The Last Homely House

Middle-Earth => Lothlórien => Expanded => Topic started by: dmaz on August 15, 2014, 07:49:43 AM

Title: Ladies' Choice
Post by: dmaz on August 15, 2014, 07:49:43 AM
Completely impractical. Totally necessary.

Galadriel, Bearer of Wisdom
The One Ring, The Ring of Rings

Arwen, Royal Maiden
Eowyn, Northwoman

Rosie Cotton, Barmaid x3

Leowyn
Goldberry, River-Daughter
Melilot Brandybuck, Merry Dancer

Arwen's Bow
Arwen's Dagger
Asfaloth, Elven Steed
Gwemegil
Phial of Galadriel
Sword of the Fallen
Flaming Brand
Brego
Erkenbrand's Horn
Rider's Bow
Sturdy Shield
Windfola
Eowyn's Sword, Dernhelm's Blade
Bill the Pony
Hobbit Sword

Galadriel's Silver Ewer x2
Nenya, Ring of Adamant x2

Company of Archers x2
Make Haste x2

Glimpse of Fate
The Tale of Gil-Galad

Uruviel, Woodland Maid
Woodhall Elf, Exile

Mostly I just want to see if I can keep them together long enough to get their mounts and gear, haha

Wonder how hard it would be to make it to 9...
Title: Re: Ladies' Choice
Post by: Prince_of_Ithilien on August 15, 2014, 08:11:12 AM
Let's see... a flurry of colorful cards, lots of mounts, and plenty of accessories... this deck could be called "my little pony"  ;-)  collect the whole set!

Interesting idea
Title: Re: Ladies' Choice
Post by: sgtdraino on August 15, 2014, 08:23:25 AM
Ha! Cool idea!

I'm currently working on an Expanded deck that combines the two cultures you see LEAST used in Expanded format: Rohan and Dunland!
Title: Re: Ladies' Choice
Post by: thetimewarptrio on August 15, 2014, 10:11:12 AM
I think, if I were playing against an actual female who was running this deck, by the time I realized what was going on (probably around Site 3 or so), I'd intentionally tank, because props. You made this deck, and it's probably going to lose, but I dig it.

I do wonder, what Shadow side would you run with it? Shouldn't really be any race of men, even if Dunlandings have the longest hair.

I'd bank on Shelob, and maybe some uruks or goblins? One of those two have to be like sexless, which is closer to female than full blown male.
Title: Re: Ladies' Choice
Post by: dmaz on August 15, 2014, 07:24:26 PM
I do wonder, what Shadow side would you run with it? Shouldn't really be any race of men, even if Dunlandings have the longest hair.

I'd bank on Shelob, and maybe some uruks or goblins? One of those two have to be like sexless, which is closer to female than full blown male.

I wonder if the Watcher in the Water was a girl, haha!
Title: Re: Ladies' Choice
Post by: bibfortuna25 on August 15, 2014, 10:06:08 PM
Most of the Moria Orcs in FOTR were played by girls and women, to reflect the goblins' shorter stature. Would a [Moria] or [Orc] Shadow work?
Title: Re: Ladies' Choice
Post by: dmaz on August 16, 2014, 12:13:00 AM
Most of the Moria Orcs in FOTR were played by girls and women, to reflect the goblins' shorter stature.

I always thought Watchful Orc looked like my great-grandmother a little bit...
Title: Re: Ladies' Choice
Post by: Floydor on August 16, 2014, 11:48:42 AM
 Warg-master

This "orc" was actually a woman, stunt double for Arwen in FOTR.
Title: Re: Ladies' Choice
Post by: dmaz on August 17, 2014, 06:21:07 PM
Ladies' Choice is 0 for 2! No surprises there. I think the biggest observed so far is that companion Rosie is a very miserable liability to the deck in every way.

In the first game, I drew her sword and Bill before her, so it was just hand clogging.

In the second game I got her out with a sword, but once she's out and getting assign to a skirmish she's just a reverse Jarnsmid, Barding Emissary lol.

The initial build was very much a for-fun build, so now I'm going to see if there is any way to develop practical application for this. First off, replacing the Rosie-related cards could make room for some Elven skirmish pumps to keep Galadriel alive in the case of swarm.

One possible possession swap...I initially have Sword of the Fallen for Galadriel, but maybe I should switch it for a regular Elven Sword to help trigger Glimpse of Fate if needed?

