WAB #11: Beregond Saves the Hobbits 1.0

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• 1.0

Here is the link to the original post, which explains the goal of the series and the collection so far:

https://www.reddit.com/r/lotrlcg/comments/1kla99q/deck_building_series_what_a_bargain/

We are back with another ally-free deck, this time in favor of four heroes and four spheres. You are obviously filling your deck with restricted attachments, but there's a catch this time: You have to have an equal number of cards within the four spheres. While restricted attachments tend to run in the tactics sphere, there are a couple to be found elsewhere. But one frustrating thing that you will run into is that there are some sphere bias within the types: Green favors rangers, blue favors elves, purple has nobles. As you will see, I was not going in that direction for any of my heroes.

You see, I was (and still am, thinking about future Bond-Bargain decks) a little worried about threat. With four heroes, you are most likely starting in the high 30s, if not low 40s. Add in the 4-cost double contract penalty and you are sweating. Not to mention my Hunters decks tend to include The One Ring, which lowers my window even more. Which leads me to my first two heroes -- Beregond and Frodo Baggins. These two have built in threat reduction that can be trigger throughout most of the game. What of the other two? Well, I'd like to keep the threat cost low and have them somehow work towards flipping the hunter contract. Two emerged immediately...

Alright, so this deck might need a little more tinkering but here's the general idea: The One Ring goes on Beregond, and you fetch Inner Strength, which will allow you to start the game almost ready to take anything that can come. Nob is absolutely sneaky good in this deck. First, you can play Red Book of Westmarch round one (on Frodo), which ups your questing and will basically guarantee you can trigger Frodo's ability each turn. If you are feeling risky, you can trigger Nob's second ability in the planning phase to try and fish out more items. There should be plenty -- only the events, mounts, Unexpected Courage, Fast Hitch or Steward of Gondor whiff on that. And to be honest, if you get one of those other attachments, you'll be happy to have it at the cost of his exhaustion. However, you can certainly chose him as your questing hero to be readied by Frodo, and then save his action for later in the round. He's also a fine target for any of your hobbit attachments. With his healthy-sized hitpoint pool, Bree Pony is my favorite.

Which brings us to Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. Basically these other weird attachments included in this deck (Andúril and Gandalf's Staff, namely) are for her. But the good news is, if you don't find them, that's perfectly fine. I find myself attaching anything I can to her, and there are tons of options. She will be your attacker, hopefully. In an ideal world, Anduril, War Axe, and Gandalf's staff find their way onto her, along with Fatty Lumpkin and Fast Hitch or two.

These heroes don't look like much but the combos I've seen are pretty nuts. Some quick hits: --Silver Lamp on Beregond is awesome, and works well if you want to take some shots undefended with your newfound hobbit hitpoints courtesy of Bree Pony and Ring Mail. --Always trigger the non-valour effect of Open the Armory. Everything is cheap, and if it's the side A of hunters, you'll get your value guaranteed. --Sting honestly might be a bit superfluous, but it's just so fun to include. I wish we had the room for Golden Belt to throw this on Lobelia with the other three mentioned above, but unfortunately I have not pulled that off yet.