Questions from a long absentee

[Noldonur]

Hello everyone!

This is my first post here, even though I have been reading these forums for quite some time now. Very glad to find such a good, and still active, resource on the game!

As for myself, I am a huge Tolkien fan, and fell in love with the game when it came out back in 2001. Played quite extensively at the time (mostly with friends and in local tourneys, nothing really major). Got my best results in the Mines of Moria days with the hobbit choke/Moria archery deck... My opponents were literally feeling Bitter Hatred towards me when their untouchable Greenleaf/Galadriel/Elrond would go down (our meta was so dominated by those elven decks) 
 
Unfortunately, due to some life circumstances I fell out of the loop completely just when Return of the King came out, so I never even played a game in the new post-movie block format...

Thankfully, times have changed, so I have been trying my best to catch up both with collecting the remaining cards and learning the new game mechanics/strategies. So I beg you to be patient with my noobish questions, and I suspect there will be quite a few of them down the road 

For now, there will be just a couple:

- When did the change about skirmishes involving the ring-bearer come about? Was it with the release of Reflections and introduction of the buffed ring-bearers, or with the start of Shadows? When playing in the Movie Block format, do people allow cancelling skirmishes with RBs or not?

- Ever since their appearance in BoHD, I was kind of intrigued with Gondorian knights and their fortifications... They were obviously lacking early on, but I have seen some good cards for them in 7-10... Has anyone tried a competitive knight deck?

- Still somewhat on the knights subject: how do you resolve the issue between •Plotting and •Denethor, Steward of the City (if there is one)? I would imagine that adding threats is a cost of playing Plotting, rather than its effect, so therefore, no threat-to-burden conversion should apply. Or am I wrong and Plotting is an (almost) insta-corrupt for a deck running Denethor?

Thank you for your replies, and please don't throw things at me (well, unless those are a couple of Gil-Galad's  )

[NappyKorn]

I don't think skirmishes involving the ring-bearer can be cancelled in movie block. There are severl great knight decks I will see if I can find a few of the posts from our old forums . I do believe that when you play plotting and Denethor, Steward of the city is in play you will indeed have to add the burdens. Reason I say this is because it is a shadow card adding the threats and Denethor's text states when a shadow card adds a threat (which Plotting is a shadow card and that card is adding the threats) add a burden. You have to remember that you can only add threats equal to the number of companions in play so if someone foolishly ran 9 companions and Denethor was 1 of them say hello to 9 burdens each time Plotting is played.

[Pepin The Breve]

    Hi there Noldonur and welcome to TLHH!

    Just like you i have been a long time away from this great game until one of my friends came with the ideia to do some casual play sometimes and then i found this "place".  I left the game just before Shadow set was release so, like you, i´m prety much a "movie block player" and with a hand of the people here i´m trying to get along with pós shadow era...

   For your questions:

- Skirmishes involving the RB cannot be canceled in movie block (since TT release i think).

- I played for a long time with a knights deck! Since it was the only deck that i had almost all the cards i need at that time (i didn´t bought much cards...). If you want to i can post it here sometime (search in the foruns and you maybe found one already posted).

- Yes, anytime you play Plotting you add up to 9 threats (zero to nine) so it´s a cost that you can always pay since if for some reason you can´t add any threat at all you still can play plotting adding 0 threats. Then you count the number of threats you can add and Denethor text make your opponent add the burdens too! 

   That is what i think at least... hope this helps! 

[Noldonur]

Hello Nappy and Pepin, wow, you guys are quick! 

Hmm, pity about Denethor - I guess it's better not to run him and •Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms as the RB in one deck...

Well, since you are so lightning-quick with the replies, here is another one: what is the timing of events with Catapult and •Hardy Garrison (provided there are several targets for the Catapult effect for the Shadow player, and the FP player does lose the initiative when discarding the cards for the Catapult)?

[Pepin The Breve]

  I think it´s like this: At the Manuever phase you use Catapult´s text and discard two cards from hand to do the trick. If discarding this two cards makes you have less than four cards at hand then Hardy Garrison triggers and you wound a minion. After that you reveal the card and you opponent choose something (if have any at all) with that cost to discard. If your opponent respond to that he/she does even before Catapult perform it´s effects...

  I´m not 100% sure about that since i´m not very good with timing actions, but i think that is the way things resolve.

[MR. Lurtzy]

You may wound a minion as soon as you lose initiative.

[Elf_Lvr]

I'd agree with Pepin on the Catapult timing, although I haven't checked the CRD and could be wrong. D' didn't give a lot of solid rulings on stuff like that.

Anyways, welcome to the forums! We could always use more active members!

Visit the Green Dragon forum and get SdA if you can - it'd be a great way to (re)learn some rules with the guys around here.

Knights are actually really good now, Fourth Level / Gondor Bow combo, Fifth Level, and, if you're feeling crazy, Armor of the White City are all really nice cards to use. If you check out the old CC forums, you can probably find a couple good decklists.

[Shieldmaiden]

Welcome Noldonur!  The others have answered your questions much better than I could have, so I will simply say hello and leave it at that.  I have given you a    to start you out.  You can't really use them for anything, but I like getting and giving anyway.      You usually give and/or receive  when you do a trade or help someone out with something on the forums (such as answering a question).  So good luck and have fun! 

[Noldonur]

Thank you again everyone!

I just downloaded SdA yesterday, so now just need to set a deck up and find someone online to play By the way, any pointers to first-time SdA users? I checked the 'Green Dragon', but didn't find many tips/instructions other than Kralik's *.xml database.

[Gil-Estel]

but I like getting and giving anyway. 

isn't this begging for gold, which isn't allowed? Mods?..........

Welcome, and may the light of Earedil bless you!

[Elf_Lvr]

Thank you again everyone!

I just downloaded SdA yesterday, so now just need to set a deck up and find someone online to play By the way, any pointers to first-time SdA users? I checked the 'Green Dragon', but didn't find many tips/instructions other than Kralik's *.xml database.

Well, deckbuilding is hopefully fairly straightforward. If the gameplay mechanics are what you need help with, I'd be glad to explain them to you during a game, just drop me a PM if you happen to see me online. I'm sure any of the other guys would do the same.

Although there is one rule of thumb for figuring out SdA games: Right-clicking is your friend.

[Noldonur]

Haha, indeed, right-clicking all the way!

It wasn't too hard, I just wasn't sure about the whole hosting/connecting business, but now everything is sorted out.


Gil-Estel - elen sila lumenn omentielvo!