Light of the Evenstar will not let you get lost in the woods

[Orophoin]

Hi all, here's the deck that has won the last two Expanded Leagues on Gemp. Be warned: you won't make friends playing this one, and it is fairly complicated to get it just right, but it does win. A lot. I only use it for leagues, where I believe anything goes, but never casual games which I think should be for getting something a bit off the metagame.

Ring-bearer: Galadriel, Bearer of Wisdom
Ring: The One Ring, The Great Ring

Adventure deck:
Buckland Homestead
The Angle
Woody-End
Hill of Sight
Caras Galadhon
Old Forest Road
Dammed Gate-stream
Trollshaw Forest
Sirannon Ruins

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
1x Arwen, She-Elf (starting)
2x Cirdan, The Shipwright
4x Gil-galad, High King of the Noldor
2x Glorfindel, Eldarin Lord
1x Smeagol, Poor Creature (starting)
1x Gamling, Defender of the Hornburg (starting)
1x Asfaloth, Swift Blossom
3x Elven Armaments
1x Coif
1x Erkenbrand's Horn
1x Galadriel's Silver Ewer
1x Gift of the Evenstar, Blessed Light
1x Nenya, Ring of Adamant
4x Attunement
3x Final Shot
2x One Good Turn Deserves Another
3x Something Slimy
4x Hosts of the Last Alliance
2x Leaving Forever
1x Secluded Homestead
1x Shadow Between
1x Songs of the Blessed Realm
2x Strength of Arms
1x Uncertain Future
1x Follow Smeagol
4x There's Another Way
2x Celebring, Elven-smith
1x Woodhall Elf, Exile

Shadow Draw Deck:
1x Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow
3x The Witch-king, Captain of the Nine Riders
1x The Witch-king, Morgul King
1x Úlairë Attëa, Keeper of Dol Guldur
2x Úlairë Cantëa, Faster Than Winds
1x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
3x Úlairë Enquëa, Sixth of the Nine Riders
3x Úlairë Lemenya, Eternally Threatening
4x Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders
3x Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman
3x Úlairë Otsëa, Duplicitous Specter
3x Úlairë Toldëa, Black Shadow
2x Ring of Terror
2x All Life Flees
4x Dark Approach
1x Return to Its Master
3x Too Great and Terrible
1x Flung Into the Fray
1x Ghastly Host
1x Hatred Stirred
4x Lost in the Woods
2x Moving This Way
1x Out of Sight and Shot
2x They Feel the Precious

The Free Peoples are centred around High King of the Noldor.  It's boring, but he is just that good. Bid 0 and start Dammed Gate Stream if you go first or play it when possible. Gamling pulls his horn, exerts twice to pull the Woodhall Elf and Celebring, Elven Smith who should pull Gift of the Evenstar, Blessed Light if you think you can win a skirmish, or The Silver Ewer if you don't feel so bold.

But don't kill Gamling just yet. Blow his horn once again to discard Celebring, so that once you pull the Coif next turn, you can call on Celebring again, and he will give you the other artifact. Then let him become a disappointing snack to the biggest minion on the board (though he can be kept alive against Troll Swarm if you really like).

Keep Smeagol alive as sitepath control is key in Expanded. Once you have Songs of the Blessed Realm out (can be pulled with Something Slimy) One Good Turn Deserves Another will be essentially free, but Follow Smeagol works well enough until then. There's Another Way is a great card for getting forests out, and also strengthens Smeagol, which does help a lot against Nertea.

When you have Gil-Galad out with a few forests (or rivers), you can remove all burdens, discard all Shadow conditions and set up the perfect hand each Regroup phase by looping Secluded Homestead and Uncertain Future with Leaving Forever. Gift of the Evenstar allows you to reset everything if Saruman's Power hits.

Note this deck has strengths against most things. Arwen can kill any big minions without batting an eyelid, and the is so much wound prevention that Archery falls fast. The only real problem I've had is Grond as there is no possession discard, but if you play well there shouldn't be any Sauron minions alive at Regroup.

The Shadow is a mix of Forest and Threat Nazgul. I find that they are pretty destructive, particularly in the late game when there will be a few Forests on the board. The only thing to say is that when playing against Powerful Guide (who you will see a lot in leagues), make sure that Grimboern is not allowed to keep his axe. Keep discarding it with Cantea and you will eventually wear them out. Otherwise just keep hitting the Fellowship with several chunky minions per turn that can swarm so will late game.

If you opponent tries to run, you can set up the perfect hand by drawing tons of cards with Leaving Forever. You can play 6 Dark Approach in a turn with the Ring of Terror and Black Shadow, meaning you can get 7 minions out for only 4 Twilight with perfect set up! Too Great and Terrible is there as Gandalf is so popular.

Feel free to comment or use this deck, though I'll be annoyed if I end up playing against it too much in casual. It does take some getting used to, however. It's a big deck, but it cycles so well (and you pull so many important cards out of it, anyway) that you never really feel clogged.

[Vordan]

I have a similar deck for casual, with only elves as fp and full forestguls as shadows

For the shadow i found morgul squealer some nice help to get the right nazgul at the right time (and an exertion for the wk before discarding him) and ithil stone for hand extension.

For the fp i have Alliance Reforged for drawing and triggering SotBR and aiglos, since you have some artifacts and to help gil-galad

I had the same difficulty as you, and i thought many times to splash some SAD to get rid of annoying grond, as you can just toss it to fuel cirdan and grab it back with gil-galad when in need, otherwise pretty solid

One question: i suppose the ALF are there to get rid of annoying pallando, daddy twofoot or random follower, since the cost to play a nazgul is prohibitive, am I right?

Edit: i forgot to mention crashing cavalry for those heavy shirmish shadow, like gollum, beasterling or mounted orks (new culture)

[Orophoin]

Thanks for the feedback!

Personally I prefer Out of Sight and Shot to the Squealer when playing Nazgul from the discard pile. It's cheaper and won't clog your hand as much.  If they play six companions, I have loads of other cards that will annihilate their fellowship just as nicely.

The Ithil Stone would definitely be with a slot, and I guess Alliance Reforged would be worth considering, too. Otsea and Moving This Way do draw a lot of cards, though, so filtering is rarely issue.  Do note that you are likely to draw a lot of Shadow as many FP cards shall have been filtered out of the draw deck when playing Alliance Reforged.

Luckily Stand Against Darkness cannot be recovered by Gil. Otherwise it would be just too insane.  I have considered it, but decided it not worth the space. Sauron is pretty uncommon in Expanded.

I think I have once used All Life Flees to play a Nazgul, when I wanted to get Toldea out and had mountains of Twilight to spend. It's the best follower discard the Nazgul have, and nine times out of ten it will take down Pallando.

Crashing Cavalry is an interesting choice, but normally I'm happy enough with letting the Shadow player play abilities. I have enough wound prevention to lock down Gollum and mounted orcs. Those matchups can look a little hairy, but you should pull through. Beasterlings die to Arwen.