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| sickofpalantirs |
![]() Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:07 pm |
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Joined: 23 Mar 2006
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Location: somwhere, over the rainbow way up high. There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.
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--- description ---
An article reviewing all the versions of Sam ever made, some of their of their strengths and weaknesses, and an Open deck based around my favorite version of sam..
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Frodo would have never made it to Mount Doom without Sam. This is a sure point that is shown in the movies and the books. But does Frodo or any Ringbearer really need Sam in a LOTR TCG game? Is Sam any better than Pippin or Merry or any other Hobbit? Though the answer may be no to the first question, I believe Sam is still a force to be reckoned with! I believe He can be more of a force than most other hobbits. He can normally replace Frodo as Ringbearer if Frodo dies, he has some of the best special abilities of any Hobbit companion, and he has very good cards like A Promise. He is also ring bound so he can work well in a deck with the Smeagol ring-bearer and ringbound Hobbit decks.
In this article I plan to review for you all the versions of Sam ever made, their strengths and weaknesses, and a star rating of 1-4 (With 1 star being bad and four stars being very good) of how good I think that Sam is. I will give a deck that Sam would work well against or 1-3 cards that could work well with him. I will also show you a deck based around making my favorite Sam incredibly strong. Read on!
Sam, Faithful Companion
The first Sam. He is probably one of the worst Sam’s. Though playing Bill the Pony can be helpful, it is not good enough to warrant having him in a deck over almost any other Sam. He at least can become the Ringbearer if Frodo dies but almost all other Sams can too.
1 ½ stars
Card Combo-Bill the Pony with Sam, Faithful Companion.
Sam, Son of Hamfast
Arguably the best Sam ever, he is definitely the best Sam to splash in a deck. He has been X-listed for his versatility with alternate ring-bearers since he can remove 3 burdens as soon as he is played. His ability is extremely good for any deck. He also can become the ringbearer and remove his own burdens with his ability.
4 stars
Card Combo- this Sam with Rare Good Ballast and/or Rosie Cotton, Hobbitton Lass (to heal him in fellowship) so you can use him even more often to remove burdens.
Sam, Proper Poet
His ability is fairly good and can really help if fighting swarm decks. Like most other Sam’s if Frodo is killed, he can become the ringbearer. Since he can become Defender +1 he can be used to tie up two large minions essentially protecting Frodo,( or becoming cannon fodder) These uses make this what I call the anti swarm Sam
2 ½ stars
Deck Combo- Use him against a swarm deck
Sam, Frodo’s Gardener
Basically the same as Faithful Companion, Frodo’s Gardener is not good enough to have in your deck unless you are playing ring-bound rangers, Hobbits or Smeagol ringbearer with ring-bound Hobbits. But then of course you would probably have a better companion for his spot.
1 star
Card Combo- Sam’s Pack
Sam, Samwise the Brave
This Sam has a nice ability! If Proper Poet is an anti-swarm Sam, Samwise the Brave is the anti- corruption Sam. But this sam really doesn’t have a purpose except against corruption so he isn’t quite as good. In addition he can’t remove burdens; he just keeps shadow cards from adding them.
3 stars
Deck Combo-Sam versus a twilight Nazgul corruption deck. (Or any corruption deck for that matter)
Sam, Nice Sensible Hobbit
Overall a good ability, as there are many cards that benefit Smeagol or Ringbound Hobbits if you can spot all Smeagol, Frodo, and Sam. But aside from a deck built like that his utility is pretty low.
2 stars
Combo- sam with Frodo, Master of the Precious and Smeagol, Slinker.
Sam, Needer of Vittles
Another good burden remover. But this Sam isn’t very good with alternate Ringbearers as you need to play Hobbit companions to remove burdens. This also means there is a limit to how many burdens you can remove.
2 ½ stars
Combo- Use him in an all Hobbit deck.
Sam, Resolute Halfling
This Sam has a very good cycling ability if you give him a Hobbit sword he might be able to fight thus you could heal him and get rid of cards you did not need. Another possibility for exertions would be Shadowplay.
3 stars
Combo-Sam plus Hobbit sword plus Sudden Fury plus Shadow Play
Sam, Great Elf Warrior
In my opinion the best Sam. Of course both Sam, Bearer of Great Need and Sam, Son of Hamfast are very good Sams , but I love this sam for his high strength possibilities. I will show you a deck that can consistently get this Sam up to strengths of 15 or more.
4 stars
Combo-with A Promise, Hobbit Sword etc.
