In my mind, it works best if both decks have Lore because that's where most of the best silvan cards are (Silvan Tracker, Mirkwood Runner, Tree People, Henamarth, Galadhrim Minstel, etc).

Celeborn/Glorfindel/Loragorn or Elrond

- and -

Legolas/Haldir/Galadriel

Silvan seems to work well with tri-sphere, moreso than any other deck I've tried, so why not make both deck tri-sphere? Also, Haldir and Legolas belong together so you can get the max boost from Rumil. Another good combo might be to just swap some of your heroes around to be

Celeborn/Galadriel/Glorfindel (25 threat)

- and -

Legolas/Haldir/Mirlonde (24 threat)

This wouldn't have both decks with Lore, but at least Legolas and Haldir are together and they both have great starting threat levels. I do agree, though, that Tactics and Spirit need to get their allies from this cycle to make them work better.

I'm looking ahead at Island Amid Perils and am having a hard time choosing it over Elrond's Counsel. Sure it helps pop the elves in and out, but you tend to only wanna pop the 1- and 2-cost allies out, so it seems very ineffective.

I was thinking the same thing:
Lead/Spirit and Lore/Tactics.

I hear you about Island Amid Perils. But if you have O Lorien out, you're getting more bang for your buck there. Silvan Guide might be a good option (but no enters play effect). Orophin might be a good option if he has a enters play effect. So you're getting threat reduction, two enters play effects, and two turns of boosted stats... pretty cool.

Deck 1: Tactics/Leadership (Elven Son's)
Heroes:
Legolas - 9
Elladan - 10
Elrohir – 10

Starting threat – 29

Allies: (19)

3x - Gandalf (Core)
3x - Envoy of Pelargir
3x - Naith Guide
3x - Gondorian Spearman

3x - Galadhon Archer
1x - Treebeard
1x - Faramir

1x - Boromir
1x - Rumil

Attachments: (22)

1x - Black Arrow
3x - Dunedain Warning
3x - Steward of Gondor
3x - Gondorian Shield
3x - Rivendell Blade
3x - Dagger of Westernesse
3x - Dunedain Mark

3x - Elven Mail

Events: (9)
3x - Feint
3x - Sneak Attack

3x - The Wizards Voice

Sideboard: (3)
3x - Blade of Gondolin (replaces Dagger of Westernesse)

Wrote a massive post about these new changes breaking down my play experience with the Hunters and how good they would be a sideboard ally card rather than a card you use in every game as in many quests they are more or less useless or unusable. Described at great length the various combos Galadhon Archers can provide with Rumil, Haldir, sneak attack Gandalf and more and how insanely good they are for my deck. Analysed the power of Boromir and how good he is and also briefly wrote about the possibly of taking out The Wizards Voice for another attack manipulating card (possibly feigned voices). Lost the entire thing accidentally hitting the back button and after a long sh*tty day can not be bothered to re type all my thoughts and ravings Thanks for checking out the recent changes to anyone who does (especially Tomtom you rule dude) and would love some feedback in regards to the latest changes and whether or not you think Feigned Voices would work in this deck instead of The Wizards Voice or not.

**** back button; notepad is your friend for every forum post longer than 3 lines. Did you come to the conclusion that Galadhon Archers make direct damage focused deck borderline overpowered or is it too early for that kind of statement?

+1 for Feigned Voices/-1 for Wizard's Voice.

Slightly offtopic: has the obvious absence of Rohan Warhorse been already discussed in this thread?

Well, you can put Burning Brand on a wise Elrohir. I would never take it out personally. I goes well on Elrond too.

**** back button; notepad is your friend for every forum post longer than 3 lines. Did you come to the conclusion that Galadhon Archers make direct damage focused deck borderline overpowered or is it too early for that kind of statement?

+1 for Feigned Voices/-1 for Wizard's Voice.

Slightly offtopic: has the obvious absence of Rohan Warhorse been already discussed in this thread?

Hmmmm well first turn Galadhon Archers and sneak attack Gandalf can take out Bill Ferny.

I definitely wouldn't say overpowered but much stronger yes. It is a bit early though I only played two games after these changes and the proxies got made

I had Rohan Warhorse in an earlier version of this deck but ultimately took it out. As good as it is because it is restricted it takes up one of the two very important restricted spots which I prefer to save for attachments that actually give a stat boost. A rivendell blade and dagger of westernesse are much preferred to one of them and a warhorse. I also have multiple heroes that are strong attackers (Legolas and Haldir, Glorfindel when Light of Valinor is out) and run some very strong attack power allies so often have enough attack power out to take out most/all enemies. As well as this because Haldir is the first and foremost recipient of attachments that boost his attacking ability and is lore so cannot have Rohan Warhose only limits its use in this deck further. It could only go on Legolas or Elladan. Elladan is used for questing 90% of the time and rarely attacks and even when he does if he has multiple resources he doesn't need warhorse and actually has a much better version of the warhorses ability built in. The only really good thing about it going on Legolas is that if it causes him to destroy two enemies he will place progress twice. This can be easily achieved by chucking an Unexpected Courage on him. This way it doesn't use up a restricted slot and he can still have a blade and dagger as well.

So great card but definitely not very useful in these decks.

Well, you can put Burning Brand on a wise Elrohir. I would never take it out personally. I goes well on Elrond too.

Yeah Burning Brand is pretty ridiculously good but it just served no purpose in my decks

I am hoping to start playing 2 hand decks soon, after a bit more experience. So I shall be referring to this quite closely in the near future.

