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The State of the Meta in ASOIAF: TMG Season 6, May 2025
Stony Shore Pillagers - Painted by Mitch - Insta: mitch.scribbles
The Battle of the Chained Stag II UK - Battlefield Hobbies
Up until recently, the biggest event in the UK has been in Daventry hosted by Battlefield Hobbies, and co-hosted by Yecats Miniatures, on the 27th April. This saw 24 players bringing 40pts lists for three games. Baratheons, Starks, and Lannisters were the most represented Factions at the event. Neutrals were the only Factions not represented at the event, with Targaryens, Free Folk, and Night’s Watch being the least represented. Let’s take a look at the winning list.
Dothraki Outriders - Painted by Cushty - Image by Yecats Miniatures
Targaryen - Cushty
List 1 - Khal Drogo- Dothraki Screamers ( 6 )
- Dothraki Outriders ( 6 )
- Dothraki Screamers ( 6 )
- Dothraki Screamers ( 6 )
- Dothraki Hrakkars ( 4 )
- Illyrio Mopatis ( 4 )
- Daenerys Targaryen ( 4 )
- Mirri Maz Duur ( 4 )
Cushty went up against a Harmen Uller Martell list, a Jaime-led Lannisters list, and a Beric Dondarrion Brotherhood list. The first thing that stood out to me was the Jaime Lannister list from Paul Winter which featured triple Red Cloaks, what a crazy fun way to play that Faction. Harmen Uller and Beric Dondarrion are tough matchups since Martells can debuff you very effectively and Brotherhood are the current hotness with super healing.
Dothraki Veterans - Painted by Cushty - Image by Yecats MiniaturesHowever, triple Screamers with Bloodriders are very deadly especially when they pile onto a Unit at a time; I wouldn’t be surprised if Cushty’s plan was to wipe out the opponent. The caveat to Screamers is that they are flimsy and will lose to high dice attacks coming into them, which is why you bring the healing with Illyrio, token generation with Mirri, and then token removal with Daenerys, all of which work to maintain the momentum of the army. Out of three games Cushty struggled to kill the Martell Units likely because of their cards that can debuff which nobody has great answers to.
You will see more and more Dothraki lists similar to what Cushty brought with slight variations until the perfect layout is discovered. Across all of the events, Dothraki focused Targaryens are becoming a favoured way to play, with other versions of Targaryens becoming niches.
Free Folk Army - Painted by Brian - Image by BrianMcG
Free Folk - Bannockburn
List 1 - Mance Rayder- Spearwives ( 5 )
- Spearwives ( 5 )
Raid Leader ( 1* )
- Cave Dweller Savages ( 5 )
- Followers of Bone ( 5 )
- War Mammoth ( 6 )
- War Mammoth ( 6 )
- Lady Val ( 4 )
- Craster ( 4 )
The new Mammoth changes have made them very spicy with them hitting like a truck now, especially when they can get into the fight with a Raid Leader since Gang-Up boosts this further. Bannockburn went up against Victarion Greyjoys, Obara Sand Martells, and Renly Heir Baratheons, and the final game was a tough one for Bannockburn which you can watch on stream over on Yecats Miniatures YouTube Channel.
Free Folk Army in Action - Painted by Brian - Image by BrianMcGThe first two games the Free Folk racked up the kill points but couldn’t secure a single one against the Baratheons. It probably would have been a better idea to go with the Mag Monster list to crack through the heavy armour of Baratheons, which heal like crazy thanks to Renly Loyalty boosts. Charging Volley and War Mammoths are not enough to break the lines it would seem.
I am more than sure we will start to see War Mammoths in every infantry list for Free Folk, but we will also see the monster lists in action a lot more on top of this. Season 5 saw a fall off in people picking up the Free Folk Faction, which has now been flipped on its head for this season, Bannockburn gave us a hint to one reason why. One thing I have noticed though is that long time Free Folk players are performing well which may mean it is a great army when you have mastered the Faction, but not so great when you haven’t.
