"Here I must bid you lay aside your weapons before you enter."
--- Háma, "The Two Towers," J.R.R. Tolkien

Welcome!

If you are new to the Middle Earth Collectable Card Game, check out some Resources tutorials or ask for an introduction in the Community Discord channel.

If you are a veteran, perhaps you are interested in upcoming Events or player Standings.

Whether you bring warning, or peril, or are a picker of bones, carrion-fowl that grows fat on war, join us at Meduseld!

"Behold! you are come into a peril greater even than the wit of Wormtongue could weave into your dreams. But see! you dream no longer. You live."
--- Gandalf, "The Two Towers," J.R.R. Tolkien

Events

If there is an event you would like to see, or have questions about running your own event, mention it to us in the MECCG Discord!

Upcoming events:

Timing	Event	Organizer	Details
2024-09 to 2024-11	Online CoE World Championship Qualifiers	sarma72 (CoE)	Swiss, constructed
2024-11 to 2024-12	Online CoE World Championship Finals	sarma72 (CoE)	Invitational, round-robin, constructed

Past events

Main Month	Event	Organizer	Details	Reviews
2024-06 to 2024-08	All Expansion Sealed Collection	Theo	Sealed: about $132 of cards from all expansions plus 1 avatar character per deck, TP incentives for playing different deck types.	sfan77 (1)
2023-11 and 2023-12	Hero World Cup	sarma72	Sealed Hero collections with group rounds followed by knockout rounds with progressive pack releases.
2023-11-10 to 2023-11-12	Worlds (Live!)	Goblin King	Council of Elrond Worlds 2023. See forum post for event schedule. $50 admission.
2023-08	A Knife in the Dark	sarma72	Constructed METW-MEDM, starting hazard agent draft, agents can move to revealed sites but are discarded at end of turn.
2023-07	All Expansion Sealed Collection	Theo	Sealed: cards from all expansions plus 1 avatar character per deck, Fallen decks only if covert-only (as Hero) or at least half Orc+Troll mind (as Minion), first round pairing based on alignment, TP incentives for playing sufficiently distinct decks.	Bilbo (2)
2023-03	Civilized Challenge	Theo	(Pre-)Constructed: allows Challenge Decks, or constructed decks with at most 3 rares and 15-card sideboards, along with additional card bans including sustainable roadblock hazards, immediate removal hazards, and character removal resources. Additional civilized rule modifications.
2022-12	Hero World Cup Elimination Rounds	sarma72	Sealed: Quarterfinals added 4 METD boosters, Semifinals added 4 MEDM boosters, Finals added cards from all sets, sites limited by added expansions.
2022-11	Hero World Cup Group Rounds	sarma72	Sealed: 2 METW starters with unique mixed fixed packs, 2 METW boosters, 1 METW promo, 1 generic hero ally if no allies otherwise, 1 One Ring, 1 Cracks of Doom, 1 hero character of each MP value, 1 more wizard character card of choice, only sites from METW.
2022-10	Halfling (by Name)	DamienX207	Constructed: at most 1 of any card other than: avatar characters; one resource; one hazard; one other resource which is at most 2; one other hazard which is at most 2.	Theo (1) sarma72 (2)
2022-07	All Expansion Sealed Collection	Theo	353-card sealed, plus 1 more avatar character card of choice, Fallen decks only if covert-only (as Hero) or at least half Orc+Troll (as Minion), early round pairings based on alignment.	Adamj (2)
2021-11	METW+METD	Bergil	Constructed: cards (including sites) restricted to METW+METD.
2021-07	METW	sarma72	Constructed: cards (including sites) restricted to METW.	Shapeshifter (1)
2020-11	Progressive Sealed	CDavis7M	Sealed: 1 METW starter and 3 METW booster with 1-deck game, round 2 added 3 METD boosters, round 3 added 3 MEDM boosters and switched to 2-deck games, round 4 added 1 METW booster + 1 METD + 1 MEDM.
2020-08	General Opponent	Bergil	Constructed	Theo (2)

"Then even the defeat of Rohan will be glorious in song."
--- Aragorn, "The Two Towers," J.R.R. Tolkien

Standings

2024-09:

Participation Scores

League Rankings (online)

The Council of Meduseld tracks the games of public sanctioned events as well as player-submitted games. Submitted games will be included in tracking when deemed to sufficiently follow ICE play rules, as determined by the CoM. (DC games are not tracked at this time.) CoM offers a Participation Score, a Participation Penalty Fraction, and a League Ranking. All contributions decay over time, and players are encouraged to contribute at least 3 games against different opponents a year to stay ranked. (It is a Mark of Honor for active community members to issue or accept one challenge per quarter with someone within a quarter of their rank.)

