Starter Deck Vs Series Episode 1: The Grey Wizard vs King in Exile

Well it's been another long period between posts as life has gotten in the way of posting! But a big 'THANK YOU' to those who continue to read my blog, and a big 'WELCOME' to all the people who have stumbled upon my blog in the past few months and sent me kind words. I hope those who I've sent free cards to are enjoying them!

I thought I'd start a new 'series' which will both be fun for beginners, old-timers, and also help me with inspiration for more posts. This series will be a comparison between various starter decks. If you're a new player, this could help you decide which deck to buy, if you're an old player, please comment and let me know what you think!

What could be more fitting for the first post than the first set of starter decks from the Fellowship of the Ring set?

Each starter deck has several differences: the site paths, the premium cards included (most notably your starting companions, usually), and the minions.

Today, we'll focus on the premium Aragorn, King in Exile vs the premium Gandalf, the Grey Wizard.

Off the bat, they are pretty similar. Same cost, same vitality. Aragorn wins out by one on strength.

Aragorn wins out on keywords, being a Ranger. 

It's the game text that really makes a difference here. 

In the starter deck alone, Aragorn's text is not very helpful. Few of the Fellowship of the Ring companions have the Aragorn signet, and the chances of getting one in your starter deck, then drawing it, and playing it are slim; all to get rid of one wound.

Similarly, Gandalf's text only comes in handy only if you've gotten a Gandalf signet companion in your starter and drawn him during the game. But when you do, saving two twilight could be a big win for your strategy.

In constructed, the story changes significantly. You can build your deck around a signet. In this instance, it really depends: are you planning to having a bloody battle on the way to Site 9? Or are you planning to choke twilight from your opponent and avoid skirmishes altogether?

Being that I've always been one to fight, and given the great Fellowship of the Ring companions with the Aragorn signet including Arwen, Daughter of Elrond, Sam, Son of Hamfast, and Merry, From O'er the Brandywine, Aragorn wins on the gamtext.

So there you have it, our first winner of the Starter Deck Vs Series is: Aragorn, King in Exile, over Gandalf, The Grey Wizard!

Single Player/Endurance Format

Let's start with a sad truth: There just aren't that many people playing Lord of the Rings TCG anymore! You're lucky to be able to find another person to play with period. Finding someone to play with on a regular basis (or often enough to feed your wildly growing addiction) is impossible.

At least that's how I felt.

So I decided to solve my problem by trying out some new ways to play Lord of the Rings TCG in a single player mode. Thus the birth of the Endurance Format.

As with the normal format, you represent the Fellowship and have a Ring-Bearer (any one of your choice) and one additional Companion (any one of your choice). You start at Site 1 (any one of your choice).

You have a draw deck that consists of 30 Fellowship cards (they must be unique/only one copy per deck, and may not contain any Companion cards).

You draw 4 cards to start.

Each turn, during the "Fellowship Phase" you may play 1 card from hand. In Endurance Format, you ignore all costs of cards.

When you move to the next site, you randomly choose a site from any site 2.

There is a Shadow Deck that consists of 60 minions (they must be unique/only one copy per deck).

You shuffle the deck and play the top 2 minions from that deck.

You then move to the maneuver phase, the archery phase, and then the skirmish phase as your would in Normal Format.

Ignore all Maneuver and Archery text on minions, but you still calculate the minion archery total and apply wounds to your fellowship.

If you have any Free People's Maneuver, Archery, or Skirmish events in hand you may play them at the appropriate time for free.

During the Assignment phase, if there are more minions than companions (which there quickly will be) you assign them however you choose.

When you have finished the Skirmish phase, if your Fellowship has survived, you move on to the Regroup phase as normal. You do not discard any minions (unless you have a Regroup event or action that allows you to do so).

You may then draw 2 cards, and proceed on to Site 3. There is no limit to the number of cards you can have in your hand, and there is still Initiative.

You then repeat the process, getting another Fellowship phase. Except this time, you play 3 minions. At Site 4, you play 4, and so on, until you have reached Site 9.

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This format is titled 'Endurance' as a nod to video games with an 'Endurance' format where they just send bad guys at you until you can't take it anymore.

It's certainly not the same as the Lord of the Rings TCG you know and love, but it's a fun variant, and opens up a different world of strategies and deck types. What dynamic duo of companions lasts the longest? What cards help you survive the longest? How tough do you want to make your 'Minion Deck'? Try it out, and leave a comment to let me know what you think!

Where to Buy

Happy Holidays Lord of the Rings fans!

I've been getting a lot of email lately asking 'Where can I get cards?'