You can read more on Bannockburn's experience at the event over at his blog here - https://brianmcgonigle.blogspot.com/2025/05/battle-of-chained-stag-ii-yecats.html
House Bolton Army - Painted by DanG - Image by BrianMcG
Boltons - DanG
List 1 - Roose Bolton- Blackguards ( 6 )
- Flayed Men ( 8 )
- Blackguards ( 6 )
Theon Greyjoy - Reek ( 0 )
- Dreadfort Archers ( 6 )
- Lord Varys ( 4 )
- Jeyne Poole ( 5 )
- Jaqen H'ghar ( 4 )
In Season 6, Blackguard got a whole lot better with improvements to their speed, Flayed Men got a boost to their dice on final rank so they are a lot better in an attrition fight, and the Attachment points changes doesn’t effect too much but can be utilised with the only 2pts Attachment at their disposal. The biggest change is a passive army ability where you can gain Panic Tokens to dish out, thus making the crucial Panic Test more likely to go off.
Roose Bolton and Cutthroats - Painted by Carly - Insta: the_iron_forestDanG fought Howland Reed Starks, Beric Dondarrion Brotherhood, and Stannis Heir Baratheons. DanG fought against Psychoste’s Starks which is an incredibly tough game so hats off to DanG for winning that one, but lost to Brotherhood which is expected considering how it is the best Faction in the game, and DanG's is the worst. DanG gained a lot of kill points throughout the games which may be because of the tough-to-crack Blackguard Units forcing you to take a test beforehand, and tying you up for the bowmen to shoot into you.
An interesting interaction with Steelshanks in a Roose list allows you to use Seeing Their Flaws for the ranged attack, thus preventing the target from utilising any abilities in their defence. The Stag Knights in the Brotherhood list would lose Resilience and Relentless from Thoros, or the Queen’s Men from the Stannis list would lose their ability that prevents Vulnerable and Panic token from being used on them, which are the two tokens conveniently generated by the same card.
DanG has for sure unlocked the code for understanding how to play Boltons at a high level, but this is a difficult thing to replicate across all players in the Faction. Just like with the Free Folk, those who master the Faction will be rewarded with a better performance, but casual play will not bear the same fruits of your labour.
Brotherhood Without Banners Amry - Painted by Tim - Insta: tim_paints
Finnish Nationals 2025
The Finnish Nationals took place early into the new season with 30 players attending the event, making it one of the biggest events to this date in Europe within Season 6. It was a five game, two day event, with quite a high average rating of players. Night’s Watch saw the most players representing The Wall, with Greyjoys, Targaryens, and Martells tied right behind them. Let’s dive on into the winning lists.Brotherhood Without Banners - Rivarama
List 1 - Thoros of Myr- Stormcrow Dervishes ( 7 )
Edric Dayne - Loyal Squire ( 1 )
- Brotherhood Sworn Knights ( 8 )
- Brotherhood Archers ( 6 )
- King's Men ( 7 )
- Ghost of High Heart ( 4 )
- Ravella Smallwood ( 4 )
- Jaqen H'ghar ( 4 )
- King's Men ( 7 )
- Brotherhood Sworn Knights ( 8 )
- Man-At-Arms ( 6 )
- Golden Company Crossbowmen ( 7 )
- Ghost of High Heart ( 4 )
- Ravella Smallwood ( 4 )
- Petyr Baelish ( 4 )
Something neat about this game is how power differences between Factions are not as wide as other tabletop games, and there is no easier way to recognise this than when a major event has a winner who did not go undefeated. One of the best aspects of this game is the understanding that anyone can win no matter what you bring. Rivarama earned four wins and one loss from the event, the loss coming from an Oberyn Martell List. The wins were from Greatjon Umber Starks, Khal Drogo Targaryens, a Victarion Greyjoy list, and another Oberyn Martell list.
