The Last Homely House
Middle-Earth => Lothlórien => Movie => Topic started by: Queex on November 12, 2009, 05:49:08 AM
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So, this is my current 'A' deck, retooled for Movie format. It's got some cute aspects, but is quite constrained by what I have in my collection.
Starting:
Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer
Answer to All Riddles
Legolas, Greenleaf
Gimli, Counter of Foes
Companions/Allies:
Durin III, Dwarven Lord (x2)
Linnar, Dwarven Lord (x2)
Thrarin, Dwarven Smith
Possessions/Artefacts:
Hand Axe (x3)
Gimli's Helm
Dwarven Bracers
Gimli's Battle Axe
Ring of Guile (x3)
Ring of Accretion
Ring of Retribution
Dwarven Axe (x2)
Mithril-Coat
Sting, Baggins Heirloom
Conditions:
Shoulder To Shoulder
Endurance of Dwarves (x2)
Events:
Flurry of Blows (x4)
Honed
The main basis for it, reusing Legolas for targetted archery by transferring wounds to Gimli to make him stronger, should be obvious. The fact that the other dwarves can be used as wound sinks for even more is gravy. The strong points are that it generates 2 huge companions, has targetted archery, optional extra archery, reasonable choke and a tough Frodo. The look on your opponent's face when you drop a strength 16 companion for 3 twilight pool can be priceless, only made easier by how cheap it is to shuffle the possessions and artefacts.
On the other hand, it has no healing, no threat or burden removal, loses initiative easily and there are certain cards that will crush it. It's a small deck, as you expect to double jump most of the time and you want to get your key cards out reliably.
So, are they any sneaky tricks I've missed with it? I've never found a shadow side to accompany it that I've liked that much, so what would you suggest?
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you could add some dwarven allies who are home site 3 and elrond, LoR for better healing
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The only dwarven allies I can find with home site 3 are Grimir, Dwarven Elder and Thrarin, DS - neither of them have healing abilities and thrarin is pretty much a single use ally. I'm not sure that being able shuffle in events is worth 5 pool and 2 cards. Elrond, HtGG might be more useful, as he can heal himself after healing a companion, but still, 4 pool...
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The Tale of The Great Ring
There and Back Again
Sam, Son of Hamfast (I don't like using him, but everyone will tell you he's a must have for any movie deck)
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Oh and Ring of Fury x3 would be nice healing for the dwarves
and maybe Shadow Between for Legolas.
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Is the idea behind Son of Hamfast that you bid 3, remove the burdens, then throw him under the first bus you come across?
There and Back Again is quite handy, playing for free and being to lift Frodo up to strength 9 together with Sting and the One Ring. Tale of the Great Ring seems like it could be risky to depend on it, but it's free. Not sure if I have those in my collection, but I'll go searching.
Ring of Fury? I wish. I've got the other dwarven rings coming out of my ears, but didn't get even a single Ring of Fury.
Shadow Between is an interesting thought, I generally rely on Shoulder to Shoulder to get the wounds off Leggy, but an ability to cycle a few more cards might come in handy, particularly if I discard an event with the intention of pulling it back again with the Ring of Guile.
Thanks for the responses so far.
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Not to be too proud, but I have been playing [Dwarven] since the days of Fellowship and I think I can help you with some neat tricks.
First of all, the easiest healing is Dwarven Heart. Dwarven Heart combos nicely with Axe of Erebor to make an extra pump for Gimli as well has healing your companions.
Secondly, where is Quick As May Be? The maneuver wounding will allow you to mop up with Legolas, maybe even saving some wounds. Furthermore, adding a copy of Aiglos will give Legolas one extra point each turn for archery.
Another card combination that you need in any [Dwarven] deck with the intention of loading up Durin III is Here is Good Rock and four copies of Slaked Thirsts. Grab Here Is Good Rock with Dunharrow Plateau and keep stacking Slaked Thirsts on the card. Then the next few turns, you can double exert cards like Grima, Wormtongue before they get a chance of disheveling your Dwarves. Another condition, Preparations, can stack the old Slaked Thirsts back on and be ready for the next turn.
