Towers Standard Sealed League

[Eukalyptus]

I like that Rohan freeps, but it seriously lacks companions. I agree that Elite Rider should never be included in any deck unless pulled from a pack. Also, I think 2 mounts are sufficient, as is 1 Herugrim. I'd add an Arrow Slits and at least a Proper Poet and 1 Hrethel. Maybe Gandalf could be changed to Grey Pilgrim to not have exclusively Gandalf signet companions out.

The Uruk shadow I like a lot, except for Black Shapes Crawling. That could kill one or two minions easily. Its a very nice idea, but is it really necessary? Definately go 3 Breds and 2 Ladders. Those Ladders can be very devastating late game, where Bred may not even be usable.

[Eukalyptus]

Gondor Trust Me

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Tired Traveller
Ring: The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

3x Gandalf, Stormcrow
1x Ghân-buri-Ghân, Chieftain of the Woses
2x Aragorn, Heir of Elendil
2x Boromir, Defender of Minas Tirith
2x Faramir, Son of Denethor
1x Ranger of Ithilien
1x Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor
1x Wizard Staff
2x Armor
2x Sword of Gondor
2x Hobbit Sword
2x Wielder of the Flame
3x Swordarm of the White Tower
2x Severed His Bonds
1x Gandalf's Wisdom
2x Trust Me as You Once Did
1x Citadel of the Stars

I think Tired Traveler a better choice than Mr. Underhill since he doesn't choke. Gandalf doesn't contribute anything other than being able to be spotted for various things and Ghan-buri-Ghan has been discussed before. And I don't think Wielder of the Flame has been given any thought outside being a spoiler news back when MoM wasn't out yet.

It's one of the stronger decks, so for series 3 only imo.

And regarding Whisps: yeah they would work, too.

[dmaz]

I like that Rohan freeps, but it seriously lacks companions. I agree that Elite Rider should never be included in any deck unless pulled from a pack. Also, I think 2 mounts are sufficient, as is 1 Herugrim. I'd add an Arrow Slits and at least a Proper Poet and 1 Hrethel. Maybe Gandalf could be changed to Grey Pilgrim to not have exclusively Gandalf signet companions out.

The Uruk shadow I like a lot, except for Black Shapes Crawling. That could kill one or two minions easily. Its a very nice idea, but is it really necessary? Definately go 3 Breds and 2 Ladders. Those Ladders can be very devastating late game, where Bred may not even be usable.

Regarding the machines, that is a good point. If the Fellowship doesn't have any condition control (which is common in sealed), then this shadow could just pile up ladders like crazy and nibble away at them to wait for an overwhelm at site nine...I'll pull out the Black Shapes Crawling as well...guess I tried to get too cutesy haha.

Regarding companion count - I found it common to see only 4 to 5 companions, and sometimes 6 with the FotR and TT starters. I kind of like that you need to get creative and use what you pull from boosters. Rohan does tend to run a little bit more by way of companions than the more robust "mains" decks, so maybe I could cap it at 7 total companions by adding a Proper Poet or another Household Guard

The Gondor Trust deck is VERY powerful. If it tends to dominate in any play testing we might do with it, there are always very easy tweaks to make like switching Boromir or Ghan, or pulling Citadel of the Stars, etc. I like the idea of Wielder of the Flame! It would be really cool if it saw some more action! Normally a completely overlooked card

[dmaz]

This Ranger deck is probably the one that I've been most excited about, took a decent amount of time making it into something good for a serie 2 starter.

I made it so there is flexibility with choosing your starting companions. You could go classic Boromir/Merry or Faramir/Arwen for a twist.

The only card outside of the format is Aragorn, Guide and Protector. I think out of all of the suggested out of format cards (aside from Nazgul Blade, suggested by Euk), this one is one of the least format-warping, and it's not overpowered. I chose this one because the only other Aragorn options that were rangers were either the signet based or rare. It will probably fit well, though I'll have to see in play testing. I think it might be a good matchup with the twilight Nazgul deck...

