The Last Homely House
Middle-Earth => Lothlórien => Movie => Topic started by: sgtdraino on April 03, 2014, 08:52:03 AM
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I've decided to document, as comprehensively as possible, every Movie Format strategy I see on a regular basis. I did the same thing for Expanded Format here:
http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,8835.0.html (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,8835.0.html)
I'm also documenting statistics on frequency of encounters, ratings, descriptions, weaknesses, links to deck lists, you name it. If you are seeking to understand the meta of Movie Format, I hope to make this thread the go-to reference for you! Now, I don't historically have a lot of experience with Movie Format, so the more people who participate, the better this information will be! Your assistance and suggestions are greatly appreciated! Here we go...
FREE PEOPLES
[Gandalf]
Ents
-Often sets up with Saved from the Fire. Generally large fellowships, lots of Gandalf Support.
-Weaknesses: Shotgun Enquea, Gandalf hate, condition hate.
-Encounters: ///3
-Rating: *******7
Durin's Secret Society of Dear Friends
-Crazy deck not using its Shadow side. Runs quickly to the end.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
Gondor Burn
-Sets up [Gondor] tanks with Gandalf and Saved From the Fire. Mostly uses artifacts, few possessions.
-Weaknesses: Corruption.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7
[Elven]
Lady Redeemed
-Recycles events, and plays with telepathy and initiative. Often combined with another [Elven] strategy.
-Weaknesses: Terrible as the Dawn
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ********8
Elf Archery
-Lots of Archers and archery events.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: 0
The Last Alliance of Elves and Men
-Tanks up Gondor guys with Last Alliance.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
Echo of Luthien
-Centers around Arwen, Echo of Luthien and a huge draw deck to power her up. Plays with initiative, discards events, and may include Cirdan, Legolas, Greenleaf, and/or Galadriel, Lady Redeemed.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, swarm, corruption.
-Link: Echo of Luthien/Initiative Southrons (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,9060.0.html)
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ********8
Rainbow Wounding Greenleaf
-Similar to Rainbow Wounding Smeagol, but with no Smeagol. Generally starts Greenleaf, with support from Lady of Ithilien. May also have Gandalf support.
-Weaknesses: Swarm.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7
[Gondor]
Knights
-Knights and Fortifications!
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: ///3
-Rating: *******7
Noble Leaders
-Starts Boromir, BoC, Faramir, CoG and Denethor, LoMT, aiming to add Aragorn and Elendil to the fellowship, killing off Denethor or Faramir after a few sites to replace with an utility companion.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7
Gondor Tanks
-Tanks up just a few Gondor guys, especially Faramir, Son of Denethor and an Aragorn who offers a Defender bonus. May employ Merry, Friend to Sam to boost the tanks. May choke, then add more companions near the end, such as Boromir, Son of Denethor to protect the ring-bearer. May have Gandalf Support.
-Weaknesses: Grima, Wormtongue.
-Encounters: //2
-Rating: *******7
Wraiths
-Uses Gondor Wraiths and their various conditions to power through.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, Archery.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *****5
[Rohan]
Merry Men
-Uses Merry's Sword.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, possession hate, direct wounding.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ********8
Rohan Tanks
-Tanks up a few Rohan guys like Third Marshal, and supports with allies. May employ Gandalf support as well, and set up with SFTF.
-Weaknesses: Grima, Wormtongue, ally hate.
-Encounters: ///3
-Rating: ******6
[Dwarven]
High Damage Dwarfs
-Dwarf tanks that deal a lot of damage.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, cheap swarm.
-Encounters: //2
-Rating: *******7
Condition Dwarfs
-Tank up characters and use conditions to heal and become stronger. Often employ Preparations and Sindri, Dwarven Lord.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, cheap swarm.
-Encounters: ////4
-Rating: *******7
Dwarf Discard
-Often paired with Sauron Discard. Lots of Nobody Tosses a Dwarf and Dwarven Axe.
-Weaknesses: Grima, Wormtongue.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7
[Shire]
Dauntless Hunter
-Uses Legolas, Dauntless Hunter in conjunction with Unbound Hobbits, Make Haste, and a rainbow of support.
-Weaknesses: Weak if/when Dauntless Hunter is killed.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ******7
Shadowplay
-Uses cards like Shadowplay and Unheeded to kill minions, often with support from Lady of Ithilien and Greenleaf.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, minions with 1 vitality.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ******6
Hobbit Alliance
-Uses allies with Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir to tank up Hobbits like Sam, Great Elf Warrior.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, Ally hate.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ******6
Birthday Present
-Recycles events using Birthday Present. Often plays with Initiative using A Light in his Mind.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ******6
[Gollum]
Rainbow Wounding Smeagol
-Uses Smeagol, Always Helps with Don't Look at Them, in conjunction with other strategies (Eowyn Lady of Ithilien, Greenleaf, Shadowplay/Unheeded, Aragorn's Bow, etc.)
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ********8
SHADOW
[Gollum]
Ninja Gollum
-Uses a bunch of conditions, events, Gollum, and Shelob to kill your guys. May include a few support minions, such as Desert Lord and Shotgun Enquea. May attempt to corrupt at site 8 using Northern Ithilien and Watcher in the Water, Keeper of Westgate.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: ///3
-Rating: *******7
Pokemon Trainer Gollum
-Gollum is used to recycle various "magic bullet" minions to counter a wide variety of deck strategies.
-Weaknesses: Direct wounding, condition hate.
-Link: Pokemon Trainer Gollum (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,8997.0.html)
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ********8
[Dunland]
Two-Site Swarm
-?
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
Dunland Site Control
-lots of Freca and other Dunland site control cards to gain an advantage.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: ///3
-Rating: ******6
[Wraith]
Morcs
-Stars Morgul Destroyer, Morgul Brute, Morgul Squealer, and key Nazgul to wreck your guys.
-Weaknesses: Twilight choke.
-Encounters: ////4
-Rating: *******7
Enduring Nazgul
-Stars Ulaire Enquea, Thrall of the One and Between Nazgul and Prey.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
Twilight Nazgul
-Normally win through corruption, or direct-wounding the Ring-bearer to death. Often paired with Ulaire Enquea, Thrall of The One.
-Weaknesses: Burden removal, most Twilight Nazgul are not fierce.
-Encounters: ///3
-Rating: *******7
Nazgul Tanks
-Plays strong fierce Nazgul, such as The Witch-king and Ulaire Attea, Keeper of Dol Guldur, along with weapons and mounts.
