Lure 2019 retrospective

[Containerguy]

Folks,

I like to thank all players who have participated in the Hamburg Scenario Tournement in this year.
It has been close to ten years since I attended Lure the last time and it was a extremely pleasant event to participate.

I like to take the opportunity to thank Heiko, for "pestering" me become active again in the Hamburg playgroup, Marc and Thomas the fellow players from Hamburg (who I had to face in this years tournament due to some shadow magic ).

Furthermore I would like to express my highest appreciation to the french community, who not only have kept the Hamburg Scenario format alive, but are working on it and progressing it with great success.

If time permits and in case this is of interest, I will post a decklist along with a tournament summary.

Many thanks & cheers
Fabian (Containerguy)

[Darksatin]

If time permits and in case this is of interest, I will post a decklist along with a tournament summary.
Fabian (Containerguy)

Thanks Fabian. It is traditional for the winner of a tournament to post his decklist !

[Darksatin]

This Lure XIX Hamburger Scenario Tournament has been a huge success, with 18 players (the greatest scenario tournament ever organized). The Italian team was back, with 3 new players. The Hamburg players showed up in a team of 4 competitors. And even a blue wizard came from the Far East (Yegor).
Two remarks for a tournament with as many players:
- the pairings are easier
- at each round, there is a very long game, so you have to be intransigent with schedules

For the scenarios, the rate success was 44% (32/72), like last year.

Round 1 :
Fabian – Dominique….…….…32*/28*…….....8/6
Hervé – Franck……………..….30*/4……........9/0 minion game
Dario – Heiko………………....21/18*….....….3/4
Clément – Domenico……..……30*/11……......9/0
Marc – Maxime………….……24*/21….......….8/1
Ernst – Ludovic…………….….38*/23……........8/1
Thomas (GER) – Yegor………...42*/17…....…11/0
Thomas (AUST) – Davide….…...39*/8…..…..10/0
Denis – Stavros….……….…….26/11……........4/0

Round 2 :
Heiko – Denis………………….…29/9…….......…..4/0
Franck – Stavros ….…………….…27/7……….......4/0
Thomas (GER) – Thomas (AUST)…...30/19……...3/1
Domenico – Davide………………..26/24…......…...3/1
Ludovic – Yegor……………….....35*/23*…......…10/4
Ernst – Dominique………………...32/16…….......…4/0
Fabian – Marc……………………...34*/23*…........…8/4
Maxime – Dario…………………….22/14…..........…3/1
Clément – Hervé……………………31/18……..........3/1

Round 3 :
Clément – Ernst…….. ……………33*/20…….......….8/1
Hervé – Ludovic………….………..32*/21*….........…9/6
Franck – Maxime………………….38*/26*……........10/5
Dario – Domenico………………….25*/22……........…8/1
Fabian – Thomas (GER) ……….……33*/24……....…8/1
Marc – Thomas (AUST)……………….27*/22*…….....8/5
Heiko – Dominique………………...32*/16….......……9/0
Denis – Yegor………………...…….39*/20*…….........10/4
Davide – Stavros….……….………..15/10………........3/1

Round 4 :
Dominique – Davide….………….....24/16……....…..3/1
Stavros – Domenico………………….19/16……….........3/1
Thomas (GER) – Denis………………...28/26…….....….3/1
Maxime – Yegor………………...…….29*/24*…........….9/4
Heiko – Ludovic………….…………...35*/12……........…9/0
Hervé – Marc………..……….………..29*/16……........…9/1
Fabian – Clément……………………..32*/21*….......….8/4
Ernst – Dario…………..……………….35*/24*…...........8/1
Franck – Thomas (AUST)………………..34/23……....…3/1

* scenario fulfilled

The final standings :

1° Fabian……………..GER……..........Return of the King****…….......……………………….…..…32
2° Hervé ……………..FRA/LUX.......…Heirs of Yavanna**/Subdue the Kingdoms of Men*….28
3° Heiko………………GER…….........…The Rohirrim***…............…………………………………….26
4° Clément…………..FRA……….........The Shire***…............…………………………………………24
5° Marc……………...GER………..........The Rohirrim***…...........…………………………………….21
6° Ernst………………FRA………...........Return of the King**………..........…………………….…..21
7° Maxime……………FRA….….........…Heirs of Yavanna**……………..........………………………18
8° Thomas……………GER…..…..........The Hobbit*……………………………………............………18
9° Ludovic………….…FRA…..........……Veins of Arda**………............………………………………17
10° Franck……………..FRA………The Hobbit*/The Ring Will Have… ............ …………….….17
11° Thomas……………AUST...….........Heirs of Yavanna**…...............………………………….17
12° Denis………………FRA….........……Reforging*……………..............………….……….………...15
13° Dario………………ITA……..........…The Shire*..............…………………………………………….13
14° Yegor……..………UKR…….........…The Shire***………………..............………………………….12
15° Dominique…….…FRA……......……Reforging*……………...............…………………………..….9
16° Davide……………ITA……….......….Return of the King….............…………………………………5
17° Domenico………...ITA…………......Ithryn Luin……...............………………………………….…..5
18° Stavros……………BEL……….......…The Rohirrim……...............………………………………..….4

The final victory goes to the Hamburg players (1°, 3°, 5°, 8°), well trained. Congratulations to Fabian !
And Marc played very well with a preconstructed deck picked at the last minute.

[Sam.Gamdschie]

It looks like you had real fun.
Sorrily I could not particitpate as I was way too tired after the long Crap Game and had no time to prepare an own deck.

But now I have the chance to prepare myself with the Hamburg players.

