CMON announced recently that a new update is arriving on August 7th for A Song of Ice and Fire the Miniatures Game. We know this is a Commander focused update with a few Units, Attachments, NCUs and Tactics Cards getting a tweak. After showing the improvements to Tywin I started to think about which Commanders I would love to see addressed the most and wrote an article on the worst Commanders. I wanted to put together my predictions for the update and see how many I got right.
Lannisters – Crown’s Control
Prediction – Base Tactics Deck changes.
A rework to the base deck of the Lannisters is sorely needed. The change I would like to see is some form of an effect from the cards before the morale check bonuses, we already see on them. If an opponent passes the morale test it makes the cards pointless. With Starks we see a small bonus followed by additional effects if certain conditions are met. With the new Tywin reveal we see that he has undergone a similar change where we see an effect straight away and more once conditions are met.
It brings meaning to the cards when they do something when played. If the changes to Tywin are felt across the Lannister faction, then Lannister will see a brilliant boost to their playstyle, most of which are about control. I hope the essence of control over power stays with the cards such as removing abilities from units with their plots.
Night’s Watch – Capable Commanders
Prediction – Commanders nerfed, Commanders buffed, new leaders for the Wall.
Jon is broken. Now that we have that out of the way let’s talk about something that hasn’t been discussed a million times. Look, Jon will be reworked to be a little less potent. This will come alongside some other Commanders getting buffed up so that Night’s Watch have a more diverse choice of Commanders when playing in events.
I hope it also extends to the units. I am almost as sick of seeing Ranger Hunters just as much as I am sick of seeing Flayed Men everywhere. I wish that there are more to factions than just one unit but at times it feels as if they are the only one’s worth talking about. Ranger Hunters, Dothraki Veterans, and Flayed Men are some of the few units that dominate the rosters of their own factions. I want them dialled down so that other units can shine. The exact same thing I hope to see with Jon, so that Commanders like Benjen or Jeor can be a great pick.
Targaryens – A Time for a Leader
Prediction – Commander Overhaul.
Targaryens are struggling. Khal Drogo has held up the faction for a while with the support here and there from Dany and her Dragons. Recently Marselen has been showing up to relieve Drogo of constantly being picked to lead. But there is no Barristan, Belwas, Jorah, Grey Worm and so on. These are key characters that are just not as present in the forces.
I expect the Commanders to change in some way to boost them into playability. Whilst they are fun to play with from time to time, they have little impact on the field and thus feel worthless in comparison to the better Commanders. Some of them like Barristan remove a good card from the base deck for a bad card of his own.
I am unsure how they will achieve this, but I do feel it is obvious that Targaryens will get a good update.
Greyjoys – New Ways to Pillage
Prediction – New Pillage is Game Breaking.
We know pillage is changing, we know it will affect almost everything in the Greyjoy roster. What we don’t know is how everything will end up. From the look of the Reavers, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared of what the Greyjoys could become. They do have a lot of tools still to prevent the morale damage and plenty of ways to heal or stick in the game.
If Blacktyde or Bowmen don’t change either we will be in big trouble. But what about Commanders and Attachments too? There is so much to think about it feels like a brand-new faction. I predict that Greyjoys will have a second birth if you will, they have fallen to the bottom of the food chain or drowned in the food chain if you will. But now it is time for them to rise again, stronger and harder.
What is dead, may never die.
Martells – Frustratingly Fun
Prediction – Uller Nerf, but Base Tactics Deck unchanged.
It is obvious that Uller will see some form of rework that will see him reduced to being more aligned with the balance of all the other Commanders who are all very balanced between each other. However, some Commanders may see a buff like Oberyn just due to the low play rate. I also think that the strength of the base deck has not been talked about too much and thus it may escape the attention of a rebalancing.
In my experience, playing Martells has pockets of “this just isn’t fun to play against”, to be fair I have only had this feeling a few times. Greyjoys into a House Reed list, whenever I play against Quick Fire that results in a snowball effect, and then with Martells when no matter what you do, the damage to yourself is greater.
I think Martells will see very little change towards the faction as a whole.
Summary
Overall, Base Decks and Commanders will be the primary change amongst factions. Whilst I didn’t mention some factions specifically, I do think everyone will see an effect of some kind. But I just don’t have a good enough idea of what may lie in store for Starks or Free Folk for example.
Whilst some factions are spoilt for choice with changes, every Commander has an argument for a rework. I hope CMON has made the right choices for this update.
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