Is there any deck like this?

[Yanko Markovic]

Is there any deck that uses Smeagol, Bearer of Great Secrets with ring-bound rangers and discards every minion at regroup?

Please, if you know one, give ideas.

This could be Expanded too, but ring-bound rangers are not very used in Expanded.

[Cw0rk]

http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,4163.0.html

It works well.

[Yanko Markovic]

Does it really work good? The idea seems to be only surviving the skirmishes and after that you heal, but what if they manage to kill somebody before you can do anything? How do you protect Sam? Maybe I'd add another hobbit and Tom Bombadil, though it's just an idea, and I think it may be too difficult to pull off.

[Cw0rk]

Does it really work good? The idea seems to be only surviving the skirmishes and after that you heal, but what if they manage to kill somebody before you can do anything? How do you protect Sam? Maybe I'd add another hobbit and Tom Bombadil, though it's just an idea, and I think it may be too difficult to pull off.

If a companion die, you play another one next turn. Coat of Mail makes them survive. You protect Sam by not assigning him to a skirmish. It looks like a retarded deck, but it works very well. I'm pretty sure that I have a 3-1 win ratio with it and all the wins are FP wins.

[Yanko Markovic]

Ok, playtested this deck a bit with my friends and it worked out pretty well. Paired it with Uruk trackers and it also worked out good. Also, this deck is incredibly cheap.

[itjunkie]

"Each time the fellowship moves, place an unbound companion in the dead pile. Regroup: If Smeagol is the Ring-bearer, add 2 burdens to discard each minion. "

does this mean, you're left with 1 or 2 companions by site 9?

[MR. Lurtzy]

Only if you play unbound companions... which, for the most part, is not recommended.

[Kralik]

I run a Smeagol + RB Rangers deck that is different than Cw0rk's. Yes, Sam is key, and yes, you have companions to spare/kill when needed. Quite fun, no unbound.

[Cw0rk]

I run a Smeagol + RB Rangers deck that is different than Cw0rk's. Yes, Sam is key, and yes, you have companions to spare/kill when needed. Quite fun, no unbound.

Can you post it?

[Kralik]

Sure. It's rather basic, less strategy than yours I imagine:

3x   1C311   Sam, Son Of Hamfast
1x   4R116   Faramir, Captain of Gondor
3x   4C122   Gondorian Ranger
1x   4U127   Mablung, Soldier of Gondor
3x   4C130   Ranger of Ithilien
2x   1U94     Athelas
1x   4R119   Faramir's Cloak
4x   4C134   Sword of Gondor
4x   4C131   Ranger's Bow
3x   6R49     Ancient Roads
2x   7C111   Man the Walls
3x   4C113   Curse Them
3x   3C43     Might of Numenor
3x   4C135   War and Valor

Smeagol dies to swarm - just how it goes. I have it paired with Sauron wounding / Hate, so usually I hope for a Shadow kill, but it usually doesn't do bad doubling from 7 to 9 in a pinch.

[hrcho]

You could always add Gondorian Merchant and run What Are They?... It would fit in the discarding minions strategy 

[ket_the_jet]

I saw a cool deck one time that played Radagast, the Brown in a Smeagol, Bearer of Great Secrets deck. Killing him meant that the Shadow player could not take advantage of the cycling he provides!
-wtk

[macheteman]

... but if hes dead, how did he take advantage of the move limit he provides?

[ket_the_jet]

Move limit modifiers last the whole turn. So you get the move limit +1 but the Shadow player does not get the cycling advantage.
-wtk

[macheteman]

so, in movie block, you could double to site 3 (use pathfinder or something to play tower of ecthelion), add threats to make the move limit +1 to get to site 6, drop radagast and triple to site 9. that would take a lot of the right cards at the right time.