Editing Smeagol, Slinker (5R29)
From LOTR-TCG Wiki
The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then publish the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
__NOTOC__ | |||
{{NavBar|5R29|[[Battle of Helm's Deep Index]]|[[Smeagol, Old Noser (5C28)|Smeagol, Old Noser (5C28)]]|[[We Must Have It (5C30)|We Must Have It (5C30)]]}} | {{NavBar|5R29|[[Battle of Helm's Deep Index]]|[[Smeagol, Old Noser (5C28)|Smeagol, Old Noser (5C28)]]|[[We Must Have It (5C30)|We Must Have It (5C30)]]}} | ||
{{CardTabs|Gollum}} | {{CardTabs|Gollum}} | ||
[[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}]] is a {{C|Gollum}} [[Companion]] from the [[Battle of Helm's Deep]] set. Despite representing a scrawny, diminutive creature, Slinker is one of the most capable skirmishers in the game. This has been controversial for some, | [[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}]] is a {{C|Gollum}} [[Companion]] from the [[Battle of Helm's Deep]] set. Despite representing a scrawny, diminutive creature, Slinker is one of the most capable skirmishers in the game. This has been controversial for some, arguing that a characters like Smeagol should never be able to win skirmishes against as imposing figures as The Witch-king and that allowing such a thing to happen is one of the breaking points for the game's narrative. | ||
Reframing Slinker and other powerful versions of Smeagol may help alleviate these concerns: Smeagol distracted, avoided, and saved Frodo from many threats while guiding him into Mordor. Rather than Slinker's skirmishes representing the physical prowess of a character like Aragorn, they are conceptually closer to the acts of stealth which kept The Ring hidden and enemies off of their trail. Each burden added represents the toll his guidance and ultimate betrayal caused Frodo -- relying on Smeagol too heavily will appropriately be a Fellowship's downfall. | Reframing Slinker and other powerful versions of Smeagol may help alleviate these concerns: Smeagol distracted, avoided, and saved Frodo from many threats while guiding him into Mordor. Rather than Slinker's skirmishes representing the physical prowess of a character like Aragorn, they are conceptually closer to the acts of stealth which kept The Ring hidden and enemies off of their trail. Each burden added represents the toll his guidance and ultimate betrayal caused Frodo -- relying on Smeagol too heavily will appropriately be a Fellowship's downfall. | ||
{{CardInfobox|5R29}} | {{CardInfobox|5R29}} | ||
{{QueryCardCategories|5R29}} | |||
{{QueryCardCategories|5R29}} | |||
= Strategy = | = Strategy = | ||
== Gameplay Strategy == | == Gameplay Strategy == | ||
Slinker's ability makes him extremely flexible: he is capable of surviving almost any skirmish, but whether he wins or loses depends on how much the Free Peoples player is willing to pay. A | Slinker's ability makes him extremely flexible: he is capable of surviving almost any skirmish, but whether he wins or loses depends on how much the Free Peoples player is willing to pay. A natural fit with {{Card|Sting, Baggins Heirloom}}, decks with him typically include {{Card|The Shire Countryside}} to address the necessary burden removal and healing. {{Card|Frodo's Cloak}} can heal remove 1 burden and up to 5 exertions (1 from the cloak itself and 4 from all copies of The Shire Countryside) in the middle of a skirmish, the cost of making Smeagol strength +12. If Frodo is fully healed with no burdens and armed with Sting and {{Card|The One Ring, Answer to All Riddles}}, Smeagol can exceed 30 strength and ''overwhelm'' even the most troubling minions. {{Card|Don't Follow The Lights}} makes this unnecessary most of the time -- simply assign the weakest minion to Smeagol, do the minimum necessary to win that skirmish, and discard the strongest minion as a result. {{Card|Not Listening}} refunds burdens (and wounds, with The Shire Countryside) after winning so that The Fellowship can keep rolling on. {{Card|Poor Wretch}} adds some extra base strength to mitigate the number of burdens Slinker will need to add, and allows the Free Peoples player to get rid of higher vitality minions when preparing for a double move. | ||
