Shadow: This is a deck is designed around a rarely used event --
Hate and Anger (spot
minion and uruk to draw 3 cards).
Drawing 3 cards fits in very well with thrust of the standard goblin swarm that mills twilight and draws cards with
goblin scimitar (+amories&scavengers) and goblin runners and
goblin swarms, etc.
However, this event also requires an uruk, and
uruks don't really do swarm that well. Enter the
uruk -- they are cheap (Cirith Ungol Sentinels are even free, with 2 possessions in play), and as a bonus they bring with them the
Ithil Stone -- more cards in shadow and sometimes a clutch
savings for your swarm. 2x copies of
Saruman's Ambition can reduce the cost of
Hate and Anger to
, while also still usable as a skirmish pump for your uruks.
Together, it can allow for some absurd shadow phases -- my favorite is when my opponent moved to site 6 with five unwounded companions, only giving me
total twilight, but I was able to draw 12(!) cards in the shadow phase (+1
Ithil stone, +9
Hate and Anger x3, +2
goblin scimitar x2) and still purchase every shadow card I had in hand (with
left over, even without the help of any goblin armories which the opponent had discarded earlier). I played 9 minions and multiple support area cards, ultimately killing 4 companions and leaving only the ring bearer, naked & helpless for the next turn.
As a side bonus, I think because uruks aren't super common, no one in the current gemp meta seems to expect
greed haha. People are used to risking 6+ companions because it usually only means 3 wounds from enquea. I've had ~3 (out of 8) games with this deck where I machine gunned the enemy fellowship with
greed.
Free people's: it is just a standard-ish Bilbo Ringbearer + shire country side deck. The primary goal is to draw tons of cards with the
Red Book of Westmarch + Tales +
Birthday present/
Nine-fingered frodo and the Ring of doom/
shire countryside to mill through cards, burdens, and healing while getting skirmish strength from
Merry, Friend to Sam.
The Council of Elrond is also a nice perk to help get to the Red Book and move through your draw deck quicker. Finally, because the deck is so large, it also has time for things like Elrond +
Vilya and
Escape +
Everyone Knows.
Strengths: The shadow can generate some of the most absurd and unexpected swarms, with so many ways of playing free minions/generating twilight paired with one of the best (if not the best?!) minion set-ups at drawing cards during the shadow phase. With the most aggressive form of crowd control (
greed) you'll be triple assigning companions in no time. The fellowship, meanwhile, usually does its job -- be decently strong against a lot of enemy shadow sides, while drawing its own horde of cards to help cycle through the 100+ draw deck.
Weaknesses: Support area / condition hate and the usual weaknesses of Bilbo RB /
Shire countryside fellowships
In addition, the deck is Huuuuuuuuuuge (>100 cards), which is often not a big deal since I'm drawing so many cards with both sides. However, the card drawing engines can be slow to start, the deck can be vulnerable if the wrong cards come in the wrong order, especially since it is essentially running two separate shadow cultures (uruk and
) with even a card that requires you to have both in hand. I also have almost certainly over-packed the deck and might streamline it by cutting out a number of less-used cards, but it hasn't been too big a problem because of its card cycling capacity.
How to play the start: definitely bet 2+ burdens to go first (and have burdens for
Shire countryside / Tom Bomadillo), but don't feel obligated to move quickly, having that extra fellowship phase to set up at the start can be very helpful to start the process of milling through your deck, and means you don't fall too far behind if you can't double and your opponent does.
Current Decklist:
Ring-bearer:
Bilbo, Bearer of Things BurgledRing:
The One Ring, The Binding RingAdventure deck:
Sleeping QuartersRohirrim CampHall of the KingsPelennor PlainPelennor FlatMinas Tirith Third CircleOsgiliath ChannelMorgul ValeHaunted PassFree Peoples Draw Deck:
Starting fellowship--
1x
Legolas, Dauntless Hunter1x
Merry, Friend to Sam1x
Pippin, Friend to Frodo3x
Sam, Great Elf Warrior4x
Elrond, Herald to Gil-galad3x
Tom Bombadil, The Master1x
Phial of Galadriel3x
Brace of Coneys4x
Hobbit Sword1x
Red Book of Westmarch1x
Vilya4x
The Council of Elrond4x
Nine-fingered Frodo and the Ring of Doom1x
A Light in His Mind2x
A Talent for Not Being Seen2x
Birthday Present3x
Consorting With Wizards3x
Escape4x
Everyone Knows1x
Good Work1x
O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!4x
The Shire Countryside2x
The Tale of the Great Ring2x
There and Back AgainShadow Draw Deck:
3x
Goblin Backstabber4x
Goblin Runner3x
Goblin Scavengers2x
Goblin Scrabbler2x
Goblin Wallcrawler2x
Goblin Warrior2x
Host of Moria, Legion of the Underdeeps2x
Moria Scout1x
Cirith Ungol Guard2x
Cirith Ungol Patroller4x
Cirith Ungol Sentinel4x
Cirith Ungol Sentry3x
Goblin Scimitar1x
Grond, Hammer of the Underworld2x
Ithil Stone4x
Hate and Anger3x
Host of Thousands2x
Greed2x
Saruman's Ambition3x
Goblin Armory2x
Goblin Swarms1x
Plundered Armories2x
They Are Coming