These Are My Dear Friends' Birthday Presents

[sgtdraino]

I thought it was about time to give this deck it's own thread!

This deck is a variant of a deck called "Durin's Secret Society of Dear Friends," that Kralik invented, here:

http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,4077.0.html

I added a massive possession element to it, via the use of These Are My People. Here's the deck:

These Are My Dear Friends' Birthday Presents

Starting Fellowship:
Ring-bearer: Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer
Ring: The One Ring, Answer To All Riddles
1x Gimli, Feared Axeman
1x Sam, Son of Hamfast
1x Smeagol, Slinker

Adventure deck:
Dunharrow Plateau
King's Tent
Base of Mindolluin
Osgiliath Fallen
City Gates
Minas Tirith First Circle
Osgiliath Crossing
Northern Ithilien
Dagorlad

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
1x Arwen, Daughter of Elrond
1x Legolas, Greenleaf
1x Radagast, The Brown
1x Aragorn, King in Exile
1x Derufin
1x Elrond, Keeper of Vilya
4x Bilbo, Retired Adventurer
1x Master Proudfoot, Distant Relative of Bilbo
1x Dwarven Armor
1x Dwarven Bracers
1x Gimli's Battle Axe, Trusted Weapon
1x Gimli's Helm
1x Hand Axe
1x Asfaloth, Elven Steed
1x Elven Bow
1x Elven Rope
1x Gwemegil
1x Knife of the Galadhrim
3x Lembas
1x Phial of Galadriel
1x Aragorn's Bow
1x Armor
4x Athelas
1x Ranger's Sword, Blade of Aragorn
4x Brace of Coneys
1x Frodo's Cloak
1x Hobbit Sword
1x Sting, Baggins Heirloom
1x Aiglos
1x Vilya
1x Rest by Blind Night
4x Slaked Thirsts
1x Secret Sentinels
1x Stand Against Darkness
4x Not Listening
4x Might of Numenor
1x These Are My People
4x Dear Friends
1x Ever My Heart Rises
2x Preparations
1x Shoulder to Shoulder
1x Citadel of the Stars
1x Sixth Level
1x A Light in His Mind
4x Birthday Present
4x The Shire Countryside

Shadow Draw Deck:
3x Gollum, Old Villain
1x Gollum, Plotting Deceiver
3x Dunlending Brigand
4x Dunlending Elder
1x Dunlending Looter
2x Dunlending Madman
1x Dunlending Pillager
4x Dunlending Rampager
1x Dunlending Ransacker
4x Dunlending Ravager
4x Dunlending Renegade
1x Dunlending Warrior
1x Freca, Hungry Savage
1x Hillman Tribe
4x Wild Men of the Hills
1x Wulf, Dunlending Chieftain
4x Isengard Tinker
1x Cave Troll of Moria, Scourge of the Black Pit
4x Goblin Runner
4x Host of Moria, Legion of the Underdeeps
4x Desert Sneak
1x Sauron, The Lord of the Rings
2x Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow
1x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
4x Hides
4x Captured by the Ring
4x Evil-smelling Fens
2x Let Her Deal With Them
4x Constantly Threatening
4x Goblin Swarms

Like Kralik's deck, the primary theme is to deck yourself out in order to give yourself a strong Free Peoples setup, and then run to site 9. The Shadow side is mainly there just to slow the opponent down, you will normally use very little of it. Here's the general procedure:

Going First: You need to go first, so bid pretty high. At least 3 burdens, but don't overdo it. You don't want to get Enquea-ed on site 2!

Starting Hand: You need at least one copy of one of the following: Dear Friends, Birthday Present, or Bilbo, Retired Adventurer. If you don't draw one of those, mulligan. If you STILL didn't draw one of those, start to get worried.

Turn 1: Use Dunharrow Plateau to play Ever My Heart Rises. If you didn't draw what you needed before, hopefully this will get it now! If it doesn't, you'll have to creep along regrouping as much as possible until you get one of those three cards. BUT let's assume that you DO now have one of those three vital cards. Use Ever My Heart Rises to discard your draw deck down to about 6 cards (discard down low enough so you'll be sure to draw whatever it is you are retrieving this turn). If you were lucky enough to get Birthday Present on your first turn, you can go ahead and start your setup by retrieving Dear Friends and using it to put your high priority cards in your draw deck. Start with A Light In His Mind, and continue with the cards listed in Turn 2, in the order that they are listed. Keep in mind the Rule of 4. If you DIDN'T get Birthday Present on your first turn, then use Bilbo, Retired Adventurer and/or Dear Friends to retrieve cards, starting with Birthday Present and A Light In His Mind. Play what you can, and use Sam, Son Of Hamfast to get your burdens down to 4 (so Enquea can't get you). Finally, move to Site 2 and STOP. This usually puts about 11 twilight in the pool.

