Breeding Pit Bomb

[Legion]

First off, maximum credit to Not a Zombie for inspiring this deck: http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,8479.0.html

However, I have a rule that whenever I get a deck to 100 games, I'll post it here.  This is my take on the Breeding Pit deck described in the above link.  It only won 83 of those 100 games, but it has been playing much better now I have a counter to every card.

So here's the deck:

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir
Ring: The One Ring, Isildur's Bane

Adventure deck:
The Prancing Pony
Trollshaw Forest
Rivendell Terrace
Hollin
The Bridge of Khazad-dum
Galadriel's Glade
Anduin Confluence
Gates of Argonath
Slopes of Amon Hen

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
1x Legolas, Greenleaf (starting)
1x Sam, Son of Hamfast (starting)
4x Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim
2x Aragorn, Heir to the White City
1x Boromir, Son of Denethor
3x Elrond, Lord of Rivendell
2x Ottar, Man of Laketown
1x Bounder
1x Gandalf's Pipe
1x Aragorn's Bow
1x Aragorn's Pipe
1x Ranger's Sword
1x Frodo's Pipe
1x Hobbit Sword
3x Longbottom Leaf
3x Old Toby
1x Sting
1x The Gaffer's Pipe
1x Gandalf's Staff
2x Servant of the Secret Fire
1x Sleep Caradhras

Shadow Draw Deck:
3x Saruman, Keeper of Isengard
3x Uruk Captain
4x Uruk Lieutenant
4x Uruk Ravager
1x The Palantir of Orthanc
3x Abandoning Reason for Madness
4x Breeding Pit
1x Saruman's Power
2x A Fell Voice on the Air
1x Greed
1x No Business of Ours
1x No Ordinary Storm
1x Saruman's Ambition
1x Saruman's Frost
1x Saruman's Snows
2x Spies of Saruman

The idea of the deck is to use Breeding pit to put 3 ravagers and at least 2 Lieutenants on the bottom of our deck, then cycle through our deck, playing Saruman, KoI, the 3 Ravagers and 2 Lieutenants, an Uruk Captain (and then another Ravager or Lieutenant) and 1 Spies of Saruman at site 9.  Why not throw in Snows and Frost to totally destroy Frodo?  All that can be done with 14 twilight, which is helpfully 9 for the site and 5 for 5 companions.  Any extra twilight can be used to try to zap a Secret Sentinels or Deep in Thought that might be the final hope for the poor recipient of the bomb.

The Free Peoples side is meant to cycle hard.  You may only have 4 turns to completely get through your deck, which is why there are 3 Longbottom Leaf and 3 Old Toby, not 2 and 4 like most Pipeweed setups.  Bid 3 to go first to give you one extra turn.  You want to be getting Gandalf, Ottar and Elrond out ASAP so you can essentially get through 13 cards per turn.  Just remember the golden rule: discard like crazy!  The FP is actually quite robust and rarely dies and since pipes continue to work even once you've gone through the deck, you'd be surprised at how many games I've won by outrunning to 9.

Every card has its purpose in this deck: most have obvious uses, but I'll explain some that might be less clear:
No Business of Ours helps stop your opponent see your plan, which can buy time as not many people like to double against normal Uruk shadows, but its main use is to stop that last turn Foul Creation discarding your last Saruman.
No Ordinary Storm sets Albert Dreary (and can sometimes help negate a Betrayal of Isengard)
The Palantir helps remove a last turn Secret Sentinels or Deep in Thought, but is possibly more useful using all your leftover twilight in previous turns to clog and annoy.  Nobody likes to double on an empty hand.
Saruman is a good deterrent to doubling, but I prefer having a 4th breeding pit to a 4th one of him to give you a little more flexibility for a poor draw.
This deck has only lost once when set up.  A surprise site 8 Betrayal of Isengard paired with a RotN ended my hopes, but that really is a rare combo.  Here's what more frequently happens:

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=Legion$znn95mlagbpa60dj

I played badly the first few sites (would normally discard 2 breeding pits and the uruk with Ottar for extra cycling), but it gets the idea across.  And that's bad luck getting all 4 breeding pits so early.  One thing to note is that discard can hurt this deck.  A dwarven axe taking out our last Saruman is horrible, but if you're careful it's normally OK.  Plus all the burden removal makes the FP do well against discarding shadows.

Feel free to use this deck.  The responses you get when you unleash the bomb can be hilarious!

[Not a Zombie]

I like the changes you've made, it looks like you've done some good stuff. Thanks for posting!

[Carl333]

Adding Gimli, Dwarf of Erebor puts minions on the bottom of your draw deck as well

[Legion]

No.  I really don't like DoE.  You need to start Sam (so you start) and Legolas (so you survive the early stages).  I'm not adding in an extra companion who's only strength 6 and adds basically nothing to the survivability of the deck.  I have tried him, but that accounted for almost half of the losses.

[Carl333]

I guess he is only good for Uruk Swarm then.

[Not a Zombie]

Adding Gimli, Dwarf of Erebor puts minions on the bottom of your draw deck as well

I went this route in the original deck, and he would often die. I still prefer to have him though. The record on my version of this deck is 28-6 or 82.4%. 4 of those losses were prior versions of the deck that were much less robust, so it is closer to 90%+ in reality.

[Legion]

Sticking a minion on the bottom of your deck is no different to discarding it and finally playing Breeding Pit.  I would only ever use DoE on a Saruman or Spies of Saruman.  So he does have his uses, but I find the way he will make your fellowship so much more vulnerable makes him not worth while.  When I play, I always live in fear of Enquea.

[Not a Zombie]

Sticking a minion on the bottom of your deck is no different to discarding it and finally playing Breeding Pit.  I would only ever use DoE on a Saruman or Spies of Saruman.  So he does have his uses, but I find the way he will make your fellowship so much more vulnerable makes him not worth while.  When I play, I always live in fear of Enquea.

That's exactly what I do with him. Or I put a breeding pit back on bottom of my deck when I have 4 in hand. He's useful, but I can understand why you don't include him.