One thing I love about this game is the freedom to pick your own hero setup and the availability of all of your favourite characters. Gandalf is mine with great lengths. So, time for a Gandalf deck to be spotlighted by Gandalfguy!
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Deck Spotlights
The introduction of RingsDB has invigorated the Lord of the Rings community, sparking creativity and enabling the sharing of ideas at a rate never before seen. With this explosive growth in new content, however, it is becoming easier and easier for interesting and exceptional work to fall through the cracks. The Deck Spotlight project is an attempt by the Cardboard of the Rings community to direct attention to deserving decks that, for one reason or another, have escaped notice.
Selected decks and fellowships might be especially unusual, creative, unique, strategic, or thematic. They might be funny, illuminating, powerful, or noteworthy for any of a number of other reasons. In all cases, however, the decks are worth a closer look.
CotR Deck Spotlight: Swear Allegiance, Receive Sword
Outlands?! Dare to say that again!
There is no archetype in any game that is as controversial as Outlands. Hated for the simplicity and power it has, but easily accessible by new players, dare I say necessary for those players that don’t enjoy/are not fond of deckbuilding. Most community members that run blogs or podcasts have denounced Outlands for a long time. With time passing by they were more or less forgotten. The splinter was still there, but the pain ignored.
Suddenly, the designers decided to add two cards that would breathe new life into Outlands. Their real lord and a way to join his service.
CotR Fellowship Spotlight: When Elves Talk to Trees
Ally Treebeard made a big impact when he arrived on the scene, and deservedly so. Even today, he is a contender for the most powerful neutral card. When it came time to design a hero version, the developers had big shoes to fill, but they sure came through! Hero Treebeard is a powerhouse. Even in simple builds, Treebeard can pack a punch; throw in some action advantage, and he pulls his weight in both the questing and combat phases. Now, that’s fun and all, his but how can you truly push the limits with him? Well, why don’t you ask the elves?
CotR Deck Spotlight: Wild Joy
This will come as no surprise to those who know me, but I’m a fan of 2-hero decks. Building one provides a lot of puzzles and challenges; you start the game with 33% fewer actions and 33% fewer resources, and you gain 33% fewer resources per round. In return, you get a lower starting threat, which often means secrecy access. Secrecy has a few cards that will help cover for that slow start, but you need to draw them in your opening hand or else you’re starting the game well behind the 8-ball. Continue reading
CoTR Deck Spotlight: The Last Supper
With the increasing lifespan of this game, the amount of new players that have to catch up on 10000 adventure packs and deluxe expansions increases as well. Most players go and catch up in the so-called “Progression Style”, buying and playing everything in order of release.
Some people choose their own path. For example, the deck that will be spotlighted today does not draw from a full card pool nor from a progression-style card pool. Gnarly Nyarly adds cards from a certain AP or DE to his card pool every week. Not even all cards from an AP or DE, but just a couple to increase his enjoyment and to learn the card pool better.
This gave me a sort RPG-like feeling, earning/unlocking cards while progressing through levels and beating all the enemies, upgrading your arsenal to beat the next one.
Join us today, as CotR shines a spotlight on…
CotR Deck Spotlight: Caldara’s Prince
As an unapologetic Caldara fan, I was absolutely giddy when the spirit ally version of Prince Imrahil was released. While this has spurred discussion on whether Caldara is overpowered, I think that Prince Imrahil’s release has been healthy for the game, as it has opened up the Caldara metagame to far more deckbuilding options; specifically, the wealth of options we now have frees us from the constraint of having three spirit heroes.
While I think that we are still at the tip of the iceberg in terms of unlocking Caldara’s potential, there have been some notable contributions: Sappidus proved the viability of a two-hero Caldara deck in You can only hope to contain her, and Deck Tech author chrsjxn made a splash with his dual-sphere Caldara deck: Galdara.
Outland Fun with Flag
Let’s talk about rules. Rules can be useful tools to govern human interaction in a way that is acceptable to all involved. Some might go so far as to tell you that rules are the thread that holds together the fabric of a civil society. Hopefully, we can all agree that they have their place. But the question I want to ask is “what is that place in Lord of the Rings: the Card Game”?
CotR Fellowship Spotlight: Escape from Dol Guldur – Progression Series #3
I’m using this week’s spotlight to highlight a pair of deckbuilders that newer players (or those with a limited card pool) will especially appreciate. Mitch “The Hive Tyrant” and Matthew from The Grey Company have revamped their Progression Series and with the advent of RingsDB, they can now easily post there decks for all to see and use.
CotR Fellowship Spotlight: Fellowship of the Ring Saga Fellowship
Today we continue our foray into decks designed for saga quests, this time focusing on a two-player fellowship that was built to take on The Black Riders and The Road Darkens.
Join us today, as CoTR shines a spotlight on… Continue reading
CotR Deck Spotlight: Ebb and Flow of Threat
One of the things that I love best about this game is the unlikely bedfellows it makes. Elrohir and Elladan are not unlikely bedfellows– there are 58 decks on RingsDB featuring the twins, making it one of the most popular hero pairings around, (for obvious reasons). But the problem with building a Twins deck is one of economy. How do you afford to use their expensive abilities while still paying for the cards you need to get on the table?
Cardboard of the Rings 