Deck Strategies
Galadriel, Elven-Queen
Elf tribal deck focused on playing elves to trigger the 'will of the council' mechanic, which involves voting to either buff commanders or draw cards, generating incremental advantage and board presence.
Éowyn, Shieldmaiden
Human tribal deck aiming to build a strong human army with anthem effects and aggressive creatures, leveraging synergy to dominate the board through combat.
Sauron, Lord of the Rings
Ramp and midrange deck focused on casting big creatures and utilizing Sauron’s mass resurrection ability to maintain a threatening board state with high-impact creatures.
Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit and Sam, Loyal Attendant
Life gain and token generation deck using food tokens and partner synergy to draw cards and sustain board presence, focusing on incremental advantage and resilience.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Galadriel's 'will of the council' voting mechanic introduced a political dimension, requiring players to choose between buffing commanders or allowing card draw, influencing player interactions.
- 2
The human tribal deck used anthem effects from Enbrand and Gilran Dunedain Protector to pump the army, increasing combat effectiveness through incremental stat boosts.
- 3
Treebeard's entry generated food tokens that synergized with life gain triggers, substantially increasing counters on key creatures and enabling powerful board states.
- 4
Moria Scavenger's ability to discard creature cards for card draw and mass work incrementally increased tempo and card advantage.
- 5
Prize Pig functioned as a life gain enabler, accumulating ribbon counters to untap and generate mana repeatedly, supporting other synergies in the deck.
Notable Cards
Galadriel, Elven-Queen
Éowyn, Shieldmaiden
Sauron, Lord of the Rings
Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit
Sam, Loyal Attendant
Moria Scavenger
Treebeard, Gracious Host
Prize Pig
Summary
The game featured a thematic clash among five players piloting preconstructed Lord of the Rings EDH decks, each with their own distinctive strategies. Early turns focused on ramp and board development, with players establishing lands and casting key creatures such as Gilran Dunedain Protector, Moria Scavenger, and Treebeard. The human-centric deck led by Éowyn, Shieldmaiden focused on assembling a robust human army and leveraging anthem effects from creatures like Enbrand, Lord of Westfold. Meanwhile, Galadriel's deck centered around elf tribal synergy and the political mechanic of 'will of the council,' influencing votes that either buffed her commander or allowed card draw. Ben’s Sauron deck, embodying a powerful and aggressive strategy, ramped into high-impact creatures including Moria Scavenger and the mass resurrection aspects of Sauron himself. The Frodo and Sam deck utilized life gain and food tokens to trigger card draw and maintain board presence, with synergy between the partners providing resilience and incremental advantage. Key turning points involved the deployment of Galadriel to activate the council votes, and Treebeard to generate food tokens that fueled life gain synergies. The game’s tension rose as players balanced board development with political maneuvers and incremental growth, aiming to outlast or overpower opponents through tribal synergies, life gain engines, and powerful mid-to-late game creatures.
