The Ultimate Madril

[Zielak]

You can counter Mountain Troll easily. When there are troll and Rallying Orc in play, just put the first exertion on Faramir to trigger Steward's Legacy. This prevents Troll from playing more Orcs.

[sgtdraino]

Most Troll Swarm players are wise to this by now, and won't give you a chance to exert Faramir until they've played absolutely everything else they can play.

This deck has seen a couple of updates since I last posted. Here's the latest:

Starting Fellowship:
Ring-bearer: Frodo, Resolute Hobbit
Ring: The One Ring, The Great Ring
1x Faramir, Captain of Ithilien
1x Ranger of the White Tree
1x Madril, Defender of Osgiliath
1x Pippin, Wearer of Black and Silver
1x Smeagol, Always Helps

Adventure deck:
The Bridge of Khazad-dum
Cavern Entrance
Steward's Tomb
Neekerbreekers' Bog
Mithlond
Dammed Gate-stream
Mount Doom
The Prancing Pony
Sirannon Ruins

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
3x Gandalf, Wise Guide
1x Grimbeorn, Beorning Chieftain
1x Aragorn, Thorongil
1x Albert Dreary, Entertainer From Bree
1x Beorning Axe
1x Shadowfax, Greatest of the Mearas
1x Aragorn's Bow, Ranger's Longbow
2x Ithilien Blade
2x Ranger's Cloak
3x Throne of Minas Tirith
4x A Wizard Is Never Late
1x Citadel to Gate
2x Deep in Thought
1x New-awakened
2x On Your Doorstep
2x Traveled Leader
4x Something Slimy
1x Last Throw
4x What Are They?
1x Don't Look at Them
1x Follow Smeagol
1x Gladden Homestead
1x Houses of Healing
1x Stewards' Legacy
1x Storied Homestead
1x The Faithful Stone
4x Deagol, Fateful Finder
1x Robin Smallburrow, Shirriff Cock-Robin

Shadow Draw Deck:
1x Gollum, Old Villain
3x Grima, Wormtongue
2x Isengard Smith
2x Mumak Commander, Giant Among the Swertings
4x The Mouth of Sauron, Messenger of Mordor
2x The Balrog, Demon of Might
3x Gothmog, Morgul Leader
2x Sauron, The Lord of the Rings
1x Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow
3x Morgul Squealer
1x The Witch-king, Morgul King
1x Úlairë Cantëa, Faster Than Winds
3x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
1x Úlairë Enquëa, Sixth of the Nine Riders
2x Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders
2x Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman
3x Ships of Great Draught
1x Ithil Stone
4x Captured by the Ring
3x Saruman's Power
3x Evil-smelling Fens
4x Howdah
2x Rapid Reload
1x Saruman, Servant of Sauron

The biggest change is that I replaced Gandalf, Returned with Gandalf, Wise Guide. I did this because I kept getting my butt handed to me by Corsairs who use a fair bit of condition removal to keep me from getting my Throne of Minas Tirith going. Gandalf, Wise Guide is (of course) excellent at thwarting this, as well as protecting against lots of other event strategies. The downside is that I can't get Shadowfax nearly as fast. To offset this I downsized my number of possessions, and upsized my number of Deagol copies. I also quit bidding anything to go first, since I can't get the burdens off as quickly. Seems to work okay. Less effective in some ways, but more effective in others. Still evaluating with strategy actually seems to be better overall.

ETA:

Final stats for Mk 10: 77.4% win rate out of 62 games.

[Shelobplayer]

I think 4 Deagol 1 Shadowfax isn't the best ratio you can use, I'd cut some Deagols for more Shadowfax, maybe 3-2, possibly 2-3. Getting GOTM out in fellowship has significant advantages, can be the difference between a "lost" and "won" turn.

[ramolnar]

Having lost to this deck twice, including one of the games that you listed, I don't understand having only 2 Ithilien Blade. That's the scary card in this deck. What are They? is just 1-for-1. Ithilien Blade is 2-for-1 thanks to Faramir, then more with healing. Are you really using the Ranger's Cloaks?

