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CarpeGuitarrem
Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 11:13 pm
Joined: 07 Apr 2006 Posts: 3361 Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
Frodo And Ring
The One Ring, Isildur’s Bane
Frodo, Old Bilbo’s Heir


Sites
[1]The Prancing Pony
[2]Midgewater Moors
[3]Rivendell Terrace
[4]Mithril Mine
[5]The Bridge of Khazad-dum
[6]Dimrill Dale
[7]Silverlode Banks
[8]Shores of Nen Hithoel
[9]Summit of Amon Hen

Fellowship (42)
Allies
2x Elrond, Lord of Rivendell
2x Ottar, Man of Laketown
2x Bounder

Companions
1x Aragorn, King in Exile
3x Gandalf, Friend of the Shirefolk
1x Gimli, Dwarf of Erebor
1x Legolas, Son Of Thranduil
2x Sam, Faithful Companion

Conditions
2x Shoulder to Shoulder

Events
2x An Able Guide
2x Curse Their Foul Feet!
3x Intimidate
3x Lost in Thought
2x Mysterious Wizard
3x Sentinels of Numenor
3x Servant of the Secret Fire

Possessions
2x Gandalf’s Staff
2x Gimli’s Battle Axe
2x Athelas
2x Flaming Brand

Shadow (42)
Conditions
3x Goblin Armory
3x Goblin Swarms
2x Relics of Moria
3x The Underdeeps of Moria
2x They Are Coming

Events
4x Host of Thousands

Minions
1x The Balrog, Flame of Udun
4x Goblin Runner
3x Goblin Scavengers
4x Goblin Scrabbler
3x Goblin Sneak
3x Goblin Wallcrawler
3x Moria Scout

Possessions
4x Goblin Scimitar

Here’s my shot at a Rainbow Freeps and Moria swarm. With the Freeps, it’s classic FOTR strategy: pull Aragorn, use Ottar and Elrond to cycle. Bounder is there in case of emergencies. Athelas should help to get rid of Blade Tip and/or Black Breath...although there’s not a lot of it.

On the Shadow...basic Moria swarm. Use those scimitars to draw cards, Goblin Runner to add twilight, combo Goblin Sneak with Underdeeps of Moria. Goblin Swarms, of course, to store your wonderful minons for a Site 9 swarm... Twisted Evil

So, whaddya think?
Last edited by CarpeGuitarrem on Mon Jan 22, 2007 12:51 am; edited 2 times in total"ok, change of plans. the Cobracards christmas party is coming to my house, and we’re gunna teach FM how to hunt." (mm)
Pippin
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:38 am
Joined: 04 Aug 2006 Posts: 268 Location: Colorado
What’s swarm? Confused
Cobra
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 1:48 am
Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 1202 Location: Austin, TX, USA
"Swarm" is a type of Shadow deck that aims to win by playing more minions than the fellowship can handle at once. A typical swarm deck will use card-drawing, hand extension, and/or twilight addition tricks to play more minions than there are companions, which means you get to assign the extra minions to the Ring-bearer for a good chance at overwhelming.
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Felipe Musco
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:06 am
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
I think Shoulder to Shoulder is not that great in this build, Might of Numenor being better for that purpose, and I also think you’re somewhat susceptible to swarms yourself. I suggest switching 2 copies of Gandalf for A Wizard is Never Late, so you can get Ottar, too, quicker. That means, you’ve got a one-card gap. I also suggest adding one more Servant of the Secret Fire, a third Might of Numenor and removing 3 An Able Guide (your Freeps add a lot of twilight anywa, this won’t help much). You should switch your Legolas to Legolas, Greenleaf, your Gimli is ok for cycling, so he should stay. You could add Sting and Glamdring for twilight removal, and for a little strength (note that Glamdring has no limit, unlike Sting), replacing Curse Their Foul Feet (if they are playing Orcs, it’s better anyway to don’t let them play those than discarding them, since their can be replayed anyway later, you’re just helping them set a better hand). Aragorn should become Aragorn, Ranger of the North (so he can take one for the team), and Intimidate should become Strength of Spirit (helps Gandalf’s Staff, Sting, Glamdring, Aragorn, Legolas AND Gimli). Might as well drop Gimli’s Battle Axe, Flaming Brand and Mysterious Wizard, add 2 more Athelas, one more A Wizard Is Never Late and Hugin, Emissary from Laketown (c’mon, elf lvr, flame me! Laughing ), so you can get back Might of Numenor, Servant or whatever you need. Also, you’re not even playing Bill the Pony, why that Sam? Drop one copy, and make the remaining either Sam, Son of Hamfast (so he can remove some burdens before taking one for the team), or use Sam, Proper Poet, so he can take TWO for the team Wink. Risk a Little Light can be great, but I think that MAYBE Galadriel, Lady of Light + Celeborn might be better. Yes, it’s true, you need BOTH out so they can heal Elrond for drawing 2 cards, and you ARE packing Ottar, so that would break the rule of 4, so that might not be a very good idea. I think, however, that Narya might be good, and also Betrayal of Isengard, since Saruman, Keeper of Isengard IS legal for Fellowship Block. If Narya proves to be not that necessary, maybe packing Armor might be, in case you face a lot of Uruks, since their Damage bonuses will give you quite a headache, and Defender +X won’t be THAT necessary. Or, you could also consider packing Secret Sentinels x2, so you can discard things like Relics of Moria, Goblin Swarms, Worry, Drawn to Its Power, Orc Bowmen, Under the Watching Eye and so forth.

