The Last Homely House

Middle-Earth => Lothlórien => Expanded => Topic started by: The Insaniac on June 11, 2020, 09:04:01 PM

Title: Help With A First Deck
Post by: The Insaniac on June 11, 2020, 09:04:01 PM
Mae govannen mellon nin.  I and some friends are having a go at playing this game on our computers during the lockdown.  I'm interested in making a Knights of Gondor/Nazgul Corruption deck but I'm not sure how to go about doing so effectively.  I'm using Isildur as my ring bearer and I'm looking at fortifications but I don't know what kind of balance I should be looking for as far as costs and card types go.

At the moment my deck is:
Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms
The One Ring, Ring of Rings

2x Boromir, Hero of Osgiliath
2x Aragorn, Captain of Gondor (starting companion)
2x Faramir, Defender of Osgiliath
2x Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth
2x Elendil, High-King of Gondor

1x Ring of Barahir

The other cards that I'm considering for the Fellowship half are:
Scroll of Isildur (If I take this I need more artefacts which would be Narsil, Blade of the Faithful, and Anduril, Sword That was Broken)
Fourth Level
Fifth Level
Sixth Level
Citadel of the Stars
Stone Tower
Strong and Old
City Walls
King's Legacy
Garrison of Gondor
Gondor Bow or Men of Numenor, or Greatest Stronghold

I've got less for the Nazgul half.  I know that I want to run all nine and no other minions unless they're necessary to make a corruption deck work.  Generally, I'm going for more of a Fellowship Nazgul feel than a Return Nazgul feel.  What advice can you give me?
Title: Re: Help With A First Deck
Post by: Dictionary on June 12, 2020, 05:32:11 AM
Welcome! For the moment I have some general ideas for you, let us know how things go once the deck is built and if there are any specific troubles (Like the deck being too big) we can tackle those then.

1) Your list is pretty solid, I'd add Banner of Westernesse and Armor of the White City. I probably wouldn't bother with Men Of Numenor, Greatest Stronghold or City Wall.

2) Instead of starting Aragorn, consider starting Alcarin and Turgon, then fetching Aragorn, Thorongil with The Prancing Pony.

3) I'd be tempted to add Gandalf since he can do a lot of things knights are bad at, like burden removal. Then you wouldn't need Scroll of Isildur.
Title: Re: Help With A First Deck
Post by: The Insaniac on June 12, 2020, 06:26:32 AM
This is what I have at the moment:

Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms
The One Ring, Ring of Rings

2x Boromir, Hero of Osgiliath
1x Aragorn, Thorongil (cheated out with the Prancing Pony)
2x Faramir, Defender of Osgiliath
2x Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth
2x Elendil, High-King of Gondor
1x Alcarin (starting companion)
1x Turgon (starting companion)

1x Ring of Barahir

2x Fourth Level
3x Fifth Level
2x Sixth Level
2x Citadel of the Stars
2x Stone Tower
2x Strong and Old
2x Gondor Bow
1x Armor of the White City
2x Banner of Westernesse

What should I cut to bring Gandalf and the gear he needs to remove burdens?  I would also like to grab a copy or two of Kings' Legacy if possible.
Title: Re: Help With A First Deck
Post by: Dictionary on June 12, 2020, 07:28:11 AM
You could cut 1x Citadel of the Stars, Stone Tower and Strong and Old (Since they're all unique) to add 2x Gandalf, Wise Guide and 1x Shadowfax, Greatest of the Mearas. Swap Ring of Barahir for Kings' Legacy since there isn't a lot of space for token cards.
Title: Re: Help With A First Deck
Post by: The Insaniac on June 12, 2020, 01:13:53 PM
Sounds good.  Would dropping one copy of Elendil for Glamdring, Foe-hammer be a good idea as well given how expensive he is?
Title: Re: Help With A First Deck
Post by: Dictionary on June 12, 2020, 05:05:44 PM
I think Elendil is worth his cost, thanks to the big stats and Kings' Legacy trigger. Shadowfax, GotM can't be used with Glamdring, but if you do want to cut down on character copies you could always add Pallando or Elendil's Army to boost strength.
Title: Re: Help With A First Deck
Post by: The Insaniac on June 12, 2020, 06:39:55 PM
Right, forgot about the restriction on Shadowfax.  So why Gandalf, Wise Guide and Shadowfax, Greatest of the Mearas rather than Gandalf, Returned and Glamdring, Foe-hammer or Narya?
Title: Re: Help With A First Deck
Post by: Dictionary on June 13, 2020, 03:23:53 AM
Gandalf, Returned is good in that you don't need worry about drawing Shadowfax, GotM to go with him, but I wouldn't expect you to urgently need Shadowfax, GotM every game and your deck is small so card draw shouldn't be a big problem. Returned also works well with Garrison of Osgiliath and Ring of Barahir, which you could do instead if you wanted to change the deck's focus a bit.

Wise Guide is a good solution for dealing with various surprises from your opponent, such as Saruman's Power, Red Wrath or other nasty events.

I suggested Shadowfax, GotM because it provides the most efficient burden removal of those 3 options, but each have their own pros and cons. Narya is an artifact so it's harder for an opponent to get rid of, but it removes burdens slowly and adds twilight. Foe-Hammer removes burdens for free, but only if Gandalf can fight and win skirmishes, which depends on what your opponent is up to.
Title: Re: Help With A First Deck
Post by: The Insaniac on June 13, 2020, 03:33:42 AM
So, here's the deck that I've got.

Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms
The One Ring, Ring of Rings

Free Peoples:
2x Boromir, Hero of Osgiliath
1x Aragorn, Thorongil (cheated out with the Prancing Pony)
2x Faramir, Defender of Osgiliath
2x Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth
2x Elendil, High-King of Gondor
1x Alcarin (starting companion)
1x Turgon (starting companion)
2x Gandalf, Wise Guide

1x Shadowfax, GoM

1x Narya

1x Kings' Legacy

2x Fourth Level
3x Fifth Level
2x Sixth Level
1x Citadel of the Stars
1x Stone Tower
1x Strong and Old
2x Gondor Bow
1x Armor of the White City
2x Banner of Westernesse

Sites:
The Prancing Pony
The Angle
Courtyard Parapet
Neekerbreekers' Bog
Pelennor Flat
Window on the West
Woody-End
Buckland Homestead
Emyn Muil

Shadow:
1x The Witch King, Captain of the Nine Riders
1x Ulaire Attea, Second of the Nine Riders
1x Ulaire Nelya, Thrall of the One
1x Ulaire Cantea, Thrall of the One
1x Ulaire Lemenya, Thrall of the One
1x Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul
1x Ulaire Otsea, Duplicitous Specter
1x Ulaire Toldea, Winged Sentry
1x Ulaire Nertea, Black Mantled Wraith
3x Ulaire Enquea, Thrall of the One

2x Ring of Rancor
1x Ring of Savagery

2x Keening Wail
2x Dark Swooping Shadows
4x Dark Fell About Him

4x Lingering Shadow
4x Gates of the Dead City

I know that the selection of Nazgul isn't super efficient but I wanted to have all nine in the deck for theme.