The deckbuilding options are so vast in this cardpool it can be overwhelming. There are so many decks that have been inspired by the Land of Shadow and it's excellent cards. Here is a design I have had a lot of success with.

Traps Galore

Total Cards: 50

Heroes (starting threat: 27)

Damrod ( The Land of Shadow )

Galadriel ( Celebrimbor's Secret )

Háma ( The Long Dark )

Allies (19)

3x Derndingle Warrior ( Escape from Mount Gram )

1x Arwen Undómiel ( The Watcher in the Water )

3x Anborn ( The Blood of Gondor )

2x Galdor of the Havens ( The Treachery of Rhudaur )

1x Henamarth Riversong ( Core Set )

3x Mablung ( The Land of Shadow )

1x Wandering Ent ( Celebrimbor's Secret )

2x Warden of Healing ( The Long Dark )

1x Wellinghall Preserver ( Across the Ettenmoors )

2x Treebeard ( The Antlered Crown )

Attachments (19)

2x Spear of the Mark ( The Morgul Vale )

3x Mirror of Galadriel ( Celebrimbor's Secret )

2x Silver Harp ( The Treachery of Rhudaur )

1x Unexpected Courage ( Core Set )

3x Ambush ( The Land of Shadow )

3x Ithilien Pit ( Encounter at Amon Dîn )

2x Ranger Spikes ( Heirs of Númenor )

3x Nenya ( Celebrimbor's Secret )

Events (12)

3x Feint ( Core Set )

2x Quick Strike ( Core Set )

3x A Test of Will ( Core Set )

1x Will of the West ( Core Set )

3x Daeron's Runes ( Foundations of Stone )

So, the deck works by setting up a combo whereby you can play Ithilien Pit for free each turn. After it attaches to an enemy you use Quick Strike to kill said enemy during questing, using Hama to grab back the event (You need a second copy in discard. I only have 2 copies in the deck list because I only own 2 copies.) Anborn obviously fetches the trap back.

The rest of the deck is there to help set up the combo or delay until it gets set up. Galadriel is really a lore hero with Nenya. The ents are sprinkled in because they are too expensive and slow for early game and only needed to finish off bosses, etc. One of the surprise cards is Mablung. He is good because if an enemy sneaks through you can play ranger spikes and then use Mablung to bounce him into the staging area and be done with him. Silver Harp is sick crazy good with Hama. In fact, the card draw is insane overall.

Sounds cheeky! I like it

Even cheekier if you add Heurgrim to the deck and boost Hama's attack by an additional 5

I never thought of that because the Nenya ability is a quest action, but you are right. If you use Quick Strike during the quest phase than Hama can benefit from the wp boost. Nice.

If only Herugrim wasn't restricted (and didn't cost 3). I think I'd prefer a Spear of the Mark.

If only Herugrim wasn't restricted (and didn't cost 3). I think I'd prefer a Spear of the Mark.

Yes, I think Spear of the Mark is better, but not cheekier Herugrim doesn't actually add 5 attack because it is restricted. It's only a net benefit of 3 (still nothing to scoff at). I think it would entirely depend on the scenario, though. If the scenario is filled with 8+ total defenses (HP / Def combined) then perhaps you would need extra reach in order to make it work. In general, Spear of the Mark is just better due to its cost effectiveness.

Very creative! Sounds fun to play too.

Have you tried Dunedain Cache+Hands upon the Bow with Hama? Or even Elf-friend+Rivendell Bow+Hands upon the Bow? They seem to rely on less moving parts and you get the +1 attack from Hands. Maybe I will try it out.

When you use Quick Strike or Hands Upon the Bow with Hama, can you get the event back right away, or is it not in your discard pile yet? I fear you would need 2 copies of QS/HUTB to actually cycle it every turn.

You do need 2 copies. Pretty easy to get them with Galadriel though.

Easy to get, but we're talking probably at least turn 4 before you get the Mirror, Harp, a weapon (or 2), and 2 copies of the event. How does this deck perform in the early game?

I probably experiment with Hama more than any other hero. He feels as common as Glorfindel. I have indeed tried giving Hama range to go into a Hands upon th Bow recycle combo. I have never made a deck I was happy with, mainly because it is so hard to get the combo set up.

The reason this deck works is because of Damrod. His cost reduction effect is essential as well as his card draw. Before the combo sets up you can play Ambush for 1 resource and have a close result to quick strike. It helps you dig down. Also, there are 3 copies of feint so you can do the standard feint recycle while you wait. If you get Treebeard and at least 1 Derndingle, you are basically invincible. The deck can struggle at the beginning, especially with questing, where it can just get overwhelmed on certain quests with high starting threat, but it is a surprisingly consistent and fast deck because (again) of Damrod's cost reduction and card draw.

I tried the deck out against a couple different quests. I found the card draw to be quite good but it meant I was constantly starved for resources. With Hama's resource being spent for an event each turn I'm not sure how I'm supposed to get any tactics cards into play. I guess Treebeard can pay Derndingle warriors starting on the 4th turn (if you get Treebeard into play on turn 2), so they become useful on the 5th, which is quite late. Anborn with 4 cost never made it into play either. The Harp/Mirror/Test of Will also need to get played so Galadriel's resources are spoken for. And you also probably want some allies to help with questing because you start off with only 2 WP. This normally leads me to an early threat raise and I need to keep up feint to deal with enemies engaging me and I never get to use the Pit combo.

