Does anyone have any suggestions. I decided to go back to the Core Set and start on the missions using only cards available at the point the quest became available.

The problem is that I never built a deck using just Core cards (I picked up the first couple of Quest Packs at the same time as I bought the Core set) and I can't figure out a decent hero combo using just core.

I'd say aragorn, theodred & eowyn.

I'll give that combo a try (I can't remember ever using Theodred in a game so it'll be a learning experience if nothing else).

On a similar note, I had a lot of success with Aragorn, Theodred and Denethor starting with the Core set and then continuing throughout most of the first cycle.

I think the problem has been that I've been using hero combos which work with later cards in the deck but not when I'm just playing with Core Set cards.

I had a lot of success early on with Eowyn, Theodred, Denethor. You need minions to do your attacking for you, but Theodred really smooths out resources, and Eowyn quests like a monster. And Denethor defends a lot of weak enemies with no trouble. (Not the Hill Troll, of course.)

I think that Beravor, Éowyn und Théodred are the best combination from the Core set.

I think that Beravor, Éowyn und Théodred are the best combination from the Core set.

True. There is a strong argument to be made for them based on this deck.

I think that Beravor, Éowyn und Théodred are the best combination from the Core set.

True. There is a strong argument to be made for them based on this deck.

Silverthorn, if you want a 50-card version of the deck that entMoot linked to in his previous post, I posted one here and it has worked well for me in Passage Through Mirkwood as well as Journey Along the Anduin: http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/108837-solo-player-one-handed-1-core-set-only-50-card-deck-that-defeated-journey-along-the-anduin/.

I have come to the conclusion that Escape from Dol Guldur cannot be defeated playing straight solo using only a single Core deck.

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I think that Beravor, Éowyn und Théodred are the best combination from the Core set.

True. There is a strong argument to be made for them based on this deck.

That Deck works very well. I play a 50 card version all the way from core to dwarrowdelf cycle. Very strong.

I have come to the conclusion that Escape from Dol Guldur cannot be defeated playing straight solo using only a single Core deck.

It ist hard work, but it can be done - with the deck that mention above. The deck have a 1:8 chance to win, in my opinion. I beat Dol Gulder 2 times with the deck. But I pimped the deck with a second core set....

I have come to the conclusion that Escape from Dol Guldur cannot be defeated playing straight solo using only a single Core deck.

It ist hard work, but it can be done - with the deck that mention above. The deck have a 1:8 chance to win, in my opinion. I beat Dol Gulder 2 times with the deck. But I pimped the deck with a second core set....

I intend to try to beat Dol Guldur straight solo with Core only cards (from 2-3 sets) in the near future, when I have a bit of time. But winning with cards from a single Core set? I remain sceptical that it can be done, even using the Beravor/Eowyn/Theodred deck. As an experiment, I once hand-picked my opening hand and still lost (and if you are randomly picking the prisoner, the odds are even worse). I should also point out that Xanalor made use of a 42-card deck, not a 50-card deck. I would love to see someone post a detailed game report of their straight solo victory against Escape from Dol Guldur using a 50-card deck from a single Core set (or even using Xanalor's 42-card deck).

What's worked best for me is Aragorn, Eowyn, and Theodred with the Attachments: Unexpected Courage (So Aragorn can attack/defend more than once per round, after utilizing his readying ability), The Favor of the Lady (Many of these attached to Eowyn at once constitutes quick accumulation of progress tokens on the quest/location card), Celebrian's Stone (So Aragorn can not only join resources with Theodred for Leadership cards, but also with Eowyn for Spirit card), and also using Faramir and the various scouts as allies

How many core sets are you using?

I'd go with Dunhere, Eowyn, and Denethor. 25 starting threat with a decent attacker, blocker, and quester, and the 2 best "1st player"/solo spheres to build your deck from.

For this experiment I'm using OCTGN so I'm not limited as far as numbers of cards go. I'll still be playing with physical cards with my 'anything goes' games.

I settled on a Dunhere, Eowyn, Legolas deck (mostly because I'd never tried a deck using Walther before) and I managed to get through Passage and Journey first time but I can't seem to get past the first phase of Escape from Dol Goldur. I'll give the Dunhere, Eowyn, Denethor combo a try since Dunhere's another seldom-used hero.

I managed to scrape a win on Escape from Dol Goldur using the Denethor, Dunhere & Eowyn combo although I was on 49 threat and every hero was on at least 2 damage. The last turn came down to if the Encounter draw was anything but a treachery I would have lost the game but I hit lucky by drawing the Shackles card (I can't remember the exact name).

Nice! Was that with one Core set only, Silverthorn? How many attempts before you succeeded? Who was the prisoner in stage 1? Did you randomly draw or choose the prisoner?

Just curious!

It was online so I could use three of any cards, the prisoner was Dunhere (selected randomly, I probably would have been up the creek if it hadn't been him) and I managed to fluke the win on my first attempt (If I had drawn anything but a treachery card in Stagung on the last turn I would have lost the game). All in all, the most flukey win I've ever pulled off in LOTR LCG.

I intend to try to beat Dol Guldur straight solo with Core only cards (from 2-3 sets) in the near future, when I have a bit of time. But winning with cards from a single Core set? I remain sceptical that it can be done, even using the Beravor/Eowyn/Theodred deck. As an experiment, I once hand-picked my opening hand and still lost (and if you are randomly picking the prisoner, the odds are even worse). I should also point out that Xanalor made use of a 42-card deck, not a 50-card deck. I would love to see someone post a detailed game report of their straight solo victory against Escape from Dol Guldur using a 50-card deck from a single Core set (or even using Xanalor's 42-card deck).

I played Dol Guldur with only Core cards (from 2 - 3 Core Sets). It works. I think, that it also worked, with the described deck - if you don't get with the limit of 50 cards....

For this experiment I'm using OCTGN so I'm not limited as far as numbers of cards go. I'll still be playing with physical cards with my 'anything goes' games.

I settled on a Dunhere, Eowyn, Legolas deck (mostly because I'd never tried a deck using Walther before) and I managed to get through Passage and Journey first time but I can't seem to get past the first phase of Escape from Dol Goldur. I'll give the Dunhere, Eowyn, Denethor combo a try since Dunhere's another seldom-used hero.

Just out of curiosity, I ended up building a 50-card deck with Dunhere, Eowyn and Denethor as heroes using a single Core set. I tested it against Journey Along the Anduin… it took me 19 rounds and my final threat was 48, but I succeeded on first try. Totally epic game! I thought the lack of Sneak Attacks and Steward of Gondor would have hampered me in a major way, but this time around, it didn't… who knows, may have been very lucky (I think I only lost 2 allies during the whole game).

Will eventually give this deck a try with Escape from Dol Guldur, first using a single Core set and, if necessary (which it probably will be for me), multiple Core sets.

Thanks for planting the seeds for this deck in my mind, silverthorn.

2/3 win ratio against Journey Along the Anduin over the past few days using the deck mentioned above.