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

[sgtdraino]

I've decided to document, as comprehensively as possible, every Fellowship Block 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

And Movie Format here:

http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,8863.0.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 Fellowship Block Format, I hope to make this thread the go-to reference for you! Now, I don't historically have a lot of experience with Fellowship Block 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
 
Grey Pilgrim
-Starts Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim, uses Gandalf events and improved cycling. Often paired with Hobbits.
-Weaknesses: Swarm, Too Great and Terrible.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7

 
Archery
-Usually uses Legolas, Greenleaf, with archers, archery events, and allies. Often paired with Aragorn and Aragorn's Bow.
-Weaknesses: Anything that cancels Archery or prevents wounds.
-Encounters: ///3
-Rating: ********`8.5
Tank Arwen
-Starts Arwen, tanks her up with Gwemegil and Asfaloth, cycles with Gwemegil. Support from other companions.
-Weaknesses: Ulaire Cantea, Lieutenant of Dol Guldur, Uruk-hai tanks, swarm.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *****`5.5

 
Gondor Tanks
-Tanks up Boromir and Aragorn. May employ Merry, Friend to Sam to boost the tanks. May choke, then add more companions near the end.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: *******7
-Rating:
Gondor Choke
-Normally uses Aragorn, Heir to the White City, Sam, Faithful Companion, Bill the Pony, No Stranger to the Shadows and other cards to generate as little twilight as possible.
-Weaknesses: Archery, Goblin Armory, Uruk-hai tanks, Can You Protect Me From Yourself.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *********9
Batman and Robin
-Starts some version of Boromir with Merry, Friend to Sam. They help each other out a lot.
-Weaknesses: Swarm, Such a Little Thing, Archery, Uruk-hai tanks.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *****`5.5

 
Dwarf Discard
-Often paired with Sauron Discard. Lots of Nobody Tosses a Dwarf and Dwarven Axe.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: 0
-Rating: ******6
Dwarf Tanks
-Often starts Gimli, Son of Gloin and Gloin, Friend to Thorin. Tanks them up and uses lots of skirmish events. Heals underground with Till Durin Wakes Again, pumps Gloin with Tales.
-Weaknesses: Condition discard, archery, swarm.
-Encounters: //2
-Rating: *****`5.5
Dwarf Choke
-Starts Gimli, Dwarf of the Mountain-race, generates very little twilight, and uses other cards which take out twilight and/or reduce the twilight number of the next site.
-Weaknesses: Goblin Armory, Archery, Swarm.
-Encounters: 0
-Rating: *****`5.5

 
Hobbit Alliance
-Uses allies with Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir to heal and cancel skirmishes. Lots of Stealth events.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, Ally hate.
-Encounters: 0
-Rating: ******`6.5
Pipeweed
-Uses Pipes and Pipeweed to heal, take off burdens, and remove twilight.
-Weaknesses: Takes a while to setup, only works in Fellowship.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *****`5.5

SHADOW
 
Twilight Nazgul
-Normally win through corruption, or direct-wounding the Ring-bearer to death.
-Weaknesses: Burden removal, twilight choke, most Twilight Nazgul are not fierce.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *****5
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: 0
-rating: *******7
Fierce Nazgul
-Plays all the usual fierce Nazgul with event and condition support.
-Weaknesses: Flaming Brand, Arwen, Daughter of Elrond, condition discard.
-Encounters: ///3
-Rating: *******`7.5

 
Goblin Armory
-Recycles possessions to add twilight and swarm you.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate.
-Encounters: //2
-Rating: ********`8.5
Moria Archery
-Variant of the Goblin Armory deck that focuses on playing lots of Archers.
-Weaknesses: Condition hate, super healing.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *******7

 
Uruk-hai
-Uses Saruman, Keeper of Isengard with Savagery to Match Their Numbers to wipe out your guys.
-Weaknesses: Twilight choke.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *********`9.5
Isengard Orcs
-Use Orcs that wound in Regroup, along with events like The Trees Are Strong.
-Weaknesses: Super healing, tanks with damage bonuses.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: *****`5.5

 
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:
-Rating: *****5
Sauron Tanks
-Features big strong Sauron minions along with direct wounding cards like Hate, and Sauron support conditions.
-Weaknesses: Twilight choke, tank companions, wound prevention.
-Encounters:
-Rating: *****5
Sauron Wounding
-Centers around Orcs who direct wound, coupled with events (like Hate) that direct wound, as well as support conditions like Orc Bowmen.
-Weaknesses: Archery, condition discard.
-Encounters: /1
-Rating: ********8

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

Archery/Fierce Nazgul
-/1
Archery/Goblin Armory
-//2
Batman and Robin/Isengard Orcs
-/1
Dwarf Tanks/Fierce Nazgul
-/1
Gondor Choke/Sauron Wounding
-/1
Grey Pilgrim/Twilight Nazgul
-/1
Pipeweed/Moria Archery
-/1
Tank Arwen/Uruk-hai
-/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.

