Riding the wave of the recent spoilers and speculations about a proper line-up, I have, thus far, come to this conclusion, that the above line-up fits Silvan best.

I had not previously been very fond of the doomed decks but here it just clicked right for me. Using the obvious Silvan card pool, including spoilers such as Naith Guide, The Tree People and Nenya, and Saruman, Deep Knowledge and Legacy of Númenor out of the doomed cards, the decks has performed wonderfully against the Black Riders and Voice of Isengard. I was especially surprised how it handled a bit more combatant quests like A Knife in the Dark.

The bad thing about the deck is how badly it will probably perform in coop. I am not into having Desperate Alliance in there. But in solo, with Henamarth being perhaps the most valuable card again, it really seems to shine.

ps: Legacy of Númenor and Gaining Strength is a great opening combo.

pps: Sword that was Broken is great here to give Strider the Leadership icon; and just imagine Silvan Refugee quests for 4 on the round she enters play, staying ready to chump, and Gandalf for 5 and being ready... and, of course, Word of Command for either of the Istari

So... Aragorn and the in-laws?

Not the in-laws, Arwen is the daughter of Elrond and Celebrian

It is however his grandmother and father-in law!

I know. I would still call them in-laws.

Either way, try it out if you are into the proxy thing. But yes, it is as thematic as it gets, I'd say.

Wow... I like this deck. I tried it. Got Sword that was Broken, Legacy of Numenor, Steward of Gondor, Gaining Strength, and Naith Guide on the first turn. Played LoN to get 2 resources on everyone. Played GS on Celeborn to have 3 and played StwB onto Aragorn. Then played SoG onto Aragorn (who now is Leadership thanks to StwB) then used SoG to pay for Naith Guide.

Spent 7 resources (with 2 left on Galadriel) on turn 1!

Then quested for 10 while only exhausting Aragorn:

Aragorn = 2 + 1StwB

Celeborn = 3 + 1StwB (no exhaust thanks to Naith Guide)

Naith Guide = 1 + 1Celeborn + 1StwB (no exhaust thanks to Galadriel)

If I also woulda had Nenya and Silvan Refugee in my hand, I coulda had 8 more willpower while only adding Galadriel to the exhausted characters:

Galadriel gives +4 willpower to a character

Silvan Refugee = 2 + 1Celeborn + 1StwB (no exhaust thanks to Galadriel)

I'll never see that combo show up in the opening hand again, but it was pretty ridiculous.

New sitcom coming to NBC this spring!

Yeah, this is pretty extreme but I have had crazy good opening in many of my games -- I would say every third or so. There are just so many powerful options, and most of them cheap: Silvan Refugee, The Tree People, Naith Guide, Henamarth Riversong, together with doomed and Gaining Strength, these cards just make the opening rounds much easier in general. And the opening rounds usually determine the whole game.

And I do not even run Steward of Gondor (not thematic enough) in the deck, and have been managing resources just fine so far -- I also usually just use one Legacy of Númenor per game even when I draw more. I try to use Galadriel for her ability as much as possible even when she's got Nenya (which is still good for giving her the Lore icon).

I have yet to try more quests with the deck but it has quickly become one of my all-time favourites.

I've played 4 games so far: Passage Through Mirkwood, Hunt for Gollum, Dead Marshes, and Return to Mirkwood. I'm loving it. I think Celeborn's and Galadriel's combined abilities make them the best combo for starting games. +1 to multiple stats plus not exhausting to quest does a LOT to make the early game easier. Now, if only their abilities could affect the heroes .

I think Steward of Gondor makes sense enough thematically for Aragorn. He essentially replaces the SoG. Oh and boy is Henemarth and Wingfoot a good combo. It seems like more often than not, my characters are ready after they quested.

And Silvan Tracker keeps the big guys (Celeborn, Haldir, other Silvan Trackers) standing forever! I love having 2 Trackers out. Everyone can take 2 damage and recover easily.

You are right, SoG is not really anti-thematic here, Strider is almost as Gandalf in this regard, very universal (such a cheat, haha). Well, I might add a copy into the mix. And yes, Henemarth had already been excellent but Celeborn and Galadriel just make him god-like, and Wingfoot or the likes is another bonus.

I decided to post my deck:

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/108294-silvan-in-laws/