The Ultimate Trap Deck 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

This deck was inspired by “Ye "New" Ranger Trap Deck” by MDuckworth83. I tried it out and kept tweaking it until every card felt good and the deck felt really tight.

This deck is meant to be played in Multiplayer as a support deck. The goal was to take fun second tier archetypes (Like Traps or Silvan) and pair them with all around power decks to make them feel top tier when they otherwise wouldn’t in a solo setting. I’ve been playing this deck with Dale Force Wins and it should primarily be paired with a well rounded deck that can quest hard and handle combat, ideally with a very strong defender like Beregond. The other deck should also have spirit for Test of Will and side boarding Thror’s Key and Power of Orthanc. Paired in such a way, this deck feels straight up overpowered. I also like that Tactics/Lore is much easier to pair with decks because it doesn’t use the important Leadership/Spirit cards seen in so many decks.

Heroes

Every Trap deck has to have Damrod, so moving on….. I tried Faramir and just felt like he was a thematic concession. The number of times his extra couple of attack points mattered were far FAR less than the number of times Haldir’s ability would have helped. Haldir fits the style of this deck perfectly, the other deck is meant to do most of the straight up engaging and this deck has enough control shenanigans to allowing Haldir to shine.

The elephant in the room is Eowyn. This deck doesn’t work without her. Even without her ability she’s mainly in here to not put all the questing pressure on the other deck. I’ve already had to tweak this deck so that late game questing isn’t atrocious. Questing for 6 on turn one allows this deck to pull its own weight in that department and there just isn’t any other tactics hero that can quest well that doesn’t suck compared to her. Her ability is also legendary and allows you to clear a troublesome turn 1 enemy or contribute to tough bosses during troublesome “only the first player can declare attackers” shackles that some times restrict combat.

If you absolutely CANNOT use Eowyn then you’re looking at switching this deck to a mono Lore deck and going more control heavy. Using Firyal with the MotK Contract is probably the best option at that point. The main thing you’ll be missing is Feint if you do that, but the other losses are manageable.

Playstyle

This deck can straight up control the combat phase. The most important cards are Haldir, Ranger Spikes, and Feint. It’s amazing how many rounds I feel like I’m time walking. Ranger spike usually feels like a Test of Will for enemies in that it effectively just cancels a card. Some turns I’ll reveal an enemy onto ranger spikes, and it’s practically out of the game, and then reveal a treachery that gets Test of Willed and the encounter deck effectively did nothing. Thror’s Key (Especially on an X threat location) completes the trifecta of neutralizing all 3 types of cards. Usually so few things slip through the net that Haldir can pick off an enemy for free as well. It’s a great feeling.

As said previously, this deck can hit the ground questing on turn one. However, I found that if I wasn’t getting Emyn Arnen Rangers out I’d be surprised at how little I could contribute late game. Those Rangers are so key and the only time this deck feels like it has a flaw is when I wasn’t drawing them by late game. Cards like Ghan-buri-ghan, Firyal, Mirkwood explorer, were thrown in so that I could pick up the slack in the mid to late game if it’s needed for quest heavy scenarios.

Combat relies on Feint and Sentinel defenders. So few enemies will need to be dealt with “Fairly” that this deck still surprisingly works despite seeming like it would suffer with defense. I toyed around with some direct damage cards and find that they’re just not needed at all in this deck. Some of the characters here can be easily sacrificed as chump blockers and I’ve felt like I’ve never run out of them. This includes Masters of the Forge after you’ve drawn nearly every attachment, Henamarth after Firyal comes into play, Hammersmiths. Lots of options. After you’ve survived any enemy that sadly got through to your encounter area you can then Forest Snare for the win. You’ve got so many options. “Three strikes and you are NOT out. There is always one more thing you can do!”, is a great feeling when playing a deck.

Resource smoothing feels so good as is. I rarely felt strapped and I put in a handful of one-offs for the late game when resources pile up. That’s why there’s a single Anborn, Gandalf, Firyal, Treebeard. They’re not critical but you’re happy to have one in the late game. 2 Proud Hunters feels just right and every now and again Haldir is able to pick off an early game enemy to accelerate a big ally out.

Card draw is also perfect. With just one Master of the Forge I’ve often got full hands of all the attachments I’ll ever need. I’ve honestly thought about dropping Daeron’s Runes for Deep Knowledge to help the other deck. This deck feels more tuned than most others I play and choosing a card to discard is sometimes tough.

