Movie Meta (Top Tier and/or Commonly Seen Deck Strategies)

[sgtdraino]

I've decided to document, as comprehensively as possible, every Movie Format strategy I see on a regular basis. I did the same thing for Expanded Format here:

http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,8835.0.html

I'm also documenting statistics on frequency of encounters, ratings, descriptions, weaknesses, links to deck lists, you name it. If you are seeking to understand the meta of Movie Format, I hope to make this thread the go-to reference for you! Now, I don't historically have a lot of experience with Movie Format, so the more people who participate, the better this information will be! Your assistance and suggestions are greatly appreciated! Here we go...

FREE PEOPLES
 
Ents
-Often sets up with Saved from the Fire. Generally large fellowships, lots of Gandalf Support.
-Weaknesses: Shotgun Enquea, Gandalf hate, condition hate.
-Encounters: ///3
-Rating: *******7
Durin's Secret Society of Dear Friends
-Crazy deck not using its Shadow side. Runs quickly to the end.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
Gondor Burn
-Sets up tanks with Gandalf and Saved From the Fire. Mostly uses artifacts, few possessions.
-Weaknesses: Corruption.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7

 
Lady Redeemed
-Recycles events, and plays with telepathy and initiative. Often combined with another strategy.
-Weaknesses: Terrible as the Dawn
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ********8
Elf Archery
-Lots of Archers and archery events.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: 0
The Last Alliance of Elves and Men
-Tanks up Gondor guys with Last Alliance.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
Echo of Luthien
-Centers around Arwen, Echo of Luthien and a huge draw deck to power her up. Plays with initiative, discards events, and may include Cirdan, Legolas, Greenleaf, and/or Galadriel, Lady Redeemed.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, swarm, corruption.
-Link: Echo of Luthien/Initiative Southrons
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ********8
Rainbow Wounding Greenleaf
-Similar to Rainbow Wounding Smeagol, but with no Smeagol. Generally starts Greenleaf, with support from Lady of Ithilien. May also have Gandalf support.
-Weaknesses: Swarm.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7

 
Knights
-Knights and Fortifications!
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: ///3
-Rating: *******7
Noble Leaders
-Starts Boromir, BoC, Faramir, CoG and Denethor, LoMT, aiming to add Aragorn and Elendil to the fellowship, killing off Denethor or Faramir after a few sites to replace with an utility companion.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7
Gondor Tanks
-Tanks up just a few Gondor guys, especially Faramir, Son of Denethor and an Aragorn who offers a Defender bonus. May employ Merry, Friend to Sam to boost the tanks. May choke, then add more companions near the end, such as Boromir, Son of Denethor to protect the ring-bearer. May have Gandalf Support.
-Weaknesses: Grima, Wormtongue.
-Encounters: //2
-Rating: *******7
Wraiths
-Uses Gondor Wraiths and their various conditions to power through.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, Archery.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *****5

 
Merry Men
-Uses Merry's Sword.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, possession hate, direct wounding.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ********8
Rohan Tanks
-Tanks up a few Rohan guys like Third Marshal, and supports with allies. May employ Gandalf support as well, and set up with SFTF.
-Weaknesses: Grima, Wormtongue, ally hate.
-Encounters: ///3
-Rating: ******6

 
High Damage Dwarfs
-Dwarf tanks that deal a lot of damage.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, cheap swarm.
-Encounters: //2
-Rating: *******7
Condition Dwarfs
-Tank up characters and use conditions to heal and become stronger. Often employ Preparations and Sindri, Dwarven Lord.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, cheap swarm.
-Encounters: ////4
-Rating: *******7
Dwarf Discard
-Often paired with Sauron Discard. Lots of Nobody Tosses a Dwarf and Dwarven Axe.
-Weaknesses: Grima, Wormtongue.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7

 
Dauntless Hunter
-Uses Legolas, Dauntless Hunter in conjunction with Unbound Hobbits, Make Haste, and a rainbow of support.
-Weaknesses: Weak if/when Dauntless Hunter is killed.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ******7
Shadowplay
-Uses cards like Shadowplay and Unheeded to kill minions, often with support from Lady of Ithilien and Greenleaf.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, minions with 1 vitality.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ******6
Hobbit Alliance
-Uses allies with Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir to tank up Hobbits like Sam, Great Elf Warrior.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, Ally hate.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ******6
Birthday Present
-Recycles events using Birthday Present. Often plays with Initiative using A Light in his Mind.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ******6

