Merry's Sword - Enduring Nazgul

[MuadDib85]

So Merry's Sword is one of my favourite movie block cards because it combats Ulaire Enquea Lieutenant of Morgul.. I have been playing different versions of a Merry's Sword deck for a while now on gccg, this is the current build. 5/5 Win streak atm. Please let me know what you think of it.

(1R)Edoras Hall (7U330)
(2R)Rohirrim Camp (7U336)
(3R)Hall of the Kings (7U339)
(4R)City of the Dead (8U118)
(5R)Steward's Tomb (10U119)
(6R)Minas Tirith Fourth Circle (7U348)
(7R)Pelennor Grassland (7U354)
(8R)Northern Ithilien (7U359)
(9R)Slag Mounds (7U363)

Fellowship (34)
1x *Farmer Maggot, Chaser of Rascals (1R288)
1x *Leowyn (7R239)
1x Bounder (1C286)
1x *Eomer, Third Marshal of Riddermark (4R267)
1x *Eowyn, Lady of Ithilien (10R72)
1x *Erkenbrand, Master of Westfold (0P59)
1x *Gamling, Warrior of Rohan (5R82)
1x *Merry, Horticulturalist (2C104) Start
1x *Rohirrim Army (8R91)
1x *Sam, Son Of Hamfast (1C311)
1x *Theoden, Tall and Proud (8R92) Start
1x *Armory (5U79)
1x *Arrow-slits (5U80)
1x *Fortress Never Fallen (4U276)
1x *The Tale of the Great Ring (10U116)
2x Power According to His Stature (1R308)
4x Simbelmyne (4R289)
1x *Brego (4U263)
1x *Eomer's Spear (4U268)
1x *Eowyn's Sword, Dernhelm's Blade (7R230)
1x *Firefoot (4R274)
1x *Herugrim (4U280)
2x *Merry's Sword (7R242)
1x *Snowmane (7R250)
1x *Sting, Bane of the Eight Legs (8R113)
4x Rohirrim Bow (5C88)

Shadow (34)
1x *Ithil Stone (9R+47)
1x *Ring of Rancor (9R44)
1x *The Ring Draws Them (3U83)
2x Bent on Discovery (1R206)
1x Black Marshal (10U53)
3x Between Nazgul and Prey (8R67)
4x Morgul Gates (1R217)
1x *Gollum, Stinker (5R25)
1x *Grima, Wormtongue (4R154)
1x *Sauron, The Lord of the Rings (9R+48)
3x *Ulaire Cantea, Thrall of the One (10R67)
4x *Ulaire Enquea, Thrall of the One (10R68)
3x *Ulaire Nelya, Thrall of the One (10U70)
2x *Ulaire Otsea, Thrall of The One (8R81)
3x *Ulaire Toldea, Thrall of the One (10R71)
3x Fell Beast (6U83)

Toldea and Enquea with Fell Beast nearly always will cause some destruction..  

[Witchkingx5]

Cool Deck. I suggest adding Evil-smelling Fens along with CBtR and Heavy Burden for more Burdens. Chief Counselor is also a nice Grima.

Freeps looks really cool, but did you ever face Corsairs? They could cause some damage, but otherwise, I don't really see any bad matchups. Greed could also hurt as you have only Fortress Never Fallen.

Oh, and you forgot to add a Ring-Bearer and Ring. It's Frodo, ObH obviously, right?

[ket_the_jet]

I think it is easier to heal with Merry, Swordthain and have him grab a second sword than using Horticulturalist.

Who is your Ring-Bearer and what ring are you using? I assume it is Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir or Frodo, Resolute Hobbit? I am only basing this on the fact that you have a few copies of Power According to His Stature and Sting, Bane of the Eight Legs.

I've never played Enduring Nazgul (I'm not a big fan of the set 8-10 baddies) but this looks like a pretty good build. You might consider a copy of Saruman's Power and a second Grima, Wormtongue and drop the two Ulaire Otsea, Thrall of the One.

Is Not Easily Destroyed out of the question?
-wtk

[MuadDib85]

Woops. Yeah, Frodo, OBH with SAWTC.

Bid 1 and start first.

[ket_the_jet]

I know I've said it before, but for more, I like Herugrim, Sword of the Mark and its extra text. But I don't really see any reason to run a copy of Herugrim if you are running Theoden, Tall and Proud since you are kind of just biding his time to die. Might as well just put a Rider's Spear on him. On that note, Fell Deeds Awake might be more helpful than Snowmane.

Normally I would suggest Eowyn, Lady of Rohan in a large deck, but Merry's Sword should do the work. You still have Hate and other maneuver wounding cards to look out for. Maybe a copy of Escape?
-wtk

[ephen]

Seems like Ulaire Enquea Lieutenant of Morgul would still be a problem for this deck as they could still kill Merry after he exerts twice and LoM is only exerted once.

[ket_the_jet]

What are you talking about? With the companions out there, Enquea would be exhausted.
-wtk

[MuadDib85]

What are you talking about? With the companions out there, Enquea would be exhausted.
-wtk

And then killed with a Rohirrim Bow or Lady of Ithilien.

Speaking of Rohirrim Bow, Does anyone think swapping Erkenbrand for Greenleaf would be a good idea for some extra archery finishing with the bows..?

