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| OneFathom |
![]() Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 7:20 am |
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Joined: 03 Dec 2006
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--- description ---
An "Expanded" Solution to the Gandalf Ring-Bearer decktype involving the "Barliman Butterbur machine gun."
--- end description ---
My first strategy article on the Cobra Cards site. We’ll just have to play this one by ear. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. So without further ado...
Gandalf.
One of the most beloved and revered characters in the history of Middle-Earth and in the Lord of the Rings, Trading Card game. My favorite character by far. The widely discussed, Gandalf, Bearer of Obligation, however, leaves something to be desired. Even before the release of the Bloodlines set a while ago, there was much anticipation as to whether Decipher would break the bank and make a Gandalf ring-bearer. And while Gandalf himself didn’t want any part of it in the movie, he still gets his chance in the trading card game. I thought I’d try my hand at constructing a deck that might not win too often, but with a unique support system, would allow Mr. Stormcrow to keep the ring safe, if not secret as well.
The big problem with Gandalf, Bearer of Obligation is the tough choice of having either to discard 2 Gandalf-culture cards from hand or add 3 burdens. With a base-resistance of 5, tack on an additional 2 resistance to start off with The One-Ring, The Ring of Rings Gandalf still isn’t in safe territory. Adding burdens is really out the question despite having a trusty sidekick in Jarnsmid, Barding Emissary. This inevitably leads the free-people’s player to discard two valuable Gandalf-culture cards every time he or she moves. While adding three burdens certainly isn’t a wise decision, it doesn’t seem to make much sense either turning your free-peoples cards into waste just to play with a Gandalf ring-bearer.
So I came up with a solution to this dilemma...albeit an unlikely solution.
Card recursion is a much more viable alternative to discarding cards one
hasn’t yet used.
This is where "the man" comes in. Drum roll please...if just one person actually gives a drum roll while reading this article, then I’ve done my job.
Cutting to the chase now, here he is...
Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor
Mr. Mutton Chops here allows the free-peoples player to take a Gandalf event into hand from the discard pile with a simple exertion. Here’s the catch...at most you’d be able to exert him four times during the game assuming you had four copies of him in your deck, and four times certainly isn’t enough. Besides, you need TWO Gandalf-culture cards to discard before moving. This is where the 2nd piece of the puzzle comes into play.
No need for a drum roll this time.
Ok ok ok...another drum roll. Fine!
Rohirrim Scout!
Um...I’m sorry. Did you say Rohirrim Scout?? What is that useless companion doing in a Gandalf Ring-Bearer strategy??
All in good time, grasshopper. All in good time.
With the Scout’s ability, as you can see from the link to his card, he allows the FP’s player to spot a Rohan-culture possession, and during the Regroup phase he can exert himself to return that possession to his or her hand. Did I mention he’s VALIANT??? That’s right, 5 strength and valiant...bring it on!
So now we have established Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor as a key ingredient in this strategy as well as the Rohirrim Scout, but the glue that makes this strat stick is the one...the only...
Brego!!
That’s right! In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Brego can be played on any man, not just Rohan characters. So during the fellowship phase, play a Barliman and then exert him to take a Gandalf event into hand. Following that, play Brego on Barliman, effectively healing him and allowing you to take another Gandalf-culture event into hand giving you the 2 cards you’ve already discarded to discard again, leaving you’re current hand relatively untouched except for the cards you just played. You can even use those events instead and ditch something else or you could add the burdens which I wouldn’t recommend unless you’re really up against a wall, but if the situation calls for it...
Anyways, that’s the strategy. Barliman for 1, Brego to heal, Barliman again.
Thank you sir, may I have another?
Now during the regroup phase, after you’ve moved, obviously, you exert the Rohirrim Scout to return Brego to your hand. Once your next Fellowship phase comes rolling around, you play a Barliman to heal Barliman, exert, then play the Brego and exert again...and again...and again. Hence the name "Barliman Butterbur machine gun."
You might be thinking to yourself: "Ok, well I only have so many Barlimans in my deck...what then?"
Toss in some Fireworks to keep recycling "Mutton Chops" and you’re all set.
That’s the basic premise of the strategy, and while you could just play Gandalf, Bearer of Obligation in a strictly Gandalf-culture deck, this is an alternative to those players who like thinking out of the box, and don’t always like going with the status quo.
Here’s what a preliminary FP side might look like:
Like I said, it’s more for fun than anything else, but who wants their rear-end kicked when playing any deck? Here are a few revisions that might make this a bit more viable...
Problems brought to my attention thus far:
*More burden removal*
At 38 cards, I think it’s more important to start dropping cards rather than adding them.
More Naryas and Mighty Steeds are a possibility, but with only 1 Jarnsmid I may have to drop in A Wizard Is Never Late to sub for something else.
*Ally protection*
Seeing it does revolve around an ally, Tower Assassin would effectively assassinate him. Terrible and Evil is an option. In an expanded tournament, allies are still quite formidable as well as those cards which take out allies. Fury of the White Rider is an option too, assuming there is pool still remaining, 3 to be exact. That could work, especially with Pallando.
