Taking Back the Questing Crown - Community Deck Contruction

When we bought our core sets, we were handed four decks of 30 cards, and had to figure out what to do with them.  When I got to that blue deck, I looked at the four willpower of Eowyn, plus her discard ability, I assumed that Spirit was deck for questing.  As time has gone on, looking at cards such as Sword that was Broken, Visionary Leadership, and the ability to get a bunch of allies on the board, Leadership has become the superior choice in many cases.

My intention is to build a strong questing deck with only Spirit heroes.  I started added all the cards I wanted, and got up to over 90 cards!  I started to think how I could trim it down, but instead, I thought I'd throw it out to community to take over from here.

My thought in putting this together is that this deck will handle the majority of questing, but also be able to handle a bit of combat.  Defense is handled either by Gandalf or using White Tower Watchmen to tank undefended attacks.  Attacking back can be handled a variety of ways.  I have Herugrim to bolster Eowyn's attack, or Fair and Perilous to make Cirdan a threat.  If all the pieces fell together, I'd love to Eowyn, with Herugrim and Elf-friend attached, use her discard ability, then using Fair and Perilous and/or Nenya to boost her attack to ridiculous levels.  This combo could be expanded.  Protector of Lorien and Lay of Nimrodel are both included to help with questing or continue to boost the aforementioned Eowyn or Cirdan combos.  I take advantage of Nenya and Narya giving their wielders Lore and Leadership, respectively, by including various attachments and events, such as Steward of Gondor, which I would expect to best go on Galadriel, 

With that said, I hand this over to the Lord of the Rings LCG community.  What are your thoughts on the deck?  The first thing I'd like to do is see what we feel needs to be trimmed off.  Because of Cirdan cycling through cards, and the other card draw opportunities, I don't think it's necessary to get down to exactly 50, but the deck size is a little silly right now.  Feel free to reply on Twitter, leave a comment on Facebook, or any other way you wish to respond.  I want to start more of a conversation between myself and the greater LOTR crew, so I encourage anyone who wants, to respond in their own blogs, or record a video or an audio clip.  If you do, I will share it so everyone can check it out.

Total Cards: (96)

Hero: (3)

Círdan the Shipwright (The Grey Havens)

Eowyn (Core Set)

Galadriel (Celebrimbor's Secret)

Ally: (28)

3x Arwen Undomiel (The Watcher in the Water)

3x Curious Brandybuck (The Wastes of Eriador)

3x Escort from Edoras (A Journey to Rhosgobel)

3x Ethir Swordsman (The Steward's Fear)

3x Galadriel’s Handmaiden (Celebrimbor's Secret)

3x Pelargir Shipwright (Assault on Osgiliath)

2x Gandalf (Over Hill and Under Hill)

2x Treebeard (The Antlered Crown)

3x White Tower Watchman (The Drúadan Forest)

3x Envoy of Pelargir (Heirs of Numenor)

Attachment: (37)

3x Herugrim (The Treason of Saruman)

3x Light of Valinor (Foundations of Stone)

3x Map of Earnil (Assault on Osgiliath)

3x Mirror of Galadriel (Celebrimbor's Secret)

3x Snowmane (The Land of Shadow)

3x Silver Harp (The Treachery of Rhudaur)

3x The Favor of the Lady (Core Set)

1x Elf-friend (The Treachery of Rhudaur)

3x Narya (The Grey Havens)

3x Nenya (Celebrimbor's Secret)

1x Celebrian's Stone (Core Set)

3x Protector of Lorien (Core Set)

2x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)

3x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)

Event: (31)

3x A Test of Will (Core Set)

3x Elrond's Counsel (The Watcher in the Water)

3x Lay of Nimrodel (The Morgul Vale)

3x The Galadhrim's Greeting (Core Set)

1x Will of the West (Core Set)

3x Fair and Perilous (Across the Ettenmoors)

3x Daeron's Runes (Foundations of Stone)

3x Deep Knowledge (The Voice of Isengard)

3x Word of Command (The Long Dark)

