Two-Handed Decks

By PsychoRocka, in Strategy and deck-building

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Deck 1: Tactics/Leadership (The Grey Company)
Heroes:
Elrohir – 10
Starting threat – 30
Allies: (19)
3x - Dunedain Watcher
3x - Son of Arnor
1x - Orophin
Attachments: (20)
Events: (12)
3x - Feint
Deck 2: Spirit/Lore (Elven Finesse)
Heroes:
– 27
Allies: (16)
2x - Northern Tracker
Attachments: (20)
2x - Star Broach
Events: (17)
Sideboard: (3)
3x - Forest Snare (simply added if needed)
So I've been working on replacing Celeborn with Halbarad and using the new dunedain strategy to an extent within my two decks. I never really had that much interest in creating Rohan or Gondor themed decks but Dunedain massively appeals to me and also fits perfectly with two of my favourite heroes; Elrond's twin sons Elrohir and Elladan.
With all the cards spoiled to date from Lost Realm and Angmar Awakened this is what I have come up with so far.
It is a pretty big change as the whole Silvan strategy has been removed with Rumil, Orophin, Galadhon Archers, Legolas AND O Lorien all coming out of the deck to make room for Dunedain allies and new attachments. A few Silvan cards in the spirit/lore have also been removed and replaced with new cards as well.
The idea behind each new card is as follows:

