Consorting With Wizards (2R97)

Bilbo, Well-spoken Gentlehobbit (2U96)

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Dear Friends (2U98)

	Set:		Mines of Moria
	Kind:		Free Peoples
	Culture:		Shire
	Twilight:		0
	Card Type:		Condition
	Game Text:		Tale. Bearer must be Bilbo. Bilbo may not take wounds (except during the archery phase). Fellowship or Regroup: Exert Bilbo or discard this condition to remove (1).
	Lore:		“‘He wasn't always this peculiar! When I were a lad, old Bilbo was a most respectable Hobbit.'”
	Rarity:		R
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General Strategy

Consorting With Wizards is an exceptional choke card along the lines of Sting and Aragorn, HttWC. However, unlike Sting and HttWC, it is not particularly splashable. It requires Bilbo, so one needs a good way of getting him out early, such as Hobbiton Party Field. It also needs a good way to keep Bilbo healthy, such as Hobbit Party Guest or Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir. For this reason, it sees its best use in a dedicated "Hobbit Hospital" style deck and has little use otherwise in Fellowship Block. See below for a sample Fellowship decklist.

At the launch of The Two Towers, Bilbo was almost forgotten entirely. Consorting With Wizards was relegated to obscurity almost from its first printing... until Reflections, which introduced the first new Bilbo card in over two years: Bilbo, Bearer of Things Burgled.

This new Bilbo was not only a companion, but one of the brand-new Alternate Ring-bearers (and a particularly solid one at that). Suddenly, Consorting With Wizards had a new purpose, and those players who held onto their obsolete Mines of Moria cards now wielded potent firepower. This condition is perhaps the single-best form of wound-prevention for a Ring-bearer. It's also free to play, it's a tale (an unloaded keyword which happens to be targeted by Bilbo himself), and it even comes with pool-control that becomes abusive through vitality-boosting such as The One Ring, Answer to All Riddles.

Also note that Consorting With Wizards is non-unique. If you're playing against an opponent with condition-discarding on his mind, only keep one of these in play at a time. But if your opponent has other things on his mind than keeping your conditions in check, drop all four onto Bilbo as you draw into them.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strong Versus...

• Any Shadow deck that doesn't care about condition-removal or archery fire.

Weak Versus...

• Putting too much focus on your Ring-bearer will inevitably draw the Eye of your opponent, and relying on powerful conditions is risky since just about any proficient player will have a means of disrupting your conditions.

Example Decks

Bilbo's Party by Kralik (Fellowship Block)

Ring-bearer: Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir Ring: The One Ring, Isildur's Bane

Sites important for Freeps: Hobbiton Party Field Valley of the Silverlode Anduin Wilderland

Free Peoples Draw Deck (40 cards): 1x Merry, From O'er the Brandywine 1x Pippin, Friend to Frodo 1x Sam, Son of Hamfast 1x Thrarin, Dwarven Smith 1x Bilbo, Well-spoken Gentlehobbit 2x Bounder 1x Farmer Maggot, Chaser of Rascals 3x Hobbit Party Guest 1x Melilot Brandybuck, Merry Dancer 1x The Gaffer, Sam's Father 1x Bill the Pony 3x Hobbit Sword 2x Sting 3x Hobbit Stealth 3x Practically Everyone Was Invited 3x A Promise 2x A Talent for Not Being Seen 4x Consorting With Wizards 2x There and Back Again

Basic Strategy: Bid very high (3 is recommended) to get Bilbo out early. Consorting With Wizards chokes and discards Shadow conditions with Bilbo's help. Practically Everyone Was Invited helps filter your deck and lets you choose which allies you need the most. For a large deck, it filters quite well. The hobbits are weakest in the early game, but difficult to kill in the end since you'll have LOADS of healing, relatively high strengths, Bounder and two Ringbearers. You don't want to see Anduin Confluence, so try not to move to your opponent's site 7.