Archer

[JamesCB]

I was thinking about the best way to make an archer deck, and I came up with this (it actually ended up being more of a Lady Undomiel Free Peoples and Archer Shadow, but oh well.)
But, without further ado, here is Archer:

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer
Ring: The One Ring, Isildur's Bane

Adventure deck:
East Road
Ettenmoors
Rivendell Valley
Great Chasm
The Bridge of Khazad-dum
Lothlorien Woods
The Great River
Brown Lands
Summit of Amon Hen

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
1x Arwen, Lady Undomiel
1x Haldir, Elf of the Golden Wood
1x Legolas, Greenleaf
1x Elrond, Lord of Rivendell
1x Galadriel, Lady of Light
1x Galdor, Councilor From the West
1x Golradir, Councilor of Imladris
1x Orophin, Lorien Bowman
1x Rumil, Elven Protector
1x Saelbeth, Elven Councilor
2x Bounder
2x Asfaloth
2x Bow of the Galadhrim
2x Elven Bow
2x Long-knives of Legolas
2x Hobbit Sword
3x Defiance
3x Double Shot
2x Hobbit Intuition
3x Hobbit Stealth

Shadow Draw Deck:
2x Lurtz, Servant of Isengard
2x Orthanc Assassin
2x Archer Commander
2x Goblin Archer
3x Goblin Bowman
3x Goblin Marksman
4x Goblin Runner
2x Moria Archer Troop
1x The Balrog, Flame of Udun
4x Moria Axe
2x Drums in the Deep
3x Unfamiliar Territory
3x Goblin Armory

[Phallen Cassidy]

Both sides have some issues if you're going for an archery deck. If I had to sum it up, it's that you're just not committed. It looks more like a "put wounds on the other guys" deck, which is a great goal and all but without committing to how to place those wounds it's not going to do much of anything.

Free Peoples:
All of your skirmish phase things (the site 3 allies, Lady Undomiel, your events and possessions) assume that you have failed in your goal. It's not a bad thing to have some of them because you won't always be able to wipe the board and you'll need a backup. However, when more than half your deck is made up of backup cards it's not a backup anymore -- but it's not a strategy either. It's just a loose collection of cards. Worse, to make room for these backup cards you had to cut some really nice archery cards which in turn will mean the archery you do have won't be enough to keep you from needing the backup cards... You can see how this is self-defeating.

Gondor Bowmen is one of the best archery cards there is. Since you already have to draw another companion (Haldir, by the looks of it), why not make it a Gondor companion? You can either stick with the allies and go for Horn of Boromir (note that it says allies participate in archery too!) or get Aragorn's Bow in play, the choice is yours. Aragorn (probably Heir to the White City) has the benefit of being playable at site 1 fairly often, while Boromir, Defender of Minas Tirith has the benefit of healing himself. That choice is yours. 2x Elven Bow isn't going to be enough for 2 companions -- you're at the mercy of lady luck for if they do you any good. People harp on how much luck plays into this game, but more often it's decisions made here when building a deck that only appear to be luck later.

Without rambling any more, here are the changes I would make. It's a rough draft and I'm sure you'll want to adjust things after you play a game or two.
-1x Arwen, Lady Undomiel
-1x Galdor, Councilor From the West
-1x Golradir, Councilor of Imladris
-1x Saelbeth, Elven Councilor
-2x Asfaloth (It's a fine card but doesn't do enough for this deck, doubly since you lose it at site 4 or 5)
-2x Bow of the Galadhrim
-2x Long-knives of Legolas (Perhaps my most controversial cut?)
-3x Defiance
-1x Haldir, Elf of the Golden Wood
-2x Hobbit Sword
-2x Hobbit Intuition
+1x Arwen, Daughter of Elrond
+2x Galadriel, Lady of Light
+1x Orophin, Lorien Bowman
+1x Rumil, Elven Protector
+1x Double Shot
+1x Elven Bow (The spares can be discarded or go on Elrond or Galadriel -- if you pick Boromir it'll let them shoot when he calls, too)
+2x Sting
+4x Gondor Bowmen
+3x Aragorn, Heir to the White City or Boromir, Defender of Minas Tirith
+2x Aragorn's Bow or Horn of Boromir
Another direction to take this (for Aragorn mostly) would be to drop the set 6 allies and instead add The Last Alliance of Elves and Men, Ranger's Sword, Flaming Brand, Armor, and add back Haldir. The hope there would be to kill all but one minion and have Aragorn mop him up (or reduce the harm via Armor).

Shadow:
Similarly, you have a mix of archery and skirmishing here that will keep you from getting enough archery kills but won't help you get enough skirmish kills. You'll do some damage depending on what you draw, sure, but it's hard to see this Shadow side being really effective. Moria Archer Troop is the best card here, hands down, but you've only got 2 copies of it. You're also missing out on They Are Coming and Host of Thousands to replay them. I'd also swap 2 Moria Axe for 2 Goblin Scimitar, that's up to you.

-2x Lurtz, Servant of Isengard (7 twilight for 3 wounds sounds good, but too many decks are already planning on beating him in the skirmish)
-2x Orthanc Assassin
-2x Archer Commander (again, winning skirmishes isn't the goal. Plus he's too easy to kill in a skirmish and do nothing)
-2x Drums in the Deep
-1x Unfamiliar Territory (I do like this idea, just make sure you're not holding it in your hand and clogging things up)
-1x Goblin Marksman
+2x Moria Archer Troop
+3x They Are Coming
+2x Relics of Moria
+3x Host of Thousands

Obviously you'll want to swap out The Great River for Silverlode Banks and get The Prancing Pony* if you pick Aragorn. With the discarding from They Are Coming you might want to increase the deck size overall. For the Shadow I'd look to max out copies of what's here (or add Goblin Scimitar). Same for the FP, but especially Elrond, Lord of Rivendell is a great card to have at 4 copies. The way to win with Moria Archery in Fellowship block is to bomb at site 8 and finish Frodo off at site 9. If you can't do that, go for the Free Peoples win at whatever cost. I've said it before: it's better to have Frodo die while trying to win than watch your opponent cruise into site 9 knowing you can't stop them.

[JamesCB]

Thanks so much for the feedback!  Honestly, this deck hasn't been doing very well, and I'm glad I now have a way to improve it!