Deck 1: Tactics/Leadership (Elven Son's)
Heroes:
Legolas - 9
Elladan - 10
Elrohir – 10

Starting threat – 29

Allies: (19)

3x - Gandalf (Core)
3x - Envoy of Pelargir
3x - Naith Guide
3x - Gondorian Spearman

3x - Galadhon Archer
1x - Galadriel
1x - Faramir

1x - Boromir
1x - Rumil

Attachments: (22)

1x - Black Arrow

3x - Dunedain Warning
3x - Steward of Gondor
3x - Gondorian Shield
3x - Rivendell Blade
3x - Dagger of Westernesse
3x - Dunedain Mark

3x - Elven Mail

Events: (9)
3x - Feint
3x - Sneak Attack

3x - The Wizards Voice

One recent change to this deck (which I actually made about a week ago but completely forgot to post it) was the removal and replacement of Treebeard with Galadriel. This change is a pretty controversial one as Treebeard is very very strong and powerful and the Galadriel ally leaves play at the end of the round AND costs 3 leadership resources, which are very precious and often desperately needed for defensive purposes. My reasoning is as follows!

First off as awesome as Treebeard is I do not like the art chosen for the card at all, as well as this it is not very thematic having Treebeard in these Elven decks without any other ents around. When I used Booming Ent a while back Treebeard seemed to fit in better but now without them he seems like an odd ally in these decks. However it does make more sense for an Ent to be travelling with/fighting alongside or helping out Elves over any other race in Middle Earth (except Huorns obviously!) so its not exactly THAT un thematic but still seems to bother me for some reason....

Next off his cost of 4, whilst cheap for his epic stats, can be quite expensive (even though its neutral) considering you don't get any use out of him the first turn you play him unless you have an ally readying ability or need someone to soak up archery damage. I find in many games I do not play him because I have other cheaper options and kind of need to play cards that have an immediate effect to keep up with the encounter deck, especially in Nightmare.
Hes a great ally but just doesn't seem thematic or necessary enough in my decks to keep around. As well as this a handful of recent changes (Boromir ally, Galadhron Archers etc) have slightly increased the defensive and offensive abilities of this deck and his high attack power and defense are not really needed quite so much anymore.

On the other end of this the Galadriel ally does not seem all that powerful at all at first glance. She leaves at the end of the round, only contributes willpower and has no defense or attack. For a cost of three leadership resources it can be hard justifying playing her as you may desperately need those resources to ready Elrohir and defend multiple attacks. There are however almost always at least a single round or sometimes even two during any game where leadership resources have stacked up on Elrohir and there are no enemies/few enemies in play to defend against. This is a perfect time to play Galadriel and get a 3 boost to questing that turn, an attachment put into play for free (from your top five cards) and choosing the order that the remaining 4 cards get put back in. I've only actually drawn and used her twice now and both times the willpower boost was awesome, the items fetched were very useful (rivendell blade and gondorian shield) and it was very helpful being able to order the next four cards. She is very thematic in these decks and will almost ALWAYS procure an attachment based on how many attachments this deck runs. When playing Campaign Mode she will also be able to put any of the weapon attachment boons into play as well. I don't run very much card draw (at least not for this deck, the other has a little) so ordering the top four cards of your deck can be very very good to ensure you do not draw doubles of unique cards or cards that are useless for your current situation. How good this effect can be is hard to measure or comment on (especially this early on and with so few uses of her thus far) but seems like it can be fantastic.

Its true most of my attachments are only 1 cost anyway so really it only discounts her by a single resource but getting that rivendell blade, dagger, shield, elven mail etc out five turns earlier than you may have may very well be the difference between being in serious trouble or being able to kill a key enemy immediately, having enough defense to successfully block an enemy and not have your hero die or even giving you Sentinel when its desperately needed saving the lore/spirit deck.

Didn't you put Feigned Voices in your deck 2 instead of Wizard's Voice?

Didn't you put Feigned Voices in your deck 2 instead of Wizard's Voice?

What a fool of a took I am! How could I forget!

Deck 1: Tactics/Leadership (Elven Son's)

Heroes:

Legolas - 9

Elladan - 10

Elrohir – 10

Starting threat – 29

Allies: (19)

3x - Gandalf (Core)

3x - Envoy of Pelargir

3x - Naith Guide

3x - Gondorian Spearman

3x - Galadhon Archer

1x - Galadriel

1x - Faramir

1x - Boromir

1x - Rumil

Attachments: (22)

1x - Black Arrow

3x - Dunedain Warning

3x - Steward of Gondor

3x - Gondorian Shield

3x - Rivendell Blade

3x - Dagger of Westernesse

3x - Dunedain Mark

3x - Elven Mail

Events: (9)

3x - Feint

3x - Sneak Attack

3x - Feigned Voices

Cool! Now I like this deck even more. I was trying your deck and I don't like doomed cards at all. Feigned Voices is pretty cool!

Just recently got The Road Darkens. Smashed through The Ring Goes South first go (albeit a very long, difficult and close game) and proceeded to have my first attempt at Journey In the Dark. Did pretty absymally and actually died a few turns BEFORE the Balrog came out as I overextended myself to quest as hard as possible to try and avoid the Balrog and didn't save enough defenders, I also did not have Sentinel set up which can often lead to an early/easy loss for my decks as it is pretty integral that Elrohir have sentinel and defend both teams. It was actually the Goblin Chieftain who did the most damage and may have actually been exactly what lead to my loss. I overlooked how nasty he actually is with his allies cannot defend attacks made by him and changing to be engaged with the first player each turn. This means you desperately need sentinel or strong defenders on both teams if you are playing with 2 or more players. He also obviously completely destroys the chump block strategy.