While it's possible to manage all of Smeagol's skirmishes on strength alone, {{Card|Don't Look At Them}} can still offer a great benefit on many fronts. Most obviously, it's an alternative way to win skirmishes against minions with 1 vitality and a welcome reprieve from all the burdens and exertions. It also can act as a sort of damage bonus, reducing minions to 1 vitality so that the skirmish victory can kill them. which may be the only way to put away minions without needing to overwhelm them or discard them with Don't Follow the Lights. Further, it provides a big edge over {{C|Ringwraith}} decks, particularly those with {{Card|Morgul Brute}} whose an ability makes it the only minion the Free Peoples player may be outright unable to beat in a skirmish otherwise. Lastly, it's an opportunity to cycle through extra cards which often a necessity when so much of the deck's success depends on having the right events in hand and removing burdens before the Shadow player can capitalize on them. Doing so gives the Free Peoples the necessary control to remove yet another burden with {{Card|A Light in His Mind}} as well. | While it's possible to manage all of Smeagol's skirmishes on strength alone, {{Card|Don't Look At Them}} can still offer a great benefit on many fronts. Most obviously, it's an alternative way to win skirmishes against minions with 1 vitality and a welcome reprieve from all the burdens and exertions. It also can act as a sort of damage bonus, reducing minions to 1 vitality so that the skirmish victory can kill them. which may be the only way to put away minions without needing to overwhelm them or discard them with Don't Follow the Lights. Further, it provides a big edge over {{C|Ringwraith}} decks, particularly those with {{Card|Morgul Brute}} whose an ability makes it the only minion the Free Peoples player may be outright unable to beat in a skirmish otherwise. Lastly, it's an opportunity to cycle through extra cards which often a necessity when so much of the deck's success depends on having the right events in hand and removing burdens before the Shadow player can capitalize on them. Doing so gives the Free Peoples the necessary control to remove yet another burden with {{Card|A Light in His Mind}} as well. | ||
Since he may never end up taking wounds in a skirmish, he is often left with excess vitality compared to other versions of Smeagol. {{Card|Follow Smeagol}} is essentially free [[site manipulation]] in these cases, denying opponents their favorable sites while giving your Shadow the leg up even as you lead the way down the adventure path. {{Card|Frodo, Son of Drogo}} is a relatively unpopular Ring-bearer, but he provides a way for | Since he may never end up taking wounds in a skirmish, he is often left with excess vitality compared to other versions of Smeagol. {{Card|Follow Smeagol}} is essentially free [[site manipulation]] in these cases, denying opponents their favorable sites while giving your Shadow the leg up even as you lead the way down the adventure path. {{Card|Frodo, Son of Drogo}} is a relatively unpopular Ring-bearer, but he provides a way for Slinker to safely "take back" exertions from Sting and maximize the Free Peoples' effectiveness. This is especially true if several copies of The Shire Countryside are in play and some of the healing from it or Not Listening would be wasted otherwise. | ||
Smeagol already adds a burden to play, and Slinker relies heavily on adding burdens to skirmish. Decks built around him must be cautious with their opening bids, as without having the right cards to start with a normally safe bid can quickly turn into 5 burdens going into site 3, opening the door for {{Card|Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul}} to showing and kill a companion. At the same time, Slinker decks rely heavily on tricks and often need to get ahead of opponents early so they can reliably rearm in the more harrowing later sites. When it is necessary to have 5 burdens, remember that Enquea can typically only kill companions with 3 vitality or less while Hobbits and Smeagol have 4 vitality. As long as the Ring-bearer is the only wounded companion, you can stall long enough to drop back