After 100+ attempts I finally managed to put together the right combination of cards and luck to beat Escape from Dol Guldur (Nightmare) in solo play.

This nightmare deck presents several challenges other than the obvious lack of hero. It starts with 3 cards revealed from the encounter deck, lots of painful shadow effects, and lots of threat increase.

After attempting it with various hero combinations, I realized that a successful deck would need to have heroes with lots of action advantage and a way to survive the initial onslaught. It also needed to get strong, fast. I initially tried Elrond with Boromir but abandoned Boromir for Beorn after failing several times due to high threat.

The basic strategy of the deck is to use Beorn to stall for time while Elrond and Vilya pump out expensive allies. Once you're in a strong position you push through the last stages and kill the Nazgul in a couple of turns.

You'll note that the basic strategy requires Glorfindel to be captured, so this deck is still going to lose 2 out of every 3 games at minimum. To have any reasonable shot at winning you need Glorfindel captured, Vilya in opening hand, and better than average luck from the encounter deck. Most of the 100+ games involved taking a loss and resetting before turn 1.

Here is the decklist. Theme players beware!

o8d file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ad5z949fu4s8jfh/Vilrond_Escaper.o8d?dl=0

Total Cards: (50)

Hero: (3)

1x Elrond (Shadow and Flame)

1x Beorn (Over Hill and Under Hill)

1x Glorfindel (Foundations of Stone)

Ally: (39)

2x Beorning Beekeeper (Conflict at the Carrock)

1x Boromir (The Road Darkens)

1x Brok Ironfist (Core Set)

1x Denethor (Encounter at Amon Dîn)

3x Descendant of Thorondor (The Hills of Emyn Muil)

3x Eagles of the Misty Mountains (Return to Mirkwood)

1x Elfhelm (The Dead Marshes)

1x Erestor (The Long Dark)

1x Faramir (Core Set)

3x Gandalf (Core Set)

1x Gildor Inglorion (The Hills of Emyn Muil)

1x Gwaihir (Trouble in Tharbad)

1x Haldir of Lorien (A Journey to Rhosgobel)

1x Landroval (A Journey to Rhosgobel)

3x Northern Tracker (Core Set)

1x Radagast (A Journey to Rhosgobel)

1x Rúmil (The Three Trials)

3x Veteran of Nanduhirion (Khazad-dum)

3x Galadriel (The Road Darkens)

3x Dunedain Watcher (The Dead Marshes)

1x Arwen Undomiel (The Watcher in the Water)

3x Imladris Stargazer (Foundations of Stone)

Attachment: (6)

3x Vilya (Shadow and Flame)

1x Light of Valinor (Foundations of Stone)

1x Path of Need (Foundations of Stone)

1x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)

Event: (5)

2x The Galadhrim's Greeting (Core Set)

3x Timely Aid (The Redhorn Gate)

1. Landroval's ability works on Beorn and is a very powerful combo.
2. Getting Steward early helps a lot. It allows you to play one ally from hand and one from Vilya each turn (Vilya allies don't coun't against 1 ally/turn limit).
3. Elfhelm's ability is handy for the +threat from objectives.
4. If an attachment/event you want to play is in your hand, use Gildor to put them on top of your deck. Works great if you can play Galadriel immediately after.
5. Nightmare mode severly punishes you for unclaimed objectives. Put the map on Elrond when it's free, don't be in a big rush to kill off strength 1 enemies guarding the other objectives.
6. Stay in 1B as long as you can. It's best to advance to the next stage when you have the strength to defeat the Nazgul in one turn.
7. In general, I attach the Map to Elrond and the other two to Glorfindel.
8. Letting Glorfinedel die as soon as you reach Stage 3 is a good way of getting rid of some objectives.

• Map: The Necromancer's Reach (no effect, discard)
• Torch: Endless Caverns. Doomed 1 (T31). Surge. Great Forest Web added to staging area.
• Key: Dol Guldur Beastmaster.

• Draw Veteran.
• Play Vilya.
• Attach Map to Elrond (T33).
• Exhaust Vilya+Elrond: Put Eagles of the Misty Mountains (EotMM2) into play.
• Quest with EotMM1 (2).
• Reveal Torture Chamber.
• Threat +6 (T39).
• Travel to Torture Chamber.
• Engage Beastmaster.
• Beorn defends Beastmaster, no shadows, 2 damage taken (2/10).
• Beorn attacks Beastmaster (4/5).
• Add 1 resource to Torture Chamber (1/4).