-Halbarad replacing Celeborn is an attempt to further the concept of the tactics/leadership deck being the combat deck and the other deck focusing more on willpower, healing etc. He allows the 'combat' deck to optionally engage a second enemy each turn and can contribute his willpower to questing yet remain ready if you are engaged with an enemy. This allows him to help out with questing and remain available for combat which for a 'combat' deck is perfect. He may provide one less willpower than Celeborn but will quite often provide double duties.
-Son of Arnor x3 replaces the three Galadhon Archers and although Son of Arnor costs more and does not have ranged it also has 2 attack and is a good offensive ally. To make up for the loss of ranged and potential 3 attack first turn the archers possess (if Celeborn is out) Son of Arnor is leadership rather than tactics which means more tactics resources for attachments, feints and readying Elladan for multiple attacks. The main reason it is being included is that it can be played during planning allowing you to engage an enemy and then quest with Halbarad without exhausting him. This enemies threat will also be removed from staging which is also very handy. Lastly it can also be used to pull a nasty foe engaged with the spirit/lore deck over to the 'combat' deck.
-Dunedain Watcher x3 replaces x1 Gimli, x1 Legolas and one of the copies of Orophin. The watcher like Son of Arnor costs three leadership resources and can provide questing or offensive duties with one point in willpower and attack. What she is truly useful for however is discarding an especially nasty shadow card that may have otherwise led to defeat. I have never really used this ally before and am looking forward to doing so as I have realized many losses or hero deaths are often due to an especially unlucky or nasty shadow card being revealed and this ally may be far more useful than I ever though. Just hasty stroke on its own does not provide enough shadow card defense especially playing two handed. The watchers not only provide more shadow cancellation but they can be played early on and kept around to cancel a nasty shadow effect when necessary later on. They can also be exhausted and still discarded to cancel a shadow effect so can still used for questing/attack regularly before their ability is needed.
-Dunedain Hunter x3 replaces x1 Rumil and the two copies of rivendell bow. The hunter I have used in the past when it was very first spoiled and it was a pretty **** handy ally then and will only be ten times more useful now that it has more purpose. It is not JUST a free ally with awesome attack and decent other stats that pulls an enemy out of the top of the engagement deck and engages it, now it allows Halbarad to quest without exhausting by doing so and providing him with +1 willpower if he has a star broach attached. I've already ranted back when I first tried out this ally so I will keep this short but the amount of effects you can avoid on enemies with this ally is crazily good and can often make a very nasty foe a very pathetic one!
-Tireless Hunters x3 replaces the three copies of O Lorien. Tireless Hunters I did not think much of when it was first revealed. The amount of times just that ONE annoying enemy has engaged the wrong deck and caused chaos before I have sentinel set up or has simply engaged the lore/spirit deck which will not have enough attack to destroy it this round rather than the 'combat' deck which could easily dispose of it. This event card should provide a defensive measure against these situations and also discards a shadow card whilst doing so. Considering almost all hero deaths are due to shadow effects this is a minor but potentially quite handy extra effect.
-Northern Tracker x2 has replaced the two copies of Lorien Guide. Lorien Guide is nowhere near as good at its full cost of 3 (rather than 2 with O Lorien) and also does not have stat boosts from Celeborn. I feel that these two boosts made Lorien Guide really good whereas without either it is a very average ally.
The tried and tested Northern Tracker I used for a long time before replacing it with the Lorien Guides returns to my decks and also helps with the Dunedain/Noldor theme replacing the old Silvan/Noldor theme.
-Star Broach x2 has replaced Silvan Tracker x2. The trackers without a discount and boost are similarly to Lorien Guide nowhere near as good. The awesome healing ability is also next to useless without Celeborn, Legolas or Rumil in the decks anymore. It has been replaced by Star Broach which seems like a really average card except for when placed on Halbarard. Halbarad can quest without exhausting if you are engaged with an enemy so Star Broach fits perfectly on him bumping him up to a more solid 3 willpower instead of 2 and also adding the extra ability that his willpower cannot be reduced. This is useful only for certain quests but bringing Halbarad up to 3 willpower is always handy and makes him just as good a quester as Celeborn if not a better one (willpower can't be reduced plus he remains ready to do other duties in the same turn). The second copy if drawn can be put on Elladan (so if he is not needed for combat and you are engaged with at least one enemy he quests for 3 instead of 2) who is occasionally used to quest for big quest pushes or when Haldir can handle combat on his own.
-Lastly Athelas x3 has replaced Elf Stone x3. Most of the high cost unique allies have been removed (Legolas, Rumil and Gimli) and so elf stone is far less useful. Athelas however is an amazing new card that can both fully heal a character and/or discard a condition attachment from a character. It can be attached to Halbarad or one of the various Dunedain allies and then used when needed. If the quest being played features lots of attachment hate it is cleverer to keep it in hand as it can be both played and used during the planning phase instantly removing a condition attachment.
-One last thing to note is that Forest Snare is going to be used in the Spirit/Lore deck far more often and rarely kept in the sideboard (perhaps only for quests where all enemies cannot have attachments such as Nazgul heavy quests and Three Trials) as it can be attached to an enemy engaged with the 'combat' deck and that enemy can then be left alone for the rest of the game to permanently enable Halbarad and Star Broaches abilities.
Overall I believe I have lost a small amount of questing power and to a lesser degree attack power by removing most of my Silvan allies especially the more combat oriented ones but in doing so have created a setup where Halbarad can quest without exhausting alongside Glorfindel and this combined with Elrohir and Elladan's readying abilities provides a fair bit of extra hero uses and should mean that Halbarad becomes a second attacker with Elladan or even emergency defender when Elrohir cannot defend every attack. He can get one of the Dunedain Marks and Gondorian Shields after the first copy is placed on a better target so can easily have 3 attack or 3 defense which with his 4 hitpoints makes for a decent defender (especially if he is one that is only used sometimes). Feigned Voices may not be quite as easy to play now but with a single copy of Orophin remaining and the three copies of Naith Guide remaining I don't think this will be too bad as Naith Guide was almost always the target anway as its enter play ability is BY FAR the best as it allows a 2 or even 3 willpower hero to quest without exhausting and it is also the cheapest and most easily playable Silvan ally for this deck. The single copy of Orophin remains simply because his stats are so good for his cost and his ability can retrieve a fallen Naith Guide.
Optimally so long as an enemy is engaged with the tactics/leadership deck Glorfindel and Halbarad will be able to quest for 3 each without exhausting (Light of Valinor and Halbarads ability plus Star Broach) and Elrond will exhaust to quest for 3. Then if a Naith Guide has been played Elrohir can quest without exhausting as well for a further 2 (3 with Star Broach). Everyone minus Elrond is still ready for combat yet almost all of them were used to quest as well. Elrohir with Sentinel and plenty of resources can then fulfill defensive duties (Halbarard too if need be) and then Elladan, Halbarad, Haldir and Glorfindel are all ready to make attacks on your engaged foes!
Tireless Rangers and Son of Arnor help to pull enemies away from the spirit/lore deck and Son of Arnor and Dunedain Hunter both help to engage enemies in staging/the top of the encounter deck to ensure that Halbarad can quest without exhausting the majority of the time. Also healing is improved as along side the Wardens and Lembas, Athelas is also very usable now and can be attached to Halbarad (and after questing without exhausting he can exhaust to use Athelas, works perfectly!) or one of the various Dunedain allies. Any sort of effects that reduce willpower will not effect Halbarad if his star broach is attached. Athelas also removes the need for power of orthanc in the sideboard as it can remove condition attachments without the threat gain.
Shadow cancellation is also vastly improved as 6 cards and not 3 can now cancel shadow effects and the three copies of Tireless Rangers remove shadow cards (rather than cancel) which is also pretty **** handy.
I think that overall whilst willpower and attack suffer slightly with these changes because I will get extra actions with heroes I should still be able to deal with enemies just as well if not better and now also have more ways to heal, deal with shadow cards, pull enemies engaged with the lore/spirit deck over to the combat deck and even have more defensive power as Halbarad can easily be used as a second defender if he is needed. Although I'm going to have to wait till I actually get my hands on the Lost Realm to implement these changes and actually try them out I'm pretty **** excited to do so.
Hero changes don't happen often for me and so are a big deal when they do!
Hope you enjoyed my ranting :D
Edited by PsychoRocka
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Also trying to decide whether or not it is worth putting x1 Gather information in each deck ... hmmm...

