Towers Standard Sealed Deck Lists and Replays

[Merrick_H]

Proposed Pairings by Series
Serie 1:
Gandalf & Dwarves/Sauron Trackers (Grind)
Rohan Allies/Moria & Isengard Archery
Three Hunters/Uruk Trackers

Serie 2:
Knights/Dunland Discard
Gandalf & Rohan/Twilight Nazgul
Ringbound Companions/Easterlings & Gollum

Serie 3:
Shoulder to Shoulder/Southrons
Hobbits & Smeagol/Rohirrim Traitors
Unbound Rangers/Berserkers


Series 1 Decks

Dwarves & Gandalf/Sauron Trackers (Grind)

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer
Ring: The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

Adventure deck:
Western Emyn Muil
Wold of Rohan
Barrows of Edoras
White Mountains
Helm's Gate
Hornburg Armory
Hornburg Causeway
Wizard's Vale
Library of Orthanc

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
1x Farin, Dwarven Emissary
1x Fror, Gimli's Kinsman
2x Gimli, Unbidden Guest
2x Thrarin Smith of Erebor
3x Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim
1x Grimir, Dwarven Elder
1x Wielder of the Flame
2x Dwarven Axe
2x Dwarven Bracers
2x Hand Axe
1x Wizard Staff
2x Hobbit Sword
3x Axe Strike
1x Flurry of Blows
1x Have Patience
2x Mysterious Wizard
1x Sleep Caradhras
2x Severed His Bonds

Shadow Draw Deck:
1x Gate Veteran
2x Orc Assassin
2x Orc Butcher
3x Orc Cutthroat
2x Orc Insurgent
1x Orc Patrol
2x Orc Runner
3x Orc Scouting Band
2x Orc Swordsman
3x Orc Scimitar
1x A Host Avails Little
2x I'd Make You Squeak
2x Teeth of Mordor
1x The Number Must Be Few
3x Under the Watching Eye



Rohan Allies/ Moria & Isengard Archery

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Tired Traveller
Ring: The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

Adventure deck:
Horse-Country
Plains of Rohan Camp
Throne Room
White Mountains
Helm's Gate
Hornburg Hall
King's Room
Wizard's Vale
Fortress of Orthanc

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
1x Eomer, Sister-son of Theoden
1x Eowyn, Lady of Rohan
2x Theoden, Lord of the Mark
2x Rider of Rohan
1x Guma, Plains Farmer
1x Hlafwine, Village Farmhand
1x Weland, Smith of the Riddermark
1x Armor
1x Brego
3x Rider's Mount
2x Rider's Spear
1x Herugrim
2x Hobbit Sword
2x Well Stored
2x Severed His Bonds
1x Noble Intentions
2x An Honorable Charge
2x Fight for the Villagers
2x Work for the Sword

Shadow Draw Deck
3x Uruk Crossbow Troop
4x Uruk Crossbowman
4x Goblin Bowman
3x Goblin Runner
3x Goblin Marksman
2x Moria Archer Troop
1x Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul
2x Hate and Anger
2x Cloud of Arrows
2x Host of Thousands
2x Saruman's Ambition
2x They Are Coming


Three Hunters/Uruk Trackers

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer
Ring: The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

Adventure deck:
The Riddermark
Eastfold
Barrows of Edoras
Ered Nimrais
Deep of Helm
Hornburg Armory
Hornburg Wall
Wizard's Vale
Saruman's Laboratory

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
2x Gimli, Dwarven Delegate
1x Fereveldir, Son of Thandronen
1x Haldir, Emissary of the Galadhrim
2x Legolas, Archer of Mirkwood
2x Aragorn, Heir of Elendil
1x Bounder
1x Dwarven Axe
1x Dwarven Bracers
2x Elven Sword
2x Athelas
2x Ranger's Sword, Blade of Aragorn
2x Hobbit Sword
2x Khazad Ai-menu
1x Quick As May Be
2x Valor
1x Defend It and Hope
2x Trust
2x Severed His Bonds
1x Agility

Shadow Draw Deck:
3x Uruk Chaser
2x Uruk Hunter
2x Uruk Pursuer
3x Uruk Runner
3x Uruk Scout
2x Uruk Searcher
2x Uruk Seeker
1x Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul
2x Broad-bladed Sword
2x Kill Them Now
3x Many Riddles
2x Saruman's Ambition
3x Weary


Series 2 Decks

Ring Bound Companions/Easterlings & Gollum

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Tired Traveller
Ring: The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