-Weaknesses: Fellowship tanks, condition hate, twilight choke, direct wounding, high archery.
-Encounters: /1
-rating: *******7
[Moria]
Goblin Armory
-Recycles possessions to add twilight and swarm you.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7
[Raider]
Mounted Southrons
-Uses Desert Lord, Seasoned Leader, and Mumak Chieftain.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
Archery Southrons
-Directed archery, with some surprise events.
-Weaknesses: Healing, wound prevention.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ******6
Initiative Southrons
-Gains initiative via Corsair War Galley, then plays lots of Southrons that auto-wound. Paired with Corsairs.
-Weaknesses: Possession hate, healing, huge fellowships.
-Link: Echo of Luthien/Initiative Southrons (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,9060.0.html)
-Encounters: //2
-Rating: ********8
Beasterlings
-Recycles Easterling Captain, Easterling Lieutenant, Easterling Guard, and Easterling Pillager to burden and kill you. May include Shotgun Enquea.
-Weaknesses: Burden removal, Archery, direct wounding, possession hate.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7
Under Foot Swarm
-Uses Under Foot to swarm, with a mix of Raider, Moria, and Isengard.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
Corsairs
-Uses support area possessions to play Castamir and Corsair Marauder over and over.
-Weaknesses: Possession hate and direct wounding.
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
[Isengard]
Fierce Trackers
-Uses fierce Tracker Uruks in conjunction with Search cards such as Weary.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, twilight choke.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ******6
[Sauron]
Besiegers and Trolls
-Controls sites, then uses key conditions and minions to completely kick your arse.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, site liberation, other site control decks.
-Encounters: //2
-Rating: *******7
Tracker Orcs
-Stars Grishnakh, Orc Captain, and Orc Cutthroat. Will also Hate your guys to death.
-Weaknesses: Wound prevention, Stewards' Legacy.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7
Roaming Orcs Swarm
-Uses various Orcs who get more powerful while they are roaming. Will also Hate your guys to death.
-Weaknesses: Wound prevention, Stewards' Legacy.
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
Sauron Discard
-Aims to deck you out using various conditions and events. Often paired with Discarding Dwarfs.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, burden removal, moving quickly.
-Encounters: //2
-Rating: ******6
Sauron Tanks
-Features big strong Sauron minions like Orc Slaughterer, Gorgoroth Berserker, and Siege Troop along with direct wounding cards like Hate, and Sauron support conditions.
-Weaknesses: Twilight choke, tank companions, wound prevention.
-Encounters: //2
-Rating: *******7
Threat Orcs
-Centers around [Sauron] Orcs who add threats, and take threats off to become more powerful. Hate abounds.
-Weaknesses: Threat removal, tank companions, direct wounding.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7
DECK STRATEGY PAIRING STATISTICS
This section shows how often I encounter one strategy paired with a particular other strategy.
Birthday Present/Pokemon Trainer Gollum
-/1
Condition Dwarfs/Goblin Armory
-/1
Condition Dwarfs/Morcs
-//2
Condition Dwarfs/Nazgul Tanks
-/1
Dauntless Hunter/Sauron Tanks
-/1
Dwarf Discard/Sauron Discard
-/1
Echo of Luthien/Initiative Southrons
-/1
Ents/Dunland Site Control
-/1
Ents/Sauron Tanks
-/1
Ents/Twilight Nazgul
-/1
Gondor Burn/Morcs
-/1
Gondor Tanks/Besiegers and Trolls
-/1
Gondor Tanks/Initiative Southrons
-/1
High Damage Dwarfs/Archery Southrons
-/1
High Damage Dwarfs/Sauron Discard
-/1
Hobbit Alliance/Ninja Gollum
-/1
Knights/Dunland Site Control
-/1
Knights/Ninja Gollum
-/1
Knights/Twilight Nazgul
-/1
Lady Redeemed/Besiegers and Trolls
-/1
Merry Men/Tracker Orcs
-/1
Noble Leaders/Fierce Trackers
-/1
Rainbow Wounding Greenleaf/Mounted Southrons
-/1
Rainbow Wounding Smeagol/Twilight Nazgul
-/1
Rohan Tanks/Morcs
-/1
Rohan Tanks/Ninja Gollum
-/1
Rohan Tanks/Threat Orcs
-/1
Shadowplay/Beasterlings
-/1
Wraiths/Dunland Site Control
-/1
STATISTICS BY PREDOMINANT CULTURE
This section shows how often I encounter each culture. I determine the culture of a deck by whatever culture they use the most of, and/or whatever culture is central to the deck's strategy. These statistics are for distinct decks; if I play the same player's same deck more than once, it still only gets counted one time.
[Gandalf]
-////4
[Elven]
-///3
[Gondor]
-//////6
[Rohan]
-/////5
[Dwarven]
-///////7
[Shire]
-////4
[Gollum](Free Peoples)
-/1
[Gollum](Shadow)
-////4
[Dunland]
-///3
[Wraith]
-////////8
[Moria]
-/1
[Raider]
-/////5
[Isengard]
-/1
[Sauron]
-////////8
STRATEGY RATINGS
You can now submit ratings for each deck strategy, using a scale 1 to 10 stars (10 being strongest, 1 being weakest). No fractions please, that makes it too complicated! Each person to submit ratings will receive 1 gold. The average rating of each deck strategy can be found in the DECK STRATEGIES section. To submit your ratings, simply copy and paste this current ratings card with your rating listed for each strategy:
GANDALF
Ents
Durin's Secret Society of Dear Friends
Gondor Burn
ELF
Lady Redeemed
Elf Archery
The Last Alliance of Elves and Men
Echo of Luthien
Rainbow Wounding Greenleaf
GONDOR
Knights
Noble Leaders
Gondor Tanks
Wraiths
ROHAN
Merry Men
Rohan Tanks
DWARF
High Damage Dwarfs
Condition Dwarfs
Dwarf Discard
SHIRE
Dauntless Hunter
Shadowplay
Hobbit Alliance
Birthday Present
GOLLUM (Free Peoples)
Rainbow Wounding Smeagol
GOLLUM (Shadow)
Ninja Gollum
Pokemon Trainer Gollum
DUNLAND
Two-Site Swarm
Dunland Site Control
NAZGUL
Morcs
Enduring Nazgul
Twilight Nazgul
Nazgul Tanks
MORIA
Goblin Armory
RAIDER
Mounted Southrons
Archery Southrons
Initiative Southrons
Beasterlings
Under Foot Swarm
Corsairs
ISENGARD
Fierce Trackers
SAURON
Besiegers and Trolls
Tracker Orcs
Roaming Orcs Swarm
Sauron Discard
Sauron Tanks
Just copy and paste this ratings card into your post, and type your rating next to each deck strategy. Thanks!