Frodo, Son of Drogo

Faramir, Ithilien Ranger x2
Boromir, Defender of Minas Tirith x2
Aragorn, Guide and Protector x2
Arwen, Elven Rider x2
Merry, From oer the Brandywine x2
Bounder
Sword of Gondor x3
Hobbit Sword x2
Frying Pan
Asfaloth
Athelas x2
Boromir's Gauntlets
No Stranger to the Shadows
Might of Numenor
Swordsman of the Northern Kingdom x3
Dagger Strike x2
Severed His Bonds
Pathfinder

[Eukalyptus]

Nerfed Gondor deck:

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Tired Traveller
Ring: The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

3x Gandalf, The Grey Wizard
2x Aragorn, Heir of Elendil
2x Boromir, Defender of Minas Tirith
2x Faramir, Son of Denethor
1x Pippin, Mr. Took
1x Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor
1x Wizard Staff
2x Armor
2x Sword of Gondor
2x Hobbit Sword
2x Wielder of the Flame
3x Swordarm of the White Tower
1x Noble Intentions
2x Severed His Bonds
1x Gandalf's Wisdom
2x Trust Me as You Once Did
1x Citadel of the Stars

[Durin's Heir]

I like that Rohan freeps, but it seriously lacks companions. I agree that Elite Rider should never be included in any deck unless pulled from a pack. Also, I think 2 mounts are sufficient, as is 1 Herugrim. I'd add an Arrow Slits and at least a Proper Poet and 1 Hrethel. Maybe Gandalf could be changed to Grey Pilgrim to not have exclusively Gandalf signet companions out.

The Uruk shadow I like a lot, except for Black Shapes Crawling. That could kill one or two minions easily. Its a very nice idea, but is it really necessary? Definately go 3 Breds and 2 Ladders. Those Ladders can be very devastating late game, where Bred may not even be usable.

Black Shapes Crawling may be amazing if well played... an unexhausted Uruk Shaman with lots of twilight and an Uruk Spear in discard pile, for example. And no one forces you to spot all your uruks when you play it thus you can control the cost very well, you can spot 0 of X just to discard it; you can even protect a vulnerable uruk with a Broad Bladed Sword prior to playing it. It's better combo is after exerting Berserk Butcher twice, which won't happen for rarity reasons...

The point of only 2x Assault Ladder is a good one though. But I'd add a second Black Shapes Crawling or Uruk Spear instead of a third Bred... just to explore overlooked possibilities.

Dmaz, as for Hrethel, don't add him if you don't want to add an Elite Rider with +1 strenght. He + any mount can be like Ghan-Buri-Ghan, extremely hard to overwhelm... but even worse: able to win skirimishes and use pumps or weapons... Add Ghan instead, or another Household Guard as you said.

[Eukalyptus]

This Ranger deck is probably the one that I've been most excited about, took a decent amount of time making it into something good for a serie 2 starter.

I made it so there is flexibility with choosing your starting companions. You could go classic Boromir/Merry or Faramir/Arwen for a twist.

The only card outside of the format is Aragorn, Guide and Protector. I think out of all of the suggested out of format cards (aside from Nazgul Blade, suggested by Euk), this one is one of the least format-warping, and it's not overpowered. I chose this one because the only other Aragorn options that were rangers were either the signet based or rare. It will probably fit well, though I'll have to see in play testing. I think it might be a good matchup with the twilight Nazgul deck...

Frodo, Son of Drogo

Faramir, Ithilien Ranger x2
Boromir, Defender of Minas Tirith x2
Aragorn, Guide and Protector x2
Arwen, Elven Rider x2
Merry, From oer the Brandywine x2
Bounder
Sword of Gondor x3
Hobbit Sword x2
Frying Pan
Asfaloth
Athelas x2
Boromir's Gauntlets
No Stranger to the Shadows
Might of Numenor
Swordsman of the Northern Kingdom x3
Dagger Strike x2
Severed His Bonds
Pathfinder

What about Wingfoot? He's a Ranger and you have Merry in the deck. GaP is a bit OP with all those events (especially Dagger Strike). He easily disposes of a big minion. Wingfoot could make the double a bit more efficient, removing an exhausted minion from the board.

I'd also cut one Dagger Strike for a second Pathfinder (Rangers after all) and one of the Hobbit weapons. 1 Sword and 1 Pan are sufficient enough, though I'm against Pan if we include an Orc based shadow.  Too big an advantage with all those healing possibilities included.