Adventure deck:
East Wall of Rohan
Uruk Camp
Barrows of Edoras
Ered Nimrais
Hornburg Parapet
Hornburg Armory
Hornburg Causeway
Wizard's Vale
Palantir Chamber

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
2x Faramir, Ithilien Ranger
2x Gondorian Ranger
2x Ranger of Ithilien
2x Sam, Proper Poet
1x Boromir's Gauntlets
2x Ranger's Bow
3x Sword of Gondor
2x Hobbit Sword
1x Dagger Strike
1x Elendil's Valor
1x Pathfinder
2x Swordsman of the Northern Kingdom
2x War and Valor
1x What Are They?
2x Severed His Bonds
1x City Wall
1x Garrison of Osgiliath
1x Ithilien Trap
1x There and Back Again

Shadow Draw Deck:
2x Gollum, Old Villain
2x Easterling Axeman
3x Easterling Guard
3x Easterling Infantry
3x Easterling Lieutenant
2x Easterling Infantry
2x Easterling Polearm
2x Nasty, Foul Hobbitses
3x We Must Have It
3x Gathering to the Summons
3x Men of Rhun
2x Evil-smelling Fens


Knights/Dunland Discard

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer
Ring: The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

Adventure deck:
Eastemnet Downs
Rohirrim Village
Westemnet Plains
Westemnet Hills
Deeping Wall
Hornburg Armory
Hornburg Causeway
Ring of Isengard
Saruman's Laboratory

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
2x Boromir, Steward's Heir
2x Gondorian Knight
1x Turgon, Man of Belfalas
1x Merry, From O'er the Brandywine
1x Armor
1x Banner of Westernesse
1x Knight's Mount
3x Sword of Gondor
2x Hobbit Sword
1x Elendil's Valor
1x Gondor Will See It Done
2x Might of Numenor
2x Take Cover
3x War Must Be
2x Severed His Bonds
1x Citadel of the Stars
3x City Wall
1x Garrison of Osgiliath

Shadow Draw Deck:
2x Dunlending Arsonist
2x Dunlending Headman
3x Dunlending Looter
3x Dunlending Rampager
3x Dunlending Renegade
3x Hillman Tribe
3x Wild Man of Dunland
3x Orc Inquisitor
2x Tower Lieutenant
2x Burn Every Village
2x Death to the Strawheads
2x Bound By Rage


Gandalf & Rohan/Twilight Nazgul

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Mr. Underhill
Ring: The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

Adventure deck:
Horse-country
Uruk Camp
Meduseld
Westemnet Hills
Helm's Gate
Hornburg Armory
King's Room
Nan Curunir
Fortress of Orthanc

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
2x Eowyn, Daughter of Eomund
2x Theoden, King of the Golden Hall
2x Household Guard
2x Gandalf, The White Wizard
1x Leod, Westfold Herdsman
1x Ecglaf, Courageous Farmer
1x Brego
2x Horse of Rohan
1x Herugrim
2x Rider's Spear
2x Rohirrim Javelin
1x Wizard Staff
2x Hobbit Sword
2x Trust Me As You Once Did
1x Armory
2x An Honorable Charge
1x Have Patience
1x Behold the White Rider
1x Ever the Hope of Men
1x Severed His Bonds

Shadow Draw Deck:
3x Morgul Skulker
2x The Witch-king, Deathless Lord
3x Ulaire Attea, The Easterling
3x Ulaire Enquea, Ringwraith in Twilight
2x Ulaire Nertea, Winged Hunter
3x Ulaire Otsea, Ringwraith in Twilight
2x Fell Beast
2x Nazgul Sword
3x It Wants to be Found
3x Threshold of Shadow
2x Blade Tip
2x Drawn to Its Power


Series 3 Decks

Unbound Rangers/Berserkers

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Son of Drogo
Ring: The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

Adventure deck:
Rocks of Emyn Muil
Uruk Camp
Barrows of Edoras
White Rocks
Deep of Helm
Caves of Aglarond
Hornburg Causeway
Valley of Saruman
Fortress of Orthanc

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
2x Arwen, Elven Rider
2x Aragorn, King in Exile
2x Boromir, Defender of Minas Tirith
2x Faramir, Son of Denethor
2x Merry, From O'er the Brandywine
1x Bounder
1x Asfaloth
2x Athelas
1x Boromir's Gauntlets
1x Ranger's Sword
2x Sword of Gondor
1x Defiance
1x Dagger Strike
1x Gondor's Vengeance
1x Might of Numenor
1x Pathfinder
1x Eregion's Trails
1x Perilous Ventures
1x We Must Go Warily
3x Swordsman of the Northern Kingdom
1x No Stranger to the Shadows