OTHER RESOURCES
Movie Block Format Gemp Players List (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php?topic=9068.msg88535#msg88535)
Currently updated through: 10/31/2014
STRATEGY TOTALS
Total FP Strategies: 22
Total Shadow Strategies: 20
Total Strategies: 42
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Movie have potential of the variability but they are lets say 3-4 META decks... mostly Elven Telepathy with GLR and Cirdan.... or Archery abuse Elves with Aegnor....Dwarves are really hard to beat without Grima spam....and last days i saw a lots of Saved from the Fire Ents deck.... for shadows one of the most used strategies are Besieger Troll Swarm... Beasterlings with the Ships..Bows and Polearms ... and of course Tag Team Gollum-Shelob
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I am missing corsairs in the list mentioned above.
Also a good Elves and Men list can do well.
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@Ringbearer ... cause GLR deck ruins them and Cirdan take care of Castamir
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There are quite a lot
Free Peoples:
- [Elven] Event abuse (Galadriel/Cirdan/Manager of Wizards deck)
- [Elven]/[Gondor] Last Alliance
- [Elven]/[Shire] Dauntless Hunter
- [Dwarven] High Damage
- [Gandalf] SFtF Ents
- Durin's Secret Society (crazy deck not using its Shadow side)
- [Rohan] Merry's Sword
- various Rainbow Wounding builds (Eowyn LoI, Greenleaf, Shadowplay/Unheeded, Aragorn's Bow, Smeagol AH with Don't Look At Them etc.)
- [Elven] Archery
- [Gondor] Knights
(last 4 builds weren't absolutely top tier due to some bad matchups, but played well were a threat)
Shadow:
- [Raider] Mounted Southrons (Desert Lord/Seasoned Leader/Mumak Chieftain)
- [Raider] Archery Southrons
- [Raider] Easterling 2-burdens
- [Raider] Corsairs
- [Raider]/[Moria]/[Isengard] Under Foot Swarm
- [Sauron] Threat Orcs
- [Sauron] Besiegers/Trolls
- [Sauron] Roaming Orcs Swarm
- [Wraith] Morcs
- [Wraith] Enduring Nazgul
- [Dunland] 2-site Swarm
Some other shadows were decent as well (various Isengard builds mostly) but were hurt by lack of sites supporting them in King Block, they probably are way better in Pre-Shadows Multipath format.
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Thanks for the suggestions guys! I have added them to post #1! Please keep 'em coming, and help me fill in some of the blanks for the current submissions!
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The Last Alliance of Elves and Men
URL
-Tanks up Gondor guys with Last Alliance.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
I'll write what I remember about this one. First: Last Alliance is not so much key card here. There are only two key cards: Greenleaf and RotN. They are companions you want to have through the whole game. Everyone else is expendable and if sacrificing someone means you can double move, you usually should do it and then play another companion.
The deck's main strength is that it doesn't have really bad matchups (on the other hand it also has no great matchups), it's very versatile. Because of this, to play it effectively, you need really a lot of practice, because it's easy to make a mistake or fail to see a way to get out of some danger.
Example list:
1x Glorfindel, Revealed in Wrath
1x Legolas, Greenleaf
4x Aragorn, Ranger of the North
1x Boromir, Son of Denethor
1x Derufin
1x Dervorin
2x Faramir, Son of Denethor
1x Sam, Son of Hamfast
3x Elrond, Herald to Gil-galad
1x Galadriel, Lady of the Golden Wood
1x Sting, Bane of the Eight Legs
1x Aiglos
1x Phial of Galadriel, Star-glass
1x Vilya
2x Anduril, Flame of the West
1x Seeing Stone of Orthanc
2x Secret Sentinels
1x Shadow Between
2x The Last Alliance of Elves and Men
1x The Tale of Gil-galad
1x Citadel of the Stars
1x Noble Leaders
1x Stone Tower
1x The Saga of Elendil
1x The Tale of the Great Ring
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Stewards' Legacy
Awesome movie card. Best of them! Besides, it wouldn't help against Advance Captain and Regular.
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One more decktype I forgot about: Noble Leaders. This deck starts Boromir, BoC, Faramir, CoG and Denethor, LoMT, aiming to add Aragorn and Elendil to the fellowship, killing off Denethor or Faramir after a few sites to replace with an utility companion (Radagast for move limit, Derufin for Corsair hate or anything else you need). It uses lots of artifacts so that it's not vulnerable to possession removal, sets up really well because of Denethor and has great fighting/damage force.
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Gondor Burn--Gondor/Gandalf fellowship with significant possession/condition removal.
Strong matchups against besiegers (Elendil, condition removal), Corsairs (large companions, possession removal, no reliance on possessions), Ninja Gollum (wound prevention, Faramir SoD, condition removal), Easterlings (large comps, Faramir SoD). Can also triple move in multiple ways.
Weak against Enduring Enquea (no wounding), corruption in general (Boromir RB)--especially morcs. Also has the weakness of all SFTF decks in that it relies on Saved to set up.
Sample decklist:
Ring-bearer: Boromir, Bearer of Council
Ring: The One Ring, Answer To All Riddles
Adventure deck:
Steps of Edoras
King's Tent
Hall of the Kings
City of the Dead
City Gates
Minas Tirith Sixth Circle
Osgiliath Crossing
Cross Roads
Haunted Pass
Free Peoples Draw Deck:
1x Gandalf, Leader of Men
1x Radagast, The Brown
2x Aragorn, Ranger of the North
1x Denethor, Wizened Steward
2x Elendil, The Tall
1x Faramir, Son of Denethor
1x Ranger of Ithilien
1x Sam, Son of Hamfast
1x Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor
1x Glamdring
1x Gondorian Sword
1x Gandalf's Staff
1x Anduril, Flame of the West
2x Narsil, Blade of the Faithful
4x Sapling of the White Tree
1x Scroll of Isildur
2x Grown Suddenly Tall
3x Roll of Thunder
4x Saved From the Fire
3x Sharpen Your Swords
3x Noble Leaders
Shadow Draw Deck:
4x Black Numenorean
4x Castamir of Umbar
4x Corsair Marauder
4x Corsair Plunderer
1x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
4x Black Sails of Umbar
3x Corsair War Galley
2x Raider Halberd
3x Ships of Great Draught
3x Discovered
1x Fierce in Despair
2x Red Wrath
2x Wind That Sped Ships
Can also be specced to drop Denethor for Derufin or Dervorin.
