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yerkamig
Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 4:01 am
Joined: 25 Jan 2007 Posts: 240 Location: Corvallis, OR
--- description ---
How to build a LotR TCG deck (or nine sure-fire ways to aggrivate Dr. Evazan during Happy Hour).
--- end description ---

I am Yerka Mig. Which means as the important events of the GFFA (Galaxy Far Far Away) were unfolding in the bar around me, I was face down in a puddle of synthale. I of course am not really Yerka Mig, but the metaphor adequately describes my introduction into the world of LotR TCG. Like many of you I jumped on the LotR TCG bandwagon just before Mines of Moria was released. And for the next two years I enjoyed unfettered access to many LotR TCG players, leagues, tournaments, and premier releases. But even though important events of the galaxy were unfolding around me, I was face-down in a humongous pile of LotR TCG cards, oblivious to what was really going on around me.

What this means is that while I played lots of LotR TCG games with lots LotR TCG players I was my own worst enemy when it came to learning how to actually compete. Time after time my fellowship was beaten over the head with Savagery to Match Their Numbers, or trodden into the ground by a galloping Witch King Lord of Angmar, or swallowed whole by a Cave Troll of Moria (with a baker’s-dozen orc entourage!). And my minions didn’t fare any better. While Servant of the Secret Fire roamed the skirmish battlefield, Swordarm of the White Tower made nice haggis out of all my beloved evil ones, and Power According to His Stature cleaned up anyone who sneaked onto the ring-bearer.

However, near the end of my initial career as a LotR TCG player I managed to eek out a few wins with a nice Faramir-Merry choke, coupled with a Easterling corruption that took people by surprise. But heaven forbid I stray from this almost accidental deck build. I would quickly revert back to my old drunken self. So when Decipher x-listed about half the cards in my deck (Frying Pan, Flaming Brand, a talent for not being Seen, etc), I fell on hard times and eventually left the game.

But here I am now. Part of a rag-tag crew of newbies and oldbies, rediscovering a game I once dearly loved. Battle-worn and embittered, we struggle against our dying numbers and scream desperation into the deafening gale. But thanks to this meager survival I think I have finally discovered one of the many ways to successfully approach deck building in LotR TCG. The keywords for many of you will be “one of.” Not all of you will agree with this approach (ahemNBardenahem). But it is allowing me to experience enormous success, way beyond my initial failure as a LotR TCG player. In other words, I’ve picked my head up off the bar just in time to see Han flip Wuher a bundle of credits, and walk into galactic history. And as the synthale drips off my face I ask, “What’d I miss?”

So here goes:

Some of you might be familiar with the Taoist approach to life. Among many
beliefs it includes a balancing act among all events of nature and the universe. If something is up, then another is down. If something is rough, something else is soft. If something is black then another is white. This Yin-Yang principle of life has endless metaphors and examples. So I took it, and applied it to LotR TCG. My basic theory is based on the contrasting nature of events and conditions. Or to be more inclusive, cards and actions that play to the table versus cards and actions that can be played any time.

When I started thinking about cards in this fashion there was one important
distinction I noticed- the Fellowship Phase. It was the black sheep of all the
phases because it had to be skipped during a double or triple move. And that was its luscious deceptiveness. When building a fellowship, where do you start? The answer is in the name: the Fellowship Phase. It’s where companions, possessions, artifacts, conditions and even events are played.

But here is the Catch-22: THE FELLOWSHIP PHASE IS NOT WHERE THE GAME IS WON. However, it IS easy to spend too much time there, setting up, getting ready for other phases without actually performing when you get there. Decks that spend too much time in the Fellowship Phase do best when they spend most of their time there. That is, fellowships meant to sit back, absorb damage, survive, and help their shadows do the work. And personally, I believe shadow decks win games more often than fellowship decks. So the point is, if a fellowship is going to thrive in phases other than the Fellowship Phase, it has to focus on those other phases. That means events, and that means actions that take place in other phases.

This simple revelation brought me to my second big Yin-Yang distinction:
Defensive fellowships play conditions, possessions, companions, and anything that depends on the fellowship phase; Offensive fellowships play lots of events, and anything that does NOT require the Fellowship Phase.
(Obviously there are possessions and companions that can be played in phases other than the Fellowship, and there are events that are only played in the Fellowship. These cards belong in the opposite defensive/offensive categories).

