Traptics 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Trap decks make for a very fun archetype and offer a different experience to swarm builds that crush quests through brute force. This is my current trap deck that makes use of Éowyn, Followed and Emyn Arnen Ranger to overcome two traditional weaknesses of trap builds: 1) their lack of early game willpower, and 2) their ability to 'ramp' in terms of questing power as the game progresses.

I've found this deck works well in solo and two player thanks to its enemy neutering cards, resource smoothing through Denethor and Errand-rider, mid to late game Willpower of 14+ (as well as pseudo-questing for 4–6 from Followed) and combat participation through Dunedain allies that power up through trapped enemies.

Hero lineup:

• Damrod is a staple of trap decks thanks to his inbuilt cost reduction and draw.
• Denethor is huge in getting this deck rolling. He provides the ability to play Steward of Gondor, Master of the Forge AND any Trap on turn 1 by passing resources to Damrod. This is insane in terms of both resource and card advantage. He's also a capable defender with Gondorian Shield and Armored Destrier.
• Éowyn brings access to the tactics sphere and supports questing. Her setup ability means that the deck begins at a paltry 23 threat, which is perfect for trap decks that want to avoid enemies in the early game.

Gameplay:

Mulligan for Master of the Forge and/or Steward of Gondor. Master of the Forge is arguably preferable since he can dig for Steward. Steward goes on Damrod, giving lots of resources to spend on traps and lore allies.

You should be able to quest for at least 6 on turn 1 with Eowyn and Damrod. A lore ally and Denethor can take this up to 9. Ranger Spikes is a great turn 1 play as it will give you -2 threat and some time to set up your board without having to deal with an enemy.

Hold back Denethor for defence once he has Gondorian Shield. Armored Destrier brings a ready and shadow control. Getting these out shouldn't take long with Master of the Forge around.

From there, carefully engage the worst enemies and trap them with Forest Snare. Weaker enemies get easier to defend and kill with Entangling Nets. The deck should have enough questing and combat power as it starts to ramp, and Eowyn's ability gives you the ability to smash face if something dangerous engages you early on.

Interesting allies in this deck include the Mirkwood Explorer, who gives an outlet for location control and has time to accumulate tokens due to the slowness of traps, and the Emyn Arnen Ranger, who gets better as the threat of enemies worsens (e.g. 4 threat enemies in some nightmare quests.) Anborn is another ally who doesn't see much play but brings solid attack power and the ability to recycle discarded traps on quiet turns. Spare resources can be passed around as needed with Errand-rider.

Tips:

Like any trap deck, this build needs time to get moving and arrange its pieces. In particular, there are a lot of cards that need enemies in play - especially Emyn Arnen Ranger and Followed. I have plumped for two copies of Followed because it relies on other cards to be played safely and needs a bit of work to set up. The ideal scenario is to play Followed and then engage a high threat enemy, which you would defend / Feint and then trap in a Forest Snare on the next turn. Generally I'm satisfied if I can Follow any enemy with at least 2 threat, though 3 and 4 is clearly better.

Henamarth Riversong allows you to set up traps effectively, but can also be used to look at upcoming shadow cards to decide if you want to engage an enemy or not.

Guardian of Ithilien and Mablung give some control over the order of traps. Let's say you have an enemy in a Forest Snare. You then draw a Followed and want to play it on that enemy. You could drop your Followed, bounce the enemy to the staging area, and then re-engage it later to get pseudo-questing and card draw through Damrod!

Sideboard:

• Visionary Leadership takes the deck to new heights in terms of willpower, but isn't needed most of the time.
• Envoy of Pelargir could replace the Errand-Rider if you are playing solo.
• Firyal brings encounter card control, though at 5 cost she takes a while to get down.
• Gléowine can help other players draw cards in multiplayer.
• Secret Vigil can help with threat control and can be grabbed with Master of the Forge.

I threw this build up against some quests and got the following results:

Passage Through Mirkwood: Win ; Journey Along the Anduin: Win ; Across the Ettenmoors: Win ; Celebrimbor's Secret: Win ; Temple of the Deceived Nightmare: Win (solo and two player) ; Flies and Spiders: Win ; Shelob's Lair: Loss. Tough one!