Starter - Fangorn

Format: King Standard

Author: Phallen

Ring-bearer:
Ring:

Adventure deck:

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

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

Notes

Ents marching to liberate Isengard from the Orcs. I'm least pleased with this deck's pairing; I didn't want to do stupid swarm orcs for a few reasons, but then who else makes sense to have with the Ents? If the Shadow here flops miserably, I can rework it for Gandalf and Risk a Little Light + Questions That Need Answering to set up swarm hands.

Free Peoples: (starting companions Merry, Pippin, and Forest Guardian)
The game plan is play Ents and then double move. Okay, yes, there's more to it than that, but honestly not much more. Once you have 7 companions on the board very few Shadow strategies here are getting close to you, especially if you're killing 2-3 minions per move. The Black Gate deck might keep you going a bit slower to get Good Work tokens and the Helm's Deep Parapets deck has Greed to keep you below 6 companions, but even then you might not have to slow down much.

I like having the threat versions of Merry and Pippin, they can fight but it has to be planned. Frodo allows for some control and of course Ents are good at clearing threats via valiant demise. I could redo the deck to use the regroup discarding versions of them, and then Knocked on the Head instead of Hobbit Appetite and Sorry About Everything for corruption. I feel like there's *something* here with them fighting, especially to counter big fellowship hate.

I picked Noble Intentions over Hobbit Intuition to avoid the whole "We're at Anduin Banks so I can cancel a skirmish, right?" thing. Works out great because this deck has all the vitality in the world to spare. It's primarily swarm protection, but will help get Good Work tokens if that's not necessary.

Shadow:
That said, the Shadow may leave something to be desired. Expensive Isenorcs are good disruptors and terrible closers, which should compliment Ents' strengths. Strip your opponents of their possessions and conditions, deal a wound or two in skirmishes, then deal another few in the regroup phase. Bear in mind that many times it's worth leaving some minions around to discourage double moving. This is especially true if your Free Peoples are going strong and stopping a double is more important than, for example, getting minions stacked onto Scaffolding.

Scaffolding will get you some long-term value out of discarding your minions, namely by protecting vitality down the road so you can get more wounds out of them. This is especially helpful for Isengard Smith or Isengard Warrior, and if it's effective enough I'll be able to remove Trapped and Alone for something more interesting.

I am afraid it's not a very beginner friendly Shadow side since there's (on paper) little chance of killing an opponent most of the time. You're probably going to wind up needing to make moves where you can and just trying to dampen your opponent's ability to keep up with the Ents. Or maybe that'll make it perfect, both players can just prioritize FP and the match is overall less complex. You should be causing enough wounds to make people stop at sanctuaries if nothing else.