Sam, Steadfast Friend
Not the best of the Sams but not the worst either. His ability is pretty good and if you have the space for him he could be a good splash companion, and he also could be used with alternate ring bearers for a resistance boost. The main drawback to using him is he can’t become the ring-bearer if Frodo dies.
Three stars
Combo-splashed with an alternate Ringbearer or any deck that needs extra resistance for all companions to use cards like G For Grand.
Sam, Bearer of Great Need
Another very good Sam. His resistance can be huge by spotting hobbits, and his regroup ability is to die for. He is very good in a Ring-bound Hobbit deck since Bilbo, Aged Ringbearer can remove burdens that are added from the transfer of followers. the gaffer master gardener could heal his exertions or Frodo Gamgee to give him strength( and extra vitality for the final turn’s exertions). Another idea would be to have the hunters Gandalf ( or Radagast, Treebeard, or Gandalf, leader of the company) and have Alatar to transfer without adding burdens plus to give a minus strength for minions skirmishing Sam.
4 stars
Combo-Sam plus Rosie Cotton, Barmaid making it extremely hard to overwhelm Sam when he is the ring bearer.
Sam, Innocent Traveller
A mediocre Sam he can become the ringbearer and his healing ability could be helpful, however; he is not as good as other Sams that benefit from an all Hobbit deck.
2 ½ stars
Combo-A possible splash in an unbound Hobbit /Ent deck for healing those Exertions.
Now for my open deck focused on Sam, Great Elf warrior.
To make Sam, Great Elf Warrior’s strength enormous you need lots of Hobbits, so I start four Hobbits. I bid 3-4 (if I am playing a corruption deck I may bid less) and choose first. When I play Pippin, Hobbit of some Intelligence in my starting fellowship I can remove one of the burdens I bid.
I play Green Dragon Inn as site 1, and exert Pippin, Hobbit of some Intelligence and Merry, Horticulturist to play Bilbo, Aged Ringbearer from my draw deck.
I then Exert Merry to play Farmer Maggot, Hobbit of The Marish bringing my Hobbit total up to six. I normally will draw one of my five hand weapons so I can play one on Sam on my first turn.
So with a +2 Hand Weapon and the six other hobbits in play Sam is 11 strength, 12 if Bilbo isn’t skirmishing.
Aside from Hobbits, I have 3x A Promise, Stone Trolls, Rosie Cotton, Little Golden Flower, G for Grand with Salt from the Shire, and 3x Sudden Fury to make Sam a beast.
Radagast can help for a 6-9 move(Narrow Escape can be useful for this.) Treebeard gives some muscle (though he could be replaced with Gandalf, Leader of the Company or Powerful Guide) and Tolman, Cotton is another Hobbit for Sam’s ability. Little Golden Flower can provide vitality against those damage bonuses of the Uruk-Hai I normally play and can also provide strength and resistance.
Since I probably will be facing at least a couple good minions every turn, my other Hobbits need some protection. 3x A Promise helps Frodo as well as Sam, Tom Bombadil and the Bounder can keep Hobbits alive if they are being overwhelmed , Simple Living, Fates Entwined, and The Gaffer, Master Gardener provides healing, Little Golden Flower vitality, strength, or resistance, and 3x Sudden Fury provides lots of pumpage.. While Frodo Gamgee and Sudden Fury give strength.
For the Adventure Deck, Neekerbreekers Bog as well as Valley of the Silverlode give healing and Neekerbreekers Bog exertions to my opponent with my corruption shadow side, Caras Galadhon provides swarm protection. The Angle, Buckland Homestead and Woody End help my shadow side as well as being forests or dwellings for Concerning Hobbits.
Frodo Tired Traveler and The One Ring Such a Weight to Carry
1 Merry Horticulturist (starting fellowship)
1 Pippin Hobbit of some Intelligence (starting fellowship)
1 Sam Great Elf Warrior (starting fellowship)
1 Treebeard Guardian of The Forest
1 Tolman Cotton
1 Radagast the Brown
1 Bilbo Baggins Aged Ringbearer
1 Farmer Maggot Hobbit of The Marish
1 Rosie Cotton, Hobbiton Lass
1 Tom Bombadil
1 Bounder
1 Frodo Gamgee, Son of Samwise
1 The Gaffer, Master Gardener
1 Merry’s Dagger
4 Hobbit Sword
1 Sting Weapon of Heritage
1 Salt From the Shire
1 There and Back Again
3 G for Grand
3 A Promise
1 Fates Entwined
2 Stone Trolls
1 Little Golden Flower
1 Simple Living
3 Sudden Fury
1 Narrow Escape
1 Hobbit Intuition
2 Concerning Hobbits
Adventure Deck
Green Dragon Inn
Valley of the Silverlode
Trollshaw Forest
Cahras Galadhon
Chamber of Mazarbul
Neekerbreekers Bog
Woody End
Buckland Homestead
The Angle
I pair this deck with Enduring Nazgul Corruption so that my bid of three or four will win unless someone decides to put their neck on the block and bid’s 3-5,
Decks that my Hobbits can face easily:
Swarm: Frodo is normally at least 10 strength and with Sudden Fury and Hobbit pumpage can be more so it is hard to kill Frodo, also even if Frodo is killed I can still make Sam the ringbearer.
