Fellowship 4 hobbit decks, secrecy and shenningans

Rouxxor 1767

Description

Hello,

I have take many paths of deckbuilding along my years of gaming. Among them I often ask to myself what was the best pairing for a kind of trait with the largest number of heroes/players, which is an intellectual challenging exercice due to the multiple heroes sharing a same name, the allies with the same name sometime needed and the large number of pairing possible among those heroes. But among them the secrecy and hobbit (separate of together) always captivate me the most. You can already found many fellowship I made with those concepts. But they were before the explosion of possibilities due to the contract and alep. It took me a lot of times to build various possibilities with them and now I'm wanting to put the folks I prefer to the top with this new fellowship.

This is a high interaction fellowship. I don't care to play some attachments in 10 copies among the 4 decks. I want powerful decks that can manage hard scenarios. I don't really care about thematic. And I'm proud to show some decks that are supposed to be as efficient as more classic builds even if they are using mostly underrated heroes, not using the classic most powerful cards not because I try to avoid them but just because they are not efficient. I also play attachments because they are needed around the table, not necessary for the deck that pack them. I play a big pipe interaction that will allow each decks to draw many cards each round. I rely a bit (or a lot ^^) on a powerful interaction between Brand son of Bain and Merry, who each ready the other, making the possibility of attacking each enemies engaged with the player that had merry for 7 + all the weapons attached on them. It kill most, if not all, the enemies.

The deck "part2" with Frodo Baggins / Merry / Pippin and Sam Gamgee is the fighting deck. We want to engage the most (or all) the enemies. We are packing SO many events to smooth all those things. With Charge into Battle we can probably kill all the enemies from the staging area. With The Hammer-stroke we engage each enemies in play. We usually already engage one "naturally" and then play it. They are usually all over our threat level. So with pippin and Sam we draw as many cards as they are enemies and get many reading+bonus effects with sam. Then we can use either Out of Sight, Hour of Wrath or friends Arwen Undómiel + Vigilant Dúnadan combo to take all those attacks. It has many draw element so he can do those combo multiple times in the game. Since everyone threat is quite low, but everyone can deal a bit of enemies also, you can also without any issue wait some turns and kill the enemies from several turns at once using it. In addition the crazy amount of tactics resources needed by those combo is not an issue at all because every decks are packing good meal that are almost only here for that (and for playing a galadhrim greeting each turn so everyone draw a cray amount of cards).

The deck "part3" with Brand son of Bain / Glorfindel and (MotK) Halfast Gamgee is here to help the part2 to be able to kill all the enemies in play. But also to block those enemies, using the Arwen Undómiel + Vigilant Dúnadan combo I was talking about. It is also a very "cheating costy allies into play" kind of decks. Using Timely Aid and secrecy allies to get a fews allies for cheap and then play A Very Good Tale to multiply them you will have in no time (and at no cost) a large army. For me that is a very classic strategy (not necessary with timely aid or secrecy, but with a very good tale who is packed in half my decks, especially in solo).

The deck "part4" with Denethor / Galadriel / Fatty Bolger / Éowyn is the most classical decks and by far the less essential. By transfering the Red Book of Westmarch in another deck you can easily play without him if you want to play only 3 decks. It has something like the best hero of each sphere (but lore) but they are essentially here because of they low threat, which is actually hard to find outside of lore. This is a goodstuff deck, I play all the cards that everyone will enjoy you to play but that decks with a nice inner synergy can't easily play themselves. It is a support deck.

The deck "part1" with Folco Boffin / Tom Cotton / (MotK) Bilbo Baggins is THE underdog pack! Not that I wanted to put them all together but just because it work better this way. Part2 deck is made by the most efficient and known hobbit. But here we have hobbit who are only good because it is a hobbit synergies build! Tom cotton ability to give +2 to every hobbit ally coming into play is not impressive at first, but when so many hobbit allies are played, especially so many Curious Brandybuck that comes into play each turn for free it became gold. Bilbo Baggins is known for fetching wizard pipe for his mates but he is in fact even better in hobbit. It is only hard to figure if you prefer to have him as a Messenger of the King hero and get directly at the start of the game a hobbit pipe or prefer to fetch him over the first raise the shire that get though to get one pipe now and another one next turn when you replay it. With 12 heroes to pick from I choose the first but the other path is very interesting too! Folco Boffin is just good stats for ridiculous low threat. We basically never use his ability. We don't care about the threat to start with: it is low at first and we have plenty way to reduce it because it make us draw. We will get to 0 in no time. So we will never sacrifice a hero to lower it anyway. We also pack here cool hobbit allies that don't fit in other decks.

I haven't described in details every combos, the need of every cards because it is usually as boring for you to read as it is for me to write it. But of course what seem obvious to me because I play it a lot probably don't seem to you. I may as well made some huge mistakes. So please feel free to comment to ask anything you like. I will answer (except if I don't have anything smart to say, But I have a high self esteem so I usually found the things I say to be smart ^^). If you want to give your appreciation of the fellowship it will also be appreciate, as I sometime struggle to determine what is popular here and what kind of decklists/decks comments people here need or want the most.