*The ability to be swarmed*
Firefoot makes Eomer defender +1, but that’s my only companion who take take on more than one minion. Aragorn, Ranger of the North is always good. I could easily switch out a couple of the companions to accomodate the need of warding of a potential swarm. O Elbereth! Gilthoniel! could be used to soup up Gandalf a bit more as well. Flaming Brand was mentioned as well, I suppose I could throw one in. I could actually only use 1 seeing the card is restricted to one per deck in Expanded format.
Let’s take a look at a revised decklist now after suggestions.
***38 cards***
Gandalf, Bearer of Obligation
The One Ring, The Ring of Rings
Eomer, Third Marshall of Riddermark *starting*
Rohirrim Scout X 2 *1 starting*
Jarnsmid, Barding Emissary
Erland, Dale Counselor
Aragorn, Ranger of the North
Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor X 4
Pallando, Far-travelling One X 2
Brego X 2
Firefoot
Eomer’s Spear
Glamdring, Foe Hammer
Shadowfax, Unequaled Steed
Narya
Gandalf’s Hat
Armor X 3
Simbelmyne X 3
Fireworks X 3
Servant of the Secret Fire X 4
Fury of the White Rider X 2
Have Patience X 2
Deep In Thought
Card breakdown:
*Companions*
Eomer, Third Marshal of Riddermark: A solid starting companion along side the Rohirrim Scout is a safe bet. I just wanted to add the meat and potatoes for Eomer so I could rely on him being a main fighter with Servant of the Secret Fire to back him up.
Rohirrim Scout: One of the staples of the deck despite his low strength. I would highly suggest minimizing the number of skirmishes for this companion due to his low strength.
Jarnsmid, Barding Emissary: Now after the suggestion of Gandalf’s Hat was brought to my attention, I was thinking double moving might be more of a possibility. Adding the two burdens to remove all the pool during the regroup phase and then peeling them back off Gandalf during the skirmish phase is doable. But what choice do you make when double moving with Gandalf’s text? Adding 3 burdens isn’t a good idea, so you’ll have to
discard 2 more Gandalf cards from hand. The solution to that...
Erland, Dale Counselor: Erland can exert himself during the skirmish phase to retrieve up to 2 Gandalf-culture skirmish events which you can either use or save for the double move discard. Healing is an issue with this deck I’ll need to address. Possibly Strength of Spirit to combat the exertions?
Aragorn, Ranger of the North: Along with Firefoot, Aragorn helps combat
a potential swarm. Seeing the Rohirrim Scout, Jarnsmid, Barding Emissary and Erland all have very low strength, Aragorn’s maneuver ability can help take the load off the weaklings so they can save their vitality for the skirmish and regroup phase.
*Allies/Followers*
Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor: Another staple of this deck strategy. Tower Assassin and Their Power Is In Terror can easily take this guy out especially when he’ll be exhausted all the time, but Fury of the White Rider can counter the Tower Assassin. If Their Power Is In Terror is played, just do the best you can without him. It’s not the end of the world.
Pallando, Far-travelling One: Pallando actually has 3 great abilities for this
strategy. The first, obviously, being the condition removal. The second, the strength bonus. The third, the addition of 2 twilight before maneuver events and maneuver special abilities can be played. This can help both Fury of the White Rider and Deep In Thought.
*Possessions*
Brego: The horse used for healing Barliman or any other character in this deck. It should primarily be used for Barliman to keep him healthy, but can be used on anyone.
Firefoot: Anti-swarm and to protect the weaklings (Jarnsmid, Erland, Rohirrim Scout)
Eomer’s Spear: Simple strength bonus for a main fighter
Glamdring, Foe-hammer: Good burden removal and strength bonus for Gandalf.
Shadowfax, Unequaled Steed: Resistance boost and wound preventer for Gandalf. Seeing he’ll be a main fighter, his burdens can be removed with Narya, Jarnsmid or Glamdring.
Narya: Burden removal and vitality boost
Gandalf’s Hat: Just in case a double move is an option
Armor: Should be used for Eomer, Aragorn and Jarnsmid for sure. Keep the wounds to a minimum during the skirmish phase.
*Events*
Simbelmyne: To fetch any Rohan possession or character quickly, preferrably for Brego.
Fireworks: To recycle Barlimans into the deck primarily, but also for any other Gandalf-culture cards.
Servant of the Secret Fire: A wonderful skirmish event that never goes out of style.
Fury of the White Rider: This card is used for ally protection against
Tower Assassin or any other pesky minion. Although you have to spot 3 twilight in order to play it, Pallando can help by adding 2 when you transfer it to a companion.
Have Patience: Healing
Deep In Thought: If played after a Pallando transfer or a Fury of the White Rider, this card can do damage.
As far as matchups are concerned, that is still up for discussion.
Thanks for the suggestions so far, I hope these revisions make it a bit more appealing. Check cha check check check check it out!
