Very Old Friends 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Here is a functional thematic deck celebrating the friendships of Bilbo, Gandalf, and Frodo.

Setup: Mulligan for Wizard Pipe.

This is tricky to play, which makes it a lot of fun. It is built around getting Sting onto a defending hobbit who can then spread damage around. Since Bilbo's ability means he intends to quest, Frodo Baggins gets Sting. With Fast Hitch he can then defend multiple enemies (there is no limit on Sting's damage dealing effect), or attack for 2 (also dealing direct damage), or quest for 3, or some combination.

Go for Sting once Bilbo has a Hobbit Pony on him and you have Elevenses in your hand. Play Sting, getting an enemy and attaching the weapon to it. Commit Bilbo to the quest, then after staging play Elevenses to ready him and use the pony to re-commit him. His effect can be doubled, so he will deal 4 damage, enough to kill many enemies and claim Sting immediately (not to mention getting the willpower boost again). Bonus points if you have an extra pony on Bilbo and an extra copy of Elevenses, allowing you to deal 6 damage to one enemy after questing successfully.

With Arwen Undómiel boosting Frodo and Sting equipped, he will defend for 4 and deal a damage each time he does.

Gandalf provides the deck with utility, including needed resource acceleration with Gandalf's Staff (or other options at need). Give him Unexpected Courage and Shadowfax for multiple actions. If you have multiple copies of Unexpected Courage, it's probably superior to Shadowfax for solo play, although the mount's neutral aspect gives Bilbo something to do with his resources. Always use Bilbo to pay for neutral cards.

Wizard Pipe enables you to play Lore cards from the top of your deck, and also allows you to get through your deck faster by playing from the deck instead of your hand. The Wizard Pipe is probably the single most important card in the deck, so get it early.

Most of the allies quest, but Treebeard and Guardian of Rivendell can participate in combat. Discard extra uniques when paying for the guardians.

The first copy of Expert Treasure-hunter goes on Bilbo, and the second one depends on what your board state looks like when you get it.

Word of Command is excellent for fishing out a piece of the Sting setup combo, or just some other valuable card like the staff, A Test of Will, Treebeard, or some threat reduction as you need.

The deck is overall slow to power up, but Frodo and Gandalf give you some early game staying power. I sometimes had to take undefended attacks on Frodo in the early game, before getting Sting out, in order to have enough attack power to deal with enemies, reducing threat later. Attack power is in short supply here--- the guardians help.

Keen as Lances is a card I like to use for its versatility, even outside of decks with victory display manipulation. Bilbo can pay for it if resources have built up and you need more cards, or it can be used to lower threat (triggering Hobbit Pipes). I have never used the resource option, but it could be used to transfer resources where you need them if you're in a bind.

So far (true solo):

Passage through Mirkwood: 1/1

Into the Pit: 1/1 (killed Patrol Leader)

Intruders in Chetwood: 1/2 -- lost Iarion to the side quest on first try

Fords of Isen: 1/1