Towers Standard Sealed League

[Durin's Heir]

Really cool! I like the combination of Peril with Teeth of Mordor if the fellowship adds a lot of twilight to, for example, get Gandalf, The White Wizard to his strength 10, then you could essentially use Peril to get a minion down free and stack him on Teeth immediately.

I liked your suggestion for Forces of Mordor...I would love to see it swapped for one I'd Make You Squeak....but I'm worried it would make a site 9 bomb too easy if you plan well with teeth.

I'd Make You Squeak should be no less than 3, you need it ASAP to get twilight from grind, and use those tons of twilight for Teeth of Mordor, even better if the Free Peoples player adds with skirimish events... as twilight should be abundant, Orc Scimitar could be a great pump too (but Vile Blade can be cheaper)... maybe change Gate Sentry for Orc Swordsman to get a big fighter...

[Eukalyptus]

Those Nazgûl were never intended to corrupt, Durins Heir. Those burdens were thought to be the benefit of Treshold and Nazgûl Sword (which was replaced by Blade, but Blade is useful on 2,5,7,8,9). And to add burdens, you unfortunately need Twilight Nazgûl. Since there aren't that many to choose from, the available three have multiple copies. The effect of Enquea is just a nice bonus and not the goal of the game. Plus, the synergy between Nertea and Enquea is there.

So, the full deck proposal:

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

Adventure deck:
East Wall of Rohan
Uruk Camp
Barrows of Edoras
Ered Nimrais
Hornburg Parapet
Hornburg Armory
King's Room
Wizard's Vale
Palantir Chamber

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
2x Faramir, Ithilien Ranger
2x Gondorian Ranger
2x Ranger of Ithilien
2x Sam, Samwise the Brave
1x Boromir's Gauntlets
2x Ranger's Bow
3x Sword of Gondor
2x Hobbit Sword
1x Dagger Strike
1x Elendil's Valor
3x Swordsman of the Northern Kingdom
2x War and Valor
1x What Are They?
2x Severed His Bonds
1x City Wall
1x Garrison of Osgiliath
1x Ithilien Trap
1x There and Back Again

Shadow Draw Deck:
2x 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

What did I change and why:

Faramir - Son of Denethor is splashed in almost every deck where Gondor is in so far. He's a nice change, a starting companion and has a good synergy with Ranger Bow/Gauntlets and isn't overpowered with his healing ability.

Sam - Frodo alone can remove 4 burdens with his game text.

Items - I cut 1 of each possession as they would be either too much (Hobbit Sword) or too powerful (4 SoG and 3 bows). Added one Gauntlets for flavor and to escape that one minion. Possibly.

Events - having one defender is a nice thing. Events are self explaining. I don't think they're too much.

Damrod - we are at 7 companions as it is. Another one is pushing it.

Fortifications - Garrison belongs in there and City wall is nice to prevent from being overwhelmed. Once. I was going to use Citadel first, but with Bow and Trap it would be too easy to dispose of a big minion.

No Enquea - adding burdens is way easy and adding Enquea together with two Fens would result in a slaughter fest.

[dmaz]

Those Nazgûl were never intended to corrupt, Durins Heir. Those burdens were thought to be the benefit of Treshold and Nazgûl Sword (which was replaced by Blade, but Blade is useful on 2,5,7,8,9). And to add burdens, you unfortunately need Twilight Nazgûl. Since there aren't that many to choose from, the available three have multiple copies. The effect of Enquea is just a nice bonus and not the goal of the game. Plus, the synergy between Nertea and Enquea is there.

So, the full deck proposal:

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

Adventure deck:
East Wall of Rohan
Uruk Camp
Barrows of Edoras
Ered Nimrais
Hornburg Parapet
Hornburg Armory
King's Room
Wizard's Vale
Palantir Chamber

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
2x Faramir, Ithilien Ranger
2x Gondorian Ranger
2x Ranger of Ithilien
2x Sam, Samwise the Brave
1x Boromir's Gauntlets
2x Ranger's Bow
3x Sword of Gondor
2x Hobbit Sword
1x Dagger Strike
1x Elendil's Valor
3x Swordsman of the Northern Kingdom
2x War and Valor
1x What Are They?
2x Severed His Bonds
1x City Wall
1x Garrison of Osgiliath
1x Ithilien Trap
1x There and Back Again

Shadow Draw Deck:
2x 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

What did I change and why:

Faramir - Son of Denethor is splashed in almost every deck where Gondor is in so far. He's a nice change, a starting companion and has a good synergy with Ranger Bow/Gauntlets and isn't overpowered with his healing ability.

