A useful splashed minion for Initiative Shadows, Plotting Deceiver can be used with Let Her Deal With Them and Hobbitses are Dead to give the Shadow Player's minions some extra fire-power. Since this version of Gollum can easily be replayed at no extra cost, he can be used with any number of support cards that help out other minions (Such as Cunningly Hidden for a strength-based shadow, or Treacherous Little Toad for a wounding Shadow). Since this card (and several others) rely on being played from the discard pile, it might be useful for the Free Peoples side of the deck to use Saved From the Fire on Smeagol, allowing the user to grab these cards early and ensure having them in the discard pile for later. Plotting Deceiver can also be helpful for swarming the Ring-Bearer, as he can be played at a cheap cost without taking up a slot in the Shadow Player's hand.

• Possession, artifact or condition-based Fellowships, which sometimes lose Initiative during the Fellowship phase playing cards

• Event-based Fellowships
• Decks which focus on card draw (Woodhall Elf; No Pauses, No Spills; Gandalf, the Grey Pilgrim)

• Durin's Secret Society of Dear Friends - http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,4077.0.html
• Corsairs & LA with Shoulder to Shoulder - http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,8506.0.html
• Echo of Luthien/Initiative Southrons - http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,9060.0.html