Faramir in Fangorn (Traps with a dash of Ents) 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

As Faramir and Damrod were stalking a band of orcs, they found themselves deeper in Fangorn forest than they intended. When setting camp, they are startled by an incensed Silvan leaping down from the trees. Having declared them fools for attempting to start a fire with the wood of Fangorn, she hastily explains to the approaching Treebeard that it was the men’s ignorance, not malice, that led to their foolish actions. Not one to be hasty, and always happy to rid his forest of Orcs, the Silvan Mirlone and the Ents agree to aid the rangers in their quest.

Since I first got my hands on a core set, I have been drawn to building trap decks. However, they never really fired well. Oh, I could build a deck with a trap or two, but a deck that beats scenarios primarily through trapping? Hard sell to say the least. I was pointed in the direction of Damrod, and he is a hero after my own heart. So much so that I purchased the saga box mainly for him! (although I look forward to playing the saga too at some point. So, with Damrod in toe, here is a trap deck that I have made and found to be very effective.

Principle 1: Traps. The most important trap is Ranger Spikes. Getting enemies trapped in the staging area has the added bonus of charging up Faramir's attack. Nice and simple. Ambush is also useful, but in an ideal world you want to wait untill a few enemies are hanging out in staging first so Faramir can dispatch them before they attack. Forest Snare is interesting in this deck because of the existence of Mablung. If there is a nasty enemy hanging out in the staging area during preparation phase, you can drag it down with Mablung and slap a Forest Snare on it and job done. This can work the other way of course, smacking an enemy from being engaged with you (or anybody) and pushing them onto a nasty trap with +5 engagement cost.

Shadow of the Past also plays great in trap decks. Have a Ranger Spikes in hand and a 2 threat enemy on the top of the discard pile? No problem. Perfect. Pop him on to the top of the encounter deck and enjoy a freebie next turn (plus a card). Resources aren't a big problem for this deck, so you can afford it. On that point...

Principle 2: Cost. You will be throwing traps around for fun in this deck, which can be expensive. The first part of solving this problem is obviously Damrod, with his discount and card draw. Also important to this however is Master of Lore. With just one Master of Lore out, most traps are now FREE! Unless I have misunderstood the rule, MoL reduces the cost of a card 1, to a minimum of 1. You then apply Damrod's discount to take of the last 1 taking the cost to 0, which Damrod's ability allows for. With all three heroes providing Lore resources, I often find myself awash with resources to spend on all those cards Damrod is drawing.

Principle 3: Ents. THe weakness of my previous trap decks has been questing (or lack thereof). The Ents fill this gap nicely. You are not in a rush with a trap deck as you have ways of putting you troubles off for later, so it doesn't really hurt to much that they enter exhausted. They are also pretty cheap, Treebeard can pay for them, and can benefit from a Master of Lore discount. Then, when things get hairy and you find yourself overrun, they can soak up damage and dish out some punishment.

Not a deck for every quest, but few are. It is however a vary fun and reliable build. Unlike most decks I have build thus far, this deck isn't dependent on getting selected cards early. Pretty much any opening hang will see you through.

*Ranger Bow should be in the sideboard. It was (and still is) a toss up between those and Poisoned Stakes