I greatly understand Wise Guide and think it's really smart, because it stops Saurman's Power. I'm beginning to think Power is the strongest Shadow card in Expanded.

[sgtdraino]

I think 4 Deagol 1 Shadowfax isn't the best ratio you can use, I'd cut some Deagols for more Shadowfax, maybe 3-2, possibly 2-3. Getting GOTM out in fellowship has significant advantages, can be the difference between a "lost" and "won" turn.

As long as I get GOTM by somewhere around the middle of the game, I don't normally have any trouble with burdens. Even if I stocked 4 GOTM instead of 1, in a 108-card deck, I'm still not that likely to just draw it naturally early in the game. Plus, the Deagols help me get other possessions too, whatever I happen to need. And I have other ways of adding threats, if GOTM doesn't show up soon.

Having lost to this deck twice, including one of the games that you listed, I don't understand having only 2 Ithilien Blade. That's the scary card in this deck. What are They? is just 1-for-1. Ithilien Blade is 2-for-1 thanks to Faramir, then more with healing.

As long as I can get out one Ithilien Blade, that's usually good enough. If I get the other one too, that's just icing on the cake. Thanks to all the Deagols and Dammed Gate-stream, I can usually get what I need fairly quickly. The advantage of What Are They? is against Final Strike. Final Strike can stop Ithilien Blade, but it can't stop What Are They? So, when I'm up against Ninja Gollum, What Are They? becomes pretty crucial.

Are you really using the Ranger's Cloaks?

Oh yeah! They've got multiple uses. If I put one on Aragorn, he can swing twice without any help from Faramir. If I put one on Faramir, he has even more healing power. If I put one on Madril, Madril is better protected against Enquea, even with a Ships/Tomb/Enquea combo, and he also gets enough Resistance to add another token when I play Storied Homestead. Ranger's Cloak also enables my guys to absorb a hit from The Balrog, Demon of Might, should he surprise me underground. It also offers a bit of protection from Hate, and enough vitality for a guy to swing Ithilien Blade even if he just got hit by Úlairë Enquëa, Sixth of the Nine Riders. Also, if Madril does get killed, or the opponent has a way of taking my threats off in Shadow, Ranger's Cloak enables Pippin, Wearer of Black and Silver to keep killing enemies, and another way of adding threats during skirmish for a potential double move.

I greatly understand Wise Guide and think it's really smart, because it stops Saurman's Power. I'm beginning to think Power is the strongest Shadow card in Expanded.

Wise Guide has been great, so far. Really puts a dent in a lot of nasty Shadow event strategies; Saruman's Power, Hate, Discovered, Fierce in Despair, Red Wrath, A Dark Shape Sprang, Return to Its Master, Between Nazgul and Prey, Horribly Strong, all those nasty surprises. And if Gandalf has GOTM, he can stop two events.

Saruman's Power is strong, but IMO it's one of the few good counters to Hobbits with all their Shire conditions, protected by multiples of Scouring of the Shire.

[Shelobplayer]

I didn't see the point of Ranger's Cloak when I only looked at the list first, but now that I played 10-12 games against this deck, it completely justified it's spot for me.

I also agree on that What are They? is better than IB - Final Strike has place, and should be in the vast majority of expanded format shadow builds imho. Generally not in corsairs and certain swarms - and I think this deck already has a good matchup against those (kudos for making an Madril deck that's actually good against corsairs). This build doesn't need to discard every minion in maneuver like some other builds with Citadel of Minas Tirith, it has good kill potential in skirmish - it is usually enough to take off the major threats with it.

I never gave much credit to Wise Guide before I actually played against it. Hard to explain how annoying it is that he cancels Sudden Strike, I'll have to pick some of those up irl now...

About the shadow side:
I'm not sold on Howdah, what do you think about replacing it with Countless Companies, PAvise and up the number of GATS?

