It’s a dangerous business, going out your door... 1.0

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• 1.0

Overview

This is a Fellowship deck built around a Shire theme. It is intended for solo play, though it could also work well in a 2-player game. The general idea behind the deck is to get maximal use of Fellowship bonuses by getting them online very early (often around turn 2 - 3), and also benefiting from synergies amongst Hobbit cards. This deck works especially well for saga quests with some minor adjustments (see below).

Now, some of you might be looking at that hero lineup and saying "Wait, is that Binder Bilbo I see? Isn't he a terrible hero? You can't be serious?"

Yes, I am. First of all, in general, I think he's been severely underrated by the community for solo play. Having the ability to draw through your deck twice as quickly as normal right from turn 1 without exhausting is very powerful, more than I think a lot of people realize. In this specific deck though, the usually complaint of having low stats for high threat is immediately a non-issue as soon as you get Fellowship bonuses and/or play the first copy of The Shirefolk, so there's really nothing but upside here. His ability is key to getting the contract bonuses early, and remains relevant throughout the game as it helps draw past useless ally cards to find attachments and events (in combination with Drinking Song).

Starting Hand

The key cards to mulligan for are Bill the Pony, A Very Good Tale, and Tighten Our Belts. Try to get 3 resources out of the latter by not spending anything turn 1, if you can. Henamarth Riversong and Rosie Cotton are also nice to see in the opening hand as you'll want those in play in every game if possible.

The response ability on Halfast Gamgee is also very useful early game. Often you'll be just one resource shy of playing another ally that turn. It's especially great when you cheat him into play via A Very Good Tale.

Notes on Specific Cards

The One Ring goes on Bilbo (thematically this makes sense, since it was in fact Bilbo who possessed the ring during the time period of this game). You can put Power of Command on him as soon as you no longer need resources for playing allies. Used sparingly, the threat cost can be easily mitigated by The Shirefolk.

Sting is best played on Sam. Aside from the obvious benefits printed on the card, don't negate its use for encounter deck manipulation when Henamarth Riversong spots a nasty treachery or game-ruining location on the horizon.

The first copies of Fast Hitch, Hobbit Cloak, and Dagger of Westernesse should also go on Sam. Then each round he can quest+defend+attack (+attack again via Merry), or else quest+defend+defend, if you engage an enemy with higher threat. With attachments and Rosie's help he can easily get to 9 or 9 .

Depending on the needs for the scenario you are playing, Bilbo can be outfitted as a decent secondary defender with Hobbit Cloak and Fast Hitch. Otherwise, I would recommend putting the second copy of Fast Hitch on Rosie instead.

Gaffer Gamgee is less useful here than in other decks, but sometimes triggering his ability is still the right play, even though you'll temporarily lose bonuses that turn. The same applies to chump blocking in general -- don't rule it out as a viable strategy. Sometimes it lets you rotate out a less useful ally for a more useful one that you drew into later.

Saga Quests

This deck works well for saga quests with a few changes, since you'll start with a 4th hero in play, and sometimes even an objective ally as well, making it even easier to get the Fellowship bonuses enabled ASAP.

First, note carefully the wording of Fellowship Side B. It prevents you from playing allies or putting allies into play, however it does not prevent taking control of additional characters. So you can in some circumstances end up with 10 or more characters in your control (e.g. in multiplayer where control of the or hero switches with first player), and the bonus will still apply to all characters you control, even non-unique ones. Furthermore, you do not flip it back to Side A when control of a character changes back to another player (since it did not leave play), thus you can also end up with less than 9 characters under your control and still get the bonuses.

For Lord of the Rings saga quests, I suggest the following changes:

• If you control Frodo, - The One Ring, +3 Frodo's Intuition (for 52 cards total)
• If you control Aragorn, -The One Ring, -Power of Command, -3 The Shirefolk, and then your pick of 5 cards from Halfling Determination, Taste it Again!, and cards (Tighten Our Belts makes it easier to pay for The Three Hunters or Banner of Elendil).

For The Hobbit saga quests, try the following changes (untested):

• -Bilbo Baggins, +Folco Boffin, -The One Ring, -Power of Command, -1 The Shirefolk, + 3 Timely Aid. The latter is now also a priority for your starting hand. You might also want to swap out Sting for something else if you get Sting (Treasure).

If you try this deck out, I'd appreciate any feedback. Happy questing!