Comprehensive list of Towers Standard strategies

[Tunadan]

This is a (hopefully) comprehensive list of all Towers Standard strategies. If you have any strategies to add, or any (helpful) criticisms of the strategy rundowns, please reply so I can update and improve this list.

If you're new to the game and looking for strategies, hopefully this thread can be of use to you.
Here is a link to more formats: More Strategies

In addition, here are a few decks from the 2003 Worlds tournament: https://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php?topic=12100.0

Free Peoples



Discard
Uses cards like Dwarven Axe and Nobody Tosses a Dwarf to discard your opponent's entire deck. May be melded with Elven Discard for extra power. Usually paired with Sauron Discard.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Sauron Discard
Strong vs: Strategies that run single copies of cards
Weak vs: Tank Freeps, Nazgûl

Mill
Uses Realm of Dwarrowdelf and Ever My Heart Rises to discard your own deck, and uses cards like Barliman Butterbur and Greyhame to retrieve key cards. Runs a mess of a shadow.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: stuff that pulls from discard, such as Moria and Gollum + ESF
Strong vs: discard, Wounding, mid-strength minions
Weak vs: hardcore beatdown, site control
Example deck: Realm of Dwarrowdelf TOWERS STANDARD



Archery
Uses archer allies and companions to wound as much as possible in the archery phase, then finish them off with cards like Feathered and Lorien Swordsman. May use Aragorn/Faramir and their bows.
Ranking: Tier 1
Pairs well with: something that cycles quickly, such as Moria
Strong vs: Low-vitality minions, swarms
Weak vs: Nazgûl, Gollum splash
Example deck: Elven Archery

Naith Elves
Uses the Naith elves who get bonuses for bearing ranged weapons. Generally relies on events to win skirmishes. May incorporate Aragorn, DoFP for another strong companion.
Ranking: Tier 3
Pairs well with: Shadows that can cycle off cards in hand
Strong vs: IsenOrcs
Weak vs: Beatdown, Swarm
Example deck: Naith Longbows

Discard
Uses Far-Seeing Eyes and a plethora of allies to whittle down an opponent's hand, then uses The White Arrows of Lorien to toss the rest of their hand. May be melded with Dwarven Discard. Usually paired with Sauron Discard.
Ranking: Tier 3
Pairs well with: Sauron Discard
Strong vs: Shadow events, Orcs if playing Curse Their Foul Feet!
Weak vs: beatdown



Defender of Free Peoples
Uses and tokens to heal and win skirmishes. Usually uses Gimli, Son of Gloin or Unbidden Guest. Rarely uses the token ability.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: a shadow that needs cycling
Strong vs: Wounding, Beatdown
Weak vs: Grima, Chief Counselor
Example deck: Hunter Tokens/Uruk beatdown

Help In Doubt And Need
Runs a normal fellowship with a few guys + HiDaN. May use Boromir, Defender of Minas Tirith for his self-healing. Also may run archery as a backup strategy.
Ranking: Tier 1
Pairs well with: Uruks or something that needs cycling
Strong vs: Beatdown, Site control
Weak vs: wounding
Example deck: Help in Doubt and Need

Ring-Bound Rangers
Uses Ring-Bound Rangers and their tricks to make minions roaming and kill them. Often runs a big fellowship, and tries to double. Mablung is an excellent minion wipe.
Ranking: Tier 3
Pairs well with: beatdown
Strong vs: Beatown for the most part
Weak vs: hilariously vulnerable to Southron Commander and possession hate.