So I was disenhearted from my defeat and realisation that with two players it will be insanely hard to beat this quest before the Balrog shows up. Not only is a counter removed at the end of every quest phase from Doom Doom Doom but also 1 is removed for each player in the game when you arrive at stage 3. This means that to win without it appearing in a two player game you would need at least 5/6 counters left to complete Stage 3 as two would be removed making it 3/4 then you can only put 5 progress a turn on stage 3 so need at least 3 turns to complete it not to mention also clear the great bridge which you would hopefully do the first turn you arrive at stage 3. Now this is only if you quest succesfully for at least 5 (10 the first round if you are trying to clear Great Bridge AND place progress) points all of these last rounds.

So altogether this means you have to clear Stages 1 and 2 (which is very difficult on stage 2 as you need to place the 9 progress AND kill six enemies which can easily delay you a few turns if enough enemies do not appear immediately) within 4 to 5 turns. Unless I change more than half of both my decks and put in just loads of willpower boosting and questing allies this seems more or less impossible. This isn't even factoring in any encounter effects that remove tokens from Doom Doom Doom (always reveal another card instead when Moria Goblin is revealed and used Test of Will on Fool of a Took during my attempt at this quest). It also doesn't factor in the effect on stage 1 that removes a counter whenever you optionally engage an enemy.... so needless to say I'm not so sure this is doable two player/handed unless you build decks specifically for this purpose (which is very difficult because unless you want to take a bunch of extra starting threat for swapping heroes for the rest of the campaign you need to use the three heroes you use to do this throughout all the saga quests...) and then also get very lucky with encounter reveals etc. I almost feel like there should be an encounter card there is 2 to 3 copies of that adds a single damage token to doom doom doom and has another effect that is detrimental. This would still only give you an extra turn or two at best..

So short of COMPLETELY re-doing my decks or playing solo (which would also require the building from scratch of a good solo deck and is more or less completely out of the question anyway as I think that solo is actually broken and doesn't work properly at all) it seems I HAVE TO either defeat the Balrog and sacrifice a hero or take all four burdens. To get around this you can always use Fortune or Fate as pointed out by Grandspleen to resurrect that hero in the last few round before the quest ends thereby nullifying the sacrifice effect. This is pretty **** clever and puts you in a great position for the rest of the campaign without a sacrificed hero OR two extra burdens. Plus you get the 50 victory points for killing the Balrog!
Now I only run one spirit hero and his resources are often used for Test of Will, Unexpected Courage and Arwen and only occasionaly will I not draw anything for a while and will his resources start to stack up. Most games he does get to four resources or so at least once but its often used to play a Northern Tracker. As well as this I only have one copy of Fortune and Fate (only one copy of the core set) so to actually pull this off it would be quite difficult and may take quite a few tries...

I've actually been playing around with potentially using the Gandalf Hero after all and which deck he would go in and what cards I would need to change. Over the last couple of weeks I've come up with two new versions of my two decks that both have several key changes based on the addition of hero Gandalf. Due to Gandalf being neutral he and Glorfindel could pay for Fortune or Fate together making it much more playable not to mention the fact Gandalfs ability allows you to work through your deck a fair bit faster so also would allow me to hopefully draw or get to Fortune or Fate faster as well.
Now whether or not I actually use these two decks from now on or stick with my old ones and just add Fortune or Fate for Journey in the Dark and play it till I am able to succesfully sacrifice and ressurect someone to beat The Balrog is still yet to be seen. I've made these two new decks and will be trialing them against several of my go to quests for testing deck changes (journey down the anduin, nightmare seventh level, the three trials and a few others) as well as a few quests that have many threat raising cards (to truly test the new starting threat and whether Gandalfs inbuilt form of card draw allows threat reduction cards to be drawn at a faster rate that allows the deck to still perform in quests that raise threat heavily) to see how well they do, how well they work together and how powerful they are. Should they perform awesomely and are fun to play with and I don't get destroyed due to the lack of Haldirs ability or the lack of ally Gandalfs direct damage or threat reduction for the tactics/leadership deck and threat is still manageable even with +5 to starting threat then I will probably use these new decks for all games. If I threat out a few too many times or can see situations I come out of much worse because I can't do 4 direct damage or if Haldirs ability just seems too crucial for certain quests (was AMAZING for ring goes south killing enemies before they engaged stopping damage tokens from being placed on the active location) then I will revert the changes I've made, go back to my Elven decks without the Gandalf Hero and play Journey in the Dark till I can pull off the Fortune and Fate combo with them.

Anyway here are the two decks, any feedback is welcome and encouraged whether it be for whether you think I should use these new decks or the old ones still or feedback about the cards included in these new decks and any suggestions you might have. Would really appreciate anything insightful or that actually influences my decision.

Deck 1: Tactics/Leadership (Elven Son's)
Heroes:
Legolas - 9
Elladan - 10
Elrohir – 10

Starting threat – 29

Allies: (16)

3x - Envoy of Pelargir
3x - Naith Guide
3x - Gondorian Spearman

3x - Galadhon Archer
2x - Galadriel
1x - Faramir

1x - Boromir
1x - Rumil

Attachments: (24)

1x - Black Arrow

3x - Dunedain Warning
3x - Steward of Gondor
3x - Gondorian Shield
3x - Rivendell Blade
3x - Dagger of Westernesse
3x - Dunedain Mark

3x - Elven Mail

2x - Rivendell Bow

Events: (9)
3x - Feint
3x - Quick Strike

3x - Feigned Voices

Sideboard

x3 - Hands Upon the Bow (for quests it is useful against, can be swapped with quick strike)

