The Con of the Rings 2022 will be from September 30th though October 2nd and this bear is excited. As with past years, I have updated my Bear Draft to include some new (ALeP) cards. In addition, I’ve taken notes of which cards were popular in past drafts and made corresponding adjustments to the card pool. I ran the previous version of this draft at last years convention and it was inspiring to see the excellent decks that players were able to create.
For those who are unfamiliar with the format, I will outline it below. For those who have participated in the past, other than streamlining some of the optional steps not much has changed.
Overview
The Bear Draft is designed for 8 players, split into two teams of 4 players each. It consists of the following stages, in order. The draft consists for 4 stages, completed in order. In addition to drafting their player decks, each time will use the dynamic encounter sets to create a quest which another (randomly selected) team will have to play. The quests will be built from The Mines of Moria, and Escape from Khazad-dûm custom scenario kits. The dynamic quests have a good difficulty level for draft decks, as opposed to many official quests with specific deck-building requirements which can be difficult with a draft deck.
Draft Stages
1. Hero Draft: 40 total heroes, 1 pack of 5 heroes per player. A single round, at the end of which each player has drafted 5 heroes.
2. Player Card Draft: 448 total cards, 4 packs of 14 cards per player. Four rounds, at the end of which each player has drafted 56 player cards. The minimum player deck size is 30 cards.
3. Add Signature Cards and Gandalf: Each hero has 3-6 optional signature cards. Players may add any or all signature cards for each of their starting heroes to their deck. Also, players may add 1 copy of Core Set Gandalf and 1 resource Song (Kings, Battle, Travel, Wisdom) to their deck.
4. Quest Draft: 7 distinct encounter sets (5 cards each), one stage 2 and one stage 3. The simple rules are used for building quests from the custom scenario kits. Each team of two players will alternate drafting encounter sets from the custom scenario kits. Two copies of each custom scenario kit are used to allow multiple teams to include the same encounter set. However, a given team cannot draft two copies of the same encounter set. Once each team has drafted their 7 distinct encounter sets, they will then alternate choosing a stage 2 and stage 3 (stage 1 is the same for each team). The completed quests are then randomly assigned among the 8 teams (a team cannot be assigned the quest they built).
Hero Draft
There are 40 heroes in the draft pool, 10 from each sphere. They each include 3-6 signature cards. These cards represent characters, weapons, armor, mounts, titles, and thematic events which are associated with that hero. Signature cards are optional, but they often help to build a viable deck around a given hero.
Hero
Lieutenant, Captain
Weapon, Armor, Mount, Heirlooms
Title, Song, Skill
Aragorn
Halbarad
Sword that was Broken, Roheryn, Ring of Barahir, Celebrían’s Stone
Heir of Valandil
Brand son of Bain
Wiglaf
King of Dale, Traffic from Dale
Celeborn
Orophin
O Lórien!, Feigned Voices
Rowan (ALeP)
Mariner’s Compass
Ranger Provisions, Woodman’s Outpost (ALeP)
Frodo Baggins
Sam Gamgee
The One Ring, Sting
The Master Ring, The Ruling Ring, The Ring of Power
Denethor
Boromir
Rod of the Steward
Heir of Mardil, Steward of Gondor, Visionary Leadership, Wealth of Gondor
Gimli
Legolas
Dwarven Shield, Ring Mail
The Day’s Rising, Khazâd! Khazâd!, Unlikely Friendship
Amarthiúl
Eldahir
Sword of Númenor
Descendants of Kings
Gildor Inglorion
Erestor, Harlond Lookout (ALeP)
Gildor’s Counsel
Ingold (ALeP)
Angbor the Fearless
Need Drives Them, Open the Gates (ALeP)
Leadership Heroes
Hero
Lieutenant
Weapon, Armor, Mount, Equipment
Title, Song, Skill
Legolas
Gimli
Rivendell Blade, Bow of the Galadhrim, Arod
Hands Upon the Bow, Unlikely Friendship
Éomer
Grimbold
Gúthwinë, Firefoot
Beregond
Pippin
Spear of the Citadel, Raven-winged Helm
Mablung
Anborn (Leadership)
Live Bait
Outmatched
Glorfindel (ALeP)
Rivendell Blade, Asfaloth
Revealed in Wrath
Prince Imrahil
Boromir
Prince of Dol Amroth, Gondorian Discipline
Éowyn
Merry
Windfola
Forth Erolingas!