 
Rainbow Wounding Smeagol
-Uses Smeagol, Always Helps with Don't Look at Them, in conjunction with other strategies (Eowyn Lady of Ithilien, Greenleaf, Shadowplay/Unheeded, Aragorn's Bow, etc.)
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ********8

SHADOW
 
Ninja Gollum
-Uses a bunch of conditions, events, Gollum, and Shelob to kill your guys. May include a few support minions, such as Desert Lord and Shotgun Enquea. May attempt to corrupt at site 8 using Northern Ithilien and Watcher in the Water, Keeper of Westgate.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: ///3
-Rating: *******7
Pokemon Trainer Gollum
-Gollum is used to recycle various "magic bullet" minions to counter a wide variety of deck strategies.
-Weaknesses: Direct wounding, condition hate.
-Link: Pokemon Trainer Gollum
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ********8

 
Two-Site Swarm
-?
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
Dunland Site Control
-lots of Freca and other Dunland site control cards to gain an advantage.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: ///3
-Rating: ******6

 
Morcs
-Stars Morgul Destroyer, Morgul Brute, Morgul Squealer, and key Nazgul to wreck your guys.
-Weaknesses: Twilight choke.
-Encounters: ////4
-Rating: *******7
Enduring Nazgul
-Stars Ulaire Enquea, Thrall of the One and Between Nazgul and Prey.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
Twilight Nazgul
-Normally win through corruption, or direct-wounding the Ring-bearer to death. Often paired with Ulaire Enquea, Thrall of The One.
-Weaknesses: Burden removal, most Twilight Nazgul are not fierce.
-Encounters: ///3
-Rating: *******7
Nazgul Tanks
-Plays strong fierce Nazgul, such as The Witch-king and Ulaire Attea, Keeper of Dol Guldur, along with weapons and mounts.
-Weaknesses: Fellowship tanks, condition hate, twilight choke, direct wounding, high archery.
-Encounters: /1
-rating: *******7

 
Goblin Armory
-Recycles possessions to add twilight and swarm you.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7

 
Mounted Southrons
-Uses Desert Lord, Seasoned Leader, and Mumak Chieftain.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
Archery Southrons
-Directed archery, with some surprise events.
-Weaknesses: Healing, wound prevention.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ******6
Initiative Southrons
-Gains initiative via Corsair War Galley, then plays lots of Southrons that auto-wound. Paired with Corsairs.
-Weaknesses: Possession hate, healing, huge fellowships.
-Link: Echo of Luthien/Initiative Southrons
-Encounters: //2
-Rating: ********8
Beasterlings
-Recycles Easterling Captain, Easterling Lieutenant, Easterling Guard, and Easterling Pillager to burden and kill you. May include Shotgun Enquea.
-Weaknesses: Burden removal, Archery, direct wounding, possession hate.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7
Under Foot Swarm
-Uses Under Foot to swarm, with a mix of Raider, Moria, and Isengard.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
Corsairs
-Uses support area possessions to play Castamir and Corsair Marauder over and over.
-Weaknesses: Possession hate and direct wounding.
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:

 
Fierce Trackers
-Uses fierce Tracker Uruks in conjunction with Search cards such as Weary.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, twilight choke.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ******6

 
Besiegers and Trolls
-Controls sites, then uses key conditions and minions to completely kick your arse.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, site liberation, other site control decks.
-Encounters: //2
-Rating: *******7
Tracker Orcs
-Stars Grishnakh, Orc Captain, and Orc Cutthroat. Will also Hate your guys to death.
-Weaknesses: Wound prevention, Stewards' Legacy.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7
Roaming Orcs Swarm
-Uses various Orcs who get more powerful while they are roaming. Will also Hate your guys to death.
-Weaknesses: Wound prevention, Stewards' Legacy.
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:
Sauron Discard
-Aims to deck you out using various conditions and events. Often paired with Discarding Dwarfs.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, burden removal, moving quickly.
-Encounters: //2
-Rating: ******6
Sauron Tanks
-Features big strong Sauron minions like Orc Slaughterer, Gorgoroth Berserker, and Siege Troop along with direct wounding cards like Hate, and Sauron support conditions.
-Weaknesses: Twilight choke, tank companions, wound prevention.
-Encounters: //2
-Rating: *******7
Threat Orcs
-Centers around Orcs who add threats, and take threats off to become more powerful. Hate abounds.
-Weaknesses: Threat removal, tank companions, direct wounding.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7

DECK STRATEGY PAIRING STATISTICS
This section shows how often I encounter one strategy paired with a particular other strategy.

