| |
| Author |
Message |
Rate this article!
| 5 (Best) |
| [ 2 ] 28% |
| |
| 4 |
| [ 5 ] 71% |
| |
| 3 |
| [ 0 ] 0% |
| |
| 2 |
| [ 0 ] 0% |
| |
| 1 (Worst) |
| [ 0 ] 0% |
| |
Total Votes : 7 |
|
| CarpeGuitarrem |
![]() Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 6:10 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 3361
Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
|
--- description ---
How can you avoid this title and try a crazy new way to cycle at the same time? Read on...
--- end description ---
"What do you think you’re doing?? You had three minions on the table, and you play the Witch King to sap all the twilight? You twilight hog!!! I was all set to swarm him with three more minions!"
Sound familiar? Ever since the dawn of the LOTR TCG, the specter of the twilight hog has haunted three-player and four-player LOTR. Everyone dreads being accused of hoarding precious twilight, and nobody wants to be victimized by a twilight hog. The solution? Well, there’s more than one. The first one is not to get involved in Multiplayer at all. There is an alternative, however...one that not only prevents the twilight hog syndrome but also puts your fellowship in a very strong position.
If You Can’t Beat ’Em...
I’ve taken a close look at Multiplayer, and I’ve noticed something. If you try to run a strategy based on one culture, it generally runs up against the next player’s strategy. For example: you’re running Orc Corruption, and your opponent runs "Forestguls". Neither of you can get quite enough minions out to make your idea totally work, because of the limited twilight. Things become even worse when the Free Peoples player decides to choke. Now, you could agree to alternate rounds when playing minions, but what if you grab the perfect card to play, and it’s not your turn?
In times like these, it’s best to just forget the whole idea of a shadow side. You heard me right: forget the shadow side! Yes, you have to include one in your deck, but you don’t have to play it, do you?I know some of you are shaking your heads at yet another of my crazy ideas. Don’t think I can’t see you reaching for the Comprehensive Rulings Document. But hear me out: as long as the other guy plays minions, the Free Peoples player that’s facing you both will still have plenty of enemies to deal with, and they’ll all be part of a single strategy, too! You ask, though, "Why would I abandon my minions?" Here’s three reasons:
1.You can’t be called a twilight hog!
2.You’ll be able to use those end-of-move reconciles to restore only your Free Peoples hand, and cycle.
3.The other guys will think you’ve gone crazy.
That Sounds Good, But...
One major problem with this strategy: it can tend to clog your hand with useless Shadow cards. This means that you have to be able to discard multiple Shadow cards each turn for proper cycling. Well, I just hate to see good minions go to waste, so why not pack in a copy of Grimbeorn, Beorning Chieftain? I’m sure you’ve seen him, and thought: "Wow! That’s one wierd card! I don’t really know if I can successfully get enough high-strength minions played, though..." Well, now you’re not worrying about playing those minions, so why not put them in your deck? Sauron, The Lord of the Rings, anyone?
You still have a bit of a clogging problem, though. Is there another reliable way to get rid of the excess Shadow cards? How about some Shadow Events? Okay, you’ll use twilight, but only a little bit, so you’re not a twilight hog yet. Take a look at Foul Clutches. You don’t have a Nazgul out, you say? No problem! To play the event, you simply have to meet the cost:  and three cards discarded from hand. That accomplishes your personal goal of getting your hand cycling. Do you want more cycling? How about Ruinous Hail? You know you don’t need that extra copy of Seige Troop or Host of Udun, since Grimmy can only get pumped so many times. The final card to cycle your hand? None other than the wonderful Courtyard Parapet. There is a caveat to this, however: if an opponent is runnning corruption, you really don’t want to put this in. It’s not worth it. If you’re looking on the Free Peoples side, check out Return to Us. Voila! Shadow card discarding!
Okay, So What Do I Run?
