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Total Votes : 3 |
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| TheShyzle |
![]() Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 1:15 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2006
Posts: 289
Location: Grand Blanc, MI
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--- description ---
Using Refuge to it’s fullest potential.
--- end description ---
By now I think most of us have seen the basic Refuge decks paired with Rohan and a spash of Gondor. This is obviously a good combination since it is placing high in Online tournaments. Not to mention, a Refuge deck took 1st a worlds this year (although I have not seen the decklist as of yet). Building a deck around one card seems to be a problem, so I looked through my binders to try and find some other cards that would pair well with a deck full of companions and here’s what I came up with.
Deck List
Ring Bearer:
Frodo Resolute Hobbit
The One Ring Such a Weight to Carry
Starting Fellowship:
Glorfindel Revealed in Wrath
Arwen Staunch Defender
Smeagol Always Helps
Freeps Side
Companions:
Arwen Staunch Defender x2
Glorfindel Revealed in Wrath
Smeagol Always Helps
Legolas Fearless Marksman x2
Elrond Witness to History x2
Gil-Galad Elven High King
Sam Great Elf Warrior
Gandalf Leader of the Company x4
Radagast The Brown
Possesions:
Sting Bane of the Eight Legs
Events:
Seclusion x3
Final Shot x2
Inspiration x4
Life of the Eldar x2
One Good Turn Deserves Another
Still Far Ahead x2
Where Shall We Go x3
Conditions:
Refuge x3
Shadow Side
Minions:
Black Rider x4
The Witch King Captain of the Nine Riders x3
Ulaire Enquea Sixth of the Nine Riders x3
Ulaire Attea Black Predator
Ulaire Toldea Black Shadow x3
Ulaire Nelya Third of the Nine Riders x3
Ulaire Lemenya Assailing Minion
Ulaire Otsea Thrall of the One
Ulaire Cantea Black Assassin
Ulaire Nertea Thrall of the One x2
Events:
Dark Approach x4
Conditions:
Out of Sight and Shot
Hatred Stirred x2
Moving This Way x3
Lost in the Woods x4
Site Path
Buckland Homestead
Woody End
The Angle
Hill of Sight
Caras Galadhon
Osgiliath Reclaimed
Trollshaw Forest
Heights of Isengard
Crossroads of the Fallen Kings
Card Choices
Refuge Being a "Refuge" deck, this is obviously one of the key cards. This card makes any Fellowship phase a mini sanctuary and also provides for some great cycling.
Life of the Eldar Seriously, has anyone ever used this card? This card helps with double moving. You can play an elf that you have multiple copies of, let them get beat up, and then discard them so you can play them again later in the game. Since I’ve had 4 copies of it rotting in a binder, you have to use it sometime right? 
Inspiration This card just fits in this deck. Your companions don’t need to be healed and you have a hand full of them that get inspired and win some skirmishes. Or if you don’t win the skirmish, at least they survive long enough to get discarded for a net of 3 cards with Life of the Eldar.
Where Shall We Go This card rocks with Smeagol Always Helps. Sauron, Shelob, Castamir of Umbar, Witch King, and the likes hit the table only to be slain by the poor wretch himself. Oh, the humilliation!  This card also provides some good cycling.
One Good Turn Deserves Another and Still Far Ahead A little site path control never hurt anyone and it helps to get some forests out to set up your shadow cards Lost in the Woods and Dark Approach. If you are moving to your opponents site and it’s not something you like then just turn the tide.
Seclusion This is an obvious choice for any elf deck.
Sam Great Elf Warrior He is here simply to do the ring toss if the need should arise.
Legolas Fearless Marksman This guy is no Greenleaf, but in a standard setting he’s not too bad. Also good for cycling.
Elrond Witness to History Arwen’s daddy can hold his own on the battlefield as well as get back the Life of the Eldar. He can also retrieve an elf you might want to play for the 3rd time. They are immortal afterall, so lets start acking like it!
Arwen Staunch Defender I put her in for the forests, but it’s kind of a parallel theme with the book and the movie having her and Glorfindel helping poor Frodo to get to Rivendel. Plus she’s hot. (Not as hot as my wife.)
Gandalf Leader of the Company and Radagast The Brown Extra strength from Gandy and the possibility of a 3 hop are good, but they are mostly here just for Inspiration. Thats why there is not a huge Gandalf Package in the deck.
Sting Bane of the Eight Legs I just wanted to get a picture of Peter Jackson’s hand into the deck somehow, and a little help for Frodo never hurts.
With all that said, let’s move on to the shadow. If you’ve notice there is one of each of the Nine Nazgul included it’s mearly to inspire fear in the hearts of all who oppose you.  (And to keep you from getting hand clogged by having too many unique minions.) This is a pretty straight forward Forest Nazgul shadow, so to keep this short and sweet I will not go into a lot of detail on card choices. I will hit on some of the majors.
