Ithilien Blade & Demoralized Lurkers

[TheJord]

*The One Ring, The Ring of Doom (15R1)
*Gimli, Bearer of Grudges (RB)(9R+4)

Sites
Breeding Pit of Isengard (15S188)
The Bridge of Khazad-Dum (12U186)
(1) Northern Pelennor (12S190)
(1) Cavern Entrance (11S232)
(2) Moria Stairway (11S248)
(2) Osgiliath Reclaimed (11S252)
(3) Mount Doom (15R193)
(3) Caves of Aglarond (13S186)
(3) Moria Guardroom (11S247)

Fellowship (35)
1x *Aragorn, Thorongil (15R55)
1x *Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith (10R28)
1x *Faramir, Captain of Gondor (4R116)
1x *Madril, Defender of Osgiliath
4x Gondorian Prowler (15U61)
3x Citadel Of Minas Tirith (3R40)
1x Guarded (7R101)
4x The Faithful Stone (18R50)
4x What Are They?(1C119)
1x *Faramir's Company (18C49)
3x *Aragorn's Bow, Ranger's Longbow (15R56)
3x *Faramir's Bow (4R118)
2x Armor of Khazad (17U1)
4x Ithilien Blade (15C62)
2x Ranger's Cloak (15C68)

Shadow (35)
4x Demoralized (11U114)
4x Goblin Hordes (11R123)
3x *Horror of Harad (14R13)
4x *Rallying Orc (12R100)
4x Emboldened Orc (11R119)
3x Howling Orc (13S109)
3x Mountain-Troll (15R112)
3x Orc Strategist (12U97)
3x Picket Denizen (13S118)
3x Prowling Orc (11C136)
1x *Cave Troll's Hammer, Unwieldy Cudgel (12R86)

So people what to now why Expanded is nasty. This is why.

[sharkey]

Ehh... the shadow side is not too bad. Unless you can get some wounding in there, such as  [men] archery, I don't think it's too bad.

[legolas3333]

yeah, actually the jord you went the wrong way with that combo, you need to slant it towards men not orc to make it more effective... cards like whistling death and bloodthirsty are needed to finish them off.

[GloinTheDark]

I think Madril, Defender of Osgiliath is supposed to be in there?  Yeah that's nasty.  Thanks for the post.  Like I mentioned earlier, it's only me and a buddy that ever play and we try to keep it from getting out of hand.  

The problem seems to lie in it being all or nothing.  Meaning that if you build a deck like the one above it is an abuse almost worthy of the open format.  The flip side being that you get Decipher making a decision like x-listing an entire block and telling you that your cards are no longer standard format legal.  Then they make whatever they want and have to do minimal checks to see how fair/legal the cards they make are.  Then you get cards like Not this Time! combined with They Stole It.  2 cards that probably weren't meant to be played together because in Decipher's mind, it's not standard legal to play them together.  Not this Time! being a replacement for They Stole It.  

Problem is, now I can't use Eomer, TMoR or Simbelmyne in my decks any more even though they aren't broken.  Can't there be a happy medium?

Anyway, I digress.  Thanks again for your post.

[GloinTheDark]

I guess what we play is like Movie Block with a reverse x-list.  The reverse x-list being the cards past Mount Doom that we agree are okay to play. 

[Witchkingx5]

Mabe you're playing the PRE-Hunters Format which I prefer, cus' you may use the cards that were released in most countries, which means FotR to Bloodlines. That's actually the Format I prefer cus' you may use Whip of Many Thongs, Weapon of Flame and Shadow in your Balrog Deck which is actually better then WomT.

[sharkey]

Why not come up with our own format? All blocks, and an X-list of broken cards (like Steadfast Champion). I'm thinking we can say that you cannot have one of the cards in your deck that form a popularly agreed 'Broken Combo'

For example, you can have either They Stole It OR Not This Time in your deck, but not both. And no culture cross in the shadow, to prevent cards like Demoralized from being abused.

What say you? A vote, perhaps? I'll start a thread...

[TheJord]

I think you may have missed the point with Demoralized Lurkers, everyone is exhausted, and with Mountain-troll I will swarm you.

You see, you play Rallying Orc, then a load of Lurkers, discard them with Mountain-troll, then replay them all with him... why would I need wounding?

[sharkey]

So? Play with cards like Gimli's Helm, Argument ready to hand, etc! I wouldn't say this is an easy deck to beat, but it's possible with an alternate ringbearer. My deck that is not tailor made to beat this one would beat it ~50% of the time, maybe more.

[Witchkingx5]

Just broken. Just broken. Just broken... ah I'm getting mad of this broken Deck!!! (that's why Prehunters is mainly one of the best formats).