LotR TCG Card Strategies - #22

Green Dragon Inn

Why get Sam first turn? Because he can remove three Burdens. You can bid three more than usual and compensate by getting Sam, Son of Hamfast. Coincidentally, if you bid really high you can choose to go first and play the Inn. It all fits together nicely.

Sure, you could just start Sam, but getting him with the site lets you start other combos, like a pair of elves or dwarves, or expensive companions like Gandalf. The Gandalf strategy is a little risky because if you don't win the opening bid you either have to change your gameplan and start Sam or deal with the possibility of a Corruption strategy. With elves or dwarves it's easy to start Sam instead of Haldir / Farin to get rid of those burdens.

The downside of this site is that it lets the opponent get Sam as well. That means it's a bad idea to start Green Dragon Inn if you're planning a Corruption strategy.

On the other hand, you can use this to encourage the opponent to play Sam. That strategy of bidding 3 more than usual is so popular that many decks will stack one Sam just in case the opponent tries that trick. (and then they'll throw Sam in front of a Cave Troll.) That's even more frequent in multiplayer, where everyone seems to stack one Sam and one Aragorn regardless of the rest of their deck. If the opponent uses your Green Dragon Inn that way, you can suddenly spot a second Hobbit companion. This is particularly useful for Fool of a Took and Orc Assassins.