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| NBarden |
![]() Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2007 12:54 am |
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Joined: 28 Dec 2006
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--- description ---
The art of restricting your opponent. Only the best will reign victorious.
--- end description ---
The art of a choke is a complicated one. It must be ABSOLUTELY dedicated to its task. Any deviation from the strategy can spell disastrous results. Its task is no less complicated. The task of a choke is more complicated than it may appear.
A choke deck must accomplish three objectives in order to survive in the world of Lord of the Rings. However, if you are able to effectively accomplish these three objectives, the choke reigns the most powerful deck of Lord of the Rings.
First of all, let’s look at the three objectives of a choke deck.
1). Twilight Restriction. The deck must be able to restrict twilight massively. The theory behind this premise is simple. If you restrict twilight, then your opponent won’t be able to play anything against you. This is the main point of a choke, but many people make the critical error of assuming this is the only point. Another, just as important part of the choke is necessary in order to achieve a competitive deck.
2). Hand Clog. Twilight restrictions deny your opponent the ability to play minions. So what happens to the minions in hand? They stay in the hand, to be discarded at a rate of 1 per minion. At that rate, the hand of your opponent would become over clogged with Shadow cards, thus impairing the operation of their Free Peoples. The Free Peoples side of the deck should throw cards into hand as fast as possible, or on top of your opponent’s deck. Thus, with a hand clogged full of shadow cards, the Free Peoples side falls apart, which leads to the third objective of a choke deck.
3). A Hard-Hitting Shadow. Thought a choke was all Free Peoples, eh? Nope. A choke deck can VERY RARELY win a run to site 9. Thus, it must be paired with a Shadow designed to kill. Thanks to the intrinsic ability of a choke deck to clog an opponent’s hand, an opponent’s Free People’s side will be very weak, and not be able to compete at all until late in the game. Thus, a shadow side MUST be capable of hitting very hard and fast for a quick kill while clogging a hand.
The concept of a choke Shadow side must be developed somewhat. A shadow side must do three things. First, it must be able to trash any Free Peoples cards that get through the hand clog. Second, it must also be able to hit the Free Peoples hard and fast. Finally, it must be able to deal with a choke, because if no Free Peoples cards are hitting play, twilight will be lacking for your shadow side.
So, as we have seen, a choke deck is not simply a Free Peoples side, the Shadow side of the deck is just as important. And so again, we see the concept of SYNERGY. If this concept is perfected, then the deck will reign one of the most powerful you will ever see. Before showing a few decklists, let’s quickly cover the capabilities a choke deck must have.
On the Free Peoples side:
1). Twilight Reduction. Discussed earlier, the choke deck must obviously have the capabilities to restrict twilight.
2). Hand Clogging. Also discussed earlier, the better the hand clog, the better the choke.
3). Swarm Stopping. Swarms are the bane of a choke deck, as they can drop dirt cheap minions like crazy. A few number of companions means that more minions go on the ring-bearer. Thus, a choke deck must have an ability to stop swarms dead in their tracks.
4). Healing/Wound Prevention. Obviously, a small fellowship means a low vitality, making an archery deck the bane of a choke. To cover this weakness, a choke deck must reduce the minion archery total, shut down minions before they can wound you, heal like crazy, or just stop taking wounds altogether. Reducing archery total is to narrow, while shutting down minions is usually too risky, thus, I recommend that the focus on this element should be healing or wound prevention.
On the Shadow side:
1). Hitting Hard and Fast. A shadow side must be able to pummel the Free Peoples into a pulp while they’re down.
2). Card Trashing. A shadow side must be able to chuck anything that gets through the hand clog, leaving the Free Peoples completely defenseless.
3). Twilight Management. A shadow side must be able to operate under considerably little twilight, as the hand clog will prevent the Free Peoples player from throwing out any.
So, since we’ve covered what a choke deck needs, let’s see some decks and how they measure up. First, let’s go back to the basics with an old school Aragorn, Heir to the White City choke, straight from FotR block!