As always, if you want a small set of cards to get you started on the game, just shoot me an email and I'd be happy to send you, free of charge, enough cards to play a few games (I only ask that you pay $5 for shipping).

If you're in the giving/buying spirit, I highly recommend Hill's Wholesale Gaming. In the Lord of the Rings (Decipher) section there are several options. For $50, you can get two orders of 36 packs of Fellowship of the Ring - the first, and best, set. For $36 you can get two booster boxes of Shadows and two of the Shadows Starter Decks (under the 'By the Pack' section). Either will provide you with enough cards to make lots of fun decks.

I hope you have a great holiday break. Here's a small gift to you if you haven't seen it yet: the trailer for the upcoming Hobbit movie!

The Art of the Bluff

Wow, it's been quite some time since I published an update. Life has gotten all the more busy as I have a second son now. Dominion is my game of choice these days, but I'm hopeful that with the upcoming Hobbit movies, Lord of the Rings TCG will see a resurgence and this blog will have a second life breathed into it. 

But in the meantime, this is a post I've been meaning to write for quite some time.

Imagine this situation: Your opponent has just moved to Site 7 from Sanctuary and is looking pretty good wound-wise. However, he only has 3 people left in his Fellowship. You've got 12 Shadow to play with, you're looking pretty good. The only problem is: You have NO minions in your hand.

Sound familiar?

It's one of the worst positions to be in. Your opponent can basically waltz to Site 8 unscathed, and tip-toe into Site 9 the next turn without a worry. Do you just scoop up and concede now?

Perhaps, or you could bluff it.

The art of bluffing is a delicate one, that requires both good timing, good poise, and a whole lot of acting.

The bluff essentially consists of you representing enough minions to give your opponent a 'good' fight, but acting as if you'd rather he move on to the next site to give you the sure over-whelming of his Ring-Bearer.

Some keys to bluffing include counting out the available Shadow in the pool into groups that represent the minions (the non-existent ones) in your hand.

For example, if you're playing Wraiths and your opponent gives you 12 Shadow, you might count out one group of six and two groups of two to represent a Nazgul and two Morgul Brutes. For extra finesse, make sure to look back between your hand and the Shadow pool repeatedly, as if you're trying to get the math correct.

If you want to really put on a show, you can take extra pool on the side, and act as if you're seeing how much Shadow you would have total when your opponent moves to the next site.

The bluff ends when you fold up your hand and say, "No Minions." Then you get to see if bluff worked. Chances are against you, but there is nothing more satisfying than when you know you've mastered this art and your opponent replies, "I reconcile."

Machine Gun Enquea

My! Time flies fast during the holidays, it's already been over a month since the last post.

While it would be nice to do something holiday themed, I thought it would be more fun to share one of the most brutal strategies to have ever hit the lands of Middle Earth: Machine Gun Enquea.

This was a combo that was only possible in the Open environment, but still shocking nonetheless.

Using Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul

and cards that add burdens, the most popular being Morgul Brute,

you get your opponent to 5 burdens. You then begin to exert Enquea to wound companions.

Now, you're saying to yourself, "you can only would three times before Enquea's exhausted, no big deal."

That's when you realize you can use the Ring of Rancor to heal Enquea, adding on the number of wounds you can deal for the cost of removing a burden.

And now you're saying to yourself, "well as soon as you remove the 5th burden, you can't use Enquea's text anymore!". That's where the fun of playing in Open comes in. Using Site Path manipulation, you place your opponent's Fellowship at the Slag Mounds

Now, each time you kill a companion, you add a burden back in. Placing your wounds strategically, you can exhaust multiple companions before unleashing the full fury of the machine gun, killing a companion, adding a burden, then removing the burden to heal Enquea, and repeating the process, until only the Ring Bearer is left to face your minions, not the least of which is the Fierce, Strength 11, healable one with the smoking machine gun.

Prance on!

It's been a while since I've posted! But in the interim, several new players have received welcome packages from me and I hope they enjoy their new cards. Please feel free to submit deck lists or commentary on the game, and I'll throw it up on the blog!

I thought I'd write about a simple card today that I've been thinking a lot about lately, since it encompasses so many of the things I like about Lord of the Rings: The Prancing Pony.

There are two really brilliant things about this card. The first is that it allows you to automatically pull Aragorn from your draw deck. I've always been a fan of eliminating chance as much as possible from your game. If you're dependent on Aragorn for a strategy for your deck, stocking four of him in your draw deck and hoping that you draw him is sometimes just not good enough. For the cost of a decent starting bid, and then another burden, you can ensure that this key part of your strategy is always available.