Threat also feels pretty good. 24 starting is quite nice and I pair this deck with one that keeps its threat higher than this decks for engagement purposes. Secret Vigil is so good and I go back and forth between 2/3. Multiplayer threat reduction is amazing but I’ve found that enemies rarely last a turn to get this played on them in the planning phase. I’ve been throwing it on Forest Snared/Ranger Spiked enemies just to trigger it even though the enemy is neutralized. Any enemy that doesn’t die in a single turn are the big ones that can’t have attachments anyway. Woodmen’s Clearing might be nice to also help my partner but I didn’t feel like there was space for it. Threat reduction is the most common choice I make on Gandalf.

The traps I’ve chosen feel just right. Ranger spike is the absolute best trap in the deck for obvious reason. Nothing feels quite as good as a 1 mana “effectively remove the next enemy revealed from the encounter deck from the game”. I’ve never felt like Ambush/Ithilien pit were worth it. Entangling Nets is so good and y’all really need to start using it more. It’s my Plan B if I don’t have Ranger Spike and I’m surprised at how effectively it neuters enemies. There are a lot of enemies that go to attack 0 and can just go undefended. Alternatively it allows Haldir to better one shot the enemy if needed, or opens up weaker defender options that you would other wise never want to use. Hugely effective trap. Followed is the frustrating trap, I really wish it was “A Players Play Area” rather than your own. The dream is to get the Followed/Forest Snare combo on something big for your Emyn Arnen Rangers, and it happens consistently enough. I found I’m usually playing it if I already have a trap left over in the staging area and don’t want to waste the resource reduction. I also try to pair triggering it with my “Hands Upon the Bow” turns because then I don’t feel frustrated when engaging that enemy turns off Haldir’s ability.

I chose Ranger Spear over Bow of the Galadhrim because of how much easier it is to play turn 1. If I need to Feint or am going Defcon 1 with Strength and Courage I just found it helps that it requires a Lore resource.

The deck feels very well tuned but there are still a couple cards on the edge of the chopping block. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve used Erebor Hammersmith. By the time the game is that late Anborn can do the job well enough. I’ve also been frustrated with what the “top” attachment often ends up being. Mablung can go down to a single probably since I often save him for that one important scenario, and I often think of dropping Followed and Hands Upon the Bow to 2X.

Break Glass In Case of Emergency!

I put these two cards in the side board because other wise this deck can’t be used in Sagas, and also, it just straight up breaks the game.

Did you ever see the Spirit Archers in Elden Ring and think “I sure wish I could launch ICBMs that one shot people from all the way across the map….”. Enter Strength and Courage Haldir…. I’m not kidding when I say it breaks any scenario with combat. This deck has so many control tools to make sure that you almost never need to engage an enemy. The fact that you care guaranteed to start the game with it in play is ridiculous. I use ranger spears because the tactics resource is already being used on Strength and Courage and going from attack 7 to 8 matters in some turn 1 scenarios (Carn Dum), which wouldn’t work with a bow. I like to have this deck go second so that, if necessary, the first player has a better chance of pulling all the required enemies. Then watch Haldir go to Defcon 1 and just launch nukes anywhere on the board.

I was one shotting Trolls a Giants as a combat action with this. Entangling Nets/Ranger Spear/Strength and Courage can handle 11 Defense+HP. I took it out after a couple games because it was just too powerful. This deck is great for living the “Ranger Fantasy” of trapping, and picking off, and Fenting enemies while another deck holds the line, but Haldir S&C removed any challenge. You still get the same feel without this card and you will still feel incredibly powerful.

Sideboard

The sideboard is basically cards I’m still considering trying and playing around with. Most of it should be self explanatory. Extra location control, healing, condition removal if needed. Side quests for when a scenario really wants you to avoid placing progress on a quest for a while. Keep watch is so good I’m thinking about main decking it. There are a few control cards I’m still curious about and I like that Song of Wisdom opens up The Great Hunt. There’s a decent amount of high HP, low armor enemies that make me wonder if Straight Shoting enemies hit by Entangling Nets is worth it.

Dunedain Hunter might be interesting reliably to trigger the Followed/Forest Snare combo all at once in the planning phase. Some times I need a bit of attack power end game to deal with an enemy that was forced to engage me and is immune to traps and 0 mana for three attack is nice. If you can pull an enemy out of the deck, have it hit a Followed that’s been sitting in your area for a while then immediately Forest Snare it seems like a fantastic play, but it might be too situational.