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| Grashopper |
![]() Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:58 am |
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Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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Location: Schalbruch, Germany
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--- description ---
A look at a version of a Noble Leaders deck fellowship built to cycle quickly and set up your Shadow. Part 1 of a 2-part series on Noble Leaders.
--- end description ---
Kings and Stewards: A look at Pre and Post Hunters Noble Leader Deck:
Part 1
Introduction
The release of the Hunters block will see the rotation of the Two Towers block, and that means key cards for several popular decks will be rotated. One popular deck that can maintain its effectiveness - and possibly even improve - with the release of the Hunters block is the Noble Leader deck. In this article, I’ll detail a version of a Noble Leader deck I use offline, and how that deck will change as Hunters comes. This is Part 1, which details a Noble Leader deck in the current standard format.
The Concept
First, I want to take a look at the card from which the deck gets its name: Noble Leaders (NL). NL lets you transfer tokens into a str +1 and dmg +1 pump in a 1:1 ratio, and allows you to add a token to it for each of the following you can spot when you play it: Boromir, Aragorn, Faramir, and Denethor. Thanks to Boromir, Bearer of Council, a player can actually start with all 4 of these companions on the table, using Aragorn, Strider; Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith; and Faramir, Prince of Ithilien. Starting with these 4 companions allows you to get maximum use out of NL from the very start. Alternately, you could start with Faramir, Captain of Gondor; Aragorn, Strider; and Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith, which is probably a stronger initial fellowship, considering that most minions are roaming until at least site 4 (taking advantage of Faramir’s +2 strength against roaming minions).
When choosing which Faramir to use, Prince of Ithilien provides more protection against swarms (with a possession, he is defender +1), while Captain of Gondor is better for against beatdown decks. With the prevalence of lurker swarm decks and because of his improved resistance, I chose to go with Prince of Ithilien for this deck, but you can adjust your deck based on your meta. Let’s look at our other companions for a second: Aragorn is a great companion and his 1 twilight cost is phenomenal for a companion of his abilities. Denethor is the ultimate in filtering and pulling the cards you need at site 3 for an effective march to Mt Doom.
Other Companions
When designing this deck, I was concerned with 2 main things. First, I wanted to keep the deck tight, and not go over 32 cards for each side. Second, I wanted to move fellowship cards through my hand quickly and set up my shadow as quickly as possible. I was pretty confident in my shadow’s ability to get a shadow kill eventually, so I just needed the fellowship to be able to survive as I move along the site path. So, how did I accomplish these goals? Read on!
Addressing cycling was among my priorities, and when conceiving this deck, I actually was looking for ways to get one specific companion into play and protected.. What companion am I talking about? None other than Isildur, Heir of Elendil. This companion helps you cycle extremely well by allowing you to draw a card when you reconcile. In addition, he can become quite the formidable fighting force if given the right opportunity, but also important is that the rest of the deck revolves around his own culture, and therefore he is able to be protected by his fellow companions. His main drawback is his varying resistance that encourages you to keep cards in your hand, but there’s another card from Bloodlines that can help with that as well: Elendil, High-king of Gondor. Elendil is simply a beast, coming into the fight at strength 8 and with 5 vitality, but his text is what separates him from the other Elendil (the Tall). He makes EVERY Gondorian companion resistance +1, including the Ring-bearer, Boromir. In addition, he has the ability to pump resistance, should you need that for some reason… More to follow on that. Elendil gives us 6 companions, but I’m looking to add one more: 4 copies of Gandalf, Leader of the Company. Gandalf is the ultimate utility companion adding strength to his fellow companions and opening doors for making our fellowship even stronger and we’ll be using his many talents.
Better than possessions...
