Mordor is the second hardest match up for Isengard on 2.4. Mordor's spam can be very hard to contain as an Isengard player. It is vital that you save as many Furnaces as possible and expand as much as possible to survive through the spam. If the opponent is very aggressive, it is suggested that you get a third builder to help build Furnaces. It may be hard to expand early game, but it gets even harder late game, when Mordor gets upgrades, fliers, and monsters. You must keep their economy small to delay their late game as long as you can, or else it will be very hard to keep up with them.
Early Game
Starting Build Orders
Build Order 1: Quick WargsThis build order gets you Wargs very early in the game.
2 Furnaces - Uruk Pit - Furnace - Warriors - Warg Pit - Warriors - Wargs - Pikes - Furnace
Standard Strategy:Start by building two Furnaces near your Fortress. After the first builder is finished building, command it to build an Uruk Pit right next to its Furnace. It is best to set a rally point somewhere towards the middle of the map. This helps to get your units to the opponent as quickly as possible and it encourages an aggressive style of play. After the Uruk Pit is finished building, get Uruk Warriors as the first battalion. Always rush with Warriors unless the opponent is starting with archers or Nazgul rushing, which does not happen very often. Build the Warg Pit in the back of the fortress so that it is harder to destroy. The second battalion should normally be another group of Warriors. You will need them for defense, unless your opponent is playing defensively and you do not need units by your base. Use one or two battalions of Wargs to save your Furnaces by crushing clumps around them. When you do not need the Wargs for defense, they should be harassing. Get Pikes after your first battalion of Wargs. Unless the opponent already has a Nazgul, creep with your pikes. It's best to get two Furnaces with the creep money, and then get Lurtz with the resources from them.
Description:This is the standard build order against Mordor. This strategy gets you a good rush, which Mordor has a difficult time in stopping. With it you should be able to destroy at least one Slaughter House. This build order also allows you to get Wargs out very quickly, which helps a lot against Mordor. Isengard should usually have an Uruk Pit and a Warg Pit after three Furnaces when facing Mordor. It is very important that you get Wargs out quickly in this match up, but you need Uruks to help fight massed Orc Warriors and Easterlings. Wargs can save your Furnaces against clumped Orc Warriors and are very good for harassment, which is extremely important against Mordor. The pike will help you get creep money for Lurtz. Lurtz is very helpful in this match up, especially for countering Nazgul.
Initial Powerpoint: Palantir Vision
Build Order 2: Quick Creep - WargsThis build order relies on fast creeping for Wargs.
Furnace - Uruk Pit - Pikes - Furnace - Warriors - Furnace - Warg Pit - Crossbows - Wargs
Standard Strategy:When using this build order, try to make the first two buildings without moving your Builders. This way, you will get them both built sooner. Build a Furnace before the Uruk Pit; otherwise, the Uruk Pit will reduce the Furnace's efficiency. Set a rally point for your Uruk Pit toward the middle of the map. This helps to get your units to the opponent as quickly as possible and encourages an aggressive style of play. After the Furnace is completed, move the Builder to the other side of the Fortress. Make a pike battalion after the Uruk Pit is finished building. Since you got it right away, it is safe for you to creep the middle Warg first, which is desirable because your second creep will be very close by. Next, build a second Furnace with the builder that you moved on the other side of your Fortress. After the Furnace, make a Warrior battalion. You should be able to rush with the Warriors, since you started with only one Furnace. By rushing, you will be able to keep your opponent away from your pikes while they creep. After your Warriors, you should build a Warg Pit and another Furnace with the creep money. Build your Warg Pit behind the Fortress so it is not as easy to destroy.
Description:This build order starts with only one Furnace, so if you prefer single-Furnace starts, then do this. It does not get you a very good economy right away, but it quickly makes up for it with quick creeping. It gives you a good rush, which will give Mordor a hard time. This build order is the best way to force your opponent to play defensively right away, and possibly give you instant map control. It is important that you harass well to keep your opponent from gaining the advantage of having more resource buildings. It is very easy to defend with this strategy, since you will have only a few Furnaces but several Uruk battalions out early on. Your quick creep should help you to get Wargs fast. They will be important for harassment and gaining map control. After you gain map control, you will be able to expand more freely to make up for your slow start.
Initial Powerpoint: Palantir Vision
Build Order 3: Two Furnaces - CreepThis build order gets a very strong economy.
2 Furnaces - Uruk Pit - Pikes - Furnace - Warriors - Warg Pit - Crossbows - Wargs
Standard Strategy:Start the same as you would start when doing the quick Wargs build order. Build the first two Furnaces up by your Fortress. After the first Builder is finished building, command it to build an Uruk Pit right next to the Furnace. Instead of making a Warrior first, get Pikes for creeping. Unlike the quick creep build order, you should never creep the middle lair first or you might get creep-stolen. Instead, you can either creep the Troll lair, for fast Corsairs, or else a Warg lair. You get the creep much faster when you creep a Warg, but you are also more likely to be creep stolen that way. You will have to defend with your first Warriors; otherwise, you would probably lose one or two Furnaces. After the Warriors, make Crossbows to help defend. Once you get your creep money, build another Furnace and a Warg Pit. You will have a great economy if this strategy works, to help get a few Wargs for harassment. It is especially important to harass well, since you have not attacked much early on with this strategy.
