Category Archives: Articles

I really want to do a few videos on this amazing card game. I have to say, I love this Living Card Game.

Lord of the Rings LCG created by Fantasy Flight changed my view on collectible card games. However, LCGs are not a new thing for me. I am also a player of Netrunner and Game of Thrones LCG which share a similar idea on how you collect these cards.

If you have never played Lord of the rings LCG I would highly suggest it if: You are the type that enjoys a story narrative in games, enjoy coop games or playing causally is preferred. While the game does have a tournament side to it the competitive side to it does seem to fall upon the side. The focus on teamwork and deck building against the increasing difficultly of the quests is awarding. Ever quest has it’s own flavor for it and not just in story but the way the game is played.

Another exciting part I love about this game is the fact of playing Solo. Sure it sounds bad to collect cards in order to play a game of solitaire but I truly can be fun. Arkham Horror, a board game that has similar elements with a group of players who face off against the board/deck can also be played solo. I find that with Arkham solo games are far more difficult unless you play “2 handed” (1 player playing 2 characters), with Lord of the Rings LCG you can solo most quests without the need to “2 fist” a glove of cards and heroes to beat them. In fact sometimes having more players can actually make particular quests more difficult.

I am looking to do an audiocast on this game in the future or at least I really want too. I have nearly all the collection since I heard about it which was only a year ago but I have been taken by the ring, so to speak. We will see what comes of it but if anything I haven’t really talked much about the details of what the game is about or the mechanics, that will be for a future post! For now, if you never played it give it a shot!

Buying the core set alone can be a lot of fun and if you do not like spending loads of money, the box set expansions might be enough to give you endless fun.

As a side note join me and listen to the Cardboard of the Rings crew. They are entertaining and informative!

– Jason

So I am taking a quick break from my Pokemon Go! game play to write an article as I am really enjoying the newest AP of this cycle.

Elfhelm was first released as a Spirit ally in “The Dead Marshes” pack way way back in the first cycle. Only now he is a hero card and it seems there is a bit of mystery surrounding his card. First off his mere card image was to find up until recently and How useful could this mount riding Rohan be ? 

Let’s see if we can analyse this even more!

Looking at his stats it is per for the course. the standard 10 threat, 2-2-2-4

isn’t something new and isn’t something we are overly impressed with but it isn’t bad at all. 

This jack of all trades has 3 traits: 

Rohan, I fairly fleshed out trait which has a few tricks to dig for mounts, readying the masses of Rohirrim and questing.. plus other things. It is a solid trait none the less and keeps getting better.

Warrior, The only card I can think that works for this hero is Captain of Gondor. This is great since it is not restricted and adds more stats to Elfhelm plus his mount. One great defender! The other card Raiment of War can also be used but I personally find using that on characters more effective.

Elfhelm’s ability as a standalone isn’t bad. a Mount on him gives him an addition defense and if you play with the newest mount released, Armored Destrier, you can defend, ready and remove a shadow card and defend again! Madness.

The real fun comes with the use of songs. A song of travel can give a character a spirit new resource and help smoothing while giving them a +1 willpower with a mount. With the list of amazing mounts you can pick your poison. A solid choice with Elfhelm would be having Snowmane and  Armored Destrier! You can have him quest for 3 and ready himself for a defend and even an attack. It is extreme action advantage!

Pop a Armored Destrier on Amarthiúl and you have a 4 defense and a 4 attacker whom can do it both! A deal!

Elfhelm provides options and new reasons to use songs to the max! Stats advantage.. action advantage. 

Could you ask for more ?

While not a new hero I have only come to discover the possibilities for this great hero. Some people still rather the ally for Ent decks but this particular Ent could have a deck of his own making.
This hero has heft stats and a large threat cost. So in general you might not want to add a bunch more threat to the pool without some answers but with the ability to add +5 to Willpower and Attack, a good defense and a nice hit point value this hero covers it all.
Decks designed to heal would best be suited for Lore Treebeard. If able, healing up to 5 (or more) damage a round would get the most out of his turns. Adding Ent draught or healing between triggering the damage will help get every ounce of whatever you need out of this treefolk. Running an eleven kin will allow the use of Lembas to help and ready Treebeard for a second use. Not sure about why this Ent would be eating this bread but it works!
Wellinghall Preserver and Booming Ent can help and get things moving.

Add in a few Warden of Healing and Lore of Imladris to seal up any healing holes and you will have a bunch of fun with this beast.
But don’t be hasty! While adding in Elrond or Core Glorfindel might seems like a good idea, make sure you have an answer for all that threat. Personally, I would rather take the hit and use either Spirit Glorfindel or 2 other low threat Lore heroes but the choice is yours.
Use Lore Hero Treebeard in your next deck, you will not be disappointed when he is stomping orcs destroying locations.

– Jason

Adding more on the last article I wanted to talk about a deck idea I came up

with. While nothing here will shock you there are some interesting synergies with the Hero Treebeard and the tree people, Silvans.

Starting with the Heroes, Treebeard a Lore hero with high stats and the ability to boost his Questing and Attack anytime you want to put damage upon him. Of course with his high stats this makes him a good defender and if you can ready him, a powerful attacker. This deck gets to use all his strengths all the while you are triggering different effects the deck offers.

Some elves like Daughter of the Nimrodel and Naith Guide allow Treebeard to quest, wait to see if you need to add any additional questing and when need be heal up any damage you might have used all the while keeping a good heavy defender and attack in your back pocket. If you add in a Unexpected Courage or  Lembas to him you have a ton of versa
tile action advantage. Bonus!

