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Author Topic: Additional deck for FotR Sealed Series 1  (Read 1819 times)

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August 18, 2021, 02:03:05 AM
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Eukalyptus

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Additional deck for FotR Sealed Series 1
« on: August 18, 2021, 02:03:05 AM »
We all know the two available decks in and out, it gets repetetive. So I'm proposing to implement a third option:

V1.2

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Son of Drogo
Ring: The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

Adventure deck:
East Road
Bree Streets
Ford of Bruinen
Moria Stairway
The Bridge of Khazad-dum
Lothlorien Woods
Anduin Wilderland
Anduin Banks
Emyn Muil

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
3x Boromir, Son of Denethor
1x Merry, From O'er the Brandywine
1x Pippin, Friend to Frodo
1x Sam, Son of Hamfast
3x Bounder
2x Hobbit Party Guest
1x Rosie Cotton, Hobbiton Lass
4x Hobbit Sword
2x Halfling Deftness
2x Hobbit Appetite
3x Hobbit Intuition
3x Hobbit Stealth
2x Stout and Sturdy
1x A Talent for Not Being Seen
1x There and Back Again

Shadow Draw Deck:
3x Morgul Skulker
3x Orc Inquisitor
3x Orc Scouting Band
3x Úlairë Lemenya, Lieutenant of Morgul
3x Úlairë Nelya, Lieutenant of Morgul
1x Úlairë Nertëa, Messenger of Dol Guldur
3x Úlairë Otsëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
2x Nazgul Sword
1x Their Power Is In Terror
2x Threshold of Shadow
3x Black Breath
2x Drawn to Its Power
1x Not Easily Destroyed

I deliberately left out Blade Tip, as it would be just too powerful.

The pros I see:

- more variety (most important one imo)
- boosters being more potent
- Nazgul won't get much, if any, support later on

I think I checked all the boxes set by Aragorn/Gandalf:

- a max of 5 companions
- event heavy
- 25 cards per side
- not more than 3 copies per card

So, whaddayathink?
« Last Edit: August 24, 2021, 02:58:40 AM by Eukalyptus »

August 22, 2021, 05:40:16 AM
Reply #1

Phallen Cassidy

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Re: Additional deck for FotR Sealed Series 1
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2021, 05:40:16 AM »
While I want to look through this in more detail, I'm not sure I actually will. At first blush my concerns are that 1) these Nazgul are great splashes so while they probably won't get much later, they're useful no matter what you do get later and 2) Black Breath will be kept 3x in most decks for the whole league for the same reason. It'll be good to see Drawn to Its Power though. And I can appreciate that this deck comes with 4 minions so you're relying on packs for consistency in the first serie, though Nertea and Gimli do quite a bit to help. What about replacing 1 or 2 Nertea with Morgul Skulker? The shuffling would give Gimli another dimension as well.

The Free Peoples bears some resemblance to the Gandalf starter, but there's just not many options for companions looking at one set. A Hobbit deck similar to the one in the deluxe starter might have more variety, if that's your aim?

August 22, 2021, 08:00:27 AM
Reply #2

Eukalyptus

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Re: Additional deck for FotR Sealed Series 1
« Reply #2 on: August 22, 2021, 08:00:27 AM »
Skulker can replace 2 of those Nertea, sure. I'm not sure I see the problem with Breath, you need to skirmish a Nazgul for that, and besides Nertea, I don't see any splashability for later decks. Everyone gets Enquea, and I'm not convinced that splashing 3 Breath just for a minimal amount of skirmishes will be beneficial for the deck.

Care to share the deluxe starter list?

August 22, 2021, 02:00:52 PM
Reply #3

TelTura

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Re: Additional deck for FotR Sealed Series 1
« Reply #3 on: August 22, 2021, 02:00:52 PM »
Deluxe list is with the other starter decks in the wiki: https://lotrtcgwiki.com/wiki/starter_pack
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August 22, 2021, 11:51:53 PM
Reply #4

Eukalyptus

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Re: Additional deck for FotR Sealed Series 1
« Reply #4 on: August 22, 2021, 11:51:53 PM »
I used the DX starter FP side and reworked the shadow one a bit. I used the DX starter shadow as a bit of an inspiration. I contemplated using the exert to wound orcs to help with Black Breath, but decided against it in favor of the Nazgul winning skirmishes.

