| |
| Author |
Message |
Rate this article!
| 5 (Best) |
| [ 0 ] 0% |
| |
| 4 |
| [ 2 ] 28% |
| |
| 3 |
| [ 4 ] 57% |
| |
| 2 |
| [ 1 ] 14% |
| |
| 1 (Worst) |
| [ 0 ] 0% |
| |
Total Votes : 7 |
|
| Pipeweed |
![]() Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:41 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 1010
Location: Earth (I think)
|
--- description ---
This article will explain to you about some of the key cards to building a powerful knight deck, that will ruin any beatdown deck, any time.
--- end description ---
. . . And last and proudest, Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, kinsman of the Lord, with gilded banners bearing his token of the Ship and the Silver Swan, and a company of knights in full harness riding grey horses; and behind them seven hundreds of men at arms, tall as lords, grey-eyed, dark-haired, singing as they came.
The knights of the noble house of Gondor are proud and powerful warriors as portrayed in Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” That same pride and power is portrayed through their sub-culture in LOTR TCG, and it is an interesting culture to play.
Overview:
In LOTR TCG, the knights of Gondor make a powerful sub-culture to play. Their game text and mechanics revolve around one thing specifically: Killing minions by lowering their strength and vitality.
Most FP cultures in LOTR TCG rely on possessions and brute strength to kill minions, but the knights take an opposite approach, and it has proved to be effective. I will now look at many different aspects of the knight sub-culture, and hopefully, you will learn some things that you did not know before.
Companions:
Note: I will not list all companions, only the ones that are most useful in a knight deck
Alcarin, warrior of lamedon: A very powerful card. He can take exertions or archery wounds, and then have them removed when he is assigned to a minion bearing a  fortification.
Turgon, man of belfalas: A classic way to kill minions. You can get that one extra wound when you need it 
Aragorn, captain of gondor: He can heal your knights companions when you are desperate. This is very good with Turgon.
Ingold: He is better than he may seem. Discard a fortification to heal him, and then play it back with sixth level.
Faramir, defender of osgiliath: I usually use him to try to play companions, and then sacrifice him if need be.
Garrison of gondor: A guaranteed defender +1 companion, and an archer to boot. Not much can go wrong.
Imrahil, prince of dol amroth: One of the best knights ever. Make him a tank, have him win, and then exert extra minions, ready to be killed.
Isildur, bearer of heirlooms: Great card. I usually don’t use him, but he is great. If you are wondering, I like to use Frodo, protected by many to discard my fortifications and get a good shadow hand, and then play those fortifications back with sixth level.
Boromir, Hero of osgiliath: Great card. Nuff said.
Elendil, high-king of gondor: Very nice. Makes your companions resistance +1, which can be very good with a lot of resistance lowering decks nowadays.
Now that I have examined some companions, it is time to choose the ones for our deck. Knights always are a complete blowout every turn, so you might as well run 9 companions. We will use the muster Frodo for cycling with Sixth Level, so that is one. Here is the list of companions:
Frodo, protected by many
Turgon, man of belfalas S
Alcarin, warrior of lamedon S
Imrahil, Prince of Dol amroth x2
Boromir, Hero of Osgiliath x2
Ingold
Faramir, Defender of Osgiliath
Garrison of Gondor
Elendil, High-king of gondor
Fortifications:
Fortifications are the backbone of your deck, so choosing them can be very important. Here are some choices:
City wall: Usually good to have a couple of these in your deck. Simple and cheap.
Citadel of the Stars: I like this card. Another simple and effective card. Cheap to. Pack at least two of these.
Stone Tower: This will kill quite a few minions, and Turgon will finish off the remaining ones. Definitely at least two of these.
Fourth Level: Basically the best fortification ever. Have 4.
Fifth Level: IMO, the second best fortification ever. Have 4.
Sixth Level: Usually not the greatest, but key in our deck.
It’s time to choose our fortifications. This should be pretty straightforward:
Fourth Level x4
Fifth Level x4
Sixth Level x3
Stone Tower x2
Citadel of the Stars x2
City Wall x2
Other Cards:
Fortifications aren’t always enough for your knight deck, so we will analyze some other cards that will work in the deck.
Gondor Bow: This card is key to finishing off minions, and you will want 4 in any knight deck you build.
Men of Numenor: I usually have a couple of these in case Turgon is dead or exhausted.
Banner of westernesse: Great healing card.
Building the Deck:
It is now time to put our deck together. Here is what we have:
Frodo, protected by many
The One Ring, Such A weight to carry
Turgon, man of belfalas S
Alcarin, warrior of lamedon S
Imrahil, Prince of Dol amroth x2
Boromir, Hero of Osgiliath x2
Ingold
Faramir, Defender of Osgiliath
Garrison of Gondor
Elendil, High-king of gondor
Fourth Level x4
Fifth Level x4
Sixth Level x3
Stone Tower x2
Citadel of the Stars x2
City Wall x2
Gondor Bow x4
Men of numenor x2
We’ve added 4 Gondor bow and 2 men of numenor. Right now our deck is weighing in at 33 cards, so it is safe to add a couple more. Let’s throw in 3 of those Banner of westernesse for healing.
