Deck of the Day #6:
"He doesn't like you either"
by Matthew Clemans (mattclemans@insightbb.com)
This deck is similar to the previous one in many ways – it uses the
same overall strategy to be sure, but it packs a little bit more of a punch
and has a few more tricks to go along with it. If you've got the cards to
build it, this deck will give your opponent fits.
Hobbits are different than any other culture in terms of their strengths
and their strategies. They have cards that allow them to hide and run and
that keep them from dying. It may not be difficult for your opponent to
win skirmishes, but actually killing the Hobbits is a totally different
problem. If they get enough twilight after Bill the Pony and Talent For
Not Being Seen come down to play a good number of minions, they have to
worry about being Hobbit Stealthed or if they are playing orcs, they have
to worry about getting hit with a Frying Pan. As a last ditch effort, you
have Power According to His Stature and the Bounders to save you from being
overwhelmed. After you use those events, Bilbo can shuffle them back into
your deck and Master Proudfoot can go fishing for them again. Mithril Coat
is a great card if you are facing Uruk-hai or Cave Trolls at the later sites
– just be sure to check their hand with Sting to make sure he can't
overwhelm you with pump cards. In a pinch, Aragorn once again performs the
job of a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free-Card – taking on many minions at once.
Ideally, you can work it so that you've got an un-wounded Bounder, a couple
of Stealth events and a Power According to His Stature or two when you're
ready to move to the end, making it very hard for your opponent to put down
anything that can stop you!
The shadow side of this deck focuses on decking your opponent out, or
at least whittling it down to the point where he can't put up much of a
resistance to your Hobbits at the end. His Cruelty and Malice dumps a card
from your opponent's deck each time you can exert a Sauron Orc during Regroup.
When you play a Tower Lieutenant, you can discard as many as four cards
– two when he wins his skirmish and two during regroup. Since His Cruelty
and Malice is a Condition, it will be around anytime you have the orcs available
to exert. You can also punish your opponent when they move with Tower of
Barad-dur. Once you get four on the table they have to discard four cards
from hand every time they move! Desperate Defense of the Ring performs a
double whammy – either they have to discard cards, or they have to
add burdens – allowing you to hit them with Desperate Measures. Also,
don't forget that any left over twilight can be used to remove cards in
your opponent's hand with Band of the Eye.
Here we have a deck with two very different halves that work very well
together. While running your opponent out of cards with the one half, you
are racing him to the end of the path with the other. Keep the pressure
on and watch him sweat!
Ring-bearer
Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir
The One Ring, Isildur's Bane
Adventure Deck
[1] Bag End
[2] Midgewater Marshes
[3] Frodo's Bedroom
[4] Pass of Caradhras
[5] The Bridge of Khazad-dum
[6] Caras Galadhon
[7] Anduin Wilderland
[8] Anduin Banks
[9] Emyn Muil
Free Peoples (32)
Sam, Son of Hamfast (starting)
Pippin, Hobbit of Some Intelligence (starting)
Merry, Friend to Sam (starting)
Bill The Pony x2
Sting x2
Frying Pan x2
Old Noakes
Filbert Bolger
A Talent For Not Being Seen
Master Proudfoot
Bilbo Baggins, Retired Adventurer
Hobbit Stealth x3
Hobbit Intuition x3
Power According To His Stature x4
The Gaffer, Sam's Father
Thror's Map
Mithril Coat
Bounder
Aragorn, Ranger of the North
Meant to Be Alone
Hobbit Appetite
Shadow (32)
His Cruelty and Malice
Massing in the East x2
Orc Pillager x3
Our List of Allies Grows Thin
Tower of Barad-dur x4
Orc Inquisitor x3
Tower Assassin x2
Tower Lieutenant x3
Band of the Eye x2
Vile Blade x2
Orc Scout x2
Orc Ambusher x2
Desperate Defense of the Ring x3
Desperate Measures x2
June 28, 2002
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