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| reggierockz |
![]() Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:37 am |
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Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 55
Location: Rochester, NY
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--- description ---
A deeper look into the pirate scum known as none other than Corsairs.
--- end description ---
Introduction:
“…Watchmen on the walls saw afar a new sight of fear, and their last hope left them.”
Ah, no one sums it up quite as well as J.R.R. Tolkien does. Referring to the men of Umbar, the Corsairs are pirate mercenaries who have joined with the forces of Sauron. Descendents of Gondor, these men will stop at nothing to see the Gondorians fall. What more could you ask for in a shadow culture? Not to mention a minion nicknamed “Peter Jackson” and oh yeah…they’re pirates! All jokes aside, the Corsairs are no laughing matter, especially when you find yourself playing against them.
Given today’s environment and the abundance of threat adding (Aragorn, Thorongil and Aragorn’s Bow, Ranger’s Longbow) and possession heavy (Ithilien Blade, Dwarves) decks, there hasn’t been a better time to play Corsairs. Fortunately, no cards were lost with the rotation of The Two Towers block, making Corsairs viable in both the standard and the expanded formats. In this article, I will discuss a competitive Corsairs deck, built to deal with many of the current meta’s problem fellowships. I will address specific card choices, the strategies behind them, and what to do against specific decks.
To start, we shall examine the deck list to become better acquainted with each of the cards.
Shadow (33):
Minions (18)
4 Castamir of Umbar
4 Black Numenorean
4 Corsair Marauder
2 Corsair Ruffian
2 Corsair Plunderer
2 Corsair Boatswain
Possessions (10)
4 Black Sails of Umbar
2 Corsair War Galley
2 Ships of Great Draught
2 Raider Halberd
Events (5)
2 Wind That Sped Ships
2 Quelled
1 Fierce in Despair
Let’s break down each section.
Minions:
First on the roster is the Castamir of Umbar. Played by Peter Jackson in the film, this minion is the leader of the Corsairs. He is the most valuable minion in the deck due to his handy ability and his monstrous strength (when fully exerted). He will help you add countless tokens to your many support area possessions while making himself stronger in the process. Next is Black Numenorean. Another high strength fierce minion, Black Numenorean can easily get rid of pesky possessions (assuming you have initiative) born by characters he is skirmishing with the removal of one culture token. He is also non unique, allowing more than one copy to be played at a time. Four copies of Corsair Marauder are included as well. When you play him (assuming you can spot another Corsair), you may discard a possession to add two culture tokens to a card that already has a token on it. He will do a number on Dwarves, as well as eliminate those ever so irritating Ithilien Blades (while replenishing your tokens). Among the last three minions are Corsair Ruffian, Corsair Plunderer, and Corsair Boatswain. Ruffian will reinforce two tokens and discard the top card of the Free Peoples player’s deck (again, assuming you can spot another Corsair), while the Plunderer allows you to cycle two cards from hand to reinforce two tokens. Lastly, there is the Corsair Boatswain, who allows you to exert him to play a support area possession from your draw deck. Be it a Black Sails of Umbar, a Ships of Great Draught, or a Corsair War Galley , you can grab either with the Boatswain.
Possessions:
No doubt about it, the fact that the key non minion cards of this deck are possessions (rather than conditions) is an immeasurable asset. They are much less likely to be discarded by the Free Peoples player, allowing you to abuse them to their fullest extent. The most important, Black Sails of Umbar will allow you to play your minions over again at virtually no twighlight cost. Since every minion in the deck helps replenish tokens (with the exception of Corsair Boatswain and Black Numenorean), you will have a Black Sails of Umbar sporting five to seven tokens in no time. Secondly, we have Ships of Great Draught, an extremely versatile card that can take huge advantage of threat adding fellowships. It also provides an endless source of cycling, allowing you to discard any Raider card (discarded minions can then be replayed with Black Sails of Umbar) to add a token. Corsair War Galley is also a very useful possession allowing several different strategies to be taken advantage of. When stocked with enough tokens, you will always have initiative, allowing you to take advantage of Black Numenorean’s ability. By discarding it in the regroup phase, you can add a twighlight for each Raider token you spot (including the ones on the War Galley being discarded). An empty pool can quickly become huge, allowing for a correctly timed Fierce in Despair to be played or to simply scare your opponent into not moving again. Lastly, two copies of Raider Halberd have been included. When played on Castamir of Umbar, an un-exerted Peter Jackson can quickly become a fully exerted 22 strength beast, not to mention adding two twighlight with each exertion (Fierce in Despair anyone?).