3x Elwing’s Flight (The Grey Havens)

3x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)

Deck List - Dúnedain, with a side of Shenanigans

We will soon have The Battle of Carn Dûm, and I have begun looking at the player cards, in preparation for my upcoming Impressions article. Seeing that Amarthiúl has been promoted from Objective Ally to full-blown hero, it made me interested to flesh out the Dúnedain trait in a full deck. I wanted to put three Dúnedain heroes for this, and I was pleasantly surprised when I started listing out how many we have at this point. I knew Aragorn would be in there, but which one is the question. I thought Tactics would be the obvious choice, since I love his abilities. As I thought about it, I decided to go with Leadership, which led me to also include Halbarad, for mono-Leadership. That then led me to include some of Aragorn's attachments to give him multiple spheres, which then led me to include Dúnedain allies of all spheres, and Lord of Morthond. To get LoM on the board, I also included Steward of Gondor. 

At this point, I haven't playtested, but my idea is to put Steward of Gondor and Lord of Morthond on Aragorn, along with his artifact attachments. Obviously, the Dúnedain benefit from being engaged with enemies, so Dúnedain Hunter and Son of Arnor are included to get set up. There's definitely some shenanigans involved in getting the deck set up, but I'll be interested to see how it works.

Hero: (3)
Amarthiúl (The Battle of Carn Dûm) Aragorn (Core Set) Halbarad (The Lost Realm) Ally: (24) 3x Dúnedain Hunter (The Lost Realm) 3x Ranger of Cardolan (The Wastes of Eriador) 3x East Road Ranger (The Wastes of Eriador) 3x Greyflood Wanderer (The Three Trials) 3x Guardian of Arnor (The Battle of Carn Dûm) 3x Sarn Ford Sentry (The Lost Realm) 3x Warden of Annuminas (The Lost Realm) 3x Son of Arnor (Core Set) Attachment: (24) 2x Celebrian's Stone (Core Set) 2x Sword that was Broken (The Watcher in the Water) 2x Ring of Barahir (The Steward's Fear) 2x Lord of Morthond (Encounter at Amon Dîn) 2x Steward of Gondor (Core Set) 2x Blood of Numenor (Heirs of Numenor) 3x Dunedain Mark (The Hunt for Gollum) 3x Dunedain Warning (Conflict at the Carrock) 2x Gondorian Fire (Assault on Osgiliath) 2x Heir of Valandil (The Lost Realm) 2x Star Brooch (The Lost Realm) Event: (2) 2x Descendants of Kings (Escape from Mount Gram)

Deck List - Galadriel's Seeing Stone

Life has been fairly busy, but my sight is fixed upon recording new videos.  The next Nightmare Run video will be A Journey to Rhosgobel.  The deck I'm looking at is designed to be the questing side, while my partner is more focused on combat and healing.  To this end, I have put together a deck that will hopefully give us a good idea of what to expect, particularly in regard to finding the precious athelas.  The basic strategy is to get Palantir onto Galadriel as soon as possible, probably taking a mulligan for this over any other card.  After getting it on her, Merry, the handmaiden, and Elrond's Council are there to negate the threat gain from using in.  Wingfoot is used, with the use of the Palantir or Rumour from the Earth, to keep Haldir ready after questing, available to attack.  I also include Light of Valinor in the deck, but this is simply to attach to my partner's side, who will be running Elrond.  If I was playing solo, I would simply replace it with extra copies of other attachments already in the deck.