If you’re packing Grimbeorn in there, why not go with a Gandalf deck? Unfortunately, Grim is  , so he doesn’t fit very nicely into a starting fellowship with another companion. However, there is some very nice synergy between the  culture and the  culture...and look! A hobbit is precisely the type of companion that fits into that starting slot! The question is, which hobbit? Pippin, Hobbit of Some Intelligence is sometimes a popular choice, if only because he can be burned to give Frodo some cards. If you’re looking for a primarily deck, go no further. Pack a Saved From the Fire, and do just that.
and , however, is a very nice partnership. For some strange reason, Gandalf just can’t seem to get away from those little guys with hairy feet. So, he’s gotta grin and bear it. However, it’s not so bad as it might seem. Even though there’s a few hobbits like Pippin, who’s somewhat a Fool of a Took!, there’s always ways to give Gandalf a little Peace of Mind. Citadel to Gate, Have Patience, and Intimidate come to mind for keeping those poor little guys alive. Noble Intentions, Light the Beacons, and One Last Surprise give them a chance to actually win skirmishes, and A Fool will keep them alive even when they can’t win. Looking for card recycling? On Your Doorstep. Finally, G for Grand, a classic reprinted from FOTR block, works excellently with those high-resistance hobbits.
So with that, let’s get a decklist!
Free Peoples (37 cards)
Ringbearer and Ring
Frodo, Weary From the Journey
The One Ring, the Ring of Rings
Companions
Grimbeorn, Beorning Chieftain (starting)
Pippin, Hobbit of Some Intelligence (starting)
Gandalf, Powerful Guide 3x
Merry, Loyal Companion
Possessions
Gandalf’s Staff, Ash-Staff 3x
Hobbit Sword 2x
Sting, Weapon of Heritage 2x
Conditions
G for Grand 4x
Fates Entwined 3x
Sudden Fury 3x
Events
Return to Us 2x
Noble Intentions 3x
One Last Surprise 2x
Peace of Mind 3x
Intimidate 3x
Sworn Companion 2x
Shadow (37 cards)
Minions
Sauron, the Lord of the Rings 4x
Mountain Troll 4x
Host of Udun 4x
Siege Troop 4x
Black Land Shrieker 4x
Army of Udun 4x
Events
Abiding Evil 3x
From Deep in Shadow 2x
Foul Clutches 4x
Ruinous Hail 4x
Sites
[0]Courtyard Parapet
[1]Pelennor Flat
[1]Slopes of Orodruin
[2]Caras Galadhon
[2]Helm’s Gate
[2]Hobbiton Market
[3]Green Dragon Inn
[3]Heights of Isengard
[3]Valley of the Silverlode
You should bid about 1 or 2 burdens to start off, so that you can play Green Dragon Inn on the first shot and get Merry out. If you get a mainly Shadow hand, ditch it and draw your six-card hand. With luck, you’ll have a high-strength minion plus one or two bonuses like Hobbit Sword and Sudden Fury to get you through the first few sites. Don’t double move, and dump a minion before you reconcile. Now that it’s Player 2’s turn, start setting up your Free Peoples hand! Player 3 will play the site, so you can’t put Courtyard Parapet in there. Let Player 3 put minions on the table, and then check your own hand. If you have about half Shadow cards, then play one of those discarding events...if you have it. Go through the entire turn, and then discard and reconcile. Now, it’s time for Player 3, and yet another chance for you to keep setting your hand up! By the time your turn rolls around again, you’re going to have the best hand on the table!
With 74 cards in your deck, you shouldn’t run into any "deck-out" (running out of cards in the draw deck) problems. If you do, however, there’s always Final Account and Return to Us, which let you play Gandalf’s events that have been discarded. Also along that line is Fireworks, which puts cards back in the deck. If you feel that you’re getting low on cards, hold off on the Foul Clutches and Courtyard Parapet, unless you need to clean your hand of Shadow cards.
What Have We Learned Today?
So, now you know how to avoid the terrible label of "twilight hog". Isn’t that exciting? Not only that, but you’ve found a new way to make Grimbeorn a reliable companion, and a method to cycle your hand enviably. Not bad, eh? The only problem...if everyone starts running this deck. I’ll have to figure out what to do then. But for now, enjoy this deck! You’ll truly be a "Stranger to the Shadows". |
| Last edited by CarpeGuitarrem on Wed Aug 02, 2006 11:15 pm; edited 6 times in total"ok, change of plans. the Cobracards christmas party is coming to my house, and we’re gunna teach FM how to hunt." (mm) |
|
| Back to top |
|
| sickofpalantirs |
![]() Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 7:13 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 7750
Location: somwhere, over the rainbow way up high. There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.
