by Richard Peiper

A few months ago a friend of mine (lets call him Chad, since that is his name) came to me and said Nazgul were schooling him in standard. We began to talk, and the discussion turned to how we had beaten Nazgul before Flaming Brands, Eomer and O Elbereth! Githoniel! The deck we built from this discussion went on to win the Wisconsin Territorial Championship. This article hopes to reveal the secrets of how that winning deck was built.

The deck starts out with Arwen, Killer of Nazgul. She is 13 power, when equipped with Gwemegil and Asfaloth, and can match a Black Steed +2 for +2 at a Plains. Coupled with her ability to pump to a Witch King killing size with Gwemegil and some cards in hand, she is the central figure in the anti-Nazgul strategy. The other Nazgul beat-down is Eomer, Third Marshall of Riddermark. He was a terror before standard format was released and remains a terror now. Eomer, with the inherent ability to get bigger with each wound on the minion(s) he is skirmishing, is made even better with the addition of Legolas, Greenleaf, who gives out wounds like it aint no thing, letting Eomer clean up what is left after Arwen has had her way with the opponents arsenal.

Chad and I are both on a budget when it comes to the expensive cards, so we look for ways around the standard 4 Simbelmyne deck. We put in 5 weapons, 5 mounts, 4 pumps, and 2 Allies/pumps. The obvious selections are Eomers Spear and Firefoot, which are complimented with generic weapons and mounts. A good amount of playtesting revealed that while it handled many things very well it still lacked something crucial. Companions kept losing, they couldnt beat Trolls, and they had a tough time with anything that got past Eomer and Arwen. Looking at the Allies it is clear that not only can Leod pump any mounted companion, which includes Arwen and Legolas (if he has Brego), but he can also block at 4 or 6 (if you get the Great Hall). That coupled with 4 Honorable Charges which can pump any unbound, including Arwen, goes a long way toward completing the deck.

However, we all know that no deck can survive without condition removal, especially with Moria and Sauron running rampant. We decide to add 2 Fortress Never Fallen to neutralize the condition heavy decks. Now we just round off the rough edges, adding 3 Elite Riders to take advantage of the extra weapons and mounts, and of course the staple of any 9 companion deck in Eowyn Lady of Rohan. All we need at this point is the standard Frodo protection package of Sam, Son of Hamfast, Hobbit Sword, and There and Back Again. Now it was time for the final round of testing.

The Nazgul, as we expected, came and went with Arwen cutting an easy path through the best they had to offer. Moria, with their Trolls, didnt last long with Eomer and Legolas double teaming them and popping them left and right. Sauron was a challenge, but roaming until site 6 and good solid condition removal finished them off as well. We didnt worry about Uruks since they are dead in standard right? How wrong we were. Uruks drop an Uruk Spear on a Troop or a Berserker, and you are facing the loss of all your mounts and the game goes downhill from there! How do we stop that? Mounts are critical to a Rohan deck, so we searched out the perfect solution. Arrow-slits, a maneuver condition which discards a possession, can be used not only to get rid of the Uruk Spears, but also War Clubs, Pale Blades, and numerous others as well.

All that is required now is a site path. Site 1 is a no-brainer with the Legolas site. I selected Derndingle because it doesnt help Nazgul, the twilight number is reasonable, and it is the less helpful of the site 2s to the other minion cultures. Site 3 and 4 are the standard Rohan sites, with Stables and Westemnet Hills. Helms Gate is a good site 5, a fellowship site, since my guys almost always have weapons, and the opponent has to draw them that turn. The cute little allies in the deck needed something to do after they used up their pumping ability early in the site path, so Great Hall lets us toss them at minions when we push into site 6. Kings Room for site 7 is THE standard Rohan site. The site 8 choice is a tough one, since we dont want nazgul to have any advantage, but weighed against the fact that if it hits play, were behind, a minion stop is a little more important.. None of the other site 9s made sense and you can add burdens with Sauron so Palintir Chamber it is. Lets be honest, even if we couldnt add burdens, the chamber is the most useful by far. The final deck came out looking like this.

Collection Manager deck file

Ring Bearer:
Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer
The One Ring, Isildur's Bane Adventure Deck:
[1] Eastenment Gullies
[2] Derndingle
[3] Stables
[4] Westenmet Hills
[5] Helm's Gate
[6] Great Hall
[7] King's Room
[8] Nan Curunir
[9] Palantir Chamber

Free Peoples (35):
Eowyn, Lady of Rohan (start)
Arwen, Daughter of Elrond (start)
Sam, Son of Hamfast
There and Back Again
3x Elite Rider
Hlafwine, Village Farmhand
3x Rider's Mount
3x Rider's Spear
Hobbit Sword
Legolas, Greenleaf
2x Asfaloth
Brego
Eomer's Spear
2x Fortress Never Fallen
4x an Honorable Charge
Leod, Westfold Herdsman
2x Arrow Slits
2x Gwemegil
Eomer, Third Marshal of Riddermark
Firefoot
Simbelmyne

Shadow (35):
4x Orc Inquisitor
2x You Bring Great Evil
4x Orc Butcher
3x Orc Scouting Band
3x Orc Pillager
2xOrc Cutthroat
3x Orc Patrol
2x Teeth of Mordor
2x Desperate Defense of the Ring
Enduring Evil
Hate
Thin and Stretched
2x Grishnak, Orc Captain
4x Under the Watching Eye
Morannon