Shadow Draw Deck:
2x Berserk Rager
2x Uruk Engineer
3x Uruk Sapper
2x Uruk Shaman
2x Uruk Slayer
2x Uruk Warrior
4x Uruk-Hai Berserker
3x Broad Bladed Sword
1x Uruk Spear
3x Bred for Battle
2x Assault Ladder
2x Battering Ram
2 Uruk-hai Rampage


Shoulder to Shoulder/Southrons

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer
Ring: The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

Adventure Deck:
Eastemnet Gullies
Wold of Rohan
Barrows of Edoras
White Rocks
Helm's Gate
Hornburg Armory
Hornburg Wall
Nan Curunir
Fortress of Orthanc

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
2x Fror, Gimli's Kinsman
1x Gimli, Lively Combatant (starting)
2x Balglin, Elven Warrior
1x Legolas, Archer of Mirkwood (starting)
1x Ordulus, Young Warrior
1x Grimir, Dwarven Elder
1x Thrarin, Dwarven Smith
1x Erestor, Chief Advisor to Elrond
1x Golradir, Councilor of Imladris
1x Saelbeth, Elven Councilor
1x Dwarven Axe
1x Dwarven Bracers
2x Hand Axe
2x Elven Sword
2x Naith Longbow
2x Khazad Ai-menu
2x Still Draws Breath
2x Flashing Steel
2x Valor
2x Shoulder to Shoulder

Shadow Draw Deck:
3x Desert Spearman
2x Desert Warrior
3x Elite Archer
2x Far Harad Mercenaries
3x Southron Bowman
1x Southron Commander
2x Southron Explorer
3x Southron Traveler
3x Mumak
2x Southron Spear
2x Flanking Attack
2x On the March
2x Whirling Strike


Hobbits & Semagol/Rohirrim Traitors

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Master of the Precious
Ring: The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

Adventure Deck:
Eastemnet Downs
Derndingle
Golden Hall
White Rocks
Deeping Wall
Hornburg Armory
Hornburg Causeway
Wizard's Vale
Caverns of Isengard

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
1x Smeagol, Poor Creature
1x Merry, From O'er the Brandywine
1x Pippin, Friend to Frodo
1x Sam, Nice Sensible Hobbit
1x Bounder
1x Rosie Cotton, Hobbiton Lass
2x Brace of Coneys
1x Frying Pan
2x Don't Follow the Lights
2x Not Listening
3x Hobbit Intuition
1x It Burns Us
2x Mind Your Own Affairs
2x Stout and Sturdy
2x Swiftly and Softly
3x Poor Wretch
1x A Talent for Not Being Seen
1x Kept Safe
1x Rare Good Ballast
1x There and Back Again

Shadow Draw Deck:
3x Grima, Son of Galmod
2x Isengard Retainer
2x Isengard Servant
2x Isengard Smith
2x Isengard Worker
4x Rohirrim Traitor
3x Saruman, Servant of the Eye
3x Unferth, Grima's Bodyguard
4x Men Will Fall
4x Desertion
1x Twisted Tales

[Merrick_H]

dmaz (RB/Burdens) vs Merrick_H (Dwarf/Gandalf & Sauron Trackers)

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=Merrick H$387sqflxcyhlo5o9

Win goes to dmaz.  Sam was the winner here.  Some really smart play with limiting wounds on the hobbits.

General impressions:
Too many conditions on the shadow side of the sauron deck.  Peril has limited usefulness unless you can reasonably risk only getting one minion out and will be able to keep him alive with an extra vitality.

Minions are pretty expensive and can't overwhelm for crowd control as sauron has no pumps outside of the sword.  Might want to look at putting in some anti-6 minions like the gate veteran, otherwise ballooning is going to be the way to out run the shadow.

Gloin should be Thrarin, SoE (12U13) so I shouldn't have started him, but it didn't affect things much.  Might have made a difference in some skirmishes if I had played him later, but a good trial none the less.  Plains of Rohan doesn't work.  Only 4 dwarf companions in the deck and you have to spot a dwarf to play 2 of them so unless we add a dwarf guard or something to allow a Thrarin, SoE/ Dwarf Guard pull Gimli start, the site will need to be changed.

