Dwarf-Gondor/Orc Besiegers

[Gerontius]

Ring-bearer: Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms
Ring: The One Ring, The Binding Ring

Adventure deck:
Dunharrow Plateau
Rohirrim Camp
Hall of the Kings
Anduin Banks
Crashed Gate
Minas Tirith Second Circle
Osgiliath Crossing
Morgul Vale
Dagorlad

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
1x Gimli, Feared Axeman (Starting)
1x Sam, Son of Hamfast (Starting)
2x Durin III, Dwarven Lord
2x Sindri, Dwarven Lord
4x Aragorn, Defender of Free Peoples
2x Dwarven Axe
2x Dwarven Bracers
1x Gimli's Battle Axe, Trusted Weapon
2x Aragorn's Bow
2x Ring of Fury
1x Ring of Guile
1x Anduril, King's Blade
1x Narsil, Blade of the Faithful
1x Ring of Barahir
2x Scroll of Isildur
4x Battle Tested
2x Blood Runs Chill
2x Delving
3x Slaked Thirsts
1x My Axe Is Notched
3x Preparations
2x Stout and Strong

Shadow Draw Deck:
2x Gorgoroth Agitator
4x Gorgoroth Assassin
2x Gorgoroth Berserker
2x Gorgoroth Engineer
3x Gorgoroth Keeper
3x Gorgoroth Pillager
1x Gorgoroth Servitor
3x Gorgoroth Soldier
1x Gorgoroth Swarm
2x Gorgoroth Troop
2x Mordor Pillager
1x Ithil Stone
2x Din of Arms
1x Dead Marshes
1x Encirclement
3x Morgai
2x Orc Banner
2x Their Marching Companies
2x Tower Walkway
3x Troop Tower

Here's a variation on dwarves that I've been using on Gemp recently! I've found that it's a lot of fun to play, and requires a lot of interesting decisions. The fellowship uses  token conditions with Aragorn and Ring of Barahir for healing. That healing lets you keep stacking things on Preparations, helping you win skirmishes, getting you more tokens, etc. I find that the flexibility of skirmish phase healing is really valuable, especially against Gollum decks. Slaked Thirsts + Aragorn's Bow takes care of problem minions; Narsil helps against swarm or can provide an extra vitality on Aragorn if needed. The biggest challenge is of course getting everything set up. I bet to go first and start Sam. I'll usually pull Stout and Strong with Dunharrow Plateau, because the twilight from Preparations is a bit risky unless I have a very strong starting fellowship hand. If Sam survives to site 3 I can pull a ring using The Binding Ring. It's crucial to have zero burdens going into site 4 to avoid losing conditions to Pelennor Prairie.

The shadow side is meant to control as many sites as it possibly can, stack as many besiegers as it can, and use the strength bonuses from Tower Walkway and Troop Tower to overwhelm companions. Ideally, 1-2 Orc Banner with Gorgoroth Pillager stacked and a swarm of 4-5 minions is very difficult for most fellowships to handle. However, no Grond and no Great Hill Troll means that I'm not disrupting my opponent's fellowship at all, so even if all goes well some decks can still face the swarm. But at least that will lead to a pretty exciting game.

[Gerontius]

I've made a few adjustments to this deck as I continue to play with it, so I thought I'd post some more thoughts here in case anyone's interested!

FP:
+1x Dwarven Axe

Shadow:
-2x Orc Banner
-3x Morgai
+2x Great Siege-Towers
+1x Encirclement
+1x Gorgoroth Swarm
+1x Gothmog
+1x Gothmog's Warg

A few thoughts: Morgai provides an alternative path towards getting a site, but any copy drawn later in the game is a dead card. After playing for a while I decided it wasn't worth the card slots. Orc Banner meanwhile is one of my favourite cards, but Great Siege-Towers is better in almost every situation. I might switch back to the banner though because it's more fun. I found that a second Encirclement is necessary. Gothmog and Gorgoroth Swarm add some extra power. Occasionally Gothmog's Warg translates into an additional site with Mordor Pillager, but the vitality is also frequently useful for Greenleaf-proofing a crucial besieger.

Ultimately the biggest problem with this deck is still the slow set up for the FP side. It might be worth cutting down the size of the deck in order to make it more reliable, but obviously it's hard to decide what to remove.

[Durin's Heir]

If you're struggling with early draws I'd start by maxing out Delving on the FP side, and add some cycling to the Shadow by including cards like Morannon or Orc Captain. Don't know what to remove, but those I know for certain I'd be adding.

Besides, Suspended Palaces is better than My Axe is Notched in DoFP Dwarf decks at the start of the game. Add 1 if you can, and choose it over Stout and Strong with Dunharrow Plateau since its hard to win skirmishes by then. Strands of Elven Hair is also an interesting addition to DoFP, moreover with the defender +1 Anduril.


Hope this helps.

[Petar_Enev]

Why Isildur as a ring bearer?

[Orophoin]

Why Isildur as a ring bearer?

I had a similar deck that also used Isildur. He is by a long way the best ringbearer here:

There's no defender bonus and little direct wounding, so Frodo dies to any kind of swarm.

The deck is centred around dwarven conditions, so Feared Axeman is needed to protect them.

Isildur can get to strength 12 with all the artifacts, so is actually stronger than Gimli. His skirmish drawback can be somewhat counted by Aragorn: if he's fighting a lot, it's probably due to swarms of low strength minions, so your dwarves will be adding lots of tokens to Stout and Strong.

[Petar_Enev]

I featured my modification of your deck here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHShzuMM1_Y&t=335s&ab_channel=TCGGameplay-LOTR

I went with Frodo and few minor changes. I'm still not sure if Isildur is worth all the support and extra card slots in the deck. Haven't faced swarm issues yet. Probably I need more testing.