|
| I don’t think you are going ot need so many fates entwined. and why not replace noble intentions with hobbit intuition only and you don’t have to exert. your polish wasn’t the best but It was an interesting article. |
 Sop's haves/ top wants
(mm)"SoP: you will always be the Official CC Spammer in my heart"
"DáinIronfoot"
Spammers really are amazing creatures. You can learn all there is to know about their ways in a month. And yet, after a hundred years, they can still surprise you.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
| PorterTroll |
![]() Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 12:30 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 1193
Location: not sure yet
|
| hobbit intuition is much better because it can make your hobbit strength plus three just as noble intentions does but without the cost of the exertion which can be a real pain. also, hobbit intuition can also cancel a skirmish between sights 1-4 which gives it the upperhand on yet another level over noble intentions |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| CarpeGuitarrem |
![]() Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 1:21 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 3361
Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
|
Hobbit Intuition’s not Standard-legal. Unless I note otherwise, my decks are always going to be Standard-legal. Also, it doesn’t cancel any skirmishes in standard, because "Sites 1-4" refer only to sites from Fellowship block.
Anyway, that’s just a couple of little nitpicks, and you can tweak the deck at will.
I’ve got so many Fates Entwined so that I can be sure of pulling one and using it to combo with Sudden Fury. |
| "ok, change of plans. the Cobracards christmas party is coming to my house, and we’re gunna teach FM how to hunt." (mm) |
|
| Back to top |
|
| PorterTroll |
![]() Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 1:26 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 1193
Location: not sure yet
|
| oh, sry i didn’t know you were playin standard |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| sickofpalantirs |
![]() Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 2:17 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 7750
Location: somwhere, over the rainbow way up high. There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.
|
| it still seems like you are going to have troublegetting rid of all your minions. also why no Strength of Spirit? |
Sop's haves/ top wants
(mm)"SoP: you will always be the Official CC Spammer in my heart"
"DáinIronfoot"
Spammers really are amazing creatures. You can learn all there is to know about their ways in a month. And yet, after a hundred years, they can still surprise you. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| CarpeGuitarrem |
![]() Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 2:53 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 3361
Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
|
Tweak the deck all you want. It’s the basic concept that matters most. The deck is solid.
(BTW, Strength of Spirit is in FOTR, and thus got rotated out of standard. I will be adding in Fireworks, though.)
Getting rid of minions is a piece of cake. Foul Clutches dumps three of them at once, plus discarding itself. That leaves you with a four-card hand. If you still have one or two minions, you can dump them when you reconcile. Normally in a three-player game, you’d be dumping Free Peoples cards to get a Shadow hand. Here, however, you’re always dumping Shadow cards. In effect, you get three reconciles per turn. You can’t not cycle properly with three reconciles per turn.
Don’t forget that Grimmy’s going to be getting rid of a minion in hand basically every turn. |
| "ok, change of plans. the Cobracards christmas party is coming to my house, and we’re gunna teach FM how to hunt." (mm) |
|
| Back to top |
|
| CarpeGuitarrem |
![]() Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 10:23 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 3361
Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
|
Another thing on Fates Entwined: it’s non-unique. If you have three of these puppies out, then you can heal three hobbits each time a hobbit wins a skirmish...or six hobbits if Frodo wins!
Same thing for Sudden Fury. |
| "ok, change of plans. the Cobracards christmas party is coming to my house, and we’re gunna teach FM how to hunt." (mm) |
|
| Back to top |
|
| sickofpalantirs |
![]() Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 7:45 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 7750
Location: somwhere, over the rainbow way up high. There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.
|
| it si a good article but i personally normally don’t have troubles playing I just convince my shadow teammates that I can play best. |
Sop's haves/ top wants
(mm)"SoP: you will always be the Official CC Spammer in my heart"
"DáinIronfoot"
Spammers really are amazing creatures. You can learn all there is to know about their ways in a month. And yet, after a hundred years, they can still surprise you. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| CarpeGuitarrem |
![]() Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:05 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 3361
Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
|
That’s always a nice solution.
But why not try this? It’s got some of the most insane cycling you’ll ever see this side of the Tour De France.  |
| "ok, change of plans. the Cobracards christmas party is coming to my house, and we’re gunna teach FM how to hunt." (mm) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
All times are UTC - 4
|
Page 1 of 3 [30 Posts] |
Goto page: 1, 2, 3 Next |
|
|
Forum index » Lord of the Rings TCG » LOTR TCG Strategy Article Contest