Personally, I've always seen Gimli, Counter of Foes as a death sentence. I guarantee that every turn, I would target him with Hate or directed Archery (Desert Lord, anyone?)...plus, with the likelihood that you will lose the initiative early and often, you have to worry about Desert Sneak, Desert Runner, and that whole crowd.
Another card to consider for Dwarven maneuver wounding is Baruk Khazad. They are easy to acquire (you can get the alternate image card in every Legolas BoHD starter deck). I personally don't use it, but I know that it is certainly a potent card and very strong.
Consider Gimli, Feared Axeman. He won't be as tough as Gimli, Stander in Front of Green Screens, but he is harder to kill and will save your conditions if you do add them. Also, Sindri, Dwarven Lord can help you cycle--stack your skirmish events on Here Is Good Rock then use them with his game text. In that case, I would recommend Battle Tested.
Another card that is nearly a necessity in all [Dwarven] decks now is Blood Runs Chill. Combined with Durin III, Ring of Fury, and Gimli's Battle Axe, Trusted Weapon (one threat necessary) you are discarding 4 shadow cards during the regroup phase. That is enough for me usually, but if you'd prefer more, add a few Lord of Moria in there.
Personally, I would cut Mithril Coat and run Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir with one or two Bounder. That will ward off any swarm that is able to break through Legolas' archery fire...and trust me--it happens. I can generally get a good 20 minion swarm around site seven or eight if a 10 or so minion swarm didn't do the trick earlier.
Legolas3333's idea about Dwarven healing probably came from the card A Royal Welcome. Elrond, Herald to Gil-Galad would be able to heal the allies and the allies could heal the Dwarves. Personally, that is much more difficult than Axe of Erebor and Dwarven Heart...just my opinion.
Here is a look at my Movie Block Dwarf deck if you wanted. Best of luck to you and your deck.
http://lotrtcgdb.com/forums/index.php/topic,2796.0.html
Also, feel free to check out my trade list in the Esgaroth Marketplace forums...I know I have some extra Blood Runs Chill, an extra Axe of Erebor, Gimli, Feared Axeman, and some other [Dwarven] classics.
Cheers.
-wtk
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Is the idea behind Son of Hamfast that you bid 3, remove the burdens, then throw him under the first bus you come across?
The idea behind SoH is that it reduces the chances of losing vs corruption. I like ur idea of using Shoulder to shoulder with Greenleaf and Counter of Foes.
Tale of the great ring is there to help you vs swarm.
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I highly recommend 3x Ring of Fury. The inclination is to say that having so many is clogging, but it actually doesn't-- as soon as you draw an extra, you can discard the ring and play it again next turn.
Also, maybe I'm being stupid, but how exactly do you plan on "transferring" wounds from legolas to Gimli?
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I would use Ring of Fury X2 (nice healing!), Ring of Guile X1, Ring of Retribution.
Sam, SoH is a must have with low resist RB, in your case he could help against decks that benefits for burdens like Beasterling or Shotgun Enquea and let you abuse ATAR st+2 against other decks. It's up to you decide if he fits your deck or not.
The Gimli you use is nice but beware to not get killed by condition discard! I have a friend that runs lots of endurance of dwarves in his deck and i killed many of his companios just discaring conditions, maybe its better add more dwarven bracers (prevent wounds and pump your st).
I notice you dont have any condition/possession discard, maybe BRC could help (it fits great on your gimli). Aiglos works nice with Lego and maybe you can remove mithril coat to put The Tale of The Great Ring (very usefull against Moria and such).
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A potent setup is one that ket has mentioned with Bharuk Khazad, Preparations, Here is Good Rock and Slaked Thirsts. And in Quick as May Be and you have wounding mayhem. Ring of Guile lets you recycle the events you like the most.
Play Gimli, Feared Axeman and he protects Preparations and Here is Good Rock.
If you want to stick with your original idea of Greenleaf direct wounding, use Aragorn, Elessar Telcontar
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Thanks for all the input.