So to implement the Gandaf hero obviously the ally has to come out of this deck, same goes for sneak attack which is in there purely for the Gandalf ally. I added three quick strikes to try and make up for the loss of Haldir's ability. These can be swapped with Hands Upon the Bow in the sideboard if need be depending on the quest. I then added x2 Rivendell Bow which I used to run in these decks. I took it out as with both Haldir and Legolas there was more than enough ranged already and it seemed like a bit of a waste of 3 cards. Now however with the loss of one of my ranged heroes it becomes a much better card in these decks. Now because the new Gandalf hero will be used for questing primarily Elladan will hopefully finally get a break from questing so **** often and be used for attack a fair bit more which in the end is what hes designed for! Instead of leaving Haldir, Legolas and Elrohir back for combat and questing with Glorfindel, Elrond and Elladan (and allies) but with these decks I'll be leaving Elladan, Elrohir and Legolas back for combat and questing with Gandalf, Glorfindel and Elrond. This means one deck will have no heroes left for attacking (defense handed by Elrohir with sentinel) except for allies so getting a Rivendell Bow on Elladan nice and early allows he and Legolas to attack together wherever they would like. Its also worth mentioning that an Elladan with enough resources and ranged can attack every engaged enemy in play during the combat phase! If you've got a few weapons on him he can clear most enemies away all on his own. Given the extra resource generation of Gandalfs Staff I'm hoping that not only can Elladan get in more attacks on average but also that Elrohir can block the attacks Haldir would have stopped with the extra resources from the staff being put on him when need be. The second Bow goes on Glorfindel as he is almost always ready after questing thanks to LoV and also boasts an impressive 3 attack. The more strong elves with ranged the better!! Lastly I put a second copy of Galadriel in, shes just so **** good! Every time I've played her since putting her in these decks shes been amazing, the 3 willpower boost is awesome, fetching and then playing an attachment for free is also amazing (she has fetched an attachment every time I've used her so far!) and lastly that ordering of the top 5 cards ensures that during the next round you will draw the best/most needed or useful card and then know whats coming over the next 3 more rounds as well. Even though shes unique she leaves play at the end of the round so having a second copy doesn't hurt at all and given how useful she is why not have a second copy?

Deck 2: Lore/Spirit

Heroes:
Elrond - 13

Gandalf - 14

Glorfindel (spirit) – 5

Starting threat – 32

Allies: (14)

3x - Arwen Undomiel

3x - Galadhrim Minstrel

3x - Warden of Healing

3x - Northern Tracker

1x - Haldir

1x - Henamarth Riversong

Attachments: (19)

3x - Asfaloth

3x - Light of Valinor

3x - Ranger Spikes

2x - Unexpected Courage

3x - Lembas

3x - Gandalf's Staff

3x - Wizard Pipe

Events: (19)

3x - A Test of Will

3x - Elrond's Counsel

3x - Hasty Stroke

3x - Galahadrim's Greeting

3x - Gildor's Counsel

3x - Flame of Anor
1x - Fortune or Fate

Sideboard: (3)
3x - Power of Orthanc (Simply added if there are nasty conditon attachments)

3x - Forest Snare (Simply added if there are particular enemies this is needed for)

So first off I changed Gildor to Haldir now that I'm no longer using Haldir as a hero and will be choosing Gildor as my boon from A Shadow of the Past (I have to replay all the saga quests from the start if I'm changing heroes as I put Valiant Warrior on Haldir so am not willing to just change heroes from campaign card 4's effect and lose that boon, instead I'll replay all the quests with Gandalf Hero). Also as well as Gildor combos with the Gandalf Hero, Wizard pipe and his Staff already provide enough card draw and manipulation of the top card of your deck so Gildor isn't really needed, especially considering there was only 1 copy of him anyway. Haldir has sentinel which is key and also ranged so can help Legolas and Elladan, fantastic ally, have missed him every since taking him out for the Haldir hero.

Next I took out Free to Choose as it is an awesome card but only good for quests with lots of threat raising encounter cards, I may have to put it in the sideboard and not discard it altogether. After several games I should be able to figure this out. It really depends on how fast the Gandalf hero allows me to draw and play my threat reduction cards. I also took out Daeron's Runes as with the card draw from Gandalf's Staff and Gandalfs ability I really don't think its needed anymore. I also took out Wingfoot which is good but not amazing and I needed the space for the Gandalf attachments. As well as this I'm hoping this deck simply plays alot faster and better with Gandalf and so wingfoot is not needed as hopefully Elladan will no longer really be needed for questing. I then replaced these with 3x Gandalf's Staff, x3 Wizard Pipe and x3 Flame of Anor. The reason im including Flame of Anor and 3x copies is because it not only provides a readying effect (probably the best part) and attack boost but also helps to get rid of the extra copy of Asfaloth, Gandalfs Staff or Light of Valinor you may have in your hand doing nothing. With Flame you can discard this card and pay just 1 and get not only a readying effect but also 1 victory point and a slight boost to attack. If you really need to you can also use this card simply to ready Gandalf so that you can block an attack you need to, the attack boost will do nothing but it may still save you for just 1 resource! Lastly I added a single copy of Fortune or Fate so that Gandalf can be ressurected if need be (mainly against the Balrog in campaign mode.....). This deck now sits at 53 cards and the other is still at 50. Again because you get to work through your deck a bit faster with Gandals ability this really shouldnt cause an issue.

Wow wow wow... so played Journey Down The Anduin with these new decks and lost... not even from threating out... the gandalf deck actually played really awesomely early on and allowed some awesome things to happen like playing steward the turn it was drawn even though Elrohir only had resource thanks to Gandalfs Staff.