The second thing I like about the Pony is that it's available to both players. This is something great about the Site Path in the Lord of the Rings. Both players share the pros and cons of each site. While this may benefit a certain player more (i.e. one player didn't stock Aragorn in his/her deck), it keeps the playing field more level.

The next time you're creating a site deck, think about how you can craft your path to minimize the luck of the draw from your deck, and how the text benefits both you and your opponent!

Free Black Rider Packs!

The first two people to comment on this post get a Black Rider pack free!

Free Packs!

I wanted to change things up a bit and give my readers some incentive to check back on the blog early and often, so I'm starting a contest of sorts.

Some time this week, I will be post a new entry titled "Free Black Rider Packs". The first two people who respond to the post with the comment "First" (and "Second" after the first has posted) will get a free Black Rider pack from me! I'll even pay for the shipping.

In order for me to contact you to get your shipping address, you have to be a Follower of the blog, so use the Followers gadget on the left side of this page if you're not a member already. I'll be able to contact you directly using the gadget.

Hopefully this will be fun for all, and if it is I've got plenty more stuff to give away!

Double Blades of Eowyn

Here's a quick and simple combo taking advantage of three powerful cards from Return of the King:




Play Merry and Eowyn in your Starting Fellowship. Stock 4 of Dernhelm's blade in your deck. Each skirmish, you can:

1. Play Dernhelm's Blade to wound a minion Eowyn is skirmishing.
2. Discard Dernhelm's Blade to make Eowyn strength +2.
3. Return Merry to hand to play Dernhelm's blade again. Wound the minion Eowyn is skirmishing again.

If Eowyn is riding a horse that can exert the minion she is skirmishing, this should be enough to kill most minions. Add on some archery, and there's few minions that Eowyn can't kill!

The combo has the added bonus that when you return Merry to hand, he loses all wounds that were on him, making him a great "pin-cushion" for archery damage himself.

Hobbit Hospital

I've been taking another trip down memory lane, to the Fellowship Block, where a deck existed that was quite powerful, but never got much attention. Called 'Hobbit Hospital', the deck used the following cards to essentially ensure that your Fellowship of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin were fully healed every turn:





Coupled with the Merry that was able to bump his fellow Hobbits' strength



and a few Hobbit Swords and Skirmish events, the four Hobbits became quite powerful with their ability to free themselves of all wounds each turn. Despite it's power, the deck was probably not as strong as the Beastagorn decks of the day, which is probably what lead to its being over-looked, but if you ever feel like representing the Shire, don't forget about the healing powers of the Hobbits!

Virtual Cards from Spain!

Since the Lord of the RIngs TCG began, players have been creating 'Dream Cards'. After Decipher officially stopped production of the game, players continued to develop these dream cards so that they had new material to play with.

One of my loyal followers from Spain, Darkpadawan, provided me with the following 10 cards from a virtual expansion he called 'The Animals'. He apologizes in advance for any spelling and grammatical errors he may have made. I applaud and thank him for his stellar job on creating the look and feel of new Lord of the Rings TCG cards. Enjoy!

Site 9

I thought I'd take a look at the cards that are often over-looked: Sites!

Although the site path became much more interesting after the Return of the King block, many players could not bring themselves to move past the first three block of the game (affectionately called 'the movie block').

For those who remained true to the game as it was in its glory, the only option was to use sites that were limited to a specific site number.

Here are two of the most powerful site 9s from the Return of the King block, each if used in conjunction with a burden deck would easily result in a corrupted ring-bearer!

Solo Gandalf?

Before Reflections came out, there was a popular option (a popular, but very, very risky option) of trying Solo Frodo: playing just Frodo in your deck (with possibly one or two starting companions that you intended to kill early). The purpose was to deprive your opponent of twilight so that they couldn't play enough minions to overwhelm Frodo, if at all.

After Reflections and the introduction of alternate ring-bearers, numerous candidates became available for this technique, perhaps the most interesting being Gandalf:



Of course, with such a powerful companion as your Ring-Bearer, there must be a draw-back, and with the Solo method, the only option here is to add three burdens, so you'll need to pack



and other burden removing cards.

With so many cards to make Gandalf a beast, you're obligated to try out Solo Gandalf!

PATHS

I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane, way back to the Fellowship of the Ring set. This card was a staple in most decks, and for a long time considered the most powerful card in the game.



As alternate ring-bearers who had the ability to win skirmishes became more popular, this card saw less use; but there was never anything quite as satisfying as throwing Frodo up against an un-wounded Witch King and playing four of these to kill him!

