Towers Standard Sealed Deck Lists and Replays

[BigRedMF]

I saw the last game, and those decks seem pretty strong.

I like the Uruk deck, the rampage allows the use of new twilight added at maneuver (Eowyn/Theoden) or skirimish phases...
I would ditch those Bred for Battle and replace with Ferocity. I know Bred gives +4 to a Berserker, but with those machines they get too many exertions (machines can willfully exhaust Berkserkers for the same purpose), thus often you won't be able to play it. And take into account the horses...

There are only 4 machines, for a max of 8 exertions necessary to use them all. There are more than enough non-berserkers, and don't forget the sappers and engineers that place tokens for free. You don't have to exert your berserkers at all, and they all have 3 vitality so horses aren't a problem.

Here is the decklist I played:

Berserking Uruks
2x Berserk Rager
2x Uruk Engineer
3x Uruk Sapper
2x Uruk Shaman
2x Uruk Slayer
+2x Uruk Warrior
4x Uruk-Hai Berserker
-3x Uruk-hai Raiding Party
3x Broad Bladed Sword
1x Uruk Spear
-1x Black Shapes Crawling
3x Bred for Battle
2x Assault Ladder
2x Battering Ram
-1x Siege Engine
+2 Uruk-hai Rampage

Key Sites
2 Uruk Camp
4 White Mountains
5 Hornburg Parapet (could just as easily used Deep of Helm)

[dmaz]

Yeah, Drawn to its Power is nice

lemme make a revised version

[dmaz]

I saw the last game, and those decks seem pretty strong.

I like the Uruk deck, the rampage allows the use of new twilight added at maneuver (Eowyn/Theoden) or skirimish phases...
I would ditch those Bred for Battle and replace with Ferocity. I know Bred gives +4 to a Berserker, but with those machines they get too many exertions (machines can willfully exhaust Berkserkers for the same purpose), thus often you won't be able to play it. And take into account the horses...

There are only 4 machines, for a max of 8 exertions necessary to use them all. There are more than enough non-berserkers, and don't forget the sappers and engineers that place tokens for free. You don't have to exert your berserkers at all, and they all have 3 vitality so horses aren't a problem.

Here is the decklist I played:

Berserking Uruks
2x Berserk Rager
2x Uruk Engineer
3x Uruk Sapper
2x Uruk Shaman
2x Uruk Slayer
+2x Uruk Warrior
4x Uruk-Hai Berserker
-3x Uruk-hai Raiding Party
3x Broad Bladed Sword
1x Uruk Spear
-1x Black Shapes Crawling
3x Bred for Battle
2x Assault Ladder
2x Battering Ram
-1x Siege Engine
+2 Uruk-hai Rampage

Key Sites
2 Uruk Camp
4 White Mountains
5 Hornburg Parapet (could just as easily used Deep of Helm)

Just imo...that Uruk-Hai Rampage was really really brutal. Usually those big hitter conditions only include 1 per starter, because of limited condition control for fellowship. The deck is sitting at only 17 minions, I would suggest rounding it to 18 and leaving one Uruk-Hai Rampage...

[dmaz]

Valliant Rohirrim deck


Site Path:
Horse-Country
Uruk Camp
Meduseld
Westemnet Hills
Deep of Helm
Caves of Aglarond
King's Room
Valley of Saruman
Fortress of Orthanc


Frodo, Mr. Underhill
Eowyn, Daughter of Eomund x2
Theoden, King of the Golden Hall x2
Household Guard x2
Gandalf, The White Wizard x2
Sigewulf, Brave Volunteer
Ecglaf, Courageous Farmer
Brego
Horse of Rohan x2
Herugrim x2
Rider's Spear x2
Rohirrim Bow x2
Hobbit Sword x2
Wizard Staff
Trust Me As You Once Did x2
Armory
Well Stored
Have Patience
An Honorable Charge x2

[BigRedMF]

Valliant Rohirrim deck

Site Path:
Horse-Country
Uruk Camp
Meduseld
Westemnet Hills (consider swapping for White Mountains = stronger berserkers)
Deep of Helm
Caves of Aglarond
King's Room
Valley of Saruman
Fortress of Orthanc


Frodo, Mr. Underhill
Eowyn, Daughter of Eomund x2
Theoden, King of the Golden Hall x2
Household Guard x2
Gandalf, The White Wizard x2
Sigewulf, Brave Volunteer
Ecglaf, Courageous Farmer
Brego
Horse of Rohan x2
Herugrim x2
Rider's Spear x2
Rohirrim Bow x2
Hobbit Sword x2 (if this is Serie 3, we should leave these out)
Wizard Staff
Trust Me As You Once Did x2
Armory
Well Stored (don't think this is necessary with Theoden and only 2 allies)
Have Patience
An Honorable Charge x2
+1 Have Patience
+1 Behold the White Rider
+2 Gandalf's Wisdom (how could we forget this card?)