Ultimately as cool as Gandalfs ability is, its just not for me... really his staff with its resource gain and shadow discard is my favorite part of Gandalf hero... Haldirs ability was SORELY missed and even with Elladan having Rivendell Bow somehow it was still lacking in attack power...

I had awesome draws but fairly unlucky encounter draws and did cop alot of if the players threat is over 35 nasty effects which exist in this quest which to be fair does hate on high starting threat decks like the new Gandalf Deck. Its probably not fair to judge the attempt too harshly but the much higher threat means more engaged enemies early on and without haldirs ability you need gandalf to defend, I actually got all 3 copies of lembas and two were used on him to both heal damage from him and allow him to quest and then defend but it was still not quite the same. These decks did perform very strongly but ultimately I just didn't enjoy the way it played (don't get me wrong some parts were awesome and really fun and I'm sure one day I'll try to use him in some way again as he is very cool) and was shocked at the loss to be honest especially with how well it seemed the decks were doing for a fair while and how hard I was hammering the scenario. Had I been able to sneak attack Gandalf even a single enemy to kill it that game and use Haldir to kill even a single enemy before it could attack I would not have been as swarmed as I got for the majority of the game and would not have lost. Too many attacks and Evil Storm doing 1 damage to all exhausted characters was my downfall. I would not have been over 35 threat AND would have been able to take these attacks with my other decks...

So... time to switch back to my old decks and simply add x1 of Fortune or Fate to beat Journey In the Dark.

This trial of the Gandalf decks did however enlighten me to a few new changes to the old decks, they are as follows:

Deck 1: Tactics/Leadership (Elven Son's)
Heroes:
Legolas - 9
Elladan - 10
Elrohir – 10

Starting threat – 29

Allies: (19)

3x - Gandalf (Core)
3x - Envoy of Pelargir
3x - Naith Guide
3x - Gondorian Spearman

3x - Galadhon Archer
1x - Galadriel
1x - Faramir

1x - Boromir
1x - Rumil

Attachments: (22)

2x - Rivendell Bow

3x - Dunedain Warning
3x - Steward of Gondor
3x - Gondorian Shield
3x - Rivendell Blade
3x - Dagger of Westernesse
3x - Dunedain Mark

2x - Elven Mail

Events: (9)
3x - Feint
3x - Sneak Attack

3x - Feigned Voices

Took out one of the Elven Mails. I never ever need a second copy and even though its a pretty important card Arwen does the same job and there will always be x3 copies of her in the other deck cause shes just too good. Taking out a single copy seems totally reasonable. I also took out black arrow even though its an awesome card as I simply needed the space... These two cards were replaced with Rivendell Bow. As awesome as this card used to be ages ago when it used to be in these decks I eventually removed it as Haldir made them slightly uneeded. After the trial game with Gandalf it was just so awesome on Elladan and almost made up for the loss of Haldir. I'm therefore putting it back into the decks but only 2 copies so that one can go on Elladan and one on Glorfindel. Even though without the Gandalf Hero anymore Elladan will probably have to pull questing duties again most of the time so the first bow will probably always go on a Glorfindel with Light of Valinor attached. When it is effective and Elladan can be used for combat however it will still prove very useful and as outlined in my previous post can allow him to attack many or even all enemies engaged in the one turn.

Deck 2: Lore/Spirit

Heroes:
Elrond - 13

Haldir Of Lorien - 9

Glorfindel (spirit) – 5

Starting threat – 27

Allies: (12)

3x - Arwen Undomiel

3x - Galadhrim Minstrel

3x - Warden of Healing

3x - Northern Tracker

Attachments: (15)

3x - Asfaloth

3x - Light of Valinor

3x - Ranger Spikes

2x - Unexpected Courage

3x - Lembas

Events: (25)

3x - A Test of Will

3x - Elrond's Counsel

3x - Hasty Stroke

3x - Galahadrim's Greeting

3x - Gildor's Counsel

3x - Stand and Fight

3x - A Good Harvest

3x - Daerons Runes
1x - Fortune or Fate

Sideboard: (3)
3x - Power of Orthanc (simply added if needed)

3x - Forest Snare (simply added if needed)

With this deck with good old Haldir back I made some other changes. Took out Free to Choose (may need to sideboard this again in the future against more threat heavy quests) and put Daerons Runes back in for some card draw thats needed now that Gandalf is gone. Took out Gildor and Henamarth and added Fortune or Fate and Stand and Fight and A Good Harvest. Pretty sure A Good Harvest is going to perform very well allowing me to play Gildors Counsel, Northern Tracker or Galahadrims Greeting a turn earlier than I'd normally be able to. Also added Forest Snare to the sideboard as really there are few quests my decks need it for as they handle combat suberbly. It can either be added or can replace Daerons Runes if need be for a game, same goes for Power of Orthanc. This deck is now at 52 cards however Daerons Runes more or less just allows you to draw extra cards so the deck will still perform more or less like a 50 card deck.

Time to go beat that Balrog down, ressurect Elrond or Legolas after they are sacrificed and defeat Journey in the Dark!!!!!

So now that the Balrog is beaten and Elrond resurrected its time to fix the error I made reverting my decks back to they were after removing the Gandalf hero as well as adding new cards from Nin-In-Eilph.