I also have some ideas for your shadow, although it is already quite good. I’d suggest one more copy of Goblin Armory, and one less copy of Goblin Swarms, and maybe even dropping The Underdeeps of Moria to 1 (you shouldn’t play it unless opponents are NOT packing Condition discarding, or until you’re ready to pull off a Swarm). Cave Troll should become The Balrog, Flame of Udun (it helps swarms at site 5, allowing to stack some extra minions at Goblin Swarms, since they’ll be having to deal with the big guy). Moria Scout should have 4 copies, most Fellowship decks pack Elves, and he can take archery without dying, a rariry among Goblins. Scrabbler and Wallcrawler are simply not that great, and Scavengers DO need a fourth copy. Two copies of Bitter Hatred might come in handy for dealing with archery, and for the other 4 cards, Swarms NEED 2 copies of Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul, so you can keep their companion count low, or they’ll be sorry (you can disrupt an entire deck killing their key companion on Fellowship Block). If nothing else, Enquea can soak up some SERIOUS amount of archery. The other 2 cards should be one Ulaire Nertea, Keeper of Dol Guldur, for obvious reasons, and either a Scrabbler (discard The Tale of Gil-Galad and their Legolas will be dead before they know it! Twisted Evil ) or you could consider adding one more card to have 2x Threat of the Unknown (another good use for the Scout).
Well, that’s what I had to add, and as I said, they are only my opinions, if you think it won’t help, or if it disrupts the idea you initiallyhad a lot, feel free to ignore it.
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CarpeGuitarrem
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 7:46 pm
Joined: 07 Apr 2006 Posts: 3361 Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
Okay, thanks for the tips! I really don’t have a lot of experience with FOTR Rainbow decks. I’ll switch to Sam, Proper Poet, I think...just in case they pull a swarm on me.
"ok, change of plans. the Cobracards christmas party is coming to my house, and we’re gunna teach FM how to hunt." (mm)
Cobra
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:14 am
Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 1202 Location: Austin, TX, USA
I would suggest switching your Gimli and Aragorn out for Gimli, Son of Gloin and Aragorn, Ranger of the North. This gives you access to the very powerful card Trust Me As You Once Did, and Ranger of the North is very nice for swarm protection too. Very Happy

Also, if you’re going to play Elrond, Lord of Rivendell in Fellowship Block, you might as well run four copies. That way you draw him as early as possible to help with your setup. The spare copies won’t clog your hand, since you can pitch them to heal Elrond and draw an extra card.
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Felipe Musco
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:30 am
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
Actually, by experience, in Moria decks, two copies of Elrond on the FP side is enough, although 3 wouldn’t exactly hurt. I’d suggest switching his Gimli, too, but only that he WANTS to use The Underdeeps of Moria, so the other Gimli + Aragorn helps a lot pulling it off. If he decides to ditch the Underdeeps strategy, I’d suggest switching characters as Cobra suggested, but Trust Me As You Once Did is not really that necessary, although it’s a nice card.
I don't like YOU.
Merrick_Hale
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:35 pm
Joined: 13 Apr 2006 Posts: 445 Location: Austin, Texas
In fellowship block, Ulaire Nertea, Messenger of dol Guldur is one of the best and cheapest hand extension strategies against large fellowships. I would recommend adding two copies of him and probably dropping two of the scrabblers. I would probably add an Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul for additional large fellowship control and potentially add an Ancient Chieftain (this guy is HUGE when he is played right) or a Guard Commander to use up any pool that you have left.