Since Galadriel seems to be assigned to skirmishes quite a bit, I'd like to make this Eowyn work...there are some situations where it might save my butt, like enduring minions. I kind of wanted to use that Arwen because I've never seen it used, but I would need to cave in and play Celebring to make half her text work it (he's not a female though, haha).

I'm also probably going to dump some of the fun toys for Arwen (bow and stuff)...I feel like there might be better cards to use in those slots.

What do you guys think?
Title: Re: Ladies' Choice
Post by: sgtdraino on August 18, 2014, 08:59:30 AM
I dunno, I'm having a really hard time thinking of something that would be truly effective. It might be nice to use Arwen who is stronger for every Forest, but I can't think of a way to make sure you get all forests with out using males. Maybe more initiative tricks with Arwen's bow and dagger? But then you really need Deagol to get those out fast, and Deagol can't be used without Smeagol.
Title: Re: Ladies' Choice
Post by: Carl333 on August 18, 2014, 09:05:11 AM
First off, great idea. Second, celebring could maybe be mistaken for a female. Haha. Just kidding.  I don't think you should dump all the fun toys, even if means losing.  After all, what is the point of playing if you are just trying to win?
Title: Re: Ladies' Choice
Post by: sgtdraino on August 18, 2014, 10:39:27 AM
Okay, I've got the makings of an idea!

I suggest you ditch Rosie Cotton, replace your current Eowyn with Lady of Ithilien, and go BIG on Archery.

Lorien Elf is female. If you end up starting, you can go Prancing Pony on Site 1, start Galadriel, Eowyn, 2x Lorien Elf, and then pull Arwen. Don't exceed 5 characters out, just replace Lorien Elf whenever she gets killed.

Now, here's the two really cool parts:

Taking the High Ground
Refuge

Load up your deck with male Elf characters, but don't play them, just use them as fuel for these two conditions! The Ladies' Choice deck becomes the Maneater deck! Up your Archery or heal your ladies by discarding guys. And note that you can heal anyone, not just elves, so this works great with Lady of Ithilien. You should also be able to use your Arwen, Royal Maiden, Gwemegil, Arwen's Dagger and Arwen's bow to play around with initiative to use

Glimpse of Fate

to make multiple minions weak. You can also use some telepathy in conjunction with

Into the West

To get the threats off and reuse Arwen's text. I also feel like

The Mirror of Galadriel, Dangerous Guide

could be put to good use here, along with other regular Archery-related cards, Sword of the Fallen, and probably some pumps to keep your Lorien Elfs from getting murdered in fights.

You should be able to go pretty big with this, as it seems like it would cycle like crazy.

Thoughts?
Title: Re: Ladies' Choice
Post by: dmaz on August 18, 2014, 05:50:32 PM
Okay, I've got the makings of an idea!

I suggest you ditch Rosie Cotton, replace your current Eowyn with Lady of Ithilien, and go BIG on Archery.

Lorien Elf is female. If you end up starting, you can go Prancing Pony on Site 1, start Galadriel, Eowyn, 2x Lorien Elf, and then pull Arwen. Don't exceed 5 characters out, just replace Lorien Elf whenever she gets killed.

Now, here's the two really cool parts:

Taking the High Ground
Refuge

Load up your deck with male Elf characters, but don't play them, just use them as fuel for these two conditions! The Ladies' Choice deck becomes the Maneater deck! Up your Archery or heal your ladies by discarding guys. And note that you can heal anyone, not just elves, so this works great with Lady of Ithilien. You should also be able to use your Arwen, Royal Maiden, Gwemegil, Arwen's Dagger and Arwen's bow to play around with initiative to use

Glimpse of Fate

to make multiple minions weak. You can also use some telepathy in conjunction with

Into the West

To get the threats off and reuse Arwen's text. I also feel like

The Mirror of Galadriel, Dangerous Guide

could be put to good use here, along with other regular Archery-related cards, Sword of the Fallen, and probably some pumps to keep your Lorien Elfs from getting murdered in fights.

You should be able to go pretty big with this, as it seems like it would cycle like crazy.

Thoughts?

Brilliant!

Taking the High Ground is only amplified by Woodhall Elf, Exile (not sure if this was a male or female, but assumed it could be a female haha) and The Mirror of Galadriel, Dangerous Guide like you suggested. You have the potential of getting the archery total pretty darn high.