FotR HttWC Choke with Uruk-Hai Beatdown
Fellowship (32)
Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer
The One Ring, Isildur’s Bane
Boromir, Lord of Gondor (Starting)
Pippin, Hobbit of Some Intelligence (Starting)
Aragorn, Heir To The White City x 3
Citadel Of Minas Tirith x 4
No Stranger to the Shadow x 3
An Able Guide x 4
Power According to His Stature x 4
Blade of Gondor
Ranger’s Sword x2
Sting x 3
Armor x 3
Flaming Brand x 2
Hobbit Sword
Shadow (32)
The Balrog, Durin’s Bane
Saruman, Keeper Of Isengard x 4
Lurtz, Servant of Isengard x 2
Uruk Captain x 3
Uruk Ravager x 2
Uruk Scout x 4
Uruk-hai Raiding Party x 4
The Palantir Of Orthanc x 2
Greed x2
Tower Of Orthanc x 2
Saruman’s Power x 2
Savagery to Match Their Numbers x 4
Sites
(1)The Prancing Pony
(2)Trollshaw Forest 
(3)Council Courtyard 
(4)Hollin 
(5)The Bridge of Khazad-dum 
(6)Caras Galadhon
(7)Anduin Confluence
(8)Pillars of the Kings
(9)Slopes of Amon Hen 
General strategy, bid a couple burdens to go first, nab Aragorn with The Prancing Pony and lose a burden with Pippin. Use Sting as necessary to remove twilight.
Now, let’s look at the characteristics of the choke.
Freeps
1). Twilight Reduction. No Stranger to the Shadow on both Boromir and Aragorn throws makes the twilight thrown out by moving less. Aragorn and Sting both remove as much twilight as necessary, except against Nazgul, who are so expensive anyway that they probably won’t hit often, in which case they get slammed with Flaming Brand.
2). Hand Clog. Although the deck doesn’t actually start throwing cards back into hand, the choke itself does the work effectively. However, the shadow side helps the hand clog a little…
3). Swarm Stopping. Power According to His Stature. Need I say more?
4). Healing/Wound Prevention. Citadel of Minas Tirith and Armor, as well as multiple copies of Aragorn provide PLENTY of healing.
Shadow
1). Hitting Hard and Fast. Big damage minions. Hit hard. Hollin makes them hit a little faster, as well as Uruk-Hai Scout.
2). Card Trashing. Saruman’s Power is teh pwnzer!!!!!!!
3). Twilight Management. Uruk Ravager and Tower of Orthanc provides any twilight the Freeps fails to deliver.
Finally, a little bit of hand clogging. Palantir of Orthanc means that they don’t get the usual discard a card to draw one. And then, each turn they get the same boring hand back over and over.
Let’s take a look at another deck, this time, rocking expanded.
Solo-Smeagol/Forestguls
Fellowship (34)
Smeagol, Bearer of Great Secrets
The One Ring, The Great Ring
Faramir, Son of Denethor (Starting)
Fishing Boat
Gladden Homestead x2
Safe Passage x2
Follow Smeagol x4
Nice Fish x4
No Stranger to the Shadows
Poor Wretch x4
The Faithful Stone
There’s Another Way x4
Naked Waste x3
Nasty x4
Not Listening x2
Power According to His Stature x3
Shadow (34)
The Witch-king, Captain of the Nine Riders x4
Ulaire Cantea, Black Assassin x2
Ulaire Cantea, Fourth of the Nine Riders x2
Ulaire Enquea, Sixth of the Nine Riders x3
Ulaire Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders x4
Ulaire Toldea, Black Shadow x3
Black Rider x4
Ithil Stone
Lost in the Woods x4
Moving This Way x3
Dark Approach x4
Sites
The Angle
Buckland Homestead
Woody-end
Hill of Sight
Caras Galadhon 
West Gate of Moria
Crossroads of the Fallen Kings
Dammed Gate-stream
Trollshaw Forest
Use Dammed Gate-Stream to nab Safe Passage, name forest, and watch yourself choke like crazy! Big Smeagol handles anything comparatively easily, Forestguls being pounding fast. Forget everything except throwing them out as big and fast as possible. Let’s check and see how it fulfills the requirements of a choke.
Freeps
1). Twilight Reduction. Safe Passage and No Stranger to Shadows with two companions? Yeah, this is nailed.
2). Hand Clog. Gladden Homestead! Shadow cards hit the table, then go back to the top of the deck. To continue.
3). Swarm Stopping. Power According to His Stature again.
4). Healing/Wound Prevention. Not Listening and Nice Fish give you enough healing to make a halfway decent showing against archery.
Shadow
1). Hitting Hard and Fast. Forestguls? Yeah, that’s nailed. Really big, really cheap, really fierce.
2). Card Trashing. Two words. Buckland Homestead.
3). Twilight Management. Dark Approach and Ulaire Toldea means consistently tossing out dirt cheap minions.
Also rocking th expanded world, with their ability to throw wrenches into about anything, the Dwarves hit the table with their crazy cheap toys and a little helper to twist the deck around into one of the craziest killing/cycling machines you’ll ever see. And thanks to the knack of dwarves cycling and underground site, what deck could be better to pair with it then the almighty TROLL SWARM!!!
