691-Denethor

[dirhaval]

Denethor has been strengthening Gondor during his lifetime.
He knows the hammer will fall on him the hardest. He is not
too old to wield a sword under his cloak. He will go to battle.
He held the Horn of Arnor. Now it is given to his eldest son.
Activity in Mordor have been reported to him. Denethor knows
he does not have the power to expel minions there.

The House of Mardil will muster seven factions in Gondor.
Saruman has asked for his help. His other goal is to help
Saruman with a quest to reach a Volcano.
Early in the second deck, Denethor will try CvCC
in Ithilien then Boromir will invade Nurn following Theoden
to distract the Eye from Saruman. Then Boromir will
attack Cirith Ungol...from the east while Denethor and Faramir will
invade from the west. The hammer of the West will fall there.

Note that I may seem fixed on certain cards with certain avatars. From the seed of FATE,
Boromir has had Mithril-Coat. I need to consider giving it to someone else. Also,
up to this point I did not have Glamdring assigned to anyone! I forgotten about it
like Sam with the Phail.

I like this deck since it uses Denethor's Son of Ecthelion and Beacon of Gondor to lure
minions into CvCC. I like that there are two companies that can CvCC when necessary.
Mordor will be a battle-ground in the second deck to busy the minions. Denethor
is not afraid to invade Imlad Morgul.

I do not like that the leaders do not have high DI to have many followers.
Fallen-Denethor will keep closer to Gondor and may be play Mace of Anarion.

[dirhaval]

I have been reviewing the decks already made.

Denethor has no substantial change except for the beginning the raid into Mordor.
Tower Raided was removed. This avatar will send Faramir to a site to make it a permanent-site in play.

From the Word file:
A site will be turned into a fake refuge for the Ringbearer. Near the end of the first deck send a company to a Ruins in Harondor. Choose Cairn of the Colruh Hazurbal since its minion AA is stronger and this site has the special ability to have healing effects all characters and healing untaps those tapped. The order of the resources has some sequence. Place Rebuild the Town, then Fortress Reclaimed. This allows influencing Rangers of Ithilien. No Strangers at This Time will keep the site in play. Beacon of Gondor can be played since Harondor is in Greater Gondor. This if five resources in total.

QUEST: RAID INTO MORDOR
Turn 11 uses Theoden and Eowyn as bait. One goal for Turn 12 has Theoden moving to Nurn is to face the Mordor in Arms attacks and to defeat them. If these attacks are faced, then Tower Raided will be played on the next turn by that avatar. The purpose of this joint quest is to bother minions while Saruman heads to Mount Doom. You might also be able to play War Preparations.
Any minion at Barad-Wath induces an orc attack (as read on that minion site card) on a hero company moving from Nurn to Gorgoroth. Get rid of those minions.
Theoden’s primary goal is to attract minions to him in Nurn. If there is a minion at Barad-Wath, then he will move to that site and engage in CvCC. His secondary goal is to play Mount Slain on a Ringwraith to discard him. He will not enter Gorgoroth unless to CvCC.
Boromir’s goal is to attack minions that will hinder Saruman. So combat at Barad-Wath or at Ostigurth. If none, then move to Nurniag Camp and play War Preparations. If Boromir cannot reach Imlad Morgul on the planned turn, then Denethor still moves there. You might want to play Mace of Anarion at Minas Morgul to really attract minions to you instead of Mount Doom. Bring Ioreth and Healing Herbs. A side benefit to this concentration of avatars is the consuming of time in the second deck for the Black Players. Once Saruman plays Into the Smoking Cone, the Gondor Division Black players will be fixed on him instead of their own designs. Preference is to not move to Osgiliath but to Henneth Annun to entice visits by minions. Then Denethor will play Beacons of Gondor on that site to make it a battleground.

