Gondor Choke/Isengard Orcs (RL deck, suggestions welcome)

[idleninja]

Hey all, I am looking for suggestions to improve my RL deck for online play (since I'm no longer limited to what I physically own). This deck is really fun, especially the shadow side, but my siblings all play swarm and I'm not too sure how it will fare online against other kinds of decks. Any suggestions to help round out this deck would be welcome.


Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer (2C102)
The One Ring, The Ruling Ring (1C2)


Sites:
The Prancing Pony (1U324)
Ettenmoors (1C331)
Council Courtyard (1C337)
Moria Lake (1C346)
The Bridge of Khazad-Dum (1C349)
Caras Galadhon (3U115)
Silverlode Banks (1U355)
Gates of Argonath (3C117)
Slopes of Amon Hen (1U361)


Free Peoples (35)
x1 Boromir, DoMT (3P122) Starting
x1 Aragorn, HttWC (3R38)
x2 Sam, Proper Poet (2C114)
x1 Bounder (1C286)
x1 Filibert Bolger,  Wily Rascal (2C101)

x3 Frying Pan (3C108)
x1 Blade of Gondor (1R95)
x2 Flaming Brand (2R32)
x1 Ranger's Sword (1U112)
x2 Aragorn's Bow (1R90)
x1 Boromir's Cloak (1U98)
x1 Shield of Boromir (2R38)
x2 Armor (1C92)
x2 Athelas (1U94)

x2 A Ranger's Versatility (1U113)
x2 Flee in Terror (2U33)   <<< BEST anti-swarm card ever
x4 PAtHS (1R308)

x1 O Elbereth! Gilthoniel! (2R108)
x1 There and Back Again (1C317)
x2 Citadel of Minas Tirith (3R40)
x2 No Stranger to the Shadows (1U108)

FP Strategy: Bid 3-4 to try and play Aragorn with the site, play possessions and try to survive until your Shadow wins, double move when you can. Boromir takes down anything big, Aragorn lets you play stuff/heal Boromir for free in Fellowship, and snipes weaker minions (or exhausted ones from A Ranger's Versatility) with his bow. Get No Stranger to Shadows on both of them for even less twilight each time you move. Flee in Terror is awesome against orcs/swarm but not much else. Citadel of Minas Tirith lets you heal, as does Boromir's game text.


Shadow (35)
x3 Isengard Worker (3C62)
x3 Isengard Servant (3U58)
x3 Isengard Retainer (3U57)
x4 Saruman, Servant of The Eye (3C69)
x3 Orc Overseer (3R65)
x2 Orc Commander (3R64)
x1 Ulaire Nertea, Messenger of Dol Guldur (1U234)
x1 Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul (1U231)

x4 One of You Must Do This (3C63)
x4 Coming for the Ring (3C51)
x3 The Trees Are Strong (3U73)

x2 Saruman's Ambition (1C133)
x1 Tower of Orthanc (3R71)
x1 The Palantir of Orthanc (3R67)

Shadow Strategy: Get the orcs out and get them to regroup to start doing damage. One of You Must Do This is great because worst case its 1 exert for 1 exert, best case 4 exerts for 1 exert, Saruman can use it, and it happens before the archery phase. Use Saruman to assign orcs to exhausted companions or to pile them on one companion so they survive until regroup. Use Coming for the Ring to heal and get more wounds out, then The Trees Are Strong to get a couple more wounds in there before the end of the turn. Saruman's Ambition makes your regroup events cheaper, Tower of Orthanc gets you twilight and discourages double moving, Nazgul are there for crowd-control and to replay minions. Palantir is there to troll if you have any leftover twilight, might put back a skirmish event or Double Shot.


How does my deck look for Fellowship block? For FP side maybe use Hobbit Sword (1C299) instead of Frying Pan. I know my events are all based around stopping swarm so I should probably change those around, maybe throw in some Dagger Strike (1C102). For shadow I know I will add another copy of Tower of Orthanc, don't know what else to add. Maybe a Spies of Saruman (1R140) to get past Elves/Gondor Bowmen, or Saruman's Power (1U136) to wipe the board since I only have a couple of conditions in this deck. Or some Uruk-hai to get extra wounds on companions. Any suggestions are welcome, I can't wait to see how this deck does on Gemp. Thanks!

[Invincible]

I'd keep one maybe 2 frying pans, but definately since you have 4 paths, hobbit sword would be nice. Also if you are to add 1 or 2 hobbit sword, start Merry, FotB alongside Boromir, he's a good tank with 4 vitality.

For the shadow side I'd say 3 Saruman is enough, and you might consider adding 1 copy of the Balrog, DB in case your shadow is innefective.

[FYNO]

You definitely need something else to start with Boromir. I usually like Merry, Friend to Sam, but FotB or Pippin, Hobbit of Some Intelligence are all fair options. You can also make use of A Talent For Not Being Seen in that case.

I'd definitely cut Boromir's Cloak and Flee in Terror, they're only decent against specific decks and useless otherwise. 3 Frying Pans is definitely too many, especially without more Hobbits. A second Blade of Gondor and Ranger's Sword would be helpful. The Saga of Elendil and Gondor Bowmen are pretty solid conditions.