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I'm going to give this latest pairing a spin after I take my usual solo deck through the box.

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Two handed? Thanks man, let me know how you go :)

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Just tried my new Dunedain/Noldor decks against a few combat heavy scenarios before starting from the start of the Saga quests again:

Smashed The Seventh Level even though it was EASILY the hardest game I've ever played of that quest (minus nightmare obviously) with an endless amount of enemies literally pouring out of the encounter deck (for at least 3 turns in a row I had 4 enemies appear each turn, 2 during staging and 2 from the stage effect). Late game it was slightly hard to quest and for just one or two turns I did not have an enemy engaged which was fairly detrimental (no plus 1 willpower from star broach for Elladan or Halbarad and Halbarad would exhaust to quest then could not be used for combat as well...) but overall I smashed the scenario and somehow between Halbarad's ability and careful planning I did not have a SINGLE enemy engage the spirit/lore deck and so Haldir was free to snipe away every turn at enemies. Weapon wise I only had a dunedain mark on Halbarad for the majority of the game and between Haldir, a Dunedain Hunter I played first turn, Elladan and Halbarad I was still able to kill most foes including a nasty Cave Troll without all the usual weapons I get out in a game, granted this quest has fairly weak enemies but with how many appear and the occasional stronger enemy I was still impressed by this. I got a rivendell blade towards the end which I quickly placed on Haldir so he was far more effective. I did think at one point near the end I was in trouble bit this did not last long and I was able to slow the tide of enemies down or at least slay most that appeared each turn and quest to victory.

This game could not have gone better and was really really fun (new cards are not just powerful but I am finding more fun to play with than Silvans as you must plan out which enemy to keep alive and engaged to power up Halbarad), the two copies of Star Broach and the Dunedain Hunter I played first turn (allowing Halbarad to quest for 3 without exhausting first turn as I played a copy of star broach first turn as well) were both massively helpful and the Dunedain Watcher I got out although purely used to quest was a good safeguard against shadow effects when not a single hasty stroke was drawn all game. I also managed to use a Feigned Voices on a Naith Guide allowing me to use the Naith Guide's ability twice and stopping a Cheiftain of the Pit attacking with 8 power and it then being killed the turn it came out effectively posing no threat at all which means Feigned Voices can still be very powerful even without the Galadhon Archers. I played a Son of Arnor but purely for attack strength (did not even use his ability) and he died from a nasty treachery effect the turn he was played doing nothing....

Athelas was also epic and removed a copy of watchful eyes and 2 damage from Elrond about halfway through the game (Elrond had Watchful Eyes placed on him during setup but because he had Book of Marzarbul attached he did not exhaust until Watchful Eyes had been removed and I was on the second stage with Book of Marzarbul removed from the game, Watchful Eyes ability did not trigger a single time!!) when I finally had a round I did not need Halbarad for offensive duties (after questing as well) and was able to exhaust him to use it. Was very lucky I had at least one copy of every new card appear during this game so was able to try most of them out, the only one I did not use was Tireless Hunters as there was no need at any point for it, it may just be the single weakest card that can be removed and replaced with a future card that fits in well with my decks, perhaps descendants of kings if it has an awesome effect? Need to give it more time however so time for another quest!

Took on Conflict at the Carrock and beat it fairly easily. Threat was the biggest concern but was managed with multiple Gandalfs and Elrond's Counsel. I took out the troll that raises threat first and everything was sweet after this. I even took out a Hill Troll during stage 1 before the showdown on stage 2. I had two Dunedain Watchers out so even if an especially nasty shadow effect triggered I would have been able to cancel it. Son of Arnor was useful in moving one of the two trolls engaged with the lore/spirit deck over to the combat deck to take it out more easily, because Elrohir was set up with Sentinel it didnt really matter too much and probably just saved me a single turn of combat but was still great. Halbarad was not quite as good in this game as I got Dunedain Mark attached to him late game (whereas Haldir had rivendell blade, galadhrim bow and a mark equipped) and also did not draw a star broach. Because the combat in this quest is more so just bosses and few other enemies Halbarad was not quite as amazing as in the last game but overall the new changes still held up against this quest and I did just as well as I normally do! A Dunedain Hunter from the second turn onwards (pulled a goblin sniper out of the encounter deck which was perfect) helping with offensive duties for the whole game was very very handy.

