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Author Topic: Alive and Unspoiled  (Read 5799 times)

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April 08, 2018, 07:04:20 AM
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Alive and Unspoiled
« on: April 08, 2018, 07:04:20 AM »
So I have been trying to gather as much information as possible about Alive and Unspoiled. It seems like a very mild card, but the effect is complicated enough that I can't just brush it off like I would with Lightfootedness or The Weight of a Legacy.

From what I have found I would say that there are four different things you could try to do with this card:


1) Milling -  with just one burden and no spotting requirement to trigger the effect, you can burn through an opponent's hand for twilight. This is incredibly expensive and probably not worthwhile when contrasted with other discarding effects. The opponent will likely start to run when they see what you're up to.

2) Targeting Pumps - with many burdens and the occasional trigger, you can eliminate your opponent's Free Peoples supporting cards such as pumps. This feels like the intended purpose, but uruks are not good with burdens, so it feels weak.

3) Targeting shadow cards - with a few burdens and triggers you can eliminate an opponent's shadow cards each turn. This could be combined with a Free Peoples that does the same thing using cards such as Halls of my Home, What are we waiting for?, Drawing his Eye etc. This will also encourage double moving, so perhaps it could be combined with Traitor's Voice?

4) Initiative - this card could be used to pick off a few of an opponent's cards to help gain initiative. This seems like the area with the most promise, since this ability is part of what got The Palantir of Orthanc banned. Of course, this is way more expensive than Palantir.


The last two options seem like the ones with the most potential, but are not without their own issues. The biggest problem with this card seems to be its cost to keep triggering.

So, any ideas? Is there anything I've missed? I have a hard time imagining that this card could be successful, but maybe there's a dream combo that I'm missing that could make it work effectively, or at least decently.

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April 08, 2018, 07:11:13 AM
Reply #1

ket_the_jet

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Re: Alive and Unspoiled
« Reply #1 on: April 08, 2018, 07:11:13 AM »
It is worth noting that, after the exertion to play the card, it does not need an Uruk in play to use its action. That said, I cannot see how one would use it over The Palantir of Orthanc.

It does feel like it could be a fun card though. Maybe mixed with Twilight Nazgul and Worry? But by the time it is being used, like you said, you are either getting events or Shadow cards.

Like Men of Harad, there just feels like too many prerequisites for this card to be any good.
-wtk

April 08, 2018, 09:27:17 AM
Reply #2

Shelobplayer

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Re: Alive and Unspoiled
« Reply #2 on: April 08, 2018, 09:27:17 AM »
I'd say your best bet is in expanded splashed to some [Orc] shadow. You can play Grishnakh, TC so you can pull uruks for the spotting requirements and use some [Orc] twilight generation/burden adding stregy like Isengard Underling + Bound to its fate and Orkish Scout + Sirannon Ruins + warg for twilight. Alive and Unspoiled can target events first to ensure Bound to its Fate doesn't miss (either way you will get the events out).

Splashing uruks to orcs with Grishnakh, TC is pretty solid in general imo, it adds Greed, Mauhur/Uglúk/Shagrat as a toolbox. Fury of the Evil Army is also super strong and imo one of the main reasons to run uruks in expanded.

I might have thought about this before :-k

On first thought I'd pair it with a dwarf/Gandalf deck with Recovered Seeing stone and A New Light with the above mentioned dwarven events maybe and go for eliminating their shadow side (or I guess you can play mill, but I presonally always found that strategy situational... and boring... duh :x).
« Last Edit: April 08, 2018, 09:34:55 AM by Shelobplayer »

April 09, 2018, 11:49:03 AM
Reply #3

Dictionary

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Re: Alive and Unspoiled
« Reply #3 on: April 09, 2018, 11:49:03 AM »
It is worth noting that, after the exertion to play the card, it does not need an Uruk in play to use its action. That said, I cannot see how one would use it over The Palantir of Orthanc.
I do think that's a handy feature as it makes the card a bit more splashable. Given that it doesn't fit that well into the [Isengard] culture, that's a pretty good thing.

It does feel like it could be a fun card though. Maybe mixed with Twilight Nazgul and Worry? But by the time it is being used, like you said, you are either getting events or Shadow cards.
Yeah, it seems like one of those effects that doesn't really help you, even when it's working.

Like Men of Harad, there just feels like too many prerequisites for this card to be any good.
-wtk
I'd forgotten about that terrible card. They really did make some cards very difficult to use.


I'd say your best bet is in expanded splashed to some [Orc] shadow. You can play Grishnakh, TC so you can pull uruks for the spotting requirements and use some [Orc] twilight generation/burden adding stregy like Isengard Underling + Bound to its fate and Orkish Scout + Sirannon Ruins + warg for twilight. Alive and Unspoiled can target events first to ensure Bound to its Fate doesn't miss (either way you will get the events out).
That's a fantastic idea! I love the synergy with Bound to Its Fate; that's the kind of thing that really breathes new life into a card like this one. I think it's great when combos like that emerge, likely without Decipher ever even noticing (especially since they wanted rotation). The condition might not last long in Expanded, but at least it works during the shadow phase, so it'll get at least some use. And with the [Orc] extra twilight too... it almost seems too good to be true :o

Splashing uruks to orcs with Grishnakh, TC is pretty solid in general imo, it adds Greed, Mauhur/Uglúk/Shagrat as a toolbox. Fury of the Evil Army is also super strong and imo one of the main reasons to run uruks in expanded.
I've never really tried to run Grishnakh, TC before, I hadn't realised he was that good. This does seem like the perfect deck for him too!

I might have thought about this before :-k

On first thought I'd pair it with a dwarf/Gandalf deck with Recovered Seeing stone and A New Light with the above mentioned dwarven events maybe and go for eliminating their shadow side (or I guess you can play mill, but I presonally always found that strategy situational... and boring... duh :x).
That seems like a good match. I tried something similar before with Drawing his Eye, but I worry that it might be a little annoying to play against. And I agree, I think mill is particularly bad in Expanded.
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April 09, 2018, 02:51:30 PM
Reply #4

Shelobplayer

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Re: Alive and Unspoiled
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2018, 02:51:30 PM »
Hope you'll post a list, I no longer have the time/motivation to make a deck from scratch (or even play), but I'd gladly help to polish it, because as I said, I might have given this a fair bit of thought before :)