I mentioned this deck in another thread. It's been fun and reasonably effective so far, so I thought I might post it and see if it the community can refine it! This is a multiplayer deck, and relies on other players to do the questing.

It combines Beorn with Damrod, in case that wasn't obvious from the title. Tactics Aragorn takes up the third slot for some -defense (helps Beorn) and some attack-avoiding shenanigans. I enjoy this deck because it has just the right level of Lore trickery to keep me entertained while I play, as well as letting me go all smashy-smashy with Tactics in a satisfying way.

Total Cards: (50)

Hero: (3) 1x Beorn (Over Hill and Under Hill)

1x Damrod (The Land of Shadow)

1x Aragorn (The Lost Realm)

Ally: (18)

3x Honour Guard (The Wastes of Eriador)

2x Landroval (A Journey to Rhosgobel)

1x Veteran Axehand (Core Set)

3x Westfold Outrider (The Voice of Isengard)

2x Quickbeam (The Treason of Saruman)

3x Anborn (The Blood of Gondor)

2x Master of the Forge (Shadow and Flame)

2x Dori (Over Hill and Under Hill)

Attachment: (20)

3x Ambush (The Land of Shadow)

3x Secret Vigil (The Lost Realm)

3x Ranger Spikes (Heirs of Numenor)

3x Dagger of Westernesse (The Black Riders)

3x Rohan Warhorse (The Voice of Isengard)

3x Poisoned Stakes (The Blood of Gondor)

2x Elf-stone (The Black Riders)

Event: (12)

3x Feint (Core Set)

3x Foe-hammer (Over Hill and Under Hill)

3x Daeron's Runes (Foundations of Stone)

3x A Good Harvest (The Steward's Fear)

Side Quest: (0)

This deck aims to:

-Use traps as a combination attack avoidance and card draw

-Use Beorn and Aragorn together to defeat an enemy up to 9 def+HP right out of the gate (as long as it has at least 1 def)

-Get a Dagger and a Warhorse on Aragorn extra killing power, including avoiding an attack through Aragorn's ability

-Attack before being attacked (Aragorn's ability, Feint, Ambush). In particular, use ally Anborn to recycle Ambush every round.

-use Beorn to tank (hence Dori, Landroval, Honour Guards)

One fun trick I managed to pull off once: if Beorn is near death, you can go out in a blaze of glory. When engaged with 2 enemies, one of which has Ambush attacked, defend with Beorn and then, before resolving the attack, trigger the Ambush on the other enemy. Beorn (and other characters) resolve that attack and defeat that enemy, then you finish resolving the original attack, and Beorn is killed. Hopefully you have Landroval on the table at that point, so Beorn can pop right back in and counter-attack.

Problems:

-resource generation for Lore. It helps if a companion deck can toss a few resources Damrod's way. Card draw is great as long as you're snaring enemies, but you can't pay for Anborn very easily, and he's a key part of the deck. A Good Harvest and Elf-stone are there to help.

-defense in very aggressive quests. Beorn ca only handle so much, and the deck doesn't really have other defensive options. It's a strike-first kind of deck so you need to get that going. When too many high attack enemies get engaged, you can get into trouble.

Poisoned Stakes can be useful to prevent enemies from hanging around until the next turn. At first I put this trap in there because I thought Beorn wouldn't be able to finish some enemies off on his own, and this card could finish them (allowing other characters to use their actions for other purposes). In practice I usually want Aragorn to participate in an attack that destroys an enemy (for his ability and for Foe-hammer), and Beorn+Aragorn together will take out most enemies. So Beorn usually isn't benefiting from Poisoned Stakes. Aragorn can, as it turns out. With a dagger + his -def ability he is swinging for 4 to 6 depending on the enemy, so you can end up with an enemy surviving, and with some Stakes attached if you planned it right. That said, this is the most situational trap in the deck, and I swapped it once for Ithilien Pit (free card draw with Damrod around) and didn't really miss the Stakes. Although with such high threat I couldn't make great use of the Pit itself.

Hi GrandSpleen,

nice deck .. what comes into my mind:

- Erebor Hammersmith can do the same job as Anborn, is not unique and is cheaper

- Using Mablung ally to "punch" engaged enemies into lonely traps in the staging area.

- To make Dori a good "damage receiver" you can attach Self Preservation or/and ring mail on him.

I like your idea of your blaze of glory idea.

I like the combination of Tactigorn and Damrod a lot. The enemies you want to Snare are normally the high-attack, high-engagement cost enemies, so Aragorn lets you engage and Snare them before they get a chance to attack.

