Troll Swarms

[TheJord]

No one but myself seems to have posted a Troll Swarm deck. I was looking for one for suggestions on how to improve mine.

So please, someone post a Troll Swarm for me

[Pepin The Breve]

  Since i get inspiration to build a Troll Swarm from one of yours posts i guess i can try to get back the favor 

  So here it goes...

   Shadow (34)
2x *Retribution (12R101)
2x Goblin Hordes (11R123)
3x Unforgiving Depths (13C120)
2x *Cave Troll of Moria, Savage Menace (12R85)
3x *Tower Troll (15R117)
4x *Troll's Keyward, Keeper of the Beast (12R105)
3x Beastly Olog-hai (11R108)
2x Hill Orc (11U124)
2x Mordor Aggressor (12U89)
2x Orc Artisan (12R91)
2x Pit Troll (19P22)
3x Porter Troll (11R135)
2x Mordor Scimitar (11C128)
2x Orc Spear (12C96)

   The basic startegy is the standard: play the Keyward with lots of Troll at hand, do his trick and slaughter everybody. Use  Unforgiving Depths to ensure your underground and Hordes to pull back more trolls (or Keyward if you don´t have him at hand).

   I added a little trick here that seems to work very well along with. I put three very useful Orcs to not be so dependant on Keyward. Sometimes just Agressor with a Scimitar along with an Artisan with a spear can be really nasty (nastier if with a Troll or another Agressor, GE can tell ya  ), and you don´t need much twilight to play it, since they adds some amount with the weapons. The Trolls need some orc spoting to play so more orcs less chance you have your hand clogged and even can save a Keyward for building the big swarm. Meanwhile you can use this guys to prevent your opponent from running like mad without using your Trolls.

   If you get lucky to put some burdens on with Retribution then Hill Orc gets serious and people start to get one step from the grave...

   If you are more in the mood of total swarming you can cut some orcs to add more Trolls (Porter and Olog-hai are my favorites). I use Pit Troll cause i run that underground site where the first hunter cost -2 so he can be very cheap and save more pool for your other guys and he have vit 4 which helps against archery and stuff.

   I think there is pretty much it, any question i will be glad to answer as i could.

[SomeRandomDude]

I pair mine with Gamling's Horn.

[Pepin The Breve]

I pair mine with Gamling's Horn.

   I really don´t have a clue how this deck works (even i can imagine it).

   I pair mine with...Grimbeorn  The rest is hystory...hehehe.

   Speaking seriusoly, i use it with a tank fellowship with Dwarves and  men and he really helps to cicle hand (geting a nasty +15 bonus to st while doing it...). With him out you can even put more Trolls than i use cause he helps you to "cicle" it... Even a mountain Troll can be throwed in (if you need you can use him to kick Saruon or Barlog butts.

[Gate Troll]

Saruon and Barlog   

[SomeRandomDude]

I pair mine with Gamling's Horn.

   I really don´t have a clue how this deck works (even i can imagine it).

Erkenbrand's Horn + Gamling, Defender of the Hornburg
New Chapter
Something Slimy
Dammed Gate-Stream

Typical starting configuration is Frodo, Merry, ST, Alrdred, Smeagol, Gamling, Defender of the Hornburg.

Deck completely filtered by site 1. meaning that now your hand is all trolls for Troll's Keyward on a Warg to add 20+ twilight, drop a half dozen trolls, or at least 3 at site 2.

[MR. Lurtzy]

But I thought you could only play four cards in your fellowship phase.

