Starter - Edge of Fangorn

Format: King Standard

Author: Phallen

Ring-bearer:
Ring:

Adventure deck:

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
2x
1x
1x
4x
1x
1x
1x
1x
1x
1x
1x
1x
2x
1x
3x
4x
1x
1x
1x
2x
1x
1x
2x

Shadow Draw Deck:
3x
3x
4x
4x
2x
4x
2x
2x
1x
1x
2x
2x
3x
2x

Notes

Riders of Rohan attack the Uruk-hai Trackers, Merry and Pippin in tow.

Free Peoples: (starting Elite Rider and Eomer)
Rohan excels at skirmishing, but offers no direct Ring-bearer support of any kind which can make them weak to swarm and corruption strategies. This is not a "standard" Rohan deck, all the copies of Merry and gear for him means less room for Rohan's skirmishing effects. Still, I do think it still plays to the culture's strengths while covering its weaknesses.

The unique part of the deck is the reliance on Merry, Friend to Sam. In theory he'll take the edge off of Rohan's less favorable matches: Merry's Sword exerts Easterlings and his ability protects Frodo from Moria and perhaps Morgul Orcs. This isn't something I've done before, and with a serious attempt to use Merry's Armor to boot. Simbelmyne pulls his gear and Kept Safe protects his vitality against swarms should the Moria player go for him instead, where the armor's text is necessary to prevent him from being killed and then letting the Shadow player go for Frodo immediately after. Remember that An Honorable Charge can be played on Merry or Pippin, not just your Rohan companions. If necessary, you can even use it pump Merry before using his text to aid Frodo! You may want to skip on Merry's Armor in the archery matchup where nothing is more important than your vitality, but other than that I would say that you pass up on it at your own peril.

Escape is there "for Pippin," and done that way it gives the deck a nice element of choke. If your opponent decides to use all the twilight, you can often simply cancel a skirmish with Pippin. After all, what else are you going to do with his vitality? Putting it on Merry can sometimes save him from dying, though if he stays exhausted for long the Shadow player may discard it and kill him.

Shadow:
Weary is the frightening card in this deck. When your opponent assigns your minions, he winds up with a wound same as if he lost the skirmish -- and that's before anything even happens. Your minions are fierce and tend to come back stronger, plus Vengeance is one of the strongest Shadow pumps in the game. If you allow the first skirmish to be lost and play it in the second, you will have put 2 wounds on a companion from Weary and the won skirmish will be a kill for most characters.

Your minions are all pretty tough in their own rights too, so winning skirmishes isn't usually hard. Mauhur will keep your minions alive too, especially helpful for your weaker minions or to ensure that you get the most out of Ugluk's text. What Did You Discover? is a powerful tool for keeping your opponent from getting too far ahead of you, double moves are always dangerous regardless of what you've got in hand.

I haven't fully vetted it against the other Free Peoples yet. On paper, the only decks that might be able to shrug these trackers off are Fangorn's Ents and Minas Tirith's Noble Leaders. Everyone else ought to have a good fight ahead of them. The Hobbit decks in particular are in some trouble, no damage bonuses and no easy way to get rid of Weary, so choke to prevent you from playing the scariest minions is their only real asset. Get rid of them when you reconcile and just play the cheap ones. They'll get you wounds the same way more costly minions would get you wounds against a stronger deck, and this way you'll be able to cycle your cards better so your Free Peoples draws what they need. Remember Leowyn in these instances! Pull her at first sign of need with Simbelmyne and turn all those basically-unplayable minions into heals for your companions.