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Searching the forums there seem to be several approaches to Gondor Knights (1 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,7658.0.html), 2 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,6979.0.html), 3 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,7345.0.html), 4 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,5530.0.html), 5 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,1624.0.html), 6 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,7675.0.html), 7 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,5596.0.html)). Did consensus ever emerge about the best builds? People seem to go back and forth on whether to include Catapult, Citadel of the Stars, Strong and Old, Ithilien Trap, and Fifth Level (the rest seems fairly consistent, aside from numbers). Also, given the importance of conditions, why did so few builds run 4 copies of Sixth Level?
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Searching the forums there seem to be several approaches to Gondor Knights (1 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,7658.0.html), 2 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,6979.0.html), 3 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,7345.0.html), 4 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,5530.0.html), 5 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,1624.0.html), 6 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,7675.0.html), 7 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,5596.0.html)). Did consensus ever emerge about the best builds? People seem to go back and forth on whether to include Catapult, Citadel of the Stars, Strong and Old, Ithilien Trap, and Fifth Level (the rest seems fairly consistent, aside from numbers). Also, given the importance of conditions, why did so few builds run 4 copies of Sixth Level?
Virtually all top-level Knights builds are going to run Citadel of the Stars. With recursion, it's basically an auto-win against two-site Dunland, it's solid against Castamir, it ignores wound prevention like Gorgoroth Soldier, you can use it+Stone Tower+an exert to kill enduring Enquea without allowing them to heal, and it can kill Easterling Captain. Basically, if someone isn't running it, they should be.
Fifth Level is also pretty much mandatory. It+Turgon allows you to wound in the maneuver phase, and it also gives you ridiculous skirmishing strength in the late game. Against wounding decks, it's an extra heal per turn with Alcarin.
I like both Strong and Old (Besiegers hate, huge twilight savings) and Ithilien Trap, but there are plenty of good knight builds that don't use Trap. Not a huge fan of Catapault because of how unreliable it is and because Knights tend to empty their hands in the fellowship phase.
People often run only three copies of Sixth Level because you can recur other copies as long as you have one on the board, which means barring a Saruman's Power the shadow player really has to zap them all at the same time to cripple you. And having multiple Sixth Levels on the board does you zero good if you don't have your actual wounding conditions.
As a sidenote, why do people run 4x Knight's Mount? If you're playing successfully, it's basically useless. Minions should not be surviving skirmishes, and if they are, it should be that you're intentionally leaving them alive to get extra heals. Just a waste of card slots.
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Don't play Knight's Mount. A Bow and Sword (or banner) are much more important, and playing that horsie just sets you up to lose it all to Grima. It can work well if you want o finish off minions without exerts, but that's about it.
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Don't play Knight's Mount. A Bow and Sword (or banner) are much more important, and playing that horsie just sets you up to lose it all to Grima. It can work well if you want o finish off minions without exerts, but that's about it.
Another good point about Grima--I was only talking about card slots, but this is also very important, given how many people pack Grima as Dwarf insurance.
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thanks zen89, Legion.
Quick follow-up: how do you feel about including Narsil, Blade of the Faithful, Sapling of the White Tree, and Elendil, The Tall? Worth doing for the soak and fight potential? Or just dilutes the deck without adding enough in return?
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Those 3 are essentials.
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Sapling can be good if you're seeing a ton of Ninja Gollum (prevent They Stole It from triggering), and it's also nice if you like to play large fellowships while thumbing your nose at Enquea. I don't think I'd play it if you're simply worried about wounding, because between Alcarin, Banner of Westernesse (3-4 copies), and Aragorn you already have enough healing to thwart most archery-based shadows.
I'm not a fan of Elendil/Narsil in Move Knights. Elendil takes up a companion slot, but he's not a knight. You already have a minimum of two non-knights in Isildur and Sam, SoH, and you absolutely need three on the board at all times. Given how useful Derufin is vs. Corsairs and Besiegers, I'd prefer him as a non-knight splash to Elendil.
Elendil also really needs you to play multiple copies of Narsil, four Saplings, and probably a Scroll of Isildur to be a meaningful skirmishing upgrade over someone like Aragorn/Garrison of Gondor. And at that point, it's just a ton of card slots you're devoting to something that doesn't really further your deck's main goal: killing things efficiently with fortifications, healing, and recycling. In general, knights shouldn't need high strength to win skirmishes, anyway--you're zapping the most powerful minions, and only relying on strength to kill the weaker ones.
The only thing I would recommend Elendil for is if you really want a tripling mechanism, and even then he's not super-reliable. But for the reasons you listed (skirmishing, wound soak), I think your deck is already good at doing those things, and will do them better if simply allowed to execute its main strategy. If you want to play Elendil try the Gondor Burn deck I posted. ;)
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Elendil has advantages in certain metas:
*He has 5 vitality, so he can survive a double They Stole It + Promise Keeping. He also eats a lot of threat wounds against Southron archery, who will manage to kill someone eventually.
*Narsil can't be stolen by Corsair Marauder.
*The triple move comes into play occasionally.
My Knights were designed to dump and go in a meta with lots of Ninja Gollum and Corsairs and Southron archery, with very little Besieger action. That's why I play three Saplings and a Scroll of Isildur. I start Ingold and don't play Turgon; the only possessions are 3 Gondor Bow. Relying on Fourth Level is different than relying on Fifth Level.
To bring up debate about Sixth Level, I now only have 2. Sixth Level is bad in your hand at Site 1 - I'd rather have extra copies of conditions that do things, even though Citadel and Stone Tower are unique. And it's bad in your hand on the last turn of the game. Plus, in my old meta, I had some trouble finding free wounds to use - I realized I'd often rather take the wound on the second move than exert to get something back. Thus, the Sixth Level count decreased.