Frodo, protected by many
The One Ring, Such A weight to carry
Turgon, man of belfalas S
Alcarin, warrior of lamedon S
Imrahil, Prince of Dol amroth x2
Boromir, Hero of Osgiliath x2
Ingold
Faramir, Defender of Osgiliath
Garrison of Gondor
Elendil, High-king of gondor
Fourth Level x4
Fifth Level x4
Sixth Level x3
Stone Tower x2
Citadel of the Stars x2
City Wall x2
Gondor Bow x4
Banner of Westernesse x3
Men of numenor x2
Our deck looks great now. Before we’re done, let’s run over some of the weaknesses of this type of deck:
Corruption: In general, knights do not do very well against corruption. Some things can be avoided, but corruption generally ruins a knight deck like this. If you might be facing a lot of corruption in your area, switch the ring to RoR.
Condition Discarding: Any Shadow side with the means to discard conditions can ruin this deck. The sixth level helps, but it can’t save you from something that will wipe the board clean.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you learned something that you didn’t know before.
Cheers,
Pipeweed |
Last edited by Pipeweed on Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:57 am; edited 2 times in totalPipeweed's Haves/Wants: 100 NEW RARES!!
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Cycle Engine
Joe Meets God: A Humorous Article on a Budget
 http://fxhome.com/userref.php/11923 |
|
| Back to top |
|
| CarpeGuitarrem |
![]() Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:12 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 3361
Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
|
Pretty good, but the deck’s a bit big. Keep Radagast out. He’s most definitely not a splash companion, unless you think you can triple-move with fortifications.
One problem you might run into is that Stone Tower and Citadel of the Stars are unique. And Stone Tower takes a hefty cost. I’d say to take it out.
You might also run into difficulties turning out all of your companions, so take out a Gondor Bow and one of your fortifications and put in more Faramir, Defender of Osgiliath.
Also, why not make it an Expanded article, and include Hunters cards? Alcarin and Turgon were both rotated out, and so was Citadel.
But overall a good article. Nothing new here, but a nice introduction and overview of fortifications. |
| "ok, change of plans. the Cobracards christmas party is coming to my house, and we’re gunna teach FM how to hunt." (mm) |
|
| Back to top |
|
| elf lvr |
![]() Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:16 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 13 Jun 2006
Posts: 3065
Location: Rivendell
|
| Good article. but it really didn’t tell me anything i didn’t know already. fourth level is skirmish and turgon is maneuver. |
Happy Hunting! Elf Lvr
Winner of Best Personality in the FPCA. Thanks!
Archduke Elf Lvr - Archidoux of the Chosen Ones
AMV Maker In-Training! Check out my newest production, Katsu!- A Diedara Tribute!
And behold, EL declared it good. And there was morning, and there was evening, the first (new) day. ~ DainIronfoot |
|
| Back to top |
|
| Pipeweed |
![]() Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 4:19 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 1010
Location: Earth (I think)
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Anonymous Prodigy |
![]() Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:34 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 4197
Location: United States
|
Solid article, Pipeweed. I agree with CG’s suggestion to eliminate Radagast and take out the rotated-out cards. Otherwise, a great article! I give it a 4.  |
| I had to put something here. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| Pipeweed |
![]() Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:45 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 1010
Location: Earth (I think)
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| CarpeGuitarrem |
![]() Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:41 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 3361
Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
|
| One more thing: you should mention that threat-adding shadows could wreak havoc on this fellowship, since you’ve got exertions going on with very little healing. |
| "ok, change of plans. the Cobracards christmas party is coming to my house, and we’re gunna teach FM how to hunt." (mm) |
|
| Back to top |
|
| PorterTroll |
![]() Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:49 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 1193
Location: not sure yet
|
| its a bit big, slim it down a bit for better drawing chances |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Pipeweed |
![]() Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:22 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 1010
Location: Earth (I think)
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| hblika |
![]() Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 2:09 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 287
Location: Norway
|
As pointed out in a previous post, but this is hardly breaking news.
Besides there are a couple of errors and points that need clarification in your article. The most obvious ones are:
Pipeweed wrote: Turgon, Man of Belfalas: A classic way to kill minions. Exhaust them with Fourth Level, and then exert Turgon to kill.
This is waaay off target. Turgon’s ability must be used in the maneuver phase, while Fourth Level is transfered in the skirmish phase.
Pipeweed wrote: We will use the muster Frodo for cycling with Sixth Level, so that is one. Here is the list of companions:
How do you cycle with Sixth Level??? Just to clarify, a deck that’s cycling good, is going through the draw deck fast. Not the discard pile. That’s called recursion, and is exactly what Sixth Level does.
Pipeweed wrote: Right now our deck is weighing in at 33 cards, so it is safe to add a couple more.
Not really. The only cycling your fellowship has, is Frodo’s exert-to-muster ability. Not nearly good enough for a 36 card fellowship.
Pipeweed wrote: Men of Numenor: I usually have a couple of these in case Turgon is dead or exhausted.
Again, Turgon does his trick in the maneuver phase, while Men of Numenor is a skirmish action. Generally, if you want to go the Turgon route, you need to base your deck around Fifth Levels, First Levels and Every Little is a Gain. This is not nearly as good as the skirmish based fortifications (allthough Fifth Level is a good fit in any of the two).
Also, your article really doesn’t give much strategy. You are basically writing down the card text of each card (allthough with your own words), without really explaining the synergy between the cards, or giving us strategic advis on how to best play such a deck.
This might be an OK introduction to knights for a new player, but there’s nothing here to make an experienced Knight player rethink his or her deck. Without the actual errors you have included, I would have given this a 3, but in it’s current state it’s barely worth a 2. |
| I'm not stupid. I'm just unlucky when I'm thinking. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
All times are UTC - 4
|
Page 1 of 2 [18 Posts] |
Goto page: 1, 2 Next |
|
|
Forum index » Lord of the Rings TCG » LOTR TCG Strategy Article Contest
