Some friends and I who go way back to the launch of LotR TCG have been playtesting what we call
Expanded Fellowship format. This is a "house rules" format that we've played on and off over the years, but we got serious about playtesting it since spring.
I've mentioned this format a few times in forum posts and on GEMP, but have been reluctant to share it until we had more games under our belts and were generally settled on the X- and R-Lists.
The goal of this format:
Revitalize Fellowship Block by inhibiting frustrating and abusive strategies and introducing new cards that rebalance the game and enable underplayed cards or cultures.
Our approach is to keep things as simple as possible: We included new sets not individual cards, we eschew errata, and we apply X- or R-list decisions that primarily originate from Decipher's own Expanded format.
Why Fellowship Block? Besides that it's our favorite format, Fellowship is probably still the most accessible format for new and old players.
I'll share the tl;dr rules below. I also have a longer doc with some of our rationale if you're keen for a more in-depth look.
Expanded Fellowship FormatLegal Sets- Fellowship Block sets
- Reflections
- Wraith Collection
- Age's End
Rules- Ringbearer skirmishes can not be cancelled.
- Frodo must be the starting ringbearer, as per the original rulebook.
- All loaded and unloaded keywords on legal cards are in play, including Threats, Ringbound, and Enduring.
X-ListFrom Decipher's Expanded Format X-List:1R45 Galadriel, Lady of Light1U234 Ulaire Nertea, Messenger of Dol Guldur3R38 Aragorn, Heir to the White City3R42 Horn of Boromir3R67 The Palantir of Orthanc3C108 Frying PanAdded to X-List for Expanded Fellowship only:9R+3 Durin III, Dwarven Lord9R+15 Gil-galad, Elven High King9R+32 Elendil, The Tall9R+33 Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms19P1 The One Ring, The Great Ring19P2 Gimli, Opinionated Guide19P3 Still Twitching19P16 Grima, Servant of Another Master19P18 The Balrog, Demon of Might19P30 Pippin, Steadfast FriendR-ListFrom Decipher's Expanded Format R-List:1R40 Elrond, Lord of Rivendell1R80 Ottar, Man of Laketown1U108 No Stranger to the Shadows1R139 Savagery to Match Their Numbers1R195 Relics of Moria1C248 Forces of Mordor2R32 Flaming Brand3U106 Bill the PonyFrom Decipher's Expanded Format X-List:3R68 Saruman, Keeper of Isengard1R313 Sting1C138 Saruman's Snows1C311 Sam, Son of HamfastAdded to R-List in Expanded Fellowship only:9R+41 Host of Moria, Legion of the Underdeeps19P9 Stern Words--
We applied X-List decisions where Decipher's original rationale (
https://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,120.msg35699.html#msg35699) made sense in this format. We moved just a few X-Listed cards to the R-List in part because we felt they were less abusive in this format (Sam remains the hotly contested exception), but also because we wanted to maximize the cards available.
Some cards were added to the X-List only after much playtesting. For example,
The Balrog, Demon of Might was a staple of decks for a long time (it had a fascinating affect on Free Peoples deckbuilding) until a player decided to create a deck that exploited it -- to everyone's chagrin. It became clear there was no way to control this card without an errata, which we did not want to do.
Some cards are still on our watchlist. You can probably guess which ones.
To that end,
what do you think are the most obviously abusive cards / strategies in this format? We've tested quite a lot, but we don't pretend to have exhausted the possibilities.
P.S. If you play on GEMP and want to try this format, look for me with an Anything Goes table open, as that's likely what I'll be playing.
Topic: "Expanded Fellowship" format (sets, rules, etc) (Read 4059 times)