Category Archives: Draft

Deck Spotlight: Bear Draft at Con of the Rings 2023

Posted on October 4, 2023 by Beorn

I had the privilege of attending Con of the Rings 2023 in Minnesota this past weekend. There I ran the latest version of my Bear Draft (v9) with a cooperative twist. In this version, participants were able to pass hero … Continue reading →

Posted in A Long-extended Party, Archetypes, Bear Draft, Combo, Community, Con of the Rings, Draft, Events, Game Variant, Live Play, Multiplayer, Play Style, Series, Swarm | Tagged Bear Draft v9, Caldara, Community, Con of the Rings, Con of the Rings 2023, Deck List, Durin's Father, Fantasy Flight Games, Fun, Limited Format, Living Card Games, Lord of the Rings LCG, Mono-Spirit, The Lord of the Rings LCG, Tolkien, Vision of the Palantir | 1 Comment

Game Variant: Bear Draft v9 at Con of the Rings 2023

Posted on September 15, 2023 by Beorn

With Con of the Rings 2023 fast approaching, it is time to post the updated version of the Bear Draft. At the Lure of Middle-earth in Germany earlier this year I had the pleasure of participating in a cooperative version … Continue reading →

Posted in A Long-extended Party, Bear Draft, Community, Con of the Rings, Draft, Events, Game Variant, Live Play, Lure of Middle Earth, Multiplayer, Play Style, Series | Tagged A Long-extended Party, ALeP, Bear Draft, Community, Con of the Rings, Con of the Rings 2023, Copperative Draft, Custom Scenario Kits, Draft, Escape from Kazad-dum, Fantasy Flight Games, French LotR Forum, Fun, Limited Format, Living Card Games, Lord of the Rings LCG, Lure of Middle-earth, Rouxxor, The Mines of Moria, Tolkien | 1 Comment

Homebrew: Elrond and Vilya

Posted on June 16, 2023 by Beorn

Onward, with my hair-brained quest to rebalance some of the most egregiously over-powered cards. As previously mentioned, these changes are intended for limited formats like Bear Draft, where over-powered cards have an even greater impact on game balance. The expectation … Continue reading →

Posted in Archetypes, Combo, Community, Custom Cards, Draft, Game Variant, Power, Series, Theme | Tagged Bear Draft, Community, Dwarrowdelf, Elrond, Fantasy Flight Games, Game Balance, Living Card Games, Lord of the Rings LCG, Metagame, Overpowered Cards, RingsDB, Strategy, The One Deck, Vilya | 1 Comment

Homebrew: Forgotten Lore

Posted on January 30, 2023 by Beorn

Limited formats like the Bear Draft present a particular challenge to designing a balanced metagame. The card counts are skewed significantly by the overall size of pool and constraints on deck size. Common cards have only 3 copies in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Con of the Rings, Custom Cards, Draft, Events, Game Variant, Homebrew Cards, Live Play, Lure of Middle Earth, Multiplayer, Play Style, RingsDB, Series | Tagged Bear Draft, Blessing of Nimrodel, Community, Deck Building, Dunedain Guardian, Fantasy Flight Games, Gatekeeper, Homebrew Cards, Living Card Games, Lord of the Rings LCG, Lore, Lore is less popular in draft, Metagame, The Lord of the Rings LCG, Tolkien, Woodman's Axe | 1 Comment

Homebrew: Seal of the Steward

Posted on December 11, 2022 by Beorn

Card game balance is a delicate thing, especially when a game is first released. If the cards in a Core Set are too weak, quests will be too difficult and players will be bored with a lack of options. On … Continue reading →

Posted in A Long-extended Party, Community, Custom Cards, Draft, Events, Game Variant, Legacy of Feanor, Lure of Middle Earth, Series | Tagged Bear Draft, Fantasy Flight Games, Game Balance, Homebrew Cards, Living Card Games, Lord of the Rings LCG, Metagame, Power Level, Resource Acceleration, Steward of Gondor, Tolkien | 3 Comments

Game Variant: Bear Draft v8 at Lure of Middle-earth 2023

Posted on December 6, 2022 by Beorn

The Lure of Middle-earth is a convention which features events for both the Lord of the Rings LCG and the Middle-earth CCG. It is held in castle Stahleck in Bacharach Germany and will take place next year from February 24th … Continue reading →

Posted in A Long-extended Party, Bear Draft, Community, Draft, Events, Game Variant, Live Play, Lure of Middle Earth, Multiplayer, Play Style, Series | Tagged ALeP, Bacharach, Bear Draft, Bear Draft v8, Castle Stahleck, Community, Draft, Fantasy Flight Games, Fun, Germany, Living Card Games, Lord of the Rings LCG, Multiplayer, Tolkien | 4 Comments

Deck Spotlight: Bear Draft at Con of the Rings 2022

Posted on October 5, 2022 by Beorn

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend Con of the Rings 2022 and it was a wonderful experience. It was nice reconnecting with folks I haven’t seen all year, playing lots of games, and sharing some fun alt-art … Continue reading →

Posted in A Long-extended Party, Aggro, Archetypes, Combo, Community, Con of the Rings, Deck Spotlight, Draft, Events, Game Variant, Live Play, Multiplayer, Play Style, RingsDB, Series, Support, Theme, Tribal | Tagged ALeP, Bear Draft, Bear Draft v7, Beorning, Community, Con of the Rings, Con of the Rings 2022, Deck Building, Deck List, Draft, Fantasy Flight Games, Fun, Healing, Limited Format, Living Card Games, Location Control, Lord of the Rings LCG, Support Deck, Thanks, Thengel, Traps | Leave a comment

Game Variant: Bear Draft v7 at Con of the Rings 2022

Posted on July 12, 2022 by Beorn

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in A Long-extended Party, Bear Draft, Community, Con of the Rings, Draft, Events, Game Variant, News, Series | Tagged A Long-extended Party, Alternate Formats, Bear Draft, Community, Con of the Rings, Con of the Rings 2022, Fantasy Flight Games, Fun, Living Card Games, Lord of the Rings LCG, Tolkien | 1 Comment

Deck Spotlight: Bear Draft at Con of the Rings 2021

Posted on October 5, 2021 by Beorn

I had a great time at Con of the Rings 2021. Seeing old friends and making new ones is always a highlight. Whenever I can, I like to run the latest version of my Bear Draft. This year it was … Continue reading →

Posted in A Long-extended Party, Archetypes, Community, Con of the Rings, Control, Deck Spotlight, Draft, Events, Game Variant, Live Play, Multiplayer, Play Style, Power, Series, Tempo, Theme | Tagged A Long-extended Party, Bear Draft, Bear Draft v6, Beregond, Community, Con of the Rings 2021, Conventions, Deck Lists, Draft, Early Game, Eowyn, Fun, Galadriel, Gimli, Grimbeorn the Old, Limited Format, Lord of the Rings LCG, Multiplayer, Prince Imrahil, Strategy | 1 Comment

Game Variant: Bear Draft v6 at Con of the Rings 2021

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Beorn

The original plan was to design a new version of the Bear Draft for Con of the Rings 2020. The pandemic had other ideas, so here we are in May of 2021 and I’ve finally finished updating the draft pool. … Continue reading →