Starter Decks

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Revision as of 18:37, 2 February 2022 by Teltura (talk | contribs) (Adding links to literally everything. This page is too complex now and needs to be divided up, which was probably always true. Need to find a good way to add tabs or subpages to divide each list of deck up per block or per set.)

Starter Decks are ready-made simple decks that are intended to be easy enough for brand-new players to pick up and play. Each set typically had two starter decks, each one focusing on different cultures and strategies, so one could conceivably purchase both with a friend and get a good taste of what the game as a whole had to offer.

Unlike actual legal decks, starter decks only have about 50 cards, and the Shadows and Free Peoples sides did not always have the same number of cards. Combined with the fact that the starter rulebooks don't explain all of the rules of the game (but only rules needed to play the decks provided, plus a starter-only rule that allowed you to reshuffle the discard pile), the decks themselves are mostly valuable from a learning perspective but not very usable in a normal play environment.

To offset the fact that veteran players would not need the starter packs, Decipher included 2 nonfoil P-rarity cards in each starter pack that were not obtainable in booster packs. Also, for most sets, Decipher packed 3 random rares with each starter deck, giving collectors additional reason to purchase them (it was sometimes cheaper to buy boxes of starters instead of boxes of boosters, as each boxof starters included 36 rares.) In Battle of Helm's Deep and Ents of Fangorn, Decipher did away with the random rares and instead included 3 predetermined rares, with the idea being to make sure that included rares went according to the theme of the starter deck (predetermined rares also saved printing costs, as it allowed the entire deck to come from one print sheet instead of two.) Fixed rares annoyed players, as it removed the incentive for veterans to purchase the decks, and it drastically reduced the value of the 6 rares affected in each set. With The Return of the King Decipher reverted to the original random rare distribution for starter packs.


Deluxe Starter Sets

For The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, Decipher also released Deluxe starter sets, which besides including a starter deck also had booster packs from each set in that block as well as a card boxand glass tokens. Unlike other starter sets, Deluxe starters did not include starter-only cards. Due to the inclusion of boosters, a Deluxe Rulebook was included in lieu of the Starter Rulebook, to make sure that players would have access to all the rules if needed. No Deluxe Starter Set was released for any other block.

Gemp-LotR Starter Decks

Starter decks are used as part of the card pool in sealed deck leagues on Gemp-LotR. The official Decipher starter decks (listed below) are used in most of the leagues, but there are two leagues that use custom starter decks: one based around Towers Standard and another based around Movie Block. Decklists for those two leagues can be found at Towers Standard Sealed and Movie Block Sealed, respectively.

Starter Deck Lists

Below are lists of the contents of each starter deck, organized by set. Information is taken from gondorian.com and the Last Homely House forums, [1] and [2], as well as from the decklists compiled for GCCG.

Fellowship of the Ring

Gandalf Starter Deck

Gandalf / Moria

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Aragorn Starter Deck

Gondor / Isengard

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (25 cards)

Shadow (24 cards)

Deluxe Starter Set

Shire / Ringwraith / Sauron

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (25 cards)

Shadow (24 cards)

Mines of Moria

Gandalf Starter Deck

Gandalf / Moria

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Sites (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Gimli Starter Deck

Dwarf / Sauron

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Sites (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Realms of the Elf-Lords

Legolas Starter Deck

Elven / Isengard

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Boromir Starter Pack

Gondor / Sauron

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

The Two Towers

Aragorn Starter Deck

Gondor / Dunland

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Theoden Starter Deck

Rohan / Isengard

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Gandalf Deluxe Starter Set

Gandalf / Shire / Raider

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Battle of Helm's Deep

Eowyn Starter Deck

Rohan / Isengard

(This deck contained no random rares)

Ring-bearer

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (25 cards)

Shadow (24 cards)

Legolas Starter Deck

Elven / Raider

(This deck contained no random rares)

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (25 cards)

Shadow (24 cards)

Ents of Fangorn

The Witch-King Starter Deck

Gandalf / Ringwraith / Sauron

(This deck contained no random rares)

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Faramir Starter Deck

Gondor / Shire / Isengard

(This deck contained no random rares)

Ring-bearer

Adventure Deck

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Return of the King

Aragorn Starter Deck

Gondor / Raider

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (23 cards)

Shadow (26 cards)

Eomer Starter Deck

Rohan / Sauron

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Siege of Gondor

Merry Starter Deck

Shire / Rohan / Ringwraith / Sauron

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24)

Shadow (25)

Pippin Starter Deck

Shire / Gondor / Raider

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24)

Shadow (25)

Mount Doom

Sam Starter Deck

Shire / Ringwraith / Sauron

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Frodo Starter Deck

Shire / Gondor / Sauron

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Shadows

Aragorn Starter Deck

Gondor / Orc

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Gandalf Starter Deck

Gandalf / Wraith

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Eowyn Starter Deck

Rohan / Uruk-hai

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Legolas Starter Deck

Elven / Men

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Black Rider

The Mouth of Sauron Starter Deck

Rohan / Men

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Saruman Starter Deck

Shire / Uruk-hai

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Bloodlines

Boromir Starter Deck

Gondor / Men

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Arwen Starter Deck

Elven / Orc

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

The Hunters

Aragorn Starter Deck

Gondor / Elven / Orc

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Mauhur Starter Deck

Rohan / Uruk-hai

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

Rise of Saruman

Uruk Rampage Starter Deck

Elven / Uruk-hai

(This deck incorrectly included 5 copies of White Hand Guard and failed to provide a 9th site)

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (8 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (26 cards)

Evil Man Starter Deck

Gondor / Men

Ring-bearer (2 cards)

Adventure Deck (9 cards)

Free Peoples (24 cards)

Shadow (25 cards)

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