By Zach "Rubber Chicken" Shephard

It’s not uncommon (nor is it R+ or foil) for players to spend very little time and effort in building their adventure decks. After all, those nine little cards can't be all that important, can they?

This is where those who doubt the power of the adventure deck are sorely mistaken. Sites have always been an important aspect of the game, and this has become even more prevalent with the release of Shadows last fall. The ability to select from a variety of sites each time your opponent moves makes the adventure deck one of the most useful tools in the world today (though it’s still not quite as versatile as the Gondorian army whisk).

So how can you best abuse this awesome power?

That’s the question I’ll be addressing today. The following tips are all you’ll need to put together a killer adventure deck.

SHADOW FIRST
You’re more likely to be playing your sites if your opponent is in the lead, and if they’re in the lead, then your Shadow needs to be working hard to bring them to a screeching halt. With that in mind, while selecting what sites to use in your adventure deck, think about your Shadow side first. If you’re playing a lot of expensive minions (such as the Uruk-hai build that I’m currently using, which has an average minion cost of around five or six), then you’ll want to think about using sites that have high Shadow numbers. This ensures that you can maximize the amount of twilight you get before unleashing your armies on your opponent’s fellowship.

As long as the foundation of your adventure deck is centered around your Shadow side, you might as well look for some sites that will benefit the Shadow culture(s) you’re playing. Sometimes this is as easy as finding a race name or culture emblem (such as the Wold Battlefield benefiting any deck with minions of the “men” race, and Shores of Nen Hithoel helping out the Orc culture), but other times you’ll have to look for bold keywords. Orcs prefer Underground and Battleground sites, Uruk-hai like Battlegrounds, Men can benefit from both Battlegrounds and Plains, and Wraiths tend to stick to Forests.

FREE PEOPLES SECOND
It’s unlikely that you have nine sites that will all strongly benefit your Shadow side, so the next step is to use the site path to strengthen your fellowship. There are many cards that will help out specific cultures and races (such as Old Forest Road for Elves and Valley of the Silverlode for Hobbits), but make sure not to pick a “friendly” site if it can end up hurting your Shadow. For example, while North Undeep has the potential to save your fellowship from certain death, it won’t be a very wise addition to your adventure deck if you’re playing archery on your Shadow side.

If you have a lot of pathfinding for your fellowship, you can shift the adventure deck priority from your Shadow over to your Free Peoples side. “Pathfinding” is a term used to describe the ability to manipulate the site path; as you may have guessed, this tactic got its name from the Free Peoples event “Pathfinder.” If you’re able to have great control over the site path through cards like Traveled Leader and Follow Smeagol, then it can really pay off to use sites that will benefit your fellowship.

THE SYNERGY FACTOR
As with many Shadow sides, there are Free Peoples strategies that will benefit from certain keywords on sites (such as Dwellings for Shire and Mountains for Dwarves). In the early stages of building your draw deck, you may want to choose your Free Peoples and Shadow cultures based on the site keywords that they can use. If you have your heart set on building a Men Shadow that loves seeing Battleground and Plains sites, consider Rohan for your Free Peoples, as they gain benefits from the same sites. This is a good example of just how influential the site path can be – if you’ve decided what one portion of your deck will focus on, the sites can sometimes tell you what to do with the other half.

PACK A RELIABLE LAUNCH PAD
Most decks that bid high to go first will have a certain site that they love using in the “site one” position – usually something with the power to help set up their fellowship and aid them in the early game. There are other players that will either bid high to go second, or bid zero and opt to go second if they’re given the choice. If this second option is what you tend to favor, you should still keep one site in your deck that you’d like to start on – there’s always that chance that you’ll get outbid and your opponent will force you to go first. For example, if you never plan on going first and have a copy of Aragorn, Guide and Protector in your deck, consider including The Prancing Pony in your adventure deck. Should your opponent make you take the lead, you can pull Aragorn to help your fellowship along the way.

"HAVE WE BEEN HERE BEFORE?"
As the title of this section implies, it’s entirely possible to make sure your opponent’s fellowship gets lost, in a sense. Given the amount of site-manipulation cards available today (on both the Free Peoples and Shadow sides), it’s not uncommon for a single site to be replayed several times in a game. If a pathfinding card is used to play a site where there is already one on the site path, then the one on the path is “replaced.” What this means is, the new site comes in, and the old one goes back to its owner’s adventure deck.

A good example of how to abuse this tactic is with the ever-popular Neekerbreekers' Bog. If you can get a few burdens on your opponent's Ring-bearer, then they’ll be exerting companions when they move to the bog. On your first Shadow phase after the move, play a card to switch the site, such as Ulaire Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders. This puts the bog back into your adventure deck, allowing you to play it again on your opponent’s next move.

THE HALL OF FAME
If, after utilizing the above tips, you still have room left in your adventure deck, go with a site that's universally useful. The following is a list of some of my favorite “splash” sites – these are the ones that can go into just about any adventure deck.

Anduin Banks

“Crowd Control” (the ability to cut fellowships with many companions down to size) doesn’t come as easily as it used to, but this card helps to compensate for that. There was a time when your opponent would be cruising along with six (or more) companions, and you could only pray that you’d draw into a copy of Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul. Those days are no more – if your opponent goes big, you’ve got a punishing card that you can play on demand, rather than having to hope that you draw it in a timely fashion.

Crags of Emyn Muil

Although you can’t bluff with facial expressions or subtle mannerisms online (typing “hmmm” just doesn’t seem to have the same effect that saying it would), you can still deceive your opponent with gameplay actions. Crags of Emyn Muil is a great card for this sort of trickery. Drop it at site four when your opponent leaves the sanctuary, and don’t play any minions. Now, the question is, did you have any minions in your hand? If so, then your opponent’s fellowship gets filled with wounds before moving into your trap. Knowing that this is a distinct possibility, many players will opt not to move, which can get you an easy stop without actually playing a Shadow card – perfect for when you’ve got a full Free Peoples hand.

Cavern Entrance

Be it Tale of the Great Ring, Sudden Fury, Noble Leaders, or something else entirely, Cavern Entrance will stop any skirmish abilities from being used. This is probably the number one “splash” site out there, and with good reason. Let’s face it, many of us have had some giant minion get overwhelmed by Cirdan, the Shipwright, and it’s not something we’d like to repeat. If you haven't been victimized by Cirdan, consider yourself fortunate. Cavern Entrance keeps powerful skirmish abilities like The Shipwright's in check, and can turn an otherwise fruitless effort by your army of minions into a devastating massacre of the opposing fellowship.

And that’s it for this week! If you ever have questions or topics you’d like to see explored in an installment of Leaving the Shire, feel free to email LeavingtheShire@worlds-apart.com with your suggestions! Until next time…

- Zach Shephard