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| Gandalf, Balin and the Silvan cycling machine pure purple v. | 6 | 2 | 13 | 1.0 |
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| Silvan Leadership drops a Gandalf | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1.0 |
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Archol 129
An update to my Mono Silvan Deck, now that Gundabad has officially released! I streamlined the deck and removed Galadhrim Weaver. Oh and I also cut out Steward of Gondor so that our potential allies don't have to be mad for hogging it for us any longer.
While it's lategame cycling potential is great, I found, that quite often the boardstate simply doesn't allow putting out an ally via Thranduil in the combat phase, who can do nothing in the combat phase.
To compensate we now run 3 Tome of Atanatars, which still allows Gandalf to be put into play 12 times (to additional 3 possible hard-casts).
Heroes
Balin is... Our third hero and basically taken, because we don't really have a lot of options of heroes for this slot, that would work well with this deck. Balin at least is a dwarf (which gives us access to Unlikely Friendship and We Are Not Idle.
If you'd really want to, you could substitute them with either or Thorin Oakenshield or Glóin (who might be good in Archery heavy quests.)
Also his ability allows us to at least attempt to get rid of a dangerous shadow effect (to which this deck is quite vulnerable).
Celeborn is here, to give the various Silvans, who will be (hopefully) entering the game at a steady pace +1 everything in the round they arrive. While this Deck doesn't take as much advantage from this compared to "Standard" Silvan decks, the bonus is still pretty nice.
Is the hero that largely makes the deck work. Thranduil allows us to play out of sphere Silvan allies (albeit only in the Combat Phase). This allows us to take advantage of the effects of these allies, which would otherwise totally rely on Sneak Attack and Reinforcements to put into play. Oh and he also might be able to block 1-2 attacks, while we are sill trying to get set up.
Allies
Galadhon Archer: Ranged, 2 , cheap. The chip damage often is quite hard to get any use out of, but still a solid ally. In location/forest heavy quests could be sidelined for Woodland Courier. Or another sideboard option.
Galadhrim Minstrel: Is here to allow us to get our events quicker into our hand (and increase the chance of allies to go along with them through regular drawing due to drawing them out.)
Gandalf: Taking advantage of Gandalf's (semi-)regular appearance is a great boost to these decks capabilities. While we have some other forms of card draw, to get started we usually want to draw the first 1-2 times we put Gandalf into play. Later we use his abilities as needed.
Greenwood Archer: Has the Ranged trait, that combos with Rumil (and is useful in multiplayer). Additionally it lets us ready one of our (usually exhausted from questing) heroes, which while not amazing in this deck (our heroes most likely to quest have kind middling combat stats), is still a nice effect.
Greenwood Defender: Just a nice solid defending ally. Especially on the turn it enters play. The defending without exhausting bit can be especially good in quests with many, but relatively weak attackers.
Haldir of Lórien: Solid all-around stats (though after the first round we will probably need him primarily as a quester), Ranged, Sentinel.
Legolas: Ranged trait, additional card draw, high attack.
Marksman of Lórien: Also Ranged, high attack, weakens enemies when it enters play.
Naith Guide: Similar to Greenwood Archer, allows one of our heroes to quest without exhausting.
Orophin: All around decent stats, can bring back Silvans that needed to be sacrificed (chump-blocked) for the greater good.
Rúmil: To possibly take advantage of his ability for a few extra damage. While the ability often won't be enough in this deck, to get rid of a strong enemy at once, it can be combined with Gandalf's or maybe Galadhon Archer's ping to get the job done.
Silvan Tracker: To let our Silvan heroes and to some extent our Silvan Allies rejuvenate a bit every round. One of the cards you want to remain on the board. Should probably be switched against Galadhrim Healer, when we anticipate a lot of damage, which we aren't allowed to assign, to go around, so our dwarf hero get's healed as well. Can also be switched against one of the other sideboard options, if we don't anticipate healing being very useful in our specific quest.
Attachments
O Lórien!: To make the Silvan's in this deck cheaper. An auto-include, since every ally in this deck sans Gandalf is a Silvan...
Tome of Atanatar: To reuse some of our events. Probably Sneak Attack or Reinforcements (though it might also be necessary to play Feigned Voices with this once in a while).
Events
Elf Guide: We get to take one of those Silvans back. And we get a resource for it. And if we take back a Silvan who was brought in by Reinforcements (or Sneak Attack if/when necessary) it's basically 1 resource for free. AND we might want that Silvan back in our hand anyway.
Feigned Voices: Don't get attacked more than necessary. And we might even want to take those guys (and gals) back to our hand anyway.
