Ents?

[Gerontius]

Every once in a while I try to build an ent deck. I have most, if not all, of the rares normally used for it, but every time it crashes and burns. For example, in my last battle I had a nine companion fellowship at site five, and by site eight all I had was Frodo with Atar and 5 wounds. Granted, I hadn't anticipated Saruman's Power.... or a seven minion swarm.... or Osgiliath Channel, but the main problem was the lack of healing available. I had thought of adding in pipeweed and Aragorn's pipe somehow, but I wasn't sure how to do it. Does anyone have a good decklist?

[Not a Zombie]

add a couple of Have Patience.

[ket_the_jet]

Well, Aragorn's Pipe with Boromir, Bearer of Council or Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms would be a pretty good idea.

Personally, I have always seen Ents as good beginner decks--they have nice, strong companions and aren't too combo-intensive, but not having many options for being more...pro-tuned. (Does that make sense?)
-wtk

[Gil-Estel]

What? In movie I consider Ents to be one of the strongest fellowships. Start Gandalf, leader of men and a cheap ent. Burn him to get what ever you need, but especially Gandalf's staff. That way you now have the option to ignore minions you can not deal with, especially early game. Add Sleep Caradhras or Deep in Thought and Terrible and Evil to nuke Enquea. All companions are high on vitality, reasonably strong and able to run. I love them. But you might consider an extra copy of Gandalf, just in case you run into Fierce in Despair and all your 'spot gandalf' cards are useless all of a sudden.

[ket_the_jet]

I don't know...that's too Gandalf-focused and I would consider any fellowship that focuses on Gandalf as a main swing is pretty strong.

I mean, you have brought up five cards + Gandalf, Leader of Men...I just think that if you put that stuff in any deck it would probably be better off. Plus, you would certainly need four copies of Saved From the Fire, and multiple copies of Sleep Caradhras or Deep in Thought... that's over 10 cards that aren't within the ent-unbound hobbit theme.

As for an Ent-unbound Hobbit deck, I don't know that I'm convinced. But then again, I don't think Ents are really spectacular at all.

Another nice thing about them, I should mention, is that they are not condition-intensive. I would avoid Ent Draught, because nothing is worse than having an exhausted companion and then having Ent Draught discarded.

Some Who Resisted with Boromir, Bearer of Council or Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms might be a good way to get the healing you are looking for.
-wtk

[Malachi]

My Ent deck:

Starting:

1 Frodo, Resolute Hobbit
1 The One Ring, Answer to All Riddles
1 Gandalf, Manager of Wizards

Free Peoples (36):

1 Skinbark, Fladrif
1 Ent Horde
1 Host of Fangorn
1 Treebeard, Keeper of the Watchwood
1 Quickbeam, Bregalad
1 Lindenroot, Elder Shepherd
1 Huorn

3 Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor
1 Albert Dreary, Entertainer from Bree

1 Narya
2 Gandalf's Staff

1 Glamdring, Lightning Brand
1 Sting, Bane of the Eight Legs

1 Brooding On Tomorrow

3 Roll of Thunder
3 Deep in Thought
3 Terrible and Evil
4 Servant of the Secret Fire
4 A Wizard Is Never Late

Shadow (37):
2 Isengard Artisan
4 Isengard Journeyman
3 Isengard Plodder
2 Isengard Retainer
3 Isengard Servant
4 Isengard Shaman
2 Isengard Smith
4 Isengard Tinker
4 Isengard Warrior
3 Isengard Worker
1 Grima, Chief Counselor
1 Grima, Wormtongue
3 Saruman's Power

Sites:
1 Isengard Ruined
1 Rohirrim Camp
1 Hall of the Kings
1 Pelennor Plain
1 City Gates
1 Minas Tirith First Circle
1 Osgiliath Crossing
1 Watchers of Cirith Ungol
1 Dagorlad

Set up early by using A Wizard Is Never Late, have Ents cover Gandalf's back, use his ability and Servant of the Secret Fire to win skirmishes. Discard opponent's conditions with Albert, Deep in Thought and Brooding On Tomorrow, use Roll of Thunder to get rid of Ithil Stone, Mumaks and Corsair Ships, play Terrible and Evil to prevent Enquea from wreacking Havoc or to kill exhausted minions. Staff reduce the cost of the spells (which with Ents this seems a bit pointless though), Narya can remove some burdens if needed (twilight doesn't matter with Ents), and Albert Dreary is there for one reason: to discard Greed, which is a killer to this deck.

Some events will be more useful than other depending on your opponent's shadow (like Roll of Thunder against Corsairs, Terrible and Evil against Enquea LoM), use Barliman to bring them back and keep a copy in hand just in case.

The Shadow is pretty standard wounding Orcs. Depending on the opponent's fellowship, either wait 'till you get a killer swarm in hand for a single devastating blow (usually site 4 after using Hall of the Kings in fellowship), or empty your hand as much as possible and wound them to stop them from running. There are no conditions at all, and Saruman's Power will remove their toys while Isengard Warrior and Isengard Shaman provide protection against archery. Grima, Chief Counselor is cheap and is invaluable against rainbow fellowships, while Wormtongue can be very nasty against fully loaded Durin or Eomer.

[Cw0rk]

I do not agree with ket_the_jet. Ents are really good when know how to play them.

As sweet said, I suggest adding Have Patience. Also, you may want to consider adding Radagast because (I consider) ents are almost unstoppable when everything is set up. I have won several games against Ents who were destroying my shadow by running to site 9 with my fellowship. Maybe your starting fellowship could be improved a bit as Gil said, but it still looks OK like that. Another thing you can consider is cards adding damage bonus if you want to double-move easily or you could also add one of that Gandalf event that discard every minions if you move again. You may consider add 1 of that event that liberates sites with ents.

For your shadow, you should add some Enqueas against large fellowships like yours.

[Malachi]

Yeah, I tried to put both Radagast and Enquea in, but they never came when I needed them and were useless other times, so I'm playing without them for now.

[Cw0rk]

Well... 1 radagast and 4 a wizard is never late. Should be enough?

But if u play tested it and it's not working then you must be right.