[Fangorn]

Thanks for posting results !
This year is hat-tricks for easy scenario : except for 2nd place (hero only), the first non-easy scenario is 7th place !

[Fangorn]

18 players, 4 rounds, and only one minion game !
Was minion scenario often played in Hamburg ?

[Sam.Gamdschie]

Was minion scenario often played in Hamburg ?

As far as I remember it was played not that often.
Only some of us brought minion decks at all and then you need to play against someone with a minion deck by chance.

But there was no spirit to push playing minion scenarios, so that's something which could be changed. May be with more Tournament Points for minions, just an idea.

[Containerguy]

Was minion scenario often played in Hamburg ?

As far as I remember it was played not that often.
Only some of us brought minion decks at all and then you need to play against someone with a minion deck by chance.

But there was no spirit to push playing minion scenarios, so that's something which could be changed. May be with more Tournament Points for minions, just an idea.

Minion scenarios were kind of rare, since there are plenty of hero scenarios available and people tended to try to "catch em all" first.

[Containerguy]

To honor the tradition, here is the deck list, for my deck that won the Hamburg Scenario Tournament in this year.
It's based on a old deck that I played about ten years ago, however I have largely changed the hazard portion. Back then I played it with a corruption hazard deck.

Wizard:
2x Gandalf
1x Alatar

Pool:
Aragorn
Strider
Arwen
Bilbo
Fatty Bolger
Frodo
Cirdan
Galadriel
Sam Gamgee
Glorfindel II
-> Aragorn or Strider to be removed after character draft, rest goes to the deck

Minor Intems:
Cram
Elf-Stone

Optimal Starting Company:
Aragorn
Fatty under his DI, with Cram
Bilbo with Elf-Stone
Arwen under his DI
GI used: 14

Resources:

3x Longbottom Leaf
3x Sapling of the White Tree
3x Dark Quarrels
3x Noble Steed
3x Smoke Rings
3x Concealment
2x Forewarned is Forearmed
2x Hiding
2x Marvels Told
3x A Chance Meeting
2x And Forth He Hastened
1x Glamour Of Surpassing Excellence

Hazards:
1x Wormtongue
1x Baduila
1x Dror
1x Lobelia Sackville-Baggins
1x For The Beardless
1x My Precious
1x Surion
All 9 Nazgul
1x Mouth Of Sauron
1x Saruman The Wise
1x Scorba At Home
1x Itangast At Home
1x Daelomin At Home
1x Lord Of The Carrock
1x Slayer
1x Many Sorrows Befall
2x Morgul Horse
1x Weariness Of The Heart
2x Lure Of Senses
1x Lure Of Expedience

Sideboard
1x Theoden
1x Rider Of Rohan
1x Red Arrow
1x Hour Of Need
3x Fireworks
1x Return Of The King
3x To Fealty Sworn
1x Men Of Anorien
1x Tower Guard Of Minas Tirith
1x The White Tree
1x Choice Of Luthien
1x Palantir Of Minas Tirith
1x Align Palantir
1x Wizard Uncloaked
1x Paths Of The Dead
1x Army Of The Dead
2x Muster Dispreses
1x Pilfer Anything Unwatched
1x Twisted Tales
2x Alone And Unadvised
1x The Way Is Shut
1x Rolled Down To The Sea
1x The Will Of The Ring

[Containerguy]

Resource Strategy:

Grab the Sapling, plant the White Tree and squat at Minas Tirith, using Fireworks to play four resources (3 Factions, 1 Item) there,
using Choice Of Luthien to grab the resources from the discard pile.
Many points are from the special category, keeping corruption points low.
Army Of The Dead as Backup plan.

Resource Tactic:
In case the initial draw contains at least one sapling, one to two cancelers and optimally one noble steed, head to Buhr Widu directly, discarding Cram.
Should the initial draw be lackluster, make the move to Lorien first, continue from there to either Buhr Widu or to Gobel Mirlond or Raider Hold to play the Sapling.
Gandalf's (played in Lorien) main job is side boarding, starting with the two Minas Tirith factions and the Palantir to the discard pile for Arwen to grab them later.
Longbottom Leaf and Smoke Rings for the rest, in the following order:
White Tree / Choice of Luthien / Return of the King / Fireworks / To Fealty Sworn / Align Palantir / Red Arrow / Riders Of Rohan / Hour of Need

Hiding can protect you squatting at Minas Tirith, before the Tree is planted.
Once Gandalf is joined by Galadriel of Glorfindel, the can make the move to find the Red Arrow (sites: Buhr Widu or to Gobel Mirlond or Raider Hold, depending where the Sapling has been played)

Towards the last 2-3 turns, everybody meets at Minas Tirith.
Hour Of Need with The Red Arrow make the Riders Of Rohan a auto-success.
Make use of Fireworks by the Wizard and the elf sages in conjunction with And Forth He Hastened

Hazard Strategy:

Playability - Playability and more Playability.

maxing out the hazard limit is the objective, since squatting at Minas Tirith makes the deck slow.
All cards with exception of the Morgul Horses can be played without any prerequisite.

Hazard Tactic:

Play the maximum amount of hazards every single round.
The Khamul machine (forced discard) can be very painful in scenario games, especially when executed back to back by using the Morgul Horse.
Surion should be turned face up in order to protect one selves at Minas Tirith.

Make use of Agent attacks where suitable, otherwise use the agents short events from the sideboard in case of need.
The key objective of the hazards is not to kill/hurt the opponent, but to increase the deck speed.

Any more questions ? Let me know.

Cheers
Fabian
(Containerguy)