Hello, all. I have a huge favor to ask of you all, but perhaps your response will be a service to a lot more players than just me.

Knowing that the Saga expansions are not all out yet, I would still like to start playing through them thematically (something I have not done before). Deck building is not one of my strong suits, so I am wondering if I could implore your collective wisdom.

Assuming there are two players (or solo two-handed), and assuming access to all expansions and adventure packs currently released , I would like to see two thematic decks for each quest in the Saga expansions...

For example, looking at "A Shadow from the Past" in the Black Riders expansion - what two thematic decks would be good to use? It would be awesome if you could help me put this together for all the Saga quests.

Not too ambitious, is it?

Try the decklists on the package insert.

just to be clear, do you mean using heroes that exist in that timeline? what about allies, etc? What about heroes that FFG has made up?

Or do you just mean trait based decks like Rohan, Silvan, Dwarves?

Basically - what do you mean by "thematic"?

In the context of the Lord of the Rings, there is nothing more thematic than an unexpected company of vastly different individuals coming together to rise up against evil. I'm trying to make the point that it is impossible to make a deck that is not thematic to the spirit of the source material.

If you want a deck that matches the actual fellowship as it grows and the breaks, I've only had success with the first box

Black Riders

P1: Sam, Merry (T), Pippin (L)
P2: Aragorn (L), Glorfinedel (S), Fatty Bolger

The with other Saga boxes, I'm still trying to decide what do since many of the members of the fellowship have hero and ally versions.

Are you playing campaign mode, so that you want to keep the same heroes throughout The Black Riders, or are you designing the most thematic decks for each quest even if that involves switching heroes? (For me, the place in the saga where that's most thematically significant is the last two quests of The Treason of Saruman: I don't want Merry and Pippin at Helm's Deep, but I want them for The Road to Isengard. We'll almost certainly get Merry and Pippin allies within the next year or two, however, and that would solve the problem.) How strictly thematic do you want to be? As the card pool grows, there are are more options, so you could restrict your Black Riders decks to cards that fit a Hobbit/Dúnedain/Noldor theme, but will you allow for a couple of strong cards that don't fit the theme? A loosely thematic deck might allow for ally Faramir, and a strictly thematic deck might exclude Steward of Gondor (which is at least slightly thematic on Aragorn, given the favour he received from the steward Ecthelion when he served Gondor under the name Thorongil). For a pair of loosely thematic campaign mode decks, take a look at these decks (with a great playthrough writeup) from Ian (Raven1015) at Tales from the Cards: https://talesfromthecards.wordpress.com/2013/09/26/campaign-mode-shadow-of-the-past/

You could revise them to make them more thematic (replace Éowyn with Arwen or Idraen, while adding more willpower) and include newer strong cards. Alternatively, you could try a more aggressive Dúnedain-focused deck that wants engaged enemies (Guardian of Arnor together with Steward of Gondor, Blood of Númenor and plenty of readying might be essential, and Forest Snare might help; this is a somewhat difficult deck) and a Hobbit-focused willpower/support deck. There's a bit of anti-synergy with Dúnedain and Hobbits, though. Hobbits generally want to optionally engage enemies, while Dúnedain want enemies engaged with them; Tactics Aragorn might help. If you tell me more specifically what you want, I can try to come up with something.

The two-handed requirement is tough. The obvious thematic mix for "Shadows of the Past" is Sam/Merry/Pippin to go with Fellowship. Since there's no Gildor hero, only Fatty is actually physically present for the second deck. There aren't any made-up Noldor to go with Fatty, though if you go backwards in time you could pair him with Gandalf and Bilbo.

"Knife in the Dark" you lose Fatty but can add Aragorn. Still not enough heroes for two three-hero decks.

"Flight to the Ford" you could add Glorfindel and Elrond (for the rising of the river). That at least gets you to six heroes.

For "The Ring Goes South" and "Journey in the Dark" you have all eight fellowship members available to go with Frodo.

For "Breaking of the Fellowship" Gandalf is out, but Galadriel would be quite thematic (since she can't quest/defend/attack, not being present isn't an obstacle).

In the context of the Lord of the Rings, there is nothing more thematic than an unexpected company of vastly different individuals coming together to rise up against evil. I'm trying to make the point that it is impossible to make a deck that is not thematic to the spirit of the source material.

the soon-to-be-released The Ruins of Belegost and Murder at the Prancing Pony?

Yes, I mean as thematic as possible, but still playable (in other words, yes, a few "power cards" must be included).

Campaign mode would be good (i.e. keeping the same heroes through the expansion).

The deck lists in the expansions only assume you have the expansion itself and the core-set.

In the context of the Lord of the Rings, there is nothing more thematic than an unexpected company of vastly different individuals coming together to rise up against evil. I'm trying to make the point that it is impossible to make a deck that is not thematic to the spirit of the source material.

the soon-to-be-released The Ruins of Belegost and Murder at the Prancing Pony?

Frodo + Thorin isn't thematic.

Sure it is. Thorin's death was faked, man--just like the Moon landing!

#IBelieve

While I really do enjoy building decks, doing a new one for each quest may get tiresome. I'd suggest doing the campaign mode where you use the same heroes and can make changes to the deck between quests. If any heroes die during the campaign, they are dead and must be replaced with a different hero. But ultimately it's about doing what you enjoy, so do whatever you want.

Are you starting with the Hobbit Saga or skipping that and doing the Fellowship of the Ring Saga?

And how do you feel about using made-up heroes?

Pure Thematic for the Fellowship would allow for:

Aragorn

Legolas

Gimli

Boromir

Sam

Merry

Pippin

Frodo is excluded since he is part of the saga quests already.