Peasant Levy - Painted by Tim - Insta: tim_paintsBrotherhood didn’t see too many changes in Season 6 since they are a brand new Faction and usually escape the wrath of a patch first time around. However, due to universal changes Beric did get a nerf to his Assault Orders Tactics Card, and the Faction has access to more Attachments. Both lists would have seen fewer Attachments or lesser quality Units before the update so it feels like they got much better, but everyone got better with the update so it is hard to understand the weight of changes.
Rivarama has shown us how strong this Faction truly is straight out of the gates unlike the Boltons on their release. Brotherhood are a difficult force to face currently due to their aggressiveness and high healing potential. They may not be as strong as we perceive since most people are not sure how to use them fully or counter them appropriately, over time since their release people have been playing them better, whilst others have been bringing tools to combat them. Time will tell if they hold up to the first impression they give.
Night's Watch - Painted by Tim - Insta: tim_paints
Night’s Watch - Halflapman
List 1: Benjen Stark- Ranger Vanguards ( 7 )
- Ranger Trackers ( 6 )
- Ranger Trackers ( 6 )
- Builder Stone Thrower ( 8 )
- Othell Yarwyck ( 5 )
- Donal Noye ( 4 )
- Petyr Baelish ( 4 )
- Veterans of the Watch ( 7 )
- Shadow Tower Spearmen ( 7 )
- Golden Company Crossbowmen ( 7 )
- Ranger Vanguards ( 7 )
- Donal Noye ( 4 )
- Ser Denys Mallister ( 4 )
- Aemon ( 4 )
Halflapman also earned four wins and one loss, missing out on the top spot due to Secondary Points which are decided on minor/major wins/losses. They lost to Loras Tyrell Baratheons, but won against a Roose Bolton list, Benjen Stark Night’s Watch, a Tyrion Lannister List, and Cotter Pyke Night’s Watch. It is quite remarkable that they did not face off against either of the three high picked Factions which would have been tough matchups for Night’s Watch.
Heroes of the Night's Watch - Painted by Tim - Insta: tim_paintsThe Benjen list is a typical cavalry-focused list I am seeing from Night’s Watch a lot recently, but the inclusion of the Stone Thrower is a rogue pick since usually they are taken in a list designed around it. This is a hybrid of these two lists in this instance. The Alliser Thorne list is not one I have seen being played, and likely did so well due to Alliser’s cards which do well in other forces in the game.
Night’s Watch are in need of an update to bring them back into relevance, but it is a wonderful sight to see someone do so well with the force. There could be some great lists out there we have not seen just like with Alliser in Halflapman force, but not many people are encouraged to play them enough to discover the potential the brothers of the Night’s Watch have.
Brynden Tully - Painted by Tim - Insta: tim_paints
Bear and Maiden Fair (Circuit Open)
Bear and Maiden Fair is an online tournament on Tabletop Simulator held over the month of April. This is run by various leading members of the ASOIAF Community and allows players from across the whole world to play against each other in an event. It had 56 players take part in the event over three games with Brotherhood and Baratheons being the most represented Factions, followed by Lannisters, Martells, and Greyjoys. The winning list went to the Starks, however; let’s take a look.Starks - Joakru
List 1: Robb 1- Golden Company Crossbowmen ( 7 )
Crannogman Survivalist - Infantry ( 1 )
- House Tully Cavaliers ( 8 )
- House Tully Cavaliers ( 8 )
- Grey Wind ( 3 )
- Arya Stark ( 4 )
- Eddard Stark ( 6 )
- Lord Varys ( 4 )
- Jaqen H'ghar ( 1 )
The second list is something you expect from Robb lists in general, which is an infantry focused list that gets the most out of positioning with low tier Units, Robb is almost always in Dervishes or Bog Devils due to their abilities naturally synergising with him. It isn’t a bad list by any account but the cavalry list is far stronger and perhaps is the reason why it was never used at the event.