Galadriel's Seeing Stone

Hero: (3)
Haldir of Lórien (Trouble in Tharbad)
Galadriel (Celebrimbor's Secret)
Merry (The Wastes of Eriador)

Ally: (12)
2x Arwen Undomiel (The Watcher in the Water)
1x Curious Brandybuck (The Wastes of Eriador)
3x Ethir Swordsman (The Steward's Fear)
3x Galadriel’s Handmaiden (Celebrimbor's Secret)
3x Warden of Healing (The Long Dark)

Attachment: (20)
1x Mirror of Galadriel (Celebrimbor's Secret)
2x Nenya (Celebrimbor's Secret)
3x Palantir (Assault on Osgiliath)
2x Silver Harp (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
3x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)
2x Warden of Anor (The Three Trials)
3x Light of Valinor (Foundations of Stone)
3x Wingfoot (The Nin-in-Eilph)
1x Steed of Imladris (Across the Ettenmoors)

Event: (18)
3x Rumour from the Earth (Return to Mirkwood)
3x Shadow of the Past (Return to Mirkwood)
3x A Test of Will (Core Set)
3x Daeron's Runes (Foundations of Stone)
3x Elrond's Counsel (The Watcher in the Water)
3x Hasty Stroke (Core Set)

One More Deck for Gen Con!

I will be flying to Indianapolis tomorrow, and the only thing I have packed thus far are my LOTR decks.  On top of that, we just got the spoilers for Escape from Mount Gram!  Looking through them, my head nearly exploded from some of the crazy combos that have opened up from these cards.  Because of this, I had to make another deck.  I originally thought this was going to be an Ent/Eagle deck, but there was so much cool stuff with the manipulating the victory display, I just leaned into it.  Let me know what you think, and if you see me at Gen Con, come over and say hi!

Hero: (3)
1x Mablung (The Nin-in-Eilph)
1x Rossiel (Escape from Mount Gram)
1x Gríma (The Voice of Isengard)

Ally: (23)
3x Derndingle Warrior (Escape from Mount Gram)
3x Wandering Ent (Celebrimbor's Secret)
3x Quickbeam (The Treason of Saruman)
3x Booming Ent (The Antlered Crown)
2x Treebeard (The Antlered Crown)
3x Defender of Rammas (Heirs of Numenor)
3x Envoy of Pelargir (Heirs of Numenor)
3x Gandalf (Core Set)

Attachment: (11)
3x Ent Draught (The Treason of Saruman)
2x Keys of Orthanc (The Voice of Isengard)
3x Lembas (Trouble in Tharbad)
2x Horn of Gondor (Core Set)
1x Wingfoot (The Nin-in-Eilph)

Event: (15)
3x Boomed and Trumpeted (Escape from Mount Gram)
3x Leave No Trace (Escape from Mount Gram)
3x Keen as Lances (Escape from Mount Gram)
3x Out of the Wild (Road to Rivendell)
3x Entmoot (The Treason of Saruman)

Side Quest: (1)
1 x Scout Ahead (The Wastes of Eriador)

Prison Food

Yesterday, FFG dropped a Second Breakfast regarding Escape from Mount Gram.  Instead of summarizing the article, I thought I'd talk about my thoughts on the capture mechanic.  I am excited!  Basically, each player is going to start with one hero, and all other heroes, allies, weapons, etc in a capture deck.  As the quest proceeds, the players will be able to rescue cards from the capture deck. Based on the rules listed on the article, I decided to put together a deck that I think would work well for this quest.

The basic idea of this deck is that Glorfindel would start out on his own, with 40 of the 50 card deck in the capture deck.  The remaining 10 cards (Resourceful, Light of Valinor, Unexpected Courage, A Test of Will, and Elrond's Counsel) would make up the draw deck for the beginning of the adventure.  There's about an 85% chance that Light of Valinor will be in the starting hand, even with just one copy, setting up to have action advantage from turn one.  Boromir should be put on top of the capture deck, with Beorn shuffled in.  After gaining the first capture card, Boromir gets put in play for even more action advantage.