Third quest I decided to take on before going through the Saga quests again is The Blood of Gondor. This is a little harder than the last two and can get really hairy if things go wrong via hidden cards. I made one deck change as Tireless Hunters has just sat in my hand ALL GAME both of the previous games and so I reluctantly added Ranger Summons in its place. Although this new card does seem awesome, the ally card it puts in the encounter deck is super sweet and has awesome art I bet its going to be a shadow card so **** often it isn't funny considering far more cards are shadow cards than revealed from the encounter deck in many combat heavy scenarios. The good thing is you will get no shadow effect for that particular attack which I guess slightly lessens the impact of a wasted Ranger of the North. It also may never eventuate if played late in a game as you may not go through enough encounter cards for the ally card to appear. Nonetheless it is potentially quite powerful and should be a very fun card as well.

First attempt I got utterly smashed during the first round with a whopping 6 enemies engaged... one less and I may have hung on....

Second attempt beat it after a grueling game. Managed to beat stage 1 after slowly killing the wave of enemies that poured out of hidden cards and the encounter deck. I cleared the cross roads first turn with asfaloth (not doing this on the first atttempt resulted in a 7 threat gain first turn.... whereas this time I placed 3 progress first turn!) and killed the Black Numenorian on the third turn negating his threat gains. After getting to stage 2 I managed to beat it with an all out push whilst on 3 and 4 hidden cards for each deck, one more and one deck would have potentially had 3+ enemies to deal with on top of the couple still in play.

Was a very hard earned victory but a sweet one none the less. Not so sure I did quite as well as usual with my new decks against this particular quest but I did win second attempt against a quest that always poses quite a challenge. Pretty happy with the result and the performance of my new decks so far. Going to go ahead with the Saga quests when I get time now so that when the Treason of Saruman is released I can play straight away with these new decks and my new Dunedain hero Halbarad!

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I just realized that you don't have Vilya in your Elrond deck.

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I just realized that you don't have Vilya in your Elrond deck.

Don't like the put everything into play for free mechanics of Vilya plus I'd much rather use Elrond to quest with his awesome 3 quest points or even as an emergency defender if need be. I did try it out once but far too often it reveals a copy of Gildors Counsel, Hasty Stroke, Test of Will or a second copy of Asfaloth, Light of Valinor or Arwen.

Really dislike Vilya, think its cheap/overpowered and it definitely does not fit in well with my decks.

Edited by PsychoRocka
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Massively underestimated Ranger Summons! So far other than Halbarad (who allows Ranger Summons and Athelas to begin with and makes Dunedain Hunter and Star Broach worthwhile) it has had the most impact of all the new cards in my attempts to start a new saga campaign and get up to date. I've had one (and even two in one game!) appear in most of the quests so far (4 of the 6!) and one helped explore a nasty location in The Old Forest and another did the last point of damage to Great Warg Chief killing it before it could make a last attack during The Ring Goes South! The quest in which two appeared was A Knife in the Dark and they were extremely handy in taking out the Nazgul and Witchking.

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Yea. I hate it when people call something weak before they try it. Unless it is a simple numbers card that has lower numbers than another very similar card, I try not to dismiss it. Ranger Summons seems slow, but it obviously isn't bad. There really is no downside to when he shows up. Granted, as a shadow card he offers little comparatively, but he still offers plenty.

If it becomes a real issue, add in Shadow of the Past.

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Deck 1: Tactics/Leadership
The Grey Company
Heroes:
Halbarad - 10
Elrohir – 10
Elladan - 10
Starting threat – 30
Allies: (19)
3x - Naith Guide
3x - Dunedain Watcher
3x - Son of Arnor
2x - Galadriel
1x - Erestor
1x - Orophin
3x - Dunedain Hunter
3x - Gandalf (Core)
Attachments: (20)
3x - Steward of Gondor
3x - Dunedain Mark
3x - Gondorian Shield
3x - Rivendell Blade
2x - Rivendell Bow
2x - Dagger of Westernesse
2x - Elven Mail
2x - Secret Vigil
Events: (12)
3x - Sneak Attack
3x - Feigned Voices
3x - Ranger Summons
3x - Feint
Set Aside: (3)
3x - Ranger of the North
Deck 2: Spirit/Lore
Elven Finesse
Heroes:
Elrond - 13
Haldir of Lorien - 9
Glorfindel (Spirit) – 5
Starting threat – 27
Allies: (16)
3x - Galadhrim Minstrel
3x - Warden of Healing
1x - Henamarth Riversong
1x - Gildor Inglorian
3x - Arwen Undomiel
3x - Galadriel's Handmaiden
2x - Northern Tracker