The below first few turns assumes Denethor will only tap once per turn accessing the sideboard. Use the avatar card to untap Lord Denethor so he can tap to grab the three resources for the second deck. Hope to play the avatar no later than Turn 4.
Turn 4: SB: dp111-dp115.
Turn 5: SB: dp121-dp125. Play palantir.
Turn 6: SB: tap11-Tower of Ecthelion.
Turn 7: SB: tap12-Longbottom Leaf. Play Steward of Gondor.
Turn 8: SB: tap13-Longbottom Leaf. Play Tower of Ecthelion.
Turn 9: SB: tap14-War Preparations. Move Faramir to Cairn of the Colruh Hazurbal.
Turn 10: SB: dp131-dp135. Exhaust Deck.
Turn 11: SB: three resources to SB. Tap Mardil to fetch Son of Echthelion.
{Imrahil to Umbar to play Raid on Umbar}
{Theoden + 3 Riders and Eowyn to Osgiliath}

Turn 12: Use palantir. Move Denethor and Boromir to battleground. Play Son of Ecthelion.
Faramir moves to the same site as his father. Ioreth stays at Minas Tirith.
{Theoden moves to Nurniag Camp. Eowyn stays at Osgiliath.
Theodred moves to Cairn of the Colruh Hazurbal.
Eomer will move to Osgiliath from the east}

Turn 13: Use palantir.
Move Denethor and Faramir back to Minas Tirith.
Move Boromir from Ithilien to Nurn. Discard Cram to move 5 regions.
Boromir plays War Preparations at Nurniag Camp.
{Saruman to Kref Masar}
{Theoden moves to Joghul’s Shrine to heal and draw cards.
Theodred moves from to Nurniag Camp else to Barad-Wath if there is a minion at that site. Play Tower Raided. Eomer+Eowyn move to Edoras}

Turn 14: Tap to grab Sapling. Mardil fetches Son of Echthelion. Discard House of Mardil.
Boromir moves to Mount Doom.
{Saruman to Nurn}
{Imrahil stays at Umbar}
{Theoden returns to Nurn. Theodred moves to same site as his father

Turn 15: Boromir moves to Cirith Ungol. Play Spies Feared.
Denethor and Faramir move to Cirith Ungol. Play Son of Ecthelion for later CvCC.
{Saruman to Mount Doom}.
{Imrahil moves to Dol Amroth}
{Theoden and Theodred move to Cairn if Mount Doom has no minions}

Turn 16: Denethor and his sons move from Cirith Ungol to Minas Tirith.
{Saruman moves to safety}
{Theoden and Theodred move to Edoras, else to Cairn from Mt. Doom}

Turn 17: Use palantir. Tap to fetch Tower of Guard.
Discard Sapling to play White Tree.
{Theoden and Theodred heal at Edoras or move to Edoras}

Turn 18: Use palantir. Fully heal at Minas Tirith. Move to play War Preparations.

Turn 19: Use palantir. Move back to Minas Tirith. Store War Preparations during site
phase using Safe From the Shadow. Fetch faction.

Turn 20: Use palantir. Move to play faction.

[dirhaval]

The updated deck file is in the first thread, which was updated after the 24 turn practice game.
It was exciting to have Dunedain roam Mordor. Low prowess characters tend to stay wounded. Resource changes were made to support turns in Mordor.



Only one change to characters was made. Elite Wose Hunter is a useful Ranger and has 6 prowess against Orcs.
+
Two armour items removed for a shield and a belt. Sapling and The White Tree were removed. Both will be played during the Power Decks. Creating a Healing House site was abandoned. But Henneth Annun was fortified. Spies Feared seemed useless with no one untapped to use the event. Eru’s Gift is there to untap characters. Sun is placed in another deck. Argonath is vital for the expected faction battles. Many Foes He Fought with new limitations on number of copies in the decks and per alignment. Shadowfax added for corruption support and to aid Eowyn upon her quest to combat Ringwraiths in Eriador. The Shire can be reached.
+
Hazard creatures were removed for other better against Mordor minions. Night was a late choice. The event hurts everyone but Dunadan Rangers, but I want to lower the prowess of all minions. Drought and Awaken the Earth’s Fire were orphaned, so I gave them a home in the deck expanding creature playability. It is My Own is a nasty hazard for ring decks. Nurnen will allow Ninevet a pool in the backyard.