Have you ever managed to use Isengard Smith's regroup ability? I just don't see it ever  happening, I understand that you need it for Saruman's Power, but how about replacing it with Sudden Strike? That'd get you a minion for power for the same cost (Gríma) with only a reasonable restriction and you have a whole lot of other useful targets for it.

I'd also add 1-2 copies of Final Strike, that card is just insane.

[sgtdraino]

About the shadow side:
I'm not sold on Howdah, what do you think about replacing it with Countless Companies, PAvise and up the number of GATS?

The original reason Howdah was put in there, along with Mouth of Sauron, is because it costs nothing and Mouth can filter them (and Rapid Reload) out of my rather large deck. In other words, they're there mainly for cycling/filtering purposes. Of course, 4x Howdah is pretty great as a potential +4 Archery that I can activate right when I want it. I originally toyed with the idea of Pavise, but ultimately it is pretty expensive. GATS is pretty expensive too. The only reason he's in there, is to nail Eowyn, Lady of Ithilien, or knock down a bigger guy enough for shotgun Enquea to take him out the rest of the way. The other issue to consider, is the fact that my Shadow tends to play quite a bit of Saruman's Power, so I'm not reliant on having any of my conditions stick around for long. Countless Companies probably wouldn't last long enough for me to make good use of it. Caravan of the South is tempting though, and possibly Whisper in the Dark.

Have you ever managed to use Isengard Smith's regroup ability? I just don't see it ever  happening, I understand that you need it for Saruman's Power, but how about replacing it with Sudden Strike? That'd get you a minion for power for the same cost (Gríma) with only a reasonable restriction and you have a whole lot of other useful targets for it.

That's a good point. A great point, actually. Yes, I have occasionally used Isengard Smith's regroup ability, but it is a rare thing. The one nice thing about Smith, is that he can ditch Artifact weapons, if there's less than 5 people. Still, I do rarely get to use it, because he's pretty easy to beat up.

I'd also add 1-2 copies of Final Strike, that card is just insane.

I would, but here again I can't count on keeping it out, because of Saruman's Power. And I already stock plenty of Ships of Great Draught as a counter to Madril.

[sgtdraino]

Have you ever managed to use Isengard Smith's regroup ability? I just don't see it ever  happening, I understand that you need it for Saruman's Power, but how about replacing it with Sudden Strike? That'd get you a minion for power for the same cost (Gríma) with only a reasonable restriction and you have a whole lot of other useful targets for it.

This was a great suggestion, I think it's made a definite improvement!

[Shelobplayer]

This was a great suggestion, I think it's made a definite improvement!

Glad you like it, I personally added a Web and a copy of Her Ladyship when I started playing Sudden Strike. It can also fetch Ships of Great Draught (or Final Strike ^^).

[sgtdraino]

lol still not feeling the Final Strike for my particular minion side, but I do like the idea of being able to grab ANY possession or condition out, I overlooked that it's not just Gollum conditions and possessions. Still, unless I put in multiple Shelobs, I can only do that once, unless he's playing with Smeagol.

This is a good tactic against my type of madril deck though, which does play Smeagol; Sudden Strike can pull Ships of Great Draught! Thanks for pointing that out.

[Shelobplayer]

Pulling Her Ladyship and a Web can be devastating against some fellowship sides (archery most notably, I found that they have a relatively easy game against nazgul if built well, so I added Shelob as protection), and I just like having the option to pull one possession/condition with Sudden Strike even if my opponent is not playing Smeagol. I'm also thinking about adding a single copy of Not Easily Destroyed, so I could get the option to do crazy stuff with shotgun Enquea if I pull it. I guess I go jealous of Rapid Reload

[sgtdraino]

By popular request, here's the latest version of this deck (Madril Mk 16):

