I've been a huge fan of this game, but I have a little secret - rarely play yet I keep buying everything... @_@ I decided to finally start playing this game for real and catalog my journey to play every quest do date. I started this blog to share my thoughts and experiences, but also to keep myself honest and stick to my goal.

I play exclusively on Easy mode and I don't build decks, I net deck instead. I just want to get in and play and not lose so much, and I'm not afraid to admit it. This is an Easy mode blog for all intents and purposes. I invite everyone to check it out, even if you only play Nightmare mode.

Very Late Adventurer

Cool. I'm a fan of blogs and I'm a fan of easy mode. I can power deck with the best of them, but easy mode allows for more exploration, experimentation, and strong theme builds. No shame in that.

Congratulations on your new blog, and good luck! It sounds like a niche that is not covered by the current LotR LCG blogo-sphere, so I think it's a worthy new addition to the community. I'll be sure to check it out every now and then!

This looks great! Good luck on your adventures; I'll check in frequently for sure!

edit: As for Easy Mode, my friends and I are slowly accepting that this is what we'll probably turn to, even though we've run some power decks as well. I don't think we've ever survived past the second or third round of Into Ithilien... I'm already resolved EM is how I'll play the game with my fiancée. It's simply more enjoyable if you can build thematic decks and still stand a decent chance of winning.

Looks good! I look forward to seeing more from you.

Looks cool, especially the part about banning Spirit Glorfindel! Too tired of seeing him everywhere as well, even if he is not as popular now as he used to be.

Great work! The approach you take is very similar to my own...I really like playing a great deal more than deck building and prefer kind of thematic decks...as a result I end up playing in easy mode (or some variation thereof) with some regularity. Excited to keep reading as you chronicle your games. Thanks!

also, the artwork you chose for your page is one of my favorite pieces in the game...gives such a good sense of searching through a dungeon.

Glad to see people are enjoying it. (I was a bit nervous sharing haha). It's very motivational!

I find Easy mode to be one of the best things to happen to this game since it's inception, 2nd only to Matt and Caleb's awesome design.

Great new blog, well done! The only thing I find a little silly is how much you frown upon spirit Glorfindel (lumping him in with outlands and dwarves) who yes is a little awesome but doesn't really do that much... just allows you to keep starting threat low and gives you access to Asfaloth but does not have any game breaking ability, but you then fully embrace the Gandalf hero who is about a million times stronger and more unbalanced then spirit Glorfindel and has an ability many would indeed call game breaking or too powerful.

I always find it very funny/interesting that everyone always has such a different and unique stance in regards to power cards.

Some people find Outlands to be "cheating" but have no problem running a Dain dwarf deck, then there are those who think both are dodgy but will play with the Gandalf Hero all the time and see no problem, then there are others that find Gandalf dodgy but will play a power dwarves or outlands deck. Its all so subjective really. I personally see nothing wrong with Glorfindel but avoid playing Gandalf, Outlands or Dwarves. I only avoid Outlands and Dwarves because they are not for me though and don't think either are quite as powerful or unbalanced as some make them out to be and both have their weaknesses.
Gandalf on the other hand (in my opinion) is by far the best hero and in a bad way, he lets you draw and play everything twice as fast, has stellar stats, has way too many very powerful toys and is all round just badass at everything. He has no weakness or shortcoming except for his high threat which you can mitigate by pairing him with low threat cost heroes.

My personal take on it - the problem with Dwarves with Dain, Outlands and Glorfindel is not simply their power level. It's that they're incredibly powerful and incredibly easy. Hero Gandalf can do some incredible things yes, but unlike the three aforementioned power examples, they actually require effort to pull off.

Gandalf is also more interesting. Outlands and Dwarves basically amount to armies of allies with great stats and nothing else really matters in those decks. Glorfindel is a similar principle as one individual character - he has fantastic stats and ridiculously low threat, but nothing else to make him interesting.

I do use Glorfindel sometimes, and I certainly wouldn't lump him in with Dwarves/Dain or Outlands, which I (almost) never play with, but I generally try to avoid him because I do consider him overpowered and, perhaps more importantly, I also find him boring.

Yeah you are right they are all definitely a lot easier to use and more boring than say a Silvan, Dunedain or Rohan/Gondor deck. Gandalf is also definitely more interesting and requires a fair bit of thought. To be completely honest my problem is with his abundance of very powerful toys more so than him. If just Gandalf and Wizard Pipe existed I would have no issue but the Staff and Shadowfax as well as Flame of Arnor just make him way too good whether or not he is more complex and interesting. He can do it all, draw you your whole deck so much faster, gain resources, discard shadow cards, swap the top card of your deck with a card in your hand, ranged and sentinel and lots of readying. Also treasure hunter on him is just stupid and completely eliminates the point of that attachment. He may take a little bit of setup and thinking but I don't know if effort is the right word?