Birthday Present/Pokemon Trainer Gollum
-/1
Condition Dwarfs/Goblin Armory
-/1
Condition Dwarfs/Morcs
-//2
Condition Dwarfs/Nazgul Tanks
-/1
Dauntless Hunter/Sauron Tanks
-/1
Dwarf Discard/Sauron Discard
-/1
Echo of Luthien/Initiative Southrons
-/1
Ents/Dunland Site Control
-/1
Ents/Sauron Tanks
-/1
Ents/Twilight Nazgul
-/1
Gondor Burn/Morcs
-/1
Gondor Tanks/Besiegers and Trolls
-/1
Gondor Tanks/Initiative Southrons
-/1
High Damage Dwarfs/Archery Southrons
-/1
High Damage Dwarfs/Sauron Discard
-/1
Hobbit Alliance/Ninja Gollum
-/1
Knights/Dunland Site Control
-/1
Knights/Ninja Gollum
-/1
Knights/Twilight Nazgul
-/1
Lady Redeemed/Besiegers and Trolls
-/1
Merry Men/Tracker Orcs
-/1
Noble Leaders/Fierce Trackers
-/1
Rainbow Wounding Greenleaf/Mounted Southrons
-/1
Rainbow Wounding Smeagol/Twilight Nazgul
-/1
Rohan Tanks/Morcs
-/1
Rohan Tanks/Ninja Gollum
-/1
Rohan Tanks/Threat Orcs
-/1
Shadowplay/Beasterlings
-/1
Wraiths/Dunland Site Control
-/1

STATISTICS BY PREDOMINANT CULTURE
This section shows how often I encounter each culture. I determine the culture of a deck by whatever culture they use the most of, and/or whatever culture is central to the deck's strategy. These statistics are for distinct decks; if I play the same player's same deck more than once, it still only gets counted one time.

 
-////4
 
-///3
 
-//////6
 
-/////5
 
-///////7
 
-////4
 (Free Peoples)
-/1
 (Shadow)
-////4
 
-///3
 
-////////8
 
-/1
 
-/////5
 
-/1
 
-////////8

STRATEGY RATINGS
You can now submit ratings for each deck strategy, using a scale 1 to 10 stars (10 being strongest, 1 being weakest). No fractions please, that makes it too complicated! Each person to submit ratings will receive 1 gold. The average rating of each deck strategy can be found in the DECK STRATEGIES section. To submit your ratings, simply copy and paste this current ratings card with your rating listed for each strategy:

GANDALF
Ents
Durin's Secret Society of Dear Friends
Gondor Burn

ELF
Lady Redeemed
Elf Archery
The Last Alliance of Elves and Men
Echo of Luthien
Rainbow Wounding Greenleaf

GONDOR
Knights
Noble Leaders
Gondor Tanks
Wraiths

ROHAN
Merry Men
Rohan Tanks

DWARF
High Damage Dwarfs
Condition Dwarfs
Dwarf Discard

SHIRE
Dauntless Hunter
Shadowplay
Hobbit Alliance
Birthday Present

GOLLUM (Free Peoples)
Rainbow Wounding Smeagol

GOLLUM (Shadow)
Ninja Gollum
Pokemon Trainer Gollum

DUNLAND
Two-Site Swarm
Dunland Site Control

NAZGUL
Morcs
Enduring Nazgul
Twilight Nazgul
Nazgul Tanks

MORIA
Goblin Armory

RAIDER
Mounted Southrons
Archery Southrons
Initiative Southrons
Beasterlings
Under Foot Swarm
Corsairs

ISENGARD
Fierce Trackers

SAURON
Besiegers and Trolls
Tracker Orcs
Roaming Orcs Swarm
Sauron Discard
Sauron Tanks

Just copy and paste this ratings card into your post, and type your rating next to each deck strategy. Thanks!