To submit a game outside of a sanctioned event: Both players should message Council of Meduseld#7997 via Discord prior to the start of the game. The message should include who the opponent is and a summary of the game format---agreed upon deck restrictions such as constructed or sealed, alignment restrictions, and whether players bring two decks for different opposing alignments ("General Opponent"). Upon completion, both players should then submit the game results to Council of Meduseld#7997.

Participation contributions are larger for playing games in larger events. Penalties (summarized at the bottom) may be applied for dropping a game or an event.

League ranks are designed to separate performance from participation. They are based on scoring players so that the difference in scores between pairs of players is roughly their historical Tournament Point difference for games actually played---missed matches don't count. (It is related to a generalization of SpringRank.) This means that ranks are in the context of the distribution of formats played, which likely differs for each player, and so should be taken lightly! This is particularly true for players getting terrible sealed collections. Players with few games are noted; their ranks could change especially easily. Precise ranks are not distinguished for the bottom 1/4 of ranked players. The goal is to integrate the in-person and online rankings once enough network connectivity exists between the two.

ICE ranking points are based on "Middle-earth CCG Official Ranking System by Chraig 'Ichabod' O'Brien, for I.C.E." Per CoL Tournament Policy, it only includes events with at least 6 players that use a Swiss or Round Robin pairing scheme, noted in the file. Without a regular yearly timeline, Ichabod's 0.2x (or 0x for negatives) multipliers per season is replaced with a "decayed" RP calculation. After each tournament, the points of that tournament are added to the ranking points from after the previous tournament reduced by a fraction for each month that elapsed between. The decay is currently based on a 3 year rather than 1 year timescale, so 0.2x (or 0.01x for negative sums) for every 36 months.


Past standings:

2024-01:	Participation Scores	League Rankings (online)	League Rankings (in person)	ICE Ranking Points
2023-08:	Participation Scores	League Rankings	ICE Ranking Points
2023-01:	Participation Scores	League Rankings	ICE Ranking Points
2022-01:	Participation Scores	League Rankings	ICE Ranking Points

"His voice was low and secret, and none save the king heard what he said. But ever as he spoke the light shown brighter in Théoden's eye."
--- "The Two Towers," J.R.R. Tolkien

Counsel

Here are some recommendations for play. As with all counsel, your choices are still yours to make.

Rules Precedence	Scoring

Rules Precedence

CoM recommends the following Conservative approach to rules, where rulings more distant from ICE are given lower precedence, in the sense that they are only considered when there is ambiguity from higher precedent sources.

1. Event-specific rules (typically including CoL Tournament Rules v3).
2. ICE NetRep errata from the official CRF 15 (unofficial versions were widely propagated).
3. ICE rulebooks and published clarifications, from last to first. The Rules Summary from MEBA is neither rulebook nor rules clarification, as it is considered to be necessary to simplify material for a complete rules summary.
4. ICE NetRep rulings, from last to first.
5. CoE rulings, from last to first.

CoM also recognizes (but does not recommend) the following Aggressive approach to rules precedence:

1. Event-specific rules (typically including CoL Tournament Rules v3).
2. CoE rulings, from last to first.
3. ICE rulebooks, NetRep rulings, errata, from last to first.

CoM highly discourages rule-by-intimidation, including the traditional approaches of precedent given to those that talk the most or the loudest, or those citing past tournament achievements.

---

Scoring

CoM is interested in modernizing the Council of Lorien tournament point system, and has trialed new systems since the Spring of 2023.

We are currently in early trials of an All Points Count (continuous) system. Until that is ready...

CoM suggests the following system (version 3), which is designed to 1) even out the thresholds for the trailing player so that they are more likely to always be within reach or risk of changing their TP, 2) slightly increase the imporance of win rate compared to crushing victories, and 3) reduce Swiss pairing skill variance from early concessions and One Ring losses.

