The Classic Trio, 2020 Edition

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Zura 297

First thing first - Sword that was Broken is a proxy for the Red Book of Westmarch from Land of Sorrow. I already have this card, so why not play with it.

So, it's been a while since the Black Riders have released. Merry, Pippin and Sam Gamgee deck took the LOTR:LCG world by storm. Classic variation of the archetype utilised cards like Elf-stone, Timely Aid, A Very Good Tale and Resourceful to swarm the board with powerful allies while staying in low threat and engaging the enemies on your own terms.

It's still a valid strategy, but i wanted to see where we can take the trio with the current cardpool. After some testing i opted for a strategy less reliant on your big allies and more on your hobbit shenanigans. It works. You stay in low threat (obviously) with The Shirefolk and classic Sneak Attack Gandalf, play Resourceful on Pippin and try to get Gaffer Gamgee. When you have him, Sam Gamgee with Hobbit Cloak or Rosie Cotton, you should be pretty okay in defense department. Don't be afraid of engaging a lot, use Pippin to get ahead and find ways to get rid of enemies.

It's a list refined after some play already, and there are cards that may seem odd but have done well in testing: Defender of Rammas - helps both early and late, early when you don't have Sam/Gaffer set up, late when you want to engage more than you can handle. Halbarad - sometimes an all-round pile of stats is all you need. Helps Sam. Single Legacy of Númenor - it negates out with the The Shirefolk. I didn't want to go overboard with it, but if you're lucky enough to get it out early, it's a real boon.

One tip i have to everyone trying the deck: don't play cards that don't influence your current situation, wait for Drinking Song and try to get something better instead of, Playing your second Hobbit Cloak on Merry or Pippin. Don't play Legacy of Númenor when you have too many resources, etc. You need to be pretty resourceful with this deck, but it's pretty fun to take this old archetype for a spin with all the new toys.

2 comments

Jun 29, 2020 doomguard 1963

its worth a thinking: for the nonhobbit-tactic-allies put in 3 skinchanger and a beorn.

Jun 30, 2020 Zura 297

@doomguard It's a solid idea, pretty easy to implement. You could swap Defender of Rammas and Northern Bowmaster for the combo. I'll be a bit less consistent, but you still get your combat stats in. I'll do some runs with this change.