This deck is based off the theme of 'What if Frodo couldn't be saved by Elrond and died in Rivendell?'. Aragorn would instead have volunteered to take The Ring to Mordor. His Fellowship would still have Legolas, Gimli and Boromir as they were chosen by Elrond to represent their respective races. Frodo was the reason Sam, Merry and Pippin went on the quest, so they would have gone home to the Shire. His friends Elladan and Elrohir would come with him out of their longstanding alliance built up over decades travelling and fighting together. Bilbo Baggins wanted one last adventure and to see his Magic Ring that caused Frodo's death destroyed. Gildor Inglorion would have been wracked by guilt of having not stayed with Frodo and would have embarked on the quest as a form of penance. Gandalf would also have felt the loss of Frodo keenly as he was unable to meet him on the Road before Weathertop. With the guidance of Elrond ringing in his ears, and the promise of aid from Galadriel should they pass Lothlorien, Aragorn set out from Rivendel with his companions, the Nine Walkers to match the Nine Riders.
Sword that was Broken, Steward of Gondor, and Gandalf are the key parts to this deck. With Aragorn's ability to lower the player's threat, Gandalf should be able to stick around for quite a while, hopefully picking up Gandalf's Staff to help smooth out what the deck needs at the time. Steward of Gondor obviously deals with resource acceleration, but that can't be paid for until Aragorn gets Sword that was Broken or Song of Kings onto him. Multiple copies of Resourceful should mean resources aren't a problem, but the eponomous Magic Ring, Rune-master or the Keys of Orthanc all help keep that under control. Resource smoothing is found in Sword that was Broken, Song of Kings, CelebrÃan's Stone and Roheryn, as well as A Good Harvest. Card draw can be accelerated, again through Gandalf's Staff, but also with Legolas, Ancient Mathom and Prepare for Battle.
Once Aragorn has been able to set up his fellowship, he should be questing for 5 each round without exhausting. Gandalf should join him for another 5, again without exhausting, Bilbo Baggins, Elladan, Elrohir and Gimli for 3 each, with the latter three equipped with built in readying. To keep thr threat in the staging area down, the deck needs to kill enemies as fast as possible, if nessecary using a Close Call to whether an attack undefended before hitting back.
This deck definitely isn't a 'power deck' or anything in that sphere, but I really like building fun decks around certain themes and seeing how well they do. This deck has coped fairly well with everything from the first cycle (except Escape, for obvious reasons) and is soon going to be taken up against The Road Darkens box, to see how the Fellowship of the King does on the first leg of its journey.
This version has been tweaked feeding off advice from The BGamerJoe and his Deck Test blog. Thanks again.