Mithrandirs Hunters/Machines

[Haszor]

I decided to run this after this after all my previous free sides failed and it works well once it's set up.  My only current problem is getting the deck to cycle during the early stages.  The Free side does relatively well, its the shadow that has trouble as it's not very strong.

Free (34)
Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer - AtAR
 1x Pippin, Mr. Took (starting)
 1x Merry, From O'er the Brandywine (starting)
 1x Gimli, Lockbearer (starting)
 1x Legolas, Dauntless Hunter
 3x Aragorn, King in Exile
 3x Gandalf, Mithrandir

 2x Hobbit Sword
 1x Sting, Baggins Heirloom
 2x Hand Axe
 1x Gimli's Battle Axe
 1x Gimli's Helm
 1x Ranger's Sword, Blade of Aragorn
 1x Aragorn's Bow
 2x Ring of Barahir
 1x Armor
 1x Asfaloth
 1x Long Knives of Legolas
 1x Bow of the Galadhrim
 2x Glamdring
 1x Gandalf's Staff, Walking Stick
 1x Narya

 2x Final Count
 2x My Axe is Notched
 1x The Saga of Elendil

Shadow (34)
 3x Uruk Crossbow Troop
 3x Uruk Engineer
 3x Uruk Sapper
 2x Berserk Butcher
 2x Berserk Savage
 2x Berserk Slayer
 2x Grima, Wormtongue

 4x Scaling Ladder
 3x Siege Engine
 2x Devilry of Orthanc
 2x Banished

 3x Uruk Spear
 3x Broad-Bladed Sword

Sites
 Eastemnet Gullies (1T)
 Wold of Rohan (2T)
 Barrows of Edoras (3T)
 White Rocks (4T)
 Deep of Helm (5T)
 Caves of Aglarond* (6T)
 Hornburg Wall (7T)
 Valley of Saruman (8T)
 Fortress of Orthanc (9T)
Comments?

[Ringbearer]

Remove banished, reduce the ttoal count of sappers and engineers to 4 together, and add4  weapons of isengard.

[FM]

Why don't you just lose Pippin (seriously, he's not doing much for you), start Legolas and change site 1 to go fetch Aragorn? You'd be, like 3 cards down, to 31. Better cycling?

[Haszor]

He's an extra unbound hobbit who winds up jumping making my Legolas also he's there as an emergency scrap in case I get cave-trolled or something like that.

[FM]

Wouldn't Thrarin serve the same purpose, without being Enquea-hated and not adding twilight all throughout the game? It's not like you're running Wingfoot anyway to better abuse them. You could also run less copies of both Aragorn and Gandalf and probably get away with it, running Gandalf's Cart in case your hand gets clogged.

[Haszor]

Thrarin doesn't buff Gimli or weaken the shadow side.  As for getting Enquea'd there are 7 comps and I tend to have them all out anyways.

[FM]

Well, unless they want to play multiple hosed cards a turn, Pippin doesn't weaken them also. He raises the cost by 1, but he ALSO adds 1 for being in play anyway when you move,so it kind of evens out (unless, as I said, you opponent's deck needs to play multiple hosed cards a turn, in which case they're probably screwed anyway, you can wait to draw Pippin naturally). Thrarin, on the other hand, serves the sacrificial purpose of Pippin WITHOUT adding twilight every site, gives you a SECOND sacrificial outlet should you draw Pippin early (and one that does not weaken your strategy), and Gimli is strong enough even with a -1 until you draw Pippin. Also, you could run one more Battle Axe for him instead of 2 Hand Axes, to up his strength more quickly.

[Haszor]

(unless, as I said, you opponent's deck needs to play multiple hosed cards a turn, in which case they're probably screwed anyway, you can wait to draw Pippin naturally).

Like a scanvengers, RoM, goblin armories swarm?  Or an uruk-hai deck.  They cost a lot and need their conditions and they won't be able to afford them.  Or any deck that uses conditions or events.  Which in my experience is most decks within TS block.  Also if I do what you're suggesting then I wind up having to draw Merry and hoping he comes up relatively soon, so it'll wind up clogging a bit anyways.

[FM]

You'd still be cutting 2 copies of Aragorn, and the new, decreased deck size would allow you to cut a Gandalf as well, so that's -3 cards, down to 30. Hand Axe, by itself, won't do squat for you, so you could probably lose 1 as well, down to 29 (lallowing you to pack whatever you might want).  You could lose a Hobbit Sword, since only Merry would need to carry one (down to 28, room for 2 cards), and even upping the card count back to 30 you'd still have a faster deck. Your opening fellowship includes Gimli and 2 hobbits, fetching Legolas, for a total of 4 companions besides the ring-bearer. That leaves room for you to drop 0 of your 2 other companions before activating Enquea. The one I suggested comprises 3 companions besides the Ring-Bearer (1 card down), with the option of playing 1 of your 3 other leftover companions before activating Enquea, and letting you pack better versions of them in your deck (heck, you could even pack Greenleaf instead of Dauntless Hunter is swarms are so dangerous, Ring of Barahir lets you heal him anyway, he's a house), while also reducing twilight given in the early game, where you're trying to set up and stuff costs more. Simply adding a Tharin and a second Aragorn's Bow gets you back to 30, better protected against swarms, and with a faster-cycling deck. Pure math, really, but feel free to play the deck as you want, it is your deck after all. I'm just throwing a bit of mathematical help to maybe help you see things from a different angle. Most people build decks with some preconceptions, and it's pretty difficult to change them once they settle.

[Haszor]

If I'm only running one hobbit then Lockbearer and Dauntless Hunter do me next to squat.  And again if I start Legolas and Gimli and pull Aragorn then I wind up relying on drawing my Merry, which I'll wind up adding 3 copies of.  So I actually only wind up dropping one card and the benefits for losing that card aren't worth it.

[FM]

You could run both hobbits, you just don't need to start them. But I give up, run it as it is.

[Shelobplayer]

Wait! Are you running a dwarf, an elf a man, and some hobbits with Mithrandir insted of Friend to the Shirefolk? Why?

[macheteman]

Wait! Are you running a dwarf, an elf a man, and some hobbits with Mithrandir insted of Friend to the Shirefolk? Why?

seconded! gandalf, fots + shadowfax = awesome in TS

countless times i have dropped gandy with a shadowfax and it really works wonders. its like he's damage +1 because of the exert, but the exert comes FIRST in the skirmish which screws over the "exert to ____" minions. plus with shadowfax and each race, hes a healthy str 12 who can clean up the middle minions with no help, be tough to overwhelm, and can take a beating without being worse for wear.

[Haszor]

....  I never thought of that.   And that would leave me open to using Wingfoot for more hobbit spamming.  Great idea!