The Dwarves and Gandalf would have a really hard time doubling until Gimli and Thrarin get set up.  The limited Frodo protection makes moving with much twilight out there really risky.

[dmaz]

dmaz (RB/Burdens) vs Merrick_H (Dwarf/Gandalf & Sauron Trackers)

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=Merrick H$387sqflxcyhlo5o9

Win goes to dmaz.  Sam was the winner here.  Some really smart play with limiting wounds on the hobbits.

General impressions:
Too many conditions on the shadow side of the sauron deck.  Peril has limited usefulness unless you can reasonably risk only getting one minion out and will be able to keep him alive with an extra vitality.

Minions are pretty expensive and can't overwhelm for crowd control as sauron has no pumps outside of the sword.  Might want to look at putting in some anti-6 minions like the gate veteran, otherwise ballooning is going to be the way to out run the shadow.

Gloin should be Thrarin, SoE (12U13) so I shouldn't have started him, but it didn't affect things much.  Might have made a difference in some skirmishes if I had played him later, but a good trial none the less.  Plains of Rohan doesn't work.  Only 4 dwarf companions in the deck and you have to spot a dwarf to play 2 of them so unless we add a dwarf guard or something to allow a Thrarin, SoE/ Dwarf Guard pull Gimli start, the site will need to be changed.

The Dwarves and Gandalf would have a really hard time doubling until Gimli and Thrarin get set up.  The limited Frodo protection makes moving with much twilight out there really risky.

The ball is rolling! It's great seeing that the play testing has generated some interest among the community as well.

Regarding these decks, I think it was either you or Euk that mentioned The Number Must Be Few might be a better card to use than Peril.

In theory I guess they are both supposed to act as a hindrance to the double move. TNMBF in a direct way and Peril in an indirect way. Since this deck might struggle with a person who sets up their fellowship very fast and just runs before they can get enough conditions down, TNMBF would be a way to balance this, since the deck doesn't have an Enquea. As this addresses the large fellowship problem, it might be a way to kill two birds with one stone.

I completely missed the Plains or Rohan thing...unless they pull another unbound companion from a booster pack you can't effectively use it. Western Emyn Muil might be an option...

Since the shadow for this deck has a strategy that somewhat relies on the conditions, (something you don't often see until serie 2 or 3 in prior existing starters), as opposed to a base blob of minions to get you going, we could also test it with the "Hate and Arrows" deck. I rebuilt a deck to try it that way just to see what happens, replacing a couple cards for two more orcs in the deck.

[dmaz]

I have to say though, thus far, overall there have not been too many blow-outs or clear and obvious advantages one way or another.

So far I have both won and lost to the Gimli/Gandalf deck, and had a close game against the Easterling deck with the Three Hunters. Mirror matches have been pretty productive in weeding out situations that would lead to stalemate or blowout games.

I think we're really locking in on our Serie 1 options

[Merrick_H]

Legion vs. Merrick_H Dwarf/Gandalf & Sauron wounding Mirror match

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=Merrick H$3tvnkx7kq8a3pqn4

Essentially came down to who got teeth and Sleep first.

Peril does nothing.  Suggest removing one for TNMBF and another for A Host Avails little to go along with the wounding theme (good suggestion Legion).  Also suggest replacing the pillagers with Orc Runners and one Swordsman with a Gate Veteran.

New Shadow List:
Shadow Draw Deck:
2x Orc Assassin
2x Orc Butcher
3x Orc Cutthroat
2x Orc Insurgent
1x Orc Patrol
2x Orc Pillager
3x Orc Scouting Band
3x Orc Swordsman (-1)
3x Orc Scimitar
2x I'd Make You Squeak
2x Peril
2x Teeth of Mordor
3x Under the Watching Eye
+2 Orc Runner
+1 Gate Veteran
+1 The Number Must Be Few
+1 A Host Avails Little

[Merrick_H]

dmaz vs. Merrick_H - Gandwarf/Archery vs. Three Hunters/Uruks

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=Merrick H$goc7j09y8w2yz8ju

Good draws seriously screwed the three hunters deck early.  The archery and wounding output was huge, mostly from One of You Must Do This.  It was suggested to drop it to 1 and exchange it with 1 Cloud of Arrows.  Some of the effectiveness was due to the multi-culture nature of the fellowship in the three hunters deck, but I also suspect that with only 6 companions and the limited healing, vitality is going to be a big issue with this deck vs wounding (sauron tracker grind/archery).  I also think that we will want to make sure that we make it impossible to choose both the grind and archery decks as the interactions will be a bit extreme which means that they will have to be offered in the same series.

