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Total Votes : 11 |
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| AdultLink |
![]() Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:43 pm |
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Joined: 15 Dec 2005
Posts: 253
Location: Hyrule
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--- description ---
A post-Hunters example of upgrading an Elf deck to Standard format.
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Hunters is almost here. I wish it had been here a few months ago; But nevertheless, it’s coming! The Hunters expansion is loaded with goodies, but aside from that it also triggers a complete change in the Standard Format. Yup, as soon as Hunters flows into the game enviroment, all Towers cards are history. Ironic, too, how Expanded Format expands with each set, but Standard Format stays with a standard number of sets.
The switch is going to really hurt some cultures, especially Raider, Isengard, Sauron, and the other shadow cultures that aren’t given new cards in Hunters. Dunland is wiped off the table. But a lot of the Free Peoples culture stategies will be hit too. The Elves had a lot of good cards in Towers Block, and a lot of the old strategies will have to change to incorporate the new Standard Format. Let’s look at a fairly typical pre-War of the Ring elf deck.
Free Peoples: 32
Starting Fellowship
Galadriel, Bearer of Wisdom
The One Ring, Answer to All Riddles
Legolas, Greenleaf
Lorien Swordsman
Lorien Swordsman x3
Cirdan, The Shipwright
Gil-Galad, Elven High King
Elven Sword x4
Elven Bow x4
Nenya, Ring of Adamant
Aiglos
Phial of Galadriel
Company of Archers x2
Break the Charge x2
Valor x3
Feathered x2
Blades Drawn x4
Shadow Between
The basic strategy in the deck is to get wounded minions skirmishing your companions. They’ll be quickly cut down. Blades Drawn with a lorien swordsman is pretty intimidating. Company of Archers provides condition protection, Shadow Between and Nenya offer a bit of healing. Pretty fun to play. Fast forward in time for a bit, and you end up with the release of Hunters and the banning of cards from sets 1-6 in Standard Format. Dang.
The thing with Standard is that decks have to evolve with the changing card pool. We can no longer have a deck like the one above, but we can still use the basic concept of elves with wounded minions to create an updated deck. Check out what I did.
Standard Format Revision (after the release of Hunters)
Free Peoples: 32
Starting Fellowship
Galadriel, Bearer of Wisdom
The One Ring, The Ring of Rings
Legolas, of the Grey Company
Arwen, Queen of Elves and Men
Celeborn, The Wise
Elrond, Witness to History x2
Gil-Galad, Elven High King x2
Elven Bow x4
Sword of the Fallen x2
Asfaloth, Elven Steed
Hadafang
City of the Trees x3
Glimpse of Fate x2
Take up the Bow
Elven Marksmanship x2
Seclusion
Still Needed x3
Vilya, Ring of Air
Nenya, Ring of Adamant x2
Aiglos
Shadow Between
Possesions Changes Thankfully Hunters includes new versions of the Elven Bow. Gone are the Elven Swords, but they are replaced with Asfaloth, Elven Steed, Sword of the Fallen, and Hadafang.
The Importance of Conditions We can’t have Blades Drawn anymore, but we’ve replaced it with a similiar card - City of the Trees. Rather than taking down the strength of a wounded minion, City of Trees gives a card drawing ability that is important in the strategy. And you get to keep it on table if you double move. If you can get your hand down to 3 or 4 cards, and you happen to have a Still Needed in hand, you can unleash a great combo. Using Glimpse of Fate, you can play Still Needed to lose initiative (assuming you have 4 cards in hand), and then make a minion -4 strength. Next skirmish, if the minion is wounded, City of Trees draws you back your Still Needed and you can play it again, lose initiative again, and make a minion -4. The special ability of Nenya, Ring of Adamant can be used rather efficiently to set up the 4 card hand that you need to set this off. It also provides a lovely healing ability. Aiglos provides some good strength/vitality for Gil-Galad and also can pick off straggling minions for a double move. Shadow Between provides more healing, and Elven Marksmanship is the perfect replacement for Break the Charge.
Defense I had wanted to put in The One Ring, The Ring of Doom. But without the resistance bonus of Phial of Galadriel (x-list for standard), I had to choose Ring of Rings. This leaves Galadriel pretty weak in the strength department, so you will probably want to play Asfaloth on her to raise her strength. Hopefully, with the Archery and Glimpse of Fate you can avoid her being overwhelmed. Seclusion and Hadafang give the condition removal that Company of Archers formerly provided. Take Up the Bow can be used in a balrog/Sauron/Shelob emergency.