Starting Fellowship:
Ring-bearer: Frodo, Resolute Hobbit
Ring: The One Ring, The Great Ring
1x Faramir, Captain of Ithilien
1x Ranger of the White Tree
1x Madril, Defender of Osgiliath
1x Pippin, Wearer of Black and Silver
1x Smeagol, Always Helps

Adventure deck:
The Bridge of Khazad-dum
Cavern Entrance
Steward's Tomb
Neekerbreekers' Bog
Mithlond
Dammed Gate-stream
Mount Doom
The Prancing Pony
Sirannon Ruins

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
3x Gandalf, Wise Guide
1x Grimbeorn, Beorning Chieftain
1x Smeagol, Always Helps
1x Aragorn, Thorongil
1x Madril, Defender of Osgiliath
1x Albert Dreary, Entertainer From Bree
1x Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor
1x Beorning Axe
1x Shadowfax, Greatest of the Mearas
1x Aragorn's Bow, Ranger's Longbow
2x Ithilien Blade
2x Ranger's Cloak
3x Throne of Minas Tirith
4x A Wizard Is Never Late
1x Citadel to Gate
3x Deep in Thought
1x On Your Doorstep
2x Traveled Leader
4x Something Slimy
1x Last Throw
4x What Are They?
1x Don't Look at Them
1x Follow Smeagol
1x Gladden Homestead
1x Houses of Healing
1x Stewards' Legacy
1x Storied Homestead
1x The Faithful Stone
4x Deagol, Fateful Finder
1x Robin Smallburrow, Shirriff Cock-Robin

Shadow Draw Deck:
1x Gollum, Old Villain
1x Grima, Servant of Another Master
2x Grima, Wormtongue
2x Mumak Commander, Giant Among the Swertings
3x The Mouth of Sauron, Messenger of Mordor
2x The Balrog, Demon of Might
3x Gothmog, Morgul Leader
2x Sauron, The Lord of the Rings
1x Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow
3x Morgul Squealer
1x The Witch-king, Morgul King
1x Úlairë Cantëa, Faster Than Winds
2x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
1x Úlairë Enquëa, Sixth of the Nine Riders
1x Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders
2x Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman
3x Ships of Great Draught
1x Ithil Stone
4x Captured by the Ring
2x Led Astray
3x Sudden Strike
4x Saruman's Power
3x Evil-smelling Fens
3x Howdah
2x Rapid Reload
1x Saruman, Servant of Sauron

Only a few minor changes this time around:

Took out one On Your Doorstep and replaced it with Barliman Butterbur, PPP. Somehow I never realized how amazing this guy can be! If you're in front, Barliman Butterbur, PPP + Traveled Leader + Mithlond = Everybody heals every turn! And, of course, now I don't have to worry so much about whether to hold a key Gandalf event I can't use yet.

Took out New-awakened, put a 3rd Deep In Thought back in. I had added New-awakened as a counter to a deck I've seen a couple of times that essentially plays no minions! It just plays The Number Must Be Few, and then never gives you a chance to discard it in Maneuver. My thought was to cancel it with New-Awakened in Fellowship... but the odds of drawing that one event are terrible, and the odds of facing that deck are also very low. I think I'd have just as much luck trying to figure out what I'm playing against, and then wiping out my own guys whenever possible, if I've already played too many.

Took out one Grima, Wormtongue and replaced it with Grima, Servant of Another Master. This was a suggestion from Pepi as a counter to Gil-galad, High King of the Noldor decks. It's been great for that, as well as for a lot of other deck strategies that center on using a key companion's special abilities.

Took out the two copies of Isengard Smith (rarely got to use him) and one copy of The Mouth of Sauron, Messenger of Mordor (3 is plenty), and replaced these with 3x Sudden Strike (a great suggestion upthread from Shelobplayer). These have really done a great job of pulling out exactly what I need to screw over any particular deck type.

Added 2x Led Astray (a good suggestion from Ramolnar to up my site manipulation as another counter to Gil-galad, High King of the Noldor decks), and took out one Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul and one Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders (figured Led Astray is better) in order to make room.