[dmaz]

Updated Hate and Arrows, as an alternative option to go with the Gandwarfs

4x Uruk Crossbow Troop
4x Uruk Crossbowman
4x Goblin Bowman
3x Goblin Runner
3x Goblin Marksman
2x Moria Archer Troop
2x Hate and Anger
2x Cloud of Arrows
2x Host of Thousands
2x Saruman's Ambition
2x They Are Coming

Dropped the Saruman's Power (not necessarily needed) and one of the Hate and Anger for two Marksmen. Having x2 Hate and Anger already does a decent job of cycling, with x3 you might be able to draw a lot of cards, but the deck was a little light in minions so you might not draw into more minions.
Dropped a Moria Archer Troop. x3 was a little too powerful. Even without winning any skirmishes, against the common ring there were a lot of wounds going out.
One of You Must Do This switched for Cloud of Arrows.

Site adjustments to the norm:
Site 1: Western Emyn Muil (since you can't play Gimli without including Dwarf Guards)
Site 9: Orthanc Library (the shadow side isn't really desperate for twilight, but if you run a fat deck - and you probably want it to be a little heavye with those They Are Coming - this site nine might hinder a quick 7 to 9 double)

I kept Helm's Gate instead of Deep of Helm...the shadow didn't really feel like it needed the twilight boost, and its not exactly on theme. We have use a site that helps the fellowship side.

[Merrick_H]

bigredmf vs. Merrick_H - Three Hunters Mirror Match

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=Merrick H$9v7ihnu9uqqoo0ss

These feel pretty balanced vs. each other.  The fellowship seems pretty fragile if you can't get Legolas support.  Yet again, Dwarf Axe adds randomness and gorn saves the day with his natural defender +1.  Shadow seems a little heavy and we might want to swap a Chaser for a Searcher as the Searcher is the hard hitter in the deck.

[BigRedMF]

It's interesting seeing the game from the other side. I can see during the middle of the game you did have a fair number of tracker conditions clogging your hand. Weary doesn't need a minion to play, but there will certainly be draws like that with 8 conditions in the deck. I managed to pull most of them early but came up short on minions late game. Overall I think the decks played each other pretty well, like you said. I'm eager to see it against other decks.

[dmaz]

Proposed Pairings Thus Far:

Serie 1:
Ringbound/Easterlings
Three Hunters/Uruk Trackers
Gandwarf/Hate and Arrows OR Sauron

Serie 2:
Knights/Dunland
Unbound Rangers/Twilight Nazgul
Look to My Coming/Berserkers

Serie 3:
Shoulder to Shoulder/Sauron OR Archery OR ?
Hobbit Hospital featuring Nurse Smeagol/Rohirrim Traitors
Hard Choice OR Last Alliance OR Ents OR?/Moria OR Stupid Swarm OR ?

Lots to think about here.

After REALLY contemplating what to do with serie 2, I think these provide a significant balance and don't present an absolute easy choice.
You would have the option to dive in with corruption, but not get the strong benefits of the Knights if you do so. Picking Ringbound then UB Ranger, while each unique, would have a little redundancy, so you would mostly be gaining pumps and alternate rangers to choose from rather than new techniques. That and you would not be guaranteed a Rohan companion to deal with Kings Room, which will be introduced. This was the best way I could think of that would punish the choice for Easterling then Twilight a little.

Look to My Coming is the Rohan/Gandalf deck.
If you look at the incentives in options for pairings there is a decent amount of variation:
1. Picking Three Hunters and you would have reasons to combine with Knights or Rangers for fellowship support, OR you could pick Look to My Coming to develop a strong Uruk deck.
2. Picking Ringbound to start would give you incentive to choose from both Knights for that strong Boromir (who is also a ringbound ranger) and the fortifications OR the UB Rangers for Shadow combination.
3. Picking Gandwarf to start and you might want to pick Look to My Coming based on the Gandalf dynamics, OR another deck depending on the shadow we end up choosing for it.

This helps keep things from there being ONE defined path. It is more about balancing the decision between have a strong shadow or a strong fellowship, which is good.

What I think we really need help figuring out is what to do with the Gandwarf deck and the Sauron/Archery decks. That and figure out the other themes for the third serie.

My best idea would be, as Merrick suggested, to keep Sauron and Archery in the same serie to prevent the combination of two VERY powerful strategies.

