End of All Things (Alternate Art Starter Deck...Kinda) 1.0

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'I am glad that you are here with me,' said Frodo. 'Here at the end of all things, Sam.' ;Yes, I am with you, Master,' said Sam, laying Frodo's wounded hand gently to his breast. 'And you're with me. And the journey’s finished. But after coming all that way I don't want to give up yet. It's not like me, somehow, if you understand.' --The Return of the King

An Alternate Art Starter Deck...Kinda

As I have typed eleven times before, this entire project was inspired by AutumnRose's work on her two incredible alt-art starter decks (Flight to the Ford and Where the Stars are Strange). After seeing her incredible work, I wanted to make my own starter deck. And another. And another. At that point, I thought...why not try to include EVERY card that was left out of the revised content in a starter deck? Would it even be possible? Could I keep them thematic enough or even playable enough to stay true to the spirit of a "starter deck"? How many decks would I even need to make to include all of those cards?

It turns out I was able to make eleven "true decks" to pair with Autumn's two of her own, but I couldn't quite get every card into a deck. Which is where this final deck comes in, at the End of All Things. This "deck" is not a functional deck by any means. It is simply a collection of cards I could not fit into an alternate art starter deck bundled up in a package that clocks in at...82 cards exactly! Weird how well that worked out isn't it?

These cards were left out for a few main reasons: they are multiplayer only, they are mono-sphere, or I was not able to fit them in the starter deck that thematically included most of their other cards. Not all cards in this "deck" are bad, they just simply didn't make their way into my starter decks. It's very possible once you get your hands on these cards, some of them will make their way into a deck of yours!

For those keeping track, this deck features two repeat cards. The Grey Wanderer was included in my A Dark Hour deck, and Messenger of the King was included in three decks (The White Mountain, Labours in Dale, and The Long List). Both repeated cards feature new artwork.

Heroes

Brand son of Bain is a solid attacking hero, but his ability only matters in multiplayer. You can set up a wicked cross-table combo with Merry where the two ready each other to chew through numerous enemies. Pippin is a card.

Allies

Emery and Master of Lore are cards that have a place in mono-sphere decks. Emery in particular can be used to fuel some fun Caldara shenanigans by putting allies into your discard pile. Gandalf sticks around longer than Core Set Gandalf, assuming you are willing to deal with the creeping threat increases. If you are, you may just find he is one of the strongest allies in the game. Radagast was an early prototype of what Treebeard would become, and isn't quite as strong as hero Radagast, but can find a place in a creature heavy deck. Saruman is a one-turn ally who can have a massive impact - he essentially wipes out one card from the encounter deck for a turn, and can do anything you need be it questing or combat,

Attachments

Defender of the West turns an ally into a shared card that follows the 1P token, while also soaking up damage from unblocked attacks. Dúnedain Cache and Dúnedain Signal grant ranged and sentinel respectively. Map of Earnil, Scroll of Isildur, and Tome of Atanatar are mono-sphere cards that recycle events from your discard pile. Mirror of Galadriel is a Galadriel card that was left out of the Elves of Lorien starter deck, so is included here.

Events

Advance Warning, Against the Shadow, Strength of Arms, and (functionally) Shadows Give Way are mono-sphere cards that give thematically appropriate bonuses. Desperate Alliance, Message from Elrond, and Renewed Friendship are multiplayer only cards that encourage sharing, which as we all know is caring. Dour Handed is a great card in a deck that uses side quests. Rear Guard lets you trade allies for boost. I am not smart enough to understand Taking Initiative so it ended up in this deck. To the Eyrie is a card.

Contracts

The final cycle (Vengeance of Mordor) introduced a new card type that revised content only players might never see, the Contract. Contracts are cards that create new deckbuilding restrictions and provide various benefits, which helps to create more deck building variety and unlock some very interesting strategies. They are fairly self explanatory, each one having different pros and cons.

Print this deck

I have set up a Make Playing Cards project with ALeP backs that can be found here. If you wish to use official backs, a PDF of the deck that can be sent to MBPrint can be found here. A photo album with high-res versions of each individual card is available here.