@wtk - I'd overlooked the stacking conditions as I thought they required too much set up, evidently I was wrong. I think I'd put them out of my mind before Reflections came out, and didn't look too closely at the implications of Sindri. I'll try replacing Linnar with Sindri and running Here is Good Rock and see how it goes. The same goes for splashing in the Manoeuvre phase wounding cards. A barrage of those played from conditions will be devastating.
I'm pretty sure I don't currently have an Axe of Erebor, so Dwarven Heart is much less useful. Blood Runs Chill becomes less handy, but a couple of copies will probably be a great help.
The Evil Men archers can only exert, not wound, which I don't really fear. Hate can be a problem, but you get opportunity to shuffle wounds between uses of Hate to try to keep people alive.
Aiglos in currently in use in my Elf deck, but I may sneak it back for extra fun.
@TheJord - Don't think I have that Aragorn, sadly.
@Calam- Shoulder To Shoulder is the key card for that.
@Pepin - condition discard is the reason I went down to only 2 copies of Endurance of Dwarves. I hadn't considered that unless I'm abusing Honed a flat +1 bonus is more useful than a +1 bonus and damage +1 only once he takes a wound.
I've just bought a box of 500 cards on ebay to split with a friend- mostly C and U, but I'll see if any key cards turn up in that lot.
What about a good Shadow accompaniment? I have nowhere near enough of the key Moria cards to attempt a swarm. I used to run Southron archery, but I'm experimenting with twilight Nazgul at the moment.
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You can shuffle Dwarven Heart back into your draw deck into the regroup phase with Restless Axe or Rest By Blind Night for even more healing!
Blood Runs Chill is necessary for your deck! What if you run into a scenario where your key companions have Wounded, Black Breath, Blade Tip, or Weary on them? You could be in for a world of hurt if you have no ability to discard those (and other cards). Against [Moria] a copy of Aragorn, Wound Vaccuum can be a lifesaver.
There are a lot of things that work well with [Dwarven] because it cycles well. What is something you have always had interest in? Or a card you would want to build around?
-wtk
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Wounded and Blade Tip aren't so much of a problem, I've got no-one vulnerable to Wounded and Blade Tip is sign-posted in advance so a Nazgul winning a skirmish against someone who matters is a big requirement.
I'll certainly throw some BRC in, and Rest By Blind Night together with Here Is Good Rock strike me as a good way to store useful FP cards for later on.
I'll just have to see what I have available when I come to refactor it.
I enjoy the Southron archery, but it lacked oomph. I've shifted to twilight Nazgul because I have 2 copies of the twilight Witchking, who is choice. With plenty of Nazgul rings from reflections, I think there's a good basis there, but I'm not sure what to try other than throwing burdens on the RB and letting Ulaire Enquea clean house.
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People vulnerable to Wounded: Legolas, Greenleaf. Gimli, Counter of Foes. Actually, anyone you would want to heal.
People vulnerable to Blade Tip: Gimli, Counter of Foes. Legolas, Greenleaf. Anyone you don't want to die. Blade Tip can be transfered with Morgul Blade, Ulaire Otsea, Ringwraith in Twilight. Don't insult other Shadow players by thinking they can't get around it. And winning skirmishes isn't tough when you throw out Enduring Nazgul, who actually get stronger as you beat them up.
If you are just going for Ring-bearer wounding, this would be a solid 32-card Twilight Nazgul deck:
Minions:
Gollum, Dark as Darkness
The Witch-King, Lord of the Nazgul x2
Ulaire Enquea, Ringwraith in Twilight x4
Morgul Destroyer x3
Morgul Brute x3
Morgul Whelp x3
Morgul Skulker x2
Conditions:
His Terrible Servants x2
Evil-Smelling Fens
Fat One Wants It
Events:
Captured By the Ring x4
Possessions/Artifacts:
Fell Beast x4
Nazgul Sword x2
Northern Ithilien and Steward's Tomb are the key sites.
-wtk
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As for [Raider] archery, it is very rare-intensive. Mauddib85 runs a very nice build of the classic Desert Lord build. Here's an example, as I don't remember card-for-card.