One of the most solid cores for Moria is the following:
Moria Core (26)
4x Goblin Armory
2x They are Coming
2x Host of Thousands
4x Goblin Scimitar

4x Goblin Runner
3x Moria Scout
4x Goblin Scavengers

1x Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul
2x Ulaire Nertea, Messenger of Dol Guldur

This has the basic twilight generation (Goblin Armory, Goblin Scavengers, Goblin Scimitar), the ability to get back key minions from your discard pile and cycle your hand (Host of Thousands, They are Coming) and doesn’t leave you clogged if you draw the Host of thousands early and don’t have any minions in your discard pile. It also has large fellowship solutions which swarm has a hard time dealing with in the Nazgul.

This has the benefit of being customizable for a large number of different tricks, such as Underdeeps Swarm
2x The Underdeeps of Moria
4x Goblin Sneak

or Death by Isengard
1x Saruman’s Snows
2x Isengard Shaman
2x Isengard Warrior
1x Goblin Swarms


As for some of the comments that were made earlier, In my experience, the Balrog is very highly overrated at site 5. Yes, he can be pulled against practically any fellowship, but any fellowship that has had a chance to prepare will be able to easily get by him (Boromir, Lord of Gondor with Armor, Sam PP with 2x Hobbit Stealth, killing a Gimli, Dwarf of the Mountain Race because he was only in there for the site path control with one stealth etc...) It is generally better to leave the cave troll in since he can be played at any site and if you have him to play at 5, great.
Aaron Rhinehart
Rider of Rohan (retired)
DAgent #417 (retired)

This Incognito is a smooth operator - Lem0nhead
Felipe Musco
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:50 pm
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
I’m sorry to disagree, but I had a fast-cycling Fellowship, and I used the Balrog in my swarms AND Troll shadow (btw, I’m posting the decklist as soon as I can remember it, it was the first Troll deck I’ve ever seen, in Fellowship Block! Impossible? We’ll see about that). Of course, all you said is correct, and I wouldn’t recommend anyone to use him all by himself, so I used The Balrog’s Sword. Pretty neat, huh? Most Fellowships didn’t expect me to pull that off, so they were not ready to a Strength 20, fierce minion. But all by himself, specially when using the Goblin Sneak combo, he can be dropped.
I don't like YOU.
Merrick_Hale
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 3:12 pm
Joined: 13 Apr 2006 Posts: 445 Location: Austin, Texas
One of my biggest issues with the Balrog, aside from the fact that he is so easy to get around, is the fact that he is a one site minion that does nothing to deter a double. If I can kill all of your orcs, I have a practically free double into 6 since he doesn’t follow, sword or not. A 20 strength minion usually just means that I can’t put him on Aragorn, but that is about it. Now, if I have been able to get out a cave troll and he hasn’t been killed, there is something since he will stick around for the double. In my experience (not just opinion) a Balrog is far too easy to get around and doesn’t usually justify the card slot or twilight cost.

Your statement about the Sneak combo is not accurate for all situations. It is quite possible to have him undroppable unless you can get a Goblin Runner. There are lots of ways to make the Twilight cost of the site low enough that even with the twilight cost of the companions, with no pool when the fellowship moves, you are only given 7 twilight.

Example:
Frodo, Sam, A Talent for not Being Seen, Ranger with No Stranger = 7 Twilight
Frodo, Ranger with No Stranger = 7
Frodo, Sam, Gimli, A Talent = 6

Granted these fellowships generally can’t run, but they are usually paried with a shadow kill strategy and fellowship choke that will hamper any kind of swarm since it is difficult to cycle.
Aaron Rhinehart
Rider of Rohan (retired)
DAgent #417 (retired)

This Incognito is a smooth operator - Lem0nhead

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