Aragorn returning to his Master, Arwen

[hrcho]

Free Peoples:

Frodo, RA
The One Ring, Such a Weight to Carry

1x Gandalf, Leader of Men (start)
1x Arwen, DoE (start)
4x Aragorn, KiE
1x Sam, SoH

1x Phial of Galadriel, Star-glass
1x Gandalf's Staff
1x Glamdring
2x Gwemegil
2x Asfaloth
1x Rangers Sword
2x Hobbit Sword

1x Gift of the Evenstar
1x The Choice of Luthien
1x The Tale of the Great Ring
1x There and Back Again

1x Bounder
1x Barliman Butterbur, PPP

3x Servant of the Secret Fire
2x Arwen's Fate
2x No Mere Ranger
2x Hard Choice
1x Terrible and Evil
1x Roll of Thunder
1x Deep in Thought


Shadow:

2x Ulaire Attea, The Easterling
3x Ulaire Enquea, RiT
3x Ulaire Nelya, RiT
2x Ulaire Otsea, RiT
2x Bill Ferny, SSF
4x Morgul Brute
3x Morgul Destroyer
1x Gollum, DaD

3x Fell Beast

2x His Terrible Servants
1x Flung Into the Fray

2x Captured by the Ring
2x Return to Its Master
3x Resistance Becomes Unbearable
2x Wraith World

That makes it 35/35 and with Fell Beast cycling and Freeps being able to play pretty much anything that comes my way or discard it via Gwemegil or Gift of Evenstar.

So far I played 6 games with it. 4 wins and all 4 were Shadow wins and all 4 were Return to Its Master wins. 2 lost are against JMccarthy and even though I had a really bad draw in both games, he had O Elbereth! Gilthoniel! to make me miserable. The freeps are pretty much survive until shadow kills, but I always wanted to make Arwen-Aragorn deck and having Gandalf holding the candle.

Shadow seems good to me so far, although it needs more testing. Strategy is to exhaust RB and make him put on the ring and then play Return to Its Master and/or Wraith World depending on who's the Ring Bearer.

I am considering to switch Ranger's Sword for Anduril, Flame of the West. Only Aragorn, Gwemegil and Gandalf's Staff leave any noticeable pool and once Gorn is in game, I leave little pool behind, so it's a sort of choke. There is lots of healing coming from Gorn and Hard Choice and eventual wound transfer via The Choice of Luthien. So far, the only problematic matchups I see would be Corsairs and Moria Swarm. I am also considering Sleep, Caradhras instead of Deep in Thought seeing as I don't have many means of adding twilight in Manuever phase.

[Gate Troll]

Is Gollum Dark as Darkness considered movie block?

[Witchkingx5]

Well, with those lots of exerting (inlcuding Gron himself), I don't think another Hard Choice would hurt, even though you have 4 copies of Gorn...

But I think the Freeps is a great Deck as it stands. Making Deep in Thought work maybe isn't that easy, but if you can.. nice consider Brooding on Tomorrow, maybe. Otherwise, I always found Asfaloth, Elven Steed a great card to add in such a Deck.

But I'm just asking why still people are playing Ulaire Attea, The Easterling and Ulaire Otsea, RiT!? those cards aren't really that good, consider that wounding an ally doesn't make that an issue mostly and making able to win Ulaire Otsea, RiT a skirmish is sometimes as hard as convincing Georg W. Bush of Democracy, in fact you aren't even using Blade Tip.

Even though you rely on Return to it's Master, one or two The Witch-King, LotN won't hurt. As wil not Ulaire Nelya, RiT, which is a great card that can easily avoid an early dead comp. And it also replaces Ulaire Otsea, RiT. Nelya costs one mroe, but is much stronger in exchange. And if you care about high costs, I assume Morgul Gates being a nice card.

Your Combo might die to hand clog, but if it works...  

Oh, and if you aren't using Aragorn's Bow, Flame of the West is obviously a much better choice in that Deck, not only cus' of the extra vitality provided. As Swarm Protection, Mithrandir, Mithrandir! might be an option, or the Aragorn's Bow mentioned above. And Corsairs always cause trouble...

@Door orc: Yes it is, and a very good choice for this Shadow side.

[Gate Troll]

Huh. I was under the impression that it wasn't. Thanks.

[hrcho]

I do have 3 copies of Nelya. I run Attea and Otsea, RiT becuase they are twilight nazgul and I need them for Resistance Becomes Unbearable and Wraith World. Their text is irrelevant. I might take one copy of Lord of the Nazgul. And yes, hand clog could be my undoing so I need a wee bit of luck for this deck to work. Still, I find it quite fun to play and that's all that matters

[putridbreath]

Servant of the Secret Fire and No Mere Ranger are both potential Frodo pumps. That coupled with Bounder, tTotGR, There and Back Again, hobbit swords and SAWTC will make for a tough little hobbit to overwhelm.
If you're still concerned, maybe Banner of the White Tree?

[hrcho]

If you're still concerned, maybe Banner of the White Tree?

It's a good card, but since Aragorn is the only companion in my deck, I'd rather go with Valiant Man of the West. It doesn't provide the strength, but I don't have to exert and it negates any damage bonus.

[putridbreath]

Valiant Man of the West + Roll of Thunder = twilight for Deep in Thought

[Witchkingx5]

I do have 3 copies of Nelya. I run Attea and Otsea, RiT becuase they are twilight nazgul and I need them for Resistance Becomes Unbearable and Wraith World. Their text is irrelevant.

so drop the Atteas and go with 4x Otsea and 4x Nelya, would be definitely better. Oh, and I completely forgot about Morgul Skulker! He's very ncie to pull your Combo cards back! You could consider adding Poor Creature just in Case you'll mett Chocke/ Hand clog and then sacrifice him if you don't need him anymore. He's a very good cycling card and you can play him in your starting fellowship for (nearly) free.

[uncle_elrond]

Another possible idea to make Deep in Thought more effective is to switch to a Gimli RB and then play Shoulder to Shoulder.  Although I've always liked Aragorn/Arwen decks and this one seems pretty strong as it is.

For the Shadow, I agree with the others Nelya is much better than Ostea, since you're not playing Blade Tips.  One other thing that would be a good add is Stronghold of Minas Morgul.  If you can keep if out, you can exhaust the ring-bearer right away.  I would also consider using strength pumps like Threshold of Shadow or Dark Whispers to help win and also avoid Tale of the Great Ring if you're assigned to Frodo.  If O Elbereth! Githoniel! is a problem, I would add a a Witch-King, Morgul King and either Stricken Dumb or the Pale Blade.  That way you can still have Return to Its Master and also have a way of getting rid of it. 

Just my 2 cents.