This deck is part of Mormegil’s Deckbox, an effort to create an extensive catalogue of decks for the different archetypes, themes and playing styles available to players. Click here to check out the whole project.
Preferred Player Count: 1-4
Rating:
Premise
I wanted a deck running the classic Black Riders Hobbit-lineup and this is the result. While I prefer Bond of Friendship for my optimized Hobbit decks nowadays, this setup is still very strong of course. Gaffer Gamgee is simply outstanding to handle combat and Power of Command recently added another dimension to ensure a comfortable start quest-wise.
How To Play
In my opening hand, I like having Raise the Shire or Gaffer, preferably with a form of resource generation (which then goes on Pippin to ensure continuous Gaffer-cycling. That's about it - from there on, you just play allies, quest, kill with Sam Gamgee/Merry while keeping your hand full with Pippin and your threat low with The Shirefolk/Gandalf.
Considerations
In multiplayer, I do like Feint or the side quests (more for other players than yourself), especially since Henamarth Riversong is not needed anymore. A Very Good Tale is worth a look if you want to build up stats more quickly, which some quests require you to do. Rivendell Scout is generally fine here and can be included if you want another body/have any uniqueness issues.
Enjoy!!!