Gandalf Starter Deck

This 63-card starter set joins the fantastic realms and visions of J. R. R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson into an action-packed gaming adventure. Each starter box contains the prime locations and characters to get you started in the dazzling world of The Lord of The Rings™ TCG.

This deck introduces Gandalf, the powerful grey wizard, who must face the task of guiding the Ring-bearer across the lands of Middle-earth. Your opponent faces the fierce and fearless Orc warriors who inhabit the dark shadows of Moria.

Look for the Aragorn starter deck as well as randomised 11-card booster packs. In addition, there is a deluxe starter set which includes a collector's storage box, glass counters, a fixed deck based around Hobbits and Ringwraiths, and more.

- From The Lord of The Rings Gandalf Starter Deck. -

The Lord of the Rings has been named the greatest and most popular book of the 20th century. It is an epic of good versus evil, extraordinary heroes, wondrous creatures and dark armies of terror. It is one of the major influences in the world of fantasy. To many, The Lord of the Rings is the gospel of the fantasy genre.

The Lord of the Rings is about to become the motion picture event of the 21st century. JRR Tolkien’s groundbreaking saga will be presented in a trilogy of feature films: The Fellowship of the Ring (December 2001), The Two Towers (Holiday 2002) and The Return of the King (Holiday 2003).

The Lord of the Rings TCG is a fast-paced, story-oriented strategy game that focuses on the Fellowship’s desperate quest to get The One Ring to Mordor. It is an all-new game designed to bring the drama, characters and excitement of this epic tale to life in an innovative multi-player game.

Each booster contains 11 cards (1 rare, 3 uncommon, 7 common). Special diffraction foil cards are randomly inserted, displacing a common card.

From the Decipher website which can be found at
www.decipher.com

First Impressions

I liked The Lord of The Rings (LoTR) film and until I’d seen it the book had done nothing for me. I tried to read the book several times, but I had already surrendered to the mighty Raymond E. Feist and his amazing Rift War saga, which I found more interesting and easier to read. After watching the LoTR film however I went home, found the book and started to read. I finished it almost a week later and after soldiering through the first few chapters it was a very good read.

I am however, still not a firm believer in LoTR as the best book of all time. I certainly enjoyed it and the story is as gripping as they come. I also believe that without it we would be seriously lacking most of the fantasy stories we now have, but at the same time I think the film did well to cut out the parts it did.

The card game interested me as it not only looked good, but I liked the idea of following the same journey as the characters in the film. So I invested in two starter decks and went to try it out.

Style & Quality

Decipher is without a doubt the king of cards, and they have done an unbelievable job of putting the LoTR Trading Card Game (TCG) together. It has good selection of images from the film and it’s nice to see some of the costumes and make up in freeze frame - boy are those goblins ugly. The landscape location views are good as well and they help set the scene a little, while at the same time reminding you exactly where your Fellowship is in Middle-earth. Here is one of the character cards from the game:

Rules & Setting

The rules are in a small, but thick 40-page rulebook. I am a confidant that instead of the rulebook a large foldout play-sheet would be a better idea, but who knows. The rules are very good and the style of game play is fluid and well thought out.

When you play the game with the standard starter decks (as a pose to the Deluxe one) you start out with Frodo, The One Ring and either Gandalf or Aragorn. This is your starting fellowship and you will be able to build on it as you move through the games locations cards.

As you move through the nine location cards (Westfarthing, Ettenmoors, Council Courtyard, Mithril Mine, Bridge of Khazad-Dûm, Dimrill Dale, Anduin Confluence, Shores of Nen Hithoel and Emyn Muil) you will accumulate Twilight Tokens, which reflect the increasing danger as your Fellowship moves on. The Twilight tokens are then spent by your opponent to unleash goblins and other general nastiness upon you.

Final Thoughts

This is probably one of my favourite card games and I've never been a huge fan of them up till now. I actually really enjoyed playing it right from the start, and I normally get bored reading the rules long before I begin to like the game. Although, my only complaint does lie with the rules. I think they could have been laid out in a much simpler style and I don’t remember seeing a single diagram of how your card layout should look during the game, which is usually a helpful guide.

In conclusion, if you like the film then this should be on your shopping list, and even if you hated the film, maybe this should still be on your shopping list. Playing is a good laugh and its great fun dispatching Goblin’s to ravage your friends Fellowship.

The game also has an excellent playability lifespan, as you find that the planning and decision making aspect plays a bigger role. This makes it better and better each time you play as you begin to hone your tactics, and I’ve found it keep’s you playing long after you should really be in bed getting some sleep.

Reviewed by Nathan Holmes