• Draw Descendant1.
• Vilrond: Galadriel. Vilya was the only attachment in the top 5. Sort Stargazer (to draw) then Gandalf (for Vilrond).
• Quest with EotMM1 and Galadriel (5).
• Reveal Eyes of the Forest (no effect).
• 2 progress on Torture Chamber (2/6).
• Beorn defends Beastmaster, no shadows, 2 damage taken (4/10).
• Beorn defeats Beastmaster. Key unattached.
• Discard Galadriel.
• Add 1 resource to Torture Chamber (2/4).

• Draw Stargazer.
• Vilrond: Gangalf. Lower threat (T36).
• Play EotMM1.
• Quest with EotMM1, EotMM2, Gandalf (8).
• Reveal Dungeon Jailor.
• 4 progress on Torture Chamber (6/6).
• Travel to Great Forest Web. Exhaust Beorn.
• Engage Dungeon Jailor.
• Undefended attack. No shadow. 2 damage on Elrond (2/4).
• Discard Gandalf.

• Draw Radagast.
• Vilrond: Descendant2.
• Quest with EotMM1, EotMM2.
• Reveal Hummerhorns.
• 2 progress on Great Forest Web (2/2).
• Travel to Endless Caverns.
• Descendant2 defends Jailor. Shadow Cavern Guadian. Return Map to staging area. Descendant2 takes 1 damage (1/2).
• Beorn attacks Jailor (2/5).

• Draw Vilya.
• Play Descendant1. Damage Hummerhorns (2/3).
• Vilrond: Galadriel. Steward in top 5, put on Elrond. Sort Stargazer (to draw) and Light of Valinor (for Vilrond).
• Quest with EotMM1, EotMM2, Galadriel (7).
• Reveal King Spider. Exhaust Descendant1.
• 3 progress on Endless Cavers (3/3), 1 progress on 1B (1/9). Torch unattached.
• After engagement phase, attach map to Elrond (T40) (Didn't do this immediately because Hummerhorns engage at 40).
• Descendant2 defends King Spider. No shadow. Decendant2 defeated, placed under EotMM1. Trigger Descendant2 response, kill off Hummerhorns.
• Beorn Defends Jailor. No shadow. Takes 1 damage (5/10).
• Beorn defeats King Spider.
• Exhaust Steward. Resources now 2/0.
• Discard Galadriel.

• Draw Stargazer.
• Exhaust Steward (R 5/1).
• Play Galadriel (R 2/1). Put Light of Valinor on Elrond. Top of deck now Greeting, Erestor, Greeting, Timely Aid.
• Quest Elrond, Galadriel, EotMM1 (8).
• Vilrond: Greeting (T35).
• Reveal Dol Guldur Orcs. Deal 2 damage to Galadriel.
• 6 progress on 1B (7/9).
• Engage Orcs.
• Havent seen any Spiders of Dol Guldur yet, and with 2 unattached objectives it is better to sacrifice allies than lose Beorn, since we don't currently have any shadow cancellation.
• EotMM2 defends Jailor. No shadow, no damage.
• Descendant1 defends Orcs. Shadow Spiders of Dol Guldur. Descendant1 dies, place under EotMM1 (2 attachments now).
• Beorn defeats Orcs.
• Discard Galadriel.

• Draw Erestor.
• Exhaust Steward (R 5/2).
• Play Stargazer (R 3/2).
• Exhaust Stargazer. Put Timely Aid on top.
• Quest Elrond (3). Not much questing, want to stay on 1B as long as possible. Vilrond: Timely Aid: Brok.
• Reveal and discard Sentinel of Shadow.
• 1 progress on 1B (8/9).
• Brok defends Jailor. Shadow Ungoliant's Spawn (T40).
• Beorn, EotMM1, EotMM2 defeat Jailor.

• Draw Path of Need.
• Exhaust Steward (R 6/3).
• Play Elfhelm (R 2/3).
• Exhaust Stargazer. Top is Dunedain Watcher, Descendant3, Gandalf.
• Quest with Elrond. Vilrond: Watcher.
• Reveal and discard Catacomb inspection. Surge. Reveal The Necromancer's Reach.
• 1 damage to Elrond (3/4) and Stargazer. Discard Stargazer.
• 3 progress on 1B, advance to Stage 2.

