Man and Monster (New Format!) - Gandalf and The Witch-king.

[menace64]

The idea behind this new deck format is to scale back the scope of both Free Peoples and Shadow sides of your game, simultaneously limiting the dangers you may face while increasing the peril with each decision you make. You see, each side of your deck is limited to one character: one companion to assist Frodo on his quest, and then 4 copies of a single minion.

I highly recommend keeping these decks to 30/30. So far, every time I've played we've all pretty much decked ourselves by site 9. Since the format itself limits you to a very specific sort of deck, there are no banned or restricted cards. But you can't use followers or allies of any kind.

Here is an example of a Man and Monster deck using Gandalf and The Witch-king. My friend, who isn't the most strategic of gamers and hasn't played LotR TCG in ages, wanted The Witch-king and didn't care what companion he had, so I threw this little piece of murder together, and man oh man is it powerful, and even he managed to win twice. Gandalf's Staff provides an easy escape from tough minions, while many of Gandalf's other cards facilitate wound prevention/removal. The Witch-king has a butt-ton of weapons and steeds to keep the opposition reeling, and There Came a Cry helps Morgul King fetch just about whatever card you need. It's brutal.

Frodo, Protected by Many (With The One Ring, Answer to All Riddles)
Gandalf, Leader of the Company

The Angle, Buckland Homestead, Fords of Isen, Heights of Isengard, Helm's Gate, Pelennor Flat, Slopes of Orodruin, Trollshaw Forest, Woody-End

Free Peoples (30)
Conditions (8):
Fear and Great Wonder
Moment of Respite
Salve x3
Stern Words x2
Traveler's Homestead

Events (13):
Final Account x2
Hobbit Intuition x2
Intimidate x2
Mysterious Wizard x3
Risk a Little Light x2
Threw Down My Enemy x2

Artifacts/Possessions (8):
The Art of Gandalf
Gandalf's Staff x2
Glamdring, Lightning Brand
Hobbit Sword x2
Narya
Shadowfax, Roaring Wind

Shadow (30)
Minions (4):
The Witch-king, Black Lord
The Witch-king, Captain of the Nine Riders
The Witch-king, Morgul King x2

Conditions (6):
Gates of the Dead City
Lingering Shadow
Morgul on the March
They Came From Mordor x3

Events (12):
Dark Powers Strengthen x2
Foul Clutches x2
Return to Its Master
Shadow in the East x2
There Came a Cry x3
Threshold of Shadow x2

Possessions (8):
Black Flail
Fell Beast x2
The Pale Blade
The Pale Blade, Sword of Flame
Steed of Mordor x2
The Witch-king's Beast, Fell Creature

I hope you like the look of this deck, and I recommend building a few in this format! I discovered cards, always overlooked, that really started to shine once a limit was placed on the characters a player can use. It's a lot of fun!

[Pepi]

Hm ... What about Saruman, A of the Dark Lord (for instance) and the deceived wizards? I think that would be a pretty hardcore shadow to play against ... Maybe limiting such cards (also A Shadow Rises) would be a good idea.

[Cw0rk]

I like that idea. Could be fun to play.

[hsiale]

If opponent's deck will also be in Man & Monster format, there won't be much twilight. So some Morgul Gates or Dark Approach should be useful.

[menace64]

You're absolutely right, and if you want to get competitive there's a lot of better options than what I put together in these decks. My friends are very casual players, so I just didn't want things to be too intense.

So build a deck and let me see what it looks like!

[jcb213]

Off the top of my head (rough outlines to start):

Castamir x4
Raider Halberd x4
Black Sails of Umbar x4
Ships of Great Draught x4
Red Wrath x4
Wind That Sped Ships x4
Raider Bow x2

Gollum, Mad Thing
Gollum, Stinker
Captured By The Ring x4
We Must Have It x4
Promise Keeping x4
They Stole It x4
Hidden Even From Her x4
Final Strike x2
Fat One Wants It x2
You're A Liar And A Thief! x4

[menace64]

Oh man I never thought to build a Castamir deck! That sounds heinous.