Events:
Wind that Sped Ships serves as the primary pump in this deck. It can easily be a strength plus six pump for only one twighlight. Not bad eh? It can come in handy, especially to overwhelm unsuspecting companions. Also, while you have initiative, you can place it on top of your drawdeck after you use it. Two copies of Quelled have been included for condition removal. With so many Eowyn based wounding decks floating around, Quelled will often times take out two conditions for the price of one. And finally, the last card in the deck is Fierce in Despair. Though it may seem expensive and unlikely to be used, Corsair War Galley and Raider Halberd can make it happen. It can even be re-stacked with Ships of Great Draught and used again and again.
Basic Strategy:
Early on, you will want to play down your support area possessions as quickly as possible. Use Corsair Boatswain to get out your Black Sails of Umbar, your Ships of Great Draught, or your Corsair War Galley. Start playing down minions and any other support area possessions that you draw. Don’t hesitate to cycle high cost minions early on in the game, for you will be able to re-play them from your discard pile with Black Sails of Umbar. Play Castamir of Umbar and exert him to play other Corsairs to add tokens to your support area possessions. Discard Black Sails of Umbar to play minions from your discard pile (free Castamirs are nice lol) and repeat. Mid to late game when your Black Sails begin to run out, use Ships of Great Draught to re-stack them and play them down again. Stack some minions as well, so you can add more tokens back onto Black Sails. You can repeat this process as necessary, though you shouldn’t have to more than once or twice (if that even). When the time is right, use Fierce in Despair to discard a key companion. This combo will happen more often than you think, and when it does, your opponent most likely won’t even see it coming.
Match ups:
Dwarves – Discard their possessions with Black Numenorean and Corsiar Marauder. Possessionless, your opponent’s Dwarves will be at a huge disadvantage. From there, apply the basic strategy and quickly overwhelm companions. Be watchful of Blood Runs Chill, as it can easily wipe away your support area possessions. Try to discard their damage plus possessions and make sure your minions survive to the regroup phase so you can discard them to BRC if need be.
Elves – Cirdan is going to be quite the trouble maker. Try your best to beat him with Castamir. He will need to exert quite frequently in order to either survive the skirmish or win. Once he is exhausted, he can be rendered useless. Take advantage of the situation when he is wounded heavily. A correctly timed Castamir can mean the end to multiple companions.
Ithilien Blade – Just like when playing against Dwarves, discard their possessions with the Black Numenorean and the Corsair Marauder. Get out Ships of Great Draught as early as possible and remove their threats each shadow phase. Be sure to play your minions in groups, for a lone minion may fall subject to Aragorn’s Bow, Ranger’s Longbow.
Eowyn Wounding – Make sure to get rid of any possessions like Elven Bows and vitality adding possessions such as Coif. Be sure to use Castamir’s ability sparingly, as you may need to suck up archery wounds or have the extra vitality to take up Eowyn wounds. All in all, try to get as much vitality on the table as you can, discard their bows, and don’t overuse Castamir’s ability.
Solo Smeagol – This will be tough match up. To win, you’re going to need to do everything that you can to get tokens on Black Sails of Umbar. Then when you can afford it, get as many minions out as possible. Be weary of direct damage cards such as Don’t Look at Them and Where Shall We Go, as they can easily waste a fully exerted Castamir.
Conclusion:
Overall, I think Corsairs is a solid shadow to be played in the current meta. With no reliance on the site path and with plenty of cycling, it can be paired with almost any fellowship. Try experimenting with some different Corsair minions, including Corsair Freebooter (especially with all the new culture token strategies), but try not to differentiate too far from the general minion basis. I think this deck will prove to be very effective against the growing popularity of Ithilien Blade decks, as well as any other fellowships that are heavily reliable on possessions and threats. Lastly, thank you for reading and thanks in advance for your comments.