Furthermore, this distinction can also be used to choose what kind of shadow to run. If you have a defensive fellowship, it would only make sense to have an offensive shadow. But who wouldn’t have an offensive shadow, you may ask? It may initially seem absurd, but not if you think in these terms: If your fellowship plays easily to the table (in the Fellowship phase), then you have the time and room to pack a lot of shadow events and expensive minions that might otherwise clog your hand. This is an offensive shadow. But if your fellowship is the one packing events, you’re going to want a shadow that plays easily to the table (conditions, inexpensive minions, etc.). This is a defensive shadow. As I mention below these two shadow categories are fluid and can contain elements of each other.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Complimentary shadow and fellowship
sides are not enough. They have to INTERACT with each other. They have to FEED off each other. There are three primary ways I know of to do this. The first is simple card drawing. If a shadow or a fellowship just draws cards, it can enable the other side (questions that need answering). Card discarding can do the same thing (Abandoning Reason for Madness ). The Gollum culture takes this concept to the extreme, utilizing its own shadow or fellowship cards (Naked Waste, Not Alone). But the primary way a shadow and fellowship are united is through the site path. When the two sides can both utilize the same sites, a recipe for success is in the making (Forestguls and Hobbits, Orcs and Dwarves, Dunland and Rohan, etc.).

So now that we can all tentatively agree (with the exception of NBarden) that
shadow sides and fellowship sides can be deemed either passive or
aggressive (Yin verses Yang) according to what the other side is doing, I can move on to a tentative listing of what actions constitute passive and aggressive deck strategies. These lists can be applied to both shadow and free peoples, with the exception of the Shadow Phase which is seen every turn.

A. Offensive strategies
1. Wounding/exerting
2. Discarding
3. Strength
4. Damage
5. Non-fellowship card drawing/muster
6. Site control
7. Archery
8. Choke
9. Non-fellowship events

2. Defensive strategies

1. Healing/vitality
2. Condition-based
3. Weapons/possessions
4. Companion-based
5. Fellowship card drawing
6. Burden/threat removal
7. Fierce/damage protection
8. Resistance
9. Fellowship-based events

This list is by no means exhaustive, or set in stone, but it does give a good
run-down of how a Fellowship (or Shadow) can be either passive or aggressive in relation to either itself or the other deck half.

Futhermore, when building a deck it is better to coordinate your card choices within the same set of strategies. No one deck can do it all. Every deck has its weaknesses and its strengths. So much better it is to coordinate the weaknesses of one side with the strengths of the other. Remember, Yin-Yang.

Now that I’ve described a couple simple revelations that have brought me
enormous success in deck building for LotR TCG, I will post and analyze a deck I built using this very formula.

Free (34)

The One Ring, Isildur’s Bane
Frodo Hope of Free Peoples

Starting
Bilbo Melancholy Hobbit
Tolman Cotton Farmer of Bywater
Smeagol Simple Stoor

Non starting
Gandalf Powerful Guide x4

Followers
Deagol Fateful Finder x4
Daddy Twofoot Next-door Neighbor
Pallando, Far-travelling One

Possessions/Artifacts
Shadowfax Greatest of the Mearas
Phial of Galadriel The Light of Earendil
Sting Bane of the Eight Legs
Hobbit Sword
Red Book of Westmarch

Conditions
The Dead City
Consorting with Wizards

Events
Where Shall We Go x2
Naked Waste x2
Servant of the Secret Fire x3
Speak "Friend" and Enter
Nine-fingered Frodo and the Ring of Doom x2
Hobbit Intuition x2
Make Haste
No Visitors

The strategies I am using with my fellowship are mostly aggressive. They are wounding, non-fellowship card drawing, and non-fellowship events. Most of my defensive strategies (that are not compensated for in non-fellowship phase actions-like playing Make Haste to heal Tolman) are mostly limited to followers.