• Draw Descendant3.
• Exhaust Steward (R 5/4).
• Play Descendant3 (R 5/0).
• Quest Elrond. Vilrond: Gandalf (T37). Quest Watcher (4).
• Reveal Cavern Guardian. Elfhelm cancels doomed 1.
• 2 progress on quest (2/15).
• Free Glorfindel. Add Nazgul to staging area.
• Attach Torch and Key to Glorfindel (T39) (threat only +2 because Elfhelm).
• Engage Carvern Guardian and Nazgul.
• Gandalf defends Nazgul. Shadow Torture Master. No consequence, but Nazgul's effect triggers. Put Descendant3 under EotMM1 (3 attachments).
• Elfhelm defends Guardian. No shadow, no damage.
• Beorn, Glorfindel, EotMM1 attack (13) and defeat Nazgul.
• EotMM2 and Brok defeat Guardian.
• 1 damage on Glorfindel from Key (1/5).
• +1 threat from Torch (T40).

• Draw Veteran.
• Exhaust Steward (R 8/1/1).
• Play Stargazer (R 7/1/0).
• Exhaust Stargazer. Put Gildor on top.
• Quest Elrond. Vilrond: Gildor. Quest Gildor, Watcher, Brok, EotMM1, EotMM2 Glorfindel (T42) (16).
• Reveal Dungeon Jailor.
• 14 progress on 2B (15/15), advance to Stage 3.
• Engage Jailor.
• Elfhelm defends Jailor. No shadow, no damage.
• Beorn attacks Jailor, deals 2 damage (2/5).
• 1 damage on Glorfindel from Key (2/5).
• +1 threat from Torch (T43).

• Draw Dunedain Watcher2.
• Exhaust Steward (R 10/2/1).
• Exhaust Stargazer: Put Greeting on top.
• Play Beekeeper (R 8/0/1).
• Play Northern Tracker (5/0/0).
• Play Watcher2 (2/0/0).
• Put top card of deck face down, engaged with me as an orc guard.
• Quest Elrond. Vilrond: Greeting (T38). Quest Tracker, Beekeeper, Gildor, Watcher1, Watcher2, Brok, EotMM1, EotMM2 (16).
• Reveal Dark Interrogation. Discard down to 2 cards.
• 16 progress on 3B (7/7).

Having only recently defeated Escape from Dol Guldur (std) straight solo using Core set cards only, I don't think I even want to think about just how brutal the Nightmare version must be, and probably won't touch it for another year or so… not until I catch up on all the currently available expansions and adventure packs. I just started playing the Khazad-Dum quests, so yeah, I've got time…

But thanks for posting this deck, it may come in handy when I finally get there… I admire your tenacity!

After 100+ attempts I finally managed to put together the right combination of cards and luck to beat Escape from Dol Guldur (Nightmare) in solo play.

Nice, my "One deck to rule them all" looks kinda similar (it have less bears and eagles and bunch of unexpected courages and asfaloth), tho i do not have nightmare dol guldur.

After 100+ attempts I finally managed to put together the right combination of cards and luck to beat Escape from Dol Guldur (Nightmare) in solo play.

You, sir, have too much time on your hands if you played over 100 attempts on a single quest. I know many/most ended very quickly, but still.

After 100+ attempts I finally managed to put together the right combination of cards and luck to beat Escape from Dol Guldur (Nightmare) in solo play.

You, sir, have too much time on your hands if you played over 100 attempts on a single quest. I know many/most ended very quickly, but still.

It took a few hours, but nothing too crazy. There were only about 5 games or so that went past the 5th turn. I just really wanted to figure out this quest as it seems to be the hardest challenge available to a solo deck, especially now that Galadriel trivializes Shadow and Flame Nightmare.

How do the Leadership events and attachments get paid for?

How do the Leadership events and attachments get paid for?

You can put them into play for free with Elrond and Vilya.

Impressive, but there's a mistake in your example playthrough - Galadriel's response is only when she's played from hand, so you can't trigger it if you Vilya her off the top of your deck (which you did twice).

Impressive, but there's a mistake in your example playthrough - Galadriel's response is only when she's played from hand, so you can't trigger it if you Vilya her off the top of your deck (which you did twice).