Most Gandalf decks I see do not take much "effort" in fact I would say they trounce the encounter deck quite "effortlessly"

Good work, soullos. I encourage you to keep it up with the blog. Once you get a bit more content, I will include you in the blog link on the Hall of Beorn Card Search (I've already added you to the Community page and links sections of my blog). Good luck with the blog, and I look forward to future content.

As for the issue of power heroes, I can see where PsychoRocka is coming from. Until Spirit Merry was released, Glorfindel was essential to make my Hobbit Secrecy deck work. One thing that I have done with that deck to make it more interesting is to limit both Asfaloth and Light of Valinor to a single copy each. That makes Glorfindel a much more balanced hero, as I will often hold him back from questing to help with combat. It also highlights just how awesome Naith Guide's effect is. I agree that it is very subjective which heroes are over-powered. To me Gandalf is insanely powerful - much more so than Glorfindel. My wife really wanted a White Council deck, which was actually the first Hero Gandalf deck that I had ever built. Now that I am seeing it in action, it is even more powerful than I at first imagined it would be.

The most important thing for me is to play decks which reward good decision-making. This is why I try to stay away from Outlands or Dwarf decks (except for thematic reasons like against The Battle of Five Armies). Those decks are powerful, but they seem to me to have very narrow/limited possibilities for decision making. On the other hand, all of the variations I've played on Hobbit Surprise (optional engagement) Secrecy can be very powerful, but they involve some very interesting decisions. This is especially true as I've removed cards like Steward of Gondor and tried to tune the deck to be more thematically "pure". I acknowledge that this is an arbitrary decision on my part, and I make no judgements against others would include that card with Hobbits. Still I find that I really enjoy the challenge of making a thematic deck which is still quite power and at the same time involves many interesting decisions.

Hope all the best for your blog Soullos. It seems a very nice effort and I hope you keep up with it through your adventures in middle earth. I like the deck you use, I have only used him once but I find Spirit Merry a very usefull hero and with Galadriel and Bilbo they make an interesting company. But maybe you could add some secrecy cards (like resourcefull) with the threat reduction you can have there - I remember that you do not like deck building though.

As fow power heroes, I made a "white council" deck myself too like Beorns wife, Galadriel, Gandalf and Glorfindel, mostly because I love all three of them as characters in the books. I try to keep it a bit thematic also with Noldor allies only. It really seems very powerfull but it needs some time to build up. I've tried the three core set quests and won all of them on first attempt (ok, I did not expect anything elso on the two first of them, Dol Guldur was a good test though) and plan to run all the quests with it.

I think (like others above me here), it is a good idea to show the game from a different perspective. So, "thumbs up" and have fun!

Anyhow, I cannot fully understand why you start with the newer quests. (Ok, everyone wants always the newest shiniest parts of life..) Just, simply because older quests tend to be easier -with the grown card pool- nowadays. Beginning with them you'd have probably a better learning curve.

And a bit off topic, but that Golfindel (spirit) debate is bugging me:

He was/is a bit overused, indeed. I truly can understand that you do not want to pick deck including him. There are lots of stupid decks (without a concept) wich just include him as a no-brainer (his synergies are just with very few cards, which always fit in any deck). I think this is the real reason why he is hated so much. Other above mentioned "probably overpowered" types have their drawbacks, that is the difference - e.g. Gandalf needs more cards to set up and no player can use the ally version - or try playing a Outlands deck against an ally hate mission.

I guess, at the latest when the next cycle is releast everyone will (again) play Glorfindel, because of Noldor!

And as a hint: soullos, if you change your mind and want to try a Glorfindel deck, then pick "One Deck to Rule them All: Nightmare Edition".

As for power heroes, I made a "white council" deck myself too like Beorns wife, Galadriel, Gandalf and Glorfindel, mostly because I love all three of them as characters in the books.

I think when most people think of a White Council deck, they mean Galadriel, Gandalf and Elrond, not Glorfindel. It's not known for sure if Glorfindel was even on the council.

Good work, soullos. I encourage you to keep it up with the blog. Once you get a bit more content, I will include you in the blog link on the Hall of Beorn Card Search (I've already added you to the Community page and links sections of my blog). Good luck with the blog, and I look forward to future content.

Thank you. With all the support so far, I'm motivated more than ever to continue. This community is one of the best out there. I was inspired by your blog (and Tales from the Cards) to give a shot myself. I enjoy your content a lot.

Hope all the best for your blog Soullos. It seems a very nice effort and I hope you keep up with it through your adventures in middle earth. I like the deck you use, I have only used him once but I find Spirit Merry a very usefull hero and with Galadriel and Bilbo they make an interesting company. But maybe you could add some secrecy cards (like resourcefull) with the threat reduction you can have there - I remember that you do not like deck building though.

