Not All Tears Are an Evil 1.0

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• 1.0

"I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil"

These are the words of Gandalf to Sam Gamgee, Merry, and Pippin, as he, Frodo Baggins and Bilbo Baggins, and most of the remaining High Elves of Middle-Earth were departing from The Grey Havens, to sail across the great sea to the uttermost West. Amongst the Elves, Elrond and Galadriel departed then, as did Gildor Inglorion and much of Elrond's household, which would include Erestor. It is true that the brothers Elladan and Elrohir remained some time in Rivendell, but eventually they, too, would pass Into the West. It is this journey to the Havens that inspired this deck, and though it is a thematic deck, it works surprisingly well.

Into the West does a good job covering some of the weakness of Hobbit decks in the early game by starting you off with an ally of 3-cost or less. Great targets include Gaffer Gamgee, Rosie Cotton, Elrond, Bilbo Baggins, either of the half-elven brothers, and even Galadriel is useful for a 3- boost on your first turn, although her ability won't fire. Resourceful, Red Book of Westmarch, Steward of Gondor, Smoke and Think, and the resources you get back upon removing an ally from the game ensure that you are not, in any way, hurting for resources. Gandalf, Galadriel, Elrond, even Bilbo Baggins if you need another pipe and have copy number two in hand, and Frodo Baggins are all prime candidates to attach Into the West to – Frodo because you remove the risk of him ending up in the discard pile and losing you the game, and – more importantly – because it's thematic. If you don't want to lose any of the allies you have out, attach it to Gaffer Gamgee and use his combat action to bring him back to your hand to keep your board state running.

Defense is solved in a few ways: extremely low threat (Merry, Gandalf, The Shirefolk, and Elrond's Counsel with the multitude of unique Noldor characters included can easily bring you down to single-digit or even 0-threat), Gaffer Gamgee to avoid attacks, or Sam Gamgee with a Hobbit Cloak, Ancestral Armor, a Staff of Lebethron, and Rosie Cotton if needed to defend a shadowless attack for 7 (8 if you engaged an enemy with engagement cost higher than your threat that round). Gildor Inglorion, Gandalf, Elrond, and Glorfindel, who you can get back from the discard, are also good situational defenders.

Card draw comes through Into the West, Pippin, Daeron's Runes, Drinking Song, Hobbit Pipes, Gandalf, even Elrond. I haven't had a problem getting the pipes going yet, card draw is sufficient to make this 54-card deck work very well. I think cutting any of the 0-cost cards would make this deck worse, and I'd be hard-pressed to cut one of the 3-cost cards if you wanted to take out one of each of the cards with printed cost 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Frodo Baggins can get any high-value card back that you may need. That could be a Gandalf or Elrond if you didn't attach Into the West to them in an earlier round, or it could be a Smoke and Think helping you afford Ancestral Armor (just remember the restriction on ally discounts), or Timely Aid.

I've included a few different cards in the sideboard, depending on your style of play. Treebeard is always a phenomenal ally, but wasn't thematically justified. Celebrían's Stone and Sword-thain could be subbed in if you want to boost Rosie Cotton. A Test of Will is always good, so if a scenario you're playing requires cancellation, replace a Hobbit Cloak or two. Lords of the Eldar would fit so well here (discarding it to ready Glorfindel), but I really wanted all the 3-cost cards I've included, as the whole core idea was to use Into the West on Gandalf, Elrond, and Galadriel whenever possible, and Elladan and Elrohir fit very nicely too, as well as this being the time that Sam Gamgee inherits the Red Book of Westmarch.

Enjoy, this deck ended up being a lot of fun to pilot, and Into the West doesn't get played nearly enough.