[TheJord]

You can only draw 4 cards in your fellowship phase

The Horn plays them from your draw deck, a subtle difference

[leokula]

Well I honestly don't like the build Pipen posted. Seems all over the place and one should decide if going for corruption or going for a swarm. The weapons + retritbution are truly a waste of space in this deck, if you ask me, specially since retribution's efficiency has never been proved an awesome and dead expensive card (once more expensive than hordes at CC, if some might remember) at its release, but lately a disappointment. Even decks build around it can't seem to corrupt most of the time. A true Troll Swarm deck should look like this, which is my brother's build and works like a sweet:

4x Goblin Hordes
3x Barrage
2x Unforgiving Depths
2x Beasts of Burden
4x Troll's Keyward
4x Porter Troll
4x Beastly Olog-hai
4x Ordnance Grunt
2x Tower Troll
4x Orkish Worker
2x Cave Troll of Moria, Savage Menace

Simple strategy: get the keyward out and gather 5~7 trolls in ur hand, one being the cave troll. Orkish Worker is a nice guy to get more twilight. Barrage ends up being a free pump to crush the companions even more with your high vitality trolls. Unforgiving Depths provide you those underground sites when you really need a 6th troll, but the deck does not rely completely on GH and the underground sites, you should have a cycling FP (dwarves are welcome) to setup a good hand. Basicly it plays like any other swarm deck, like forest nazguls for example.

[Pepin The Breve]

   But who tells about corruption? Just add some burdens to make Hill Orc get nasty and that not even the main purpouse of Retribution. When you can call a spear on Artisan to add more twiligth or just pull back a scimitar to make Porter Troll make some really noise 

   It had been working nice to me.

   Anyway i like the Orkish Worker concept, but like i said is more for the troll swarm than anything. I just feel like Artisan, Hill orc and Agressor can add something to the bad guys.

[TheJord]

I use a pure Troll Swarm now as opposed to the Retribution Trolls. Mine is very much like Leokula' brothers deck except

Take out

Barrage x3
Orkish Worker x4

And add in

Relentless Warg x4
Another Tower Troll (they are one of the best IMHO)
1 more Unforgiving Depths
And another Cave Troll

[leokula]

Hey Pep, I just think that swarm decks must be more foccused in order to work properly. IMHO ur aiming for a lot of stuff and you'll be missing the main target which is overwhelm the ring-bearer.

Now about wargs with Troll's Keyward, I think it's very unfair and abusive. Tho there's no rule against it, I avoid it since it's stupidly powerful.

[TheJord]

It is nasty when you have a bunch of big Trolls out followed by their Keyward on a warg who is 13 dmg +1 fierce. Its like another Troll!

But then people know how I like OP decks

[SomeRandomDude]

Well I honestly don't like the build Pipen posted. Seems all over the place and one should decide if going for corruption or going for a swarm. The weapons + retritbution are truly a waste of space in this deck, if you ask me, specially since retribution's efficiency has never been proved an awesome and dead expensive card (once more expensive than hordes at CC, if some might remember) at its release, but lately a disappointment. Even decks build around it can't seem to corrupt most of the time. A true Troll Swarm deck should look like this, which is my brother's build and works like a sweet:

4x Goblin Hordes
3x Barrage
2x Unforgiving Depths
2x Beasts of Burden
4x Troll's Keyward
4x Porter Troll
4x Beastly Olog-hai
4x Ordnance Grunt
2x Tower Troll
4x Orkish Worker
2x Cave Troll of Moria, Savage Menace

Simple strategy: get the keyward out and gather 5~7 trolls in ur hand, one being the cave troll. Orkish Worker is a nice guy to get more twilight. Barrage ends up being a free pump to crush the companions even more with your high vitality trolls. Unforgiving Depths provide you those underground sites when you really need a 6th troll, but the deck does not rely completely on GH and the underground sites, you should have a cycling FP (dwarves are welcome) to setup a good hand. Basicly it plays like any other swarm deck, like forest nazguls for example.

Orkish Worker wastes space. You don't know if its gonna hit or not, so I'd just drop 'em all. Run more trolls. The deck is pretty much half support cards, which makes Troll's Keyward very limited.

[leokula]

It is nasty when you have a bunch of big Trolls out followed by their Keyward on a warg who is 13 dmg +1 fierce. Its like another Troll!

But then people know how I like OP decks

The real issue with keyward + warg is he can add twice as much twilight as he'd do, which is huge already...

I still like orkish worker's surprise factor and other trolls are not as good. The huge guys are the ones in the deck already.