Reinforcements: Allows us to hopefully bring out Gandalf. And a Silvan friend. Yay.
Sneak Attack: Brings out Gandalf (hopefully). Yay. Alternatively one of the bigger Silvan allies. Alternatively a cheap chump blocker, if/when necessary.
Unlikely Friendship: Replaces itself and we get a Resource. Good stuff.
We Are Not Idle: To shrink the deck further. Also quite a decent amount of time the one resource helps us more than our dwarven hero being ready would.
Sideboard end exclusions
Galadhrim Healer: See Silvan Tracker.
Woodland Courier: If we fear location-lock becoming a big issue. Or lots of forest locations. Though this will still not make this deck particularly good at location control.
The Elvenking: Probably a lot of people will think it crazy to exclude this. But to be quite honest in testing I quite often found myself apprehensive to pay it's 1 cost, as there seemed better ways to spend that 1 resource for something that had more of an immediate impact. This might be, because we don't run attachments, which buff the stats of our heroes, so the usefulness of readying a hero is often not guaranteed.
Bulwark of the West: When we need Condition control. Quite good, and there is even a decent chance, we get it from removing an ally, who wasn't going to stick around anyway.
Discussions, questions and insights welcome!
| 8 comments |
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Apr 06, 2019 |
Apr 06, 2019I love mono-Leadership decks and this is a fantastic one. Well done! Looks fun. I at first thought "what is Balin doing here?" but, upon reflection, he (and the cards he unlocks) really glue the deck together. A good choice. The two recommendations I would add would be to add a third Greenwood Defender in and to bring in Meneldor. The defender is a fantastic card and will help you early while you get your board set up, more so than all of the archers you've got. Meneldor gives you something you're missing and is fantastic with all the Reinforcements you're running. Thematically it...could be the eagle Gandalf arrives on? |
Apr 06, 2019First of all: Thank you for your kind words!
Both suggestions seem kinda random to me... As in I don't see any synergy whatsoever. You'd lose access to both We Are Not Idle and Unlikely Friendship and I don't really see what either one of them would add to the deck.
Honestly I quite often block with a sneaked/reinforced in Gandalf as that often seems to be the safest option, but this might be just a playstile difference. And what you can block with Greenwood Defender, you can block with Thranduil as well. And than it helps, to have the offensive power to get rid of the engaged enemies... Though the Defender would probably be much better, in quests with a lot of (relatively) weak enemies. So yes I should have at least added a third one to the sideboard options. I kinda dislike, that this deck has no way of putting out Meneldor regularly, if i wanted to have the option, to put a few progression tokens on locations, I'd probably rather include the Woodland Courier (who is a sideboard option), as that is also a Silvan and can be potentially taken back, and it's effect used again. But I also seem odd in that regard, as it seems to me Woodland Courier is not a particulary popular card (I like it.). Even if I was to use a card, just to be played with Reinforcements or Sneak Attack I'd probably gravitate toward's something with more immediate impact and combat capabilities like Beorn or Jubayr. In my research of decks who try to fish for similar combos/synergies I mostly found this (there are other decks which use the same cards as well, but fish for other synergies / combos that I considered them to dissimilar.) Cirdan's Support Group from... you (didn't actually realize, until I wrote this): ringsdb.com It seemed to me, that that deck kinda over emphasized the "gimmick" of Sneak Attack/Reinforcements + Gandalf and didn't really have a solid deck to run beside it. (Also probably more a playstyle than a power issue to be fair). What I like about this deck is, that besides its gimmick it has a pretty standard Silvan Deck to run alongside it (if you just don't draw into your combo cards or decide you don't need them now and rather build a board.) |
Apr 06, 2019Oh I forgot, another (non-Silvan) ally I think might be worth considering (but which I forgot in the decklist / sideboard writeup) is Faramir both for use with Sneak Attack / Reinforcements or without. |
Apr 07, 2019Yes, that's my deck! I DID mention I liked mono-leadership. :) I actually made a version that was designed for solo play that I think is a much better deck, but it didn't get nearly as much attention. Because it had to carry all the weight itself, it was a lot less gimicky than the first one, which was built more to pull off the combo than it was to win consistently. ringsdb.com Anyway, I tried out your deck tonight and enjoyed it and may be keeping it for a while. There were a ton of options each round and it felt like I had a good toolbox to work with. The suggestions I mentioned above weren't all that necessary and your explanations make sense, but I did notice a couple things I'll change for my version though, and you may want to consider for yours. I ran into two main problems. In the first game I couldn't find Gandalf and my deck stalled out. Three Sneak Attack/Reinforcements sitting in my hand and nothing