(36 cards)
Gimli, Bearer of Grudges
The Ring of Rings
Gloin, Son of Groin
Durin III, Dwarven Lord
Smeagol, Poor Creature
Dwarven Axe x 3
Ring of Fury
Ring of Guile
Ring of Accretion
Belt of Erebor x 3
Hand Axe x 3
Dwarven Bracers x 3
No Pauses, No Spills x 4
Till Durin Wakes Again x 4
Safe Passage
Come Away x 2
Proud and Able x 2
Follow Smeagol x 2
Gladden Homestead
Blood Runs Chill x 2
Troll’s Keyward, Keeper of the Beast x 4
Watchful Orc x 2
Orkish Warg Master x 2
Cave Troll of Moria, Savage Menace x 2
Porter Troll x 4
Mountain Troll x 2
Tower Troll x 2
Pit Troll x 2
Ordnance Grunt x 4
Beastly Olog-Hai x 4
Relentless Warg x 4
Goblin Hordes x 4
Okay, the strategy is an easy one. Use Dammed Gate-Stream to grab Safe Passage, control the site-path on both sides, and suddenly, you have an army of self-healing dwarves, thanks to Till Durin Wakes Again. Gloin and No Pauses, No Spills helps to cycle like mad, and setup your hand for a crazy barrage of Trolls. Goblin Hordes extends you hand, so once you have a ton of trolls, drop a Keyward and his mount, use the remaining 10 trolls you should have in hand to add  and drop a few trolls. The choking and clogging of the FP should allow you to hit a pretty weak fellowship pretty early on, meaning devastating effects for your opponent.
Freeps
1). Twilight Reduction. With Safe Passage and Come Away restricting twilight like mad, you should be set here. Also, dirt cheap stuff is cool.
2). Hand Clog. Basically, it relies on the choke to do this work for it, though Gladden Homestead can help things a little.
3). Swarm Stopping. 4 companions first off, and since Gimli can get pretty huge, I don’t see a problem here.
4). Healing/Wound Prevention. Till Durin Wakes Again. Any questions?
Shadow
1). Hitting Hard and Fast. Trolls? Yeah. They hit hard and fast, I’ve seen them kill at site 2.
2). Card Trashing. Not very much card trashing here, as this deck can still usually mow down your opponent. Consider adding in a few Dread and Despair or the like to whack your opponent over the head or trash a condition.
3). Twilight Management. Troll’s Keyward is 3, and once he hits play, he can start adding enough twilight to drop a warg and an army of Trolls.
But since not many people seem to appreciate expanded and FotR block, preferring standard, I’ll give you a look at two of my standard decks.
Ring-Bound Hobbits with Smeagol/Forestguls
Fellowship (35)
Frodo, Little Master
The One Ring, The Great Ring
Bilbo, Aged Ring-bearer (Starting)
Sam, Great Elf Warrior (Starting)
Smeagol, Wretched and Hungry (Starting)
A Light in his Mind
Safe Passage
A Promise x4
Habits of Home x3
Sudden Fury x4
Community Living x3
Concerning Hobbits x3
No Visitors x3
One Good Turn Deserves Another x3
Daddy Twofoot, Next-door Neighbor
Frodo Gamgee, Son of Samwise
Robin Smallburrow, Shirriff Cock-Robin
The Gaffer, Master Gardener
Sting, Weapon of Heritage
Hobbit Sword
Shadow (35)
The Witch-king, Captain of the Nine Riders x3
Ulaire Cantea, Black Assassin x3
Ulaire Enquea, Sixth of the Nine Riders x2
Ulaire Lemenya, Assailing Minion x2
Ulaire Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders x2
Ulaire Otsea, Duplicitous Spectre x3
Ulaire Toldea, Black Shadow x3
Black Rider x3
Ithil Stone
Hatred Stirred x2
Lost in the Woods x4
Moving This Way x3
Dark Approach x4
Sites
The Angle
Buckland Homestead
Woody-end
Hill of Sight
Hobbiton Market
Caras Galadhon
Crossroads of the Fallen Kings
Dammed Gate-stream
Trollshaw Forest
The strategy is to nab Safe Passage, rule the site path with One Good Turn Deserves Another and use Habits of Home/Safe Passage to remove  each move. Concerning Hobbits is a huge pump, No Visitors cancels skirmishes. Add burdens to do stuff, then lose like crazy with A Light in His Mind and Bilbo. Let’s see how it measures up to our standard.
Freeps
1). Twilight Reduction. Safe Passage and Habits of Home removing per turn when set up.
2). Hand Clog. Basically, it relies on the choke to do this work for it.