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Let's get this started back up :)
Here's a link to my pride and joy for Movie block:
http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,8997.0.html
I don't think my Fellowship is really considered Elven Event Abuse...I don't use gandalf or GLR to dump useless events and feed Cirdan, or Telepathy really...It's kind of just a "try to weather the storm" fellowship by covering all of my bases...I struggled a lot against the Corruption Easterlings with the polearm and bow, but enough 9+ str companions helped me eek it out barely...still a weakness tho.
Speaking of those wretched Easterling decks (they shouldn't even be ALLOWED to use a Southron's bow ;) ), I've seen a Gandalf deck walk through one without too much trouble. It focused on beefing up Gandalf and must have had 4 copies of Barliman Butterbur to keep bringing back whatever Gandalf event he needed most to hand. In this case he kept grabbing Roll of Thunder and used direct wounding with Gorn's bow to plink. Without the easterling captain and his two toys you can actually walk through this deck pretty easily.
Another counter to the Easterlings seems to be knights and fortifications perhaps...The captain isn't taking a wound if the fortification is removing his vitality :) Also...I think that the fortification that exhausts him would work right? Even though he's not supposed to "take wounds", I think there are a lot of cards that distinguish between exerting and taking wounds ( I think a balrog says "cannot take wounds or be exerted" or something) Anyway...just some thoughts :)
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I don't think my Fellowship is really considered Elven Event Abuse...I don't use gandalf or GLR to dump useless events and feed Cirdan,
We-ell... you do clearly use Cirdan though, and almost 40% of your FP side is Elf events. You're not dumping useless events to feed Cirdan, you're dumping useful events to feed Cirdan! :) I'd say your Shadow side definitely qualifies as a "new approach." Your FP side seems less revolutionary to me, basically an Elf deck that uses Galadriel as the Ring-bearer instead of GLR. That doesn't seem that unusual to me... although granted I'm used to Expanded, where all you see for Elves is decks that use Galadriel as the Ring-bearer. Is that highly unusual for Movie? I don't play enough of it to really say.
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Post #1 has finally been updated!
I'm going to try to focus on Movie format for a while, to start building some statistics for this thread. We'll see how long it can hold my attention. ;)
dmaz, I decided to call your Shadow "Rainbow Gollum." Let me know if you have a better name for it.
As always, contributions (links, ratings, strategies, etc.) are greatly appreciated.
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Post #1 has finally been updated!
I'm going to try to focus on Movie format for a while, to start building some statistics for this thread. We'll see how long it can hold my attention. ;)
dmaz, I decided to call your Shadow "Rainbow Gollum." Let me know if you have a better name for it.
As always, contributions (links, ratings, strategies, etc.) are greatly appreciated.
I like the thorough ratings and new info. One suggestion - when available, could we link to example decklists? It's a little cumbersome to search for them all individually, especially when--as a newbie--I don't understand the difference between versions (see the earlier discussion about Gondor knights builds in this thread).
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Post #1 has finally been updated!
I'm going to try to focus on Movie format for a while, to start building some statistics for this thread. We'll see how long it can hold my attention. ;)
dmaz, I decided to call your Shadow "Rainbow Gollum." Let me know if you have a better name for it.
As always, contributions (links, ratings, strategies, etc.) are greatly appreciated.
Thanks for adding it to the list!
The deck does rely on Gollum quite a bit, but from all of my games, I'm finding that the power of the shadow comes from a combined effort of Gollum and Morgul Squealer.
The shadow works such that it almost always discourages the double move. This is because of the sheer number of minions in the deck. It's hard for the opponent to make any kind of calculated risk in the double move unless they really build up a massive force to double or triple. The problem with this is that it generates so much twilight. Any deck in Movie that wants to double usually has one or two turns when they generate that huge pool for you.
When Gollum is handy for dealing with little to moderate twilight by cycling cards out of hand and pulling that one key minion back into play, Squealer punishes them severely for flooding the twilight pool. I've had two opponents concede at site 4 after the classic dump and (attempt to) run at the sanctuary. Their ringbearer wasn't dead, but so so much damage was being done so early that it was a lost cause.
It is definitely a "rainbow" deck, but the base strength of the minions is found in the Nazgul. Gollum is merely there to cycle and troll your opponent into consternation with all the minions they hate the most. I guess it could be either Rainbow Gollum or Rainbow Nazgul. As for which culture it fits into, it's a combination of Gollum/Wraith.
I can talk a little bit about the weaknesses of the deck. I've lost a few times, one to definitive pilot error, one half my fault, but also the deck match-up...one loss I do remember was completely based on my shadow's inability to consistently keep them from doubling.
The shadow has like 8 - 10 cards dedicated to Possession/Condition/Ally hate. So the first element to a deck that I might have trouble with is one that doesn't rely on any of those things. If they play 6+ companions, then they get whammed pretty hard, so the second element to a deck that would give me trouble is one that can stand strong with 5 companions.
The deck I lost to used a combination of Elven telepathy with Gandalf for global control. While I was able to get a stop at site 7 because of a webbed Shelob (he would have been fighting at 8 with only 3 of his 5 companions), the Roll of Thunder next turn followed by a double got me.
I lost because, even though I was able to get a solid compliment of Nazgul out with each move, the abilities of my minions often deal with things other than skirmishing...so if my mininons can't win skirmishes, and if Gandalf can wham me with well times spells (Terrible and Evil is rough), I'll have a harder time.
I guess you could say Telepathy Tanks could be the biggest weakness. Once Ents are set up with their typical Lindenroot+Horde+Host+Treebeard+Gandalf, I might have trouble stopping them with all that vitality and spells...but they almost always have more than 5 companions at more than one point during a game, and I usually am able to kill a couple key guys or slow them down when that happens.
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Reading up on Kralik's "Durin's Secret Society of Dear Friends" really got me thinking more about this format. My interest was spurred from dredlox posting in the hall chat how the deck was broken and unbeatable, etc...and I was like "man it really sounds like he's a person that just played against an Expanded deck".
So I checked it out (posted on his original list as well), and realized that I had already played someone using his deck...in fact, I think I've played against you, sgtdraino, using a variation of the deck, maybe.
Anyway, I was very impressed with the ingenuity and fast-acting strategy of the deck to get set up ASAP. I had to call out the deck a little bit on the weaknesses that I did observe, merely because I heard a lot of people in the hall saying it was "perfect" or "unbeatable". I don't think anything is unbeatable in this game, even in Open format ;) Annoying? YES...but not invincible!
