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Joined: 13 Dec 2005
Posts: 3
Location: Norway
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A close look at one of LOTR TCG’s most feared Shadow sides, with solid advice for playing with and against it and a tournament-winning Nazgul decklist.
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This is one of Ken’s old feature articles, which is being added to the forum database to help us keep our strategy section more organized. This article is NOT eligible for the contest, but feel free to rate and review it!
Last time I took a look at Ents, which is one of the most popular fellowships right now. Now it’s time to look at a Shadow side which has seen a lot of play in recent months. You might know the AC/DC classic "Back in Black". Well even though these goth wannabies never left the scene entirely, War Block gave the Nazgul a huge boost which has made them very playable again. There are two types of playable Nazgul builds, “Forest Nazgul” and “Burden Nazgul,” both strong in their own way. I will focus on the Forest Nazgul version, which was very popular at the world cup in Essen. It’s a very strong and consistent Shadow. By that I mean that you don’t need a specific combo to make it work, and that it does well against most fellowships.
Do you remember the old Nazgul card "Morgul Gates"? Well, playing a Nazgul for a -2 cost was pretty sweet wasn’t it? Usually you could play a strength 10, fierce Nazgul at site 3 for 3 twilight. Well, Morgul Gates has been reprinted, and it’s gotten better, much better! Now it’s called Dark Approach, and requires you to spot several forest sites to make your Nazgul cheap. With all the new site manipulation cards, it’s not that hard to spot those forests though. I’ve even managed to spot 5 forests before my opponent had moved from Site 1! The new Nazgul themselves also make a great addition to the Nazgul build, especially Ulaire Nelya, who can replace sites and make them forests, Ulaire Toldea, who can get those Dark Approaches back to your hand, and The Witch-King, who is usually free when you’ve played four Nazguls. Think about it, when you’re able to spot 4 forests, playing 6 Nazguls usually costs the same twilight as one Cave Troll! (If you’re holding 2 Dark Approach and 6 Nazgul, including Toldea and the Witch-King, it cost about 12 twilight.)
The second reason why Forest Nazgul are so competitive is their new pump, Lost in the Woods. It’s like an infinite pump against your opponents strongest fighter, or it can be used to overwhelm a weak companion. Usually, the average Nazgul isn’t that hard to beat with a strength of 12 or so. It’s worse when that minion suddenly becomes str 16+ twice.
The third reason why this is such a great shadow is that it cycles well. Moving This Way enables you to put those extra Nazgul on the bottom of your deck so you’ll set up a nice fellowship while you’ll be able to save your Nazgul for some huge attacks later. Most times you’ll be able to cycle through your deck so when your opponent is at Site 6-7 or so, you’ll have a 100% Shadow draw deck waiting for him.
Even though it’s easy to get out a lot of Nazgul, the Shadow is still a grinding Shadow. By this, I mean that you’re not supposed to overwhelm the Ring-bearer with this deck. You’re just supposed to give the fellowship multiple wounds and maybe overwhelm a companion each site. You’re not in a hurry. By the end of the fight, your Nazgul should be standing victorious.
However, there are some ways to deal with the Nazgul menace. There are two decks in particular which are very good at surviving against Forest Nazgul. One is a Dwarf fellowship with Smeagol, Always Helps as a sidekick. Combined with Don’t look at Them, he can take out a Nazgul just by discarding three cards. Durin III is a strong fighter who can take out a second Nazgul. If there are more Nazgul on the table, they are usually exerted or exhausted because of a toil Nazgul, or they’ve probably used Ulaire Nelya’s or Toldea’s ability. That’s when 4x Baruk Khazad becomes an excellent card. Just by exerting a companion, you’re likely to take out that pesky third Nazgul. Remember that Dwarves give very little twilight, so the Shadow player only gets about 4 to 8 twilight from site 1-6. Even with Dark Approach, that’s usually not enough to play more than two or three Nazgul.
One other fellowship which is really strong against Forest Nazgul is Elven Telepathy. The deck is based on fighting elves and Gandalf, Manager of Wizards. Use Gandalf to put Sauron on top of your deck and use Glorfindel or Forearmed to make a Nazgul strength -18. You also got Cirdan who can make a minion -15 or so when you’ve played a lot of events. Usually this deck can triple move against Forest Nazgul using Radagast.
Here’s the Shadow side I used to win the latest online PSQ. Good luck!
LOTR TCG decklist: Ellingsen’s Forest Nazgul
4 Black Rider
3 The Witch-king, Captain of the Nine Riders
1 Úlairë Cantëa, Black Assassin
3 Úlairë Enquëa, Sixth of the Nine Riders
3 Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders
1 Úlairë Otsëa, Thrall of the One
3 Úlairë Toldëa, Black Shadow
4 Dark Approach
1 Hatred Stirred
4 Lost in the Woods
2 Moving This Way
1 Out of Sight and Shot |
| Kenneth Ellingsen is a teacher and semi-professional card player living in Norway. With a Decipher rating of over 2000 and several major tournament victories under his belt, Ellingsen is respected among LOTR TCG players worldwide. His latest accomplishments include 1st place at PSE Utrecht 2004, 2nd at the LOTR TCG World Cup 2004, and 2nd at European Continentals 2005. |
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