These are my suggestions. Adding in a little more Gandalf-centeredness to the deck. Thoughts? BTW the decklist you posted only had 29 cards, so yes I am only removing 3 and adding 4.

[Merrick_H]

It looks like the free people's side only has 29 cards.

I've updated the top post with proposed pairings and deck lists.  I'll plan on pulling the final proposed lists tomorrow.

Biggest changes were the order.  We didn't want to have the 2 wounding decks in separate series and we didn't want the two burden adding decks in separate series, so we juggled things a bit.  We are still at 9 decks.

I know there is a proposal to merge the two Rohan decks, but I like the feel of each of them as they stand.  I don't think it is too much to have 2 rohan decks as there is a TON of rohan stuff in towers and the other cultures still have significant presence.  Putting them in series 1 and 3 mean that you will have to get through series 2 before you can merge them which is a plus.

I'd love to hear thoughts from folks!

[dmaz]

I think the two Rohan decks should be ok as well.

I know there was x1 Gandalf's Wisdom in the Movie sealed Trust deck but, the theme of that deck was more hobbit tricks with threats and a little choke than sheer power. The Rohan Gandy deck is really strong for clearing the board and with all of those possessions, Gandalf's Wisdom would give them the ability to dump a lot at near to no cost...

How about Ever the Hope of Men? I think the cost of two exertions is fair that and they need two mounted men and we won't offer the stables for site 3...is it too strong tho?

[Merrick_H]

Gandalf's Wisdom would be very powerful in the Rohan deck with the number of possessions that are available.

I like the idea of Behold the White Rider, Ever the Hope of Men/Task Was Not Done (great vs Uruks if you haven't been able to clear them, especially if we are going to pair this with the Berserkers) and possibly a second Have Patience.  They need some healing and that is the only way to get vitality back on Gandalf for use with Trust Me As You Once Did.

Here is the proposed deck list with my changes:
2x Eowyn, Daughter of Eomund
2x Theoden, King of the Golden Hall
2x Household Guard
2x Gandalf, The White Wizard
1x Sigewulf, Brave Volunteer
1x Ecglaf, Courageous Farmer
1x Brego
2x Horse of Rohan
2x Herugrim
2x Rider's Spear
2x Rohirrim Bow
1x Wizard Staff
2x Trust Me As You Once Did
1x Armory
2x An Honorable Charge
2x Have Patience
1x Behold the White Rider
1x Ever the Hope of Men OR Task Was Not Done
1x Heavy Chain (to prevent overwhelms and possibly get a bit more healing through Theoden)

[dmaz]

Gandalf's Wisdom would be very powerful in the Rohan deck with the number of possessions that are available.

I like the idea of Behold the White Rider, Ever the Hope of Men/Task Was Not Done (great vs Uruks if you haven't been able to clear them, especially if we are going to pair this with the Berserkers) and possibly a second Have Patience.  They need some healing and that is the only way to get vitality back on Gandalf for use with Trust Me As You Once Did.

Here is the proposed deck list with my changes:
2x Eowyn, Daughter of Eomund
2x Theoden, King of the Golden Hall
2x Household Guard
2x Gandalf, The White Wizard
1x Sigewulf, Brave Volunteer
1x Ecglaf, Courageous Farmer
1x Brego
2x Horse of Rohan
2x Herugrim
2x Rider's Spear
2x Rohirrim Bow
1x Wizard Staff
2x Trust Me As You Once Did
1x Armory
2x An Honorable Charge
2x Have Patience
1x Behold the White Rider
1x Ever the Hope of Men OR Task Was Not Done
1x Heavy Chain (to prevent overwhelms and possibly get a bit more healing through Theoden)

This looks good. Definite differentiation from the other Rohan deck. Pulling well stored was good, as with that Theoden, you don't necessarily need it. Looking forward to seeing it in action!

I'd vote for Ever the Hope of Men over Task Was Not Done, just to make the requirements a little more stiff. Gandalf cards are meant to be a little more powerful than others, and for that reason, weren't often included in starters up until Shadows ( I don't really count FotR - Treachery Deeper Than You Know...uh   ). Just TMAYOD might be good enough for conditions/events by itself...