To make a long story short, after looking at the decks from this thread, and watching some replays, I'm coming to the conclusion that to make a really great deck in Movie, you need to prepare more like you are getting ready for Expanded than you think! Bold statement...this is what went on in my mind (feel free to blow my ideas out of the water, as usual ;) ).
In Fellowship, Towers, Towers Standard, and King Blocks, you are in general able to develop a strategy for fellowship and shadow, without worrying TOO much about what your opponent is going to throw at you. It's more of a "I show you what I've got, you show me what you've got" atmosphere.
For example: If I'm playing Uruks in Fellowship block, of course I'm going to include a couple Saruman's Power to help prevent choke or take down those Last Alliance tanks. But if I'm Moria or Sauron, I just build my shadow to plow through them, regardless of what conditions they are using. Best deck (including a little luck with draws and matchup sometimes) comes out on top. Pretty clean cut.
Compare this to Expanded. Its a maelstrom of wild strategies, tomfoolery, NPE, abuse decks, you name it. I really believe that there is truly no "broken" strategy or something that can't be stopped, even among all of these (at least none that has been seen yet). However, the measures you need to take to prepare in making a winning Expanded deck are broader. In some cases you really CAN'T just throw your best Nazgul corruption deck into the league, comprised of 34 Wraith-only cards and just say "Well, I'll just corrupt them before they can stop me"...yeah, it happens sometimes. But what do you do when you have no way of using threats during Shadow phase? Pop, pop, pop...there goes all of my minions during maneuver phase, and they are doubling to Mithlond. The difference here is that if you don't prepare specifically for certain strategies, you won't even get to show your opponent what your shadow/fellowship actually does.
Now I'll try to bring this full circle back to Movie block format (the whole point here).
Just looking at the lists and replays of some of the most competitive decks in Movie format, I'm compelled to say that to have a Movie deck that can go the distance (consistently stay competitive up through site 9), you must tech at least a little, to prevent being blown away by certain strategies.
In light of Kralik's deck alone, I think its vital to have at least some form of condition control. Preferably an end-all, like Saruman's Power. Almost any deck would automatically benefit from a couple of the Grima's and some SP. Are these cards going to be useless to you sometimes? Absolutely. But they will also sometimes be the difference between you putting up a fight, or being utterly shut down.
What do you guys think? Does Movie need teching to have a truly "League-class" deck? Or can you just put your head down and give it the college-try, plowing through with pure besiegers, Gollum, etc.
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I like the thorough ratings and new info. One suggestion - when available, could we link to example decklists? It's a little cumbersome to search for them all individually, especially when--as a newbie--I don't understand the difference between versions (see the earlier discussion about Gondor knights builds in this thread).
Sorry I been slack on this. :) I will add links to various decks whenever I have them.
So I checked it out (posted on his original list as well), and realized that I had already played someone using his deck...in fact, I think I've played against you, sgtdraino, using a variation of the deck, maybe.
Yep! That was most likely:
These Are My Dear Friends' Birthday Presents (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,8518.0.html)
A variation based on Kralik's deck that takes maximum advantage of These Are My People. Fun deck to play, but many opponents don't like it because it takes so long to discard down to the bottom. For that reason I usually only pull it out occasionally.
What do you guys think? Does Movie need teching to have a truly "League-class" deck? Or can you just put your head down and give it the college-try, plowing through with pure besiegers, Gollum, etc.
Oh, generally I think some teching is important, even if it's just against GLR... or teching to protect your own GLR. The current deck I'm running actually doesn't tech for GLR, but I do back it full of anti-Grond events, so I suppose that is a form of teching too. Heck, you have to be prepared to defend against things your strategy would be weak against!
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I've finally updated post #1 with some data! Now 35 strategies added!
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Searching the forums there seem to be several approaches to Gondor Knights (1 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,7658.0.html), 2 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,6979.0.html), 3 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,7345.0.html), 4 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,5530.0.html), 5 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,1624.0.html), 6 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,7675.0.html), 7 (http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,5596.0.html)). Did consensus ever emerge about the best builds? People seem to go back and forth on whether to include Catapult, Citadel of the Stars, Strong and Old, Ithilien Trap, and Fifth Level (the rest seems fairly consistent, aside from numbers). Also, given the importance of conditions, why did so few builds run 4 copies of Sixth Level?
Virtually all top-level Knights builds are going to run Citadel of the Stars. With recursion, it's basically an auto-win against two-site Dunland, it's solid against Castamir, it ignores wound prevention like Gorgoroth Soldier, you can use it+Stone Tower+an exert to kill enduring Enquea without allowing them to heal, and it can kill Easterling Captain. Basically, if someone isn't running it, they should be.
Fifth Level is also pretty much mandatory. It+Turgon allows you to wound in the maneuver phase, and it also gives you ridiculous skirmishing strength in the late game. Against wounding decks, it's an extra heal per turn with Alcarin.
I like both Strong and Old (Besiegers hate, huge twilight savings) and Ithilien Trap, but there are plenty of good knight builds that don't use Trap. Not a huge fan of Catapault because of how unreliable it is and because Knights tend to empty their hands in the fellowship phase.
People often run only three copies of Sixth Level because you can recur other copies as long as you have one on the board, which means barring a Saruman's Power the shadow player really has to zap them all at the same time to cripple you. And having multiple Sixth Levels on the board does you zero good if you don't have your actual wounding conditions.
As a sidenote, why do people run 4x Knight's Mount? If you're playing successfully, it's basically useless. Minions should not be surviving skirmishes, and if they are, it should be that you're intentionally leaving them alive to get extra heals. Just a waste of card slots.
Back in my day (man now I sound old) I'd run about 2 6th level and 2 Take Cover. In case I was hit with Saruman's Power or some of the other mass ditch condition cards, I could recover in a turn. Never bothered with Turgon because if you're playing right, whoever is bearing 5th level should be overwhelmed so extra wounding is pointless. My fellowship selection was usually:
Isildur
Aragorn
Alcarin
Garrison of Gondor
Imrahil
a 2 cost knight to start (usually Knight of Dol Amroth or Ingold - they eventually would die)
I usually also ran a mix of Bows (with 1 banner) and Knights mounts (no more than 2 things on each companion actually) using creative skirmish order to clear the board each time while leaving my fellowship healthy. This was also during the time of the healing enduring nazgul and heavily protected minions (I hated Easterling Polearm so. dang. much. It was also bad design.) so 4th level + Gondor Bow wasn't always quite guaranteed.
