Road to Rings 2024: A "Friend" Across the Table 1.0

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• 1.0

Over the past few years, I have (unfairly) developed a bit of a reputation as a selfish and difficult companion in Lord of the Rings: The Card Game. So this year, for Con of the Rings, I have decided to right this wrong by playing my take on a "Friend Across the Table" deck, whose entire job is just to help out my tablemates and make their lives easier.

This game is complicated and sometimes confusing, especially at a four player count. Sometimes having too many options can lead to analysis paralysis. So for that, I have included my favorite hero, Bifur, so that anyone I'm playing with can unload one of their resources each round to help make it easier for them to decide which cards they're going to pay for. In case that isn't enough, I also have included Wilyador as a great Ranged/Sentinel ally that can help further reduce those difficult decisions by funneling him a resource each round as well.

In case that isn't nearly enough help on that front, I have also included a couple of potential combos for Message from Elrond. Is having three resources and heroes too difficult to keep track of even with Bifur and Big Willy? I have a Desperate Alliance and Helm of Secrecy waiting in hand so you can pass me one of your heroes for safe keeping for the rest of the game. This can be a fairly resource intense combo on my end, with Helm costing four and all, so I have Parting Gifts and Follow Me! (thanks to the Saga hero) available in case I need to quickly procure more resources than Bifur can accomplish alone to make this happen for us.

There is also the classic Message from Elrond + Justice Shall Be Done combo waiting for the player who is overwhelmed by the complexities of the board state, or maybe just wants to go get some lunch. See how thoughtful I am?

For players that are concerned with how unthematic it is for ALeP's new Tom Bombadil hero to be traversing through the entire LotR Saga, have no fear! A simple use of Guided by Fate and Tom Bombadillo! should be able to easily remove Thomas from the game in favor of his, much more thematic, Encounter keyworded ally version.

Now, obviously, it isn't just heroes and resources that can cause issues in this game, sometimes it is allies, attachments, stats, poor reading comprehension, etc. I can't help with everything, but a Miner of the Iron Hills to discard a pesky Unexpected Courage so that a player's Beregond has to share the load a bit on defense can open up more fun for everyone at the table. A well-timed Defender of the West (especially with Follow Me!) can help move an ally around so that a player has more room on their playmat to play more cards the next round. Maybe a player is having problems with Shadow Effects? A couple Dark Knowledge onto their Éowyn should make it easy for her to help alleviate those problems for the rest of the game.

Lobelia Sackville-Baggins definitely can get a bit of a bad rap for "stealing" Items from other players, but I think that too many attachments can also really clog up a playmat and slow down decision space. So having her as an option to do that, as well as being able to look at a player's hand at anytime so that I can help make all of their decisions for them with full knowledge of what they're dealing with feels like a great service to provide.

With so many helpful possibilities out there, this deck does probably struggle a little bit in both the questing and combat departments. I tried to make it as stout as it can be so as it can pull some weight there, but it will need some help from the table (whether they want to give it or not) in order to reach its full potential.