Moving This Way This card is great for cycling out doubles of unique Nazzies. It also makes for a very interesting site nine for your opponent if they try to make a double or triple move. You will have a fist full of Nazgul to plop down. Ouchy!
Ulaire Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders He is critical for getting your forests out and pulling off some site changing tricks like playing Buckland Homestead, blowing up a few conditions, and replacing it again with a forest of choice only to have it again for later use. Nice!
Ulaire Toldea Black Shadow You can play him with a Dark approach and get it back to use again for another hooded friend to join him at low budget cost.
Lost in the Woods Makes an average Nazgul an ugly beast once you have a few forests in play. We are all too proud to stop and ask for directions once we get lost, so it can only get worse the farther we go right? 
Out of Sight and Shot Get one more Gul out when you need him the most and the exertions are an added bonus.
The Witch King Captain of the Nine Riders He’s free and 14 Fierce. Gotta have it.
Matchups
I am only going to include the worst match-ups for both sides. If you can beat them then no worries. 
Freeps side is not good against:
Good Orc Corruption
Turbo Nazgul Corruption
Shadow side is not good against:
Elf Eowyn
Shadowplay
Strategy
I think that the card choice descriptions are going to help expain most of the strategy here, but I will give the low down.
Bid 2 go second, play forests and lots of Nazgul, put Lost in the woods on thier big guys, blow up conditions with Buckland Homestead, cycle uneeded Nazgul with Moving this way and have fun with it. Freeps, play companions, heal companions with refuge, survive or win skirmishes with Inspiration, play your sites with Still Far Ahead and One Good Turn Deserves Another, replay discarded companions after you sack them with Life of the Eldar, and beat the big uglies with Smeagol Always Helps and Where Shall We Go.
In conclusion, what I have tried to do with this deck is take something good and make it unique by adding the unexpected (freeps mostly). Please remember that I did not major in English, nor have I ever written an article so be kind, play the game we love, and have fun!
Thanks for reading 
Mike
Note: No animals were killed during the production of this article, save one cricket in my basement. |
| Last edited by TheShyzle on Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:34 pm; edited 6 times in total |
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| Felipe Musco |
![]() Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 1:32 pm |
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Joined: 18 May 2006
Posts: 2434
Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
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| I think Swarms would mean trouble for you, since you don’t have that much wounding and pumps for Frodo. Is it? |
| I don't like YOU. |
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| TheShyzle |
![]() Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:08 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2006
Posts: 289
Location: Grand Blanc, MI
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| Felipe, Inspiration is a pump for Frodo, Sam is there as he promised and you can heal Frodo with Refuge, not to mention the fact that I have 15 companions. Maybe I’m not sure what you are trying to say, but thanks for your comments. |
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| Gagnut |
![]() Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 3:10 pm |
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Joined: 14 Mar 2006
Posts: 846
Location: Ames, Iowa
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| Hmm, interesting deck, I would say one of the biggest things about this strategy is that with all those companions, it makes less room for other cards, also, Merry and Pippen are beasts at discarding. Don’t forget them. But I like that this deck can get out the good companions when you need them, and they accually do something. I’ll give a 4. |
| I don't have an avatar, I don't have a sig, my posts speak for themselves. |
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| elf lvr |
![]() Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 4:00 pm |
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Joined: 13 Jun 2006
Posts: 3065
Location: Rivendell
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Rotting rares, arwen being hot, and peter jackson’s hand. Who couldn’t love this deck? 
Looks like a pretty good strategy. Only a couple of minor nitpicks, I suppose. With all those companion’s do you think you’ll be adding a lot of twilight? So long as you think you’re companions will be up to the challenge I’m sure they will be facing.
True, refuge is great for healing, but if I was going to play a deck in a tourney, I sure as heck wouldn’t run a beatdown deck, I’d rather go corruption all the way. And so would many other people. It seems that your deck might crumble under that. Or at least have a really tough game. Swarms might not be a big problem for one or two sites, but the mark of a good swarms deck is swarming over and over again. But with legolas, sam, and just plain having nine companions, that might not be too big a worry.
Minor spelling errors.
Looks like a good deck, and good explaination of the strategy. I will wait before voting, but I think a I’ll be giving it a 4 unless something happens. |
Happy Hunting! Elf Lvr
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| TheShyzle |
![]() Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:47 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2006
Posts: 289
Location: Grand Blanc, MI
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| sickofpalantirs |
![]() Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 7:58 am |
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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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good article
thinking of making a deck focused around hot pic’s eh?
good article i really don’t have any nitpicks you get a 4 or 5 |
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