The 2005 Online TOC Review
May 6, 2005.
Return of the Longbeards
Although the April PSQ (which took place only one week before the 2005 The Lord Of The Rings Online TCG Territorial Open Championship) boasted only a single Dwarf deck in the top eight, we all knew it would only be a matter of time before the Stout and Strong warriors of Middle-earth made a triumphant return to their position of dominance. Not long ago, the Dwarves were running all over the March PSQ, and they came back to make quite the showing at the recent TOC, as well. On the Shadow side of things, the Corsairs also followed in the trend of the aforementioned PSQ, netting another first-place finish at a big online event.
But Dwarves weren’t the only ones to see a resurgence of popularity at the TOC. Morcs (or “Morgul Orcs,” to the layperson) came back after inexplicably disappearing for a few months, grabbing hold of two of the top eight spots. I was never really sure where the Morcs ran off to, but Middle-earth is a big place, so it’s understandable if they just got lost (if you miss that exit at the Falls of Rauros, you can kiss your chances of finding Edoras goodbye).
With my daily quota of nerdy jokes being successfully met, we can now take a closer look at some of the TOC’s top decks and why they were used.
Five of the eight fellowships used Dwarves, and I believe this stems from the April PSQ’s Shadow meta. Normally, having two tournaments so close to one another on the calendar could allow players to adjust their decks for the second tournament to defeat whatever was popular in the first. However, the PSQ had a gallimaufry (Dictionary.com’s word of the day, November 14, 2001) of different Shadow sides, so there was very little that could be done to tech one’s deck. This, I believe, is what led to the five Dwarven fellowships, along with the four decks that included Gandalf. Allow me to elaborate.
Dwarves can achieve high base strengths while restricting the amount of twilight that gets added to the pool, and restricting twilight will help against any Shadow. Dwarves also have access to Blood Runs Chill, which is a great universal removal card. Gandalf, on the other hand, is known for his extreme versatility. Access to condition removal, possession removal, and a bag full of other tricks (such as Terrible and Evil) has its obvious merits when the Shadow meta is so difficult to judge.
“Difficult to judge” may actually be an understatement, being that we saw six different Shadow strategies in the TOC’s top eight decks. As far as I’m concerned, versatility is always a good thing – there are enough viable Shadows around today to keep players from having to say, “Oh great, not X again” after his or her opponent plays their first minion.
But with all of the variety at the TOC, what was it about Corsairs that allowed Tomasz “lucek” Arganinski to rise above the rest? Firstly, Corsairs are known to be one of the better anti-Dwarf Shadows out there, so that certainly helped. Secondly, the yellow pirates have the ability to get a strength-22, fierce minion at sites two and three for only nine twilight (Castamir of Umbar with a Raider Halberd). This is one of those things that can cripple virtually any fellowship, regardless of culture(s) or theme. Similarly to how the Dwarves restrict the twilight pool against any Shadow, the early-game devastation of the Corsairs is a reliable means of causing damage in a field where the nature of one’s opposition is always in question.
Now, as for the winning deck itself, there’s not a whole lot to say about the strategy. Dwarf/Gandalf decks have been around for quite some time now, and they’ve been tweaked to the point where they rarely see any changes from one build to another. The only noteworthy difference I see between Tomasz “lucek” Arganinski's deck and the “standard” version that we’re all used to is the inclusion of Jarnsmid, Barding Emissary. Most Dwarf decks run far less than the maximum of nine companions – Jarnsmid would not only offer burden removal, but could be thrown in front of some large minion that the rest of the fellowship would rather not face. The Shadow side is a fairly standard Corsair build, with a pair of Corsair Ruffians tossed in to get some easy tokens on the ships.
Ring-bearer and One Ring
Gimli, Bearer of Grudges
The One Ring, The Ring of Rings
Free Peoples (33)
1 Linnar, Dwarven Lord (Starting)
1 Durin III, Dwarven Lord (Starting)
1 Grimir, Dwarven Emissary
1 Thrarin, Dwarven Smith
4 Gandalf, Leader of the Company
1 Jarnsmid, Barding Emissary
1 Faramir, Son of Denethor
3 Axe of Khazad-dum
3 Dwarven Bracers
2 Glamdring, Foe-hammer
1 Ring of Accretion
2 Ring of Fury
2 Ring of Guile
2 Proud and Able
4 Honed
2 Blood Runs Chill
2 Terrible and Evil
Shadow (33)
1 Bold Men and Grim
4 Castamir of Umbar
4 Corsair Marauder
4 Raider Halberd
4 Red Wrath
2 Ships of Great Draught
4 Black Sails of Umbar
2 Black Numenorean
4 Corsair Plunderer
2 Quelled
2 Corsair Ruffian
Adventure Deck
(0) Anduin Banks
(0) Crags of Emyn Muil
(1) Neekerbreekers' Bog
(1) Slag Mounds
(1) Cavern Entrance
(2) Caras Galadhon
(2) Barazinbar
(2) Moria Stairway
(3) Trollshaw Forest
Here are the deckfiles of the top winning decks from the 2005 Online TOC. Click on the player name to download the .ldc file which you can view in your Deck Builder...
- 1st Place: lucek
- 2nd Place: Ellington
- 3rd Place: Lockescythe
- 4th Place: KennethM
- 5th Place: Judas
- 6th Place: JoseR
- 7th Place: CaptainClownshoe
- 8th Place: Merboy
-Zach Shephard
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