Deck 1: Tactics/Leadership (Elven Son's)
Heroes:
Legolas - 9
Elladan - 10
Elrohir – 10

Starting threat – 29

Allies: (19)

3x - Gandalf (Core)
3x - Envoy of Pelargir
3x - Naith Guide
3x - Gondorian Spearman

3x - Galadhon Archer
1x - Galadriel
1x - Faramir

1x - Boromir
1x - Rumil

Attachments: (22)

2x - Rivendell Bow

3x - Dunedain Warning
3x - Steward of Gondor
3x - Gondorian Shield
3x - Rivendell Blade
3x - Bow of the Galadhrim
3x - Dunedain Mark

2x - Elven Mail

Events: (9)
3x - Feint
3x - Sneak Attack

3x - Feigned Voices

So the only change in this deck is taking out Dagger of Westernesse and adding Bow of the Galadhrim instead. Now the dagger is actually better when attacking an engaged enemy that has a higher engagement cost than your threat as it will provide +2 attack where the bow will only provide +1 attack. The bow is more or less made for Haldir however as it provides +2 attack to his attacks made with his special ability as well as when he attacks enemies engaged with the other player. This is perfect as the tactics/leadership deck engages most enemies anyway so that Haldir can use his ability and because it has much better defensive allies and abilities. It will usually only provide +1 attack to Legolas however as he is usually attacking an enemy engaged with his deck. It will still provide +2 when he attacks enemies that have slipped through and engaged the other deck though and Dagger often provides only +1 attack anyway especially late game when your threat has raised a fair bit and most enemies have lower engagement cost than your threat. It always seems late game that this is most important as well so the Bow kind of wins overall with it fitting perfectly on Haldir and still pretty well on Legolas. It also has to be attached to a Silvan character so cannot be placed on Glorfindel or Elladan like the Dagger can but Rivendell Blade can still be attached to them and the Bow can be attached to the Rumil ally (making him on level with my heroes base attack power or even more at 4) or the Orophin ally (when he is properly revealed and I can proxy him) making them much stronger and much more useful.

Deck 2: Lore/Spirit

Heroes:
Elrond - 13

Haldir Of Lorien - 9

Glorfindel (spirit) – 5

Starting threat – 27

Allies: (14)

3x - Arwen Undomiel

3x - Galadhrim Minstrel

3x - Warden of Healing

3x - Northern Tracker

1x - Elfhelm

1x - Gildor Inglorian

Attachments: (15)

3x - Asfaloth

3x - Light of Valinor

3x - Ranger Spikes

2x - Unexpected Courage

3x - Lembas

1x - Defender of the West

Events: (22)

3x - A Test of Will

3x - Elrond's Counsel

3x - Hasty Stroke

3x - Galahadrim's Greeting

3x - Gildor's Counsel

3x - Stand and Fight

3x - Daerons Runes
1x - Fortune or Fate

Sideboard: (3)
3x - Power of Orthanc (simply added if needed)

3x - Forest Snare (simply added if needed)

So after reverting back from the Gandalf decks I didn't bother to put Free to Choose back in and made Forest Snare more of a sideboard than regular card (certain scenarios it is an absolute life saver but in a lot more its pretty useless..) and added two new cards Stand and Fight and A Good Harvest. Now even though I can only use resources from Glorfindel to play Stand and Fight it has proven to be very useful allowing me to bring back a dead Arwen in a dire situation where I don't have another copy of her and desperately need the Sentinel she provides. It's also good on Galadhon Archer and Naith Guide as well as Gondorian Spearman in the other deck. All of these allies cost 2 so its actually very playable and can provide a chump blocker in a dire situation with its instant speed as an event or can just bring back an ally you need. Definitely staying in the deck. The other new card however; A Good Harvest has proven to be next to useless.. sure there are a few situations where you need to play Galadhrims Greeting or Northern Tracker and can't afford to wait for more spirit resources but these times are rare and usually the harvest will just sit in your hand doing nothing for an entire game or at least for most of it. Definitely a waste of a card spot, it may be awesome in other decks or three sphere decks but not in mine.

I replaced the three copies with a copy of Gildor Inglorian (even though I chose Gildor boon in saga mode, I can always sub him out if need be but probably won't bother) and Elfhelm. To face honest facts this deck needs those allies back and 12 allies is just not enough whereas 14 seems to be just enough. Elfhelm's threat defense is pretty **** good against alot of quests and Gildor's ability is great and his stats are insanely good.

For the final card I believe I will be including a single copy of the new card Defender of the West. It seems like it could potentially be very good on Elfhelm (providing his ability to the first player each turn instead of just the lore/spirit deck), Gildor (allowing use of his ability for the tactics/leadership deck as well) or Boromir (allowing either player to use him for defense/attack). I'm gonna try it out and see how it goes.

Glad I got rid of A Good Harvest and brought back a few allies. The Bow is also a great addition to the decks and so is Stand and Fight which I probably wouldn't have tried out if it wasn't for trying out the Gandalf hero. Hopefully Defender of the West will also prove to be a useful card when it shows up.

Also I miscounted last time and the deck was at 51 not 52 cards and it stays at 52 with these new changes. I'm going to keep Fortune or Fate, its a pretty useful card and you can essentially sacrifice a hero fairly safety (If you've saved enough resources to play it quickly) when necessary to an undefended attack or especially nasty effect and then bring it right back. It's also very very useful in saga mode and proved its worth instantly when everyone starting resurrecting the hero they sacrificed to the Balrog in Journey in the Dark. This card also allows you to push on and still go for a win even after a hero dies whilst playing a quest in saga mode by resurrecting them before finishing the game.

Having a very hard time beating Nightmare Shadow and Flame so made a few changes that are both because of this but will also remain as permanent changes.