Thanks for pointing that out, I missed that and it likely had a significant impact on the outcome. It seems that Galadriel isn't as powerful as I originally thought, but I think the quest is still beatable with this deck. I will attempt it again with the correction.

Swapped out 1 Galadriel for another Light of Valinor. I had forgotten in my previous attempts that Elrond can pay for Light of Valinor directly if he's wearing Vilya. I feel like the deck is much more powerful with this knowledge, and only took me 4 attempts to get a victory (assuming I didn't make any more game-breaking mistakes).

Gameplay log:

• Draw Beekeeper
• Map on Elrond (T33)
• Vilrond: Gwaihir. No eagles in discard.
• Quest 2. Reveal Labyrinth (T34).
• Beorn defends and kills Captive (T41)

• Draw Beekeeper.
• Vilrond: Northern Tracker.
• Quest 3. Reveal Cavern Guardian (T43). 1 progress on Labyrinth.
• Beorn defends (1/10) and kills Guardian.

• Draw Watcher
• Vilrond: EotMM.
• Quest 3. Reveal Great Forest Web. 1 progress on Labyrinth.

• Draw Tracker.
• Vilrond: Light of Valinor, attach to Elrond.
• Play Watcher.
• Quest all allies (6). Reveal Jailor. 3 progress on Labyrinth.
• Beorn Defends Jailor. Shadow: Spider of Dol Guldur. 7 damage on Beorn (8/10).
• Beorn attacks Jailor.

• Draw Timely Aid.
• Play Beekeeper.
• Vilrond (now occurring in quest phase after Elrond quests): Steward, attach to Elrond.
• Play Greeting (T40).
• Quest 7, Tracker discards Great Forest Web.
• Reveal Endless Caverns (T41), Spider of Dol Guldur, Torture Master. (T43).
• Defend with Beorn (9/10) and Gwaihir (2/4).
• Beorn and Beekeeper kill Jailor.

• Draw Gandalf.
• Vilrond: Gandalf (T39).
• Quest 4. Reveal King Spider. 2 progress on Labyrinth.
• Defend with Beorn, EotMM, and Beekeeper. Beorn fine, EotMM damaged, Beekeeper killed. Ungoliants spawn as shadow (T43).
• Beorn and Gandalf kill Spider of Dol Guldur.

• Draw Descendant.
• Play Timely Aid: Landroval.
• Vilrond: Watcher.
• Play Descendant.
• Quest 7. Reveal Hummerhorns. Complete Labyrinth and put 2 progress on 1B. Travel to Caverns.
• Hummerhorns kill Beorn, bring Beorn back with Landroval.
• Beorn defends Hummer and Torture Master and Tracker defends King Spider. Discard a Watcher to cancel a Torture Master shadow. Both take 1 damage.
• Beorn kills King Spider, Gwaihir kills Hummer.

• Draw Arwen.
• Play Arwen.
• Vilrond: Stargazer. Using Stargazer every turn now.
• Quest 6. Reveal Torture Chamber. Complete Caverns and put 1 progress on 1B. Travel to Torture Chamber.
• Gwaihir defends Torture Master.
• Beorn, EotMM, Descentant kill Torture Master.

• Draw Greeting.
• Play Greeting (T40).
• Vilrond: EotMM2.
• Quest 12. Reveal Sentinel of Shadow. Complete Torture Chamber and place 4 progress on 1B.

• Draw Elfhelm.
• Play Elfhelm.
• Vilrond: Boromir.
• Quest 9. Reveal Captive. Advance to stage 2.
• Gwaihir defends Captive.

• Draw Watcher.
• Vilrond: Gandalf (T37).
• Quest 17 (Elrond, EotMM x2, Arwen, Watcher, Gandalf, Descendant, Gwaihir).
• Reveal Jailor. Place 15 progress on 2B. Free Glorfindel.
• Optionally engage Nazgul, leave Jailor in staging.
• Take last 2 objectives (T39). Advance to stage 3.
• Beorn defends Captive.
• Defend Nazgul with Boromir. Shadow is Cavern Guardian: return Map. Take 1 damage, ready Boromir.
• Discard WotB from Nazgul's effect.
• Beorn, Glorfindel, Boromir, Elfhelm kill Nazgul.