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Pipeweed

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:24 pm

Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 1010 Location: Earth (I think)

--- description ---
Ever wanted to build a cheap deck, that is incredibly powerful, fun to play and has very few weaknesses? Try the Uruk Swarm/Bomb
--- end description ---

Since Shadows has come out, the new minion cultures have been all the rage. Evil Men offer awesome archery and wounding, and the Orcs offer great lurker swarms. For a little while the new Uruks were played, but then cast aside, and now rarely see play in standard or even expanded format, yet they are still a deadly shadow side, and can be used to take your opponent by surprise, with a little shadow I like to call the Uruk Bomb

Understanding the Uruk Bomb:

The Uruk bomb is largely based on playing a large number of damage +1 minions on minimal twilight, site after site. I play with Uruk Bomb frequently, and my opponents cannot seem to believe that I have the capability to drop the bomb again and again, but it is easily possible, and is fun to do at the same time.

Why Should I Play Uruk Bomb?

1. It is a cheap, yet extremely powerful Shadow side to build.
2. It is fun, game after game. It never grows old.
3. There is usually no general meta call for Uruks, so you can usually take your opponent by surprise.

Key Cards:

The Uruk Bomb relies almost completely off of minions, and can work very well against many decks due to the fact that it uses almost no conditions. Let’s analyze some minions that can be used very effectively in an Uruk Bomb deck:

Brawling uruk: This guy works wonders. It’s hilarious to see the looks on my opponent’s face when he realizes he cannot use his Cirdan or Greenleaf against my Uruks. It needs another minion though to insure that the companion will have resistance 5 or less.

Intimidating uruk: Here’s the final part of our little combo. Play him, spot a companion, and Brawling uruk will do the rest.

Lookout uruk: He’s a nice, easy to find minion, that can change your site to battleground which is key used with the next minion.

Invincible uruk: This guy is nice. He protects well against archery and direct wounding. He works very well with Lookout Uruk, as stated above.

Vigilant uruk: One of the key minions in any Uruk Bomb deck is the vigilant uruk. If your minions cannot take wounds because of Invincible Uruk, he becomes a tank when he is ready to fight.

Swarming uruk: This minion is not so much in for his ability, rather for his cost. A 3 cost minion is great when paired with the next minion on our list.
Uruk regular: Old uruks still work wonders, and the Regular is one of the best. He allows you to play minions for cheap or free, and is pretty cheap himself.

Uruk captain: The final minion that we will analyze is the Captain. He is great, and allows you to fetch another minion to secure a victory.

Example Deck:

Now, here is an example deck, and it is actually the deck that I play, and it has gone undefeated:

Shadow (36)

Brawling uruk x4
Lookout uruk x4
Vigilant uruk x4
Intimidating uruk x4
Swarming uruk x4
Uruk regular x4
Uruk captain x3
Invincible uruk x3
Lurtz, Servant of Isengard (FOTR) x2
Furious uruk x1
Greed
Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul
Saruman’s power

In addition to the minions that we analyzed, there are some other cards in here. Lurtz may seem odd, due to his large twilight cost, but a couple copies don’t hurt and have actually won me the game. Furious uruk is good, but only one copy is needed, as you can always fetch him back, and may only drop 1 bomb per game. Greed is the only condition in this deck, and is used to punish large fellowships, along with Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul. Saruman’s Power can be used to wipe the board, and it renders Dwarves useless.

This deck is for Expanded format, but can easily be modified for Standard.

Strategy:
The strategy on an Uruk Bomb deck is simple, which is another reason why it is a great shadow side to play. It usually works well with FP halves that set up fast, as it allows you to save your hand and build it up for the perfect bomb. When you are ready to drop the bomb, here is an realistic one and an example of how it could play out:

1 Uruk Regular
2 Vigilant Uruk
1 Uruk Captain
1 Brawling Uruk
1 Intimidating Uruk
1 Invincible Uruk
1-2 Other Uruks

Example: Your opponent has 5 companions in play. He plays no cards for

twilight and moves to your site seven. You play a site with a shadow cost of

. He adds

for the site,

for the region, and

for his companions. The pool now has

in it.

You play 1 Regular and 1 Captain leaving

in the pool. Use the captain to fetch another Regular leaving

in the pool. Use the

to play 1 Brawling Uruk. Exert 1 Regular to play 1 Intimidating Uruk for free, and you can exert the other Regular to play either 1 Intimidating Uruk or 1 Vigilant Uruk. You’ve used all the twilight, and now have 6 minions out succesfully swarming him. You could also drop the Intimidating Uruk to play an extra Vigilant Uruk for a more succesful swarm.

Game Over.

Weaknesses:

Discarding Minions: One of the biggest problems for this deck is any deck that will discard your minions before the skirmish.
Directed Exertions: Invincible Uruk will have no effect here if they are exerting your minions rather than wounding them.
Massive Archery: Massive archery can hurt pretty bad. Swarming Uruk and Invincible Uruk do help, but your minions still may die.