Other heroes, such as Gandalf, Elrond, Arwen, Galadriel, Celeborn, Denethor, Beregond, Faramir, Eowyn, Erestor, Erkenbrand, (etc.) show up at some point or another in the story. Do you want to exclude those that don't belong in the story yet? Such as not using Galadriel while you are running away from the Black riders in the first few quests of the saga?

For the Fellowship Saga, I'd suggest these two deck concepts:

Boromir (tactics), Legolas, and Aragorn (Lore) - this combat heavy deck uses Boromir repeatedly for combat and Aragorn to reset threat once it gets out of hand. Legolas is there to kill things engaged with the other player. Use of Elf-friend makes everyone good choices for the extremely powerful Noldor/Silvan weapon attachments. Other highlight cards: Lembas, Gandalf (core), Master of the Forge, Captain of Gondor and Horn of Gondor.

Pippin (Lore), Merry (Spirit) and Sam Gamgee - starting at secrecy levels, you should be able to get 2 allies into play first turn and use A Very Good Tale to get more. Packed with nearly 30 allies, it will never miss and Bill The Pony, Barliman Butter and Gandalf are the only unique characters that have dupes. Other highlight cards: Timely Aid, Test of Will, Gimli, Resourceful, Wandering Took and Warden of Healing.

This should allow you to actually get the entire Fellowship into play as well!

Let me know if you want more detailed deck lists or if this even sounds like a direction you would want to build.

I had quite a fun time playing straight through The Black Riders and The Road Darkens with a solo Pippin (L) - Merry (S) - Boromir (T) deck. Pippin (and lore) draws huge numbers of cards (Peace and Thought is huge here) while Boromir (w/ shield, song of wisdom and burning brand) mows down enemies and Merry manages threat. I also used OHuH Gandalf to very good effect with Arwen and Silvan Refugees around to provide most of the questing power.

I broke theme by adding some ents (Wandering, Booming, Quickbeam and Treebeard), though I think you could get a similar effect by subbing other more thematic choices. For example, Rangers of Cardolan as a neutral ally provide great stats, eagles might work for some occasional combat help, and bilbo could add to questing. Might also throw in an Elrond ally and a Rivendell minstrel for some questing help and utility effects.

For the Fellowship Saga, I'd suggest these two deck concepts:

Boromir (tactics), Legolas, and Aragorn (Lore) - this combat heavy deck uses Boromir repeatedly for combat and Aragorn to reset threat once it gets out of hand. Legolas is there to kill things engaged with the other player. Use of Elf-friend makes everyone good choices for the extremely powerful Noldor/Silvan weapon attachments. Other highlight cards: Lembas, Gandalf (core), Master of the Forge, Captain of Gondor and Horn of Gondor.

Pippin (Lore), Merry (Spirit) and Sam Gamgee - starting at secrecy levels, you should be able to get 2 allies into play first turn and use A Very Good Tale to get more. Packed with nearly 30 allies, it will never miss and Bill The Pony, Barliman Butter and Gandalf are the only unique characters that have dupes. Other highlight cards: Timely Aid, Test of Will, Gimli, Resourceful, Wandering Took and Warden of Healing.

This should allow you to actually get the entire Fellowship into play as well!

Let me know if you want more detailed deck lists or if this even sounds like a direction you would want to build.

Yes, this is what I am after. Thank you! Even more detailed decks would of course be welcome. I agree that it would be too tiresome to switch heroes and decks after each quest (and it would defeat the purpose of campaign play). Would be interesting to see what decks you would suggest for the other Saga expansions...

EDIT: Or are you saying you would stick with these decks throughout the entire Saga?

Deck Created with CardGameDB.com The Lord of the Rings Deckbuilder

Total Cards: (50)

Hero: (3)

1x Boromir (The Dead Marshes)

1x Legolas (Core Set)

1x Aragorn (The Watcher in the Water)

Ally: (15)

3x Envoy of Pelargir (Heirs of Numenor)

3x Gandalf (Core Set)

1x Gleowine (Core Set)

2x Master of the Forge (Shadow and Flame)

3x Vassal of the Windlord (The Dead Marshes)

3x Winged Guardian (The Hunt for Gollum)

Attachment: (25)

3x Rivendell Blade (Road to Rivendell)

3x Rivendell Bow (The Watcher in the Water)

1x Captain of Gondor (The Antlered Crown)

1x Wingfoot (The Nin-in-Eilph)

3x Gondorian Shield (The Steward's Fear)

3x Horn of Gondor (Core Set)

3x Lembas (Trouble in Tharbad)

3x Song of Battle (The Dead Marshes)

3x Elf-friend (The Treachery of Rhudaur)

2x Gondorian Fire (Assault on Osgiliath)

Event: (10)

2x Gondorian Discipline (Encounter at Amon Dîn)

2x Behind Strong Walls (Heirs of Numenor)

3x Foe-hammer (Over Hill and Under Hill)

3x Feint (Core Set)

Who gets what attachments:

Quest with all the hobbits and with Fast Hitch also use Merry to keep your threat low. Try to flood the board with allies as quickly as possible through Timely Aid, A Very Good Tale and Send for Aid. Blood of Numenor is for Boromir/Aragorn. Errand-rider is to smooth resources or give them to the other deck.

I tried to keep the allies as theme friendly as possible. Ultimately that's why I stayed away from Leadership and Spirit due to them having so many Gondor/Rohan allies, and also ignored Outlands and Ents entirely. Questing values may be a little too light in this current form.

Disclaimer: I haven't played the early Saga quests in awhile and these decks are untested - though I have used a close variation of the hobbit deck on various occasions - so feel free to report back what is and isn't working and we can work on it.

I'm open to any suggestions to improve these.

Very nice! Thanks, Slothgodfather. I have to try these out!