It was fun. One tournament I took it to I went handily to the final round... and faced a guy with a raider deck almost exactly tech'd against knights. It was brutal.
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Thanks for keeping this post around, sgtdraino. Definitely an interesting discussion.
In regard to dmaz's question, I definitely see Movie Block as a reactive format in that one needs to have a plan for the most prevalent decks, and it's often worth packing silver bullets (e.g. the Elf decks that run Stand Against Darkness, Curse Their Foul Feet!, and such). If you don't have a pretty concrete plan for dealing with Besiegers, Corsairs, and Ninja Gollum, your fellowship probably isn't going to get very far, as those are the three best shadows in the format. In general, shadow sides for which to prepare, by tier:
Tier One
Besiegers
Corsairs
Ninja Gollum
Tier Two
Beasterlings
Southron Archery
Two-Site Dunland
Tier Three
Various swarm strategies (Firebomb, initiative, Moria, etc)
Threat Nazgul
Every other strategy (Sauron Grind, Uruk Archery, Uruk Trackers, Twilight Nazgul, etc)
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I concur; Movie Block is a reactive format. Just wait until we play Sets 1-8 and 1-9! Corsairs without GLR are extremely tough to fight. Getting Derufin to work is really a challenge. But then again, I won a Territorial with stupid swarm and Goblin Man. And I frequently play a very unreactive Knight/Firebomb deck, so I'm not following all my advice. Then again, I play Knights because Fourth Level, Citadel of the Stars, and Stone Tower pretty much kill anything, and I don't see Saurman's Power very often. I am metagaming.
zen89, I almost completely agree with you on Shadow Tiers. I playtest for your eight decks, plus Enquea Toto corruption. I advance Firebomb to Tier Two, but I think it's because I play swarm decks better than average. And I drop Beasterlings to Tier Three because the Captain, and the pool, and 2 burdens never seem to come together in the right order for me.
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I concur; Movie Block is a reactive format. Just wait until we play Sets 1-8 and 1-9! Corsairs without GLR are extremely tough to fight. Getting Derufin to work is really a challenge. But then again, I won a Territorial with stupid swarm and Goblin Man. And I frequently play a very unreactive Knight/Firebomb deck, so I'm not following all my advice. Then again, I play Knights because Fourth Level, Citadel of the Stars, and Stone Tower pretty much kill anything, and I don't see Saurman's Power very often. I am metagaming.
zen89, I almost completely agree with you on Shadow Tiers. I playtest for your eight decks, plus Enquea Toto corruption. I advance Firebomb to Tier Two, but I think it's because I play swarm decks better than average. And I drop Beasterlings to Tier Three because the Captain, and the pool, and 2 burdens never seem to come together in the right order for me.
Yeah, knights are an interesting meta call. I feel like a good Besiegers deck playing 4 x Great Hill Troll or, especially, Great Peril of Fire will usually be a very tough matchup, but you destroy Corsairs, Ninja Gollum, and Dunland and can pretty much infinitely heal yourself against Southrons. Enduring Nazgul can be tricky as well, although Stone Tower means you don't have to worry about ToTo and Between Nazgul and Prey. Also good point on me forgetting to mention enduring nazgul in the tiers--Ellington's build is probably tier two.
I'm undecided on Firebomb--maybe I just play it poorly, but I feel like the deck really suffers against fellowships that can remove possessions and conditions in the fellowship and regroup phases. Which means GLR can be tough, and Gandalf is really a problem. I love the deck--just think the heavy condition/possession hate that the 'big three' of Besiegers/Corsairs/Ninja Gollum inspired have hurt the deck somewhat. It was built for a DH/Rohan metagame, and that metagame just doesn't exist in Movie anymore.
I can see moving Beasterlings down--they're an extremely scary shadow side when your draw come together, and you can often cripple a FP early, but they're so susceptible to draw-screw that unless you have a great cycling fellowship there will be games where you don't have a prayer. Also, Faramir SoD.
My personal favorite tourney
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Yeah, knights are an interesting meta call. I feel like a good Besiegers deck playing 4 x Great Hill Troll or, especially, Great Peril of Fire will usually be a very tough matchup, but you destroy Corsairs, Ninja Gollum, and Dunland and can pretty much infinitely heal yourself against Southrons. Enduring Nazgul can be tricky as well, although Stone Tower means you don't have to worry about ToTo and Between Nazgul and Prey. Also good point on me forgetting to mention enduring nazgul in the tiers--Ellington's build is probably tier two.
I'm undecided on Firebomb--maybe I just play it poorly, but I feel like the deck really suffers against fellowships that can remove possessions and conditions in the fellowship and regroup phases. Which means GLR can be tough, and Gandalf is really a problem. I love the deck--just think the heavy condition/possession hate that the 'big three' of Besiegers/Corsairs/Ninja Gollum inspired have hurt the deck somewhat. It was built for a DH/Rohan metagame, and that metagame just doesn't exist in Movie anymore.
You're right, GLR / Great Peril of Fire would be really bad. Nevertheless, I haven't seen Great Peril of Fire that much. Actually, I don't think I've ever faced it.
Knights are a Tier 2 Fellowship. The huge advantage is that they keep nothing in hand, meaning I dump and refill for Firebomb. Nobody is so critical that they can't get eaten by Shotgun Enquea, plus I run 3 Sapling of the White Tree to slow down Ninja Gollum a bit. The pairing works well, and unlike the Gimli/Sam decks paired with Firebomb in real life, Knights can actually run to 9. Yes, there are decks where I pretty much lose, but Movie is too big to have no bad matchups.
Against GLR, I have to build my hand to 7 or 8 minions and play it as a Stupid Swarm deck. Cirdan only kills one, right? It takes practice to know when to hold, and when to drop 1-3 minions to clear cards. Bluffing is also important, particularly at sites 4 and 6. I laugh at people who say it requires no skill - Firebomb is more challenging to play than most decks.
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Yeah, knights are an interesting meta call. I feel like a good Besiegers deck playing 4 x Great Hill Troll or, especially, Great Peril of Fire will usually be a very tough matchup, but you destroy Corsairs, Ninja Gollum, and Dunland and can pretty much infinitely heal yourself against Southrons. Enduring Nazgul can be tricky as well, although Stone Tower means you don't have to worry about ToTo and Between Nazgul and Prey. Also good point on me forgetting to mention enduring nazgul in the tiers--Ellington's build is probably tier two.