Hirgon
Déorwine
The Red Arrow
Fierce Defense
Grimbeorn the Old
Beorn, Birna (ALeP), Beorning Skin-changer
War Axe
Beorn’s Welcome (ALeP), Beorn’s Rage
Herubrand (ALeP)
Elfhelm (Tactics Ally)
Spear of the Mark
Charge of the Rohirrim
Tactics Heroes
Hero
Lieutenant
Weapon, Armor, Mount, Equipment
Title, Song, Skill
Dúnhere
Grimbold
Spear of the Mark
Unseen Strike
Merry
Pippin
Hobbit Pony
Free to Choose
Galadriel
Haldir of Lórien
Mirror of Galadriel, Nenya
Arwen Undómiel
Lindir
Steed of Imladris, Silver Harp
Lanwyn
Gavin, Minas Tirith Lampwright x2
Círdan the Shipwright
Galdor from the Havens
Narya
Lords of the Eldar
Bard son of Brand
Descendant of Girion
Necklace of Girion
King of Dale
Dain Ironfoot
Bofur (Spirit Ally)
Ring of Thror
King Under the Mountain
Idraen
Northern Tracker
Lie of the Land
Warden of Arnor
Thengel (ALeP)
Théodwyn (ALeP)
Light-footed Steed
Ride to Ruin
Spirit Heroes
Hero
Signature
Weapon, Armor, Mount, Equipment
Title, Song
Beravor
Súlien
Keen Longbow, Dúnedain Pipe
Bifur
Dori
Legacy of Durin, Ancestral Knowledge
Elrond
Glorfindel
Vilya
Elrond’s Counsel
Haldan
Mirkwood Hunter
Woodmen’s Path
South Away!
Haldir of Lórien
Rúmil
Bow of the Galadhrim
Noiseless Movement
Thurindir
Thalion
Legacy Blade
Gather Information
Galdor of the Havens
Erestor
Lembas x2
Damrod
Faramir (Lore Ally)
Ithilien Pit
Interrogation
Radagast
Gwaihir,
Radagast’s Staff
Gwaihir’s Debt
Nob (ALeP)
Bob (ALeP)
Fast Hitch
Half-pint (ALeP)
Lore Heroes
For the hero draft, each of the 8 players will receive one pack consisting of 5 random heroes. The heroes will be drafted in a single round. Each player will draft one hero from their pack, placing it facedown in their draft pile. Once each player has selected a hero, they will pass the remaining cards in their pack clockwise to the next player. This continues until all of the heroes are drafted. Each player will end this stage having drafted 5 heroes.
Player Card Draft
There are 448 player cards in the draft pool, consisting of cards from each sphere as well as neutral cards. These 448 player can be further broken down into three categories, based on the number of copies of each card. There are 192 Common player cards, with 3 copies of each card. There are 176 Uncommon player cards, with 2 copies of each card. Finally, there are 80 Rare player cards, with 1 copy of each card.
Players will draft player cards in 4 rounds. During each round, each player takes one pack of 14 cards. They select one card to draft, placing it facedown in front of them. Once each player has selected a card from their pack, all players will then pass the remaining cards in their pack to the player sitting next to them. The direction cards are passed depends on the round. In rounds 1 and 3, cards are passed clockwise. In rounds 2 and 4, cards are passed counter-clockwise. A round continues as long as cards remain in a pack. Once a pack is finished the next round is started, until four rounds of player cards are complete.
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