We could decide on a new shadow to implement with the Gandwarf deck and put Sauron or Archery with Shoulder to Shoulder, and the other with Hard Choice (Aragorn and Aragorn Signet Rohan companions) or another option.


What do you guys think?

[Durin's Heir]

The shadows of RB Rangers and UB Rangers decks can corrupt very well, or kill with Nazgul Sword, or... It's an easy choice. King's Room exerts only unbound comps, so RB Rangers would be protected... and you can use Pathfinder to play any other site.

Gandwarf has no signets to use Trust Me, and blows it with Sleep Caradhras...

I still think there should be 4 started deck choices in Serie 1, just as War of the Ring Sealed has 4. Rohan should be that 4th deck, as 4th set is the core for Rohan culture, and as it is the path where unbound companions travel in the book/movie...

Rohan deck can couple very well with Knights or UB Rangers... and Naith Shoulders (Naith Elves merged with Shoulder to Shoulder) should be in Serie 2. That leaves more space for other themes-decks we are excluding (or ignoring)...

Hobbit Hospital requires rare cards, otherwise Sam would be the only user of it... that would wreck any corruption deck.

Gandalf isn't included in those decks, except for few cards in Gandwarf and Look to my Coming... His events and tricks deserve a deck for himself alone.


My conclusion is... we shouldn't conclude anything by now. Serie 1 is the farthest we can look right now, as we have complete decks to fill that Serie, and we can conjecture good combinations with decks in Serie 2 (excluding OP ones)...

[dmaz]

Nothing is concluded yet

We have had some good playtesting so far and have gotten close to final decisions on at least two decks. This is pretty good for not being into October yet I think!

It looks like both you and Merrick have some ideas that could kill two birds with one stone, actually!

We want the Sauron deck and Archery decks to be in the same serie if possible
It would be nice to have the choice of Rohan in Serie 1

What if we made a third deck for Serie 1 which was some new kind of Rohan strategy and the Sauron deck?

[dmaz]

Gandwarf has no signets to use Trust Me, and blows it with Sleep Caradhras...

The Gandwarf deck probably doesn't need any more support by way of combinations for the Serie 2 Gandalf deck. We have already seen how strong those dwarf tanks can be by themselves...Adding a Frodo, Gandalf and Gimli with the Gandalf signet to use trust me would be them pretty crazy strong.

Hobbit Hospital requires rare cards, otherwise Sam would be the only user of it... that would wreck any corruption deck.

Really there's only Farmer Maggot. Also, people have already worked a little on a Hobbit Hospital Hybrid that doesn't require rares. It might be a fun option for Serie 3 if someone wants to combine it to a deck they made with Wingfoot from the UB Rangers deck. Also the deck could feature a shadow that provides x2 Saruman, SotE (Isengard Men) so it would combine VERY well with the three hunters deck from Serie 1. This would make the choice of Shoulder to Shoulder a less obvious one. I'm almost tempted to suggest having the Shoulder to Shoulder deck carry an odd man out shadow, so that it's less of an obvious choice. You can get a good fellowship strategy but your shadow strategy might suffer.

[BigRedMF]

I don't see a Southron shadow, unless the archery is serie 3 is Southron. A lot of wasted Raider card pulls if there isn't a Southron theme. However TTT uses wounding/swarmy Southron and Movie uses archery so there really isn't anything left. I looked at site control but Southrons really don't do anything with sites outside of Southron Archer, which is rare. Other than super twilight adding which could be used for skirmish wounding, not sure what else to do with Southrons. Not real helpful but just wanted to throw it out there.

[Durin's Heir]

Nothing is concluded yet

We have had some good playtesting so far and have gotten close to final decisions on at least two decks. This is pretty good for not being into October yet I think!

It looks like both you and Merrick have some ideas that could kill two birds with one stone, actually!

We want the Sauron deck and Archery decks to be in the same serie if possible
It would be nice to have the choice of Rohan in Serie 1

What if we made a third deck for Serie 1 which was some new kind of Rohan strategy and the Sauron deck?

That 4th deck is what we need... but Look to my Coming must be assembled in order to make possible a good match against that Sauron, and that's the most powerful shadow I think... It's NOT an imposible task, of course!

Several Well Stored with Weland and Guma... or several copies of Let Us Be Swift...

By the way, I prefer to kill 2 orcs with one flying axe...

I vote YES.

Post Data: I just mentioned that point of Gandwarves to say those Gandalf themes cannot be connected... Gandalf needs a deck for himself alone as centerpiece.

IMO Southrons should be in Serie 2, with mounts and maybe archery...