Purple Pain 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

After green, blue, and red, I’ve finally built my all-pinky deck. :D

This is a G-G-G team: Glóin exchanges pain for money, Gildor spends money for cards, and Mr. Gamgee is a multi-purpose hero with several cards working around him.

Once again, my rules are the same as with the other three mono-decks: only unique allies and open to any suggestions. :)

Heroes

Gildor Inglorion

• Celebrían's Stone + Steward of Gondor + Valiant Sword
• Wise Wanderer: Draws cards, smooths resources, and keeps our hand full for every phase.

Glóin

• Hardy Leadership + King Under the Mountain + Shining Shield + 2nd Ancestral Armor (only if Wiglaf is not around)
• Pain Exchanger: Turns damage into resources, then uses those resources to power up the whole team.

Sam Gamgee

• Ancestral Armor + Hobbit Cloak + Staff of Lebethron
• Multi-Tasker: Quests, defends, and supports the team with versatile boosts and readying.

Mulligan & Setup

Mulligan for Steward of Gondor, King Under the Mountain, or Prepare for Battle.

Strategy & Card Interactions

Card Draw and Engine:
In addition to the contract, we have several options for card draw and should use as many as we can each turn.

• Erestor is great for throwing duplicates (we have plenty) and getting new cards in return.
• If there is not a clear discard for King Under the Mountain, remember that Tome of Atanatar can get back any discarded event.
• Sneak Attack + Gandalf is best used for card draw. Don’t forget Valiant Sacrifice when Gandalf leaves play!
• Prepare for Battle is the side quest we want to see first.

In the meantime, don’t forget Gildor Inglorion's ability.

Ally Roles and Synergy:
Allies like Anborn, Halbarad, Rosie, and Bill are mainly here for Sam.
Anborn and Halbarad will put enemies at +15 engagement (plus 1 direct damage).

Angbor benefits from the nature of the contract, while Gimli gets a boost from his father's Hardy Leadership.

Thalion and Wiglaf have their own readying abilities, which is why they’re included.
The second Ancestral Armor can be played on Wiglaf for no cost, and we also have Squire's Helm as backup.
After Rosie, Thalion is usually the card I pick when the contract is flipped. We have Dúnedain Messages to find side quests for him.

Strength of Arms is the way to go with lazy allies.

Gloin's Healthcare:
With Rune-master, we will be passing a Remedy for free each round.

Keep an eye on Glóin, he will be looking for medicines since the early game, and Remedy is our only reliable healing option in this deck.

Event and Combat Tricks:
Durin's Song is a great card to see once the contract is flipped.

• Glóin will be boosted for questing and then be ready (and still boosted) to do his job in the combat phase.
• It can also be a safety net for him if something goes wrong with a just revealed +X shadow card he’s defending.

Bulwark of the West can be used right before Gandalf or Galadriel leave play at the end of the round. Other good Bulwark targets would be:

• Merry, Halfast (they are cheap and we can benefit from their response by playing them again).
• Bill (he’s a 0-cost ally in this deck).

Sideboard

• Cram is a great readying option for heroes, giving us a cheap way to get an extra action from them. It’s especially useful for Glóin or Sam when we need them to defend, quest, or attack more than once in a round.

In summary: This deck is all about unique purple allies, card draw, and threat management. Mulligan for our key card draw and resource engines, use Gildor for questing, rely on Glóin as our defender and damage absorber, and let Sam keep the team running strong around him.