In addition to Treebeard you have Celeborn plus O Lórien! , whom makes Silvans just rock with a great value of stats, cost and abilities. Add in Hero Galadriel and you also add action advanage, card draw, threat reduction… Nenya and Errand-rider for resource smoothing.

This is a strong deck it seems to have so many options while not spreading the effectiveness thin. It can be a little tricky to get all the gears to work but with The Tree People and Peace and Thought you will find out that it is a lot easier to get the piece you need to make it work.

Enjoy it!

Elven forest
Main Deck
Hero (3)
Celeborn (The Dunland Trap) 
Galadriel (Celebrimbor’s Secret) 
Treebeard (The Treason of Saruman) 
Ally (24)
3x Daughter of the Nimrodel (Core Set) 
2x Defender of the Naith (Trouble in Tharbad) 
2x Erebor Hammersmith (Core Set) 
3x Errand-rider (Heirs of Númenor) 
3x Galadhrim Minstrel (Trouble in Tharbad) 
3x Galadriel’s Handmaiden (Celebrimbor’s Secret) 
2x Henamarth Riversong (Core Set) 
2x Mirkwood Runner (Return to Mirkwood) 
3x Naith Guide (The Dunland Trap) 
1x Orophin (Celebrimbor’s Secret) 
Attachment (11)
1x A Burning Brand (Conflict at the Carrock) 
2x Lembas (Trouble in Tharbad) 
3x Nenya (Celebrimbor’s Secret) 
3x O Lórien! (Trouble in Tharbad) 
1x Protector of Lórien (Core Set) 
1x Unexpected Courage (Core Set) 
Event (15)
1x A Test of Will (Core Set) 
3x Daeron’s Runes (Foundations of Stone) 
3x Feigned Voices (The Three Trials) 
2x Island Amid Perils (The Nîn-in-Eilph) 
3x Peace, and Thought (Shadow and Flame) 
3x The Tree People (The Dunland Trap) 
3 Heroes, 50 Cards 
Cards up to The Treason of Saruman 

This deck takes Tactics to a different place than we are normally used to. Quest big early while building a force to be reckoned with.

Tactics Théoden, under used but can be very potent. With this deck he is giving himself 3 Willpower and Éowyn a whopping 5! With a 8 willpower door basher, it certainly seems reasonable seeing how your starting threat will be a mere 27 in round one. Don’t forget, if your friends are also playing tactics, they get the willpower boost. Big Bonus!

A mono deck allows you to play some costly cards. Another cards I hardly see much usage of has been Raiment of War which makes this deck sing. Putting it on Théoden, it makes him an awesome Sentinel defender (4 Defense) with 6 hit points. The secret bonus with this one is that the card counts as both a Weapon and Armor, allowing it to be seek out with Bofur, Trigger Foe-Hammer and Sterner Than Steel! Better yet when combo attacking Háma, He can bring Foe-Hammer back to your hand and use it that same attack netting you a 3 card draw anytime you will kill an enemy! Zoooink!

Speaking of Hama, just count any event in your discard pile as playable. Just drag down an enemy and pay little heed to your threat for when you get bored of drawing cards and canceling shadow cards you can use Éowyn ability to boost your threat to 40 (and her attack) then use “Hold Your Ground!” to ready a good crew of allies and Théoden (and all those awesome ship-objectives), then attack with them. Háma can make sure you can do it again.

Got a friend playing leadership? While they could help with Déorwine’s ability, but get them to sneak in a few Dúnedain Signal’s into their deck and plop it on Háma and some other powerful Heroes for just some silliness action. Magical..

I really enjoyed this deck so far and hope you will check it out and let me know! It is still a work in progress but tonight our little crew handled Flight of the Stormcaller well and This was too much fun to ignore.

Tactics Battering Ram
Main Deck
Hero (3)
Éowyn (The Flame of the West) 
Háma (The Long Dark) 
Théoden (The Morgul Vale) 
Ally (25)
1x Azain Silverbeard (Flight of the Stormcaller) 
1x Beechbone (The Battle of Carn Dûm) 
2x Bofur (Over Hill and Under Hill) 
1x Boromir (The Road Darkens) 
3x Defender of Rammas (Heirs of Númenor) 
1x Déorwine (Temple of the Deceived) 
3x Derndingle Warrior (Escape from Mount Gram) 
3x Envoy of Pelargir (Heirs of Númenor) 
2x Grimbold (The Flame of the West) 
2x Guthlaf (The Blood of Gondor) 
3x Honour Guard (The Wastes of Eriador) 
3x Mithlond Sea-watcher (The Grey Havens) 
Attachment (13)
2x Blade of Gondolin (Core Set) 
1x Captain of Gondor (The Antlered Crown) 
2x Golden Shield (The Flame of the West) 
2x Horn of Gondor (Core Set) 
3x Raiment of War (The Thing in the Depths) 
3x Rohan Warhorse (The Voice of Isengard) 
Event (12)
3x Feint (Core Set) 
3x Foe-hammer (Over Hill and Under Hill) 
3x Hold Your Ground! (The Battle of Carn Dûm) 
2x Sterner than Steel (The Flame of the West) 
1x Trained for War (The Drúadan Forest) 
3 Heroes, 50 Cards 
Cards up to Temple of the Deceived 
Sideboard
Attachment (3)
3x Favor of the Valar (The Battle of Carn Dûm) 
Decklist built and published on RingsDB.