Took out one Howdah, and replaced it with a fourth copy of Saruman's Power. Condition discard is a vital counter to a lot of deck strategies. Gollum's tricks should help me get a Grima when I need one, but I have to draw the event. So, more events! I figured I can do without a single Archery one-shot.

And now, a focus on the Shadow side! I've seen quite a few people playing variations of this deck's FP side, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone play with the Shadow side! I often hear comments to the tune of, "Your Shadow side makes no sense," and "I don't understand your Shadow side." IMO, my Shadow side is the best "rainbow" Shadow out there. It uses every culture except for Uruk-hai and Dunland. Everything serves a purpose, and I'll attempt to explain how it all works together. So here's a look at the Shadow side, in detail:

Shadow Draw Deck:
1x Gollum, Old Villain
-I originally put him in for cycling, then added more and more support cards. It's really amazing what this guy can do to support other minions! He's like the Gandalf of the Shadow culture! He adds threats, adds twilight, replaces sites, pulls minions out of your draw deck, and then recycles them later! He even soaks up Archery.

1x Grima, Servant of Another Master
-Almost like a mini Cavern Entrance that I can pull with Sudden Strike or recycle with Evil-smelling Fens. If the opponent is relying on a key companion's special abilities, This Grima takes care of that. And then there's Saruman's Power, of course.

2x Grima, Wormtongue
-Really knocks those giant Dwarfs back down to Dwarf-size, and fouls up the opponent's hand for a turn too. And then there's Saruman's Power, of course.

2x Mumak Commander, Giant Among the Swertings
-This guy serves two purposes: To team up with Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul to kill a guy with lots of vitality, and also to help exhaust key problem companions, like Cirdan, Eowyn, Lady of Ithilien, or Legolas, Greenleaf.

3x The Mouth of Sauron, Messenger of Mordor
-This guy is primarily a deck-cycling tool, pulling out the various copies of Howdah and Rapid Reload. Then, once you get to site 5, he can sometimes exhaust-out an entire fellowship with Rapid Reload, if there's enough twilight.

2x The Balrog, Demon of Might
-Originally added as a counter against other Madril decks. Skipping the Maneuver and Archery phases is a great counter to a whole bunch of different deck strategies, and restricting his assignment to the more powerful companions is icing on the cake. Not to mention 3 damage and fierce! This guy is great.

3x Gothmog, Morgul Leader
-Cheap archery, and a powerful guy if you play out a cheap guy with him (like Gollum or Grima) to take the extra FP Archery hits. Or, if you're playing against those Hobbits that only seem to heal MORE when you play guys for them to fight, just play Gothmog and put hits on them, until you're ready to hit them hard and get rid of their conditions.

2x Sauron, The Lord of the Rings
-The biggest minion in the game. If you get enough twilight to put this guy out, it's almost guaranteed to be two kills. Plus, once the burdens and threats start adding up, he actually gets pretty cheap!

1x Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow
-This guy is both a Madril counter, and also like having an extra Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman. His best use is against decks that use alternate Ring-bearers. Put him on that Gimli or that Isildur, and your opponent's deck isn't looking so good. Only one copy allowed, so this is a good guy you can get with either Sudden Strike or Morgul Squealer.

3x Morgul Squealer
-Speak of the devil. If your opponent puts out 6 companions and a bunch of twilight, look out! Here he comes with a bunch of terrible Nazgul! If your opponent sticks to 5 companions but uses an alternate Ring-bearer, Sudden Strike will get your Bill Ferny or Dark Horseman out, and Morgul Squealer will keep those guys coming in future turns.

1x The Witch-king, Morgul King
-He's a powerful Nazgul. But if there's a threat (and with Gollum there probably will be), he's also a bit like a Morgul Squealer! And then there's that whole "Ring-bearer cannot take threat wounds" thing. Gimli's Helm? Not today you don't!

