We've been playing this game regularily since a bit, and i've come to doubt the ability of the Stark deck to get a proper, decisive win. Lannisters seems to pummel the Starks most of the time.

Is this what others have experienced?

As much as i rarely want to reply to my own thread, we've figured  that the pummeling we've been noticing is almost always related to the "Valar Morgulis" plot card.

hi! So, to balanse the game we have to through out this plot?)

After more testing, it seems that the Starks must hold onto a powerful character until after Valar Morgulis is played. This is a double edged sword because Lannisters are good at intrigue that  you run the risk of seeing your character discarded. I assume that is exactly the purpose of the (hidden in shadows) plot which allows you to get a character from the discard pile.

The Lannisters are weak on the turn they play Valar Morgulis due to a lower income (depending on locations) and they cannot threaten you with challenges due to 0 claim. The outcome of the game is often determined on how the players can recover after Valar Morgulis.

So you don't have to throw it away, but it does have a huge impact in the game. It's a big tabula rasa…and forces the game into a final sprint.

Since we've played more games, we've found out that sometimes the Starks can recover really quick thanks to cost-reducing locations and brutal military challenges. This is even more true if the characters that Lannisters play after Valar Morgulis do not have a military icon.

However sometimes the Lannisters just have too much bonus to income and even Valar Morghulis won't slow them down, especially if they can "bodyguard" powerful characters like Tywin or Littlefinger…or even worse: The Mountain (this guy is the bane of Starks)

EDIT: Posted in the wrong thread. My answer though, would be to play the LCG instead.

so does Valor morgulis kill ALL characters in play on both sides: Starks and Lannisters.

Yes, it kills all characters (from both sides). The result of this plot depends on what locations both  players control. With sufficient gold income, the Lannisters can bounce back up easily. Starks can really get characters out cheaply if they have cost-reduction shenanigans going on.  Characters with bodyguards and dire wolves will survive Valar Morghulis, so this  may also play into the equation.  The plot is a game accelerator in many ways…but not always in favor of the house that is ahead in points.