I don't mind tweaking decks, that's a necessary evil, even for me. You make a good point about resourceful. I totally forgot about that card. I might throw in a few more hard hitting ents, I notice attack power is on the weak side since I replaced Glorfindel with spirit Merry.

I think (like others above me here), it is a good idea to show the game from a different perspective. So, "thumbs up" and have fun!

Anyhow, I cannot fully understand why you start with the newer quests. (Ok, everyone wants always the newest shiniest parts of life..) Just, simply because older quests tend to be easier -with the grown card pool- nowadays. Beginning with them you'd have probably a better learning curve.

And as a hint: soullos, if you change your mind and want to try a Glorfindel deck, then pick "One Deck to Rule them All: Nightmare Edition".

I'm starting with the newer quests and going backwards for a few reasons. One, it's new and shiny. Two, I've played a lot of the Mirkwood and Core already when I first started playing so I wanted to do something new. Plus, they've been covered before in sequential order many times before. And lastly, that's what I'm in the mood for haha

I've been watching that thread. I do love a "the one deck to rule them all". It's a worthy goal, even if Glorfindel plays a key role in it's making. I might give it a whirl at some point.

And the continue the powerful heroes debate: PocketWraith hit the nail on the head and my thoughts mirror his. I don't mind powerful cards, but they have to be interestingly powerful. Hero Gandalf is very interesting to use and play. Glorfindel is just boring. He has no nuance or finesse.

As for power heroes, I made a "white council" deck myself too like Beorns wife, Galadriel, Gandalf and Glorfindel, mostly because I love all three of them as characters in the books.

I think when most people think of a White Council deck, they mean Galadriel, Gandalf and Elrond, not Glorfindel. It's not known for sure if Glorfindel was even on the council.

Just to clarify, the White Council deck that I made for my wife does not include Glorfindel - it has Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel. It mentioned Glorfindel as a hero that I had to include in my Hobbit Secrecy deck, until Spirit Merry was released.

Good luck with the blog, I was in the same boat (buying all the packs but rarely playing the game) at one point so I empathise.

It is a shame that spirit Glorfindel is so disliked by some players, and that he certainly can be considered overpowered. I almost always play him, but I've always played him for the theme and not for his power. Glorfindel is one of my favourite characters in the lore, Spirit is my favourite sphere and to me that card's artwork is one of the best in the game. I understand some of this weariness of Glorfindel is due to players putting him in decks where he has no thematic reason to be, but in a theme deck (which is what I always build - I cannot bring myself to play with unrelated characters for the sake of power) he is a hero like any other. And in multiplayer, one player running Glorfindel doesn't make a huge difference. It's not like he provides a universal boost like Dain.

Instead of banning Glorfindel, why not playing him without Light of Valinor... or try to play him without LOV in nightmare quests? I always fin it strange to ''ban'' cards, as if they were a disease or make those of us who use them feel like second grade players.

As for power heroes, I made a "white council" deck myself too like Beorns wife, Galadriel, Gandalf and Glorfindel, mostly because I love all three of them as characters in the books.

I think when most people think of a White Council deck, they mean Galadriel, Gandalf and Elrond, not Glorfindel. It's not known for sure if Glorfindel was even on the council.

Just to clarify, the White Council deck that I made for my wife does not include Glorfindel - it has Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel. It mentioned Glorfindel as a hero that I had to include in my Hobbit Secrecy deck, until Spirit Merry was released.

Well, I was not clear enough, I meant that I made a white council deck too as you did for your wife, did not know the heroes you were using. I have Elrond ally on my deck though

As for Glorfindel, no it is not known for sure, but it seems that he could be so I have him in

Good luck with your new blog. You already managed to spark quite the debate here, so keep up the good work.

My thoughts on Glorfindel and why he is so disliked is that he did several important things that players didn't have an alternative for. He was literaly the only 3 attack spirit character (hero or ally) for almost 3 cycles, he was the only 5 starting thread hero and Asfaloth was and still is THE superior location management card. So if you wanted any of those things, all of which are rather fundamental aspects of the game, your only choice was Glorfindel.

Elrond and Vilya are arguably more powerful, but rarely do you HAVE to include him in your deck. I think that's why so many people are bitter about including him in decks, they want to use something else, but can't. I've seen people appologize for using Glorfindel but never for Elrond.

Now we have Idrean, Theoden and Herugrim to provide more attack choices for spirit. And we have Mirlonde, Merry and Galadriel to keep threat low. And we have more locations specifically designed to counter Asfaloth. So slowly, his dominance on the meta-game has subsided. Just look at how many people in this topic mention switching Glorfindel for Merry.

Awesome stuff, great to see a new perspective and its also great to see it done with a mission statement of how you want to go about it. Good stuff!!