The Choice of Companions Arwen, Queen of Elves and Men is the perfect replacement for a lorien swordsman. She gets better and better for each wounded minion. With a Sword of the Fallen, she can even exert to make a minion she is skirmishing wounded. That’s good stuff. Legolas, of the Grey Company can provide a bit of direct archery, and you can even cheat with Nenya to guarantee the extra wound. Gil-Galad, Elven High King is a beast and has a good regroup ability to help double move, and Celeborn, the Wise can give you a little muster and snatch back Seclusion or Still Needed if you double move. Elrond, Witness to History is the most important of all. His game text is extremely useful. He can get any elven card on your deck for an exertion, and this way you can recycle Nenyas and retrieve any event, possession, or condition you need. This can be really helpful to pull back your Elven Bows if you are playing against annoying Corsairs.
That’s the deck in a nutshell. I’m going to miss the Two Towers cards, no doubt, but the new sets will bring in more cards, and more possibilities. It’s almost like a "survival of the fittest" concept. As Standard evolves, so must our decks.
I appreciate any feedback you have. Please write your reasons if you rate this less than a 4 or 5. I would like to make this a helpful article for the most people possible. |
| Last edited by AdultLink on Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:03 pm; edited 7 times in totalHaves/Wants |
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| AdultLink |
![]() Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:47 pm |
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Joined: 15 Dec 2005
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Location: Hyrule
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| Hazael |
![]() Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 10:49 pm |
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Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Posts: 444
Location: Up North
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I have allot of colorful words to describe my thoughts towards the rotation of the older cards. All my decks are "illegal" soon.
I bet LOTR TCG will lose alot of interest because of this.
and doesn’t this make the older cards almost worthless? |
Some of the best scenarios on EE...
Up All Night Productions |
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| syndrome |
![]() Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 11:08 pm |
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Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 423
Location: A cold place.
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| AdultLink |
![]() Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 11:18 pm |
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Joined: 15 Dec 2005
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Location: Hyrule
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yeah. Exactly. It’s not the end of the LOTR world Hazael, because most of us play Expanded Format anyway which includes cards from Fellowship and Towers. Standard Format is used mainly as one of several tournament formats. To be honest, I don’t even have an operational Standard deck right now. I play Expanded almost ALL the time. Sometimes I even ignore the x-list when playing with friends, heh.
But the point of the article was to show that you can still keep a deck design in some ways, while having to rotate out some great cards. It’s an evolution. I just keep most of my decks Expanded, but I know I’ll play someone in Standard Format eventually so it’s good to keep your options open. |
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| ingold55 |
![]() Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:51 pm |
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Joined: 10 Oct 2005
Posts: 1199
Location: Out on the front line
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it is a good article. i have to admit, i am not looking forward to FotR, TTT, and RotK are going to be illegal.  |
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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| Bilbo, Retired Adventurer |
![]() Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 7:23 pm |
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Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 54
Location: Zagreb, Croatia
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I just can’t understand why someone voted 3. 
I’d like to know if this is the strongest Elf deck possible,because where I live people usually go more heavily on archery with 4 Elven Marksmanship and archery events. |
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| Hazael |
![]() Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 7:24 pm |
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Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Posts: 444
Location: Up North
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i didnt vote yet.
i havent read the entire article yet.
looks good so far tho |
Some of the best scenarios on EE...
Up All Night Productions |
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| AdultLink |
![]() Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:56 pm |
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Joined: 15 Dec 2005
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Location: Hyrule
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| RotK won’t be illegal after hunter Ingold, just three sets later. Only sets 1-6: Fellowship, Mines, Realms, Towers, Helm’s Deep, and Ents of Fangorn will be x-listed for Standard Format. *cries* |
| Last edited by AdultLink on Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:56 pm; edited 1 time in totalHaves/Wants |
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| AdultLink |
![]() Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:59 pm |
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Joined: 15 Dec 2005
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Bilbo, Retired Adventurer wrote: I just can’t understand why someone voted 3.
I’d like to know if this is the strongest Elf deck possible,because where I live people usually go more heavily on archery with 4 Elven Marksmanship and archery events.
I couldn’t really say. I’d love to playtest this deck, as it is, it’s just on paper. But definately I’ve noticed that a lot of other decks have more archery. It would be possible to squeeze in the two more Elven Marksmanships, but for the theme of the deck, I considered the skirmishing to be more important. Archery can be stopped, but it’s hard to keep the wounds away when you are losing a skirmish! |
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