August 23, 2021, 02:15:50 PM
Reply #5

Durin's Heir

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Re: Additional deck for FotR Sealed Series 1
« Reply #5 on: August 23, 2021, 02:15:50 PM »
More diversity to the FotR Sealed League? I'm all for it!  :gp: :gp: :gp:


You left Merry out apparently; with him the 25 cards count would be fulfilled. But Gemp sealed decks are 30-30 cards, so that directive should be changed anyway. And considering how weak the original Deluxe Starter is (had it IRL some 18 or 17 years ago), that's good news.

The FP side will weep and bleed past site 5 with their low base strength, so I'd add a third Boromir, an Armor (imperative vs Uruks) and a fourth Hobbit Sword to help them survive. That leaves us with 2 empty card slots... 1x TABA and 1x ATFNBS look suitable for the role. And then there's the problem of Hobbit Party Guest doing nothing without a home 1 Hobbit ally to heal, to which Rosie Cotton HL is the only non-Rare answer. I'd add 1x Rosie and cut 1x Guest off, that or 2x Rosie and remove all Guests. That's 30 cards, and all useful.

Besides, Halfling Deftness can be exchanged for Dagger Strike, considering how costly is to exert mid-skirmish against Uruks.
 
Your Shadow side looks pretty good, actually. While removing Blade Tip is pure joy to my eyes, having only 2x Black Breath will make Lemenya's text too unreliable, so I'd add a third copy for that reason alone (keep in mind that having only 5 non-Rare Nazgul to base your deck on, each one of them must be impactful when hitting the board). Add a 3rd Morgul Skulker for resourcefulness, a third pump, another sword (either the generic one or Sword of Minas Morgul), and finally something funny like the Nine Servants of Sauron or Morgul Skirmisher to counter Hobbits (Bounder). That'd be my take.


All that talk about splashing Nazgul cards seems a bit baseless to me: I would never swap a well-rounded starting deck for a weak fellowship that provides no Premium cards and cannot double move, just because it happens to also pack 1x Nertea + 3x Black Breath.


My 2 cents.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2021, 02:32:56 PM by Durin's Heir »
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August 24, 2021, 03:01:54 AM
Reply #6

Eukalyptus

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Re: Additional deck for FotR Sealed Series 1
« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2021, 03:01:54 AM »
Weird, I thought every starter came with 25 cards per side. That's why I left that.

Your changes to the FP side make sense, mostly. Adding Armor for a splashed Boromir is not a good idea imo. Nor is Dagger Strike. DS is useful only if bearing a weapon, which can be akward and hand clogging if you don't. Noble Intentions is far more flexible. The Party Guest is indeed a weird choice. I left them in for now until a better solution can be build in.

I changed the deck. Thanks for the input!

August 24, 2021, 02:50:48 PM
Reply #7

Durin's Heir

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Re: Additional deck for FotR Sealed Series 1
« Reply #7 on: August 24, 2021, 02:50:48 PM »
The pleasure is mine.

3x Orc Scouting Band makes a lot more sense than my sword+pump+Skirmisher suggestion: increases more the much needed minion rate, synergizes with Black Breath, provides non-redundant trackers to Gimli's starter if pairing, and last but not least, is much more starterdeckish. :up:

Agree that Halfling Deftness is much less dependent than Dagger Strike, which is a wise approach for starter decks. That same approach discards the Armor for Boromir, fine. But I believe that keeping the 2nd Hobbit Party Guest doesn't align: surely it won't clog your hand, but will still do nothing until (and if) the sole copy of Rosie arrives. These options look better to me:

- 2nd Rosie: more skirmish/vitality reliability for Sam. Would heal her later just like the Guest (though only once).
- 4th Boromir: earlier presence and more vitality for Boromir (can also heal Son of Drogo due to signet, which synergizes with Halfling Deftness).
- 2nd ATFNBS: earlier choke, to counter the low skirmish firepower.

Even Master Proudfoot would have a more immediate use (though can be counterproductive with choke and Morgul Skulker).


That being said, I really like the shape it's taking. I'd love to see a similar effort to include the Gandalf Deluxe Starter in TTT Sealed Serie 1.
“If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”  - Malcolm X