Fair warning: this deck is for the PC-playtest movie format on GEMP. If you're not familiar with the format, it has a bunch of errata to nerf (and allow) some of the banned cards, some errata in playtest to clip the wings of some of the highest-power cards, and also has the playtest versions of the Shadows of the Past fan set (VSet1).
For more info on the changes:
This is also my freeps only, because I'm still fooling with a good shadow. I'm open to suggestions.
Ring-bearer:
Frodo, Reluctant AdventurerRing:
The One Ring, Such a Weight to CarryAdventure deck:
Sleeping QuartersKing's TentHall of the KingsOsgiliath FallenCity GatesMinas Tirith Third CircleOsgiliath ChannelMorgulduinDagorladFree Peoples Draw Deck (33 cards):
1x
Merry, From O'er the Brandywine1x
Pippin, Friend to Frodo1x
Legolas, Dauntless Hunter (
errataed but the errata is irrelevant in Movie)
4x
Aragorn, Wingfoot2x
Elrond, Herald to Gil-galad3x
Tom Bombadil, The Master2x
Hobbit Sword1x
Sting (
errata version only reveals four cards at a time)
1x
Vilya1x Gilraen's Memorial
from vset 14x
One Whom Men Would Follow1x
No Stranger to the Shadows (
errata makes it unique)
2x
A Talent for Not Being Seen (
errata turns it into No Stranger to the Shadows but played on Merry or Pippin, basically buffed)
2x
Escape4x
Everyone Knows1x
O Elbereth! Gilthoniel! (
errataed to account for the skirmish-cancel rule change, buffing it in movie)
1x
The Tale of the Great Ring1x
There and Back AgainAlways bid 2 so you can play
Tom Bombadil. This chokes like mad, cancels skirmishes, and sends unwanted skirmishers or archery wounds to The Tom Zone with
One Whom Men Would Follow. It really just genuinely sucks to play against and I hope the PC reconsiders their buff(!) to
A Talent For Not Being Seen! It doesn't care about condition removal very much since Pippin protects all that, but doesn't especially appreciate possession removal.
Dauntless Hunter is nice, but the real lynchpin card is Aragorn (and you'll want to mulligan for Aragorn unless you have a strong hand with both an ally and multiple hobbit strength boosters.) By the end of the site path, Merry should be about 10-12 strength (and often more) and Frodo should be around 8-10, which should be enough to get over the finish line with the help of
Wingfoot pickoffs.
There and Back Again and
The Tale of the Great Ring help stave off a great deal of nonsense, and
Vilya with
Legolas, Dauntless Hunter is extremely annoying against a variety of shadows.
Sting helps with the choke somewhat, as well.
This can shed companions if you really gotta do it. The order of priority is Pippin < DH < Aragorn ~= Merry. Merry's more useful with more of his strength kit out, and Aragorn's necessary to play
One Whom Men Would Follow or double-move ever.
I've tried a few variations on this. This was originally carrottalk's deck, where he ran it with
King in Exile. I liked the healing, but it had a problem with not being able to double as safely.
Wingfoot helps. carrottalk also ran
Athelas, which I liked and would like to try again, but it's hard to find room.
Boromir's Gauntlets are an option on Aragorn.
You Have My Sword, a new condition from Vset1, is an option to help get Frodo or Merry over the line and would help with the swarm matchup. You can try
Pippin, of Tuckborough, another new vset1 card, but this deck will then just implode when
Saruman's Power or
Too Long Have These Peasants Stood or
The Pale Blade hit the table. You could also include Aragorn's toys (probably Ranger Sword and
Aragorn's Bow rather than
Flame of the West) or Legolas's toys (
Long-Knives of Legolas or
The White Arrows of Lorien probably, but you double in the face of weak minions often enough that
Legolas' Sword is an option). I've thought about
The Council of Elrond to help set up more reliably, but it's deck bloat and conflicts with the choke.
Narrow Escape is an option, but it feels anemic without four hobbits and space is again an issue.
Sting, Bane of the Eight Legs and
Merry's Dagger are options, or you could just switch to three copies of
Hobbit Sword for deck consistency.
Seeing Stone of Orthanc is another option to help with doubles, although I'd need to find a threat outlet.
You can also use this as a shell. I've considered trying Boromir.
Boromir, Son of Denethor or the new
Boromir, Redeemed are options, especially with
the nerfed and unbanned version of
Horn of Boromir, but Boromir has less vitality and would need his toys more than Aragorn does. Gandalf might be an option, particularly for
Out of the High Airs, although
it is nerfed in this format and the rest of his kit is twilight-intensive. I've seen
Smeagol, Always Helps (using
Don't Look At Them,
Don't Follow the Lights, and
Not Listening) and
Galadriel, Lady Redeemed variants, but I don't know a lot about them. A non-ranger can't use
One Whom Men Would Follow, but
Tom Bombadil's skirmish-cancelling is still strong, and
Support of the Last Homely House is an option to use Elrond as a weaker alternative in the same role.