Deck 2: Lore/Spirit

Heroes:
Elrond - 13

Haldir Of Lorien - 9

Glorfindel (spirit) – 5

Starting threat – 27

Allies: (14)

3x - Arwen Undomiel

3x - Galadhrim Minstrel

3x - Warden of Healing

3x - Northern Tracker

1x - Elfhelm

1x - Gildor Inglorian

Attachments: (17)

3x - Asfaloth

3x - Light of Valinor

3x - Ranger Spikes

2x - Unexpected Courage

3x - Lembas

1x - Dark Knowledge

2x - Silver Lamp

Events: (22)

3x - A Test of Will

3x - Elrond's Counsel

3x - Hasty Stroke

3x - Galahadrim's Greeting

3x - Gildor's Counsel

3x - Stand and Fight

3x - Daerons Runes

Sideboard: (3)
3x - Power of Orthanc (simply added if needed)

3x - Forest Snare (simply added if needed)

1x - Fortune or Fate (simply added if needed)

One big thing that shocked me was how badly I had judged Dark Knowledge. When I very first played the game and only had the core set I tried out this card and for whatever reason thought that you had to discard it to reveal a shadow card rather than simply exhaust it. Needless to say this led to me very quickly removing it from my deck and I never bothered to look at it again. Finding out now that it only needs to exhaust and can therefore reveal one shadow card every single turn and if you attach it to a hero used only for attacking/defending the -1 willpower means nothing. Pretty **** good for 1 resource. Makes combat far less risky and allows you to prepare a bit better and even help with which enemy to feint or use feigned voices on for maximum effect! Considering Elrohir's number one weakness is nasty shadow effects with his very high defense and constant readying effects stopping the main brunt of most attacks so seeing at least one shadow card a round helps decide which attack to use a chump for so that Elrohir remains intact but still blocks all the attacks without crazy shadow effects.
The other card is Silver Lamp which I was actually very tempted to use when it was first released. I was hesitant as I would HAVE to have Light of Valinor on Glorfindel for it to be useful, combos that do nothing unless both cards are in play can be risky... Just including 2 copies of it however ensures it won't always show up and hopefully won't show up too often when Light of Valinor has not appeared. If Glorfindel isn't needed for questing however even without light of valinor the lamp can still be useful.
As far as its effect goes, its invaluable being able to see all shadow cards dealt but it will only reveal shadow cards for enemies engaged with the lore/spirit deck and the tactics/leadership deck engages most enemies. There are ALWAYS enemies that slip through though and the lore/spirit deck does have much weaker defense so its both good and bad that only shadow cards for enemies engaged with this deck are revealed.

With Dark Knowledge on Legolas (who NEVER quests) and a Silver Lamp attached to Glorfindel both decks will be able to reveal shadow cards during combat every turn before declaring defenders and resolving enemy attacks.

The main motivation behind these deck changes was to beat Nightmare Shadow and Flame but I've also realised that I have very very little shadow card manipulation (only x3 hasty stroke and nothing else) and have always toyed with the idea of using the Dunedain ally that can cancel a shadow effect but she simply costs too much.. By using these two cards instead rather than cancelling shadow cards I can instead reveal them.
Even though this is not quite as good 9 times out of 10 a nasty shadow effect burning me is because I have chosen the wrong character to defend with. Alot of the time it is an effect that only even takes effect because I have chump blocked OR not chump blocked. For example a harmless attack blocked by a strong hero that gets some ridiculous shadow effect and should have been blocked by an ally instead, or a quite strong attack that I'm worried may chain into an additional attack (which will be nasty from such a high attack power enemy) that I defend with a chump but it has no effect and the chump dies where a hero could have easily defended the attack and been fine but was saved for a possible second or surprise attack.

I will also be using x3 Dawn Take You All in my other deck but only for Shadow and Flame Nightmare and not for all quests so no changes to the other deck at this point. Also Fortune and Fate has been moved to the sideboard as the card count has been pushed back up to 52 which I'm not happy about but only 1x Silver Lamp and 1x Dark Knowledge isn't reliable enough whereas 1x Dark Knowledge and 2x Silver Lamp is like 3x of a single card which means in most games I should get at least one or the other at some point. Defender of the West was removed as a) I don't have the card yet and haven't bothered to proxy it yet and b) it probably isn't THAT great anyway and shadow manipulation is far more necessary for my decks.

Man, I never thought I'd see Dark Knowledge getting play anymore.. Tried it once and wished it would have been an extra copy of A Test of Will instead, so I didn't need to proxy the Test of Will...

Imagine how terrible I thought it was when I thought you had to discard it!!!!
For a single resource being able to see a shadow card every round is actually not bad against nightmare and harder quests. It definitely isn't the best card but defiitely overlooked and decent in a lot of situations.

Increasingly these days it's also possible to put it on a hero who will (likely) never need to use their willpower. Maybe I should go back and retry it...

Yep I put it on Legolas who is never used to quest or defend (lots of nasty shadow effects in certain scenarios if willpower is low) and with one willpower is never used for escape tests etc purely attacking duties

I wondered about a new deck with Beregond as the recipient. Can't have negative willpower!

I wondered about a new deck with Beregond as the recipient. Can't have negative willpower!

Very nice!!!!! Just don't play The Redhorn Gate with that deck

I used to use Beregond all the time until I got that scenario and got ravaged by it

I played two-handed decks with Beregond as my main defender and went into that quest knowing I'd lose him, but somehow won despite losing him and Legolas.

I played two-handed decks with Beregond as my main defender and went into that quest knowing I'd lose him, but somehow won despite losing him and Legolas.

Wow, well done!

So I've made new changes based on the player card spoilers we JUST received for Celebrimbor's Secret.
Some very exciting additions indeed! First off the Tactics and Leadership deck as there is only one change.