 
-/1
 
-////4
 
-//2
 
-//2
 
-/1
 
-////4
 
-///3
 
-//2
 
-/1

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
Grey Pilgrim

ELF
Archery
Tank Arwen

GONDOR
Gondor Tanks
Gondor Choke
Batman and Robin

DWARF
Dwarf Discard
Dwarf Tanks
Dwarf Choke

SHIRE
Hobbit Alliance
Pipeweed

NAZGUL
Twilight Nazgul
Nazgul Tanks
Fierce Nazgul

MORIA
Goblin Armory
Moria Archery

ISENGARD
Uruk-hai
Isengard Orcs

SAURON
Sauron Discard
Sauron Tanks
Sauron Wounding

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

OTHER RESOURCES

Fellowship Block Format Gemp Players List

Currently updated through: 1/16/2015

STRATEGY TOTALS
Total FP Strategies: 11
Total Shadow Strategies: 10
Total Strategies: 21

[sgtdraino]

Updated!

[simplegarak]

Thanks for these. You doing them for any other formats besides this, expanded or movie?


Gondor Tanks
-Tanks up Boromir and Aragorn. May employ Merry, Friend to Sam to boost the tanks. May choke, then add more companions near the end.
-Weaknesses: ?
-Encounters: 0
-Rating:

Oh man that was one of the first decks I built and played.  Boromir + Pippin.  Drop Aragorn and focus fellowship on the aragorn signet.  I usually dropped the a.sig Legolas late game (after pip had been fed to a balrog) and pumped him up with his 2 toys.

IIRC, weakness was mostly swarm towards the very end though I tried to stock plenty of events that could pump Frodo and the rest of the fellowship (like dagger strike and no mere ranger).  But Boromir with armor, Aragorn with a coat of mail and 4 Valiant Man of the West, it was a very tough nut to crack.

[sgtdraino]

So far just Fellowship, Expanded, and Movie (links at the top) because those three formats are (by far) the most popular formats played on gemp-lotr. Those three formats alone account for around 86% of the games played on gemp. All the other formats combined only add up to about 14% of games played.

[simplegarak]

So far just Fellowship, Expanded, and Movie (links at the top) because those three formats are (by far) the most popular formats played on gemp-lotr. Those three formats alone account for around 86% of the games played on gemp. All the other formats combined only add up to about 14% of games played.

Ah understood, and thanks again (also updated with a bit of nostalgia).

[simplegarak]

Hmmm... going from my memory of Fellowship block in the day...

GANDALF
Grey Pilgrim - 8/10, Gandalf's always good.
(hey, go try a dynamic duo deck, Gandalf + Frodo that's it)

ELF
Archery - 9/10, Esp with some allies, it can be very hard to make it to the skirmish phase.
Tank Arwen - 3/10, She's guaranteed to lose part of her tankiness at site 5.

GONDOR
Gondor Tanks - 7/10, I'm biased but can be very hard to beat.
Gondor Choke - 10/10, Good luck ever dropping anything against them.
Batman and Robin - 5/10, Average and solid deck.

DWARF
Dwarf Discard - 6/10, Decent but not as good without the discard they got later.
Dwarf Tanks - 5/10, Average, lack of benefits to Frodo hurts it.
Dwarf Choke - 6/10, Choke's always strong, but Gondor's is better.

SHIRE
Hobbit Alliance - 7/10, Ally hate is too niche to slow this up much.
Pipeweed - 4/10, though hilarious if you get it working.

NAZGUL
Twilight Nazgul - 4/10, I love them, but they are too weak without later pumps (see: reflections)
Nazgul Tanks - 5/10, Average.
Fierce Nazgul - 6/10, Solid and still average.

MORIA
Goblin Armory - 9/10, A classic played a lot because it was consistent.
Moria Archery - 7/10, A good answer to several powerful fellowships.

