One Grief Deck To Rule Them All

Questlogs using this decklist
Journey Along the Anduin - 1 Player - 2020-03-03
Fellowships using this decklist
None.
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
None yet.
Card draw simulator
Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
The gameplay simulator is an experimental feature and is currently only available for those that support RingsDB development on Patreon.
Gameplay simulator
Round
0
Threat
0
Hand
In Play
Deck
Discard Pile
Log a Quest
Play on DragnCards

Some Sort 3518

You wouldn't think a 2000-card deck would be all that consistent, but this one is ridiculously so.

Step 1: Set up Messenger of the King.

Step 2: Fetch Galadriel.

Step 3: Set up The One Ring.

Step 4: Lose.

Really the hardest part is the shuffling. Probably don't mulligan.

15 comments

Mar 04, 2020 DarkPaladin13 2

Why not (MotK) Barliman Butterbur instead? hahaha. The theme of course being the oft forgotten "Betrayal in Bree," better known as the turning point of the 3rd Age.

But seriously Step 4 made me laugh :D

Mar 04, 2020 serre 114

well this would be the first deck in my life i won't sleeve.... :)

Mar 04, 2020 DarkPaladin13 2

Also why is there a sideboard? hahaha

Mar 04, 2020 Some Sort 3518

@DarkPaladin13 Galadriel discards herself at the end of the round, and if she has the one ring attached when she does the players lose the game. Basically she guarantees a Turn 1 loss not just for you but for the entire table. (Ally Elrond would work, too.)

The Sideboard is because you can’t include more than 3 copies of a card per title so when there’s two allies with the same title I can’t run 3 of both at the same time. So I put the extras in the sideboard to keep my deck tournament-legal.

Mar 04, 2020 Jtothemac 475

As much as I like the attempt, this deck is not legal. Since you need to have your starting heroes before you draw your opening hand, you would have zero heroes this way. Galadriel only would become a hero after quest setup. If I may, you might think to start with Folco Boffin and/or Treebeard to get you to your two hero limit, and then use Messenger of the King. That way if you still want a turn 1 elimination, you can, akin to my "Kamikaze Folco" deck.

Mar 04, 2020 Some Sort 3518

@Jtothemac You can use any other heroes you want, you don't have to use self-discarding ones. As long as the ring is on Galadriel it doesn't matter, your fellowship will lose at the end of Turn 1 no matter what you do.

Probably a good thing Frodo never gave her the ring after all.

Mar 05, 2020 kainveus 119

If you want a "have to be lose" deck ,you should use Beorn as your hero because he cannot have attachments , and Galadriel or Elrond as your Motk hero (don't include any other ally so you have no choice but to attach The One Ring to Galadriel or Elrond), and enjoy the One Turn Suicide .

Mar 05, 2020 Marcelf 1347

Are you sure you can put The One Ring on the Messenger of the King ally ? Isn't the One Ring setup before the contract ?

Mar 06, 2020 McDog3 467

@MarcelfA recent ruling has stated that The One Ring setup now occurs in step 7 of setup, along with the contracts.

Mar 06, 2020 Seastan 42140

I'm not sure this deck would be very griefy in practice, since it's immediately clear what will happen and nobody would bother playing with you.

A Boromir/The One Ring would likely be far more aggravating, as it can pass as a legitimate deck until the very end of the game when you discard him and make everyone lose. More effective than attaching it to Folco/Caldara etc, as people are more familiar with their discard abilities, while many don't even think about Boromir's. Plus, Boromir could have some arguably good reasons to bear the ring with stuff like Strength and Courage and Inner Strength.

Or, simply attach the One Ring to a hero without a discard ability so there is zero reason to be suspicious. Then simply take an undefended attack near the end of the game. Not as fun as the Boromir bomb though.

This deck here is griefy for another reason. It takes my browser 2 minutes to load all the content before I can start writing a comment.

Mar 07, 2020 Some Sort 3518

@kainveus Beorn as a second hero is perfect for this, thanks!

@Seastan “Active Grief” is kind of funny. But I think “passive grief” is kind of funny, too, in a different way. It involves the conceit of separating me as the deck builder from me as the player. Obviously as a deck builder I’m trying to ruin this game. But as a player I’m not. I can even try my best to help! My hands are simply tied by the rules of the game. I think this is the first passive grief combo in the game, the first deck where no matter how good your partners are and no matter how hard you try you’re still going to lose. (Unless you’re playing Assault on Osgiliath.)

(I gave some thought to pairing this with a 50-card deck that actually tried to do some good and powerful stuff knowing it’d all be in vain anyway. But bogging down the browsers seemed fun, too.)

(Also I’ve totally attached the One Ring to Folco for legitimate purposes. Needed a Lore Hobbit and Pippin was across the table.)

Mar 08, 2020 kainveus 119

@Some SortPassing through Mirkwood also can be beaten on Turn 1, use Legolas to pass stage 2 , find Ungoliant's Spawn and kill it . Just feel like throw the ring to Mount Doom at the last moment.

Jun 18, 2020 AltarofPan 59

ahahaz.. first laugh of the day. i love it.

Jun 23, 2020 Flamewright 69

I get griefed by this deck every day I try to search RingsDb for interesting spice.

Feb 28, 2021 Truck 1409

I just realized something: You have and cards in here!