Lord of the Rings: The Card Game Review

The first step into The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game can be a daunting one, given the sheer volume of content and the re-releases and repackaged content that is being produced. The first required step is the Revised Core Set, a must have to even play the game, but what makes a good next step? The series of starter decks make the perfect next step for new players to join the game, or experienced players to pick up a deck based around their favourite archetypes. With each starter deck being built around a different theme and playstyle.The Defenders of Gondor Starter Deck is designed for players who enjoy resource management and a risk taking playstyle, highlighting the power and resilience of the heroes and allies within the deck. This deck is a high risk, high reward deck where careful planning and bold moves are rewarded. The Defenders of Gondor Starter Deck comes with a fully precompiled deck ready for players to jump straight into the action, no need to learn about deck building or choosing cards and heroes. In addition to the prebuilt deck players also get a collection of additional cards that can be used once they are ready to start experimenting with building their own decks.

One of the most unique aspects of this starter deck is its focus on high-treat gameplay. The Defenders of Gondor Starter Deck excels when the player’s threat level is high, between 40-50, this playstyle requires careful balance as going too high could end your game early, but balance this successfully and the player is rewarded with powerful abilities through the Valour mechanic, rewarding players for taking calculated risks. Key cards such as Pillars of the Kings, to adjust your threat level to 40 and provide much needed threat reduction, have been included to help players walk this tightrope of threat management. Resource generation is another key element of the The Defenders of Gondor Starter Deck, with cards like Steward of Gondor and Mablung hero ability which generates resources each time he engages an enemy, gives the player a steady flow of resources, a much needed necessity to pay for the expensive allies and abilities included with the deck. Combat and defence are both balanced well within this starter deck, including allies that provide both offensive power and defensive protection. This balance is also reflected in the Heroes of this deck, with Boromir’s ability to boost the attack power of all allies in play. Although not a main focus of this deck there is still some decent questing ability available through cards such as Visionary Leadership and Faramir’s ability to boost willpower for the questing phase of the game. Balancing the number of heroes being committed to quests, and those kept ready for combat is vital. But this balance allows the deck to excel through all stages of the game.