Bilbo's Tales

[Hobbiton Lad]

Ring-bearer & Ring
The One Ring, Answer to All Riddles
Bilbo, Bearer of Things Burgled

Free Peoples (42)
Legolas, Fearless Marksman x1 (starting)
Sam, Resolute Halfling x1 (starting)
Smeagol, Poor Creature x1 (starting)
The Splendor of Their Banners x1
Gondor Bowmen x4
The Council of Elrond x4
Might of Numenor x1
Aragorn's Bow x2
Aragorn, Elessar Telcontar x4
Faramir, Son of Denethor x1
Faramir's Bow x1
Hardy Garrison x1
Consorting With Wizards x4
Nine-fingered Frodo and the Ring of Doom x4
The Shire Countryside x4
A Light in His Mind x4
Red Book of Westmarch x4

Shadow (42)
Goblin Armory x4
Goblin Scavengers x4
Goblin Runner x4
Goblin Scimitar x4
Goblin Swarms x4
They Are Coming x4
Host of Moria, Legion of the Underdeeps x2
Orc Pursuer x4
Orc Runner x4
Grishnakh, Orc Captain x3
Ithil Stone x3
Orc Patrol x2

Adventure Path
Steps of Edoras
King's Tent
Hall of the Kings
Pelennor Plain
Crashed Gate
Minas Tirith Third Circle
Osgiliath Crossing
Morgul Vale
Haunted Pass

I've gone 11-1 with this deck but I still feel like it has some holes. Here's a quick breakdown of my strategy:

I usually bid 0 because going first/second doesn't seem to have much impact on things. There are three cards that I find crucial to get on the table immediately: Red Book of Westmarch, Consorting With Wizards & A Light in His Mind. The drawing engine from the book is key to the strategy, since the bulk of the abuse of Shire Countryside comes from losing and regaining initiative in a given phase.

Fellowship Phase
If I find myself particularly beat up in this phase, I tend to play my non-tale cards first and then use Sam's game text to get me down to 4 cards. I can then play a tale (Gondor Bowmen and Splendor are my preferred plays here) to lose initiative, remove a burden with A Light in His Mind, heal with Shire Countryside, regain initiative with the Red Book and then repeat as necessary.

Maneuver Phase
If I decide I want to ramp up to six companions, this is where Might of Numenor is key for me. When I play the sixth companion, I am sure to get myself down to 4 cards before I move. In the event I see an Enquea, I pass my phase actions until Enquea has done two wounds, then I play Might of Numenor. Not only am I able to remove a burden from losing initiative (and heal with Shire Countryside) but since this card is a tale it also allows me to circumvent the rule of 4 and draw a card with Red Book during the maneuver phase and regain initiative. If the healing from that isn't enough, I usually am able to knock off a couple extra wounds by resolving Might of Numenor's game text.

Archery Phase
This is probably the most abusive phase for this mechanic. When I want to make a big double (usually 5-7 or 7-9) I try to set myself up in this fashion. During the Archery phase, I exert Legolas to use Splendor, pop 1-2 Gondor Bowmen with Faramir (if necessary) and then use Aragorn's directed archery exertions. Then I use Legolas, Fearless Marksman's gametext to do another wound (or two wounds if I have enough cards) during the archery phase. It's at this point that I lose initiative, remove a burden, heal Aragorn and do 2-3 more directed archery. I find that on average I can pump out anywhere from 10-13 archery by doing this without completely exhausting all my Gondor Bowmen or other tricks.

Skirmish Phase
If I know I'm not going to be able to kill all the minions during archery, I will try my best to keep myself at 4 cards until the skirmish phase. This is where I will use Nine-fingered Frodo and the Ring of Doom to remove 2 burdens (1 from game text, 1 from los