Robb Stark - Painted by Tim - Insta: tim_paintsJoakru won all three of their games against Lady Stoneheart Brotherhood, Baelor Blacktyde Greyjoys, and Mag the Mighty Free Folk; these are three quite strong forces to face off against, but Joakru's Starks managed to get crushing wins on all three. An interesting point to note here is that due to the Attachment point changes the list gets Grey Wind for free, or you can look at it as they got Attachments for free on all the Units, but the point stands that this may have been a lot worse before the changes.
Starks saw a lot of changes across their Attachments in Season 6, but none of these changes have been enough to change what is making them do so well for so long; Tully Cavaliers. As soon as this Unit is hit by the nerf bat the whole outlook for Starks changes for better or worse. Everything at the moment is about how to hone Tully Cavaliers into the best they can be, whilst other lists are desperately trying to find an alternative winning list for the Faction.
Iron Victory Crew - Painted by Mitch - Insta: mitch.scribbles
Greyjoys - CivilizedLamb
List 1: Victarion- Iron Victory Crew ( 6 )
- Iron Victory Crew ( 6 )
- Ironborn Bowmen ( 4 )
- Ironborn Reavers ( 5 )
- Stony Shore Pillagers ( 5 )
- Balon Greyjoy ( 6 )
- Aeron Greyjoy ( 4 )
- Wendamyr ( 4 )
ASOIAF has a Greyjoy problem. They have become the best aggressive force in the game to an absurd level, most opponents do not feel like they have had a good game against Greyjoys in this form and rather see red with the amount of get-out-of-jail-free cards they have at their disposal. From Balon bringing back an entire Unit for free, to What is Dead May Never Die holding on the table for super healing, to We Do Not Sow not getting the same nerf treatment as Assault orders, there are so many other aspects that make them hell to play against.
Heroes of the Greyjoys - Painted by Mitch - Insta: mitch.scribblesSeason 6 did little to change the issues arising with the tide for Greyjoys, with the biggest outcry demanding Balon to be nerfed. He was going up to 6pts, but this is balanced out with the free Attachment points which evens out to no nerf. Victarion did get hit with Assault Orders and Motivated by Coin on Nute, however this isn’t a big deal since there are still additional attack actions on top of We Do Not Sow. Would nerfing these options destroy the Greyjoy Faction? Or would it force the players to think more about how they play Greyjoys rather than kill everything including your own Units that will likely hang on by an edge or comeback anyways.
Greyjoys were already flirting with becoming a problem in the early events in this Season, but later events in May show just how much of an issue they truly are. In my previous article, they won the biggest event in the UK to date with the 50pts Leeds event with 34 players held in mid May, and now the weekend just gone saw them win the Canadian Nationals.
Canadian Nationals Promo Art
Canadian Nationals
Organised by Christopher Cullen and Wade Hawkins, and held at Multizone: Jeux & Comics, the Canadian Nationals took place recently for a five game, two day event, with a really cool King of the Hill-style prize achievement. Lannisters and Greyjoys were the most represented Factions at the event with Bratheons following behind them, and as already mentioned Greyjoys took the event as well.Greyjoys - Danaman
List 1: Victarion- Iron Victory Crew ( 6 )
- Silenced Men ( 7 )
- House Harlaw Reapers ( 6 )
Qarl - Asha's Champion ( 1 )
- Golden Company Crossbowmen ( 7 )
- Moqorro ( 4 )
- Wendamyr ( 4 )
- Balon Greyjoy ( 6 )
We have already said a lot about Greyjoys but this event has Greyjoy players at a lower overall win rate in comparison to Martells who had a really high win rate but came second in the event. The importance of getting a crushing victory for a major win is important, and Greyjoys just do this better than most Factions.
Silenced Men - Painted by Mitch - Insta: mitch.scribblesAlthough there was a diverse Commander selection for Greyjoys, Victarion was taken twenty two times, with the next highest Commander being a tie between Oberyn Martell and Tyrion Lannister at 12. Victarion’s win percentage was 64% showing how he is the best Commander in the game and is taken a stupid number of times more than any other Commander. We have a Greyjoy problem and there needs to be a balance for the overall game but also the internal balance of Greyjoys.