Tank
Tanks up companions like Éomer, TMoR and Hrethel, Rider of Rohan and runs to the end. May splash Greenleaf or Gandalf.
Ranking: Tier 1
Pairs well with: shadows that require cycling, Symbelmyne filters fast
Strong vs: Beatdown, Site Control
Weak vs: Corruption, Possession removal, archery
Example deck: Rohan/Archery



Ring-Bound guys
Runs Frodo, Sam, and Smeagol, then chokes and survives. May run Faramir, Son of Denethor as insurance. May use Master of the Precious and various discarding Smeagol tricks.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: something that cycles, such as Moria or IsenOrcs
Strong vs: beatdown
Weak vs: swarm, wounding, Cavern Entrance
Example deck: Slinker

Dauntless Hunter
Uses Dauntless Hunter and unbound Hobbits to choke and be a pain. May incorporate Wingfoot to double. May be melded with Shire Countryside or Hobbit Hospital.
Ranking: Tier 1
Pairs well with: a shadow that punishes or prevents doubling, such as Constantly Threatening or Uruk Trackers
Strong vs: Conditions and events.
Weak vs: Cavern Entrance, Beatdown
Example deck: Dauntless Hunter Wounding



Ents
Sets up with AWINL, usually runs 9 companions. May start unbound Hobbits, then discard them to make room. Tries to cycle and run. Lindenroot is key against Isengard.
Ranking: Somewhere between tiers 1 and 2
Pairs well with: something that needs cycling, such as Nazgul corruption
Strong vs: Beatdown, Wounding, Conditions
Weak vs: Greed, Ulaire Enquea with Not Easily Destroyed
Example deck: Ents with Fighting Merry

Shadow



Battleground Uruks
Tries to play as many battlegrounds as possible, then uses events and abilities that target them. Usually melded with Site Control.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Ents, Rohan
Strong vs: Dauntless Hunter, Hobbits
Weak vs: Rohan, archery, Cavern Entrance

Trackers
Runs beefy trackers and tries to throw out a decent amount of strong minions. Sometimes uses Search conditions to add extra killing power. Often uses Saruman, SotE.
Ranking: Tier 1
Pairs well with: something that runs, such as Rohan or Ents
Strong vs: Rohan (provided you pack Uruk Spear), Hobbits
Weak vs: archery
Example deck: Uruk Trackers

IsenOrcs
Plays a bunch of orcs, then exerts or discards them for wounds. Usually then stacks them on Gnawing, Biting, Hacking, Burning. Uses Isengard Warrior to counter archery.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Something that needs moderate cycling, like HIDAN or Hobbits
Strong vs: Archery, Mid-sized fellowships
Weak vs: Rohan, Strong Companions overwhelming your orcs
Example deck: Isengard Wounding

Stupid Swarm
Runs a crap ton of cheap IsenOrcs and minions, and tries to swarm by setting up a good hand and spamming minions. Tries to catch people unawares at Cavern Entrance. May use Isengard Warrior and Saruman's Snows to save the wait. Look out for Palantir of Orthanc.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Cycling, a good hand at sites 4-5 or 7 is essential
Strong vs: Archery
Weak vs: Large fellowships, choke, strong ring-bearers
Example deck: Worlds 2003 top two decks (second one)

Hate and Anger
Another /[Isengard] hybrid. Uses Saruman's Ambition to bring down the cost of Hate and Anger, then draws tons of cards. Tries to catch people with Cavern Entrance or Saruman's Snows.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Cycling, such as Ents or Rohan
Strong vs: Small Fellowships
Weak vs: Archery
Example deck: Ent cycle/Hate and Anger

Ferny's Frost
Uses Bill Ferny, Saruman's Snows, and Saruman's Frost to overwhelm the ring-bearer. Very nasty if pulled off right.
Ranking: Tier 3
Strong vs: anything, provided everything works perfectly
Weak vs: Archery, Maneuver condition discard

Site Control
Uses Attack on Helm's Deep and Down to the Last Child to control sites, then beats down. May stack Uruks on sites to set up a bomb. Uses Burning of Westfold to toss conditions.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: a quick running freeps, such as Rohan
Strong vs: Archery, Tank Fellowships
Weak vs: Site liberation
Example deck: Two Beards and a Tree