After thinking about it, we shouldn't include Ghan-buri-Ghan in any of the decks. You say In Twilight is basically a rare, GBG is a R+, just like Glorfindel from the same P set.

[dmaz]

What about Wingfoot? He's a Ranger and you have Merry in the deck. GaP is a bit OP with all those events (especially Dagger Strike). He easily disposes of a big minion. Wingfoot could make the double a bit more efficient, removing an exhausted minion from the board.

I'd also cut one Dagger Strike for a second Pathfinder (Rangers after all) and one of the Hobbit weapons. 1 Sword and 1 Pan are sufficient enough, though I'm against Pan if we include an Orc based shadow.  Too big an advantage with all those healing possibilities included.

After thinking about it, we shouldn't include Ghan-buri-Ghan in any of the decks. You say In Twilight is basically a rare, GBG is a R+, just like Glorfindel from the same P set.

Thanks for the input! Wingfoot would definitely be better, not sure how I forgot about him!
Well heard on the Dagger Strikes and Hobbit weapons as well. Bare minimum is fine, and allow for the rest to work its way out in the booster pulls.

[Durin's Heir]

After thinking about it, we shouldn't include Ghan-buri-Ghan in any of the decks. You say In Twilight is basically a rare, GBG is a R+, just like Glorfindel from the same P set.

I don't think there's really any need to replace Nazgul Sword for Nazgul Blade or In Twilight, after all you said the deck builds up burdens to get advantages and not to corrupt... and I don't see any advantages to be used with X burdens in any of those Twilight Nazgul decks posted, except for Nazgul Sword, Threshold of Shadow and (maybe) Twilight Enquea. Nazgul strike the sooner the better, and this sitepath doesn't help at all.

In absence of rare cards, twilight nazzies have a hard time focusing on working only one single goal by themselves: either wounding the ringbearer or adding direct burdens. So 3 burdens may be a very realistic goal... Let's think about this ideal scenario: Twilight Enquea + Fell Beast + In Twilight = a 15 strenght fierce minion. That may be awesome, but what for? Most of the time, 2 wounds on Aragorn and 2 on the ringbearer. Next turn opponent plays Hobbit Appetite for Destruction (or Hard Choice)... that's all folks!

1. Wounding the RB: 3x or 4x Resistance Becomes Unbearable can pave the way to Enquea, but those hard-to-build wounds must be added as soon as possible and must be preserved from healing. You Bring Great Evil, Orc Assassin and Under the Watching Eye should help on that purpose. The latter doesn't exert necessarily the ringbearer, but if a fighter gets exerted your chances of using The Witch's gametext are greatly increased...

(30 cards)
1x Morgul Skulker
4x Orc Assassin
1x Orc Cutthroat
2x The Witch-king, Deathless Lord
3x Ulaire Attea, The Easterling
3x Ulaire Enquea, Ringwraith in Twilight
3x Ulaire Otsea, Ringwraith in Twilight
3x Fell Beast
2x Nazgul Sword
3x Resistance Becomes Unbearable
3x Under the Watching Eye
2x You Bring Great Evil

Key Sites:
1 Western Emyn Muil
4 White Mountains
8 Nan Curunir or Valley of Saruman

Probably needs some tweaking. 6 Sauron Orcs + 11 Nazgul = 56,7% minions. Not a single skirimish event unfortunately, but it's focused on grinding Frodo instead. If there are 2 hobbit comps on the table, Orc Assassin can be a nice surprise (unless Weary From the Journey is added to this sealed). Lacks the Blade Tips too, so Otsea is just a twilight guy this time; those could be added to a Beatdown Nazgul deck from another serie.

2. Direct Burdens: This one is harder to build in the absence of Easterlings (but those can be neglected by RB Rangers very well). 4x It Wants to Be Found and 2x Drawn to Its Power should work, with pumps to overwhelm and to give Ulaire Otsea, RiT a chance to put that Blade Tip on Frodo...