-reggierockz |
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| orian |
![]() Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 4:12 am |
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Joined: 05 Jun 2006
Posts: 127
Location:
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my comment: you give a very basic idea of what corsairs are, what to do with them and so on... ideal for beginner levels. and you deserve to be thanked for that
But you forget what, in my opinion, would interest advanced players on a deck that we now see for about two years:
=> you don’t examine the variations you can do with a corsair deck (under foot swarm, fierce in despair twister, overstrength castamir)
=> you don’t present the little cards that can fit in the deck (sauron, dark lord of mordor , southron leader, initiative cards ...)
and moreover
=> you don’t take interest in the fellowships to play with a corsair deck, a very important thing when you decide to play a shadow. You say "any fellowship" can be paired with them and that’s right, but some will prove far more efficient than others
=> a player told recently and I strongly agree with that, that corsairs were fitted to match any deck because they have proper cards against everything, but moreover because they are a tribute to playing cards smartly, when you can cycle them at the infinite  I found that a little in your article but not enough for me. your deck list proves it by the way  |
| orian - the French pirate, the Bloody Bastard |
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| reggierockz |
![]() Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:20 am |
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Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 55
Location: Rochester, NY
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I’m a little confused as to what you are asking of me. You say that...
Quote:
you give a very basic idea of what corsairs are, what to do with them and so on... ideal for beginner levels. and you deserve to be thanked for that
Isn’t that the point of writing an article on Corsairs? This is not necessarily geared to beginner level players, but more towards someone that has never played this specific deck.
Quote: you don’t examine the variations you can do with a corsair deck (under foot swarm, fierce in despair twister, overstrength castamir)
=> you don’t present the little cards that can fit in the deck (sauron, dark lord of mordor , southron leader, initiative cards ...)
This article is about Corsairs, and a very specific Corsair build. It is not a "bible" so to speak for all Corsair decks. When someone writes an article on how to play Elven telepathy, they don’t write about how to play Elven events, or Elven archery. This article is about the specific decklist I posted and the strategy to win with it.
I do not talk about the "little" cards that fit in the deck because I see no need to. I have experimented with each of the cards you mentioned and have found that they are either not needed, or that they simply take a back seat to other cards included in the decklist.
Quote: => you don’t take interest in the fellowships to play with a corsair deck, a very important thing when you decide to play a shadow. You say "any fellowship" can be paired with them and that’s right, but some will prove far more efficient than others
There are some fellowships that may pair better than others with Corsairs. Any deck that needs to hang on to cards (i.e pumps, other events, etc) may encounter some tempo upset. But in general, Corsairs can be paired with anything because of thir great cycling ability (via Ships of Great Draught and Corsair Plunderer) and their near infinite recursion. Also, since they don’t rely on the site path in any way, they can easily pair with a fellowship centered around specific sites and not have to worry about what site they are on.
Quote: => a player told recently and I strongly agree with that, that corsairs were fitted to match any deck because they have proper cards against everything, but moreover because they are a tribute to playing cards smartly, when you can cycle them at the infinite Smile I found that a little in your article but not enough for me. your deck list proves it by the way Wink
I’m not too sure what you are trying to say here. From what I can gather, yes Corsairs are great against most decks because they do pack a lot of possesion removal, as well as some condition removal cards. Since many key Corsair cards are possessions, most fellowships will have a hard time knocking out key strategic cards. I don’t see how Corsairs should make you have to play any smarter than with any other deck (you should play as smart as you can ALL the time lol) but it does require some practice to know when and what cards to cycle (as does any deck). A correctly discarded Castamir can make a big difference, especially when he can be replayed cheaper via Black Sails of Umbar.
Thank you for your response, though I don’t quite agree with you on many of the points you addressed. Thanks again though.
-reggierockz |
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| PorterTroll |
![]() Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:49 am |
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Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 1193
Location: not sure yet
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| i enjoyed it thoroughly! it seems that you have a very good plan on how to beat every decks different fellowsips! bravo! very well put together article! i give it a 5! (if you have time would you mind reading my article on the dwarvesand trolls in the article contest and rate it for me?) thanks |
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| orian |
![]() Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:53 am |
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Joined: 05 Jun 2006
Posts: 127
Location:
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if you don’t plan to detail corsairs, don’t call it a guide to corsairs
call it "how to build your first corsair deck" for example  |
| orian - the French pirate, the Bloody Bastard |
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| reggierockz |
![]() Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:18 am |
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Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 55
Location: Rochester, NY
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| Maybe so, personally I think of the most prominant Corsair archetype when I hear the word "Corsair", that being the one that the article is focused on. I think this style of Corsair build, in comparison to completely different builds such as Underfoot swarm (which is not a pure Corsair deck technically) etc, is the only Tier 1 Corsair shadow. Anyway, title aside, what did you think? |
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| orian |
![]() Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:29 am |
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Joined: 05 Jun 2006
Posts: 127
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well, if you want to play the strongest archetype, you certainly are playing too many minions, not enough key cards (only 2 WTSS...)