[Merrick_H]

All proposed decks and pairings have been updated in the first post.  We still need to get site paths figured out for the S2S/Hobbit decks as well as choosing a Frodo.

Please look over the deck pairings, series order and decklists and provide feedback.  Looks like we are making really good progress on this.

[Eukalyptus]

There are still some decks with 4 copies of a card - Easterling Axeman, Uruk-hai Berserker and Rohirrim Traitor, Men will Fall and Desertion. These need to be exchanged. I suggest Easterling Infantry as replacement for the Axeman, maybe even change the deck to 2 of each.

I also suggest switching the shadows from StS/Gandalf-Rohan. Those Berserkers just gain from the mount exertions while StS generates pool on its own already. Also, Rohan somewhat hinders Flanking Attack.

[Durin's Heir]

I know there is a proposal to merge the two Rohan decks, but I like the feel of each of them as they stand.  I don't think it is too much to have 2 rohan decks as there is a TON of rohan stuff in towers and the other cultures still have significant presence.  Putting them in series 1 and 3 mean that you will have to get through series 2 before you can merge them which is a plus.

I'd love to hear thoughts from folks!

I have the impression that no one listens/reads what I say... as there are no counterarguments.

Elves appear at 3rd Serie (in only half a deck). Same with Hobbits. Gondor have a whole Serie for themselves. There's no presence of Ents nor Gandalf (in full height)... I don't see a significant presence of anything but Gondor.

Those 2 Rohan decks work in almost the same way (except for some Gandalf presence), so it seems to me a waste of deck space. Each has little to contribute to the other, and are by themselves somewhat inefficient:

1. The 1st Serie one, "Rohan Allies", has only 3 allies and not a single Well Stored (relies on Eomer only for healing), while my merged draft has 5 allies and 2 of that condition.
2. The Valiant deck, "Gandalf & Rohan", lacks the only non-rare Valiant-themed card (out of a huge pool of only 3) that makes reasonable to build a Valiant deck (Let Us Be Swift), has 2 'valiant-themed' allies (the other 2 cards of the pool) but no way of using one of them (Sigewulf needs to spot 5 Valiant men to be 'useful', the deck provides only 4)...

My draft merges those 2 themes with more power and versatility (condition control, more healing, more possession replay, reusable pumping-allies, even archery but that can be trimmed if found OP) and very good coupling potential (Weland, Leod, mounts, An Honorable Charge), saving a valuable deck slot for other purposes (Ents, a Gandalf-centered deck, Hard Choice, Wingfoot-UB Hobbits...). Can merge well with a Gandalf TMAYOD for that purpose. Gandalf should be a resource accessible to all and not only to Rohirrim or (in a little degree) to Dwaves, he should have his own deck at Serie 2.

Limiting Gandalf to: 1) Just some little presence inside only two decks, instead of a full deck for himself, 2) Having to choose Rohan in order to get TMAYOD, or Dwarves to get only condition control and very little more, and 3) A very late apparition as he's elegible (in greater but not full height) at the 3rd and last Serie... is in my opinion A CRIME.

My conclusion: "Valiant + Allies Rohan" deck at the 1st Serie, "Gandalf TMAYOD" at the 2nd Serie.

Here's again that merged Rohan deck draft:

2x Household Guard
2x Theoden, King of the Golden Hall
1x Eomer, Forthwith Banished
1x Eowyn, Daughter of Eomund
1x Ecglaf, Courageous Farmer
1x Guma, Plains Farmer
1x Hlafwine, Village Farmhand
1x Leod, Westfold Herdsman
1x Weland, Smith of the Riddermark
1x Brego
1x Herugrim
2x Horse of Rohan
2x Rider's Spear
2x Rohirrim Bow
2x Hobbit Sword
2x An Honorable Charge
1x Let Us Be Swift
2x Severed His Bonds
1x Armory
1x Arrow-slits
2x Well Stored

I owe you the Gandalf TMAYOD decklist (I'm working on it). Might be merged with Ents in order to: 1) give companion support, and 2) eliminate Ents from the waiting list...

