488 games
53.48% win
1707 points
0.182 QR
Almost three-hundred years before the reign of Robert Baratheon, Westeros was conquered by Aegon Targaryen and his two sisters.
The Targaryen family hailed from the ancient freehold of Valyria and with their mighty dragons, these three siblings were an unstoppable force that united the Seven Kingdoms into a single realm, ruled from King’s Landing and the Iron Throne.
The unbroken dynasty of the Targaryens ended three centuries later with the rebellion of Robert Baratheon, and only two Targaryen children – Viserys and Daenerys – were known to escape from Robert’s bloody coup.
Although they fled across the Narrow Sea to Essos, the last scions of House Targaryen still remember the lands they once ruled and look forward to the day they will return to Westeros.
The Targaryens are in the position of attacking from outside of Westeros, and as such, they tend to focus on building up and snowballing potential, as well as rising from the ashes with standing effects.
This faction relies on its leadership more than most other factions, rallying and coming together around strong leaders like Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo.
As the only House with access to dragons, burn (reducing STR and killing characters in this way) is still a central element of House Targaryen.
Building your momentum and using that momentum to pressure your opponent are important parts of House Targaryen’s identity.
Burn, Stand, Aggro, Mercenary, Dothraki
Strength-reducing “burn” effects that kill, such as Blood of the Dragon, Dracarys! (Core), Crown of Gold (R), and Plaza of Punishment (Core), give Targaryens potent board control. They will often combine multiple strength reductions together to eliminate even high-strength characters. Additionally, strength reductions like Consuming Flames, A Dragon Is No Slave and Daenerys Targaryen (Core) or Daenerys Targaryen (TFM) can help swing challenges in your favor, even if the affected characters aren’t diminished all the way to zero strength.
Speaking of Daenerys, she’s a central figure for the faction, as both the main draw engine (via her Insight keyword) and the beneficiary of her dragon’s abilities. Rhaegal (Core), Viserion (Core), and Drogon (Core) all buff Dany in some way, making Targ somewhat of a combo faction, but thanks to Fire and Blood the pieces are resilient.
The Targaryen’s feature “stand’ (untap) abilities that act as a direct counter to Baratheon kneel, as seen on Magister Illyrio, Handmaiden, and Waking the Dragon. This also gives them the flexibility to attack or defend with a powerful character like Daenerys multiple times in one challenge phase.
The “tribal” or trait-based theme in Targaryen revolves around aggressive (Military) Dothraki/Bloodrider characters, like Khal Drogo (Core), Jhogo (TS), Aggo, Rakharo (TRtW), Haggo, Womb of the World (R) and Blood of my Blood.
Another theme involves the Targaryen relationship with attachments. While Viserys Targaryen and Qarth can remove them, Tokar is a main piece where an attachment deck can help you boost your characters (Voltron). With the support of Captain Groleo, Black Market Merchant, Gifts for the Widow (R), Breaker of Chains and different key agendas like Qohor and Valyrian Steel (R), Targ can take good advantage of this theme.
Mercenary: Originally a lieutenant in the Second Sons, Daario Naharis has proven himself to be a valuable member after pledging his allegiance to Daenerys Targaryen. Mercenaries in Targ are mostly valuable with Aegon Targaryen, Mercenary Contract, Our Word Is Good as Gold, Vargo Hoat, Flea Bottom (R) and Tyrion Lannister (JS). Taking advantage of your own discard pile is key.
† References above provided by scantrell24
The Friendly Council is a deckbuilding series for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game (Second Edition). This is a new Friendly Open project, aimed at helping beginner and intermediate-level players build their own decks.
- Targaryen / Fealty by Robert Chervat
This deck is made by Robert Chervat which is one of the best players around and he have had good success playing burn decks, and this is a deck made for the new restricted list, so it's highly competitive! Robert (JP profile) is a friend of the Friendly Open, and is often seen spectating the Friendly Open games at Sundays.
- Targaryen / Aloof and Apart by Reinhard Schefcik
This deck is by Reinhard Schefcik which is considered to be the greatest Targaryen player of all time. The European and World champion (JP Profile) is one of the first signing up for the Friendly Open tournaments and is well respected in the thrones community.
- Targ / Free Companies by mak and The Friendly Council