Sam - Frodo alone can remove 4 burdens with his game text.

Items - I cut 1 of each possession as they would be either too much (Hobbit Sword) or too powerful (4 SoG and 3 bows). Added one Gauntlets for flavor and to escape that one minion. Possibly.

Events - having one defender is a nice thing. Events are self explaining. I don't think they're too much.

Damrod - we are at 7 companions as it is. Another one is pushing it.

Fortifications - Garrison belongs in there and City wall is nice to prevent from being overwhelmed. Once. I was going to use Citadel first, but with Bow and Trap it would be too easy to dispose of a big minion.

No Enquea - adding burdens is way easy and adding Enquea together with two Fens would result in a slaughter fest.

Looks like a winner for playtesting. Serie 1 or 2 deck you think?

[Eukalyptus]

Series 1 should be okay.

[dmaz]

General thought on timing of decks for each serie.
To facilitate usefulness of booster pulls, we could do the best we can to have the deck for each serie match the types of cards from which boosters they will be pulling for that serie.
Example: The majority of Uruk Trackers are in Two Towers (with Berserkers/Wargs and Isengard Orcs/Men shining in Sets 5 and 6 respectively). Because people will be opening Towers boosters for Serie 1, it would be more productive to put the Uruk Trackers deck in Serie 1.

Just some musings on matchups:

Serie 1:
The Three Hunters/Uruk Trackers
Ringbound Companions/Easterlings with Gollum
Dwarves with Gandalf/Archery

Serie 2:
Knights/??
Rangers/Twilight Nazgul
Rohan with Gandalf/Berserkers

Serie 3:
Hobbit Hospital Hybrid with Smeagol?/Isengard Men
Shoulder to Shoulder/Sauron Trackers
Help in Doubt and Need-Elven Archery-Ents-Last Alliance/Moria-Stupid Swarm-News of Mordor....

I think there are definitely some matches that stand out well, but by the time we get to Serie 3 we probably need to think what would make decently strong deck. The only one I'm pretty sure about is Shoulder to Shoulder with Durins Heir's Sauron Tracker idea. I think they are definitely complimentary in the way most starter decks are (fellowship is strong against its own shadow).

[Durin's Heir]

The only card I was able to find within the format that discards Smeagol to your benefit is A Rare Good Ballast...even then its very situation dependent...am I missing something?

There's a common condition that discards him at regroup: 7C65 Never. It's an outsider card though, but can get the strategy running without rares from Towers Block; other than discarding Smeagol, wouldn't do anything at all.

[Durin's Heir]

Those Nazgûl were never intended to corrupt, Durins Heir. Those burdens were thought to be the benefit of Treshold and Nazgûl Sword (which was replaced by Blade, but Blade is useful on 2,5,7,8,9). And to add burdens, you unfortunately need Twilight Nazgûl. Since there aren't that many to choose from, the available three have multiple copies. The effect of Enquea is just a nice bonus and not the goal of the game. Plus, the synergy between Nertea and Enquea is there.

I apologize if I have bothered anyone or robbed too much time with thoughts about the nazgul deck; these will be my last words on the debate. There are other points and decks that need our attention.

As Twilight Nazgul appear in Set 2, using Dmaz's idea of matching decks with boosters (brilliant!), that deck should go in Serie 2. That way, it would be a natural extension of the Easterings + Gollum deck from First Serie... thus burdens can very well abound; otherwise, as a 1st Serie deck can't stand on its own to build 5 burdens in order to get additional benefits from only Threshold of Shadow and lacks those useful Nazgul Swords. 5 burdens is too much for this deck alone, by that time the fellowship is set up....

That Sauron Trackers deck I proposed should be in the First Serie as Sauron Orcs are mainly from set 1, and that way it can also reinforce the RB-wounding side of this nazgul deck and use Peril to play Wisps at regroup; as a standalone deck Nertea + Enquea would be most of the time a 10 twilight combo profitable only if you can spot 4 or more FP cultures, AND there aren't other ringbound comps to share the exertions. There's synergy, but insufficient.

The deck by itself has no natural chance of swarming, way too little burden potential to corrupt, no damage bonus, no sites to strike soon, too expensive big minions, too expensive bonus triggers.... has no focus. With Easterlings, can corrupt pretty well. With Trackers, can grind and build burdens well too. That seems fair to me. (Though I'd add at least ONE Nazgul Sword, only to see it shining...)

Eukaliptus, I know you didn't intend to make a corruption deck, but Dmaz was pointing towards one and thus I tried to make one. By the way, your RB Rangers/Easterling+Gollum deck looks awesome. Very professional, I mean .

