Nice freeps. I've been playing with a similar set up for a while but I never thought to add
Shire Countryside to the mix. If you want to focus on Merry a little more,
Depart Silently and
Escape are both useful. I would also try to fit in
Coat of Mail so Faramir can take the larger minions without Merry's help. Which reminds me, I would still use
Wizard's Pupil over Son of Denethor, just because it gives you more options. That's just preference I guess. Lastly, I'm not sure that
Birthday Present is entirely necessary- if you planned carefully you should have enough burdens in the fellowship phase anyways, and at least in my meta recurring NfFatRD isn't helpful.
And the shadow doesn't look like any deck I've ever used before, so I'll just leave it.