Turn 2 Glóin Machine

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Seastan Breaks the Game Into 1000 Itty-Bitty Pieces
Three Power Decks
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Turn 2 Glóin Machine 0 0 0 1.0
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Seastan 44548

This is the multiplayer version of the infinite damage Glóin deck archetype. It's been through a lot of refinement.

The goal is to have Glóin ready and able to take an unlimited number of undefended attacks by turn 2. The deck is heavily streamlined, with ~90% or the cards dedicated achieving this goal. The other 10% are here to keep Glóin from falling to game-ending shadow effects.

The first goal is to give Glóin a lore icon, so that the damage he takes can be used to refresh Warden of Healing, who heals 2 off Glóin thanks to Elrond. So with a cost of 2 to heal 2 damage, Gloin breaks even and can keep the Warden healing indefinitely unless he takes a big hit that kills him.

For this reason there are a bunch of cards to increase his health. Boots from Erebor and Ent Draught can both be played turn 1. Citadel Plate is for later in the game when boss-level enemies might come out, and it is played using Narvi's Belt, but you could always get lucky and get it onto Gloin early with Well-Equipped. If you get a big hitter early in the game before Gloin has his lore icon, you can use Treebeard to defend the attacks.

In your opening hand you will want to look for Warden of Healing and either Song of Wisdom or Narvi's Belt to get him that lore icon. If you have these cards you're set, and could even pull off the combo turn 1. If not, look for Peace, and Thought or Heed the Dream (and let Gloin take some damage on the first turn), and you should be able to get the pieces you need on turn 2.

There is no real need for attack strength, as Gloin will just keep taking the attacks undefended each turn. Try to engage as many enemies as you can. Eventually, in late-late game, you will play down a Fornost Bowman with 10+ attack and take out whatever big bad orc decides to show up.

Silver Lamp gets played once you can give Gloin a spirit icon with Narvi's Belt. Gloin should also have A Burning Brand at this point. Now that you can see all the shadow effects that get dealt, you can save Gloin's actual exhaustion to defend the worst shadow effect (typically ones that discard attachments).

Lastly, Song of Mocking makes it such that you can let every other player take undefended attacks as well. You should be able to handle the combat role for all 4 players if you get set up right.

It's also worth noting that with every exhaust of the Warden to heal damage off Gloin, you also get to clear 2 damage somewhere else on the board. This results in so much healing that you will be able to max out Treebeard each round, and together with Elrond, contribute decent willpower to the quest. It also makes archery and other random damage a non-issue. In a pinch, I've even attached Citadel Plates to othe player's heroes when I don't have access to Song of Mocking. It allows them to take some undefended attacks, and be completely healed by the end of the turn from the excess Warden healing.

There are a lot of other cards that could be added to make this deck do some crazy things, and I've put a couple of them in the sideboard. The version here is just highly streamlined to get the combo out quickly.

Enjoy!

11 comments

Jun 13, 2016 emorlecallor 1277

I love the deck! Gloin decks are among my favorite in the game, and this looks like the best one yet! I'm certainly going to try it out.

One question, however: forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe the deck has no threat reduction. With it starting at 35, and with no means of reducing it, how would it fare against quests that jack up your threat quickly? Do you just try to establish everything as quickly as possible, and sprint through? It seems to be rather good at getting ready quickly, so I assume that's how it works, but I'm just curious :).

Jun 13, 2016 Seastan 44548

@emorlecallor

Correct, no threat reduction. I found that in the games I played it wasn't needed (keep in mind this is a multiplayer deck to handle combat, to the other deck(s) should be good at questing, and will probably have some form of threat reduction as well.

If it is a concern though, you can put in 1 copy of The Galadhrim's Greeting for late game. It will be easy to grab with Heed the Dream.

Jun 15, 2016 DukeWellington 189

Uuugh. No offense, because I love to power deck, but this is a fun destroying, broken, needs errata, monstrosity that you seem to have an uncanny knack for creating. I'm not sure whether it instantly beats everything but it's pretty close, especially paired with a "draw and play your entire deck" partner. This is about a dozen comboes you've uncovered to trivialize the quests. I am jealous, impressed, and annoyed all at once.

Jun 15, 2016 Seastan 44548

@DukeWellingtonHave you actually given this deck a shot yet? It's actually really fun. Yes, it's powerful, but not on the level of completely trivializing. At least not until late game. The piloting of the deck is not always straightforward, and organizing the optimal combat phase with Gloin for multiple players each round is really interesting and fresh, and a strong knowledge of the shadow effects is required. As a result, it's certainly more rewarding, to me, than something like a Hama feint lock. Sure, it will get old after a while, but what deck doesn't?

Jun 15, 2016 bzgaming 66

I actually like that this deck simply uses Gloin to defend, and most of that is undefended attacks, rather than loading him with readying and Blood/Fire to make him the ultimate took of destruction. Kinda refreshing after the Gloin deck I saw you take against Ruins of Belegost.

Jun 15, 2016 DukeWellington 189

@SeastanHama bashing is below the belt, and, for the record, I have also said that Hama and/or feint should br nerfed. If this was competitive instead of coop then taking infinite damage at no cost would clearly be broken. The fact that players can simply choose not to play OP cards is both a blessing and a curse, because the designers let this stuff happen a lot and there is little urgency to actually fix it. Oh, and I totally plan on using the deck; the power is to enticing to resist. I just wish I'd thought of it first.

Jun 16, 2016 Seastan 44548

@DukeWellingtonThe Hama comment wasn't meant as a slight toward you, although I do remember your deck so I apologize if it came across that way. This Hama deck I posted to ringsdb last week did the exact same thing as this one here (engage all enemies and handle all combat) but relied on preventing the attacks with Thicket rather than defending with Gloin. I find the Hama version to be very effective, but this Gloin version to be more strategic and enjoyable, that's all. I still love Hama though, and his ability to create a new deck archetype every time a tactics event gets released.

Jun 16, 2016 DukeWellington 189

I wasn't offended. I was being completely sarcastic, including when I complained about your Goin deck. Hama is my favorite hero ever. I'very finally come to terms with that and I'm having fun. The Hour of Wrath recycle is insane and strategically satisfying in the way you describe this deck. So far I have only really made it work in multiplayer, but on a three or four player team it is so ridiculously OP. I bet this Goin deck on a Hama HoW recycle team with a ramp machine would be like playing in God mode.

Jul 05, 2016 pokie 85

Why do you play Silver Lamp if you have A Burning Brand already? For redundancy if the brand doesn't come out early enough?

Jul 05, 2016 bzgaming 66

@pokie Gloin doesn't have unlimited readying. The deck is supposed to take unlimited undefended attacks, which A Burning Brand doesn't help with. Silver Lamp is there to help determine which attacks might need to be defended.

Jul 06, 2016 pokie 85

@bzgaming That makes sense! I have been running a lot of 4p Boromir stacked with all the things, so I forgot about this crucial distinction.