The three Hobbits of the Apocalypse - Hiking Mt. Doom 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

This is the deck I used to beat Mt. Doom solo in epic mode in our campaign. A the same time, another deck was at the Black gate buying me time.

I use these heroes for no other reason that these are the heroes I have been playing the whole campaign with, and I did not want to change them now. The deck can quite consistently beat Mt. Doom in solo in 6 rounds. Although it is possible to do it in 5.

The strategy we use is, I start with the two Wraith on Wings on turn 1. At the end of the turn, we use the Eye of Sauron to send both of them to the Black Gate. On turn 2 the other deck engages them both so that they do not come back. From thereon, we use the Eye of Sauron for the deck in the Black gate to reduce its threat by 3 each round, and for my deck at Mt. Doom to draw an extra card each round. If the deck at the Black gate is not ready to take two Wraith on Wings, or later during the quest a Nazgul scapes into Mt. Doom staging area, thanks to Gaffer Gamgee and Feint, it is possible for this deck to stay engaged with one Nazgul for the whole quest, although it can complicate things.

Boons in the deck: Sting, Brace of Conies and Old-Bogey Stories. All other boons are with the deck at the Black Gate. It is going to need them more than you.

Burdens in the encounter deck: Overcome by Grief, The Ring Draw Them, Eaten Alive and Ill Fate. (This of course will change from campaign to campaign).

The deck plays very straight forward. Sting, Celebrian's Stone and one copy of Friends of Friends goes on Sam (the other copy goes on Merry). The first copy of Fast Hitch /Cram goes on Sam, the rest you distribute between Sam, Merry and Rosie Cotton. Rosie gets Sword-Thain, so she can benefit from Fellowship of the Ring, Cram and Frodo's Intuition. It also allows you to draw one extra card with Frodo's Intuition and boost Merry with an extra .

Regarding allies, Faramir has priority over Firyal. Use Frodo's ability, Legacy of Numenor and A Good Harvest to play them (do not be afraid to play 1 Legacy of Numenor). Thank to Frodo's ability and A Good Harvest, Steward of Gondor is not super needed, but it helps to put in play Firyal and keep playing Gaffer Gamgee.

Typically, I need 2 rounds for Stage 1B, 1 round for Stage 2B, 2 Rounds for Stage 3B (it can be done in 1) and 1 round for Stage 4B.