Thematic Shirefolk 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

This is my try of a Shire deck. I love the Bond of Friendship contract because the power of a 4th hero allows you to stick to thematic cards (well, except Warden of Healing...).

If you are playing the Saga (or in multiplayer with someone using The One Ring) you can replace the Master cards with another Gandalf and the side events.

Hero lineup

Looking at the existing published decks, these heroes are are not the most popular so here some arguments in their favor :

I choose Pippin over Folco Boffin for the extra card draw. Pippin's passive can also help the other players. Only downside (well, you'll miss Pippin too) is you are not going to be in secret early. I'm okay with that, because the Secrecy cards is not Shire-focused. Pippin gets the Red Book of Westmarch.

I don't want to be engaged with enemies with an engagement cost lower than my threat, so Merry's repeated threat reduction is very good. Give him a Hobbit Pony and he can quest if no ennemy shows up. Downside : you loose the 4 of Merry.

But this deck relays more on allies than heroes, so Tom Cotton is the perfect hero. He makes cards like Raise the Shire or Curious Brandybuck way more powerfull. He is also the hobbit with the most and so he can be the defensive hero this deck needs (give him the Ring, Inner Strength, Hobbit Cloak if needed).

Last question is : Frodo or Sam as hero ? I went with Sam because in early, he has 1 more and i can't afford Frodo's response (every ressources are kept to drop Red Book of Westmarch asap). Also Sam has a self ready for 2 more or during the combat phase.

Strategy & side notes

Mulligan for Red Book of Westmarch. As soon as it's in play, game should go smooth.

Every other unique card is in ×1 in order to not give you dead cards.

Raise the Shire is probably the other great card of the deck. It's like a Heed the Dream with bonus : for example if you fetch Farmer Maggot it's 2 direct damage and 4 . If i don't need such firepower i like to find a Cautious Halfling for double scry + potential draw). Her scry can also set up one of your Guarderd attachments. And i love the art, so ×2 ^^'

The cost curve is really low ; usually after turn 2 you can play two allies per turn so your hand will empty faster than you can draw (if you are in multiplayer you can easily pay for Bifur or Wilyador). I'll probably replace one Drinking Song with Peace, and Thought.

Initially i was planning to use Thorongil to give Merry +4 but Tom's response has been sufficient so far. The Dúnedain allies are also good for additionnal and low-cost attack.

I play two-handed so Gather Information is always nice to help another player. Also many quests are easier when you take some time to build your board, and side quests are good for this. Feel free to replace with Gandalf in solo.

Technically you can get 9 Traits (thanks to the very developped "Pony", "Shiriff" and "Archer" archetypes^^) so you may consider The Free Peoples.