Task of my Kindred 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

This is a thematic deck built for an ongoing series on my blog, Darkling Door.

Theme: Aragorn's task to protect the hobbits

Played Against: Nightmare Wastes of Eriador

"And yet less thanks have we than you. Travelers scowl at us, and countrymen give us scornful names. ‘Strider’ I am to one fat man who lives within a day’s march of foes that would freeze his heart or lay his little town in ruin, if he were not guarded ceaselessly. Yet we would not have it otherwise. If simple folk are free from care and fear, simple they will be, and we must be secret to keep them so. That has been the task of my kindred, while the years have lengthened and the grass has grown."

—Aragorn, The Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

Strategy

A Forth, The Three Hunters! deck featuring Hobbits.

Mulligan for: At least 3 Restricted Attachments, and either Expert Treasure-hunter or Dúnedain Pipe to help you draw the rest.

Tips

• You want to flip Forth, The Three Hunters! as soon as possible, ideally no later than round 2, so prioritize effects that will find you more Attachments early on; it's okay to play them non-optimally at first.
• In the first round or so, hold back 0-cost Restricted Attachments like Legacy Blade and Round Shield until you're sure you can get to 2 per character, especially if you can't benefit from them right away. This lets you play them more optimally.
• Until you get a Wingfoot or Steed of the North on Aragorn, use Frodo Baggins' ready on him. After you get a readying Attachment on Aragorn, use it on Pippin instead.
• Use Frodo's ability just about every round; once the Contract flips your 1-cost Attachments will become essentially dead cards except in great need.
• The first Fast Hitch goes on Frodo, and the second goes on Pippin.
• Believe it or not, your Hobbits are your defenders whenever you don't have an attack-cancelling Event in your hand. Use A Burning Brand and Staff of Lebethron to reduce their chances of getting hurt.
• Use The Road Goes Ever On to fetch Keep Watch ASAP, it makes your Hobbits much more effective defenders.
• In the late game, you'll have a bunch of extra resources lying around. Use them to pass around Dúnedain Remedy to mop up extra damage, but try not to pass it to Frodo, who needs his resources to power his ability.

Sideboard

Coney in a Trap only works in this deck because the Objective-Ally Amarthiúl provides a second Ranger / Warrior character to go with Aragorn. In quests without Objective-Allies that fill that very specific role, I'd substitute it for Quick Strike instead.

► For more analysis, check out my blog post on this deck.