The unassuming Hobbits of the Shire are sneaky, and this is represented by them having low threat costs. This deck has a starting threat of only 20, and many enemies won’t notice you since they have an engagement cost higher than that. Therefore, try to optionally engage enemies with engagement costs higher than your threat as often as possible. Each time you do, you’ll draw 1 card from Pippin and ready and boost Sam Gamgee.
Playing a Hobbit Cloak on Sam Gamgee makes him a formidable defender, and Halfling Determination can give him a temporary +2 defense to help him survive most attacks. Feint can be used for the big attacks that Sam can’t handle. Merry is very adept at attacking, and equipping him with two Dagger of Westernesse attachments lets him destroy many enemies with a single attack.
This deck features several powerful allies with high resource costs, such as Gandalf, Beorn, Faramir, and Boromir. Elf-stone can get these allies into play at a big discount, and Erebor Hammersmith can then bring your Elf-stone back from your discard pile to do it again. Gandalf and Beorn also work extremely well with Sneak Attack.
Note: When playing this deck together with the “Wisdom and Wizardry Starter Deck”, replace the three copies of Gandalf with three copies of Elrond.