Description:Using this build order is the best way to get a great economy without having to get Wargs to save your Furnaces. It is a combination of the quick Wargs build order and the quick creep build order. This results in a much stronger economy. You will also have Warriors out early enough to defend. With such a good economy, you are able to get Lurtz sooner and then a faster second Uruk pit. A quick Lurtz is very good against Mordor, since you should be able to level him up early for Cripple, which is extremely useful for killing Nazgul. The problem with this strategy is that you will not have a good rush and you will not have many units out early on. Fortunately, the faster second Uruk Pit will help you build up your army faster, after you get it.
Initial Powerpoint: Palantir Vision
Build Order 4: Double Uruk Pit SpamThis build order is a direct counter to Mordor's 2 Slaughterhouses - Pit - Palace build order.
2 Furnaces - Uruk Pit - Pikes - Furnace - Warriors - Uruk Pit - Furnace - Crossbows
Standard Strategy:Start by building your two Furnaces by your Fortress. Then, build an Uruk Pit. It is best not to build your third Furnace yet, because if you do get it, you will have to wait a while before you can get your Pike battalion. After you start making your Pikes, you can build your third Furnace behind your Fortress. You should get Warriors as your second battalion. You will probably have to defend with them. Try to always get between your opponent's units and your buildings, so that he cannot clump them properly. After you get your Warriors, you should build a second Uruk Pit. You should get your creep money at around this time, so that you can build another Furnace besides. After the Warriors, you should get Crossbows to help it defend. Get Lurtz with your second creep's money, when using this build order. You probably shouldn't use the resources to expand, since you won't have Wargs to secure them so early. With Lurtz, you should be able to support your Uruks better to keep them alive. This way, you can gain the bigger army, so that you can gain map control for expansion later on.
Description:You should always use this build order when your opponent builds an Orc Pit and a Haradrim Palace as his first two production buildings. This build order can work against a corsair spam or a regular orc spam as well, but it is not nearly as effective. You should have lots of Warriors and Crossbows with two Uruk Pits and he will definitely have several Pikes and then Warriors and Archers. He will, most likely, not have enough Archers to fight all of your units and Warriors and Pikes do a poor job at fighting uruks, so it will be easy for you to creep steal and fight his army. Since he cannot fight your army, you should be able to freely harass and destroy his economy and unit production. If you can manage to creep steal your opponent, you should win the game easily unless you really mess it up. If you plan on using the four Furnace build order, but sight and see that he is starting pit palace; you can also build two Uruk Pits, instead of a Uruk Pit and a Warg Pit like the regular Four Furnaces build order.
Initial Powerpoint: Palantir Vision
Build Order 5: Four FurnacesThis build order gets you an instant unit mix.
4 Furnaces - Warg Pit - Uruk Pit - Wargs - Warriors - Wargs - Crossbows - Furnace - Pikes
Standard Strategy:Start by building four Furnaces. It is good to get them at as efficient as possible. This is important so that you will have enough resources to make Wargs and Uruks right away. Do not build a Furnace between your opponent's base and your own; this will make it too easy to destroy right away. Instead, build it off to the side of your base. Build your Warg Pit in the back of your base and the Uruk Pit to the side or in front of the Fortress. Get Wargs and Warriors right away from the production buildings. Always defend with your first Warg battalion, or else you might lose a couple Furnaces. You will probably have to defend with your first Warrior battalion as well, since they should already have horde bonus or else Easterlings. You will need a second Warg battalion out right away to crush multiple groups of Orc Warriors at once or else to destroy a large army of Orcs. If you need to attack a large army and only have one Warg battalion, then attack along the sides so that you do not lose your Warg. Rush with your second group of Warriors, you will need to harass because you will not have put any pressure on your opponent yet. If your opponent went for Easterlings, you should defend with the Warrior and harass with one of your Warg battalions instead.
Description: This is a good strategy against Mordor. It will start you with a good economy, which is important since Mordor's harassment will normally keep your economy weak, during middle game. You have to be careful with it though, Mordor should either have many Orc Warriors or else Easterlings mixed in with Orcs by the time you get Wargs and Warriors. They can possibly destroy your economy or one of your production buildings. Without rushing, Mordor can also start with a four Slaughterhouses build order, which could result in a spam of three or four Orc Pits and fast pikes. This can be very overwhelming for Isengard, as they have a very hard time defending against a good spam. You will want to apply pressure on the opponent to keep the battle away from your own base. The good part of this build order is that you will have a very strong economy and a great unit mix right away. If you can save all six of your first buildings, this build order is great. However, this can be hard to do against Mordor.
Initial Powerpoint: Palantir Vision
