Gandalf Signet / Sauron Grind with Moria Archery

[Faelach]

Hey All,

I have been mulling this idea over in my head for a while now, and I finally decided to sit down and give it a shot!

The idea is to combine the maneuver/skirmish wounding of a grind deck with the arrows of a Moria archery deck.  I haven't play tested it yet, but it seems as though it should work decent.

The Free peoples side is a Gandalf signet Trust Me deck that I threw together in a jiffy.  I'll take suggestions on that as well!

Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir
The One Ring, Isildur's Bane

FREE PEOPLES (36):
Gandalf, Friend of the Shirefolk x4
Gimli, Son of Gloin
Legolas, Greenleaf
Aragorn, Ranger of the North
Narya x2
Gimli's Battle Axe
Bow of the Galadhrim
Glamdring x2
Servant of the Secret Fire x4
Aragorn's Bow x2
Ranger's Sword x2
Sting
Gandalf's Staff x2
Flaming Brand
Mithril-Coat
Long Knives of Legolas
Deep in Thought
Trust me as you once did x3
Might of Numenor x3
Betrayal of Isengard x1
Bounder x1

SHADOW (36):
Orc Bowmen x4
Under the Watching Eye x4
Hate x3
Goblin Bowmen x4
Goblin Marksman x4
Goblin Runner x2
Orc Ambusher x2
Orc Assassin x3
Orc Soldier x2
Orc Scouting Band x4
Goblin Domain x2
Malice x2

SITES:
The Prancing Pony
Midgewater Marshes
Rivendell Waterfall
Dwarrowdelf Chamber
Bridge of Khazad-Dum
Dimrill Dale
Silverlode Banks
Anduin Banks
Tol Brandir


Any suggestions are welcome.

[MuadDib85]

Here's mine, it works pretty well (but no Moria archers, so not really the same thing). 12 wins 7 losses with this deck in the recently played fotr league on gccg. I am currently trying to foil it.


Shadow: (33 cards)
4x Orc Scouting Band
3x Morgul Hunter
2x Tower Assassin
3x Orc Assassin
3x Orc Ambusher
2x Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul
1x The Balrog, Durin's Bane
2x The Balrog's Sword
1x Whip of Many Thongs
4x Hate
4x Orc Bowmen
4x Under The Watching Eye  

Key Sites:
Moria Lake
Tol Brandir
Shores of Nen Hithoel

I think your combined Moria archery deck could work very nicely aswell, maybe a second Goblin Domain?

[legolas3333]

you have 3 under the watching eye but only 4 trackers, i would say lose the morgul skirmisher for 3 more trackers

[Faelach]

That is a problem, Leggy, you're right.  The Morgul Skirmisher is actually great in this deck.  If you have the tokens, you can exert the Hobbits before Hate comes along... it is also in there because it actually has vitality to devote to hate.

The problem is there are no trackers with more than 2 vitality that I am aware of.  With Under the Watching Eye being exert to play and Hate it's a problem.

Anyone have any solutions....?

[legolas3333]

Orc Ambusher, Orc Assassin, Orc Scout

[Faelach]

You're right.  The trackers should be more plentiful in the deck.  The chance that I will have (3) to use for Morgul Skirmisher's text is slim, as they're all roaming until site 6.

I changed the deck list to reflect this.

Any more ideas?

[ket_the_jet]

Morgul Skirmisher is awful. Any deck that uses more Hobbits than Frodo and Sam is probably going to limit the twilight anyways.
-wtk

[Faelach]

I haven't played Trust Me in Fellowship block before.  Does anyone have any suggestions on what works well or what they use in their deck?

[legolas3333]

I would switch to greenleaf since you can only have a +3 bonus from trust me anyway also Albert Dreary to discard any Saruman's Snows and Barlimin Butterbur to recycle SOTSF/DIT

[Faelach]

Updated the Freeps.  Decided to Start Lego and Gimli rather than Gandalf and switched to Greenleaf.  I removed the Gandalf's Wisdom x2 and added another Aragorn's Bow (for swarm) and another Gandalf for drawing purposes.

I also switched the Gandalf to Friend of the Shirefolk, as it seems to work better with the multi-cultural thing going on.

I still need more input, but it's coming along!

[Faelach]

I would switch to greenleaf since you can only have a +3 bonus from trust me anyway also Albert Dreary to discard any Saruman's Snows and Barlimin Butterbur to recycle SOTSF/DIT

Sorry for the double posting! But...

I can see where Albert would be useful, but Barliman has 2 vitality.  How would I be able to pull off healing them without removing key cards to make space?

[Cw0rk]

Trust me as you once did x4
Might of Numenor x4

That's a bit over the top. You could have 3 of each. You could add a Bounder and PATHS or Betrayal of Isengard vs Uruks.

[Faelach]

You are absolutely right.  I was so anxious that I wouldn't draw them that I went nuts with copies!

Betrayal of Isengard would actually work great against Isengard AND Moria Swarm.  The first part of its text would work well against Goblin Scimitar.... hmmm

I removed one of each and added the Betrayals.  That work?

[Cw0rk]

You are absolutely right.  I was so anxious that I wouldn't draw them that I went nuts with copies!

Betrayal of Isengard would actually work great against Isengard AND Moria Swarm.  The first part of its text would work well against Goblin Scimitar.... hmmm

I removed one of each and added the Betrayals.  That work?

I think that one Betrayal is enough. Bounder is fun because that your Frodo can heal allies.

[Faelach]

Updated the Shadow. 

After glancing through the boards and testing the deck out, I see that this will work better.  Provides for a little swarm as well.

Updated the Freeps as well.  Cw0rk has good points there!

[Faelach]

After playtesting this, I see that the deck REALLY needs cut down.  Probably to 30 cards per side.  There's not much  cycling, so that's the main problem.  Does anyone have any ideas of what changes I could make to make this deck more functionsal?

[Cw0rk]

Fellowship:
-1 Ranger's Sword
-1 Aragorn's Bow
-1 Narya
-1 Might of Numenor
-1 Trust me as you once did
-1 Mithril Coat

Shadow
-1 Goblin Marksman
-2 Malice
-1 Orc Assassin
-2 Orc Soldier

That would make a 30/30 deck.

EDIT: Adding Elrond, LoR could be a nice investment.