TTT Paper building adventure

[elfwarrior]

I am going to balance and expand my paper starter decks, starting with the TTT Aragon and Theoden starters.

I played six test games now (playing both sides)/ I used 2 Hlafwine, 1 Guma and 1 Leod. Those allies help the Theoden starter put up a fight. but Theoden needs to draw enough companions to survive a dunland swarm. the theoden did win three games. Including games with Theoden going first. One win was a desperate double inot a minion-less hand. the other two wins were getting set up enough to force Aragorn to double to the end. One shadow win needed a rear guard and tow broad bladed swords. The other needed enough cards left in the deck that the discard pile did not get reshuffled to use site 9. Argorn's three wins were 1 win where Theodend did not get enough companions. Another win was from a hand of pure shadow that made a swarm. I think there was a win from making it to the end too.


Now that I have a LOTR TCG paper collection I can go beyond starters and a few extra cards to using the advice I received about balancing the TTT starters Aragorn and Theoden. I will start by using the advice. Thanks to Phallen I have a plan.
I have no deck balancing experience and limited LOTR tcg deckbuilding experience, although I've played a bunch of games, a game or a few games/week and won 32. With the help of advice and trying decks from the forum. Mostly fellowship block.


Theoden's deck needs help. Phallen's advice was to remove the heavy chains in Theoden's Deck as well as a skirmish event for 1-2 Hlafwine and
1-2 Guma. Leod and Weland can also work he said and I have one of each, but I'm not using them yet. I am going with 2 healers and 2 strength boosters as suggested. The allies that help mounted companions can be slowed down by Dunlending Pillager. I could try 2 Hlafwine, 1 Leod and 1 Guma but I am going closer to the advice first. He also said to upgrade the Rider of Rohan to Elite Rider, which I did. I removed a Work for the sword (which does not help vs the Dunland shadow). I replaced the 2x remaining work for the sword with 2x Fight for the Villagers, a different +2 pump, because its bonus is relevant with villagers.

Now I can actually do this and more Dunland, Uruk Hai, Rohan, Hobbit and three hunters cards are available. Lots of common and uncommons and at least 1 copy of a lot of rares. I will playtest with my opponent every week and report on the games.


Here are the decks

Aragorn Starter Deck
Gondor Gondor / Dunland Dunland

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Frodo, Tired Traveller
The One Ring, The Ruling Ring
Adventure Deck (9 cards)

[1T] The Riddermark
[2T] Rohirrim Village
[3T] Westemnet Plains
[4T] White Rocks
[5T] Hornburg Courtyard
[6T] Hornburg Armory
[7T] Hornburg Causeway
[8T] Ring of Isengard
[9T] Orthanc Library
Free Peoples (24 cards)

Aragorn, Wingfoot x2
Gimli, Unbidden Guest x2 (starting)
Legolas, Elven Comrade x2 (starting)
Merry, Learned Guide x3
Pippin, Woolly-footed Rascal x3
Hobbit Sword x2
Ranger's Sword, Blade of Aragorn x2
Best Company x2
Severed His Bonds x2
Swiftly and Softly x2
Valor x2
Shadow (25 cards)

Band of Wild Men x3
Dunlending Brigand x3
Dunlending Madman x3
Dunlending Pillager x3
Dunlending Robber x3
Dunlending Savage x3
Iron Axe x3
Dark Fury x2
Death to the Strawheads x2

Theoden Starter Deck
Rohan Rohan / Isengard Isengard

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Frodo, Tired Traveller
The One Ring, The Ruling Ring
Adventure Deck (9 cards)

[1T] Horse-country
[2T] Uruk Camp
[3T] Throne Room
[4T] Westemnet Hills
[5T] Deep of Helm
[6T] Hornburg Armory
[7T] King's Room
[8T] Wizard's Vale
[9T] Palantir Chamber
Free Peoples (24 cards)

Eomer, Sister Son of Theoden (starting)
Eowyn, Lady of Rohan (starting)
Elite Rider x3
Theoden, Lord of the Mark x2
Brego
Hlafwine x2
Herugrim x2
Guma x2
Hobbit Sword x2
Horse of Rohan x3
An Honorable Charge x3
Fight for the Villagers x2

Shadow (25 cards)

Uruk Defender x2
Uruk Fanatic x3
Uruk Rear Guard x2
Uruk Regular x2
Uruk Stalker x3
Uruk-hai Raiding Party x3
Orthanc Warrior x3
Broad-Bladed Sword x3
Ferocity x2
Still They Came x2

Thank you,

elfwarrior

[elfwarrior]

Updated with quick results from test games. Each deck won 3 games. Those allies help the Theoden deck (which Starts ally healing Eomer) Would like to bring the decks up to 60+ so they can be played on GEMP. However I have no deck balancing experience.

[Phallen Cassidy]

Glad it's worked out so far! In the end, no matter how much tinkering you do these are just starter decks. Not only were they created to showcase common functions (archery, fierce, damage) without being too complicated (no conditions or maneuver phase actions, for example), they were created to allow easy avenues for improvement (other than skirmish events both decks have a lot of needs), and the Free Peoples were created to handle the sorts of threats that low-budget Shadow sides could put out (hence all the skirmish events). It sounds as if they've done their job as starter decks and since you've got a solid collection going, it's time to move past what they are and figure out what they're going to be.

Nobody is born with deck balancing experience. Instead you gain some every time a deck you build loses (and occasionally when it wins). You've got at least 6 games of experience with these two, hundreds of cards at your disposal, and at least 11 cards to add to each deck. Neither of them are anywhere close to fully designed, so there's no reason to "hold back" and keep your strongest cards out for the sake of balance. Determine a need that your deck has, flip through your collection to see what can meet it. You found that the Theoden deck is vulnerable to swarms, for example. This was caused by an inability to get companions on the board, so maybe put more companions in the deck. If/when that then causes pain in other ways (Death to the Strawheads easily overwhelming important companions, for example), look for Frodo support such as Severed His Bonds or ways to take minions out before they can be assigned such as Rohirrim Bow.

If you want to bring them to Gemp exclusively to play with the same opponents you would face in person, I think you'd do best to stick to your collection. At least at first. That way there's no disconnect between what happens online and what happens in person, and then both of you can evolve your decks together. If you want to play them against random opponents though, I think you'll be better off starting from scratch. There are so many weaknesses built in that it'll be hard to know where to start and once you finish the decks will look pretty different from how they look now anyway.

[elfwarrior]

Thank you for your advice. I will work on them.

And post more reports

-elfwarrior