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Author Topic: Pacifist Eomer and Uruk/Dunlending Site Control  (Read 3931 times)

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October 27, 2018, 06:54:14 AM
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Phallen Cassidy

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Pacifist Eomer and Uruk/Dunlending Site Control
« on: October 27, 2018, 06:54:14 AM »
Pillage the Village
Ring-bearer: Frodo, Courteous Halfling
Ring: The One Ring, Answer To All Riddles

Adventure deck:
Horse-country
Wold of Rohan
Stables
Westemnet Hills
Deep of Helm
Great Hall
King's Room
Ring of Isengard
Fortress of Orthanc

Free Peoples Draw Deck (39):
1x Éowyn, Lady of Rohan (Starting)
1x Éomer, Rohirrim Captain (Starting)
1x Ceorl, Weary Horseman
1x Gamling, Warrior of Rohan
1x Household Guard
1x Hrethel, Rider of Rohan
2x Ecglaf, Courageous Farmer
1x Guma, Plains Farmer
1x Hlafwine, Village Farmhand
1x Banner of the Mark
1x Brego
1x Firefoot
1x King's Mail
1x Rider's Mount
3x Rider's Spear
1x Rohirrim Bow
1x Rohirrim Helm
2x Rohirrim Shield
1x Eowyn's Sword
1x Brace of Coneys
2x Sting, Baggins Heirloom
1x An Honorable Charge
2x Let Us Be Swift
3x Simbelmyne
1x Severed His Bonds
1x Arrow-slits
1x Thundering Host
1x We Left None Alive
3x Well Stored

Shadow Draw Deck (39):
1x Band of Wild Men
4x Dunlending Elder
1x Dunlending Warrior
2x Advance Uruk Patrol
1x Berserk Butcher
1x Orthanc Champion
1x Uruk Assault Band
1x Uruk Chaser
1x Uruk Follower
1x Uruk Hunter
1x Uruk Stormer
1x Uruk Trooper
1x Uruk Vanguard
2x Uruk-hai Horde
1x Uruk-hai Marauder
2x Uruk-hai Mob
3x Hides
1x War Club
1x Broad-bladed Sword
1x Uruk Spear
3x Ferocity
2x Ready to Fall
3x Attack on Helm's Deep
2x Down to the Last Child
1x Scaling Ladder

One of my first decks and still one of my favorites. I've kept it Towers block legal for the sake of convenience, but I play this deck primarily in Towers standard even though a few support cards from Fellowship block would fit nicely. I bid nothing, but if I can go first I take the opportunity. While both Free Peoples and Shadow are very capable of winning, the Shadow side is far more potent.

Free Peoples: The focus for most of the game is to cancel 2 minions' skirmishes with Firefoot and Rohirrim Helm, then use Ecglaf to replay Rohirrim Helm on the next turn. There are a few replacement companions; this Fellowship is built to break in a controlled fashion, so losing anyone (including Eomer) is not that big of a deal. Eowyn protects from Enquea in Towers Standard, but in Towers Block it's best just to stay below 6 companions thanks to Southron Commander and [Sauron] swarm. I use Eomer's ability to help other companions win skirmishes and cycle cards, which are both equally important. It is worth getting rid of usable cards to find the cards you need. Hrethel is an incredibly solid fighter, as is Gamling if he's drawn early enough. Guma can be used to heal Ecglaf and pull another item if needed. While losing a few companions isn't a big deal, remember that if you don't have 3 Valiant companions you won't be able to use Let Us Be Swift and if you don't have 2 Ecglaf is left inert.

I used to run up against a lot of site control decks when I built this one, hence Ceorl, but he could be swapped for another Household Guard. I'll note that Let Us Be Swift does the job most of the time, but only Ceorl will protect you when you can't afford to lose an inch (Over the Isen, for example). Banner of the Mark is actually to help exhaust minions for Rohirrim Helm or We Left None Alive, but it can obviously be replayed. Minions with low vitality don't get to skirmish, and minions with high vitality are more vulnerable to Eomer's text. There's a ton I could say about how to handle just about everything, but suffice to say it's a very sturdy Fellowship. I hope it isn't too frustrating to play against.

Shadow: This side has seen much more fluctuation over the deck's lifetime. It started as pretty evenly bi-cultural, but has since degraded to Uruk-Hai with some Dunland support. I can only remember losing 1 game after I've controlled 2 sites. The Uruk-hai do damage along the way, but if by site 7 you can play 2-3 Dunlending Elders with Ready to Fall it's over. Since the end goal is to play cards from discard, you can usually mill through the deck via Eomer pretty harmlessly and set up a really nice hand for site 5 to make that happen. You need to get either Attack on Helm's Deep or Down to the Last Child out quickly. I don't understand why more people don't play Uruk Vanguard. The Shadow side doesn't have quite the versatility of the Free Peoples, but it still has a response for any issue even if you need to dig for the cards to pull it off.

The biggest weaknesses are the slowness of the Free Peoples and winning skirmishes against Rohan or Ring-bound Rangers which get set up too quickly. Since skirmish cancelling is the main feature and Merry, Swordthain isn't in Towers, you're limited to one use per turn. If you need to double, this usually means getting through the site you're on without using Rohirrim Helm. Rarely impossible, but usually requires more sacrifice. It doesn't help that I tend to start second (Stables at 3 and Deep of Helm at 5 are a great help, plus Great Hall at 6 helps take some heat off of a risky double). For the Shadow side, those fellowships with strong skirmish capabilities and damage bonuses make grabbing tokens difficult. Scaling Ladder's primary purpose is to kill Mablung, Soldier of Gondor, though it can win skirmishes against Rohan too. If you can't catch up, forsake your Free Peoples and use Eomer to set up the hand you need and break through. Better to lose Frodo while you're trying to win than to let your opponent survive site 9 while you're trying to keep your Fellowship healthy. Waiting for your opponent to get an unlucky draw is not a plan.

October 27, 2018, 11:13:54 AM
Reply #1

TheHumanHydra

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Re: Pacifist Eomer and Uruk/Dunlending Site Control
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2018, 11:13:54 AM »
So this is quite interesting. So many singletons, and only one playset (in a large deck size). It's a very different philosophy than I'm used to. The Firefoot-Rohirrim Helm-Ecglaf combo is really cool; I might have to try that. Thanks for sharing!