Turn 2: If you haven't already, play Birthday Present and A Light In His Mind. Use Birthday Present to Pull 4x Dear Friends. Use Dear Friends to retrieve eight cards:

Preparations
2x The Shire Countryside
Aragorn, King In Exile
These Are My People
Elrond, Keeper Of Vilya
Radagast, The Brown
Shoulder to Shoulder

If you were lucky enough to already have The Shire Countryside in play, play and retrieve Dear Friends one at a time to manipulate initiative, to heal your guys and take off burdens. Move to Site 3, and STOP. This should generate very little twilight. If you are lucky enough to have Preparations in play by now, use Gimli in Regroup to stack 2x Slaked Thirsts on it.

Turn 3: Play cards from your hand, until you get down to 3 (so you can manipulate initiative with Birthday Present/A Light In His Mind). Make sure Aragorn, King In Exile and Elrond, Keeper Of Vilya are in play. Use Birthday Present to pull one Dear Friends, use it to retrieve Legolas, Greenleaf and Arwen, Daughter of Elrond. Heal guys with A Light In His Mind/The Shire Countryside. Next use Elrond, Keeper of Vilya to draw Legolas, Greenleaf into hand. Play him, heal. Next use Elrond, Keeper of Vilya to draw Arwen, Daughter of Elrond into hand. Play her, heal. Use Birthday Present to pull a Dear Friends (you are now at your Rule of 4 limit). Now, play These Are My People to play ALL of your possessions on your companions. Put as many possessions on Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer as possible. Heal (from A Light In His Mind). Use your last Dear Friends to retrieve 2x Not Listening, and play whatever cards you have left in your hand. If anyone is still wounded, heal remaining wounds with Athelas. Use the site text to add threats, hopefully (if you're at Base of Mindolluin) playing Citadel Of The Stars and Sixth Level. And you're ready to go! There should be somewhere around 50 twilight in the pool! Your objective is to triple-move to Site 6. Shoulder To Shoulder and Slaked Thirsts should help keep you safe from Enquea. Finish guys off with your Archery and powerful companions. In the Skirmish phase, as your last guy is fighting, use Frodo's Cloak to take off a burden and heal your guys up again. This should get you at least two heals, heal Aragorn first (because you can move wounds on Legolas around with Shoulder To Shoulder). In Regroup, use Lembas to draw your 2x Not Listening. You can use Gimli, Feared Axeman to stack more Slaked Thirsts on Preparations BUT DO NOT EXHAUST HIM. Site 5 may be Steward's Tomb (no wound prevention), and you don't want Enquea  or Hate to snipe him. Move again (to site 5)! Same procedure as before, except this time you want Smeagol, Slinker to fight a minion and win (unless, of course, you're at Steward's Tomb). This should be easy. Have Smeagol fight last, and once he wins, use your 2x Not Listening to remove 4 burdens and heal at least 8 wounds. In Regroup, you can have Gimli stack Slaked Thirsts on Preparations again. Move Again (to site 6). Same procedure as before.

Turn 4: Use Birthday Present to pull 4x Dear Friends. Use Dear Friends to get 4x Not Listening and 4x Might Of Numenor, OR possibly 4x Not Listening, 2x Might Of Numenor, Rest By Blind Night, and a countermeasure of your choice. Heal everyone completely using the sanctuary, Athelas, and Brace Of Coneys. Triple to Site 9, using Lembas to take the cards into hand during your first Regroup phase. Feel free to kill off Radagast, so your opponent can't keep drawing cards. Stack Slaked Thirsts on Preparations as you go, healing as needed.

Additional Notes:

Sixth Level/Citadel Of The Stars is mainly an Easterling Captain counter. Exhaust him with Slaked Thirsts, finish him with Citadel Of The Stars. If it looks like you're going to be fighting Easterlings, Sixth Level becomes a high priority card to get out early.

If you're fighting Corsairs, you may want to go ahead and retrieve These Are My People as soon as you play it on Turn 3, since they're most likely going to get rid of your best possessions. You'll want to play those things out again on Turn 4. You also might want to get Derufin out, to take out their fleet of ships.

If you got a good draw and have the opportunity, grab Rest By Blind Night as early as you can. Play it to put Ever My Heart Rises (and Shadow cards on it) back in your draw deck. This gives you more to play during Shadow, and if you have Ever My Heart Rises back in your hand at the start of Turn 4, you can Dear Friends 2-4 Slaked Thirsts, and instantly stack them on Ever My Heart Rises. Also, if it looks like your opponent is in danger of outrunning you to the end, you can have Gimli put Constantly Threatening, Evil-Smelling Fens, and/or Host of Moria, Legion of the Underdeeps on Preparations, and use Rest By Blind Night to put that back in your deck.