1x Úlairë Cantëa, Faster Than Winds
-Adds more threats, and gets rid of key possessions! What's not to like? If the opponent is able to stop one of your maneuver actions (via Steward's Legacy or Ithilien Blade or whatever), playing this guy with Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul can really cause him a dilemma.

2x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
-The classic, and still strong. I think everybody is pretty familiar with this guy, enough said.

1x Úlairë Enquëa, Sixth of the Nine Riders
-Having been on the business end of this guy many times myself, he can really cripple a large fellowship quite rapidly. You need quite a bit of twilight to pull him off, but large fellowships will often give it to you. This guy is particularly good against other Madril decks. Can't swing that Blade if you're exhausted!

1x Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders
-It's nice to be able to change a key site, either to screw over his fellowship, or for yourself so you can play that site over again later. Sometimes it's also good to have a strength 10 guy who isn't roaming at site 2.

2x Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman
-Amazing against mono-culture decks, and can still be pretty effective even against rainbows. I think most are probably already familiar with this guy.

3x Ships of Great Draught
-Madril decks are strong! This is the answer. Ships of Great Draught serves no other purpose in this deck other than to counter other Madril decks... which it does very effectively. And if you get two out at once, it's very difficult to get rid of (because they can recycle each other), unless the opponent has Throne of Minas Tirith with some token action. Still, the most effective way to use this card, is to hold it until you are confident you can immediately kill Madril (usually with Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul).

1x Ithil Stone
-This deck has enough Ringwraith culture cards to get this out pretty easily once you draw it. After that, it's great having that extra card each Shadow phase, and also great to play Sauron, The Lord of the Rings for a little bit cheaper.

4x Captured by the Ring
-Pretty straightforward. Gets your Gollum, adds threats. And costs nothing, so it's very easy to cycle.

2x Led Astray
-The power of being able to reuse a key site, and also add 3 twilight at the same time... well it's pretty amazing. I've complained about this card in the past because it really is super-annoying... but I can't fault its effectiveness!

3x Sudden Strike
-Pull any minion out of your draw deck. Whatever it is that will mess them over the most. For a cost of 2, you've basically got a Shadow side wild card! And if you're playing against a Madril deck that uses Smeagol, you can play Sudden Strike to get out Gollum plus Ships of Great Draught!

4x Saruman's Power
-The most powerful condition bomb in the game... and absolutely vital if you're going up against Solo Smeagol, or Hobbits with their pesky 4x Scouring of the Shire. It's practically the only way to stop them, IMO. I'm just glad I don't see more people using Bill the Pony, Dearly Loved. Frankly, I'm amazed they don't, seems like a no-brainer awesome combo to me.

3x Evil-smelling Fens
-Kind of like Sudden Strike, except for your discard pile! Whatever minion will mess them over the most... he's back again, thanks to Gollum! Plus this is a cheap condition you can easily cycle out of your hand.

3x Howdah
-Cheap Archery, quickly filtered out of your deck by The Mouth of Sauron, Messenger of Mordor, and quickly cycled out of your hand because it costs nothing. Then you get to save it up and use it when it works best... which is often in conjunction with Gothmog, Morgul Leader.

2x Rapid Reload
-You can really catch a fellowship with its pants down if they generate a huge amount of twilight, and you're ready with this. Exhaust EVERYBODY, and then pick the survivors off with regular Archery later. And don't forget that this card also counters those irritating Traveled Leader and There's Another Way cards!

1x Saruman, Servant of Sauron
-Fabulous card. Cheap, easy to cycle, and then it can sit in your support area making your opponent nervous. Best not to use it though, unless you are very confident that he can't kill the guy you put it on.

Well, that's the Shadow side! It occurs to me that some of the sites are also a key part of the Shadow strategy, so let me run through them as well:

The Bridge of Khazad-dum
-A cheap site for you, but a cheap site for you playing The Balrog on them as well.

Cavern Entrance
-It can be vitally important to stop their skirmish special abilities in order to kill them, especially if they're running The One Ring, The Great Ring. Also a good Balrog site.