With our fellowship set, let’s turn our attention to making them effective. Because we’re running a fairly tight deck, I want to make sure each card we add can be used in a timely manner, since we’re really looking at cycling for our shadow. Possessions and conditions are great for getting cards out of your hand quickly and easily, but with cards like Corsair Marauder, Buckland Homestead/Ulaire Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders, and even Mumak Rider, those possessions and conditions tend to get discarded before we can really even use them. So what isn’t as easily discarded that the Gondor Culture has plenty of?? Artifacts! Our first order of business is making our companions stronger, so in goes Anduril, Flame of the West. It makes Aragorn strength +2, vitality +1, and allows you to play sites 3 and 6 at will. Anduril was forged from the broken pieces of Narsil, Blade of the Faithful that also works well in this deck and can be effectively wielded by either Elendil (preferred) or Isildur. The wound protection built into Narsil can really allow these guys to keep fighting and be the last man standing (hopefully it doesn’t come to that). More important, though, is that Narsil can make its bearer up to strength +6!! In order to get there, though, we need more artifacts. So in goes 3 copies of Sapling of the White Tree. It adds to Narsil’s effectiveness AND adds in some wound protection. Very Nice! Our last artifact is aimed at improving our alternate Ring Bearer’s resistance, so we add in Scroll of Isildur, which adds up to 3 resistance to our RB. That gives us 6 artifacts, which maximizes the use of Narsil, which is what we were aiming for. For those keeping track at home, we also have now used up half of our allotted 32 cards limit...
Gotta have some Possessions...
Now that we have established our base of cards, what cards should we add now? We need cards that add utility and survivability and we basically have 2 cultures to choose from (Gandalf and Gondor). Getting the Ring-bearer to site 9 is the whole point of this crusade, so I’m going to add a couple of cards to add to his survivability. Specifically, Footman’s Armor. This card is the ultimate in overwhelming protection, as it turns every cards in your hand into a +2 strength pump if your Gondorian companion is about to be overwhelmed, which makes it a perfect addition for Boromir. Faramir needs a possession to activate his text, so I’m adding a Gondorian Blade, but Armor of the Citadel might be a good option too. Our last possession addition goes to Gandalf. Gandalf, in addition to be Mr. Utility, can wield Glamdring, Foe-hammer and add some strength as well as burden protection. Note that Glamdring, combined with Elendil’s text, also allows you to safely bid 1 at the start of the game and be able to still have 6+ resistance for your all of your companions. Why is having 6 resistance important? Read on!
What Conditions?
As it stands now, in region 2, Elendil should be out and should have a base strength between 11 and 15 strength, depending on how many artifacts have come out. That’s all well and good, but I want more! NL can pump Elendil, so that’s good, but there are some truly massive minions running around Middle Earth, and in my opinion Elendil should be able to take on any of them save Sauron without breaking a sweat. 15 strength lets him take on the Witch King, but I want more! I also want to take advantage of this version of Elendil’s improved resistance, so… In goes a card that improves the strength of all our companions: G for Grand. I like this card so much that it’s the only non-companion Free Peoples card in my deck that gets 4 copies. It’s worth it, as now Elendil can top out at an amazing 19 base strength, allowing him to smack down nearly any minion he faces, and can even challenge Sauron, given the right pumps. One final thing before moving on. Remember Elendil’s ability to pump a companion’s resistance by removing a token? If you’re just short of the needed 6 resistance to activate G for Grand, now you can turn that Noble Leader (or House of Healing) token into a +4 pump!
If Elendil is going to be winning skirmishes (and he is), it’d be nice if those wins got us something. So in goes 2 copies of King’s Legacy. This versatile card allows us make a companion strength +2 when Elendil wins a skirmish, or make a companion damage +1 when Aragorn wins a skirmish, or to heal a companion when Isildur wins a skirmish. This can really help when facing multiple large minions, as Elendil can essentially pump another companion to help them win their skirmish. Our last condition is there to maximize Denethor’s sanctuary ability, Houses of Healing. Pull it with Denethor at a sanctuary and you’re able to use his ability 4 times, which really helps set up your deck. Priority of which cards to pull should be Isildur, Elendil, Narsil, Anduril, Noble Leader, Footman Armer, and King Legacy in that order. We’re now standing at 27 cards, so we only have 5 spots left.
Additional Utility
Any deck these days needs some sort of condition removal, and the best splash for condition removal remains the Gandalf culture. I’ll add in a Pallando, Far-traveling One here to help with condition removal. Ideally, you would use Pallando on Gandalf to avoid the affect of putting him on a non-Gandalf culture companion, but in a pinch, use him on your strongest companion against a relatively weak minion to get rid of a pesky condition.
With 4 cards left, you can tailor the deck more to your needs, but I’m adding in 2 copies of Rally the Company, a great pump with high-resistance companions, and 2 copies of Traveled Leader because site control is so important these days.
