Cultural Enforcement

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Revision as of 01:19, 30 December 2021 by Cease (talk | contribs) (expanding an example, redlinking names that could probably sustain an article)
By requiring 4 other Ents to gain the strength bonus, Shepherd of the Trees hammers home that he is only to be used with a very specific sort of deck indeed.

Cultural Enforcement is the mechanism used throughout the LotR-TCG to, well, enforce the use of specific cultures (think of it like the use of colored mana costs in Magic: the Gathering). Cards with cultural enforcement require you to play them as part of a deck that focuses on that specific culture to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the intended power level of the card. Usually this takes the form of spotting, exerting, or targeting cards of a particular culture, but in some cases this is done more indirectly.

Such indirect methods include:

The more cultural requirements, the stronger the enforcement is (and theoretically, the stronger or more thematic the effect you purchase as a result). Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith (10R28) is an example of a card with very strong cultural enforcement since he has to spot two other Gondor Men just to be played, and once on the table his ability doesn't even work except with Gondor culture cards. On the other hand, your investment into that culture purchases you the ability to pull any Gondor cards you want from your deck, which cannot be underestimated.

In contrast, Legolas, Greenleaf (1R50) has very weak cultural enforcement, since he does not require any other Elven cards to function (or any other cards at all, for that matter). Cards with such weak cultural enforcement are often splashed into decks focusing on another culture, or used as part of a Rainbow deck.

Cultural enforcement is often layered or stacked, such as with Madril, Loyal Lieutenant (17S30) , which not only references the Gondor culture, but also the Ranger keyword (almost exclusive to Gondor) and manipulation of minion site numbers (an exclusively Ranger-y thing to do). There is a very specific sort of deck that Madril was designed for here, and his layers of cultural enforcement hint at what that is. You would do well to pair Madril (or any card for that matter) with similar cards that overlap and push in the same direction, so your deck can be as efficient and synergistic as possible.


Gameplay
Game Setup Starting FellowshipBiddingMulligan
Deck Building Considerations UniquenessX-ListR-ListErrataFormat
General Strategies BeatdownBombCorruptionHand ExtensionRun/StopSkirmish CancellationSwarmWin ConditionWound PreventionWounding
Deck Archetypes Auto-Corruption BombBeasterlingsBerserkersBouncing HobbitsElventsForestgulsHobbit HospitalFruit LoopsGondor KnightsGondor RangersGondor WraithsMoria ArcheryMoria BeatdownMoria NavyMoria SwarmMoria TentaclesNazgul BeatdownNinja GollumOrc CorruptionRainbow WoundingSauron GrindSauron InitiativeSauron RoamingSauron ThreatsSolo SmeagolSouthron ArcherySouthron InitiativeStupid SwarmSuper FriendsTelepathyThreatgulsToken TanksTroll SwarmUruk ArcheryUruk MachinesUruk TrackersWarg Super Swarm
Rules Rule of 4Rule of 9
Mechanics BearDiscardDraw DeckExertExhaustedFellowshipInitiativeIn Play/Leave PlayMove LimitReconcileRoamingSite ControlSpotStackSupport AreaThreats
Gameplay Terms BoatBodyBroken/NPE/OPBuff/NerfChokeComboCultural EnforcementCyclingDead DrawFetchFilterFloodGrindHand ClogHateInteractionItemLoopMatchupMetaMillNewbie TrapPilePower CreepPumpRainbowRecursionRemovalResourceRogueRule of 6SideSite ManipulationSpeed BumpSplashSubcultureTankOther Terms