#justiceforBilbo

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Pirate Brahm 1038

Goal: Make a deck with a hero Bilbo Baggins Bilbo Baggins (MotK) Bilbo Baggins that I would actually play1.

I never got around to using Bilbo's hero cards because I would always have a difficult time getting over his disproportionate threat-to-stats ratio when compared to other heroes. His ally version has served as a sidekick in many of my Gandalf decks, but never rose to the status of true hero, at least in-game. But now, in a post-Messenger of the King world2, this is now a reality. Plus, who doesn't want Bilbo to assume his rightful title of Expert Treasure-hunter? Also, a deck that includes two Istari heroes with a starting threat lower than 30...WHAAAAAAT? That's going to delay those Hill Trolls, right Bilbo? Flavor win.

To summarize the deck's strategy: Put the toys on the heroes, draw lots of cards, play lots of allies.

You start the game out with a Wizard Pipe in hand (thanks, Bilbo!), making easy work of setting up cards for Gandalf to play. Most of the allies are creatures from every sphere, so Radagast with his staff and Gandalf work together smoothing out the resources to play them at a discount.

Radagast should be able to quest without exhausting every turn, so he can work as a defender during combat with some help from A Burning Brand and Arwen Undómiel's boost. You can also get a brand on to Gandalf by playing it off the top of your deck. Speaking of combat, three copies of Flame of Anor are provided for those critical moments you need the wizards to take down a big enemy.

Bilbo quests every turn. Pretty simple. Yeah, the deck's named after him, but he is only quite a little fellow in a wide world, after all. I like to think he burgled that Silver Circlet he's wearing.

Fully equipped, Gandalf does whatever you need him to do; he quests, he defends, he attacks, he discards shadow cards, he readies allies, and he is still my favorite hero in the game.

As for those creature allies, well, they're pretty handy. Meneldor and The Riddermark's Finest pick off nasty locations. Messenger Raven sustains card draw and activates Radagast's questing ability. The rest provide questing or combat support, depending on your situation.

Aso, don't fret about the size of this deck. Since the top card is always visible, Expert Treasure-hunter and Messenger Raven will keep your hand full of cards. If you don't have a toy that you need, Drinking Song will replace your hand at no net cost of cards, thanks to our hobbit hero. Use Messenger Raven and Expert Treasure-hunter to discard Hidden Cache when you need a resource boost.

The sideboard has Word of Command, though I found that I never actually needed the card during playtesting. It's there just in case you've always wanted to try it. And yes, I use Steward of Gondor for extra resources, though it's really not necessary. Again, there if you need it. I include Bulwark of the West in the sideboard of every deck that can use is, because I hate Weighed Down. The allies are there if you're playing with someone who's using hero Arwen Undómiel, though you're usually playing alone, being a Gandalf Guy, and all...

That's it. I hope you give hero Bilbo the wins he deserves.

1That is, if I correctly understand the timing and rules nuances for how this new contract works.

2Well, technically at the time this was published, it was still a pre-Messenger of the King world.

12 comments

May 04, 2020 Yepesnopes 1241

justiceforbilbo metoo

May 04, 2020 Olander 133

Who are you putting your wild stallions on?

May 04, 2020 Marcelf 1347

Why so much anger against Lore Bilbo Baggins ? With the present card pool I think he's a great hero. He's in the solo deck I play the most : ringsdb.com

May 04, 2020 Yepesnopes 1241

@Marcelf The anger comes from the 9 threat for a total of 6 stats, which on top of it, are terribly distributed 1 1 2 2. So he is bad at questing, attacking and defending. For 1 more threat and the same usefulness, Beravor draws you 2 extra cards per round instead of 1. With any reading effect on her, you have a good hero as well. For 6 less threat Gleowine MotK draws the same number of extra cards, with reading effects even more extra cards.

May 04, 2020 Marcelf 1347

@YepesnopesSure but I won't change Bilbo for Beravor or motk gleowine in my deck because Bilbo enables The Shirefolk, which is such a powerful tool in a mono Lore deck. I agree that if you take Bilbo alone he's bad, but in the right deck I found him great. I think justice has been done to him with the latest hobbit cards such as Folco, Shirefolk, drinking song and Gaffer.

May 04, 2020 Pirate Brahm 1038

To address a couple comments:

-I put the Wild Stallions in primarily because they're cheap creatures. I usually play two-handed, so they end up on an ally across the board.

-I don't dislike Lore Bilbo, but I can't keep the threat of a Lore deck low enough to begin with. That mono Lore hobbit deck you've got there is really cool, and I would most certainly try Lore Bilbo out there.

May 04, 2020 CT1992 1

Wild Stallion have to be attached to an ally you control.

May 04, 2020 Pirate Brahm 1038

Good catch.

May 04, 2020 Some Sort 3493

Potentially fun jank for those Wild Stallions of yours: put one on Arwen, turning her stat line into 3/1/2/3. Quest with her and declare herself the target of her own ability (3/1/3/3). Ready her during combat with Narya (3/2/4/3), then defend an enemy and declare her the target of her own ability a second time (3/2/5/3). Now she's a 5-defense sentinel defender.

Also, not sure if you were aware of the combo or not, but: Hidden Cache is even more broken-good when paired with Expert Treasure Hunter. After you quest, name "event". Because of the way ETH is worded, Hidden Cache is first discarded (giving you the two resources), and then taken into your hand (where Wizard Pipe can put it back on top of your deck to repeat next round).

It's basically a jankier Steward of Gondor. Two extra resources every round. They're contingent on questing successfully and you don't get them until after the planning phase, but on the other hand, you can put them on any of your three heroes.

(If you ran Gildor Inglorion or Imladris Stargazer you could even stack two or three Caches on top of your deck at once for four or potentially six extra resources per round.)

May 04, 2020 texasgin 2

A good job. I 've think Bilbo Motk for Gandalf too.. Is so important ... But... One thing.. You Have forget to set Bilbo ally? How can you search him if isn' t in the deck?

May 05, 2020 Beorn 13324

I like it. Just so you’re aware: you need to include a copy of Bilbo in your allies as he is technically still a part of your deck.

May 06, 2020 texasgin 2

Ok thank's. However I think It's a very good Deck