Attachments: (20)
3x - Asfaloth
3x - Ranger Spikes
3x - Lembas
3x - Athelas
3x - Cloak of Lorien
3x - Light of Valinor
2x - Star Broach
Events: (17)
3x - Gildor's Counsel
3x - Daeron's Runes
3x - A Test of Will
3x - Elrond's Counsel
3x - Hasty Stroke
3x - The Galahadrim's Greeting
Sideboard: (3)
3x - Forest Snare (simply added if needed)
Made a few changes to the tactics/leadership deck. First off the reason for the changes is that my decks have felt a little lackluster in the attack power department in the last several games I have played. I often fall just a few points of attack short of killing strong enemies on the first attack allowing them to stick around and cause issues. Sometimes I have plenty of attack power and have no problem but just to ensure this happens a little more reliably I've made a few simple changes to my weapon attachments. First of all I took out the third copy of both Elven Mail and Secret Vigil as a second or third copy of Elven Mail is usually wasted and Arwen also provides Sentinel. As good as the mail is it also costs 2 which is more than any other remaining tactics card in the deck so can often sit in my hand across several turns as I play cheaper attachments or feints instead. I've also noticed that Elladan's ability is now used far more often allowing him to attack multiple enemies in the one combat phase now that I have cut all the tactics allies from the deck (except Dunedain Hunter who costs 0 anyway) and without a weapon or two on him this is usually not that strong. Haldir usually hogs weapon attachments and Bow of the Galadhrim can ONLY be placed on him so any time I draw the second copy it is useless. I therefore also took out both copies of Bow of the Galadhrim. A copy of Secret Vigil was taken out because as useful as it is three copies seems overkill and in many scenarios where half the enemies cannot have attachments it is nowhere near as useful.
To replace these 4 cards I added 2 copies of Rivendell Bow (welcome back old friend!) and 2 copies of Dagger of Westernesse. The dagger of westernesse will provide Haldir the same +2 attack the majority of the time (spirit/lore deck stays at much lower threat than the combat deck) and will still provide it when an enemy is engaged with the lore/spirit deck but has a higher engagement cost whereas the bow of galadhrim would not. Occasionally the dagger will not provide +2 where the bow would have (mainly late game when threat is high) but the second copy if drawn is not wasted and can be put on Halbarad who until now could only be boosted attack wise by Dunedain Mark. His ability to quest without engaging will be even better this way as he will be able to attack for 3 to 4 instead of 2 with a dagger attached or even 4 to 5 with a dagger and dunedain mark attached.
Rivendell Bow can be placed on Elladan so that his readying effect after attacking will now be far better allowing him to attack all enemies engaged with both decks. The other copy can be placed on Glorfindel with a Light of Valinor allowing him to help out alongside Haldir sniping enemies engaged with the combat deck. Lastly you can put one of the copies on Haldir if you really really need him to have just one more point of attack when attacking enemies engaged with the combat deck as the Bow provides +1 attack to ranged attacks if the attached character already had ranged.
The amount of weapon attachments that give attack boosts has actually stayed the same but the daggers unlike the galahadrim bows can be attached to anyone not just Haldir so the second copy is far more useful and the first can even be attached to a different hero if you don't particularly need Haldir's abilityfor the current quest and instead need a handful of characters with attack boosts. As well as this the two Rivendell Bows will now provide ranged to characters who do not normally have ranged allowing Light of Valinor Glorfindel to always help in combat not only when the lore/spirit deck has an engaged enemy (somewhat rare in some quests as the combat deck engages all enemies possible) and also allowing Elladan to attack any and potentially all (if you save up resources) enemies engaged with both decks!
I'm hoping that these changes give the combat deck that little bit more oomph to take out nasty foes quickly and with high attack values. Dunedain Mark can still be moved around if you need Haldir to have very high attack and one shot enemies before they can attack but the other 3 attack boosts (well 2 and rivendell bow which gives ranged a form of attack boosting) in the deck are now far more diverse and can be placed across the various combat effective heroes rather than all stacked on Haldir and one or two getting attached to other characters usually only late game or in rare circumstances.
No changes to the lore/spirit deck just wanted to colour code that one as well for fun after I did this for the combat deck :P
Ranger Summons is still performing ridiculously well and I can't wait for my copy of the lost realm to arrive so that I can stop using the three unique troll cards from We Must Away as my Rangers of the North in the encounter deck :D
In a few games I have even had a Ranger of the North still be revealed and take effect late in the quest after it has been discarded as a shadow card earlier in the game. You do not necessarily have to go all the way through the remaining encounter deck to have a chance to see them again, a fair few scenarios have a quest stage or treachery effect that shuffles the encounter discard pile back into the encounter deck.
Edited by PsychoRocka
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Trying them now on Fords of Isen, won 1 of 3. Too many expensive allies on Grey Company Deck, not enough resources. Since card draw isn't exactly overwhelming here, I would suggest ditching Feigned Voices in favor of Valiant Sacrifice or Foe-Hammer. On the other hand, Henamarth+Haldir combo practically screams for Wingfoot, isn't it?