Conclusion
There you have it. 32 cards and one powerhouse of a fellowship; Decklist is below. Thank you for your attention and for this adventure in deckbuilding. Join me in 2 weeks as I post the 2nd half of this article – The post-Hunters NL deck. Until then, cheers!
The Deck List
Ring-bearer:
Boromir, Bearer of Council
The One Ring, Answer to All Riddles
Starting:
Aragorn, Strider
Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith
Faramir, Prince of Ithilien
Free Peoples:
Aragorn, Strider
Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith
Faramir, Prince of Ithilien
Isildur, Heir of Elendil
Elendil, High-king of Gondor
Gandalf, Leader of the Company x 4
Narsil, Blade of the Faithful
Anduril, Flame of the West
Sapling of the White Tree x 3
Scroll of Isildur
Footman’s Armor
Gondorian Blade
Glamdring, Foe-hammer
G for Grand x 4
Noble Leaders x 2
King’s Legacy x 2
Houses of Healing
Rally the Company x 2
Traveled Leader x 2
Pallando, Far-traveling One |
Last edited by Grashopper on Wed Feb 22, 2006 2:11 am; edited 1 time in totalCheck out this Online Strategy TCG:
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| exarrkun |
![]() Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:41 am |
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Joined: 25 Jan 2006
Posts: 93
Location: Belgium
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great article 
(just a bit long...  ) |
a story that has a happy ending is a story that isn't over yet...
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| ingold55 |
![]() Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:17 pm |
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Joined: 10 Oct 2005
Posts: 1199
Location: Out on the front line
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| it was a good article! but i have to agree it is a long article. |
There is a power in this world beyond any of us, and Jesus is that power and The Savior.
 this is my attempt to look cool.
Trade list (Want Balrogs and Aragorns) |
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| Grashopper |
![]() Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 8:35 am |
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Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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Location: Schalbruch, Germany
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Thank you. Please, leave a comment if you do not rate it a 5. I am trying to improve my writing and would like to know what to do.
I understand it’s long, but I was trying to explain why EACH card was used and the thought process involved in building the deck. |
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| Cobra |
![]() Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 6:37 pm |
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Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 1202
Location: Austin, TX, USA
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Hey, the more info the better, as long as it’s on topic.
I’d suggest making the organization more clear at a glance -- bold section headings are my personal preference for long articles like this. That makes things more easily accessible for those short on time! |
| http://cobracards.com -- Web's best deals on Trading Card Games. |
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| Grashopper |
![]() Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 2:12 am |
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Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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Location: Schalbruch, Germany
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| Good idea, Conor. Topic Headers added to break it up a bit. |
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| Finlans |
![]() Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 5:12 am |
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Joined: 23 Feb 2006
Posts: 5
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Thanks! This was a good article. I think the lenght is just correct, any shorter and it would’ve said nothing. Building a deck is not about "add this, skip this" it’s about "consider this because of these reasons". 
I think I will try this deck in my offline league matches someday in the near future. What shadows would you reccomend using with it?
I have been toying with the idea of smeagol from BL and 4 x deagols to go with gondor men, perhaps of the discard to exert -denethor variant. Of course you would have to skip G for Grand from that type of deck. |
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| Grashopper |
![]() Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 9:29 am |
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Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 44
Location: Schalbruch, Germany
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Finlans wrote: I think I will try this deck in my offline league matches someday in the near future. What shadows would you reccomend using with it?
Finlans, thanks for the kudos!
In response to your question, I’ve run a handful of shadows paired with this. Most have been run to good effect, including Orc Lurkers w Cave Troll, Corsairs, and a build of Saruman & Uruks w his new staff and the Deceived wizards. This deck was specifically made to setup a shadow side, so just about any shadow you’re reasonably certain will slow your opponent down or kill them can benefit from this design. |
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| Cobra |
![]() Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 6:47 pm |
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Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 1202
Location: Austin, TX, USA
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| Congratulations to Grashopper! This article takes first place, and $25 store credit, in the February 2006 LOTR TCG Strategy Article Contest. |
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| Grashopper |
![]() Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 3:31 am |
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Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 44
Location: Schalbruch, Germany
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Cobra wrote: Congratulations to Grashopper! This article takes first place, and $25 store credit, in the February 2006 LOTR TCG Strategy Article Contest.
Woohoo! Thanks, Conor and thanks to everyone who voted! Look for my next article to be published late next week... |
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