Dunland in Movie block had everything going for it. Wound prevention in
Hides, plenty of possession discard and even a bit of condition discard.
Freca and
Over the Isen is an excellent
GLR counter as well. But it does need to be paired with an appropriate fellowship: ideally a partner does 4 things:
1. Bid to go first. If you cannot control a site, there's not a lot to fear from this. Even bidding 1 is normally enough in movie where a lot of decks rightly fear corruption.
2. Liberate sites in the event that the opponent plays besiegers or Dunland and gets all the sites before you can.
3. Filter well. Dunland needs the correct cards at the correct time. If you need to hold FP cards in hand as well, you won't get what you need.
4. Survive. Dunland often won't kill until site 7 the earliest. And ideally would be able to run if necessary.
I have therefore come up with the following deck. It's currently at 69 wins for 21 losses (77%). The vast majority of wins were from the shadow, but the fellowship is oddly resilient and had run a few times.
Ring-bearer:
Bilbo, Bearer of Things BurgledRing:
The One Ring, Such a Weight to CarryAdventure deck:
Sleeping QuartersKing's TentHall of the KingsAnduin BanksCrashed GateMinas Tirith First CircleRuined CapitolWatchers of Cirith UngolHaunted PassFree Peoples Draw Deck (41 cards):
1x
Glorfindel, Revealed in Wrath (starting)
3x
Boromir, Son of Denethor1x
Merry, Friend to Sam (starting)
1x
Pippin, Friend to Frodo (starting)
1x
Calaglin, Elf of Lorien2x
Elrond, Herald to Gil-galad1x Rúmil,
Elven Protector1x
Asfaloth1x
Elven Sword1x
Blade of Gondor3x
Hobbit Sword1x
Red Book of Westmarch3x
Secret Sentinels4x
The Council of Elrond1x
Nine-fingered Frodo and the Ring of Doom3x
Hosts of the Last Alliance1x
The Last Alliance of Elves and Men1x
A Light in His Mind2x
Consorting With Wizards2x
Escape4x
Everyone Knows1x
O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!1x
The Tale of the Great Ring1x
There and Back AgainShadow Draw Deck (41 cards):
4x
Dunlending Elder4x
Freca, Hungry Savage1x
Hillman Horde4x
Hillman Tribe3x
Saruman, Rabble-rouser2x
Wulf, Dunlending Chieftain4x
Hides4x
War Club4x
Burn Every Village2x
Wild Man Raid1x
Bound By Rage2x
Constantly Threatening1x
No Retreat3x
Over the Isen2x
Ready to FallThe shadow is pretty standard as far as I can tell, aside from 2
Wild Man Raid. It's the best counter you'll get to
Glimpse of Fate,
Brooding on Tomorrow and most threateningly,
Citadel of the Stars. For the uninitiated, the aim is to control 2 sites, then wreck any fellowship with
Ready to Fall and Dunlanding Elder (with
Hillman Horde against archers). The first site is often harder to get, normally through keeping
Freca alive with
Hides and/or
Over the Isen, rinse and repeating for the second. No need for Enquea: more companions means more likelihood of keeping
Freca alive. Then Dunlanding Elder will thin any fellowship down quickly enough. Note the site 2 of
King's Tent as well. If you are playing the site, they started, so you need to stop them. No self respecting Dunland deck should play anything else.
The fellowship is more novel, though. You want to get
Red Book of Westmarch out as soon as possible, then build up loads of tales. Bilbo gets to a potential base strength 8, which is plenty when he cannot take wounds.
The Council of Elrond is an excellent card here, really filtering out the FP from the deck. Always start with the Red Book, then whatever most useful in the moment. Since Bilbo cannot choke, I've gone for Glorfindel over
Dauntless Hunter for the strength. It's a very versatile deck, stacking up incredibly well against certain Shadows (particularly
The Witch King, Lord of the Nazgul). Corsairs are probably the worst matchup as there's no possession discard, and other Dunland hurts, too, but it does usually survive well enough.
Shelob, Her Ladyship hates having to prevent the Ringbearer from skirmishing, but she's often forced into that tough choice as Bilbo really denies Gollum. As noted above, there's no site liberation, but the filtering makes up for it. Despite being 41/41, it often decks out the end.
Any comments? It's certainly not a league deck-the fellowship isn't quite top tier. But the shadow is just monstrous if it can get set up. It's also a lot of fun to play: being able to put your Ringbearer up against their biggest minion every site is very unusual indeed!