Elven Rope is a great counter to Grima, but make sure you get some Slaked Thirsts ready, because you'll definitely be seeing him again next move!

Aiglos and Vilya are great to grab with Dear Friends if you have opportunity. If you draw Legolas and/or Arwen normally, then you could grab Aiglos and/or Vilya instead, and immediately play them with Elrond. Just watch out for the Rule of 4!

Bilbo, Retired Adventurer also acts as a countermeasure to condition discard. If you have a feeling your opponent is gunning for your conditions, you're going to want Bilbo out, and not exhausted. Master Proudfoot, Distant Relative of Bilbo, enables you to play your conditions right back out again as soon as Bilbo retrieves them.

Some game links:

Versus macevedo:

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=sgtdraino$blmczn76hj8wm28b

Versus Kralik:

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=sgtdraino$lcs2le45l7eepvdm

I lost this game, primarily because I FORGOT to use Lembas in regroup to get my healing cards into my hand before I moved! Due to that, I wasn't able to triple on my third turn.

Versus Drako:

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=sgtdraino$zjuvwb382eu6nkvd

I won this one, but got a nasty surprise on my 4th move: Shelob came out and made it so Smeagol couldn't skirmish the whole turn!

Versus an anonymous player:

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=sgtdraino$hfsf4g1lvx3yag9t

Another win, but alas Gimli fell prey to Enquea at site 5! I'd forgotten that King Block has that no-heal site, and I exhausted Gimli loading Preparations before I moved there. And so, he was killed, and no more Slaked Thirsts for the rest of the game! Tell you what, that is when Might of Numenor saved my butt from another Enquea!

Versus picnic:

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=sgtdraino$vq2voj9suwpkq4c8

I won, but this one was very tough! Got a bad first draw, and was not able to start the build until turn 2/site 2, when I finally drew a bilbo on turn 1 Regroup. My opponent was playing Sauron/Enquea, with some pretty good condition discard. He never got rid of Birthday Present, but he quickly murdered Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas! Somehow I still managed to beat him to the end, with Not Listening and 2x The Shire Countryside keeping a few guys alive.

Versus NeMa:

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=sgtdraino$lweudczzyiu0meas

Near-perfect run, with a great first draw (got Birthday Present AND Bilbo). The only problem was my own fault, when I used These Are My People before I had played out Elrond, and so I couldn't play any of my Lembas! Thankfully I was able to just play Elrond, use a Dear Friends to get a Lembas, and use Elrond to put it in my hand.

[TheNinthPlayer]

From what I saw of this in action... incredible
Well done putting it together.

[civ4master]

Now for the real challenge... find a deck that defeats this one.

[sgtdraino]

Now for the real challenge... find a deck that defeats this one.

No problem! My buddy Shonuf already did:

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=sgtdraino$y28qk78sv7pni349

Basically destroyed by repeated and rapid use of Saruman's Power, with some Enquea for good measure.

[Kralik]

Or early-game big minions.

Derufin is a great idea, btw.

[sgtdraino]

Thanks! Yeah, I took Durin out because I can generally get sufficient stacking with just Gimli and Shoulder To Shoulder. I was puzzling about nasty possessions... when it came to me that I now have an empty spot in my Fellowship! Derufin hasn't seen action yet, we'll see how effectively I can get him out and use him, if I need him.

[Not a Zombie]

Do you have any more recent replays of this deck working? All the ones you have in the original post don't work any more Also, when during the regroup phase will you ever have 5 cards in hand for Derufin? from what I understand it will be 0 or 8, but maybe with some really good planning?

[sgtdraino]

Do you have any more recent replays of this deck working? All the ones you have in the original post don't work any more

Unfortunately I haven't played any games with the deck lately, so I don't have any recent replays for it. The old replays do eventually go off the server, that's why they don't work. I've tended to avoid playing with this deck because, unless the opponent is expecting it, all the discarding tends to really irritate people. I guess I should play a new game with it to get you a fresh replay! It's been so long, I'll practically have to follow the instructions in Post #1 in order to play it properly!

Also, when during the regroup phase will you ever have 5 cards in hand for Derufin? from what I understand it will be 0 or 8, but maybe with some really good planning?

Well, the 8 cards you draw up in Fellowship are used throughout your turn, so if you need to use Derufin, just make sure you keep 5 of them in your hand. For example, Turn 4 should have you with 4x Not Listening and 4x Might of Numenor. If you need to take out some possessions, just use 3 of those cards, use Derufin in Regroup, then you can use the rest of them when you move again.