Proposed Pairings by Series
Serie 1:
Gandalf & Dwarves/Sauron Trackers (Grind)
Rohan Allies/Moria & Isengard Archery
Three Hunters/Uruk Trackers

Serie 2:
Knights/Dunland Discard
Unbound Rangers/Twilight Nazgul
Ringbound Companions/Easterlings & Gollum

Serie 3:
Shoulder to Shoulder/Southrons
Hobbits & Smeagol/Rohirrim Traitors
Gandalf & Rohan/Berserkers

I like the idea of having both heavy wounding shadows (Sauron Grind and Archery) in the 1st Serie, and both corruption shadows at the 2nd. However, Southrons deck at the 3rd is a Grind + Beatdown mixture, that might be troublesome if coupled with Archery or Sauron Grind...

Serie 2 is only Gondor... that's awful. You can't couple them that way. Change one of those fellowships (not the Knight one) to the 3rd Serie. Replacing the needless Rohan & Gandalf deck. Gandalf TMAYOD (or Gandalf+Ents) can be in the 2nd Serie (and coupling Rohan from 1st with Gandalf from 2nd gets that Rohan & Gandalf deck, and much more).

Berserkers should be in Serie 2, as almost everything they need is from set 5. Paired with Gandalf.

"Ringbound Companions" at Serie 2 is a deceiving name... it only has RB Rangers and some little Frodo/Sam protection; it lacks Smeagol. I would suggest it to be merged with the Smeagol deck, but both themes require too many slots for tricks and set up... Therefore, merge those RB Rangers with the UB ones and name the result 'Rangers deck'... or at least change that fake name to 'Ringbound Rangers'.

Hope this helps and doesn't offend anyone...

EDIT: I just made a 'Gandalf TMAYOD + Ents' deck that is apparently ok, but won't post it until the debate about Rohan decks and Gondor domain at Serie 2 advances a little... to not dilute attention.

[BigRedMF]

I have the impression that no one listens/reads what I say... as there are no counterarguments.

DurinsHeir, you'll note the berserker deck now includes Uruk-hai Rampage, at your suggestion. That's just one example of people listening to you.

Elves appear at 3rd Serie (in only half a deck). Same with Hobbits. Gondor have a whole Serie for themselves. There's no presence of Ents nor Gandalf (in full height)... I don't see a significant presence of anything but Gondor

If you look at the poll that dmaz posted before any decks were developed you will see the following themes in order of votes:
Fellowship
Hunters (check)
Knights (check)
Gondor/Rohan (currently only possible by coupling)
Dwarf with Gandalf (check)
Shoulder to Shoulder (check)
RBR (check)
Shire with Smeagol (check)
Rohan with Gandalf (check)
UB Rangers (check)
Gondor and Elves
Shire with Gandalf
Ents
Pipes
Hobbit Hospital
Archery
Mounted Rohan (check)

Shadow
Twilight Nazgul (check)
Easterlings and Gollum (check)
Saron Trackers (check)
Berserkers (check)
Uruk Trackers (check)
Southrons (check)
Archery (check)
Battleground Uruks
Wargs
Moria
Isengard Men (check)
Stupid Swarm
Discard Dunland (check)
Sauron Discard

So I have to say we have done a good job giving the voters what they want, and if I remember correctly you were actually the person pushing for a mounted Rohan deck in addition to the Trust deck that was already planned. As you can see by the voting, pretty much nobody was interested in yet another Rohan deck. So maybe we should be looking to cut the one in Serie 1? This poll was the basis for the culture theme decisions, not just the whims of dmaz or any of us.

Serie 2 is only Gondor... that's awful. You can't couple them that way.

I agree and disagree. Knights and rangers dont really mix well as they both have entirely different support cards (aside from the swords). But separating the rangers is a good consideration for sure.

Berserkers should be in Serie 2, as almost everything they need is from set 5. Paired with Gandalf.

There is no reason they need to be in the same Serie as their representative cards, as long as they are not a choice before then. You will get Helms Deep packs in Serie 2 and can use those cards in Serie 3 just as well. The shadows of the other 3 decks we currently have in Serie 2 can all make the same claim (Gollum, Dunland Discard, Twilight Nazgul).

"Ringbound Companions" at Serie 2 is a deceiving name... it only has RB Rangers and some little Frodo/Sam protection; it lacks Smeagol. I would suggest it to be merged with the Smeagol deck, but both themes require too many slots for tricks and set up... Therefore, merge those RB Rangers with the UB ones and name the result 'Rangers deck'... or at least change that fake name to 'Ringbound Rangers'.

Please refer again to the poll results to see why the culture themes we are working on were divided as such.

Hope this helps and doesn't offend anyone...