(30 cards)
2x Morgul Skulker
2x The Witch-king, Deathless Lord
3x Ulaire Attea, The Easterling
3x Ulaire Enquea, Ringwraith in Twilight
3x Ulaire Otsea, Ringwraith in Twilight
3x Fell Beast
2x Nazgul Sword
4x It Wants to be Found (or 3x, + 1 Their Power Is In Terror)
4x Threshold of Shadow (or 3x, and an additional Nazgul Sword)
2x Blade Tip
2x Drawn to Its Power

Key Sites:
Same as above

This looks more like a Beatdown Nazgul deck.... that's the objective here; Nazgul Sword makes a huge difference if Drawn To Its Power and 3 burdens are on the table. Sam, SoH with Rosie Cotton, HL can wreck it, so 1x Their Power Is In Terror could be added if The Witch King and Attea are found to be not enough. Those Wisp of Pale Sheen are out since they hardly would survive against a Rohan, Dwarf or Shoulder to Shoulder deck; they are more viable if played at the regroup phase with Peril (or Spied From Above), but that would need a bunch of Sauron Orcs with good vitality (Orc Pillager for example)...

I like the idea of a Peril / Teeth of Mordor deck, maybe I'll build and post a deck in the coming days. Those wraiths would fit there very well, but not here unfortunately.

[Durin's Heir]

After thinking about it, we shouldn't include Ghan-buri-Ghan in any of the decks. You say In Twilight is basically a rare, GBG is a R+, just like Glorfindel from the same P set.

In respect to Ghan-Buri-Ghan, he can't bear weapons nor use pumps (except for An Honourable Charge or TMaYOD), so rarely would beat something stronger than Gollum or a Goblin Runner.

We can't really say he's overpowered: he isn't a Valiant, Damage +1 rohirrim with the twilight cost of an unbound hobbit like Eomer, Forthwith Banished; nor a banner-weaver turned by Peter Jackson into a fighter, with a shareable version of Gimli, Son of Gloin's skill like Arwen, Maiden of Rivendell; nor the great Anarion; he can't choke or feed TMaYOD like Frodo, Mr. Underhill. He hasn't even the Aragorn signet to be healed, so can't be compared to Boromir, LoG. He's only an amusing, tasteful and tough meat shield....

By the way, those Hobbit Hospital decks listed before can heal only Sam, as Farmer Maggot, CoR & The Gaffer, SF are rare cards. The other hobbits need Hobbit Appetite instead of so many copies of Hobbit Party Guest. Or maybe pipes...

[dmaz]

For Twilight Nazgul, I'm leaning more towards Euk's latest version, with a couple slight additions. The deck has kind of evolved towards burden adding for corruption, which I think fits well with the Twilight Nazgul theme.

The Witch-king, Deathless Lord x2
Ulaire Attea, The Easterling x3
Ulaire Enquea, Ringwraith in Twilight x3
Ulaire Otsea, Ringwraith in Twilight x3
Ulaire Nertea, Winged Hunter x2
Morgul Skulker x2
Wisp of Pale Sheen x3
Fell Beast x2
Nazgul Blade x2
It Wants to be Found x3
Threshold of Shadow x3
Blade Tip x2

I think this version of Ulaire Nertea is a great addition to our Twilight Nazgul deck, as a starter deck. It's a cheap minion and the shadow player should be able to make decent use of its game text as starter decks tend to run multiculture quite often.

In respect to Ghan-Buri-Ghan, he can't bear weapons nor use pumps (except for An Honourable Charge or TMaYOD), so rarely would beat something stronger than Gollum or a Goblin Runner.

We can't really say he's overpowered: he isn't a Valiant, Damage +1 rohirrim with the twilight cost of an unbound hobbit like Eomer, Forthwith Banished; nor a banner-weaver turned by Peter Jackson into a fighter, with a shareable version of Gimli, Son of Gloin's skill like Arwen, Maiden of Rivendell; nor the great Anarion; he can't choke or feed TMaYOD like Frodo, Mr. Underhill. He hasn't even the Aragorn signet to be healed, so can't be compared to Boromir, LoG. He's only an amusing, tasteful and tough meat shield....

Yeah...the more I think about Ghan, now that you mention all of these points, I have to admit that I don't see him as overpowered. I initially just dismissed him, but the only thing you can really buff him with other than Armor, is Flaming Brand or Horse of Rohan. He doesn't really end up being a super-beast...

I guess we could say that the only reason we wouldn't end up using him would be because he's a rare, and whether or not we decide to just cut off all rares from starter decks so one thing doesn't lead to another...

