I always found TTT a very Rock-Paper-Scissors type format. A lot of Shadows either hard counter fellowships or are hard countered by them. I'd say the main decks are as follows:
Fellowships:Third MarshallLoads up TMotR and Elite Riders with all their gear to power through. Sometimes adds in Aragorn and
HiDaN. Really strong against Wargs (though be careful of
Wolf Voices), but hates Dunland possession discard. Shields stop archery cold, and the defender bonus from
Firefoot (and Aragorn) nullify Sauron Swarm.
Ring Bound RangersThese guys are immune to Grima, so can load up without fear. Faramir and
Ithilien Ranger are huge, and Mablung and Bow can take out anyone. I preferred to splash Rohan allies and mounts and go for all out wounding. Very strong against Easterlings and Uruk Site Control, but loses to Sauron Swarm. Must always beware
Southron Commander, especially at
Cavern Entrance.
EntsPlays lots of beefy companions and Merry and Pippin to run away from big minions. Good against Dunland Possession Discard, but sometimes struggles against big minions such as Battleground Uruks. Doubling can be hard.
Naith ElvesAlmost ignores archery and instead plays strong Naith elves with
Aragorn, DoFP and
Strength of Arms and
Agility. The Naith are very strong against Sauron Swarm (
Night Without End is great, and
Company of Archers is one of the few condition discard options in TTT) and any of the decks designed to counter Men, but struggle against Easterlings. They are also solid against Wargs if they can get a few tokens on the board.
Elf ArchersOften paired with
Gimli, Skilled Defender and
Quick as May Be and
Baruk Khazad.
Fereveldir is surprisingly good here, and if you can get enough bows out, you should be in a strong position. Taxes Wargs and Dunland heavily (though if a Robber gets through with a
war club, you're toast). The biggest fear is an
Uruk Vanguard with
Broad Bladed Sword.
Two HuntersDon't play all three Hunters as you'll lose to
Grima CC. Very good against Dunland, but Trackers are designed to take this down (
Brought Back Alive plus Uruk Hunters).
KnightsPretty unpopular, but have answers for most things. Most fortifications do work against Wargs as the is no cost, so they can't really exert to prevent the effect. Struggle with Battleground Uruks and site control (though
Citadel of the Stars is excellent against Dunland). I would have loved to see it work with
HiDaN, but that requires to many companions.
Other strategies (such as Smeagol plus Ring Bound Hobbits) are very rare. It's probably the format that sees the least Gandalf, which is a shame as he hears some great cards.
Grima CC really shut down a lot of creativity for Gimli, Smeagol and Gandalf.
ShadowsUruk BeatdownBeats fellowships info submission with really powerful minions. Either focusses on Battlegrounds (
Uruk Vanguard with a
Broad Bladed Sword is almost always good for a couple of kills and a stop) or site control (harder to set up, but bigger bonuses-condition discard isn't as popular in TTT). Will out muscle Rohan and strong rangers, but dislike wounding rangers and unbound Hobbits running away.
Uruk TrackersSlay the Three Hunters by first going for the Hobbits. Quite hard to use: you need to balance conditions with enough minions to make Ugluk strong. Mauhur is pretty good against wounding rangers (provided they aren't mounted-they annihilate this deck). If there are enough conditions out, can take out Rohan, but you need a solid draw.
ArchersPlay a lot of archers (Banner of Westernese and shields are a problem) to massacre the opponent.
Held is never seen, so Frodo cannot add burdens to help him like in other blocks.
MachinesThis is fun! Load up machines with tokens from sites 1-6 to blow
Devilry of Orthanc at site 7 (
King's Room as it destroys Ents). Then play a Beserk Slayer to wound every companion once, heal up with
Scaling Ladder and do it again. Then let loose
Weapons of Isengard site 9 to kill off anyone who is still standing. Requires huge set up, but is very capable. Strong against Rohan, and if carefully played beats Rangers (Mablung and bows need to be played around, and have
Broad Bladed Sword to stop
Defend it and Hope). Not weak against anything really, just a bad draw (which is annoyingly common).
DunlandWithout
Freca, and with lots of site liberation, site control is not all that great in TTT. I prefer loading up Dunlanding Robber with
War Club and letting him loose on Rohan and Rangers who are named without their gear.
Hides is a must, and
Constantly Threatening alone almost stops double moves. Cannot stand Hobbits discarding when they want to win skirmishes, and Ents have no possessions to discard.
Sauron SwarmCan try to set up
Teeth of Mordor (often hard, especially against Rohan), but essentially tries to get as many minions out as possible. The only Frodo protection beyond site 5 is
Severed His Bonds,
Cliffs of Emyn Muil and
Make Light of Burdens and
No Use That Way (all wounds, no strength).
Impatient and Angry can boost Sam but is never seen, so 5 minions on Frodo is almost always enough to win the game. You can draw loads of cards, and discard out the chaff to draw more, so just maximise the pool you are given.
Eye of Barad-Dur decimates rangers, though you should beat them down even without it. 9 companions can be a struggle, but you can still get enough minions out if you time it right.
Night Without End and
Defend it and Hope can ruin your day, too.
EasterlingsTired Traveller and Ring Bound Rangers will be the bane of your existence. Even if you do play
Gathering to the Summons and enough
Vision From Afar, they just drop another Ranger (or worse, Sam) and unfo the hard work. Great against Naith Elves and can stymie Rohan.
SouthronsI could never really get Southrons to work.
Desert Lord is great in archery decks, and
Southron Commander is the metagame card in a set with
Orc Insurgent and two Grimas, but Southrons on their own seem to require the perfect draw to work. Even if you surprise Eomer or Faramir (not SoD, though) with Wounding Strike, you still need to kill Frodo, and they just seem to struggle to do it.
WargsPretty hand dependant. You need the right balance of Wargs and Minions. If you get it, you still need
Wolf Voices at the right time to beat Rohan (and avoid
Arrow Slits). They are pretty good against rangers as they nullify Mablung. Hobbits also struggle to run away.
Isengard Regroup OrcsLow strength and 3 vitality means nothing is left against a mount and spear. The only pump is
Wolf Voices, which is horrible without the heal. This isn't seen for a reason, though has its place in TS. Can swarm, I guess.
Isengard MenHave a few tricks, particularly against opposing men, but just not enough power.
Men Will Fall is the only pump, and it can't touch Frodo or RBRs which is a massive issue. The only saving grace is
Twisted Tales, but should only be used for fun.
And that's pretty much everything. You don't see Nazgul, the Balrog or Trolls, sadly. Just not enough support. If I think of anything else, I'll include it here.
Topic: Best The Two Towers Block Decklists (Read 8429 times)