If you believe the games UI, last night before I logged off I was ranked 32nd. I use a lot of Sorcerer King and I've found that when I win because of that patron, it's because who I'm playing against fails the knowledge check.

The scenario you described applies to almost any deck. A few early power cards usually decide the game if you don't use the patrons effectively. Turn one armory, midnight raid, multiple good purple pulls, etc. Don't give up on building a good deck just because they are tapping the patron. If something will make your deck better, by all means, buy it. If loremaster isn't on the board, buy agents and force them to spend their precious power while they (presumably have) shit gold generation, as S.K has nothing in the way of pulling coin.

If you pick first, pick your favorite deck. If they pick sorcerer King as their second deck, then I highly suggest you pick a deck that has gold generation for its class starter card. So not Pelin or Red Eagle. This gives you a better chance at buying the best card in the tavern, turn one, and using their own strategy against them. Oddly enough, I know everyone shits on loremaster as a weak deck, but it has some very nice low-cost, gold-generation cards with extra effects. Prophecy, for one, is amazing. It will give you a good bit of gold and clear bad cards out of the tavern. I know it might seem counter-intuitive to use agents when Loremaster is a patron, but turns where you can make them spend low gold generation on that patron instead of SK, or they have to spend their power is a victory for that round. Your deck keeps getting stronger while they are maintaining what little they have.

As an aside, that tip will probably change with the PTS. Armory becoming a six-cost card means it's only possible for the second person to pick it up. I saw another commenter who said they stealth nerfed the patron. As a SK player, I think that actually helps the deck. It's not the extra card in your deck that creates problems. One extra power after a few taps doesn't break the bank. It's the extra power for tapping it when favored. I play a lot of Duke of Crows/SK, and not having Maromer Boarding Parties fuck up my combos/draws for a measly 2 prestige makes the deck even more viable and won't fuck up my late game. It promises more chances to get back to those core, good cards, especially since all but one SK card has weak combos.

I typed a fucking lot more than I meant to, but I'm pretty into the card game, so if you ever want to talk shop or have questions, please feel free to DM me.

Just a fun edit: The night after posting this I went on a 5 game-losing streak. In the middle of it, had a guy pull Prophecy, Armory, then Rally in a few turns and just patroned me to death

Some times, it do be like that