Deck 1: Tactics/Leadership (Elven Son's)
Heroes:
Legolas - 9
Elladan - 10
Elrohir – 10

Starting threat – 29

Allies: (19)

3x - Gandalf (Core)
3x - Envoy of Pelargir
3x - Naith Guide
3x - Gondorian Spearman

3x - Galadhon Archer
1x - Galadriel
1x - Faramir

1x - Boromir
1x - Rumil

1x - Orophin

Attachments: (22)

2x - Rivendell Bow

3x - Dunedain Warning
3x - Steward of Gondor
3x - Gondorian Shield
3x - Rivendell Blade
3x - Bow of the Galadhrim
3x - Dunedain Mark

2x - Elven Mail

Events: (9)
3x - Feint
3x - Sneak Attack

3x - Feigned Voices

At this point it is very difficult to remove cards from this deck as it a) works so goddamn well and b) has been edited so many times at this point that it has been perfected for what it is (for example Rivendell Bow once existing as a x3 card ages back and it recently coming back but as x2 instead). I therefore simply added a copy of Orophin without taking anything out first. It only brings the deck to 51 cards instead of 50 which is fine. Orophin is fantastic for this deck allowing you to bring back a Naith Guide or Galadrim Archer that bit the dust or even Orophin's brother Rumil if he has wound up in the discard pile somehow. At 3 cost he is also very powerful with both 2 attack and willpower just like Rumil as well as the Ranged keyword. This allows him to be the receiver of a bow or blade as well.

Deck 2: Lore/Spirit

Heroes:
Elrond - 13

Haldir Of Lorien - 9

Glorfindel (spirit) – 5

Starting threat – 27

Allies: (16)

3x - Arwen Undomiel

3x - Galadhrim Minstrel

3x - Warden of Healing

3x - Northern Tracker

3x - Galadriel's Handmaiden

1x - Gildor Inglorian

Attachments: (18)

3x - Asfaloth

3x - Light of Valinor

3x - Ranger Spikes

2x - Unexpected Courage

3x - Lembas

1x - Dark Knowledge

3x - Cloak of Lorien

Events: (18)

3x - A Test of Will

3x - Elrond's Counsel

3x - Hasty Stroke

3x - Galahadrim's Greeting

3x - Gildor's Counsel

3x - Daerons Runes

Sideboard: (3)
3x - Power of Orthanc (simply added if needed)

3x - Forest Snare (simply added if needed)

1x - Fortune or Fate (simply added if needed)

This deck had some actual changes take place. First off now that I'm not banging my head against Nightmare Shadow and Flame anymore (still haven't beaten it! kind of waiting for Galadriel Hero who I will swap Glorfindel out for to try and beat it) I no longer need the copies of Silver Lamp. I found it fairly unreliable anyway costing 2 spirit resources when I only have one spirit hero (and I usually need those resources for better cards) and it also requires Glorfindel to have Light of Valinor as he is almost always used to quest Light of Valinor or no and if he is exhausted Silver Lamp does nothing. Dark Knowledge however, at 1 cost and lore sphere, and also doesn't require any other cards to do its thing and fits perfectly on Legolas (who is also part of the deck that handles most of combat) will be staying in as it has proved to be pretty **** useful even if it does only show you one shadow card. Elfhelm who is great is also coming out purely due to his 4 cost spirit which is expensive and is usually used on a much more needed Northern Tracker instead, also one of the new cards lowers threat so his ability is less needed. Lastly and hardest to remove was Stand and Fight. This card has been amazing thus far bringing back Arwen from nasty treacheries that kill her or bringing a Gondorian Spearman or Naith Guide into play for this deck when defense or questing needs it. It isn't as powerful or useful as many other cards in the deck however and is definitely not essential but more of a very handy backup card. It may one day be put back in but for the time being it is coming out to make way for new cards that seem to fit this deck far better.

As for the two new cards first off is Galadriels Handmaiden. 2 Cost spirit ally who has 2 willpower and lowers either this deck or the tactics/leadership deck's threat by 1. Awesome new Silvan ally that will help out in many a situation where I just need a few less points of threat to finish off a scenario. The two willpower for 2 cost is as good as Arwen and the only real drawback of this ally is her 1 health which means treacheries will kill her quickly. The fact she lowers threat first and then will provide 2 willpower for hopefully at least a few rounds almost offsets her 1 hitpoint.

The other new card is Cloak of Lorien. A fantastic new defense boosting attachment for Elves! So thematic and awesome and a perfect alternative to Gondorian Shield for Elves. How well the Shield and Steward combo works with Elrohir providing him plus 2 defense and all the resources he could need to just keep readying and defending every attack (especially with sentinel from Arwen or Elven Mail) I simply cannot bring myself to remove the un-thematic shield (or steward for that matter) and replace it with the Cloak. Elrohir is possibly my favorite hero (with Haldir and Legolas both a close second and Elrond is just amazing as well) and I'm simply unable to remove such a powerful combo that is the one of the strongest foundations of these decks. Instead I will be using both the Shield and Cloak!! Elrohir has always been an utter powerhouse of a defender in this deck (with his only weakness being certain shadow effects) and now will be even more so. The lack of restricted on Cloak of Lorien means he can have all his old toys as well as this new one providing a further +1 defense or +2 if in a Forest. I will probably regularly get him up to 8, 9 or 10 defense now instead of 7, 8 or 9.
This card is also great as it can go on allies as well so fits perfectly on the Gildor Inglorian ally or Objective ally in Saga mode whom I have in my campaign pool! It also goes well on Elrond AND Glorfindel, especially Glorfindel as it may very well bring him up to 3 defense fairly often which means he can quest for 3 with Light of Valinor AND then be a fantastic defender at 3 defense and 5 heath if Elrohir can't tank every attack or doesn't have sentinel yet. The abundance of Forests through many quests only makes this card stronger and cooler and how thematic it is will be awesome to play with.