ISENGARD
Uruk-hai - 10/10, Which other shadow had banned cards? Lots of answers to everything.
Isengard Orcs - 3/10, Niche and fun, but the game rules themselves ruins them at site 9.

SAURON
Sauron Discard - 4/10, Discard still weak.
Sauron Tanks - 5/10, average shadow
Sauron Wounding - 10/10 The ONLY answer is Sleep, C, otherwise your fellowship is dying unless you can choke them or have crazy healing.  Very consistent and annoying.

[sgtdraino]

Thanks for your ratings, Nate! Gold for you! I've averaged them in with the ratings in post #1!

And if there are more commonly accepted names for any of the various strategies I've tried to list, guys please let me know! And if there are any strategies that I haven't listed yet, let me know that too!

[simplegarak]

Oh and for those curious/wanting to try it out.

Dynamic Duo involves any frodo & any Gandalf (though I prefer the Grey Pilgrim).  Drop Gandalf's Staff asap then use Depart Silently to ensure all minions go on Gandalf, who then cancels the fight (at later sites, you should have Frodo stocked pretty beastly so then it becomes a +3 pump).  Stock the rest with whatever answers you need to your meta (I like Strength of Spirit to keep all that skirmish canceling cost low).  With the drawing you can rock (like Risk a Little Light now being free) and choke you'll be doing, this is a great freep side to pair with combo shadows (because it gets very easy to build god hands).  Heck even if you don't win, you'll make your opponent hate you.

[sgtdraino]

lol that sounds really cool, Nate! I'm going to add that to the Meta!

[simplegarak]

lol that sounds really cool, Nate! I'm going to add that to the Meta!

Thanks, I had fun with it in a multiplayer game once.  The choke on it gets crazy.

When you say "add to meta", you mean to your list or build one and troll people with it?

[sgtdraino]

Yes.

[Legion]

Here are my views for the Free Peoples.  I've added in a few others in bold, along with my descriptions of some of the decks in case I'm not getting the point on all of the previous ones.



Dwarven Tanks:  Decent when using Biblo, WSG, but still struggle against Nazgul.  Occasionally paired with Aragorn, ROTN to help here, but this often costs focus.  If Song of Durin is slow to appear, Moria can swarm you, too.  6/10

Discard: I think it's more viable than people believe, but it shouldn't beat you if you know what you're doing.  Dislikes your opponent not dropping minions. Greenleaf hurts Moria and The White Arrows of Lorien will take out Uruks' Savagery.  Shoulder to Shoulder recommended if going down this route,  7/10

Choke:  Either go full on choke or Dwarven tanks.  You'll still be beaten by Nazgul  4/10



Archers:  Full on archery is stopped only by Isengard Warrior which is rarely seen.  If it does not play ARV it is not full on archery as it would lose every time to KoI.  Struggles against Uruks anyway due to Saruman's Power and high vitality Troop of Uruk-Hai, but even that can be overcome.  8/10

Elven Discard: So annoying!  Far Seeing Eyes paired with Silinde and a host of elves (along with Valley of the Silverlode and Gift of Boats).  Can beat almost anything if it gets lucky, but shouldn't trouble an experienced player.  6/10

Lady Udomiel: Plays Arwen, Lady Udomiel and loads of site 3 allies.  Often paired with Shoulder to Shoulder to make use of the fact that most of their texts are terrible.  You end up wishing you had played DoE every time you see Nazgul, but good against Uruks.  Tends to set up too slowly to be competitive and really dislikes Tower Assassin.  5/10



Grey Pilgrim-not sure what this is exactly, but it sounds as if it lacks focus.  I'll abstain.

Trust Me as you Once Did: Uses Trust Me as You Once Did to overpower all minions with tanked up members of the Fellowship (often uses Shoulder to Shoulder with Deep in Thought).  Devastates Swarm and can easily overpower even Uruks (unless you are really unlucky with a host of StMTN) and Nazgul, but is very Gando-centric-if he dies you lose.  8/10.