And that's a neat trick with Ambush!

Nice. Wouldn't Horn's Cry be worth it with Beorn? I know you are already running Honour Guard...

Have you thought about Close Call? Or is that just too many cards dedicated to Beorn?

Thanks for the suggestions so far all!

Erebor Hammersmith is a nice idea. He's not repeatable, but you can get two traps back for the same price as Anborn (and you can use their action for something other than recycling). Might not always be able to grab the trap that I want, though.

I could see myself boosting up Dori as well. He is a bit fragile and needs some healing (have been relying on companion decks for this). Dori tends to be lower priority over other Lore cards (Anborn, traps) but if you can get him out consistently and somehow manage to get set up early, you'd have a nice Beorn-Dori-Honour Guard defense going on. It's a lot of moving parts..

Mablung ally is also a nice idea for when the hero is not in play. Probably could take Quickbeam's place.

I had not thought about Horn's Cry at all, I forgot about that card. Haven't had a chance to use it yet, and this seems like the right deck to try it out for sure. I will probably do a non-trap version of this for the first quest of the Grey Havens box, I think I'll put Horn's Cry in there and see how it goes.

I think the price is too high for Close Call, this deck is multiplayer-only so the doomed would be a hard sell.

If it (Close Call) saves Beorn's life - it will likely be worth the slot, even as a 1x for emergencies.

What role/purpose is the 1x veteran axehand serving? I feel that Galadhon Archer or Trollshaw Scout would be much better options instead.

How often do you get to use Secret Vigil?

I'd find room for Horn of Gondor to put on Damrod - especially since you say this is a multi player deck. Will help pay for Dori and Anborn.

What does Damrod normally do in a turn? quest, attack or defend?

With 3x daggers and 3x warhorses, what do you do with the others after you put one each on Aragorn?

That Warhorse should be 2x, the deck I use with physical cards has only 2. I can't remember what I replaced it with!

Originally the deck had a few more cheap tactics allies in order to help with Beorn's attacks. The Axehand used to be 3x and is left over from when I had it paired with a Dain dwarf deck. You're right, there are better choices (could probably just drop him altogether, maybe replace him with the Close Call x1 for emergencies that you suggested).

The Horn would fit well in larger multiplayer settings. We don't get too many characters leaving play (err, I mean, "destroyed") with our current 2-player setup, in which the other deck is spirit/lore and basically goes all-in questing every turn.

Damrod typically quests every turn. Occasionally I'll hold him back to help attack.

3x Dagger is in there because it's the only weapon and I want to draw it early. Extra copies either end up as dead cards or, in one game I played, I can play them on another player's characters.

Secret Vigil is something I'll purposefully leave an enemy in play for. I get to use it whenever I have it... was cheaper than Gandalf and it's the only threat mitigation the deck currently has.

Fair points. I'd perhaps try to find room for Protector of Lorien. That gives Damrod more utility in questing or defending and gives those dead-draw cards a purpose.

All good suggestions... I'll put these to the test this weekend!

Just thought I'd post a little update in here since I've used the deck in several different quests and player setups now. It does a nice job of handling the lion's share of combat in 3 and 4 player games. I took out a lot of the allies in the list above, favoring events and attachments.

Dropped Quickbeam, Dori (he never pulled his weight) and sometimes the little tactics allies, Westfold Outrider (and that lonely Veteran Axehand got taken out early on).

I added the Legolas ally when the hero's not around (sideboard: Galadhrim Archer or Defender of Rammas, depending on what you think you'll need). Added Horn's Cry, which has been a really nice card to have around for this deck. Better with Valour of course, but I've used it several times outside of Valour.

On the Traps side, I dropped Poisoned Stakes and usually run Forest Snare, but this varies on the scenario. Ithilien Pit is a nice choice for scenarios with many high engagement cost enemies. I have tried Protector of Lorien in the deck, but find that I never end up using it.

Typically running only 2 copies of Rohan Warhorse, but 3 of Elf-stone. Resources are where this deck hurts. I have often paired it with the Arwen hero in a companion questing deck, who can throw money to Aragorn as needed.

Other cards that sometimes make it into the deck are Arod and Thror's Map, Warden of Healing. The healer helps deal with Archery and other direct damage, and for times when Aragorn needs to defend.

In the Shadows could see play in this deck, as it would only cost 1. But it only works if your threat is on the lower side, so I haven't tried it.

Thanks for the update. I think this is one of the most creative and interesting deck design concepts in a long time.

Well, thanks, I've always liked the Beorn hero and this is definitely the most interesting deck I've played him in.