I've played 3 classic games so far as both good and bad, and so far the good guys don't even come close.  I want to master he classic game before I move on to the variant.  What strategies do you use to beat Sauron?

One thing I do is use Pippin as a scout.  When he attacks he is allowed to retreat backwards after you see what character your opponent has.  If you can locate the Orcs or the Flying Nazgul by doing this you know where Legolas and Gimli can get instant wins in battle.

1) Indeed, using Pippin is obligatory, Fellowship really need as much scouting as possible before other, more important characters will try to pass the mountains, you may even use for it less important figures like Sam or Merry

2) You should remember (and exploit) all weaknesses of dark and light characters, e.g.

- Aragorn doesn't like to fight with Troll, but he's strong vs all dark firuges with less than 5 strength

- only Aragorn and Gandalf can fight safely with (counter) figures like Saruman, Black Rider, you surely do not want to waste Boromir to defeat them

3) Force the opponent to pass the mountains (especially by defeating Shelob, it's one of the most important dark figures), the later you try to break through the mountains, the better for you - defense is easier than assault

4) Use the Gandalf as well as you can, burn out enemy's deck of strong cards, kill as much weaker dark figures as you can by Gandalf - it's deciding for the victory, think twice before you place that character on board before game starts - later you will not be able to fix that mistake, if possible - revive him to finish the evil forces off :>

5) In multiple games, do not let your opponent to get used to your game style, especially to the starting placement of figures

All of those things above are important to win by the Fellowship.