Hints & strategie notes for this Deck
With the release of The Battle of Helm's Deep expansion, the
ever popular Trust Me As You Did deck archetype has undergone some changes.
Grima, Chief Counselor makes the Gimli/Legolas start much more risky to play,
while the introduction of two new Rohan Companions with the Gandalf signet makes
a single culture Trust deck much more viable. Here we'll look at how the Gandalf
signet versions of Eowyn and Theoden can be used to create a solid Trust deck
that is not vulnerable to either Grima, Chief Counselor, or Grima, Wormtongue.
The first thing to note about our new starting fellowship is
that they both have similar special abilities. As the first companions that
allow you to play possessions out of the Fellowship phase, Theoden and Eowyn
provide some interesting strategic choices. No longer will you have to worry
about the three cards on a companion that can trigger Grima, Wormtongue - any
possessions he sends back can be replayed in the same phase. Also, you can choke
your opponent of some pool by playing your expensive Rohan possessions in
Maneuver, after she has played her minions. One important thing to remember is
that even if there are no allies to heal for Theoden or no wounds to heal on
Eowyn, you can still use their text to play possessions on them.
Another side affect of being able to play possessions in
Maneuver is that Simbelmyne looses some of its potency. Since it requires you to
play the card you've pulled from your deck, you lose the benefits of playing
possessions after the fellowship phase. Simbelmyne is still useful, however, for
pulling Eomer and his possessions.
If this article is about the Gandalf culture, what are we
doing talking so much about Rohan? Well, it's important to understand how the
new Theoden and Eowyn work, because they create a strong synergy with the
Gandalf culture, which feeds off of twilight remaining in the pool in the
Maneuver and Skirmish phases. The Gandalf that works best in this deck is
Gandalf, The White Wizard. Since he gets stronger when there is at least three
twilight in the pool during his skirmish, the abilities of our starting
companions gain extra power. When armed with the right staff and steed, Gandalf
becomes capable of killing almost any minion in the game in one hit. Also, extra
twilight during the Maneuver phase allows the Free Peoples player to make use of
Deep in Thought. This previously underused card becomes extremely powerful when
you can reliably add pool during the Maneuver phase - discarding all your
opponent's conditions while leaving your own intact.
One drawback to this deck is that it needs to be able to
cycle through cards quickly. In order to facilitate this, I've paired it with a
fast-cycling Moria shadow. Many of the sites on the path favor the Shadow side
of the deck since you'll need to pull out all the tricks to slow your opponent
down.
Ally (1):
Companion (1):