Steward's Tomb
-More and more I find myself putting this on one of the sanctuaries, when once I would never have imagined wanting to do that! But I find I can pretty effectively heal myself, and stopping your opponent from healing can often be the difference that wins you the game.

Neekerbreekers' Bog
-What could be better than a site that heals all your guys, but exerts all of theirs? Not much! Again, a key site. Especially if you're able to recycle it.

Mount Doom
-If your opponent is running site manipulation, this is the only way to stop it... at least for one Region. I recommend playing this in Region 2, and then (potentially) playing Steward's Tomb at site 6. Also a good Balrog site.

Sirannon Ruins
-Biggest twilight site of the game. Nothing fancy, just a lot of twilight!

That covers it. Thoughts?

ETA:

Final stats for Mk 16: 81.8% win rate out of 137 games

[sgtdraino]

Once again we've had a few updates to this deck. We've gone from Mk 16 all the way to Madril Mk 20!

Madril Mk 20

Starting Fellowship:
Ring-bearer: Frodo, Resolute Hobbit
Ring: The One Ring, The Great Ring
1x Faramir, Captain of Ithilien
1x Ranger of the White Tree
1x Madril, Defender of Osgiliath
1x Pippin, Wearer of Black and Silver
1x Smeagol, Always Helps

Adventure deck:
The Bridge of Khazad-dum
Cavern Entrance
Steward's Tomb
Neekerbreekers' Bog
Mithlond
Dammed Gate-stream
Mount Doom
The Prancing Pony
Sirannon Ruins

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
3x Gandalf, Wise Guide
1x Grimbeorn, Beorning Chieftain
1x Radagast, The Brown
1x Aragorn, Thorongil
1x Albert Dreary, Entertainer From Bree
1x Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor
1x Beorning Axe
1x Shadowfax, Greatest of the Mearas
1x Aragorn's Bow, Ranger's Longbow
2x Ithilien Blade
2x Ranger's Cloak
3x Throne of Minas Tirith
4x A Wizard Is Never Late
1x Citadel to Gate
3x Deep in Thought
2x Traveled Leader
1x One Good Turn Deserves Another
4x Something Slimy
4x What Are They?
1x Don't Look at Them
1x Follow Smeagol
1x Gladden Homestead
1x Houses of Healing
1x Stewards' Legacy
1x Storied Homestead
1x The Faithful Stone
4x Deagol, Fateful Finder
1x Robin Smallburrow, Shirriff Cock-Robin

Shadow Draw Deck:
1x Gollum, Old Villain
1x Gollum, Plotting Deceiver
1x Shelob, Her Ladyship
1x Grima, Servant of Another Master
2x Grima, Wormtongue
1x Saruman, Black Traitor
2x Mumak Commander, Giant Among the Swertings
3x The Mouth of Sauron, Messenger of Mordor
2x The Balrog, Demon of Might
3x Gothmog, Morgul Leader
2x Sauron, The Lord of the Rings
1x Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow
3x Morgul Squealer
1x The Witch-king, Morgul King
1x Úlairë Cantëa, Faster Than Winds
2x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
1x Úlairë Enquëa, Sixth of the Nine Riders
1x Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders
2x Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman
1x Web
3x Ships of Great Draught
4x Captured by the Ring
2x Led Astray
3x Sudden Strike
4x Saruman's Power
3x Evil-smelling Fens
2x Rapid Reload
1x Saruman, Servant of Sauron

Changes to this version:

Added Radagast, took out Last Throw
-This was initially a counter to The Number Must Be Few, which I'm seeing more and more of. Players will play The Number Must Be Few, and then play no more minions, giving you no opportunity to cancel it unless you have Fellowship condition removal (which hardly anybody does). Radagast gives me a chance to up my move limit on a permanent basis, if I need to. I suppose a second copy of The Number Must Be Few could still screw me, but oh well! The added advantage, is that drawing Last Throw mostly relied on luck. With Radagast, if I think I might need to triple from site 6, I can ditch Pippin and use Barliman Butterbur to grab A Wizard is Never Late to get Radagast.