Dark Followers

Following up on the theme of Followers, I wanted to showcase a Follower for the Shadow side, Saruman. Just like Followers for the Free Peoples side, these cards can be added on to minions during the Maneuver phase. Saruman gives a strength bonus in addition to an exertion to the defending companion. Add him on to a fierce or damage +1 minion and you can easily kill most companions!

Follow You to Whatever End

I decided to add the "Followers" gadget to the right side of the blog so that any readers can add themselves to show their support of the blog.

In conjunction, I thought it would be fun to show off some Followers from the Lord of the Rings TCG.

This new mechanic was added in the Bloodlines expansion and essentially replaced Allies. Instead of being actual characters that could be targeted by spells, Followers were just played to the support area, and called upon during the Maneuver Phase to perform some bonus.



While seemingly un-powerful, Daddy Twofoot provided a nice update to the Unheeded Deck I previously blogged about.

Follow me and check back often to see what other characters became followers of the Fellowship.

My Old Sword, Sting!

It's been a while since I last posted, and I see that two commenters have been trying to reach me! Please try my contact email again, there was an issue with GoDaddy routing the emails.

And of course I couldn't make a post without showing off a great card, so I give you Sting, Elven Long Knife!

One of the few cards to give a bump to strength, vitality and resistance, Sting is a must for any deck that has Frodo or Bilbo as the Ring-Bearer. Paired with the right cards that add threats during the Regroup phase, this card can also provide some killer combos!

Support the Last Homely House

For those who have stumbled onto this blog and are yearning for more, I highly recommend visiting this site. The forums are a great way to meet other people playing the game, and the top level of the site is a comprehensive database of every Lord of the Rings TCG card ever made. Enjoy, and tell them Psyjedi sent you!

The Elves of Ages End

I thought I'd throw up some more of the cards from Ages End. Here are two faces familiar to any LotR TCG player. Although they don't go particularly well together in a starting fellowship, each could easily find their way into any deck.

An In Depth Review of a Multi-Player Game

Thanks to Nightmare, who sent the following game report. Sounds like an exciting game and a reminder to always stock your deck full of minions when playing multi-player!

Gandalf leads his Rohirrim Men to victory!



Our LOTR games died down for a bit because of school work, but now they're back in full swing - we even have a new member in our playgroup.

For this game, I was playing my Gandalf Rohan/Besieger deck against Ninad's Gondor Wraith/Uruk deck and Will (the new guy) who was borrowing my Gondor Knights/Ringwraiths deck.

Starting:
Me: Gandalf, Leader of Men; Eowyn, Desperate Maiden
Will: Denethor, Steward of the City; Faramir, Prince of Ithilien
Ninad: Dead Man of Dunharrow; Oathbreaker
(all of us are playing variations of frodo, no abilities are used)

Will bids 2 to got first, Ninad bids 1 to go second, I bid 0 and go last

Will's turn 1: Starting location is Steps of Edoras. Will plays a hobbit sword and moves to Rohirrim Camp; Ninad plays Worthy of Mordor for 0 and an Uruk Pikeman with an Isengard Sword for all 6 tokens. Will assigns Denethor to fight, playing War and Valor to defeat and kill the Pikeman. Will moves again to The Dimholt. I play Great Siege-Towers for 1 token, leaving 3 in the pool. Will sits.

Ninad's turn 1: Ninad plays Gandalf, Defender of the West and another Dead Man of Dunharrow. I play Orc Destroyer, and Will plays Ulare Lemenya, Black Enemy. Ninad assigns Gandalf to the Orc Destroy, loses and takes a wound. Ninad assigns one Dead Man to Ulare Lemenya. Will plays a Houses of Lamentation, and Ninad plays an End of Game, winning and killing the Nazgul. Ninad moves again. Will plays Morgul Predator; Ninad assigns the Predator to Gandalf and the Destroyer to Oathbreaker, taking a wound on each and stopping.

My turn 1: Hobbit sword, Swift steed on eowyn; move; Ninad plays crushing Uruk; Gandalf takes the wounds, I move again; Ninad plays another Crushing Uruk; I assign frodo and eowyn; I play longspear on eowyn; he exerts both to get rid of sword and longspear, and stop

Will's turn 2: Will plays Isildur and a knights spear on faramir; moves to Isenwash; Ninad plays squad of uruk-hai; Will assigns Faramir; playing dagger strike to win and wound the uruk twice; Will moves to City Gates; Ninad plays Patrol of Uruk-Hai, 2 Vicious Uruk; I play Gorgoroth Garrison; Will assigns Faramir to Squad and Patrol, Denethor on the Garrison, and Isildur and Frodo each on a Vicious Uruk; Faramir dies, Will assigns two threat wounds on Frodo, and one on Denethor; Denethor loses and takes a wound, Isildur loses and takes a wound, and Frodo loses and takes 2 burdens; Will stops

Ninad's turn 2: He heals Gandalf of 2 wounds and moves; I play Shagrat and Some Secret Art of Flame; Ninad assigns gandalf, takes 2 wounds and stops.