NM JatA on the table now :)

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Yeah you really need steward of gondor first turn for the Grey Company Deck to shine and even then its a very careful balance between using your leadership resources for allies or saving them for defensive purposes via Elrohir. Yeah I definitely could use some card draw other than Gandalf who is far more often used for threat reduction or direct damage and Erestor who is fairly situational. I do love me Feigned Voices though and it allows you to get double use out of Naith Guides so it might not be Feigned Voices I take out but I will definitely look at replacing something with Foe Hammer or Valiant Sacrifice to at least trial the change. The only problem with Foe Hammer is that the first weapon (sometimes even first two) go on Haldir who is part of the other deck which won't allow use of Foe Hammer :( Elladan and Halbarad inevitably get at least one weapon at some point in most games though so Foe Hammer could be far more reliable late game. Maybe Valiant Sacrifice is a better idea, it can even combo with Feigned Voices allowing you to draw two cards and cancel an attack by returning Naith Guide to hand.

The problem with Valiant Sacrifice though is that the deck rarely chump blocks and Elrohir takes all defensive duties when possible... plus foe hammer costs 0 and nets you an extra card...

Very true re Wingfoot but with just x1 Henamarth he isn't very reliably drawn and Haldir is very necessary for combat so its risky putting wingfoot on him and not having him ready to kill an enemy before it can attack. I actually find it more useful on Elladan who is less important for combat but still very handy so that he can quest and then sometimes ready from Wingfoot and still attack (potentially even multiple enemies).

Thanks heaps for the feedback though! My decks don't do very well against Dunlending quests that feature hand or card draw hate so not surprised by your 1 in 3 victory, potentially better than I do against those quests!!! (Hate fords of isen and dunland trap, Antlered crown is not so bad). Good luck against NM JatA, I have beaten it a handful of times but its no walk in the park! Thanks so much for using my decks haha I hope they are proving fun to play and doing well for you! :D

Edited by PsychoRocka
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Fruitful night behind me:

NM JatA with Psycho decks - 3/7

OK, I switched 3x Athelas for 1 more Henamarth and 2x Wingfoot, does it still count as Psycho deck?

NM JatA with my (slighthly inspired by Psycho) decks - 3/6

Briefly tried To Catch An Orc and I still think of it as an example of bad design - 0/3 overall and got bored.

I thought "WTF!?" when I first spotted Dunedain Watcher in your wall of text and wanted to replace it with something slightly more useful, but I must admit that she saved me from potentially frustrating loss at Round 14. Still think that she's being included because of secondary sexual attributes :D

How do you justify keeping Galadhrim's Greeting after trouncing Vilya? It became borderline impossible to play since then.

Edited by tomtom
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Nicely done! I like the personal changes you made too! Who did you put wing foot on?

to carch an orc is beatable but you need good starting hands and luck.

You did pretty **** well against nm jata with both versions.

Late game you rarely need spirit resources and can fairly easily save 3 up on glorfindel over a few turns, are you really finding it that hard to play? Elrond being able to pay for spirit allies also helps to save spirit tokens on Glorfindel. If there was another similar but cheaper threat reduction card I would definitely replace it but there isn't... Elronds Council and the handmaidens are better early game.

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Put Vilya back in your version of the decks if you prefer it included =)

let me know any other changes you make as they may very well inspire me to do the same or similar!

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Also how did you find ranger summons? Was it useful? Did it fail very often for you?

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Funny thing with Wingfoot - I'm probably fixed on putting it on Haldir because of the fact that there are no Elrond sons in my iterations, so I forgot about Elladan being ranger himself...

Next time I'll try to be more patient with Spirit resources, might help with GG.

Learning is repeating :) NM JatA is the quest I play the most and that surely helps with winning percentage.

Update:

I have mixed feelings about Ranger Summons. As of know, it worked only once and I was about to win anyway. Need more games to evaluate.