Speaking of internal balance, I want to also discuss Martells. With Oberyn winning 9 out of the 12 games they played, and Martells playing 16 games in total avoiding duplicates. Oberyn is causing the Martells to have internal balance issues when it comes to Commanders, and Martells are doing pretty good at events not only in performance but in pick rate.
Attendees at the Nordice Masters - Image by Teemu Eetu Kujala
Nordic Masters Grand Tournament 2025
The Nordic Masters event took place in the middle of May with 34 people attending for six games across two days. This is the first Nordics Masters event with the likelihood of more to follow and was organised by Oscar Lemming & Joakim Lundqvist of Västerås Wargaming. Martells took first, second, and fourth at the event with Rivarama taking second place with mostly Oberyn Martells, and the other two players taking Oberyn nearly all of the time on top of this.Martells - Geelott
List 1: Oberyn- Sunspear Royal Guard ( 7 )
- Sand Skirmishers ( 7 )
Edric Dayne - Lord of Starfall ( 1 )
- Sand Skirmishers ( 7 )
- Skyreach Bowmen ( 6 )
- Ellaria Sand ( 4 )
- Petyr Baelish ( 4 )
- Tycho Nestoris ( 5 )
- Sand Skirmishers ( 7 )
Edric Dayne - Lord of Starfall ( 1 )
- Sand Skirmishers ( 7 )
- Skyreach Bowmen ( 6 )
- Stormcrow Dervishes ( 7 )
- Ellaria Sand ( 4 )
- Doran Martell ( 4 )
- Arianne Martell ( 5 )
Why is Oberyn so good that warrants him to be taken overwhelmingly over anyone else? Debuffs. Martells do well due to debuffs, and Oberyn brings three more to the table in his own poison which stops healing, -1 to hit attached card, and a -2 to movement card. He also Intercept Orders to mess with your application of Tactics Zones which can disrupt a whole activation on your end. The debuffs this force can dish out are overwhelming and demoralising your opponent can win you the game.
With so many events, Martells are doing great, but every list finds a way to focus around Sand Skirmishers. There can be the odd difference with other Units taking center stage such as the Royal Guard or the cavalry, but if Martells are doing well it tends to be because of the Sand Skirmishers. Commanders need a rebalance alongside Units inside of the Martell Faction, on top of this debuff cards might need to be reconsidered since it sucks the fun out of the game for both players.
Sunspear Dervishes - Painted by Carly - Insta: the_iron_forest
What Is the Meta?
Honestly? It is hard to say. You could go to an event that is dominated by the likely statistics of Victarion or Oberyn winning the whole thing, or you can end up at an event with a player who has mastered their Faction to overcome these obstacles and be crowned a winner. You’re unlikely to see Boltons, Neutrals, Lannisters, or Night’s Watch taking the top standings now, with the potential of outliers, but for the most part, prepare to face off against the top four or five and you should do fine.Greyjoys, Brotherhood, Martells, Targaryens, and Starks, all seem to be the best performing Factions in one way or another with tough lists to decode. Some of these have been in the same state from Season 5 to 6 without too many changes, whilst others are revolutionised with an injection of power mostly from Targaryens.
The biggest surprise to me was how many Baratheons players there are without taking those high spots in events. You would have thought the same rules of someone mastering the Faction would also warrant them to top spot in a few cases but it is not as common as you may think and I am not fully sure as to why.
With that being said, a lot of this is my opinion, interpretation of the data, and collection of both mine and others’ experiences over the Season so far. It could be very different in your local scene, or there could be some hidden gems and downfalls around the corner that we haven't discovered yet. But one thing is for certain: The balance of a Faction does not set in stone who will for sure win the Game of Thrones.
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