Not at all. Please keep in mind that the deck choices were not arbitrary or personal favorites of a select few people.

[dmaz]

There are still some decks with 4 copies of a card - Easterling Axeman, Uruk-hai Berserker and Rohirrim Traitor, Men will Fall and Desertion. These need to be exchanged. I suggest Easterling Infantry as replacement for the Axeman, maybe even change the deck to 2 of each.

I also suggest switching the shadows from StS/Gandalf-Rohan. Those Berserkers just gain from the mount exertions while StS generates pool on its own already. Also, Rohan somewhat hinders Flanking Attack.

For the Rohirrim Traitors deck, we can't get around having 4 copies of those cards.
Regarding the Easterlings and Uruks, there are certainly more options for cards, even from outside sets, whereas the Isengard Men only have this small card pool.
The only conditions that they have that aren't rare is Desertion, their only pump is Men Will Fall, and their only non-unique minion that isn't a rare is Rohirrim Traitor. There really must be an exception for these guys.

For the Hobbits & Semagol/Rohirrim Traitors deck, Site 9 should be Orthanc Balcony I think.

Elves appear at 3rd Serie (in only half a deck). Same with Hobbits. Gondor have a whole Serie for themselves. There's no presence of Ents nor Gandalf (in full height)... I don't see a significant presence of anything but Gondor.

Those 2 Rohan decks work in almost the same way (except for some Gandalf presence), so it seems to me a waste of deck space. Each has little to contribute to the other, and are by themselves somewhat inefficient:

1. The 1st Serie one, "Rohan Allies", has only 3 allies and not a single Well Stored (relies on Eomer only for healing), while my merged draft has 5 allies and 2 of that condition.
2. The Valiant deck, "Gandalf & Rohan", lacks the only non-rare Valiant-themed card (out of a huge pool of only 3) that makes reasonable to build a Valiant deck (Let Us Be Swift), has 2 'valiant-themed' allies (the other 2 cards of the pool) but no way of using one of them (Sigewulf needs to spot 5 Valiant men to be 'useful', the deck provides only 4)...

My draft merges those 2 themes with more power and versatility (condition control, more healing, more possession replay, reusable pumping-allies, even archery but that can be trimmed if found OP) and very good coupling potential (Weland, Leod, mounts, An Honorable Charge), saving a valuable deck slot for other purposes (Ents, a Gandalf-centered deck, Hard Choice, Wingfoot-UB Hobbits...). Can merge well with a Gandalf TMAYOD for that purpose. Gandalf should be a resource accessible to all and not only to Rohirrim or (in a little degree) to Dwaves, he should have his own deck at Serie 2.

Limiting Gandalf to: 1) Just some little presence inside only two decks, instead of a full deck for himself, 2) Having to choose Rohan in order to get TMAYOD, or Dwarves to get only condition control and very little more, and 3) A very late apparition as he's elegible (in greater but not full height) at the 3rd and last Serie... is in my opinion A CRIME.

My conclusion: "Valiant + Allies Rohan" deck at the 1st Serie, "Gandalf TMAYOD" at the 2nd Serie.

I like the idea of having both heavy wounding shadows (Sauron Grind and Archery) in the 1st Serie, and both corruption shadows at the 2nd. However, Southrons deck at the 3rd is a Grind + Beatdown mixture, that might be troublesome if coupled with Archery or Sauron Grind...

Serie 2 is only Gondor... that's awful. You can't couple them that way. Change one of those fellowships (not the Knight one) to the 3rd Serie. Replacing the needless Rohan & Gandalf deck. Gandalf TMAYOD (or Gandalf+Ents) can be in the 2nd Serie (and coupling Rohan from 1st with Gandalf from 2nd gets that Rohan & Gandalf deck, and much more).

Berserkers should be in Serie 2, as almost everything they need is from set 5. Paired with Gandalf.

"Ringbound Companions" at Serie 2 is a deceiving name... it only has RB Rangers and some little Frodo/Sam protection; it lacks Smeagol. I would suggest it to be merged with the Smeagol deck, but both themes require too many slots for tricks and set up... Therefore, merge those RB Rangers with the UB ones and name the result 'Rangers deck'... or at least change that fake name to 'Ringbound Rangers'.

Hope this helps and doesn't offend anyone...

EDIT: I just made a 'Gandalf TMAYOD + Ents' deck that is apparently ok, but won't post it until the debate about Rohan decks and Gondor domain at Serie 2 advances a little... to not dilute attention.