[dmaz]

@Euk

Now that we are close to playtesting the decks, would it be at all possible to create a special league for playtesting.
For example, make it Towers Standard, with "additionally valid" everything else, and no X-list, just so we're not limited. Not sure if you're able to manipulate a league that way.

Also, since it would technically be a league, could you make it with no prizes awarded, or just cancel it before it ends?

Just some thoughts

Working on some ideas for Easterling/Gollum for you guys to evaluate.

@Everyone

Some other themes that are pretty popular so far, if anyone else would like to take a shot at making some deck lists, feel free to get involved!!

Fellowship:
Three Hunters
Help in Doubt and Need (Gondor/Rohan)

SHADOW:
Uruk Trackers
Sauron Trackers

[idleninja]

Cool deck ideas, love the hate and anger one. Here is an idea for an tracker deck, just to get the ball rolling for you guys (feel free to change it as you see fit):

Uruk Pursuer x3
Uruk Seeker x3
Uruk Runner x3
Uruk Scout x3
Uruk Chaser x3
Uruk Searcher x2 (uncommon)
Uruk Hunter x2 (uncommon)
Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul (crowd control)

Kill Them Now x2
Still They Came x2

Many Riddles x3
Weary x3

30 cards, 20 minions 4 events 6 conditions no possessions (trackers go light). Conditions pump your guys up and weaken opponent's big characters. Any good tracker pulls fit right in with the deck. I hate having 5 or 6 copies of a card in sealed hence no more than 3 copies of each card.

Here are some other card options so you guys don't have to look around as much:

Uruk Foot Soldier, useless tracker
Uruk Plains Runner, 2 twilight 7-1 tracker
Uruk-hai Raiding Party, classic starter card
Uruk Fighter / Uruk Warrior, (semi) crowd control
Grima, Son of Galmod, works with the conditions
Rohirrim Traitor, same as Grima
Unferth, if you go the hybrid man route
Isengard Smith, possession control
Saruman, Servant of the Eye, harassment + synergy with Brought Back Alive

Broad-bladed Sword, armor/pump
Uruk Spear, toss the horses

Abandoning Reason for Madness, cycling
Breeding Pit, bring back the good trackers
Brought Back Alive, adds some targeting but would probably be too strong with Saruman SotE and Weary
Bred for Battle, Still They Came has a better shot against mounts than Bred (in my opinion)
Vengeance, a little too good for a starter (unless the trackers wind up getting destroyed in playtesting)
One of You Must Do This, if you go the harassment theme

Scaling Ladder, counter horses/Elite Rider
The Misadventure of Mr. Underhill, it's a rare but it would make the FP player hesitate from dropping too many companions at once, also fits the search/tracker theme

I also like tracker decks because it makes Fearing the Worst a good pull in sealed, haha

Hope this helps, best of luck with the deck building!

[Durin's Heir]

Yeah...the more I think about Ghan, now that you mention all of these points, I have to admit that I don't see him as overpowered... I guess we could say that the only reason we wouldn't end up using him would be because he's a rare, and whether or not we decide to just cut off all rares from starter decks so one thing doesn't lead to another...

He technically is a Promo, not a Rare... If we're going to exclude all Promos, that would leave out Frodo, Mr. Underhill, Gandalf, Stormcrow, Boromir, Steward's Heir and Gimli, Dwarven Delegate. Those give versatility and flavor, without beign OP.

Maybe the criterion should be instead the 'exclusion of every Promo card which represents something not included in the movies' ('Grasshopper criterion' ): Erkenbrand, Tom Bombadil's Hat, Anarion and Ghan-Buri-Ghan. 'Overpowered criterion' too: Eomer, Forthwith Banished and Arwen, Maiden of Rivendell should be out. That seems pretty fair to me.

[Eukalyptus]

Granted, GBG is not as OP as other cards, but I do think Boromir SH OP. Arwen MoR not. Why? She can exert 2 times and that's it until the next sanctuary or healing card. Eomer is OP, no denying that.

Easterling sample deck, corruption:

1x Gollum, Nasty Treacherous Creature
1x Gollum, Old Villain
4x Easterling Axeman
4x Easterling Guard
4x Easterling Lieutenant
2x Easterling Polearm
2x Nasty, Foul Hobbitses
4x We Must Have It
3x Gathering to the Summons
3x Men of Rhun
2x Evil-smelling Fens