That's all. I turn the page, as you all did time ago...

[dmaz]

There's a common condition that discards him at regroup: 7C65 Never. It's an outsider card though, but can get the strategy running without rares from Towers Block; other than discarding Smeagol, wouldn't do anything at all.

Yeah...it is just too much of a goofy scenario to get him into the discard pile and then back...I'll go back to the drawing board with this deck, applying some of your other suggestions. version 2.0 should be back up soon

In the meantime, I'll be looking forward to playtesting some of the decks that are more ready. Maybe your Dwarf with Gandalf/Archery deck would be up for a spin soon?

[dmaz]

Those Nazgûl were never intended to corrupt, Durins Heir. Those burdens were thought to be the benefit of Treshold and Nazgûl Sword (which was replaced by Blade, but Blade is useful on 2,5,7,8,9). And to add burdens, you unfortunately need Twilight Nazgûl. Since there aren't that many to choose from, the available three have multiple copies. The effect of Enquea is just a nice bonus and not the goal of the game. Plus, the synergy between Nertea and Enquea is there.

I apologize if I have bothered anyone or robbed too much time with thoughts about the nazgul deck; these will be my last words on the debate. There are other points and decks that need our attention.

As Twilight Nazgul appear in Set 2, using Dmaz's idea of matching decks with boosters (brilliant!), that deck should go in Serie 2. That way, it would be a natural extension of the Easterings + Gollum deck from First Serie... thus burdens can very well abound; otherwise, as a 1st Serie deck can't stand on its own to build 5 burdens in order to get additional benefits from only Threshold of Shadow and lacks those useful Nazgul Swords. 5 burdens is too much for this deck alone, by that time the fellowship is set up....

That Sauron Trackers deck I proposed should be in the First Serie as Sauron Orcs are mainly from set 1, and that way it can also reinforce the RB-wounding side of this nazgul deck and use Peril to play Wisps at regroup; as a standalone deck Nertea + Enquea would be most of the time a 10 twilight combo profitable only if you can spot 4 or more FP cultures, AND there aren't other ringbound comps to share the exertions. There's synergy, but insufficient.

The deck by itself has no natural chance of swarming, way too little burden potential to corrupt, no damage bonus, no sites to strike soon, too expensive big minions, too expensive bonus triggers.... has no focus. With Easterlings, can corrupt pretty well. With Trackers, can grind and build burdens well too. That seems fair to me. (Though I'd add at least ONE Nazgul Sword, only to see it shining...)

Eukaliptus, I know you didn't intend to make a corruption deck, but Dmaz was pointing towards one and thus I tried to make one. By the way, your RB Rangers/Easterling+Gollum deck looks awesome. Very professional, I mean .

That's all. I turn the page, as you all did time ago...

I'm really happy with all of the feedback the Twilight Nazgul has gotten...when I first started the idea, I was seeing it more as a "corrupt the ringbearer" deck, but both you and Euk have had some very good points...The deck won't be guaranteed to get Frodo to 10 burdens, and even then they could kill him off and give Sam the ring. So you've both got me convinced that keeping Euk's original idea for Nazgul Swords to give the Damage +1 bonus is good, as its a more practically achievable goal for the deck in the short term

[dmaz]

I'm going through cards for the Three Hunters deck to match up with idleninja's Uruk Trackers.

Just some first thoughts on it, but if anyone has time, we could use some suggestions

Which companions to use.
I figured
Aragorn, Wingfoot
Legolas, Archer of Mirkwood
Gimli, Unbidden Guest
would be the best given what options we have from the format.

I thought about Legolas, Elven Stalwart, but if we did use him it would make more sense in an Archery deck I think....

For other companions, we could just go the typical discarding hobbits.

Some other key cards, since the companion count would be a little low.

Defend it and Hope
Rumil, Elven Protector
Orophin, Lorien Bowman
Foul Creation
Bounder
Thrarin, Dwarven Smith

Let me know what you guys think! What would go good in this deck?

EDIT: Added two Athelas, deck is almost finished now.

[idleninja]

I'm going through cards for the Three Hunters deck to match up with idleninja's Uruk Trackers.

Just some first thoughts on it, but if anyone has time, we could use some suggestions

Which companions to use.
I figured
Aragorn, Wingfoot
Legolas, Archer of Mirkwood
Gimli, Unbidden Guest
would be the best given what options we have from the format.

I thought about Legolas, Elven Stalwart, but if we did use him it would make more sense in an Archery deck I think....