OTHER RESOURCES

Movie Block Format Gemp Players List

Currently updated through: 10/31/2014

STRATEGY TOTALS
Total FP Strategies: 22
Total Shadow Strategies: 20
Total Strategies: 42

[Floydor]

Movie have potential of the variability but they are lets say 3-4 META decks... mostly Elven Telepathy with GLR and Cirdan.... or Archery abuse Elves with Aegnor....Dwarves are really hard to beat without Grima spam....and last days i saw a lots of Saved from the Fire Ents deck.... for shadows one of the most used strategies are Besieger Troll Swarm... Beasterlings with the Ships..Bows and Polearms ... and of course Tag Team Gollum-Shelob

[Ringbearer]

I am missing corsairs in the list mentioned above.
Also a good Elves and Men list can do well.

[Floydor]

@Ringbearer ... cause GLR deck ruins them and Cirdan take care of Castamir

[hsiale]

There are quite a lot

Free Peoples:
- Event abuse (Galadriel/Cirdan/Manager of Wizards deck)
- /[Gondor] Last Alliance
- /[Shire] Dauntless Hunter
- High Damage
- SFtF Ents
- Durin's Secret Society (crazy deck not using its Shadow side)
- Merry's Sword
- various Rainbow Wounding builds (Eowyn LoI, Greenleaf, Shadowplay/Unheeded, Aragorn's Bow, Smeagol AH with Don't Look At Them etc.)
- Archery
- Knights

(last 4 builds weren't absolutely top tier due to some bad matchups, but played well were a threat)

Shadow:
- Mounted Southrons (Desert Lord/Seasoned Leader/Mumak Chieftain)
- Archery Southrons
- Easterling 2-burdens
- Corsairs
- /[Moria]/[Isengard] Under Foot Swarm
- Threat Orcs
- Besiegers/Trolls
- Roaming Orcs Swarm
- Morcs
- Enduring Nazgul
- 2-site Swarm

Some other shadows were decent as well (various Isengard builds mostly) but were hurt by lack of sites supporting them in King Block, they probably are way better in Pre-Shadows Multipath format.

[sgtdraino]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I have added them to post #1! Please keep 'em coming, and help me fill in some of the blanks for the current submissions!

[hsiale]

The Last Alliance of Elves and Men
URL
-Tanks up Gondor guys with Last Alliance.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.

I'll write what I remember about this one. First: Last Alliance is not so much key card here. There are only two key cards: Greenleaf and RotN. They are companions you want to have through the whole game. Everyone else is expendable and if sacrificing someone means you can double move, you usually should do it and then play another companion.

The deck's main strength is that it doesn't have really bad matchups (on the other hand it also has no great matchups), it's very versatile. Because of this, to play it effectively, you need really a lot of practice, because it's easy to make a mistake or fail to see a way to get out of some danger.

Example list:
1x Glorfindel, Revealed in Wrath
1x Legolas, Greenleaf
4x Aragorn, Ranger of the North
1x Boromir, Son of Denethor
1x Derufin
1x Dervorin
2x Faramir, Son of Denethor
1x Sam, Son of Hamfast
3x Elrond, Herald to Gil-galad
1x Galadriel, Lady of the Golden Wood
1x Sting, Bane of the Eight Legs
1x Aiglos
1x Phial of Galadriel, Star-glass
1x Vilya
2x Anduril, Flame of the West
1x Seeing Stone of Orthanc
2x Secret Sentinels
1x Shadow Between
2x The Last Alliance of Elves and Men
1x The Tale of Gil-galad
1x Citadel of the Stars
1x Noble Leaders
1x Stone Tower
1x The Saga of Elendil
1x The Tale of the Great Ring

[Eukalyptus]

Stewards' Legacy

Awesome movie card. Best of them! Besides, it wouldn't help against Advance Captain and Regular.

[hsiale]

One more decktype I forgot about: Noble Leaders. This deck starts Boromir, BoC, Faramir, CoG and Denethor, LoMT, aiming to add Aragorn and Elendil to the fellowship, killing off Denethor or Faramir after a few sites to replace with an utility companion (Radagast for move limit, Derufin for Corsair hate or anything else you need). It uses lots of artifacts so that it's not vulnerable to possession removal, sets up really well because of Denethor and has great fighting/damage force.

[zen89]

Gondor Burn--Gondor/Gandalf fellowship with significant possession/condition removal.

Strong matchups against besiegers (Elendil, condition removal), Corsairs (large companions, possession removal, no reliance on possessions), Ninja Gollum (wound prevention, Faramir SoD, condition removal), Easterlings (large comps, Faramir SoD). Can also triple move in multiple ways.

Weak against Enduring Enquea (no wounding), corruption in general (Boromir RB)--especially morcs. Also has the weakness of all SFTF decks in that it relies on Saved to set up.