Wargs
Plays Wargs and Warg-Riders. May try to control sites to use Wolves of Isengard and Isengard Scimitar. Usually goes for one or two beefy minions at a time.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Cycling. Wargs clog easily.
Strong vs: Skirmish Special abilities, Large Fellowships
Weak vs: Possesion removal, Archery, Eomer, TMoR
Example deck: Wolves

Isengard Archery
Uses Weapons of Isengard and Archers to spam archery. Can be nasty if played right. May be melded with Berserkers.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Most strategies
Strong vs: Small fellowships, Archery
Weak vs: Ents, Healing, Isildur's Bane, Condition Discard (unless packing Siege Engine)
Rohan/Archery

Berserkers
Uses machines and tokens, then spots them for Berserker special abilities. Sometimes melded with Isengard archery. Goes for Devilry of Orthanc/King's Room bomb against large fellowships.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Cycling and running, like Ents or Rohan. Also pairs well with Dauntless Hunter.
Strong vs: Condition removal (oddly), large fellowships, Archery
Weak vs: Choke, Dauntless Hunter
Berserker Rohirrim



Swarm
Uses Goblin Scimitar, Goblin Armory, and a lot of orcs to pile minions on the ring-bearer. May use The Balrog, ToFaS as an archery soak or as a surprise minion. Tries to kill at Cavern Entrance often.
Ranking: Tier 1
Pairs well with: Something that needs cycling
Strong vs: Rohan, Naiths, Small fellowships
Weak vs: Large amounts of archery, Heavy condition removal

Archery
Basically Moria Swarm with Archer minions. Tries to set up a few Moria Archer Troops at a time. May plan for a bomb against large fellowships at Hornburg Causeway.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: moderate cycling, like HIDAN or Elven Archery
Strong vs: Small and very large fellowships, flooding
Weak vs: Condition removal, healing
Hobbit Choke/Moria Archery



Beatdown
Uses beefy Nazgûl and Black Breath/Blade Tip to slowly whittle down the opponent's fellowship. May splash Gollum for recursion with Evil-Smelling Fens.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Cycling
Strong vs: weaker companions, decks lacking healing, archery if prepared
Weak vs: Éomer, TMoR

Corruption
Uses Twilight Nazgûl and their tricks to try to exhaust/corrupt the Ring-Bearer. May splash Gollum, Stinker for recursion and more burdens. May be mixed with a few tricks as well.
Ranking: Tier 3
Pairs well with: Cycling, quick running
Strong vs: Smeagol, Rohan
Weak vs: Sam, SoH, and any other good burden removal
Example deck: Rangers/Corruption Nazguls



Corruption
Uses the burden conditions to corrupt the Ring-Bearer. May also splash Gollum, Stinker for recursion and more burdens. Uses Dead Marshes to bring back tossed conditions.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Moderate cycling
Strong vs: Rohan, Gondor
Weak vs: Archery, Condition Removal

Grind
Uses Trackers with Under The Watching Eye and Orc Bowmen to grind down an opponent's Fellowship. Hate finishes off bothersome companions. May splash some Southrons.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Something that can run, Ents or Rohan
Strong vs: mid-to small fellowships, self-exerting companions
Weak vs: condition wipes, ents
Example deck: I'd Make You Squeak

Discard
Essentially Sauron Corruption with emphasis on discard. Tries to auto-corrupt with The Irresistible Shadow. Often paired with Dwarven or Elven discard.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Dwarven or Elven discard
Strong vs: slim decks, Rohan
Weak vs: Courteous Halfling, Condition removal

Swarm
Uses trackers to cycle and draw, aiming to swarm at a later site. Most of the time incorporates Gollum and Evil-Smelling Fens to pull back an important minion. Also usually incorporates other cultures. Also may add burdens and control sites to augment the swarm.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Moderate cycling
Strong vs: Small fellowships, archery
Weak vs: Large Fellowships, Choke



Two-Site
Tries to take control of two sites, then wrecks your fellowship with Dunlending Elder and Ready to Fall. Often uses Hillman Horde for archery protection alongside Hides.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Moderate cycling, such as Archery or Hobbits
Strong vs: Ents, flooding
Weak vs: condition removal, site liberation, archery, possession removal
Example deck: Dunland