The only thing that bothered me was the frequent use of Shelob, Her Ladyship, but then I realized that with this strategy you simply have the option of adding to the archery total :)

I'm going to fiddle around with this and see how the final list turns out!

Thanks!
Title: Re: Ladies' Choice
Post by: sgtdraino on August 19, 2014, 09:23:36 AM
Brilliant!

Taking the High Ground is only amplified by Woodhall Elf, Exile (not sure if this was a male or female, but assumed it could be a female haha)

I decided to take the view that, since Followers are not characters, they aren't really male or female, and thus would be legal for Ladies' Choice.

The only thing that bothered me was the frequent use of Shelob, Her Ladyship, but then I realized that with this strategy you simply have the option of adding to the archery total :)

I could see Shelob being a problem. Yeah you don't HAVE to add, but ideally you still have some bows out, because I found I really needed that Archery as high as possible. So far the deck seems to do okay, but it's definitely got some major weaknesses. One key is definitely keeping the twilight low. It's at the mercy of site manipulation, it has basically no condition discarding. I'm experimenting with Hadafang, but its meager ability to discard a condition here and there is probably not worth using it instead of Gwemegil. If several halfway strong minions do make it through your Archery, your companions are pretty weak. So far I've found it difficult to get Glimpse of Fate working like I want. I often find my hand loaded up with cards, and no way to get rid of them quickly enough. Currently I'm experimenting with Arwen, Elven Rider, with her ability to dump cards to prevent wounds to Galadriel. The jury is still out on that.

I'm going to fiddle around with this and see how the final list turns out!

Here's my decklist so far, I'll be interested to see if you can think of any improvements:

Ladies' Choice Mk 4

Ring-bearer: Galadriel, Bearer of Wisdom
Ring: The One Ring, The Ring of Rings

Adventure deck:
The Bridge of Khazad-dum
Cavern Entrance
Caras Galadhon
Mithlond
Stables
The Prancing Pony
Trollshaw Forest
Mount Doom
Sirannon Ruins

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
1x Aegnor, Elven Escort
1x Arwen, Elven Rider
1x Balglin, Elven Warrior
1x Celeborn, Lord of the Galadhrim
1x Cirdan, The Shipwright
1x Elladan, Son of Elrond
1x Elrohir, Son of Elrond
1x Elrond, Witness to History
1x Elven Defender
1x Elven Guardian
1x Elven Warrior
1x Gil-galad, Elven High King
1x Gildor Inglorion, Of the House of Finrod
1x Glorfindel, Eldarin Lord
1x Haldir, Warrior Messenger
1x Legolas, Greenleaf
4x Lorien Elf
1x Éowyn, Lady of Ithilien
1x Leowyn
1x Arwen's Bow
4x Elven Bow
3x Gwemegil
1x Brego
1x Galadriel's Silver Ewer
1x Nenya
4x Still Needed
3x Glimpse of Fate
3x Refuge
3x Taking the High Ground
3x Celebring, Elven-smith
2x Dinendal, Mirkwood Archer
3x Woodhall Elf, Exile

Shadow Draw Deck:
1x Gollum, Dark as Darkness
1x Gollum, Old Villain
2x Shelob, Her Ladyship
1x Dunlending Ravager
2x Mumak Commander, Giant Among the Swertings
2x The Mouth of Sauron, Messenger of Mordor
2x The Balrog, Demon of Might
3x Gothmog, Morgul Leader
2x Sauron, The Lord of the Rings
1x Mauhur, Relentless Hunter
1x Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow
3x Morgul Squealer
1x The Witch-king, Morgul King
1x Úlairë Cantëa, Faster Than Winds
2x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
1x Úlairë Enquëa, Sixth of the Nine Riders
1x Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders
2x Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman
2x Web
3x Ships of Great Draught
4x Captured by the Ring
2x Led Astray
4x Sudden Strike
4x Saruman's Power
3x Evil-smelling Fens
2x Rapid Reload
1x Saruman, Servant of Sauron

Here's a win:

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=sgtdraino$6hzm1tltz3p3h5fe (http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=sgtdraino$6hzm1tltz3p3h5fe)

And here's one of many losses:

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=sgtdraino$bs3re4ai4mom2ee1 (http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=sgtdraino$bs3re4ai4mom2ee1)
Title: Re: Ladies' Choice
Post by: Not a Zombie on August 19, 2014, 01:08:30 PM
I love the idea of this deck. I'd say Legolas should be allowed though :P