I tried to make the fellowship somewhat resilient. Just your solid Rohan with a little magic mixed in. Sprinkled in a little Pallando for condition removal with the Deep In Thought for surprise just in case you can spot 4 twilight after you transfer. I would suggest going second so you can dump Fireworks, SotSF or Deep In Thought from your hand early and then pick them back up to dump again once it is your FP turn.
Any suggestions are welcome, constructive criticism is always appreciated! Thanks for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it!
Colin McAvoy (aka OneFathom) |
| Last edited by OneFathom on Wed Mar 07, 2007 2:30 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| Anonymous Prodigy |
![]() Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:00 am |
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Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 4197
Location: United States
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Armory could also be used to pull back  possessions, and Return To Us would be helpful in retrieving those discarded  events. Also, I believe that you would need a couple more copies of Brego. This deck also seems highly vulnerable to a swarm deck; perhaps include a copy or two of Gandalf’s Hat to clear the twilight pool.
The cycle with Brego and Barliman is functional, but the only purpose that it serves is to keep Gandalf from being self-corrupted. The deck also looks as if it would clog easily, and the article was a little short. I will wait to vote, but right now I would give it a 3.  |
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| NBarden |
![]() Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:29 am |
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Joined: 28 Dec 2006
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Nice article, it looks decent but I doubt its very playable. First off, you need several copies of Narya, probably 4 to ensure that you draw it. A Gandalf ring-bearer deck usually uses Jarnsmid, Barding Emissary and Mighty Steed and a Flaming Brand (for Jarnsmid), to peel off burdens.
Oh, and the whole deck relies on an ally, one Tower Assassin should solve the problem, or a couple copies of their Power is in terror. |
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| OneFathom |
![]() Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:20 pm |
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| see primary deck list above! |
| Last edited by OneFathom on Wed Mar 07, 2007 2:33 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| macheteman |
![]() Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:11 pm |
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Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 1200
Location: The Jungle
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you should fix your original post with the changes you made.
overall i don’t think this deck will work very well. each time you move you have to discard 2 cards from hand. your combo goes like this. regroup: bring brego into hand. fellowship: exert barlaman to take a event into hand, play brego, and exert barlaman again. if you don’t have a copy of barlaman in hand, you can’t get any more cards into hand. then you move, and those cards are discarded. so you pretty much have to take fellowship events into hand. this leaves you extremely weak in the skirmish phase, because you have no pumpers, and only a few possessions to give them strength. |
Last edited by macheteman on Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:20 pm; edited 1 time in totalCheck out my best article The Utterly Corrupt Corruption,
If at first you don't succeed...Sky-diving isn't for you.
"Combat is dangerous. It tends to interupt your breathing process."
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| NBarden |
![]() Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:18 pm |
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| macheteman |
![]() Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:20 pm |
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Joined: 07 Dec 2006
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| oh, i see. i was reading it wrong. i’ll edit that out. |
Check out my best article The Utterly Corrupt Corruption,
If at first you don't succeed...Sky-diving isn't for you.
"Combat is dangerous. It tends to interupt your breathing process."
ROLF!!! |
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| NBarden |
![]() Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 4:11 pm |
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Joined: 28 Dec 2006
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I’m ready to vote. I was going to give it a 1-2 for playability, any deck revolving around allies is toast. But, you did a good job writing it and covering a lot of problems that I’m gonna give it a 3. You need to address keeping Barliman Butterbur alive, since just one splashed Tower Assassin would kill the deck dead. Anduin Confluence is easily beat, as you just play Barliman Back, but Their Power is in Terror or Tower Assassin would slaughter the deck.
3. |
-Trade With Me
Add the popcorn smiley to your sig, help it achieve world domination.
What if the hokey pokey really IS what its all about?
As I lay in bed staring at the stars last night, I thought to myself, "where the heck is the ceiling?"
Spotlight on....Sense of Obligation. |
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| bobtheorc |
![]() Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:00 pm |
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Joined: 19 Mar 2006
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Location: Wow, its hot in Iowa
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Good job OneFathom.
It looks like you fixed whatever problems you had.
4 from me.
As stated before the deck isn’t great, but if articles could only be written about tier 1 decks, well, there wouldn’t be much variety among articles now would there?
Good job thinking up that Rohhirim Scout combo. |
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| OneFathom |
![]() Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 6:25 pm |
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| Ouch! A 1 or 2 for playability? Dang, I don’t think the strategy stinks that much, but I appreciate the feedback. I think Tower Assassin was thoroughly covered with the use of Fury of the White Rider. Do you think I should switch that to Terrible and Evil instead for the guaranteed protection? Also, Anduin Confluence only discards allies. Playing with 4 copies of Barliman plus Fireworks should give me plenty of chances to play him again, wouldn’t you think? Killing him off is one thing, but having him discarded once, wouldn’t be all that bad. It definitely wouldn’t be the end of the world, that’s for sure. Now if I went 2nd, that problem could be handled to a certain extent because I would be the one playing the sites, but site manipulation is huge anyway so a couple copies of Traveled Leader probably wouldn’t hurt anybody. I’d just have to figure out what to take out to put 2 or so in? Maybe 3? |
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