• A One Ring win is 7 TP.
• A Marshalling Point win with over 8 + 5/3 opponent's MP is 6 TP.
• Otherwise, with over 3 + 5/4 opponent's MP is 5 TP.
• Otherwise, over opponent is 4 TP.
• A tie is 3 TP.
• An MP loss is 6 minus opponent's TP. (This is equivalent to 3 minus 1 for each complete gap of (opponent's MP + 12)/5 from opponent.)
• A loss to One Ring is as though opponent had twice the MP needed to call. (For 2-deck games, this means 26 MP gives 1 TP and 38 MP gives 2 TP.)
• Concession is 0 TP to the one conceding and max TP to opponent according to their deck capability (6 or 7). Conceeding early during an event will also incure a participation penalty and the player may be dropped from the event. Event participants are strongly encouraged to contact the event coordinator prior to round pairings when an absence is foreseeable.
• A bye from an incomplete pairing is worth 6 TP for the first round and 1 less TP for each round thereafter, to a minimum of 3. When possible, tournament organizers should strive to have a standby player to make even pairings for the first round.
• Point modification from early concessions and byes are awarded incrementally in halves at the start of remaining tournament rounds for pairing purposes, with the last round awarding all points. (E.g. consider a 4-round event. A round 1 early concession at 16-20 MP will cause the one who conceded to be paired in round 2 as if the game contributed 1 TP (2 TP/2), in round 3 as if that game contributed 0.5 TP (2 TP/2/2), and in round 4 with that game contributing 0 TP. A round 2 bye from an incomplete pairing awards 3 points immediately, 4 points when pairing for round 3, 5 points when pairing for round 4.)

The table below gives CoM ranges of trailing MP based on leading MP (vertical) and TP (horizontal).

Leading MP \ TP	6/0	5/1	4/2
16	up to 4	5-10	11-15
17	up to 5	6-11	12-16
18	up to 5	6-11	12-17
19	up to 6	7-12	13-18
20	up to 7	8-13	14-19
21	up to 7	8-14	15-20
22	up to 8	9-15	16-21
23	up to 8	9-15	16-22
24	up to 9	10-16	17-23
25	up to 10	11-17	18-24
26	up to 10	11-18	19-25
27	up to 11	12-19	20-26
28	up to 11	12-19	20-27
29	up to 12	13-20	21-28
30	up to 13	14-21	22-29
31	up to 13	14-22	23-30
32	up to 14	15-23	24-31
33	up to 14	15-23	24-32
34	up to 15	16-24	25-33
35	up to 16	17-25	26-34
36	up to 16	17-26	27-35
37	up to 17	18-27	28-36
38	up to 17	18-27	28-37
39	up to 18	19-28	29-38
40	up to 19	20-29	30-39
41	up to 19	20-30	31-40
42	up to 20	21-31	32-41
43	up to 20	21-31	32-42
44	up to 21	22-32	33-43
45	up to 22	23-33	34-44
46	up to 22	23-34	35-45
47	up to 23	24-35	36-46
48	up to 23	24-35	36-47
49	up to 24	25-36	37-48
50	up to 25	26-37	38-49
51	up to 25	26-38	39-50
52	up to 26	27-39	40-51
53	up to 26	27-39	40-52
54	up to 27	28-40	41-53
55	up to 28	29-41	42-54
56	up to 28	29-42	43-55
57	up to 29	30-43	44-56
58	up to 29	30-43	44-57
59	up to 30	31-44	45-58
60	up to 31	32-45	46-59

"As his fingers took the hilt, it seemed to the watchers that firmness and strength returned to his thin arm."
--- "The Two Towers," J.R.R. Tolkien

Resources

Musings for MECCG Entry

• CDavis7M's Advice on Initial Purchases
• CDavis7M's The Red Book of MECCG (three cheap decks and accompanied simplified rules for learning the game)
• CDavis7M's TRB Game & Turn Summaries (to go with The Red Book simplification)
• Adamj's strategy demo videos

Tools (showcase video)

• Collection Generator
• Deck Checker
• Deck Distinction

Online Play Platform Tutorials

• Bergil's cardnum tutorials
• Phil's Mellon tutorials

Game Recordings

• Theo's
• Bergil's
• World's 2023 Semis, Finals

"Come, come! We are all friends here. Or should be; for the laughter of Mordor will be our only reward, if we quarrel."
--- Gandalf, "The Two Towers," J.R.R. Tolkien