Added One Good Turn Deserves Another, took out On Your Doorstep
-One of the continued weaknesses this deck had been having, was against Nazgul who play Buckland Homestead at Site 2 along with Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders to discard my Follow Smeagol, and then keep playing it over and over throughout the rest of the game to get rid of all of my conditions. I decided the best way to counter this was with One Good Turn Deserves Another pulled at Site 1, to make sure I get the Site 2 of my choosing. Sure, there's still a chance he could play Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders to switch it to Buckland Homestead, but he won't be knocking out my ability to play the next site, which was the most damaging thing about him doing that at Site 2 (discarding Follow Smeagol). An additional bonus of the OGTDA strategy, is that I can make sure that Site 2 isn't Underground, making me safe from The Balrog, Demon of Might. The two biggest threats I can face at Site 2 are Shotgun Enquea or The Balrog, Demon of Might, so this modification theoretically cuts my chances for catastrophy at Site 2 in half. It was tough taking out On Your Doorstep, as I like the idea of being able to get virtually anything back... but realistically with only 1 out of 108 cards, it was always unlikely that I would draw it in time to really help me out much.

Added Gollum, Plotting Deceiver, took out a Howdah
-With the things my deck can do with Gollum, I decided it would be to my advantage if I could play him any time I have initiative. And so, this guy got added in. I took out a Howdah because I figured a +1 Archery one-shot paled in comparison to the advantages this Gollum could give me.

Added Shelob, Her Ladyship, took out the other Howdah
-A number of people had been suggesting that I add Shelob for a while now. I still find her a bit expensive for what she does, but she can be very handy against heavy archery decks, and being able to exclude a key character can truly make the difference in a game. To add her in, I took out the other Howdah. It's funny, I started out with 4x Howdah, and they've been gradually dwindling off over time as I find other things that are more useful. Truly one Rapid Reload with a bunch of twilight is worth more Howdahs than I can legally fit in a deck, so I think this was a good choice.

Added a Web, took out Ithil Stone
-This was a tough one, as I really like Ithil Stone. But again, 1 card out of 108 that I have to draw, versus a Web that I can potentially play out of my draw deck with Sudden Strike, and another means of getting Gollum and/or Shelob out when I need them, using them over and over. So, I think this was a good choice.

...and that's it! For a while I did some experimenting with replacing the Deep in Thought cards with New-awakened as a further counter to The Number Must Be Few... but New Awakened just sucks so much compared to Deep in Thought that I switched back.

Current stats for Mk 20: 87.2% win rate out of 47 games.

[sgtdraino]

Current stats for Mk 20: 87.2% win rate out of 47 games.

Madril Mk 20 is now OFFICIALLY the most successful Madril deck I've ever made. Current stats:

Total Games Played: 151
Wins: 129
Losses: 22
Win Percentage: 85.4%

The previous most successful of my Madril decks was Madril Mk 8:

Total Games Played: 151
Wins: 126
Losses: 25
Win Percentage: 83.4%

Only Madril Mk 4 has more games under its belt, but a considerable lower win percentage:

Total Games Played: 194
Wins: 130
Losses: 64
Win Percentage: 67.0%

I reckon Mk 20 will most likely stay in the 80% range, since it would take an additional 69 games with ZERO losses to get it to 90%! Although its current percentage is most likely reading a bit low, because it always takes me a few games to figure out how to most effectively play a new deck version. There were a number of early losses that Mk 20 suffered, which at this point probably wouldn't have been losses.

[Runnart]

*mutters while studying shadow side of hate*
Need to find awesome counters so I can make a nice FP with my nazguls to explictly play against you.


Oh and we need to play some more games! Need to mess up them statistics! lets play a couple of thousand games so we both land on the 50/50 line or something