Or having the third culture is not worth it..?

[ket_the_jet]

I don't think Erkenbrand is a very good companion in Movie Block. I think that Legolas, Greenleaf fits well, or a copy of Aragorn, Ranger of the North for site eight/nine fun.
-wtk

[MuadDib85]

Freeps looks really cool, but did you ever face Corsairs?

Not yet, and yes they will probably beat me up.

Might as well just put a Rider's Spear on him. On that note, Fell Deeds Awake might be more helpful than Snowmane.

You still have Hate and other maneuver wounding cards to look out for. Maybe a copy of Escape?

I like those ideas.

I think it is easier to heal with Merry, Swordthain and have him grab a second sword than using Horticulturalist.

Is Not Easily Destroyed out of the question?
-wtk

Please explain how Swordthain can possibly work with Merry's Sword.. (How can you use him to grab a second sword?)

Not Easily Destroyed would be a nice suprise.

[ket_the_jet]

Ah, "play" weapons...sorry...was going off memory there. I thought it was return to hand.
-wtk

[hrcho]

Freeps looks really cool, but did you ever face Corsairs?

Not yet, and yes they will probably beat me up.

I think it is easier to heal with Merry, Swordthain and have him grab a second sword than using Horticulturalist.

Please explain how Swordthain can possibly work with Merry's Sword.. (How can you use him to grab a second sword?)

I run Swordthain in my Merry's Sword deck and as answer to both questions above I run Weapon Store and Mustering for Battle. Mustering for Battle is especially good against Corsairs. Although, my deck is mostly based around Eowyn, Restless Maiden and Dernhelm's Blade.

Weapon Store is a great multi cultural card also. You can have a Man in your deck and get weapons out of your discard for your other comps. Hmm... I think a deck is building in my mind. Dwarven / rohan archery. Bringing Hand axe back every turn. 

[macheteman]

bringing merry into hand would let you replay those rohirrim bows, and plus, each time you slip merry into hand... FREE HEALING! but, it would also probably be more "combo intensive" as it were... it might be better to stick with the simple option.

[MuadDib85]

Swordthain is better in a shadowplay unheeded deck I think.

Horticulturalist is better with Merry's Sword. Early Maggot is nice.

[MuadDib85]

Changed the deck. 2 wins from 2 games so far. It lacks site liberation but 1x Fell Deeds Awake could easily be added. Being 37 doesn't seem to hurt at all. Between Fell Beast and Leowyn you can cycle pretty well. Greenleaf and Rohirrim Bow with Armory works brilliantly with Merry's Sword. The lowish minion count is okay because the deck cycles well.

What else does it need? 


Ringbearer and Ring
*The One Ring, Such a Weight to Carry (7R2)
*Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir (1R289)

Sites
(1R)Edoras Hall (7U330)
(2R)Rohirrim Camp (7U336)
(3R)Hall of the Kings (7U339)
(4R)City of the Dead (8U118)
(5R)Steward's Tomb (10U119)
(6R)Minas Tirith Fourth Circle (7U348)
(7R)Pelennor Grassland (7U354)
(8R)Northern Ithilien (7U359)
(9R)Slag Mounds (7U363)

Fellowship (37)
1x *Farmer Maggot, Chaser of Rascals (1R288)
2x *Leowyn (7R239)
1x Bounder (1C286)
1x *Eomer, Third Marshal of Riddermark (4R267)
1x *Eowyn, Lady of Ithilien (10R72)
1x *Gamling, Warrior of Rohan (5R82)
2x *Legolas, Greenleaf (1R50)
1x *Merry, Horticulturalist (2C104) Start
1x *Rohirrim Army (8R91)
1x *Sam, Son Of Hamfast (1C311)
1x *Theoden, Tall and Proud (8R92) Start
2x *Armory (5U79)
2x *Arrow-slits (5U80)
2x *Fortress Never Fallen (4U276)
1x *The Tale of the Great Ring (10U116)
2x Power According to His Stature (1R308)
4x Simbelmyne (4R289)
1x *Brego (4U263)
1x *Eomer's Spear (4U268)
1x *Eowyn's Sword, Dernhelm's Blade (7R230)
1x *Firefoot (4R274)
2x *Merry's Sword (7R242)
1x *Sting, Bane of the Eight Legs (8R113)
4x Rohirrim Bow (5C88)

Shadow (37)
1x *Ithil Stone (9R+47)
1x *Ring of Rancor (9R44)
1x *The Ring Draws Them (3U83)
3x Bent on Discovery (1R206)
1x Black Marshal (10U53)
1x All Blades Perish (1U203)
3x Between Nazgul and Prey (8R67)
4x Morgul Gates (1R217)
1x Saruman's Power (1U136)
1x *Gollum, Stinker (5R25)
2x *Grima, Wormtongue (4R154)
1x *Sauron, The Lord of the Rings (9R+48)
3x *Ulaire Cantea, Thrall of the One (10R67)
4x *Ulaire Enquea, Thrall of the One (10R68)
3x *Ulaire Nelya, Thrall of the One (10U70)
3x *Ulaire Toldea, Thrall of the One (10R71)
4x Fell Beast (6U83)