Conclusions:

As I have shown you, the Uruk Swarm/Bomb is an amazingly powerful deck that is easy to play, has very few weaknesses, and will be fun over and over again.

I hope that you enjoyed the article, and please review Very Happy

Pipeweed

Last edited by Pipeweed on Thu Aug 17, 2006 11:26 pm; edited 4 times in totalPipeweed's Haves/Wants: 100 NEW RARES!!
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Cycle Engine
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elf lvr

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:35 pm

Joined: 13 Jun 2006 Posts: 3065 Location: Rivendell

17 twilight? Thats a bit extreme. Possible, I will admit, but you almost have to have control of the site path to pull it off. How can you bomb multiple times? It seems like at least two uruk regular are needed for a swarm. That’s two swarms. Perhaps splashing some Goblin Runner, perhaps some backstabbers, and Hate and Anger works much better, I find. But each to his own, I suppose.

I’m sorry, but your article utterly failed to convince me of the power of this shadow side.

(Lurtz, however playable, is still very costly. You could use a fourth captain much better than him.)

Also, you mentioned nine minions on ten twilight in the title. No where in the article did you explain how this was possible. Nine minions, 17 twilight yes, but...

Happy Hunting! Elf Lvr
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Pipeweed

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:38 pm

Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 1010 Location: Earth (I think)

I can change the example to 10 twilight if you would like. I did it twice today on 10.

You also don’t need 2 Uruk Regular for a good swarm. I do it all the time with 1. Remember, the example is a ideal situation. You will note that in the article it says that it is an ideal bomb. You do not need 17 twilight by any means.

Last edited by Pipeweed on Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:40 pm; edited 1 time 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

elf lvr

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:40 pm

Joined: 13 Jun 2006 Posts: 3065 Location: Rivendell

Then show me the quick and easy version on 10 twilight. That would impress me so much more. I’m sorry if a swarm on 17 doesn’t exactly blow my mind...

Pipeweed

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:47 pm

Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 1010 Location: Earth (I think)

OK. I did one on 13. That is completely realistic in region 3 and is perfectly possible.

I can see why a swarm on 17 does not impress you, but the point is that all your minions are 8-9 strength or better and damage +1 Wink

Pipeweed'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

elf lvr

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:52 pm

Joined: 13 Jun 2006 Posts: 3065 Location: Rivendell

okay, not bad. I dont want to mess up your article’s thread by posting an entirely different decklist, but i will post it to the deck clinic. See what you think of MY uruk bomb (lovingly nicknamed nuclear uruks, for their ability to make one huge bomb, and rely on the fallout if need be).

The article was good, and explained the deck well, whether or not I’m a huge fan of your strategy. I give it a 4.

Pipeweed

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:54 pm

Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 1010 Location: Earth (I think)

Thanks EL

Each man to his own you could say, but I look forward to seeing your Nuclear Uruks Wink

Pipeweed'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

hblika

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 7:20 am

Joined: 20 Jul 2005 Posts: 287 Location: Norway

Pipeweed, can you explain how you manage to drop the bomb site after site, as you claim in the article? I’m also curious about what fellowship you pair this with. Since you have very little minion recursion apart from the captain.

What kind of decks have this shadow been successful against? I doubt the quality of your opponents decks, since it allows you to win even though you’re clogging your hand, and rely on a fair amount of twilight...

Apart from that, your article was well written, and has a good structure. Smile

I will wait to rate it though, until you have answered my questions.

I'm not stupid. I'm just unlucky when I'm thinking.

sickofpalantirs

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 7:32 am

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.

humm a pretty good article. it is cards not cars.( he played no cars is your typo)

i want to seehow you answer hblika’s questions

Sop's haves/ top wants Exclamation

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"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. Razz

Felipe Musco

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 10:10 am

Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil

Greed AND Ulaire Enquea is just overkill, I’d suggest you use 2 Enquea and dropping the Greed. I played this deck, and it worked fine like this. Also, since you "swarm", you could consider using Worry (and, of course, dropping Saruman’s Power), so you can use Evil Afoot (and this is why I suggested dropping Greed over Enquea, you can get HIM back, too). I played it like this, also using Uruk-hai Rampage, and it was a fairly good deck. Uruk Rear Guard seems to be missing, due to the battleground effects of the deck, and since you ARE using enquea, you can most likely forget about Invincible Uruk’s secondary ability, plus your minions are not THAT strong or high on vitality, so Broad-bladed Sword IS a possibility. Also, Troop of Uruk-hai is FANTASTIC with Uruk-hai Rampage and Worry.
If you don’t really care for format or X-Lists, Saruman, Keeper of Isengard is WAY better than swords, then... Wink

I don't like YOU.

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