Desert Lord x4
Mumak Chieftain x4
Elite Archer x2
Southron Veterans x2
Far Harad Mercenaries x2
Seasoned Leader x4
Bold Men and Grim x2
Mumak x4
Raider Halbred x4
Red Wrath x3
It's 31 cards. Obviously, the goal is to get Desert Lord out there with a Mumak and Seasoned Leader. That's a strength 20 minion who has dealt three exertions during archery phase. But the real trick is that you use Seasoned Leader to play Bold Men and Grim out of your discard pile, discarding an extra companion when you are about to get the kill!
Red Wrath and Raider Halbred are both obvious choices.
-wtk
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Wounded can only be played on man.
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Haha...good call on Wounded then.
-wtk
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I think if you want some extra healing without using up a ton of card slots (i.e., multiples of Elrond, Lord of Rivendell and a handful of Dwarf allies), you can go with Elrond, Herald to Gil-galad. In the maneuver phase, Gimli heals Lego twice, Elrond heals Gimli twice, and at the start of the next turn Elrond heals himself twice. Basically, Shoulder to Shoulder allows you to get double the healing you'd normally get from Elrond, HtGG.
On that note, I'd consider another 1-2 Shoulder to Shoulder. It seems like a pretty important part of your deck, so you need to 1) ensure you get it, and 2) be able to replace it if it gets discarded.
The Slaked Thirsts ideas that have been suggested are definitely the way to go, too. One Slaked Thirsts + one Greenleaf exertion = dead minion.
Ket is right, in that Feared Axeman would be good for the Slaked Thirsts route, but if you don't go with Slaked Thirsts, then there's not really anything wrong with Counter of Foes. Yeah, some people say that being exhausted is just asking to get hit with Hate/Whirling Strike/whatever, but... uh... who says you HAVE to exhaust him? If you're going against a Sauron deck, having a companion exhausted is going to make them Hate-fodder, regardless of which companion that is. Obviously you'd just make the game-time decision to not exhaust Gimli if you're playing Sauron or Raiders.
And, RE: Desert Lord vs. Gimli, Counter of Foes... uh... Desert Lord can target ANY non-ring-bearing Gimli (and most companions, for that matter). If you're going to exhaust one of my companions anyway, then I'd be happy for you to exhaust Counter of Foes, as he gets a bonus for being exhausted. So, as far as the Desert Lord argument goes, Gimli, Counter of Foes is actually a great thing to have, not a disadvantage.
Blood Runs Chill would be a good option, though you could also go Secret Sentinels and/or Vilya if you decide to put about 3 Elrond HtGG in. Yeah, Blood Runs Chill can also hit possessions, but it's not always as reliable because it's not targeted. Also, it can't take stuff out until the regroup phase, which makes it a little less versatile than Sentinels. Vilya is nice because it can repeatedly remove conditions, whereas BRC and SS are one-shot cards.
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Red Wrath. Whirling Strike. Hate. Mordor's Strength. There are many reasons to not use Gimli, Counter of Foes.
-wtk
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Red Wrath. Whirling Strike. Hate. Mordor's Strength. There are many reasons to not use Gimli, Counter of Foes.
-wtk
If you're going against a Sauron deck, having a companion exhausted is going to make them Hate-fodder, regardless of which companion that is. Obviously you'd just make the game-time decision to not exhaust Gimli if you're playing Sauron or Raiders.
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Sure, but I never play Hate unless there is an exhausted companion or I have two in hand. I feel like Gimli, Counter of Foes is just asking for it...and he usually is.
Keep in mind that Shoulder to Shoulder works on allies too. Adding Grimir, Dwarven Elder and Elrond, Herald to Gil-Galad might be a great idea. Vilya will trash your opponents support area and clog their hand as well.
-wtk
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Gimli, Counter of Foes is only "asking for it" if you choose to put wounds on him for his bonus. If anyone think it's a good idea to intentionally wound him when playing against Sauron, then... well, yeah, I guess they ARE asking for it. But that's why you don't intentionally wound him against Sauron. =P
The nice thing is, when you get to the point where you HAVE to wound him (i.e., exertions for Under the Watching Eye or archery fire from Orc Bowmen when you have no other places to put the wounds), he gets a little bonus out of it.