As you will find out in a moment, the entire deck revolves around Deagol.
Thanks to Deagol I can run only one of each possession which I play from my deck during skirmishes. This avoids the initial twilight cost and starts to pump up Smeagol. The rest of the deck is very event-heavy, focused on
strength and wounding. The strategy is to draw into most events during skirmishes using Gandalf PG and the Redbook. As I mentioned above I think most of a deck’s power comes from non-fellowship actions. Bilbo advances this goal by allowing me to super recycle Nine-fingers during skirmishes. It is a tale, so the Redbook allows me to draw when I play it. Daddy Twofoot also allows me to recycle either Nine fingers, Make Haste, No visitors, or Intuition.

Tolman is a four strength naturally, which allows me to fight without a sword right from the git-go (backed by Servant and Intuition), and lets me bounce him around with Make Haste. He also is important burden protection as I will be adding a lot with Deagol, Daddy, and PG. That’s where Shadowfax GotM comes in. He is a burden removing machine. Then I peel the ensuing threats with Nine-fingers and Frodo HoFP.

Smeagol gets beasty as Deagol hits the pile and is also backed
by Naked Waste and Servant. And Smeagol does his share of wounding with Where Shall We Go? These two Gollum events will also see a lot of action when recycled with Incited from the shadow side.

So, to tie my fellowship into my article, I stay out of the Fellowship Phase as much as possible. I want an aggressive posture, and that means lots of events. But I also want as many events as possible, so there is a lot of card drawing, recycling, and even muster (with the phial). However, with this aggressive fellowship I automatically opt out of many defensive measures. Healing for instance can be tricky. Gandalf , Tolman and Smeagol are moderately good to go (see match-ups), but Bilbo and Frodo will have to wait for sanctuaries. Condition removal is also rather tentative, depending on when Pallando shows up. And there is no shadow possession protection whatsoever. But as I mentioned above, no fellowship is fullproof. And those gaping holes beg to be filled by a good shadow.

Shadow (34)

Minions
Gollum Her Sneak x4
Shelob Her Ladyship x4
The Balrog The Terror of Khazad-dum

Possessions
Web
Spider Poison x4

Conditions
FOIL Slippery as Fishes x4
Chasm’s Edge x4
Let Her Deal With Them x2
Incited x2
Promise Keeping
Plotting
Unabated in Malice
Not Alone

Events
Led Astray x4

The shadow strategies here are a nice mix of offensive and defensive. All the conditions free my hand but also pump the offensiveness of Gollum. Led Astray also keeps me unclogged, but has very offensive site path control.

My favorite part about this deck is how the shadow is highly enabled by my fellowship. I can leave out all those cumbersome Captured by the Ring in favor of a Gollum who can use Deagol to play himself from the discard (and also pump him).

But not only is my shadow enabled by my fellowship, my fellowship is enabled by my shadow. I’ve got two Incited so I can quickly start recycling either Naked Waste, Where Shall We Go?, or even Smeagol if he gets discarded with The Dead City. And if my fellowship is about to go down in a blaze of glory I can sacrifice all my shadow stuff for Naked Waste, at least twice. This is the crux of the deck. Between Deagol, Naked Waste, and Incited, I’m bouncing both shadow and free cards to help each side according to how the game is going.

Shelob is in there to soak up lots of damage. She also can pick and choose who won’t fight at any given turn. She sticks people with some Spider Poison which can add exertions quickly, especially if there are two on one companion. She can also be up to two damage if I’m given initiative, as can my twenty strength gollum.

The Balrog is in there for archery. I can recycle him with Not Alone and all those Gollum events I mentioned. And with all the undergrounds I have for Slippery, he won’t be taking wounds.

To tie this in to my article, this is a defensively postured shadow. Despite all the damage it can inflict, it is meant to play to the table and free my fellowship hand. It can do this quite well with all the cheap conditions and possessions I play early on.

Now for a quick Adventure Deck review:

Site (cost)- strategy

Anduin River (0) –my meta likes elven archery
The Bridge of Khazad-dum (0) -Underground for Balsey

Slopes of Orodruin (1) -Mountain; shadow card drawing is alwasy good

Chamber of Mazarbul (2) -Underground for SaF
West Gate of Moria (2) –Underground for SaF
Fords of Isen (2) –River for SaF; strength pumper for freeps

Pinnacle of Zirakzigil (3) –Mountain, in case Gandie dies
Dammed Gate-stream (3) –for my first Deagol at start; the only non-SaF
North Undeep (3) –my meta likes site control

My sites are chosen primarily to keep the Slipperies active, but only three
actually have text for my minions. The rest serve my fellowship.

