Besiegeing Hobbits

[hrcho]

A new deck with very good success rate. I like it very much, it's quite fun and quite competitive.

Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir
The One Ring, ATAR

Free Peoples (36):
1x Sam, Great Elf Warrior (start)
1x Gandalf, Leader of Men (start)
1x Smeagol, Poor Creature (start)
3x Boromir, Son of Denethor

1x Rosie Cotton, Hobbiton Lass
1x Bounder

1x Gandalf's Staff
1x Narsil, BotF

2x Hobbit Sword
1x Sting, Baggins Heirloom

3x The Shire Countryside
2x A Light In His Mind
2x Brooding on Tomorrow
4x A Promise
1x O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!
1x There and Back Again
1x The Saga of Elendil

2x Sneaking!
3x Servant of the Secret Fire
3x NFFATROD


Shadow (36):
2x Gorgoroth Agitator
2x Gorgoroth Assassin
2x Gorgoroth Berserker
3x Gorgoroth Keeper
2x Gorgoroth Breaker
2x Gorgoroth Pillager
1x Gorgoroth Servitor
2x Gorgoroth Swarm
2x Mordor Pillager
1x Gothmog, Lieutenant of Morgul
2x Olog-hai of Mordor
2x Gorgoroth Troop

1x Ithil Stone

1x Grond, HOTU

1x Encirclement
2x Their Marching Companies
2x Tower Walkway
3x Troop Tower

3x Din of Arms


So far, the deck had a very good run. Shadow killed after site 6 and freeps were pretty much untouchable. I haven't yet run into Saruman's Power, though. Freeps strategy is to make hobbits very strong with equipment, conditions and Boromir, SoD. Then lose initiative with Smeagol, PC, remove a burden, heal, discard a shadow condition. Hobbits get very hard to kill and it's not difficult to run to site 9.

Shadow is very good so far. They failed only once, against lucky and cheap Dwarves. I didn't manage to get a single site and pretty much clogged my hand. I'm considering Dead Marshes and more copies of Ithil Stone instead of Gorgoroth Agitator. Any suggestions are welcome.

[uncle_elrond]

Personally, I would use Sting, Baggins Heirloom instead of Bane of the Eight Legs.  Maybe even The Board is Set or Fireworks if Sarman's Power is a problem.  Otherwise looks pretty good.

[ket_the_jet]

I would rather see Follow Smeagol than The Saga of Elendil.

But I think my biggest problem with this deck is that it is too big for just five companions. The Gaffer, Sam's Father is superfluous, and A Talent for Not Being Seen, while nice, probably isn't needed.

I think the same could be said for the two copies of Sneaking. I would like to see at least one Aragorn, Ranger of the North. And yes, Sting, Baggins Heirloom is the better call.
-wtk

[hrcho]

I agree it is a bit too large for so low cycling capabilites (just Poor Creature). I'll remove some cards. I too prefer Baggins Heirloom, but I chose Bane of the Eight Legs because Sam can wield it too. I guess it's not worth it. Especially since I have Smeagol, who wasn't in the original setup.
Sneakin is a great card. Helped me a lot through all my games. I really don't think Ranger of the North is necessary since I don't leave much twilight and swarm would have a tough time killing those hobbits. Already tested it against Moria Swarm and while it did kill Boromir, Gandy and Smeagol, both Frodo and Sam survived site 9. Follow Smeagol might be a very nice addition, it might allow me to play my site 5, but The Saga of Elendil provides vitality for my Boromir and strength for my hobbits in turn.

[Witchkingx5]

ket is rigfht. You really need swarm protection. If you face Decks like Moria Swarm (a good build, of course) I don't see many chances to survive here. Moria Swarm can easily provide twlight and play 8+ minions at one site. I know that Moria's conditions can be discarded, but still, with Host of Moria and 8 minions, 5 going to the ring-bearer...

You could also have some problems against Izzy-Orc Swarm, as many miions will survive until regroup and then kill you. You don't have any comps to replace dead ones. And as I pack Tower assasin in most of my movie Decks, Bounder won't protect you from Tracker Swarm.

Still nice Deck though, I'd keep Gorgoroth Agitator for sure. His ability to replay engines is just way too good.

[hrcho]

I don't think you understand how strong hobbits can get. Frodo with sword, ring and A Promise or two is str 9. I can increase his str with Boromir, SoD, heal Boromir with TSC and increase his strength again. My deck is a bad matchup for swarm decks (unless they contain Saruman's Power) and such Shadows would require more than little luck to defeat this deck.

I can see have Gorgoroth Agitator can be good, but I have a really bad luck with him. More than once he was the only orc in my hand along with Troop Tower or Tower Walkway and I can't play those conditions because I can't play him and every time I do play him, there are no threats.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to regain my initiative during skirmish phase? Echoes of Valinor come to mind, but Gandy doesn't win a lot of skirmishes.