hrcho's favorite deck #1

[hrcho]

Lothlorien hasn't seen good decks since... a very long time. I'm about to change that. As the title reads, I'll post my favorite and most powerful decks I have built (3 of them, to be exact). Each of them is mostly focused on Shadow kill, but in each, Freeps are strong enough to run.

Roaming Dwarves

Isildur, BoH
The One Ring, The Binding Ring

1x Gimli, FA (start)
1x Sindri, DL (start)
4x Durin III, DL
3x Sam, SoH

3x Elrond, HtGG
1x Thrarin, Dwarven Smith

1x Ring of Fury
1x Ring of Guile
1x Ring of Retribution
1x Vilya
1x Scroll of Isildur

1x Axe of Erebor
2x Dwarven Axe
2x Dwarven Bracers
1x Hand Axe
1x Gimli's Helm
1x Dwarven Armor
1x Coat of Mail
1x Gondorian Sword

1x Preparations

3x Battle Tested
2x Slaked Thirsts
1x Blood Runs Chill
1x Might of Numenor


Shadow:
4x Advance Marauder
4x Advance Regular
4x Advance Scout
3x Advance Captain
3x Shagrat, CoCU
3x Troll of Cirith Gorgor

4x Ithil Stone

1x Grond, HotU
2x Vile Blade

2x Flames Within
2x Rank and File
1x Greed

3x Hate

Adventure Path:
Dunharrow Plateau
West Road
Hall of the Kings
City of the Dead
City Gates (I sometimes switch it for Steward's Tomb)
Minas Tirith First Circle
Osgiliath Crossing
Morgul Vale
Dagorlad


That's 36/36. It may seem a lot, but I have had absolutely zero drawing problems so far and I played a lot of games with it. So, how it works:
Freeps:
Bid 1. Go first. Aim to have at least one of these in your first hand: Sam, SoH, Durin III and Elrond, HtGG. If neither is in your first hand, mulligan (unless you have a devil's shadow in your hand). Use Dunharrow Plateau to play Preparations. If you got Sam, SoH, use the Binding Ring to play a ring or two. Move slowly until you are set up. Buff your dwarves up, stack Slaked Thirsts and Battle Tested on Preparations and you are practically invincible. Once the freeps are set up (most often on site 3), they give very little pool. Use Elrond and Vilya to get rid of nasty conditions and to heal. Heal also with Might of Numenor and Ring of Fury. Use Scroll of Isildur to take a ring back from discard if needed. So far, there hasn't been a shadow type of deck I didn't defeat (sure I lost games, but it was always very close and luck had a very big say in it - e.g. having 4x The Ring is Mine on Pellenor Flat).

As for the shadow side... now this is where this deck truly rocks. Shadow kicks #$&*@! big time.
At least 50% of my wins were at site 2. There is not much to say about strategy here, just pure and simple #$&*@! kicking. It most often looks like this: I have a few Fierce, Damage +1, very, very strong minions. So far, the only Freeps I had trouble with was Hobbit Choke with heavy healing, but even they get what they deserve on later sites.

[Witchkingx5]

First of all, this really seems like a very nice Deck. Still, I see some things that could be improved:

Some  wounding Finisher for Slaked thirsts. I don't think that this is efficient enough to take those slots. BRC is one of the most powerful Dwarven cards in Movie Block, Ring of Fury is the best healing option; I'd take one of those instead. Footman's Armor over Coat of Mail.

As for the Shadow side, I like it pretty much, but I don't really see the point of havin two copies of Vile Blade. One more Greed should really be there, when you're playing against Ents and your only copy gets discarded, you're pretty much lost. I'm also a really big fan of Rank and File, this card is completely insane and having one on the first couple of Sites ensures you easy fights.

[hrcho]

Well, it's not supposed to be a wounding deck and I can take care of most my foes in skirmish. Slaked Thirsts is there to mess with my opponent and against cards like Grima, Wormtongue, Desert Lord or my very own Advance Marauder.

I agree that maybe something could better use the slot of Vile Blade. I'm keeping it because it was in the original make of the deck and since then it's just amazing how many times it was crucial to ensure my victory. For example, the most often combo on site 2 which kills at least one or two companions is having Advance Marauder, Advance Regular, Flames Within and/or Vile Blade. It's a str +4 bonus against Men and Elves which are so popular.

So true, if someone were to try to make a deck like this, I too would suggest them to take something instead of Vile Blade, but I'm keeping it for sentimental reasons.

I agree about BRC, but one copy seems enough. If I get it too early, I can always take it back with Ring of Guile. I also always preferred Coat of Mail over Footman's Armor. I run Footman's Armor only with my Knights and Rangers.

[Witchkingx5]

Footman's Armor is straight better, as you can read of the stats I added as attachement.  At 4 cards in hand, Footman's Armor is better at any case.

q.e.d.