Edited by tomtom
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Yeah knowing how to play a deck in a specific scenario is pretty necessary as well. Given that you play that quest quite often I'm sure it helps you get a higher win rate. Just for fun I decided to give To Catch An Orc a go and beat it first go. Its one of the quests that you need to get gandalf, sneak attack and steward of gondor in your starting hand for the tactics/leadership deck and asfaloth in your starting hand for the lore/spirit deck which I mulliganed for in my first attempt and luckily got! A shame ranger summons has not been of that much use to you though I'm sure if you stick with them they will prove very handy eventually.

The game I had against To Catch An Orc was actually a really epic game in which both decks performed at almost max efficiency. Haldir killed several enemies before they could attack killing them instantly. Many weapon cards were drawn and several heroes were buffed to very high attack allowing most enemies to be killed instantly including Murgash who was Feinted and then slaughtered immediately. All three Test of Wills were drawn in the game (one in starting hand and amazingly two drawn from the Search encounter effect) and used against nasty treacheries giving me many saves from nasty situations and possible losses. A well timed Gildors Counsel stopped me from being overwhelmed halfway through the game. Murgash only appeared in the last 3 cards of the out of play deck for the combat deck allowing both decks to build up a large massing of allies and attachments whilst maintaining threat for both decks for a fair while before the final showdown. I was able to stop Stage 2's time effect from triggering a single time and was also able to finish stage 3 before its time effect could trigger either (1 time counter left) stopping either nasty effect from taking me down.

I used to have a lot of trouble with this quest so know how good a starting hand you must have and the strategies you can undertake to defeat it. First turn Asfaloth instantly clearing a copy of Mugash's Lair added to statging during setup helps massively for the first turn and coupled with sneak attack gandalf ensures a more or less guaranteed successful questing phase.

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http://www.cardgamedb.com/index.php/thelordoftherings/the-lord-of-the-rings-decks/_/lord-of-the-rings-submitted-decks/tip-of-the-arrow-silvan-12-r105

http://www.cardgamedb.com/index.php/thelordoftherings/the-lord-of-the-rings-decks/_/lord-of-the-rings-submitted-decks/galadhrims-pride-silvan-22-r104

Hi,

I hope I am not too late for the party.

I also like to play two-handed or two-player style and for me it´s the best way and if the decks cooperate and play attachements on each other and help cover weak points of each other, it´s the best feeling ever.

Recently I had great thematic play experience with my two Silvan decks.

The only thematic flaw is steward of gondor and Shield on Aragorn. But removing them would somewhat cripple them.

Is there some thematic alternative I overlooked?

Suggestions are very welcome.

Edited by OlorinCZ
Posted at

The only thematic flaw is steward of gondor and Shield on Aragorn. But removing them would somewhat cripple them.

How is that a thematic flaw? Because he becomes king?

Posted at

He was never a steward. Although he was in Gondor before by a different name and was in favor of Denethor's father (beeing a high ranking captain). And I can't imagine Aragorn fighting with a shield, but that can be influence of the films.

But I meant Gondor items don't fit into Silvan deck in general.

Posted at

One could argue that Aragorn doesn't belong in a Silvan deck in general. Anyway, the card pool is still too shallow to manage everything without some inconsistencies. I tried theme decks early on, but stopped being a stickler because of this. I slap SoG on Loragorn all the time.

Posted at

Yes. And I don't think Silvans gonna get more support anytime soon.

And I used all 4 Silvan heroes, than Galadriel was obvious choice. And the last slot? Aragorn was my choice. Maybe Gandalf would be good to.

And maybe I'm too hard on myself with this deck, but I'm trying to not use SoG as much lately and find other ways to generate resources. In the past it was overused card and leadership staple for me. And not only to me I think ;-).

Posted at

http://www.cardgamedb.com/index.php/thelordoftherings/the-lord-of-the-rings-decks/_/lord-of-the-rings-submitted-decks/tip-of-the-arrow-silvan-12-r105

http://www.cardgamedb.com/index.php/thelordoftherings/the-lord-of-the-rings-decks/_/lord-of-the-rings-submitted-decks/galadhrims-pride-silvan-22-r104

Hi,

I hope I am not too late for the party.

I also like to play two-handed or two-player style and for me it´s the best way and if the decks cooperate and play attachements on each other and help cover weak points of each other, it´s the best feeling ever.

Recently I had great thematic play experience with my two Silvan decks.

The only thematic flaw is steward of gondor and Shield on Aragorn. But removing them would somewhat cripple them.

Is there some thematic alternative I overlooked?

Suggestions are very welcome.

Woo! A two handed player is never late he arrives precisely when he means to! :P

It really is quite fun to play with two very complimentary decks that cover each others weaknesses, couldn't agree more.