My turn 2: I heal Gandalf for 2, Eowyn for 2, and frodo for 1; I play strong arms at city gates and move; Will plays Lemenya with a Nazgul Blade; use eowyn and dernhelm's blade to kill lemenya (exertion from steed); I move; Ninad plays Tyrannical Uruk, Will plays Ulare Nertea; Eowyn takes 1 wound from the Uruk; I play all save 1 on gandalf, will plays houses of lemntation, I take a wound; I stop.

Will's turn 3: He plays Aragorn with Anduril and a steed, a Gondorian Knight, and Ingold; ninad plays an uruk pikeman and a vicious uruk with a berserker torch; I play a gorgoroth axeman and a gorgoroth sapper. Aragorn kills the vicious uruk, but Isilur dies to the pikeman. The knight and Ingold each take a wound from the besiegers, and Will stops.

Ninad's turn 3: Ninad heals Gandalf's wound and plays spectral sword on his Oathbreaker. I play orc taskmaster and exert it once to give Will enough shadow tokens to play Ulare Nelya, Black Hunter with a Steed of Mordor. Ninad assigns the Oathbreaker to my Orc, and I remove 2 tokens from Great Siege towers to pump him; he plays end of game to win combat and uses the +1 damage to kill my orc. Ulare Nelya wins, the first round against Gandalf, and Will draws twice; in fierce combat phase, Ninad uses uses his Oathbreaker and pumps it with Sentinels of Numenor to defeat the Nazgul. He then stops.

My Turn 3: I play an Enraged Horseman with a Swift Steed, Deor, and Gandalf's Hat; will plays Ulare Lemenya, Black Enemy and equips it with a discarded Steed of Mordor; Ninad plays Uruk Pikeman and Our Foes are Weak on Gandalf. I put Eowyn against the Uruk and discard the Swift Steed after it exerts the minion to kill it. I then use a Longspear (as a skirmish action) and Wind in His Face on my Horseman to kill the Nazgul. I move and use Gandalf's Hat to clear the shadow pool. Ninad plays Patrol of Uruk Hai and Swarming Uruk (both of which are annoyingly unwoundable); The horseman fends off the Swarming Uruk with help from Deor,but Gandalf takes 2 wounds so I stop.

Will's turn 4: Will plays 2 gondorian blades, one on Ingold and one on the Gondorian Knight, and a Knight's Spear on Denethor. I play 2 Gorgoroth Sappers, a Gorgoroth Engineer, a Gorgoroth Garrison, an Orc Butcher, and a tower walkway (i draw 2 because of osiligoth crossing) resulting in a total of 5 strength 9 HP 2 minons, with 6 tokens to give them +1 from Great Siege Towers! Aragorn kills 1, but when 4 of his other companions take wounds, Will is forced to stop.

Ninad's turn 4: Ninad plays a Hobbit Sword and a O Elbereth! Gilthoniel! I play an Orc Rager, an Orc Savage, and an Orc Fanatic. Ninad assigns the Savage to Gandalf, and I discard both and remove two tokens from Great Siege Towers to make my Savage an 18 and potentially overwhelming Gandalf. He responds mysterious wizard and merely takes a wound, then moves again. I play another Orc Rager and and Orc Destroyer, while Will plays Ulare Nelya, Assailing Minion with The Witch King's Beast, Fell Creature. Ninad assigns the Rager to Frodo, who takes a wound, and Gandalf to the Nazgul, preventing the wound with Intimidate. The Savage and Destoryer each are wounded by a wraith. In fierce comabt, Ninad assigns Frodo to the Nazgul and uses two Noble Intentions. For reference, Frodo is now strength 13 (+1 from the ring, +2 from the Hobbit sword, +1 from O Elbereth!, and +3 from each NOble Intentions) and defeats Ulare Nelya!

My Turn 4: At this point, everyone is at site 7, so I realize if I don't push to 9, someone else will. Since my free people better than my shadow, I play Eomer, Guardian of the Eastmark, a Swift Steed on Eowyn, and a Hobbit sword on frodo and prepare for the worst. Luck was on my side though, and the only minion they had was a Morgul Predator! I let my Enraged Horseman take a wound, exert Eomer bounce the Predator, use Gandalf's Hat to remove remaining shadow tokens. My opponents both concede since they don't have the minions to get past my 4 companions to Frodo!