Having two Rohan decks really isn't needless. There is quite a bit in the Towers block that is dedicated to Rohan, and the way that the decks function is not identical at all. We've playtested them both and they both have a very different feel. They even have a different feel from the preexisting starters from Set 4 and 5, so it goes to show how much variation there can be. Regarding Sigewulf, he's not completely useless. At the very worst he is simply cannon fodder at site 4, while there is a decent chance to pull another Valliant man. Also, starter decks are not meant to be the best constructed deck that you can find. We need to keep remembering that. These are just a basis for you to build. There are supposed to be cards that are only relatively useful so that you can pull them out for other cards.

Regarding the only Gondor in series 2, I see where you're coming from there.

It would be nice to be able to combine Rangers and Knights or UB Rangers and RB Rangers. We just need to decide if it would disrupt the balance of the league to do that, creating one deck that is superior to the rest. It should be noted that all of the Gondor decks proved to be pretty strong in play-testing.

This is the way I'm looking at it right now: If we split them up, it would create more fun combination options for Gondor. However, Gondor technically not the highlight theme in the book or film The Two Towers. And really, they are not supposed to be the highlight for the TT Block either.
Now this doesn't mean they should be ignored...but do think that having it this way could foster more branching out from the Gondor theme alone...with people creating a wider variety of decks.

Lastly, it feels like the general consensus on Ents (both in discussion and poll) is that their interest is quite low for having a deck dedicated to them. Even though they do play a solid part in the story, they already have a deck for them in the current TT sealed, and it would be nice to branch away from that (as we did by leaving Wargs alone).  This isn't to say that pulling a Lindenroot would be completely useless. Quite the contrary! He would be a killer addition to the Hobbit/Smeagol deck. Additionally, if you pulled a fair amount of Warg cards in your boosters, it would be great to splash them in with the Isengard Men deck to use with Saruman, SotE

From looking at all of this, it feels like the only time you might feel like you were really missing support from your starter deck, would be Serie 2, if you pulled a lot of Elf cards (Battle of Helms Deep boosters have a lot of those). However, we really can't fit every single need (otherwise we would have 5 starters per serie), and Elf cards would still fit well with the Unbound Ranger starter deck in serie 2. You get Arwen, Asfaloth and a pump, and if we really feel like Serie 2 needs a little more help we can easily pull something to toss in an Elven sword to boot. Then you would get a lot more support in Serie 3 with Shoulder to Shoulder.

Above all we need to remember that these are the base decks for a sealed league. We should not be filling everyone's needs by having all of the right cards in each deck or right combination choices per serie. We need to leave some things open to personal choice, creativity and luck of the draw. That results in the most interesting league environment 

[dmaz]

I like the idea of having both heavy wounding shadows (Sauron Grind and Archery) in the 1st Serie, and both corruption shadows at the 2nd. However, Southrons deck at the 3rd is a Grind + Beatdown mixture, that might be troublesome if coupled with Archery or Sauron Grind...

This is a good point, and it was addressed while Euk was brainstorming for Southron ideas.  We did realize that they could be very potent if splashed with grind or some other kind of wounding (one of the top-chosen final decks of the Movie sealed is the southrons/archery with the Morgul Ambusher, so it does pack a punch). Because of this, the Southron deck was kind of designed so that you would need to dedicate to its strategy in order for it to work well. Just throwing in a couple southron archers and some Whirling Strikes into an archery deck isn't really an effective combination. The deck is set up to use the southrons for Ambush in order to get the twilight to use the skirmish wounding. So you need to invest a little heavier card-count wise in the southron culture...which would hurt you if you were trying to combine with Sauron grind.

Like bigredmf pointed out, we tried to develop decks that were mostly on the top of the list...however, for reasons of variation and overall balance we picked a couple that weren't quite as popular. A lot of us agreed that with the number of Dunland pulls that you could get in boosters, it was wise to have a least one base deck for them.

Also, we are trying to branch out and make the league fun, new and fresh Including a shadow like Isengard Men would both allow for some random booster rare pulls to get used, when they otherwise wouldn't, and bring situations to hand that may have never been seen in Towers Standard. We have already had some very fun and interesting situations just in playtesting.

Someone described the way the Knights struggled against the Twilight Nazgul as "almost comical" at one point, and it was!

How cool is it to have to waste two fortifications and a pump to try to take down a mounted Twilight Otsea to prevent him from putting the blade tip on Frodo? So cool! That like never happens haha!