The idea behind this new deck format is to scale back the scope of both Free Peoples and Shadow sides of your game, simultaneously limiting the dangers you may face while increasing the peril with each decision you make. You see, each side of your deck is limited to
one character: one companion to assist Frodo on his quest, and then 4 copies of a single minion.
I highly recommend keeping these decks to 30/30. So far, every time I've played we've all pretty much decked ourselves by site 9. Since the format itself limits you to a very specific sort of deck, there are no banned or restricted cards. But you can't use followers or allies of any kind.
Here is an example of a
Man and Monster deck using Farmer Maggot and Lurtz. Anyone who knows my history with this game should remember my old love for
Farmer Maggot, Chaser of Rascals. Once I had the idea for this format, my first desire was to put the Maggot companion to work. And let me tell you... this deck is awesome; it's easily the most powerful of the three decks I've built thus far.
Make Haste will almost always result in the only minion in play getting trashed, and spamming
Halfling Leaf can cancel skirmishes over and over again. Lurtz's side of things is simple enough: tank, murder, repeat.
Also, I highly recommend keeping these decks to 30/30. So far, every time I've played we've all pretty much decked ourselves by site 9.
Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer (With
The One Ring, Answer to All Riddles)
Farmer Maggot, Hobbit of the MarishBuckland Homestead,
East Road,
Helm's Gate,
Hill of Sight,
Hobbiton Market,
Streets of Bree,
Trollshaw Forest,
Valley of the Silverlode,
Westemnet VillageFree Peoples (30)Conditions (13):Halfling Leaf x2
Kept SafeNot Feared in Sunlight x3
Sudden Fury x2
The Tale of the Great Ring x2
There and Back Again x3
Events (6):Concerning Hobbits x3
Make Haste x3
Artifacts/Possessions (10):Bill the PonyHobbit Sword x2
Mithril-coat, Dwarf-mailOld Toby x4
Salt from the ShireSting, Bane of the Eight LegsShadow (30)Minions (4):Lurtz, Minion of the White Wizard x4
Conditions (13):Deathly Roar x2
Pikes Upon Pikes x2
Saruman's Ambition x4
Suffered Much Loss x2
Uruk BloodlustUruk-hai Rampage x2
Events (8):Breeding Pit x2
Brutality x3
Ghastly Wound x3
Possessions (5):Lurtz's Bow, Black-fletch BowLurtz's Sword x2
Weapon of Opportunity x2
I hope you like the look of this deck, and I recommend building a few in this format! I
discovered cards, always overlooked, that really started to shine once a limit was placed on the characters a player can use. It's a lot of fun!