By Factor

We have another first-time major LOTRO tournament winner, and his name is Stephan "Pip" Smuts. I interviewed him about his performance, going 5-1 among 43 players to take the digital box of Hunters and bye into day 2 of the Online World Championships.

FACTOR: So, have you ever won a major LOTRO tournament before?

PIP: I have never won an online tournament before, but in in my country where i stay, namely, South Africa, I have won some minor real-life tournaments. Never anything of this caliber though; I am still quite in shock.

FACTOR: How is the Dwarf/Orc Swarm deck played? Tell me about your bidding strategy and if you prefer going first or second. Also, what's your starting site?

PIP: It is essential to win the bid with this deck. It is a deck meant for one purpose and that is a Shadow kill, usually at site 4 (if everything works out right). I bid 2 burdens to start, and was only outbidded once during the WCQ. Since I bank on going second, the second site I usually play is Mount Doom, so that the site path cannot be manipulated. Hence me including Sméagol, which was a last minute decision. He was purely included for his ability to play sites on demand. Drawing Isildur early is a bonus, and then using the Dwarves to cycle, building that perfect hand until site 4, where all fury is unleashed.

FACTOR: How many of your wins ended with a Fellowship victory and how many with a Shadow kill?

PIP: All my wins ended with a Shadow kill except for my last match against Keil, where he ran to the end without losing a single companion.

FACTOR: Any particularly tough matchups?

PIP: Apart from losing to the Rangers, my only tough matchup was the first against milo_blackrangers which almost saw him running to the end. I only managed to snatch a shadow kill from him at site 8.

FACTOR: You lost one game. Tell me about that one.

PIP: When i built the deck, I knew that Rangers with Ithilien Blade or Ents would be a sure loss on my side. This is because they manage to get their Fellowship set up really quickly, which makes it really hard for me to get a minion on the Ring-bearer. Keil managed to draw Aragorn's Bow early, which meant almost none of my minions stayed on the table, and combined with Ithilien Blade, made it even worse.

FACTOR: If someone wanted to beat your deck, how should they go about it?

PIP: Play Rangers or Ents and never assign a minion to the Ring-bearer, because you never know when that Massing Strength might be lurking.

FACTOR: Thanks, Pip!

Here's the deck:

Ring-bearer and One Ring
Gimli, Bearer of Grudges
The One Ring, The Ring of Rings

Free Peoples (30)
1 Glóin, Son of Gróin
1 Durin III, Dwarven Lord
1 Sméagol, Always Helps
3 Isildur, Heir of Elendil
1 Ring of Guile
1 Ring of Accretion
1 Ring of Retribution
1 Stalwart Support
4 Out of Darkness
4 Durability
3 One Good Turn Deserves Another
3 Belt of Erebor
3 Dwarven Bracers
3 Axe of Khazad-dûm

Shadow (30)
4 Champion Orc
3 Frenzied Orc
4 Scurrying Goblin
2 Watchful Orc
4 Picket Denizen
2 Chamber Patrol
4 Orkish Worker
3 Moria Menace
4 Massing Strength

Adventure Path (9)
1 Barinzabar
1 Breeding-pit of Isengard
1 Cavern Entrance
1 Chamber of Mazarbul
1 Crags of Emyn Muil
1 Moria Guardroom
1 Moria Stairway
1 Mount Doom
1 Starkhorn

-Factor