No Jealousy or Rivalry 1.0

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• 1.0

”Yet between the brothers there was great love, and had been since childhood, when Boromir was the helper and protector of Faramir. No jealousy or rivalry had arisen between them since, for their father's favour or for the praise of men. It did not seem possible to Faramir that any one in Gondor could rival Boromir, heir of Denethor, Captain of the White Tower; and of like mind was Boromir. Yet it proved otherwise at the test. But of all that befell these three in the War of the Ring much is said elsewhere."

Appendix A, The Stewards

Faramir is my favorite character in middle earth for many reasons, but among them is the loving relationship between he and his brother Boromir. As soon as I started playing this game I wanted a deck with the two brothers, fighting side by side as they did before the War of the Ring. This deck seeks to heed that dream. If you want to see the art from Blood of Númenor come to life then this deck might for you.

Wait, Boromir in a trap deck?

Now with new cards, I have actually found Boromir to be a strong choice for the trap archetype! He offers one less than Mablung, and no resource acceleration. Instead, he brings additional health, built in readying for extra defense, and a crucial +1 . The other potential candidate is Éowyn. She helps more with potential problem, keeps your engagement low, and can kill something really big once. In the end it comes down to play style, but I have found Boromir’s consistent defense more beneficial to traps as a whole.

So what’s different?

First I stopped trying to put Great Yew Bow on Faramir, so I stopped caring about my threat! If my Ranger Spikes are out he is still attacking for likely 4-5 + and with Boromir and some additional allies, most things will die. I can engage enemies more freely thanks to Boromir (protector of Faramir), and with a Gondorian Shield and Entangling Nets they won’t be doing much.

Also Followed. If anyone has somehow missed it, this is amazing and only gets better with Emyn Arnen Ranger. Thanks again to Boromir defending for me I can set up this combo more aggressively without waiting for Forest Snare.

How does it play?

In your opening hand you want to see Master of the Forge, or Ranger Spikes to either immediately help card draw or questing. While digging for attachments you ‘ll need to adjust priorities to the quest and the group you are playing with. Typical high value targets are Followed, Gondorian Shield for Boromir, and then Forest Snare. Wingfoot goes on Faramir to ready him for enemies if he quests.

Choose your Followed targets quickly and aggressively if you can from the staging area and let Boromir block as needed. Card draw will get you that Forest Snare eventually.

Resource smoothing comes in Gandalf, and Envoy of Pelargir to give us a little more and move a resource to Faramir. Threat is managed with Secret Vigil and Gandalf if need be.

It can start slow in like most trap decks but it can also handle some combat right off the bat. It is weak to treacheries and shadows at times, but with 5 on two different heroes it can take some pretty big licks. The side board offers some options to tailor the deck more toward a given quest as needed. I should note also that quests where the majority of enemies who are immune to attachments will not be the place to bring this deck.

Summary

All in all this deck is very balanced for contributing to questing and combat. It can handle most quests solo, and will provide a valuable asset in multi-player with a balance of other decks. I’ve tested it in both environments to great success, and even built a more thematic Denethor deck to compliment it which I may publish in the future. This deck might not be as flashy as some, but “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”

Give it a try and let me know what you think!