My brother has been vigorously working on making some decks that balance out powerwise. And he's making good strides. Only the Dark Elf deck regretfully is lagging behind a bit. And we still need to make an Orc deck that is worthwhile.

Could an Orc player give me some pointers on how to work for them. I know they're very beatdown orientated but they're less easy construct a deck for than we at first thought.

Try one of these approaches:

1) Rush. Use Spider Riders, other cheap Goblins, Choppas, Waaagh!, and like cards, focus on your Battlefield above all else, and try to burn two zones before your opponent can set up his defense.

2) Grimgor Control, like this deck by Vitamin T: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=2297 Keep the opponent down with Grimgor, and rely on cheap units and supports yourself.

3) Self-damage. Orcs have a lot of cards that allow you to deal damage to your own units (like Followers of Mork, Orc Shaman, We'z Bigga!, Savage Boyz), and also a lot of units that benefit from being damaged, or having other damaged units around (like Squig Herders, Skarsnik and Gobbla, Frenzied Big 'Un). This isn't as fast as rush, and it can backfire or simply never get running at all, but when it does work, it can very powerful.

Try picking one of these approaches and really focus on it. If you go for self-damage, don't include 12 units that might be good in and of themselves, but don't have self-damage synergy. An important aspect of building a deck that works smoothly and reliably is not just throwing in all the powerful cards, but picking the ones that work together really well.

I have a several problems to create a functional but funny Orc Self Damage Deck for Friendship-Games especially against the Dwarfs of my Girlfriend.

Are there any options or special combos to think about it? Wich Cards have to bee inthere?

thanks a lot and Greetz from Germany

Da Brülla

I would generally avoid cards that force you to deal several points of damage to your own units, like Great Cave Squig or Troll Den. They can be great if you got the right card to take that damage - like Skarsnik & Gobbla or Urguck - but if you don't, they can become a problem. Much better are those that give you more choice when and/or where to deal the damage, like Followers of Mork or Orc Shaman. Savage Boyz are the best in letting you be selective when and to which units you deal the damage, and they are a nice combo with Urguck, allowing you to carry unused resources over. Speaking of heroes, don't include all those that benefit from self-damage (Urguck, S&G, Githit, Ugrok) since you won't be able to use them all.

For me, Savage Boyz, We'z Bigga!, and since Legends, Azhag are auto-includes in a self-damage deck. Beyond that, much depends on how much risk you're willing to take. Cards like S&G are a gambit in my view. The effect is powerful, but to use it you have to walk on a razor's edge. Generally, my self-damage decks have a higher percentage of units than others, because you have cards that benefit (from) multiple damaged units (Big 'Uns, Frenzied Big 'Un, Githit, Azhag), so I try to include other cards that favor a large number of units (like Looted Umie Town).

If Dwarves are troublesome for you, include some cards that specifically address their strengths - Smash Der Beards and Smash-Go-Boom! if they develop heavily, Mob Up and Boar Chariot if you find it difficult to get past their toughness. Good old Grimgor doesn't fit the theme, and you already have more than enough units to chose from that do for this kind of deck, but he can make short work of the Dwarven infrastructure.

You might also consider including some undead with the necromancy ability and come into / leave play effects, since you should be able to kill them off at will (or, if things get hairy, use them soak up too large amounts of self-damage you're generating) and bring them back. Wight Lord is an excellent choice there, since his powerful targeted unit removal ability is something you'll probably lack in this kind of deck otherwise. You won't have to worry about toughness with him either.

Thanks a lot for the advices and the whole number of information. It makes me a little bit less deperated about my high loved Orks.