boatswain has strictly no interest in the tier1 deck, nor does the ruffian.
they’re not enough plunderers on the other side
when you say that any fellowship pairs with corsairs, that’s wrong, because you will always need to discard cards to plunderer at a time or another, and playing a fellowship that doesn’t care with this is a key point. |
| orian - the French pirate, the Bloody Bastard |
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| Pipeweed |
![]() Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:32 am |
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Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 1010
Location: Earth (I think)
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| reggierockz |
![]() Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:52 am |
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Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 55
Location: Rochester, NY
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orian wrote: well, if you want to play the strongest archetype, you certainly are playing too many minions, not enough key cards (only 2 WTSS...)
boatswain has strictly no interest in the tier1 deck, nor does the ruffian.
they’re not enough plunderers on the other side
when you say that any fellowship pairs with corsairs, that’s wrong, because you will always need to discard cards to plunderer at a time or another, and playing a fellowship that doesn’t care with this is a key point.
I’ve experimented with using no Ruffians, no Boatswains and upping the Plunderers to four copies. This allows for more copies of Corsair War Galley, Wind that Sped Ships, Ships of Great Draught, and or Raider Halberd. I have found that this strategy is more along the lines of playing Castamir and one other minion, and sometimes maybe a third. Bring back Black Sails and a few minions with Ships, and re-play Castamir etc etc. I guess it is more personal preference than anything. I have found much luck with the base that I have listed above. Cutting Ruffian and Boatswain and making some room for more WTSS is not a bad idea, but it also has some side effects (and you should be able to restack WTSS when you play it anyway). Let’s say you are playing against a possessionless fellowship, such as elven events. Now the only way to add tokens is with Castamir and the Plunderer. According to you, if Corsairs is paired with a fellowship not willing to part with cards, then the 4 copies of Corsair Plunderer aren’t going to help much. I think by mixing the minions up a bit more, and having alternative ways to add tokens, the deck becomes stronger against a broader spectrum of decks. Plunderer is also a very weak minion, be it he is only six strength (one could argue that he is not in there for his strength though).
And again, about the fellowships. Did you read the post where I addressed your comment? I AGREED WITH YOU. You are correct, some fellowships will not want to give up the cards to Plunderer, but that is exactly why I am running only two copies of him. And also, you can discard shadow cards with him as well, meaning you don’t always have to pitch fellowship cards to his ability.
With that said, if you paired Corsairs with a fellowship that is willing to give up cards ever so often to the Plunderer, you could run something like this:
Shadow (33):
Minions (16)
4 Castamir of Umbar
4 Black Numenorean
4 Corsair Marauder
4 Corsair Plunderer
Possessions (12)
4 Black Sails of Umbar
4 Raider Halberd
2 Ships of Great Draught
2 Corsair War Galley
Events (5)
2 Quelled
2 Wind That Sped Ships
1 Fierce in Despair
Assuming you don’t mind the extra cycling caused by the Plunderer, you can elminate the Boatswain. Chances are you will draw into the cards you need with the added cycling. Ruffian can be eliminated as well, being replaced by two more token adding minions. One copy of the Black Numenorean and the Corsair Marauder could be cut for two more copies of Wind That Sped Ships, but personally I see no need for more than two, and I would advise running all 4 copies of the Numenorean and the Marauder for reasons already explained. Again, I think these changes are all based on personal preferance, your specific meta, and what fellowship you are pairing Corsairs with. I think it takes some level of experimentation to see what truly works the best with your fellowship.
-reggierockz |
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| CarpeGuitarrem |
![]() Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 12:50 pm |
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Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 3361
Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
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| An excellent article. I have myself witnessed the power of Corsairs, and believe me, they’re nothing to sneeze at. I had to fill up on threats with Thorongil to save my fellowship on multiple occasions, and they ended up denting my deck significantly. |
| "ok, change of plans. the Cobracards christmas party is coming to my house, and we’re gunna teach FM how to hunt." (mm) |
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