Have a nice day!

3 comments

Dec 14, 2023 doomguard 1963

interesting fellowship.

1 would use 3 Bywater Shirriff in the Tom Cotton-deck

then the thread of the Denethor seems a bit high to me and might avoid some engaging of the "figter"-deck. i would add Gandalf + Sneak Attack to that deck (or it is to "mighty" for this theme?)

@ Merry + Brand son of Bain combo needs engaged enemys and the Vigilant Dúnadan-combo running i usually prefer the Merry+ Aragorn -combo (horses and hitches and courages on merry, who readies aragorn who kill and engage new, repeat) it works from the start become better over time and do not need engaged enemies (only 1). or is Aragorn to heroesk for the theme of the fellowship?

@new Fatty Bolger he really shines with other discard-shenanigans. you only have Keen as Lances, i would add as many Out of the Wild as possible in the decks where is secrecy and lore. perhaps The Door is Closed! is also good but i do not know if its more efficient use The Door is Closed! or other cards u have.

i like the spread of Good Meal, so even expensive events will be playable.

peerhaps some Errand-rider can increase the possibility of a The Galadhrim's Greeting 1. round

to increase efficiency i would think about concentrate uniques in one deck and then put in some A Fair Exchange there

Dec 17, 2023 Rouxxor 1767

Thanks for your comment.

Why especially in this deck? Tom Cotton affect everyone with his bonus, and I don't intempt to keep enemies engaged with me for his ability. And anyway bywater shirriff need a ressource for his ability, not for paying it.

The non hobbit bond of friendship (or deck part4) doesn't have a 33 threat no matter what is indicated. It has 8 + 6 + 5 + 9, so 28. Thanks to Eowyn and Fatty setup ability. We tend to make him draw with galadriel ability. If we had Pippin ability it make only enemies with 23 or less threat engagement to see him. Without counting any other threat reduction, elrond's counsel that we play in this deck or a galadhrim greeting that we can play on this deck especially (in addition to a -2 for everyone for trigger all the hobbit pipe first). There is really no need to worry about threat in this fellowship. And as I say on the beginning I play what I consider to be the optimal version of those decks, not thematic. It exploit unusual mechanic so some very powerful cards (like doomed) are not played because they are not good in it, that's all. And I don't found sneak attack + Gandalf to be that powerful since many years anyway.

Merry + Brand don't need vigilant to work. It has many other way to prevent attacks. But it does need engagement, and that's an issue. You really love to have a The Hammer-stroke for this reason, but a Charge into Battle is cool too with enough good meal.

Merry + Aragorn is probably an even more powerful synergie. I agree. But it is not the same set-up. It does not interact well with the same heroes (he love a sentinel hero at first to do the first block). A different fellowship is possible around this combo but it require way more change than just swaping the two heroes: they need to be in the same deck, who can't play bond of friendship in result, and can't also play hobbit pipe because you really want pippin aside. I wanted to try something else. Even if Merry + Brand is known, it is less used in deckbuilding as far as I can see.

I feel like only keen as lances and out of the wild in every secrecy deck (it is in it, but the version that appear doesn't show them because it is a bit older, but I do play them) is enough. It is not a big issue to play one keen as lance for it cost to start the engine. I don't want many door is closed who become useless after that.

I don't like errand rider, in general. It cost one resource in adition to make his ability, and it is rare to make something that better with 1 resource on a deck instead of 2 on the deck that draw errand rider. I do prefer to play way to gain resources, there is many in this game anyway.

A fair exchange is a very complex card. I still haven't found a good way to use it. Having a same unique twice, and playing it before being allowed to fetch one is quite complicated and does'nt help at the start. I also don't found it enough interesting to really build around it. I want to have a bit more of gather information though.

Dec 18, 2023 doomguard 1963

having the effective thread @ denethor there is no need for faster reduction, i agree.

i think the Bywater Shirriff is the best non-unique hobbitally in the game. i suggest to fill it where it is. but he is overall better in the engagement deck, but i would surely use him more. get mostly 2/2 for cost of 2 is great (comparable non-unique-allies are ents or cost 3+)

A Fair Exchange needs a bit of tinkering, and i would (if its worth) use it in the denethordeck, and then in addition put Arwen Undómiel into that deck. Arwen Undómiel, Red Book of Westmarch, Steward of Gondor, Light of Valinor are the important uniques, so maxing them add perhaps another Wilyador and Treebeard and replace the Halfling Bounder with Robin Smallburrow and add A Fair Exchange i think you have a big chance (7 doubles) to get them all until round 3-4. but if its worth it? i never playtested that card, it only theory

i like the Errand-rider . he is not only good for his ability, he can chump and get an arrow without dying, all for cost of 1. in heavy multispherdecks i count him very usefull specially in multiplayer.