Maybe the quests I am trying are too difficult.

Your experience sounds somewhat reasonable. I have adjusted the deck list as I play and reduced Anborn and Ithilien Pit to 2 copies. Both are useless early. I have increased Spear of the Mark to 3 copies. Also, Wandering Ent should obviously be Quickbeam. Anyway, Ents are problematic with Galadriel because they have anti-synergy with her ability. I have cut Wellinghall and worked in 3 copies of core Gandalf because he is just so good.

As for not having resources of the right color, I play Mablung early to quest without exhausting and then chump block. This frees up turns to play spear on Hama. Also, if you use Ambush or Ranger Spikes this gives Hama a chance to set up. I don't play the pit until Hama has two spears and quick strike. I only use Treebeard to pay for Derndingle.

I have had a lot of success once you get past the low willpower phase at the start. Most games I get the combo to work and from then on the encounter deck can't do anything.

I have adjusted the deck list as I play and reduced Anborn and Ithilien Pit to 2 copies. Both are useless early. I have increased Spear of the Mark to 3 copies. Also, Wandering Ent should obviously be Quickbeam. Anyway, Ents are problematic with Galadriel because they have anti-synergy with her ability. I have cut Wellinghall and worked in 3 copies of core Gandalf because he is just so good.

Nice.. can you edit your deck above?

Thanks for the update Duke, I will give it a try when I get a chance. I think I may have just been playing it wrong. Is there a decently tough quest I can test it on?

I only have 2 copies in the deck list because I only own 2 copies.

But 3 copies of test of will and feint?

It turns out I was confusing it with swift strike. I actually do have 3 copies (at least) and I have updated my decklist.

@Seastan I haven't been able to play it enough to give you a hard quest the deck beats consistently, but I did beat Morgul Vale with it. I don't know if it was a lucky win or not. Mainly it was a ranger spikes on first boss that let me slow play and get setup. The rest was cake.

Tried it once yesterday againts Battle of Carn Dum (the new benchmark quest to test decks, I guess... and one Nightmare pack I won't be buying...), and got my arse served on a pretty hot plate. I threated out and also starevd for resources... but I played the deck version you posted without reading the comments about including Gandalf and other cards.

But I'll sure try the tweaked version, because I think that this heroes combo can be very, very powerful (I had the 2 harps on the table at one point, and it was ridiculous with Galdor and the Mirror!).

A few suggestions : Wingfoot on Damrod, and Elrond's Concil. Also 3 Harps and 3 Mirror, but maybe 2 Nenya, and 1 more Unexpected Courage, instaed of some Ents.

I agree that the ents have not worked out so well, but Treebeard is the only resource acceleration. The main thing is Galadriel's ability to allow allies not to exhaust on first round. I think maybe some silvan refugees for early game questing and chump blocking. I've thought about putting in good harvest and Steward of Gondor. I've also considered Elrond's Council but I figured with Galadriel that I would be able to keep threat low. I did not think of wingfoot on Damrod, but that seems obvious. Not sure the stats on the heroes are high enough for second UC, but maybe. Good comments.

Playing Lore Aragorn without Wingfoot is asking for trouble.

I just wanted to update those that seemed interested in this deck. I have been play testing it a ton and experimenting with a lot of different cards and styles. I have become convinced that my early success was due more to luck than to the quality of the deck. The main problem is that it is so weak early on, particularly in questing, that you can become landlocked and die before you have a chance to stabilize. I feel like Galadriel's drawbacks are so harsh it is like starting with 2 heroes and you have to have something very strong to make up for that. I was having success holding the encounter back with traps and chump blockers, but my luck began to normalize and I found that happening less and less. I had some better performance with "free" allies like elven jeweler and curious brandybuck, as well as the great erebor Hammersmith (who actually works quite well with traps at half the cost of Anborn), but even with those tweaks I can't get the deck to perform consistently against anything beyond the easy stuff. Back to the drawing board.

Just throwing out suggestions here...

- Galadriel

+ Sam Gamgee

- Spirit cards (-11)

- Nenya (-3)

+ Steward (3)

+ Tighten our belts (2)

+ Peace and Thought (2)

+ Fast Hitch (2)

+ Sneak (3) Gandalf (2)

Or

- Galadriel

+ Arwen

- Nenya/Mirror

- Arwen Ally

+ Elvish Light

+ Galadriel's Handmaiden

I think Arwen with Song of Wisdom fits perfectly into this deck. I've tried it with Eowyn + Song of Wisdom (because my friend uses Galadriel in his silvan deck) and it was ok .. exhaust Eowyn + a not-discarded card by Silver Harp makes 5 WIL or 6 if my friend discards one. So, Willpower will be better. But instead you loose the opportunity to reduce your thread by Galadriel.

Playing this deck without spirit will cause you to discard cards by Hama, which is not wanted. But playing with leadership will bring you more flexibilities like Sneak Mablung, Steward and Tighten your belts. Perhaps using a dwarf like Gloin or Balin with Narvi's Belt could be good.