Dynamic Duo: Fun, but not competitive.  Loses to Nazgul almost every time as it cannot really abide fierce skirmishes.  3/10

Gandalf Cycle:  Uses cards like QtNA to filter for the perfect shadow hand (often Ferney Frost).  Pretty gimmicky.  2/10



Rangers:  Probably the most commonly seen Fellowship.  Tanks out Aragorn, Arwen, Legolas and usually Boromir, supported by allies and Secret Sentinels.  Has few weaknesses but can still lose if it does not set up in time.  9/10

Horn (I'm guessing your Batman and Robin): Solid, but over reliance on Boromir exerting can make doubles hard late game.  8/10

Choke:  Often starts Sam, Sworn Companion and Gimli, DotMR pulling Aragorn site 1.  Has no burden removal and rarely has condition removal (except Song of Durin and Athelas), so will often lose to any Sauron build.  I don't like decks that have no answer to discard, but can see its allure.  7/10  (5 without Song of Durin, but possibly higher if using Elven Allies and SS)



Solo Frodo: Makes Frodo nearly unkillable and chokes like nothing else.  You never complete a skirmish until site 6 thanks to Hobbit Stealth and Filibert Bolger.  Hilarious and weirdly competitive as you opponent's hand will get so clogged.  6/10

Hobbit Hospital:  Uses Allies to heal all the wounds you took last turn.  Thror's Map is essential to avoid Anduin Confluence.  Was probably the most competitive deck to use on a budget with the old Merchant.  Black Breath is a problem, so sometimes paired with Boromir, SoD and Athelas.  7/10

Pipeweed:  Tanks everyone up and heals any wounds or burdens taken.  My favourite.  Can bid high to go first to alleviate the slow set-up, but can sometimes by jumped by Nazgul on a poor first draw.  9/10 and I know that that's what I gave Rangers.  It really is that good when used properly.

The Shire Countryside: Uses TSC to heal wounds (usually by playing tals and SotBR.  Flat out loses to Uruks with Saruman's Power.  4/10

Orc Bane:  Uses Orc Bane, Aragorn's Bow, Greenleaf and Strength of Spirit to make sure no  minions reach the Skirmish Phase.  Pretty gimmicky, but can be very potent, too.  5/10

Other decks tend to be centered around a Shadow Strategy.  I included Gandalf Cycle, but I'll leave the others as essentially part of the shadow section which is coming up...

[Legion]

And now onto the Shadows:



KoI Beatdown: Very powerful, but totally reliant on its pumps, so use Sting to scout out what's going to hurt you this turn.  Hates Choke, but is probably the best shadow out there at stopping double moves. 9/10 but I personally never use it as I find it clogs against Choke.  

Uruk Archery I'm testing this out and it's going well so far.  Adds burdens with Can You Protect me from Yourself? making Saruman's Reach useful for your archery wounds hitting other companions.  7/10

Breeding pit Bomb Absolutely lethal.  Uses Breeding Pit to place 3 Uruk Ravager and 2 Uruk Lieutenant on the bottom of your deck, then cycles through with the fellowship to play those minions, KoI, an Uruk Captain (and so another Uruk), Spies of Saruman and also Saruman's Snows and Saruman's Frost thanks to A Fell Voice in the Air at site 9.  Only Discard is a bad matchup, and then your fellowship (normally pipes) can race to the end.  10/10: easily the best gimmick out there.

Isengard Orcs: Fun and different, but rarely seen for a reason.  Still can beat anything if it gets the right draw, but that can be hard.  6/10



Goblin Armoury: A bit of a misnomer as no Moria Deck will not play Goblin Armoury, but this can swarm like crazy.  Has no real answer to Sleep Charadhras and Secret Sentinels, though which is its only let-down.  Without Condition Discard you lose to this every time, but so many decks have condition discard as a result...  8/10

Underdeeps of Moria: Uses The Underdeeps of Moria and Goblin Sneak to set up a bigger swarm than above, at the expense of being more predictable and requiring more time to set up.  Curse their Foul Feet will end all your hope in one event, but it is rarely seen.

Moria Beatdown: Uses high power minions to out muscle the Fellowship.  Moria Axe will be everywhere, and a Cave Troll with Hammer and Chain is the most fearsome sight in Fellowship Block.  Not quite as reliant on its conditions as Swarming versions of Moria.  8/10

Moria Archery:  Uses every twilight token available to inflict as many wounds as possible upon you.  Dislikes condition discard as with the rest of Moria, but can still function perfectly happily without.  Must use Bitter Hatred to pick off Greenleaf, Galadriel or Rumil, but pipeweed (although uncommon) is a tough matchup.  Needs a felowship that cycles just as hard as it does.  9/10-my favourite shadow!