For other companions, we could just go the typical discarding hobbits.

Some other key cards, since the companion count would be a little low.

Defend it and Hope
Rumil, Elven Protector
Orophin, Lorien Bowman
Foul Creation
Bounder
Thrarin, Dwarven Smith

Let me know what you guys think! What would go good in this deck?

Looks good! Here are some more card ideas:

Quick as May Be (to go with Defend It and Hope)
Trust (Maybe include Agility / Stout and Strong to go with it?) (But might become too OP if you get DoFP)

To counter the Tracker side:
Ranger's Sword, Blade of Aragorn
Saelbeth, Elven Councilor
Sentinels of Numenor

For healing (since we have so few comps and Hobbits probably can't fight too much):
A Royal Welcome (with Speedbump and Grimir)
Might of Numenor
Must Be a Dream

I would love to include My Axe is Notched + Final Count, but rares...

Are sitepaths supposed to help/hinder one side of the deck or the other? Or hinder the other decks?
1: The Riddermark (Although the 2 hobbits + gimli + Wingfoot from site 1 gets old... maybe Plains of Rohan instead?)
2: Plains of Rohan Camp
3: Barrows and Golden Hall are annoying, Throne Room if you pull Theoden?
4: White Rocks
5: Deep of Helm / Helm's Gate / Hornburg Courtyard
6: Hornburg Armory
7: Hornburg Causeway
8: Nothing that helps/hinders either side of the deck
9: Fortress of Orthanc

Hope this helps. This thing is starting to come together!

[Eukalyptus]

Since dmaz is somewhat lacking of a Hunters deck

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Son of Drogo
Ring: The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

2x Gimli, Unbidden Guest
1x Haldir, Emissary of the Galadhrim
2x Legolas, Elven Comrade
3x Aragorn, Heir of Elendil
2x Sam, Proper Poet
1x Bounder
2x Hand Axe
1x Legolas' Sword
1x Naith Longbow
2x Ranger's Sword, Blade of Aragorn
2x Hobbit Sword
3x Khazad Ai-menu
3x Valor
2x Dagger Strike
1x Defend It and Hope
2x Severed His Bonds

[dmaz]

Since dmaz is somewhat lacking of a Hunters deck

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Son of Drogo
Ring: The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

2x Gimli, Unbidden Guest
1x Haldir, Emissary of the Galadhrim
2x Legolas, Elven Comrade
3x Aragorn, Heir of Elendil
2x Sam, Proper Poet
1x Bounder
2x Hand Axe
1x Legolas' Sword
1x Naith Longbow
2x Athelas
2x Ranger's Sword, Blade of Aragorn
2x Hobbit Sword
3x Khazad Ai-menu
3x Valor
2x Dagger Strike
1x Defend It and Hope

I like it much better than what I was working on. Mine just felt like a slight variation of the Current TT Aragorn Starter Deck. And with better companion support you don't need to rely on Rumil and Orophin like I was thinking...

All we need to do with this is swap two of the events for two severed his bonds, since this will be serie 1

[Eukalyptus]

Cut the Athelas for 2 Severed.

[dmaz]

Ok,

This is the one that I'm going to use against DurinsHeir's deck. I really liked idleninja's idea of having trust work with Agility. If we don't include more than one copy of Agility it should be ok. Also with Khazad Ai Menu/Quick as May Be we have the full circle of the three hunters working with each other kind of.

Small note for DurinsHeir: Just makes sure your final draft for the testing has x2 Hobbit Sword and x2 Severed His Bonds (you could swap the intuition for those).

Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer
Gimli, Unbidden Guest x2
Legolas, Archer of Mirkwood x2
Aragorn, Heir of Elendil x2
Haldir, Emissary of the Galadhrim x2
Fereveldir, Son of Thandronen x2
Bounder
Hobbit Sword x2
Ranger's Sword, Blade of Aragorn x2
Elven Sword x2
Athelas x2
Agility
Defend it And Hope
Quick as May Be
Severed His Bonds x2
Trust x2
Khazad Ai-Menu x2
Valor x2

It might not be good to include Sam in every serie 1 starter. The Ringbound deck definitely gets him, but both this deck and the Dwarf-Gandalf one are pretty strong already...

Uruk Chaser x3
Uruk Hunter x2
Uruk Pursuer x2
Uruk Runner x3
Uruk Scout x3
Uruk Searcher x2
Uruk Seeker x2
Shotgun Enquea
Broad-Bladed Sword x2
Kill Them Now x2
Many Riddles x3
Weary x3
Saruman's Ambition x2