Archery: The high vitality of my hobbits makes archery almost worthless. Most of the Hobbits have 4 vitality and with Little Golden Flower they can have more. I can also heal with Fates Entwined, Simple Living, Unharmed, or The Gaffer.
Beatdown: Sam’s huge strength and a fair average strength with G for Grand means the Hobbits can win some skimishs. And if a Hobbit loses a skirmish, 3x Sudden Fury means that next time you have a +3 pump.
Corruption: with Bilbo aged ring bearer, Sting, Weapon of Heritage on Sam, and Tom Bombadil, corrupting my Frodo can be extremely difficult.
Possible weaknesses of this deck:
Ninja Gollum. direct wounding could kill Sam, and Shelob, Her ladyship could prevent Sam from skirmishing or Bilbo from removing burdens.
Direct wounding decks or Fierce in Despair corsairs.(once sam dies I lose my best companion and the strength bonus from A Promise goes away)
There you have it, an overview of all the Sams and a Deck fitted around making my favorite Sam huge.
I hope you enjoyed my article,
Sickofpalantirs |
Last edited by sickofpalantirs on Sun Jul 23, 2006 7:16 am; edited 7 times in total Sop's haves/ top wants
(mm)"SoP: you will always be the Official CC Spammer in my heart"
"DáinIronfoot"
Spammers really are amazing creatures. You can learn all there is to know about their ways in a month. And yet, after a hundred years, they can still surprise you.  |
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| sickofpalantirs |
![]() Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:16 pm |
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Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 7750
Location: somwhere, over the rainbow way up high. There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.
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| cobra why arent’ why paragraph spaces working? I have made every one a space but it isn’t working? what should i do? people please don’t rate this low becasue of spacing I can’t fix it. |
Sop's haves/ top wants
(mm)"SoP: you will always be the Official CC Spammer in my heart"
"DáinIronfoot"
Spammers really are amazing creatures. You can learn all there is to know about their ways in a month. And yet, after a hundred years, they can still surprise you. |
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| PorterTroll |
![]() Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:52 pm |
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Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 1193
Location: not sure yet
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| why 2x stone trolls? it seems like a useless card unless your facing trolls or uruk-hai, i would remove it and put in another sudden fury and fates entwined |
"Don't be a Douche, Stop Piracy!"~Tenacious D
"One of my movies was called "True Lies." It's what the Democrats should have called their convention."~Arnold Schwarzenegger |
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| Pipeweed |
![]() Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 10:15 pm |
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Joined: 14 Jun 2006
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Location: Earth (I think)
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| bobtheorc |
![]() Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 10:20 pm |
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Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 1218
Location: Wow, its hot in Iowa
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| Pipeweed |
![]() Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 10:21 pm |
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| CarpeGuitarrem |
![]() Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 10:21 pm |
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Joined: 07 Apr 2006
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Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
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A good article, Merry’s Dagger is basically just as good as Hobbit Sword.
I like that examination of the power of Sam, Great Elf Warrior...why not limit the deck to him? As it is, the article feels like two mashed into one. One good article would be: The Many Sams. Another good article would be: Sam, Great Elf Warrior. |
| "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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| PorterTroll |
![]() Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 10:23 pm |
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| yes, but what im saying is that stone trolls is utterly useless and just takes up deck space unless you can spot bilbo and if your playing against uruk-hai or trolls. |
"Don't be a Douche, Stop Piracy!"~Tenacious D
"One of my movies was called "True Lies." It's what the Democrats should have called their convention."~Arnold Schwarzenegger |
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| CarpeGuitarrem |
![]() Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 10:27 pm |
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Joined: 07 Apr 2006
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Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
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Look who’s talking about not facing trolls!
But I agree, very few decks pack Uruk-Hai any more. Although Trolls still exist. But you really don’t want to be playing them! |
| "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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| Pipeweed |
![]() Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:53 pm |
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Forum index » Lord of the Rings TCG » LOTR TCG Strategy Article Contest
That card is evil. His hobbits do lose a lot..except Sam of course.