to use them on! The other problem was that all-too often Thranduil didn't have anything to do and I wound up just questing with him. For the first problem, the only thing I'm doing is adding a third Legolas in (replacing the 2nd Orophin) and mulliganing for either Gandalf or Legolas. Card draw is king. The second has a few possible solutions. My first thought was to go with three Dúnedain Warnings and add in ElvenKing to make his actions really count, and that's a legit option, but I think I like this one better...I'm throwing in two copies of Captain's Wisdom and one of the seldom-seen Mariner's Compass. The wisdom keeps the resources flowing to do all the fun things this deck wants to do (plus gives Greenwood Archer another planning phase target) and the compass gives you a fun alternative way of dealing with a rotten location. I'm also adding in a copy of Faramir, per your brilliant suggestion, and one copy of The Elvenking. It's just so essential to be able to bounce these elves. I kept wanting to bring back Galadrim Minstrel and only had so many events that could help me do so. For my version, I'm dropping 2 Tome's of Atanator (not helpful early game, and with Elvenking I've got a different late game option) and both copies of Galadhon Archer and one of the Marksman of Lorien. They're fine, but seem like overkill with all the other attack options in the deck. Gonna try this again tomorrow with some friends on the new quest and I may change my mind again after further testing, but those are my thoughts now. Wonderful deck! You've really given me some inspiration here. |
Apr 07, 2019Thanks again for the compliments, glad you like the deck. I did miss your solo variant, as I was searching for decks that include both Reinforcements and Tome of Atanatar. From my playtests and drawing tests on ringsdb, I’d say that the deck is usually quite consistent; not hitting either Gandalf, Galadhrim Minstrel, Legolas or the self-replacing cards is quite unlikely (especially with the mulligan). But yes, like any combo deck (or indeed any deck), there remains a chance that we just don’t hit our combo. If you don’t hit Gandalf, don’t be too afraid to use Sneak Attack / Reinforcements on Galadhrim Minstrel or Legolas, to speed your drawing up. One slight thing of note: If you play multiplayer Reinforcements can put into play allies from every player’s hand under ANY player’s control. Which means you can both snatch Gandalf from other people’s hands, as well as send them to them, if/when necessary. (I for example had missed that before watching a video of the COTR podcast). If you want to take a third Legolas, I’d suggest you cut Haldir of Lórien or Rúmil before Orophin. At least in my games I had to occasionally chump block with weak or Sneak Attack’d / Reinforcement’d in Silvans, which you will probably want back in your hand at some point. Yes Thranduil’s stats are quite underused in this, but I’m not convinced this is necessarily a problem that requires fixing. I mostly used him as a ready emergency defender (against potential surge enemies etc.), instead of questing with him, even if this admittedly often “wasted” his turn. It was suggested to me, for the Progenitor of this deck, to include more defensive attachments for Thranduil. But similar to you, I am unconvinced this is worth it. I simply think there are too many cuts to make to turn Thranduil into a “prime” defender. (I’d want more , Shadow cancellation and probably cards to fetch these attachments… which are challenging to include while keeping the other synergies; especially in mono ). Captain's Wisdom is an interesting idea, though a downside seems to me, that you’ll have to play it in the resource phase and then be “locked in” for that round (if you don’t play Greenwood Archer as well). I’m not sure I like that (but I’m quite a cautious player). Mariner's Compass seems interesting as well, though I see it more as sideboard card against specific quests, than a mainstay one. Yes I will be testing Faramir as well (probably cutting Haldir for it). Don’t really want to update the deck because of just one card though… While it’s true, that Tome of Atanatar isn’t particulary helpful early game, I don’t really want to cut it. If I remember correctly, I’ve used at least 2 in every game I played. And every one less means potentially 2 less Gandalf’s. Plus I arrived here from even more event cycling and consider this something of the “core” of the deck. (You might disagree with or just not care about that... ) If you cut that many archers, seriously consider dropping Rumil as well. To be honest, I think the deck has arrived at a point, where most changes seem more “sidegrades” or changes to playstyle preferences rather than straight “upgrades”. It’s not like the cards added wouldn’t add anything, but you also always lose something considerable from the cards you have to cut. If you ever come up, with what you think is an upgrade (or just an interesting variant) of this deck, be sure to share it on ringsdb (and give me a ping as well if you have the time). |
Apr 07, 2019
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Jun 07, 2019
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Awesome deck, thanks for sharing!
A nice alternative for Balin would be Gildor Inglorion, if you have the Collector's Edition. Sam Gamgee would also suffice if no one is using a Hobbit deck.