There are a lot of decks on the internet that are fun to play. There are plenty that are powerful, capable of crushing quests and securing victories with ease. This deck isn’t either of those things. I mean, just look at it

Suicidal Support for Super Bilbo

by Rajam

Suicidal Support for Super Bilbo
Hero (3)
Boromir (The Dead Marshes)
Caldara (The Blood of Gondor)
Treebeard (The Treason of Saruman)

Attachment (35)
3x Boots from Erebor (Khazad-dûm)
3x Ent Draught (The Treason of Saruman)
3x Fast Hitch (The Dead Marshes)
3x Gondorian Shield (The Steward’s Fear)
3x Good Meal (The Redhorn Gate)
2x Keys of Orthanc (The Voice of Isengard)
3x Love of Tales (The Long Dark)
3x Palantir (Assault on Osgiliath)
2x Song of Battle (The Dead Marshes)
3x Song of Eärendil (Road to Rivendell)
3x Song of Kings (The Hunt for Gollum)
3x Song of Travel (The Hills of Emyn Muil)
1x The Fall of Gil-Galad (The Dunland Trap)

Event (15)
3x Daeron’s Runes (Foundations of Stone)
3x Deep Knowledge (The Voice of Isengard)
3x Desperate Alliance (On the Doorstep)
3x Message from Elrond (The Three Trials)
3x The Seeing-stone (The Voice of Isengard)

Caldara with no other spirit heroes? Boromir without Gondorian Fire or Blood of Numenor? Hero Treebeard with no healing? No allies? It’s a mismatched hodgepodge of bits and pieces that makes no sense as a coherent deck designed to defeat quests.

But that’s precisely the point; it’s not designed to defeat the encounter deck. It’s designed to lose, to fail, to fall into ruin. Not only that, it’s designed to do so quickly, to do so consistently, and most radically, to do so of its own volition. That’s the common thread that ties together these three heroes. All are able to in one way or another kill themselves off without any encounter deck input.

And why would anyone want to intentionally kill off their own heroes while getting nothing from it? Because of an oddity in how the rules work. During the staging step of the quest phase, the encounter deck reveals one card for each surviving player. One player’s voluntary demise makes the quest easier for all players who survive him!

The question then becomes “how much can one do in the space of a single planning phase before committing suicide?” To that end, Rajam has loaded up with plenty of useful 0- and 1-cost attachments that can be played across the table, as well as enough draw events to fish them out quickly.

I’ve never actually played this deck, nor the one partnered up with it. I don’t think I ever will. But sometimes you stumble across a deck that opens your eyes to possibilities that you’d never before considered. I remember the first time I saw someone use a Boromir deck. I remember the first time I heard someone mention a Gloin deck. I remember all sorts of new combos, but most importantly, I remember the fresh ideas and approaches to common problems that would have a profound impact on how I built decks going forward.

And I remember the first time I stumbled across Rajam’s unassuming suicide deck and became aware of the possibility of a support deck so selfless it actually sacrificed itself for the good of the fellowship. I remember the feeling of possibilities opening up before my eyes.

For that reason, this is without question a deck that’s worth a second look.