I'm undecided on Firebomb--maybe I just play it poorly, but I feel like the deck really suffers against fellowships that can remove possessions and conditions in the fellowship and regroup phases. Which means GLR can be tough, and Gandalf is really a problem. I love the deck--just think the heavy condition/possession hate that the 'big three' of Besiegers/Corsairs/Ninja Gollum inspired have hurt the deck somewhat. It was built for a DH/Rohan metagame, and that metagame just doesn't exist in Movie anymore.
You're right, GLR / Great Peril of Fire would be really bad. Nevertheless, I haven't seen Great Peril of Fire that much. Actually, I don't think I've ever faced it.
Knights are a Tier 2 Fellowship. The huge advantage is that they keep nothing in hand, meaning I dump and refill for Firebomb. Nobody is so critical that they can't get eaten by Shotgun Enquea, plus I run 3 Sapling of the White Tree to slow down Ninja Gollum a bit. The pairing works well, and unlike the Gimli/Sam decks paired with Firebomb in real life, Knights can actually run to 9. Yes, there are decks where I pretty much lose, but Movie is too big to have no bad matchups.
Against GLR, I have to build my hand to 7 or 8 minions and play it as a Stupid Swarm deck. Cirdan only kills one, right? It takes practice to know when to hold, and when to drop 1-3 minions to clear cards. Bluffing is also important, particularly at sites 4 and 6. I laugh at people who say it requires no skill - Firebomb is more challenging to play than most decks.
Yeah, Firebomb is a really tough deck to play, but very impressive when played well. Unfortunately, I don't play it well. :) Or maybe I've just been burned by GLR a lot.
I think tiers for fellowships are tougher--it's so much more meta-dependent than shadows, and there are more opportunities for creativity. For example, I don't think I'd characterize the Gondor Burn deck I posted earlier as a Tier 1 FP, but in the meta in which I usually play it (tons of Corsairs, Besiegers, and Ninja Gollum, no GLR), it works well. Just like knights can give Corsairs fits, can struggle vs. Besiegers, and cycle well. If I were to try a rough tier list for Movie Block, it might go something like this:
Tier One:
Elves
Elfman/Last Alliance
Dwarves
Tier Two:
Knights
Gondor Burn
Dauntless Hunter (with GLR)
Merry's Sword Rohan
Tier Three:
Dauntless Hunter (sans GLR)
Traditional Rohan & HiDaN
Ents
Slaked Thirsts
Thoughts?
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I generally think of fellowships as reactive, in response to expected shadow sides, but that might be my style preference. Fellowships that work outside the skirmish phase are aggressive (archery, Madril), but I don't play them often.
I most often play Knights/Firebomb, Dwarf/Beseiger (using sites to get bigger, not to stack minions), and Dwarf/Southron archery.
To start from our shadow tiers:
I: Corsairs, Beseigers, Ninja Gollum
II: Southron archery, Dunland, Firebomb, Corruption Nazgul
III: Easterlings, other Nazgul, other
Tier One: GLR
Why not play Elves with GLR? The 3G start (Greenleaf, Glorfindel, Galadriel) gives me targeted wounding, a 9/3 companion, and the best condition/possession removal in the game. Cirdan, Elrond, Venerable Lord, and Gil-galad can rotate in later as needed. If someone kills off Galadriel it's still not terrible. Yes, it's beatable - get a Gorgoroth Assassin on Galadriel with no pump in hand; run 4 Terrible as the Dawn; drop Over the Isen, Freca, and survive archery; BNaP a Nazgul; run stupid swarm. None of those are easy.
There's a reason people don't play GLR casually on GEMP. Towers Standard is dominated by Dauntless Hunter - you either play him or play against him. GLR in Movie Block is worse. Before the unofficial "no GLR", I used to have 3 Terrible as the Dawn in my Besiegers and thought about 4. There aren't a ton of other options.
Tier Two: Elfman / Last Alliance (Aragorn and Faramir SoD are nice, but I have to give up GLR to get them)
Gondor Burn (Gandalf and Derufin are not bad, and the companions are more stable, but this is not as good as GLR. However, this is the deck I will likely play in 1-8 and maybe 1-9.)
Dwarves (GEMP people don't play Corsairs much, which makes Durin better. Blood Runs Chill never seems to work when I really need it, though.)
Knights (as discussed earlier. My version runs 3 Sapling of the White Tree to block Gollum a bit.)
Merry's Sword Rohan (play the overpowered card)
Tier Three:
Dauntless Hunter (Without the Riddermark to pull Aragorn, 6 strength Legolas is not very high, though it does have good matchups)
Ents (though I could be tempted to put them at Tier 2 because few Movie shadows can take advantage of giant amounts of twilight)
HiDaN (if I could use Faramir SoD it would be much better. Otherwise, Gondor doesn't get me possession/condition removal, which is what Rohan needs)
Everything else
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I pretty much agree with everything you wrote. The GLR/Elves FP is so, so powerful in Movie, which is why I think 1-7, 1-8, and 1-9 leagues are the most interesting. And while I suppose there's technically the 'No GLR' gentleman's agreement, I still see her a ton in casual games. And unlike DH, there aren't a ton of ways to deal with her.
I'm looking forward to the King Standard (1-7) league on gemp--it's a really interesting format because you have two newly-strong shadows in Easterlings and Threat Nazgul that look very different from TS shadows, and neither of them is particularly good in any other format.
Elfman and Rohan both get some shiny new toys as well (Anduril, Deor, Merry's Sword, Leowyn), and DH is significantly weakened by basically having an autoloss to Easterlings.
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I'm looking forward to the King Standard (1-7) league on gemp--it's a really interesting format because you have two newly-strong shadows in Easterlings and Threat Nazgul that look very different from TS shadows, and neither of them is particularly good in any other format.
Elfman and Rohan both get some shiny new toys as well (Anduril, Deor, Merry's Sword, Leowyn), and DH is significantly weakened by basically having an autoloss to Easterlings.
Thanks for mentioning this; I hadn't noticed this league until now. I play primarily TS, but I've always enjoyed the 1-7 format.
Is there any way we could get King Standard added as a game option for casual games? I don't know who the appropriate person is to ask.
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MarcinS would be the one to ask. I already did so september 2013 and sadly nothing has happend yet.