Community

• Discord chat: https://discord.gg/EFqBJmT
• cardnum play platform: https://cardnum.net (also previously at http://meccg.fairuse.org)
• Mellon play platform: https://meccg.herokuapp.com/deckbuilder
• Kodi's play platform: https://play.meccg.com
• "World-coordinating body" Council of Elrond forums: https://councilofelrond.org/forum
• Tournament archive (including some decks) at http://fallen-gandalf.net

"But when I escaped and warned you, then the mask was torn, for those who would see."
--- Gandalf, "The Two Towers," J.R.R. Tolkien

---

The Council of Meduseld aims to bring the MECCG player community together by being a hub for communicating events and play results. We also aim to empower strategy theoreticians and event organizers to act with independence while building off the wisdom of peers.

The Tenets of the Council of Meduseld

• We believe groups of players should play how they want, and not be bullied into conformity for others' sake.
• We organize and assist with events as prime opportunities for players to engage in larger communities for collaborative enjoyment.
• We serve the community as librarians and analysts of game result data.
• We expect that prior to an event, event organizers will determine and communicate how rules disputes will be adjudicated, to the extent feasible. We expect informed players to decline events that will likely disallow them from playing how they want.
• We value the legitimacy of the rules texts and cards of ICE, the game's designers, in all of their complexity.

Relation to the Council of Elrond

As we see it, the "world-coordinating body" Council of Elrond must necessarily be political because of its unification mantle. We believe it needn't be authoritarian, but its choices to approach leadership via authoritarianism have excluded many community members. While any shift by CoE toward more systematically supporting the values espoused by CoM would tbe thrilling, the reality is that the world will always include Peoples with other values, for whom CoE is also obliged to be a haven. On the whole, such unification is Good. It can also be a source of disputes. Due to this potential tension, CoM more resembles an arts council---indeed, according to wikipedia (accessed 2023-3-8), arts councils "often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent political interference in their decisions." Through separation, the Council of Meduseld has a chance to pursue its favored arts more freely. We thus aim to join the fan-site soundscape as a musical counterpoint, distant yet harmonizing, rather than butting in with discordant bickering.

This is not meant to signify any loss of appreciation of what CoE can offer. CoM expects that most CoE events based on the official ICE cards will be eligible for inclusion in the CoM League Ranking, and CoE in turn has voiced support for CoM initiatives.

Why Meduseld?

In The Lord of the Rings, Meduseld is the home and mead hall of the house of Eorl, the leaders of the Rohirrim, a place of social gathering, war-planning, and award conferrence. The Rohirrim are the most central non-Dunedain men of the novels, and Meduseld is the setting of the first instance of Gandalf at work that readers receive after his return, restoring the strength and will of Theoden King and urging him to commit to battle. We similarly urge old and new players to join in the community. The world need not be dark!

Additionally, compared to much of Tolkien's other rich storytelling, Meduseld is relatively new, not smothered in history from previous Ages of the world. Let us take a fresh perspective on how we can collaborate with each other in enjoying some great games.

History

The Middle Earth Collectable Card Game was created by Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) between 1995 and 1998, at which point the licenser removed their ability to sell Middle Earth products. ICE had been publishing role-playing game manuals for several decades, and perhaps as a consequence the CCG they made offers richer game storytelling and strategy---at the cost of rule complexity---than essentially every other CCG I've seen. The community has persisted through the years, likely because of these achievements.

With the release of the free, browser-based play platform cardnum in August 2018, the community realized a new potential for diverse participation. This presented new opportunities to overcome the age-old mindsets for organizing events and handling rules disputes. The first cardnum tournament was held two years later, when the Coronavirus pandemic brought more play online. The idea of Council of Meduseld began to take shape in the mind of prominent community member Theo around the start of 2021, and was first released at the start of 2023.

This site has been initially populated with the contributions of a few, but we hope to involve more contributors over time. Contact us with ideas!

I, CoM webmaster Theo, am many things, but one thing that I am not is a very practiced website developer. If you would like to offer suggestions or code, I am as growth-minded as my time allows.