3). Swarm Stopping. 4 companions is pushing the edge of the choke, but helps with swarms, and the ability to pump should be able to stop an overwhelm.
4). Healing/Wound Prevention. The Gaffer and a combined 16 vitality. Shouldn’t have much problem with the high vitality you’ve got.
Shadow
1). Hitting Hard and Fast. Again, Forestguls.
2). Card Trashing. Again, Buckland Homestead.
3). Twilight Management. And yet again, Dark Approach and Ulaire Toldea means consistently tossing out dirt cheap minions.
And now, my personal favorite of all the decks…
Frodo/Aragorn/Smeagol Choke with site 2  !!!!
Fellowship (33)
Frodo, Weary From The Journey
The One Ring, The Great Ring
Aragorn, Heir to the Throne of Gondor (Starting)
Smeagol, Simple Stoor (Starting)
Anduril, King’s Blade
Safe Passage x2
The Tale of the Great Ring x2
Come Away x2
Nice Fish x3
The Faithful Stone
Gladden Homestead x2
There’s Another Way x4
One Good Turn Deserves Another x2
Still Far Ahead x2
Swear By the Precious x4
Deagol, Fateful Finder x4
Fishing Boat
Sting, Bane of the Eight Legs
Shadow (33)
Saruman, Coldly Still x2
The Mouth of Sauron, Messenger of Mordor x3
Harry Goatleaf x4
Mumak Rider x2
Rough Man of the South x4
Ruffian x4
Squint-Eyed Southerner x4
Sunland Scout x4
Countless Companies
Pavise
Primitive Brand x2
Poleaxe x2
Sites
Isenwash
Northern Pelennor
Ettenmoors
Pelennor Fields
Wesfold Village
Wold Battlefield
Flats of Rohan
Dammed Gate-stream
Harrowdale
Grab Safe Passage with Dammed Gate-Stream and name plains. Start choking! Ruffians hit hard and VERY fast. Like, site 2 slamming! Combined with a choke, the freeps won’t know what hit them!
Again, our trusty checklist will evaluate the deck’s effectiveness.
Freeps
1). Twilight Reduction. Safe Passage, Come Away and dirt cheap stuff. Nab Anduril with Deagol, same with Fishing Boat.
2). Hand Clog. Gladden Homestead!
3). Swarm Stopping. Swear by the Precious and a defender +2 Aragorn. Tale of the Great Ring as a last resort.
4). Healing/Wound Prevention. Nice Fish provides some healing for Frodo and Smeagol, as well as some last-ditch survival for Smeagol with Fishing Boat (which is an extra vitality).
Shadow
1). Hitting Hard and Fast. How about a bunch of guys that are huge when they hit early? Yeah. Just start tossing them out as fast as possible and watch companions die. With Poleaxe and a little twilight, mean things also start to happen.
2). Card Trashing. Sunland Scout and Mumak Rider.
3). Twilight Management. Um…how about or big minions? The deck never roams, so you never have to worry about that! Not the BEST twilight management, but Goaded to War can solve that, if you wish. Or Pursuing Horde.
Hopefully, this article has given a good overview of how to work a choke, as well as some examples on choking. And, hopefully its large enough for CG.  .
Until Next Time!
NB |
Last edited by NBarden on Wed Feb 06, 2008 12:55 pm; edited 1 time in total -Trade With Me
 Add the popcorn smiley to your sig, help it achieve world domination.
What if the hokey pokey really IS what its all about? 
As I lay in bed staring at the stars last night, I thought to myself, "where the heck is the ceiling?"
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| gil-estel |
![]() Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:19 pm |
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Joined: 25 Apr 2007
Posts: 545
Location: Groningen, the Netherlands
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| Where are the Dwarves? With low twilight and enough healing they are very good at clogging, killing whatever comes through and with cards like ring of fury they heal, with Dwarven axe they mess with decks, with BRC they mess with supporting cards...I hate them for all of that!! |
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| NBarden |
![]() Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:30 pm |
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| gil-estel |
![]() Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:39 pm |
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Joined: 25 Apr 2007
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Location: Groningen, the Netherlands
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| But other than that, nice article Clogging is indeed -imho- one of the best ways to upset the opponent and a strategy that works around almost all opposing decks. |
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| Celebrimbor |
![]() Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:56 pm |
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A week-old article on CC and only a couple of replies? I’m gonna save this to my comp and review it offline.
You’re looking at a 4 for right now. |
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| NBarden |
![]() Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 6:01 pm |
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| Celebrimbor |
![]() Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 6:12 pm |
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Darn, in that case I’ll give you a 5 anyway.
I like this artichoke article. (btw I’m the only one who seems to have found out your not so secret pun, NB) |
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