Commentary:Back when I first started playing LotR, just after RotEL came out, none of my friends played
. In fact, they didn't see much use for the culture in general. It happened to be my favorite, and I bought a few
card lots off of eBay for $20-$50 and got started making some decks. Unfortunately,
is
very rare intensive and I was the one who had the money those days.
I have two favorite
deck designs: one that revolves around discard/corruption and another that focuses on wounding. This is the first, very close to the deck I used to play six years ago.
The main purpose of this deck is to make your opponent
want to pull their hair out run out of cards and
hate you for the rest of eternity be unable to play much of anything. Once your opponent
is irritated beyond belief has no draw deck, you can run to site 9 in safety.
Ring and Bearer:Frodo, Reluctant AdventurerThe One Ring, Isildur's BaneAdventure Deck: The Prancing Pony* Trollshaw Forest* Rivendell Waterfall Eregion Hills The Bridge of Khazad-dum* Valley of the Silverlode* The Great River Gates of Argonath Tol BrandirFree Peoples (35 cards):1x
Arwen, Daughter Of Elrond (starting)
1x
Legolas, Son of Thranduil (starting)
1x
Aragorn, King in Exile3x
Haldir, Elf Of The Golden Wood3x
Elrond, Herald to Gil-galad1x
Gwemegil1x
Long-knives of Legolas1x
Ranger's Sword2x
Aragorn's Bow1x
Bow of the Galadhrim3x
Elven Bow**2x
Gift of Boats2x
Songs of the Blessed Realm1x
The Choice of Luthien1x
The Last Alliance of Elves and Men3x
The White Arrows of Lorien2x
Hobbit Stealth2x
Might of Numenor2x
Secret Sentinels2x
The Council of ElrondShadow (35 cards):3x
Morgul Hunter4x
Orc Ambusher4x
Orc Inquisitor4x
Orc Warrior2x
Tower Assassin3x
Desperate Defense of the Ring3x
His Cruelty and Malice2x
Thin and Stretched3x
Tower of Barad-dur3x
Desperate Measures2x
Enduring Evil2x
Shadow's ReachGeneral Strategy:Bid 2 and hope to start with
The Prancing Pony. If you opponent bids 2 and wins the toss or bids 3... ouch! It's hard to go without Aragorn, but those burdens should help you later. I think the risk is worth it, but consider running 2x each of Aragorn and Haldir.* Get
the White Arrows of Lorien out and start trashing your opponent's hand. For Shadow, add burdens if possible but focus on discard. Once you get to site 6, run to nine with the
Gift of Boats. MAKE SURE you cycle your hand as much as possible and you have very good chances of getting it in time. Be careful against choke!
*Or perhaps tweak below.Free People's Specific Strategy (Trash your opponent's hand):- THE WHITE ARROWS OF LORIEN - Put it on Legolas or Arwen, but it's nice to have one on all three elves. This is the essence of your Freeps deck, so keep your companions healed and use it well! Always trash your opponent's hand if it is safe (you can spare the vitality), and keep in mind that they will not have any Skirmish events to use against you. Use Might of Numenor to keep wounds down and beware Relentless Charge!
- Companions - All except Haldir have the Aragorn signet for optimum healing. You'll want to use this mainly on Legolas and Arwen to keep TWAoL running. Haldir is a stock Elf; Arwen is nice against Nazzies; Legolas gives an archery boost for most sites. Once your opponent realizes what you are up to, they are likely to double ahead, so you get to play your forests and rivers.
- Allies - Elrond is vital for healing, Gift of Boats and Secret Sentinels. Be careful not to overexert him if it seems like your opponent may be able to kill him. Between Elrond and Aragorn's healings alone, you should be able to use TWAoL twice a turn!
- Possessions - Pretty self-explanatory.
- Archery - You have the potential for a base archery total of 5. Very nice.
- Gift of Boats - You probably won't win without it. If you get it only early, do not play it lest it get discarded (unless your opponent is running discard as well and trashing your hand ).
- Songs of the Blessed Realm - Helps drop your initial 3-4 burdens.
- The Choice of Luthien - Use it to keep Arwen healed if she has TWAoL, or to spread wounds around before using Might of Numenor.
- The Council of Elrond - Makes you essentially have 5 TWAoL! Use it also to grab TLAoEaM or TCoL.
- Hobbit Stealth - Get out of Balrog free card.
Shadow Specific Strategy (Trash your opponent's draw deck):- Culture - is tricky because of high roaming costs. Be prepared to discard minions that you can't play to keep your hand cycling. Be aware that almost all of the conditions require exertions to play.
- Morgul Hunter - Great gametext, even better vitality. He's a keeper.
- Orc Ambusher - Why four? This is your cheapest minion, and at 3 twilight when roaming (most of the game), he will help you get your conditions out.
- Orc Inquisitor - This will especially annoy them after losing cards to Tower of Barad-dur.
- Orc Warrior - How can you beat this guy's manuever discarding? If your orcs are not making it to skirmish, discard your conditions left and right.
- Tower Assassin - In case your opponent randomly decided to run Old Noakes, kill him. He's the biggest threat to a shadow discard deck other than Frodo, Courteous Halfling (which fortunately is in Towers block, so no worries there!) Of course, killing allies can come in handy in other circumstances.
- Desperate Defense of the Ring - What a painful choice! If fighting a skirmish-oriented deck, put this card on their best fighters. Know also that Old Noakes does not apply on this card if the Freeps player chooses to discard 3.
- His Cruelty and Malice - The only condition with no spotting requirement. Play it whenever you have spare twilight. If yours minions survive with extra vitality to use it, great! Otherwise, discard it with Orc Warrior.
- Thin and Stretched - Once you have this out with DDotR, it's burden if he fights, burden if he doesn't. And if they assign someone like a Orc Ambusher to Frodo, that just might be game with Enduring Evil...
- Tower of Barad-dur - So tempting to pack four of these... after playing their best Freeps cards, your opponent will generally have to discard their shadow.
- Desperate Measures - Awesome. While you may not corrupt the Ringbearer, burdens are so useful for both this card and Enduring Evil.
- Enduring Evil - Unexpected overwhelm, anyone?
- Shadow's Reach - Use it if you need it, otherwise save your exertions for playing conditions.
The Shadow side is flexible and it is possible for you to accomplish your objectives without having any minions make it to a single skirmish. On the other hand, if they do and you can take advantage of
TaS and
DDotR, more power to you!