This is my first attempt at a real choke deck.
Free Peoples:
The One Ring, Isildur's BaneFrodo, Reluctant AdventurerAragorn, Heir to the White CityMithril-coatSting x2
O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!Hobbit Stealth x4
Hobbit Intuition x3
BounderFilibert Bolger, Wily RascalThrarin, Dwarven SmithBill the Pony x2
No Stranger to the Shadows x2
An Able Guide x4
The Saga of ElendilRanger's SwordAragorn's Bow x2
Citadel of Minas Tirith x4
Athelas x2
Pathfinder x3
Hobbit Sword-Play x2
Gondor's Vengeance x2
Sites:
Hobbiton WoodsBree GateRivendell WaterfallEregion HillsThe Bridge of Khazad-dhum
Caras GaladhonSilverlode BanksPillars of Kings
Wastes of Emyn MuilShadow:
Standard-issue morie swarm
The idea here is pretty simple, of course, but I'd like to explain some of the nuances:
Shadow side: I like to draw a lot of cards with this deck, because otherwise you might end up with a Freeps-light hand and not able to double move a lot (which is what you should be doing).
3
Pathfinder: The key with this deck is the amount of screwing you can do. If they need Aragorn and are not playing corruption, you can build high to deny them
the Prancing Pony. Otherwise, build 0 so they have a hard time corruption you.
Pathfinder helps with the screwing, being important for sites 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9 (and remember, even if you won't move anymore, you can still play
Pathfinder and play the next site anyway, just to make sure AND unclog your hand). Of course, the amount of importance varies, but let me explain:
Site 3: Absurdly important, since the idea is giv as little twilight as possible and triple-move between sanctuaries.
Site 4: Important against Uruks and Moria, since you don't want
Hollin to hit the table (their gain is absurd, both twilight-wise and game-wise) and want to keep your guys above ground as long as possible (so, effectively, every site you play is affected by
Bill the Pony, except site 6).
Site 6: Important only if you're facing Swarms, and they WILL be able to swarm you (factoring
Dimrill Dale, which is what they might play).
Site 8: Screws over a lot of Shadow sides, and adds VERY little twilight. It's also one of the most important sites.
Site 9: Simply does not help any viable strategy that might hurt you in the endgame, really useful if you're already packing some burdens and expect Summit of Amon-hen, or if they are playing
Orcs, in which case
Tol Brandir gets annoying. Denying Uruks their last site is a good idea, too, so, this site is almost always a good one to change.
Lack of other companions: The idea is simple. I've toyed with playing other Hobbits for
A Talent for not Being Seen, and Boromir for
Gondor Bowmen, but the deck kept getting too big, I kept getting the wrong cards at the wrong times and it simply didn't work. This way, I can almost always guarantee both companions won't be adding twilight, needing only 2 cards to do so (Bill and No Stranger), and the main idea I want this is so when I move into Bridge, they only get 6 twilight to work with. Most
decks will either have a runner or
Host of Thousands (or
They Are Coming), so if I play even ONE more companion, and do not get a choke card in time, they get 7 twilight, whip out a Runner, go to 8, drop The Balrog and call it a day. My Problem from now on. This way, by giving them only 6, they have to jump through some hoops to drop the Balrog, and they might not be able to.
Sting: I know explaining
Sting in FotR is a moot point, it's strictly better than
Hobbit Sword and you should always play it, period. However, I want to explain the lack of
Frying Pan. The deck is scusceptible to Swarms in any form, so it SHOULD be an obvious addition. However, if the Swarm is
,
Mithril-coat and
Aragorn's Bow will already help shave some of that damage. The real proble I was having was actually
Orcs with
Tol Brandir, and
Frying Pan helps verry little, since Frodo will most likely have a few exertions due to their conditions and such. In the end,
Sting +
An ABle Guide ended up being just as good, meaning, when I died, having Pan wouldn't have saved me anyway, and teh extra strength of
Sting helped when Pan wouldn't. It also helps forwarding the choke strategy.
Citadel of Minas Tirith: They won't play a lot of minions, but you also do not have that much strength to fight back, so
Aragorn's Bow is your greates asset. Assuming they play 2 strong minions, you can outright kill one, cancel the skirmish against the other, and heal right back to move and do it again. Specially useful for the "triple-move between 3 and 6" plan.
Athelas: Is there only to get rid of annoying stuff like
Black Breath and
You Bring Great Evil (not nearly problematic, since Citadel circunvetns it a lot of times), mainly from Aragorn. The healing is a bonus, so, playing 2 is plenty.
Cards that did not get added:
Sam: It's just one card, and
Son of Hamfast can help quite a bit in certain matchups, but to be honest, bidding 0 means they have to jump through hoops to get burdens on you anyway, and twilight Nazguls tend not to be fierce, which ends up helping more than hurting. Also, at this size, every one card matters, so unless it makes a huge difference, it's not that necessary. Some people pointed out I could start
Green Dragon Inn, just for the sake of getting him and denying
The Prancing Pony, but it helps a few decks anyway, and I want to help none. Also, having them walk on MY sites until I have Pathfinders to make my own way is good, I'll most likely outrun them on the 3-6 plan anyway.
Greenleaf: He means 1 extra twilight for 2 wounds on the last site (basically speaking). I have no way to deny the twilight of having him walking to a site, if I'm against
Orcs I'mnetting one less minion, although clogging my hand in doing so since I won't drop him early (and I usually won't need it), and against Moria I'm turning on the
Moria Scout +
Threat of the Unknown combo, making him harder to evaluate, but I usually evaluate him as a loss in this conditions.
Gandalf, the Grey Pilgrim:Don't want any of the cards his culture has to offer aside from
Servant of the Secret fire, which would translate in a bunch of cards being added, for very little benefit and probably more downsides (bigger deck and having to play
The Prancing Pony, MUCH bigger deck if otherwise, and not a lot of benefits, since it means around 3-4 extra cards the whole game (if I get him early, since I plan on double-moving a lot), while the huge amount of twilight I add by dropping him gives them breathing room and if I get him on site 1, it means 8 extra twilight throughout the game, which far outweights the benefits of the drawn cards (I leave the card-drawing for my shadow side to do, anyway, no annoying Rule of 4).