Moria/Sauron Wounding: More simple as it doesn't waste time trying to win skirmishes, just goes for the "Every card's a wound" type philosophy.  Can surprise even Aragorn when Hate and Malice are combined.  7/10

Lost to the Goblins: Loses when Frodo exhausts himself in the Fellowship Phase with Sting.  Throw Yourself in Next Time might help, but I've never seen it work in FotR.  2/10

Tentacles: Massive respect to anyone trying this.  Sadly it's terrible.  1/10



Beatdown:  So scary at sites 2 and 3, but if you can weather the storm you'll probably be fine.  Falls to archers, but the cheeky All Blades Perish can cause an upset.  If Aragorn gets his Bow, a Flaming Brand, Sword and the Last Alliance, you can say "GG" straight away.  Must play Tower Assassin or Fear to deal with Filibert Bolger.  7.5/10  Probably the one I lose to the most, I never feel in control when playing it, so I won't give it as much as an 8.

Twilight Guls:  Can work against many decks, but has no real answer to Sam, SoH which is a pity.  OEG is another huge issue here.  5/10

Ferney's Frost: Plays Bill Ferney, Spies of Saruman, Saruman's Snows, Srauman's Frost and Parry on Sting so Frodo is only strength 2 and so dies to Bill Ferney.  Sam makes you do it twice (no real room for Otsea), and if there's Pippin, Friend to Frodo and OEG you've got to get him too.  So gimmicky it's untrue, but fantastic if it works.  2/10



Discard:  Annoying, but hates condition discard.  So much more viable in Movie with Initiative, but there's none of that here.  A pity that Desparate Measures costs you that precious burden, but can be tough to play against.  7/10

Grind:  You might as well concede the second you see Gandalf.  You Bring Great Evil can work if you focus Hate, but it's going to be an uphill struggle.  SS also hurts, or course, but should have ways of dealing with those allies (Memory of many things or multiple Tower Assassin).  6/10

Orc Banner:  Uses Enheartened Foe to make Orc Banner useful.  Some variants try to add burdens to use the only Sauron "pump" in Enduring Evil.  Gleaming Spires will Crumble is useful, but nothing really helps the inability to survive massive archery.  Try to force all their archers to exhaust by site 8, then topple them in the fierce skirmish at Enym Muil.  Great fun when it works, but Orc Banner really needed to be a possession.  7/10

Stupid Swarm: Slaps down an Isengard Servant with a cheap Orc and Saruman's Snows along with a host of other minions at either site 7 (Anduin Wilderland)  or if playing Confluence to avoid SS at site 9 (Tol Brandir).  Virtually unstoppable if done correctly, but it can clog you and RotN is annoying.  9/10

[Hobbiton250]

A lot of useful information. Thank you for posting this. It helps to gain stratigy for future games.

[ramolnar]

You're missing several important FP. Gandalf FotS is highly popular right now; the others are less so, but I saw them often in real life.

GANDALF FotS: Also known as "Mains and Toys", because it plays main characters with weapons and gear. Relies on Servant of the Secret Fire as pump. At least moderately effective against almost every shadow due to Sleep, Servants, strength 10 damage+1 characters, but never really great against anything. My version starts FotS and Gandalf fights with Glamdring, which is better against Uruks but worse against Nazgul. Most versions start Gimli and an Elf, then play A Wizard is Never Late for Gandalf.

GANDALF Trust Me: Almost the same as the versions of FotS that start Gimli and Elf, but uses Trust Me as You Once Did for additional pump support. Better at fighting, but not better against Moria and Sauron since Sleep Caradhras removes your pumps as well. Because Moria is common on Gemp, I haven't seen this much, but it was moderately popular in real life.

LAST ALLIANCE: Legion called this "Rangers". Starts the superfriends (Legolas Greenleaf and Arwen DoE), then plays Aragorn, Boromir, Elf Allies, and Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Usually involves more fighting and less archery than the Elf archery deck. Most importantly, it does not play Gondor Bowmen, or as I call it Gondor F'ing Bowmen because it's ridiculously undercosted. This is another of my personal decks because it plays to my style - midrange Fellowships that do a lot of things pretty well, but nothing superbly, and relies on good decision making against the opponent.

HORN OF BOROMIR: A version of Batman and Robin with lots of allies and Horn of Boromir. Always starts the healing Boromir to ensure the ability to play the Horn. At Worlds 2002, this was very popular because it can easily bid 6 and start Green Dragon Inn. Anduin Confluence is really bad news, so it needs to play Pathfinder and Thror's Map. Tower Assassin and Such a Little Thing are also annoying. It does well against Moria with lots of Secret Sentinels, and pretty well against most versions of Keeper, except for the Ally Hunter version.