Sample decklist:

Ring-bearer: Boromir, Bearer of Council
Ring: The One Ring, Answer To All Riddles

Adventure deck:
Steps of Edoras
King's Tent
Hall of the Kings
City of the Dead
City Gates
Minas Tirith Sixth Circle
Osgiliath Crossing
Cross Roads
Haunted Pass

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
1x Gandalf, Leader of Men
1x Radagast, The Brown
2x Aragorn, Ranger of the North
1x Denethor, Wizened Steward
2x Elendil, The Tall
1x Faramir, Son of Denethor
1x Ranger of Ithilien
1x Sam, Son of Hamfast
1x Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor
1x Glamdring
1x Gondorian Sword
1x Gandalf's Staff
1x Anduril, Flame of the West
2x Narsil, Blade of the Faithful
4x Sapling of the White Tree
1x Scroll of Isildur
2x Grown Suddenly Tall
3x Roll of Thunder
4x Saved From the Fire
3x Sharpen Your Swords
3x Noble Leaders

Shadow Draw Deck:
4x Black Numenorean
4x Castamir of Umbar
4x Corsair Marauder
4x Corsair Plunderer
1x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
4x Black Sails of Umbar
3x Corsair War Galley
2x Raider Halberd
3x Ships of Great Draught
3x Discovered
1x Fierce in Despair
2x Red Wrath
2x Wind That Sped Ships

Can also be specced to drop Denethor for Derufin or Dervorin.

[everial]

Searching the forums there seem to be several approaches to Gondor Knights (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). Did consensus ever emerge about the best builds? People seem to go back and forth on whether to include Catapult, Citadel of the Stars, Strong and Old, Ithilien Trap, and Fifth Level (the rest seems fairly consistent, aside from numbers). Also, given the importance of conditions, why did so few builds run 4 copies of Sixth Level?

[zen89]

Searching the forums there seem to be several approaches to Gondor Knights (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). Did consensus ever emerge about the best builds? People seem to go back and forth on whether to include Catapult, Citadel of the Stars, Strong and Old, Ithilien Trap, and Fifth Level (the rest seems fairly consistent, aside from numbers). Also, given the importance of conditions, why did so few builds run 4 copies of Sixth Level?

Virtually all top-level Knights builds are going to run Citadel of the Stars. With recursion, it's basically an auto-win against two-site Dunland, it's solid against Castamir, it ignores wound prevention like Gorgoroth Soldier, you can use it+Stone Tower+an exert to kill enduring Enquea without allowing them to heal, and it can kill Easterling Captain. Basically, if someone isn't running it, they should be.

Fifth Level is also pretty much mandatory. It+Turgon allows you to wound in the maneuver phase, and it also gives you ridiculous skirmishing strength in the late game. Against wounding decks, it's an extra heal per turn with Alcarin.

I like both Strong and Old (Besiegers hate, huge twilight savings) and Ithilien Trap, but there are plenty of good knight builds that don't use Trap. Not a huge fan of Catapault because of how unreliable it is and because Knights tend to empty their hands in the fellowship phase.

People often run only three copies of Sixth Level because you can recur other copies as long as you have one on the board, which means barring a Saruman's Power the shadow player really has to zap them all at the same time to cripple you. And having multiple Sixth Levels on the board does you zero good if you don't have your actual wounding conditions.

As a sidenote, why do people run 4x Knight's Mount? If you're playing successfully, it's basically useless. Minions should not be surviving skirmishes, and if they are, it should be that you're intentionally leaving them alive to get extra heals. Just a waste of card slots.

 

[Legion]

Don't play Knight's Mount.  A Bow and Sword (or banner) are much more important, and playing that horsie just sets you up to lose it all to Grima.  It can work well if you want o finish off minions without exerts, but that's about it.

[zen89]

Don't play Knight's Mount.  A Bow and Sword (or banner) are much more important, and playing that horsie just sets you up to lose it all to Grima.  It can work well if you want o finish off minions without exerts, but that's about it.

Another good point about Grima--I was only talking about card slots, but this is also very important, given how many people pack Grima as Dwarf insurance.

[everial]

thanks zen89, Legion.

Quick follow-up: how do you feel about including Narsil, Blade of the Faithful, Sapling of the White Tree, and Elendil, The Tall? Worth doing for the soak and fight potential? Or just dilutes the deck without adding enough in return?