Hero: (3)
1x Glorfindel (Foundations of Stone)
1x Boromir (The Dead Marshes)
1x Beorn (Over Hill and Under Hill)

Ally: (32)
3x Arwen Undomiel (The Watcher in the Water)
3x Bofur (The Redhorn Gate)
3x Curious Brandybuck (The Wastes of Eriador)
3x Defender of Rammas (Heirs of Numenor)
3x Dunedain Hunter (The Lost Realm)
3x Envoy of Pelargir (Heirs of Numenor)
3x Ethir Swordsman (The Steward's Fear)
3x Galadriel’s Handmaiden (Celebrimbor's Secret)
3x Honour Guard (The Wastes of Eriador)
1x Legolas (The Treason of Saruman)
3x Silvan Refugee (The Drúadan Forest)
1x Treebeard (The Antlered Crown)

Attachment: (12)
1x Resourceful (The Watcher in the Water)
1x Light of Valinor (Foundations of Stone)
2x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)
1x Arod (The Treason of Saruman)
3x Dagger of Westernesse (The Black Riders)
2x Gondorian Shield (The Steward's Fear)
2x Rohan Warhorse (The Voice of Isengard)

Event: (6)
3x A Test of Will (Core Set)
3x Elrond's Counsel (The Watcher in the Water)

Thoughts?  Escape from Mount Gram is currently shipping to stores right now, so we should have our hands on the AP soon.  Once it drops, I look forward to if this deck works, and what people are using to beat this unique quest.

Gen Con Decks

In two weeks, I will be in Indianapolis for my first Gen Con!  Plans have already been made; between working with Stronghold Games, meetups and other gaming, I will be quite busy.  I'm putting together my decks for the trip and here's what I'm looking at:

Gondor Deck:

Hero: (3)

1x Prince Imrahil (A Journey to Rhosgobel)
1x Aragorn (Core Set)
1x Boromir (Heirs of Numenor)

Ally: (25)
2x Denethor (Encounter at Amon Dîn)
2x Errand-rider (Heirs of Numenor)
2x Faramir (Core Set)
2x Ingold (The Wastes of Eriador)
3x Pelargir Ship Captain (The Morgul Vale)
3x Squire of the Citadel (The Blood of Gondor)
3x Envoy of Pelargir (Heirs of Numenor)
3x White Tower Watchman (The Drúadan Forest)
2x Gandalf (Core Set)
3x Ranger of Cardolan (The Wastes of Eriador)

Attachment: (12)
3x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)
3x Visionary Leadership (The Morgul Vale)
3x Sword that was Broken (The Watcher in the Water)
3x Tome of Atanatar (The Blood of Gondor)

Event: (13)
3x For Gondor! (Core Set)
3x Campfire Tales (The Hunt for Gollum)
1x A Very Good Tale (Over Hill and Under Hill)
3x Sneak Attack (Core Set)
3x Strength of Arms (The Drúadan Forest)

Sneaky Hobbitses:
Hero: (3)

1x Pippin (Encounter at Amon Dîn)

1x Merry (The Wastes of Eriador)

1x Fatty Bolger (The Black Riders)

Ally: (18)

3x Bilbo Baggins (The Road Darkens)

3x Curious Brandybuck (The Wastes of Eriador)

2x Wandering Took (Core Set)

3x Galadriel’s Handmaiden (Celebrimbor's Secret)

3x Pelargir Shipwright (Assault on Osgiliath)

2x Arwen Undomiel (The Watcher in the Water)

1x Bofur (The Redhorn Gate)

1x Emery (The Blood of Gondor)

Attachment: (14)

3x Hobbit Pipe (The Black Riders)

3x Hobbit Pony (The Wastes of Eriador)

2x Resourceful (The Watcher in the Water)

3x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)

3x Map of Earnil (Assault on Osgiliath)

Event: (18)

3x Hobbit-sense (Encounter at Amon Dîn)

3x Free to Choose (Trouble in Tharbad)

3x Smoke Rings (The Black Riders)

3x The Galadhrim's Greeting (Core Set)

3x Elrond's Counsel (The Watcher in the Water)

3x A Test of Will (Core Set)

Boromir Deck:

Hero: (3)

Boromir (The Dead Marshes)

Galadriel (Celebrimbor's Secret)

Merry (The Wastes of Eriador)

Ally: (15)

2x Arwen Undomiel (The Watcher in the Water)

2x Bofur (The Redhorn Gate)

3x Curious Brandybuck (The Wastes of Eriador)

