might just have the edge of She-Bears now for the same points, but Rickon will not be going in on them due to the worth of Osha being wasted.
CMON have shown that they are testing the waters with this unit, as units like the Honour Guard and Golden Company Crossbows that saw points changes like the Bruisers, were units widely considered to be the worst in the game and followed the same change. Reduce cost to help see where they fall in the game for the next update.
Mormont She-Bears were almost an auto take for Starks. The only reason I can see for not taking them is due to limited points left to spend resulting in Sworn Swords being the babysitter for Rickon, or Karstark Spearmen being the better option for the youngest Stark child (which is no longer the case). War Cry needed to change, but it hurts this unit without other changes. She-Bears were not broken or overperforming, they were just a good choice out of a few good choices, now they will see less play and will likely be targeted for a rework.
Mormont Veteran was obnoxious at times, and vacant at others. I truly thought at one point Umber Berserkers with the Veteran was going to be the most powerful unit in the game. Whilst early signs showed this to be a precise assumption, it was quickly left in the dust. But not because of the Veteran, just Umbers aren’t great. Tully Cavaliers did the same damage for the same if not better defence, all with better movement. Did the Vets see play in other places? Sure, but points are not left spare for attachments these days. Again, it feels like Starks were collateral damage to these rule changes when other factions are seeing better profit from them.
The Result – Bruisers were collecting dust or were perfectly preserved in their wrappings, but now will see the light of day on the painting and gaming tables. However, the indirect nerf to the She-Bears and Veterans see Starks either stay the same in performance or drop slightly both without these Mormont reinforcements. To Stark players these changes were small uncalled for jabs to their faction, which wouldn’t be a big deal if they received some buffs in other areas.
Karstark Spearmen
Did Karstark Spearmen deserve to lose their unique rule for Hold the Line? CMON said the rule either over performed or was never used. I just want to bring some perspective here, Karstark Spearmen have the same Stats as Lannister Halberdiers. But Halberdiers have Set for Charge and Sundering, whereas Karstark Spearmen have Hold the Line and Stand Your Ground. Is the trade for these abilities really worth 1pt more?
Set For Charge is far better than Hold the Line, although an argument can be made between Sundering or Stand Your Ground. Spearmen potentially having 2+ saves were by far worth the 6pts but forced you to use set them up and activate them late in the rounds to get the most out of them. An interesting new strategy, but to remove this and replace it for Hold the Line without reducing their cost (maybe something like the Halberdiers), was a cold move. The unit wasn’t even that dominant in competitive play to warrant this.
The Result – Karstark Spearmen are now shelved until further changes. It is hard to choose which affiliation is worse for Starks, but Karstark might have the edge for lowest. It is sad to see such a unique rule be gutted rather than reworked even though this was not the patch to change unique rules.
Stark Bowmen
Morale Stat for the Stark Bowmen has improved from 7 to 6. At least it is a buff. Right? Like, who…. cares? This is not a significant change, and I am doubtful it is suddenly going to change the game for Starks. If anything, it will slightly improve the Reed lists. It was done to make more sense out of other ranged units in the game and their morale stat.
The Result – Nothing will drastically change from this update.
Post Update
I spoke to quite a few Stark players for their opinion on the update and we came to this conclusion.
The CMON Development Team is a bit like someone who takes their car to the garage with the intention of getting an oil change, rotating the tires and new windshield wipers… Only to be told by the mechanic that actually their brake rotors are rusted out, and the suspension is going, and there’s a lot more work to do than we expected.
Considering what was CMON’s objective for the patch, what they really wanted was to fix the core rules of the game by rebalancing the universal abilities and then let the meta settle, rather than looking at individual units. I think this is probably a wise approach. The buffs to individual units are all stuff that is seeing zero play currently and I think this is probably pushed on them by the sales numbers.
I think there needs to be another patch with a focus on individual combat units to encourage variety in list building. I hope we don’t have to wait a whole year for it as to have this level of an update is too little too late.
Affiliations for Mormonts, Karstarks, Umbers and Tullys all need looking at, as each unit’s role is too lackluster than expected. Berserkers are supposed to be good at fighting but are outperformed by Tully Cavaliers. Tully Sworn Shields are supposed to be super defensive, but Mormont She-Bears are chosen to protect Rickon.
Nothing feels right and instead of an in-depth update to change this, they are indirectly nerfed.
Summary
Stark players. It is hard to not be demoralised by this update. None of your underperforming units, commanders, attachments or NCUs were considered to need a change, and are thought to be performing at what CMON wants them to. You were indirectly nerfed by balance changes to other factions and had minor tweaks that amount to very little positive changes. I hope the next update is sooner, with some actual changes to the underperforming of many parts of the faction.
But there is a sparkle of hope. House Reed has never looked better, and with the new unit around the corner they may be incredibly refreshing to play in your force going forward. Further to this, your opponent’s got brought down in dominance to make it a closer match on the field.
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