A good thematic replacement for Gondorian Shield is Dunedain Warning. It costs the same 1 resource but only provides +1 defense instead of +2 when Steward is also attached. Weaker but more thematic....I personally have been considering swapping my copies of Gondorian Shield to Dunedain Warnings not only to be more thematic but also because I have two leadership heroes and only one tactics hero. I can't bring myself to do it however and lose that potential extra point of defense :D

Edited by PsychoRocka
Posted at
Deck 1: Tactics/Leadership
The Grey Company
Heroes:
Halbarad - 10
Elrohir – 10
Elladan - 10
Starting threat – 30
Allies: (18)
3x - Naith Guide
3x - Dunedain Watcher
2x - Son of Arnor
2x - Galadriel
1x - Erestor
1x - Orophin
3x - Dunedain Hunter
3x - Gandalf (Core)
Attachments: (20)
3x - Steward of Gondor
3x - Dunedain Mark
3x - Gondorian Shield
3x - Rivendell Blade
3x - Dagger of Westernesse
2x - Rivendell Bow
2x - Elven Mail
2x - Secret Vigil
Events: (12)
3x - Sneak Attack
3x - Feigned Voices
3x - Ranger Summons
3x - Feint
Side Quests: (1)
1x - Gather Information
Set Aside: (3)
3x - Ranger of the North
Deck 2: Spirit/Lore
Elven Finesse
Heroes:
Elrond - 13
Haldir of Lorien - 9
Glorfindel (Spirit) – 5
Starting threat – 27
Allies: (15)
3x - Galadhrim Minstrel
3x - Warden of Healing
1x - Henamarth Riversong
3x - Arwen Undomiel
3x - Galadriel's Handmaiden
2x - Northern Tracker

Attachments: (20)
3x - Asfaloth
3x - Ranger Spikes
3x - Lembas
3x - Athelas
3x - Light of Valinor
2x - Cloak of Lorien
2x - Star Broach
1x - Wingfoot
Events: (17)
3x - Gildor's Counsel
3x - Daeron's Runes
3x - A Test of Will
3x - Elrond's Counsel
3x - Hasty Stroke
2x - The Galahadrim's Greeting
Side Quests: (1)
1x - Gather Information
Sideboard: (3)
3x - Forest Snare (simply added if needed)
I made a few new changes the other day before taking on To Catch an Orc and Trouble in Tharbad (beating both) and in preparation for The Lost Realm which arrived last night and I have played through once so far.
These new verisons of the decks beat Intruders in Chetwood first attempt, Weather Hills on the fourth attempt after 3 losses and Deadmans Dike on the first attempt! Ranger summons ironically proved least useful in the lost realm after all the playing with it I have done as a proxy and only succeeded twice throughout my games, once in a game of Weather Hills that I lost anyway and once during Deadmans Dike (which was very cool and thematic! Don't want to give away spoilers here so won't say any more about this).
I took out a copy of Son of Arnor as there are too many high cost leadership allies that are hard to play with Steward of Gondor in play as well as this Son of Arnor is a very good ally but far less important than the Dunedain Hunters, Watchers or even the Naith Guides. I therefore look out just the one copy leaving them at x2 and replaced this with a third copy of Dagger of Westernesse. I then also added a copy of the neutral player side quest Gather Information.
For the spirit and lore deck I simply removed Gildor whom I almost never play (just too expensive... at 4 he would be so much more playable) and added a single copy of Wingfoot. Even though it is just x1 so far I have gotten lucky and used it in a handful of games to great effect on Elladan. I also put a copy of the neutral player side quest Gather Information to this deck as well.
Only used Gather Information once during Deadmans Dike and it was amazing allowing me to get out Steward of Gondor and Warden of Healing setting up my healing and defensive combo (elrohir+steward) for the rest of the game.
Gather Information seems really really good so long as you are not playing a quest with lots of time counters or cards that punish you for too many quest cards in play. So long as there is no hate for side quests in the game you are playing then you can even just keep it in play doing nothing until it is needed most. With its meager 4 quest points it can be quite easily explored within a turn or two and although it slows down progress on the main quest if you use a turtling or slower strategy this usually doesn't matter anyway as the majority of your progress is achieved after you build your combos and forces up. My decks aren't quite as slow as they used to be but still aren't exactly fast. You can still clear the active location and even if you fail to make progress on the side quest from a bad round of questing you would have also failed to put progress on the main quest even if it had been the current quest so there is really no downside. Most times it will detract you from the main quest for 1 or sometimes 2 turns and will in the process net whatever card each deck needs most instantly. If you have a great starting hand but are missing just one piece of a combo Gather Information can get it for you. It can also help you get healing, threat reduction, condition removal or even just a sneak attack for that expensive Gandalf in your hand when you need it most. Yes you can only run one copy but with one copy in each deck it will see play decently often and will be very handy when it does.
Edited by PsychoRocka