3x Galadriel’s Handmaiden (Celebrimbor's Secret)

2x Imladris Stargazer (Foundations of Stone)

1x Silvan Refugee (The Drúadan Forest)

2x Zigil Miner (Khazad-dum)

Attachment: (22)

3x Gondorian Fire (Assault on Osgiliath)

3x Gondorian Shield (The Steward's Fear)

3x Horn of Gondor (Core Set)

3x Blood of Numenor (Heirs of Numenor)

3x Captain of Gondor (The Antlered Crown)

3x Nenya (Celebrimbor's Secret)

2x Arod (The Treason of Saruman)

2x Hobbit Pony (The Wastes of Eriador)

Event: (13)

3x A Test of Will (Core Set)

3x Elrond's Counsel (The Watcher in the Water)

3x Hasty Stroke (Core Set)

1x Will of the West (Core Set)

3x Hidden Cache (The Morgul Vale)

Ents & Eagles:
Hero: (3)
1x Treebeard (The Treason of Saruman)
1x Elrond (Shadow and Flame)
1x Mablung (The Nin-in-Eilph)

Ally: (23)
3x Booming Ent (The Antlered Crown)
3x Quickbeam (The Treason of Saruman)
3x Wandering Ent (Celebrimbor's Secret)
3x Descendant of Thorondor (The Hills of Emyn Muil)
3x Eagles of the Misty Mountains (Return to Mirkwood)
1x Gwaihir (Trouble in Tharbad)
1x Landroval (A Journey to Rhosgobel)
3x Vassal of the Windlord (The Dead Marshes)
3x Winged Guardian (The Hunt for Gollum)

Attachment: (15)
2x Ent Draught (The Treason of Saruman)
2x Gondorian Shield (The Steward's Fear)
3x Self Preservation (Core Set)
2x Wingfoot (The Nin-in-Eilph)
1x Horn of Gondor (Core Set)
1x Asfaloth (Foundations of Stone)
1x Arod (The Treason of Saruman)
3x Secret Vigil (The Lost Realm)

Event: (12)
3x The Eagles Are Coming! (The Hunt for Gollum)
3x Entmoot (The Treason of Saruman)
3x Daeron's Runes (Foundations of Stone)
3x Feint (Core Set)

Deck List: Sneaky Hobbitses

I am currently listening to the latest Cardboard of the Rings podcast, where they talk about how great the new Spirit Merry hero is.  That made me think: could I make a monospirit Hobbit deck that had some value?

Hero: (3)

1x Pippin (Encounter at Amon Dîn)

1x Merry (The Wastes of Eriador)

1x Fatty Bolger (The Black Riders)

Ally: (18)

3x Bilbo Baggins (The Road Darkens)

3x Curious Brandybuck (The Wastes of Eriador)

2x Wandering Took (Core Set)

3x Galadriel’s Handmaiden (Celebrimbor's Secret)

3x Pelargir Shipwright (Assault on Osgiliath)

2x Arwen Undomiel (The Watcher in the Water)

1x Bofur (The Redhorn Gate)

1x Emery (The Blood of Gondor)

Attachment: (14)

3x Hobbit Pipe (The Black Riders)

3x Hobbit Pony (The Wastes of Eriador)

2x Resourceful (The Watcher in the Water)

3x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)

3x Map of Earnil (Assault on Osgiliath)

Event: (18)

3x Hobbit-sense (Encounter at Amon Dîn)

3x Free to Choose (Trouble in Tharbad)

3x Smoke Rings (The Black Riders)

3x The Galadhrim's Greeting (Core Set)

3x Elrond's Counsel (The Watcher in the Water)

3x A Test of Will (Core Set)

The idea is for the deck to be a support deck.  It has some questing, but it's main role is to stay low in threat, so that another player (definitely not a solo deck) can manage enemies.  Each hero has a reactive ability to manage enemies in the staging area, and if not needed, Hobbit Pony can commit them to the quest.

This deck has not been tested yet, but I'd like to hear comments on this deck, which is definitely out of the norm.