Constantly Threatening
Goads opponent into double-moving, then uses Constantly Threatening to throw a ton of minions out. Usually uses the "discard to discard" minions from Battle of Helm's Deep.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: something that needs to stay ahead, but has difficulty doubling. Dauntless Hunter is a good example.
Strong vs: Ents, flooding
Weak vs: condition removal, archery, choke

Fierce
Tries to win skirmishes with minions that become fierce or makes them fierce with War Cry of Dunland.
Ranking: Tier 3
Pairs well with: a fast moving freeps, such as Ents or Rohan
Strong vs: Rohan
Weak vs: possession removal, archery, choke


Southron wounding
Uses Southron archers and direct wounding minions to try to kill off companions one by one.
Ranking: Tier 3
Pairs well with: Cycling
Strong vs: flooding the pool
Weak vs: archery, healing, choke

Easterlings
Either goes for straight up corruption or a few burdens to make their minions nasty. Usually tries to get burdens through Easterling Lieutenant, Easterling Guard, and Vision from afar. Uses Easterling Captain to finish off companions. May splash Desert Legion.
Ranking: Tier 2
Pairs well with: Something that can run
Strong vs: Large fellowships, Rohan, pool flooding
Weak vs: burden removal, strong Ring-Bearer, Ring-Bound Companions, choke

[5tein]

Love it.

Here's one that is more competitive in Towers block than Towers standard but is still worth mentioning, as it is somewhere between your Two Site and Sauron Corruption. It's been a long time since I've played or seen this so I may have it a bit wrong without pulling up an old decklist (e.g. I'm not 100% that we used DDotR in post-Ents builds).

Sauron Swarm
Originally pure Sauron bent on site control, after the release of Ents this deck evolved to mix cultures and increase adaptability.

Grishnahk, Orc Infantry, and Orc Fighter work with Dead Marshes, Morannon, and DDotR for a late game setup where 2 sites or 2 burdens enable swarms. This swarm depends on Gollum (easily retrieved with We Must Have It) and Evil Smelling Fens to pull additional minions such as Dunlending Elder, Orc Captain, or Easterling Axemen.

[Tunadan]

Glad you like it!  I will add that strategy for sure, thanks for the feedback.

[Phallen Cassidy]

Interesting, I've never seen it done with burdens or sites. The Towers block Sauron swarm to me is Teeth of Mordor, Morannon, and then the rest minions. It ends up doing better than other swarms against large fellowships since Gate Veteran nets an extra card and big fellowships dump plenty of twilight for Teeth of Mordor. I'd say swarm on the whole does well against choke too, since choke means small fellowships. There's not many choke decks after the X-list until Dwarves bring it back in Movie -- Dauntless Hunter, which really doesn't do well against any deck that doesn't rely on events and conditions, and A Promise are the only ones that come to mind. Anyway, it's a fun strategy. You can cycle through A TON of cards, I think my record is in the high teens in a silly expanded match and the only non-block cards were from Fellowship.

That's what's going to be hard about these lists though, establishing what part of a deck is the core strategy and what parts are flair. Comprehensive is a bit ambitious

[5tein]

Good catch — I had simply forgotten to mention Teeth of Mordor. It's a key condition to this deck.

Gate Veteran — yes, a good card in Towers block. In Standard Enquea did the trick.

Re. Site Control — that was key to the first pure Sauron Swarm I built after Helm's Deep. It's relatively  easy to get if you go first and dedicate 6-7 minions to it. That said, I don't think I ever did better than 4-2 with this deck in local tournies.

Also, just confirmed that post Ents at least I didn't play DDotR. Looks like Grishnakh, Orc Captain was usually enough to get the two burdens for Easterling Axeman. And if not, Axeman is still a 6 for 2.

Last card to mention: Orc Insurgent. I remember him being pretty huge in this deck, especially as people began to splash Faramir, SoD.