below 5 burdens before another copy of Enquea can finish anyone off | Smeagol already adds a burden to play, and Slinker relies heavily on adding burdens to skirmish. Decks built around him must be cautious with their opening bids, as without having the right cards to start with a normally safe bid of 3 can quickly turn into 5 burdens going into site 3, opening the door for {{Card|Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul}} to showing and kill a companion. At the same time, Slinker decks rely heavily on tricks and often need to get ahead of opponents early so they can reliably rearm in the more harrowing later sites. When it is necessary to have 5 burdens, remember that Enquea can typically only kill companions with 3 vitality or less while Hobbits and Smeagol have 4 vitality. As long as the Ring-bearer is the only wounded companion, you can stall long enough to drop back below 5 burdens before another copy of Enquea can finish anyone off. | ||
== Deckbuilding Strategy == | == Deckbuilding Strategy == | ||
To build a deck entirely around Slinker requires at least 20 cards, with the remainder usually taken up by gear and tricks to be utilized by Hobbits. | To build a deck entirely around Slinker requires at least 20 cards, with the remainder usually taken up by gear and tricks to be utilized by Hobbits. However, since he doesn't cost any twilight he can slot into any deck, and sometimes players can benefit from splashing Slinker to help get through the first sites and die when the going gets rough later. A deck which is already removing burdens quickly (typically Hobbit shennanigans but occasionally {{C|Gandalf}} cards) may not need the full kit to get the full value out of him. {{Card|Smeagol, Poor Creature}} may still be preferred as the designated speed bump even when the Free Peoples has plenty of burden removal though, since he helps a deck get through cards faster and draw what it really needs. | ||
In Towers he generally fills the need for a strong skirmisher in an otherwise all-Hobbit deck, often seen alongside {{Card|Sam, Nice Sensible Hobbit}}. This deck may operate with or without Merry and Pippin. In Movie, {{Card|Sam, Great Elf Warrior}} is a substantial enough upgrade that the deck almost always starts with all 4 Hobbits and Smeagol. {{Card|Sam, Samwise the Brave}} is occasionally used to ensure that the Shadow player can't interfere with the flow of burdens, important when playing against dedicated corruption decks. | |||
= Strengths and Weaknesses = | = Strengths and Weaknesses = | ||
Line 40: | Line 38: | ||
== Strong Versus... == | == Strong Versus... == | ||
* | * Uruk-hai, which have little care for burdens and can have their damage bonuses soaked up by Smeagol | ||
* | * Southrons, which often try to wound companions directly in skirmishes | ||
== Weak Versus... == | == Weak Versus... == | ||
* Easterlings, which will only grow in strength with the burdens from Smeagol | * Easterlings, which will only grow in strength with the burdens from Smeagol | ||
* {{Card|Warg}} decks, which force the Free Peoples to add many burdens before being able to increase Smeagol's strength at all | * {{Card|Warg}} decks, which force the Free Peoples to add many burdens before being able to increase Smeagol's strength at all | ||
* {{C|Isengard}} Orcs, which typically have too much strength to overwhelm and too much vitality to kill in skirmishes | * {{C|Isengard}} Orcs, which typically have too much strength to overwhelm and too much vitality to kill in skirmishes | ||
* {{Card|Morgul Brute}}, who can immediately remove burdens to gain the upper hand again | * {{Card|Morgul Brute}}, who can immediately remove the burdens to gain the upper hand again | ||
= Rulings = | = Rulings = | ||
Line 61: | Line 55: | ||
= See Also = | = See Also = | ||
==Merrick_H's Super Smeagol deck== | ==Merrick_H's Super Smeagol deck== | ||
Built for [[King Standard]], but legal for [[Towers Standard]]. [https://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php?topic=7994.msg77969 Click here for the full decklist.] | |||
Free Peoples Draw Deck: | Free Peoples Draw Deck: | ||
* 1x {{Card|Smeagol, Slinker}} | * 1x {{Card|Smeagol, Slinker}} |