So there it is: A fellowship that enables my shadow, a shadow that enables my fellowship, and a site path that enables both. As far as my deck building strategy goes, it is not a full-proof system but it’s a great starting point for slow-learners like myself who have always tried gaining insight to LotR TCG deck-building.

Now for a match-up section:

Fellowship match ups

Archery – this is my favorite. I soak up archery with Tolman and bounce him back next turn with Make Haste. Then I soak up more archery with Smeagol who I toss with the Dead City and get back with Incited.

Corruption – Tolman also helps out by exerting himself to prevent burdens which I can clear with Make Haste. Not to mention Shadowfax GotM as a burden removing machine, and Nine fingers. At most I’ll have to curtail my wounding with PG.

Condition based- Pallando is great for this stuff, especially with all the
wounding I do with a ten strength Gandalf and three Servants.

Event based- I’ve always got Connected by Fate waiting in my box as DH just in case I see some funny business. But if things get tough I can choke easily with just Frodo, Bilbo and Gandie, or Frodo, Smeagol and Gandie.

Damage- Bilbo loves damage, especially when Consorting is out. I’ve also got a five vitality Gandie with three copies of himself running around. Plus Tolman and Smeagol love their bouncity bounce.

Hunters- these guys can be a bit tricky, especially when Bilbo is only a five
with sword. But I’ve got enough pumpers to stay loose. Now I just need $15 for the hunter ring!

Shadow match ups

Archery – This is why I run the Balrog. Despite all the vitality of Shelob, it’s
still hard to get through sometimes (but when she does she’s a b*tch!). Plus, not alone lets me recycle the Balrog with Led Astray or Naked Waste, which then I get back with Incited.

Wounding/exertion- Again, the high vitality of Shelob makes this difficult. And the Balrog is there to avoid that altogether if need be.

Choke – Led astray takes care of this problem. I’ll almost always have Gollum out who is a beast (especially against ring-bound decks). My
conditions/possessions all play for one or so.

Strength – Her Ladyship takes care of the biggest companions each turn. And that person will be the first one I start Promise Keeping on.

Site path control – this has potential to hurt, but Led Astray sweeps it away.

Event based- Shelob almost always survives till the end and highly discourages moving. But I am also packing two initiative based cards (Let Her Deal with Them and Unabated in Malice) which can turn Shelob into a 2 damage, fierce, enduring force to reckon with. The Balrog can also use Let her Deal. And finally Gollum at full strength is a 19 (or 21 if Plotting is out), fierce, damage plus 2. So please, give me initiative!

Condition based – as I talked about, I believe if you have a condition based
fellowship you’re automatically choosing a defensive posture. But I welcome
ideas here. I know hunter Aragorn can get pretty big, and Gimli.

If you’ve made it this far without skipping ahead you’re quite a trooper, and
thank you for your time. I’ve spent a lot of effort developing this article, so
please give me ideas to make it better and I will.

Until Sunday, Cheers
Last edited by yerkamig on Wed Apr 25, 2007 2:13 am; edited 3 times in total
CarpeGuitarrem
Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:14 pm
Joined: 07 Apr 2006 Posts: 3361 Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
Please excuse me while I pick my jaw up from the floor...that article was AWESOME! A completely new take on LOTR! I loved how you just broke it down and introduced us to a new facet of synergy! And unless something comes up, you’re looking at a 5 from here.
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legoles3333
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:17 am
Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 861 Location: In a place that is beyond your imagination
sweet article, kinda long but i loved it probably a 5
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Anonymous Prodigy
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:29 am
Joined: 10 Jan 2006 Posts: 4197 Location: United States
Cool article, yerkamig. Thumbs Up

I have a few questions, though. Why 4 copies of Gandalf, Powerful Guide? Even though this deck has some anti-clog strategy in it, 4 copies of one companion is a bit steep. There are also 4 copies of Deagol, Fateful Finder. I think you could safely drop 2 copies of each. Plus, there are 4 copies of Chasm’s Edge. There is no guarantee that you can assign Gollum to a Ring-bound companion. Chances are, your opponent will only have one Ring-bound companion, his Ring-bearer. Treacherous Little Toad is a great addition to your Shadow side, especially if Promise Keeping is in play. I will wait for you to edit it, but right now I would give it a 4.

Good to see an article written from a new perspective. Nice job! Very Happy
I had to put something here.
fearlessknight
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 11:30 am
Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 11 Location: California
Great article Applause , kudos yerkamig. I agree that synergy with all aspects of the deck ( fellowship, minion and sites) are important in building a viable deck. 5 stars from me Dancing
NBarden
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 7:09 pm
Joined: 28 Dec 2006 Posts: 5468 Location: I don't know...
ARGH!!!!!!! YOU STOLE MY ARTICLE!

Anyway, great article, I can’t give it anything but a 5. Its kind of a mess in eloquence, but once I figured out what you were saying, I realized that you were writing the article I had ready for next month. Crying or Very sad Well...not exactly, but my article was on deck synergy.

All hail Dwarf/Sauron Discard!

Anyway, why Isildur’s Bane? I recommend The Ring of Rings if you’re worried about RB wounding, and the Ring of Doom is you’re not.
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Farmer_Maggot
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 8:10 am
Joined: 11 Sep 2006 Posts: 17 Location:
I love this sort of article. Really gets to grips with strategy and the reasons for picking the cards you use. I like the defensive/offensive deck design thing. Meaty length as well. Good work. 5.
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yerkamig
Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 1:58 am
Joined: 25 Jan 2007 Posts: 240 Location: Corvallis, OR
Wow! What a great reception! Very Happy Thanks a lot guys! You really got my week started off right!

Now to answer some questions.
yerkamig
Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 2:13 am
Joined: 25 Jan 2007 Posts: 240 Location: Corvallis, OR
Anonymous Prodigy wrote:
Cool article, yerkamig. Thumbs Up

I have a few questions, though. Why 4 copies of Gandalf, Powerful Guide? Even though this deck has some anti-clog strategy in it, 4 copies of one companion is a bit steep. There are also 4 copies of Deagol, Fateful Finder. I think you could safely drop 2 copies of each. Plus, there are 4 copies of Chasm’s Edge. There is no guarantee that you can assign Gollum to a Ring-bound companion. Chances are, your opponent will only have one Ring-bound companion, his Ring-bearer. Treacherous Little Toad is a great addition to your Shadow side, especially if Promise Keeping is in play. I will wait for you to edit it, but right now I would give it a 4.

Good to see an article written from a new perspective. Nice job! Very Happy


I have four copies of Gandalf for only two reasons: to get him out fast and so I can heal him later. I might trim it to three, but I think my guys would get beat pretty bad if he failed to show. So far he hasn’t clogged me, thanks to Where shall we go?

Deagol, however, I definately need four of. He is the deck lynch pin. I use him to pull possessions for my guys, pump Smeagol +2 for every one in the discard, and remove one of him from the game to play and pump Gollum. I can also use him for Naked Waste. I saw Bib this weekend and he said it was contradictory to use Her Sneak with Simple Stoor, but I’ve been balancing the two pretty well so far. I try to only use one Deagol for Her Sneak, then either Web him, or pull him with Incited.

Chasm’s Edge has nothing to do with Gollum being assigned to a ring-bearer. So it’s pretty much just a +1 pump. I’ll consider Treacherous Little Toad though.

Thanks AP!
yerkamig
Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 2:23 am
Joined: 25 Jan 2007 Posts: 240 Location: Corvallis, OR
NBarden wrote:

Anyway, why Isildur’s Bane? I recommend The Ring of Rings if you’re worried about RB wounding, and the Ring of Doom is you’re not.


Both valid suggestions. I would use the Ring of Doom if I had it. And the Ring of Rings is not a bad idea, considering I’ve been corrupted before. That’s why I put Tolman in (that and he’s got cool stats). But I’ll reconsider it. I’m also considering changing Frodos. If I put in the new one I’ll probably change rings too.

Thanks NBarden. You’re incessant nitpicking is what drove me to try my best! Wink

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