Implementing the forthcoming cards of the Flame of the West, I put Spirit Beregond together with Gandalf and Elrond. Of course, many can fit the role as Gandalf and Elrond are so strong, but I feel Spirit Beregond is the ideal fit, naturally mitigating the threat issue, even if starting at 37. In the few test plays, the threat was never an issue, actually finished always below 40 in solo, and always below 37 in coop, without any additional threat reduction in the deck itself. Originally, I had 1 copy of The Galadhrim's Greeting but I dropped it because it felt redundant. The card or two might still be needed against some super-heavy doomed quests, but in usual surrounding, Beregond really takes care of business. I will justify the cards if needed.

14 Gandalf

10 Beregond

13 Elrond

0 Ioreth x1

2 Warden of Healing x1

2 Imladris Care-giver x1

2 Master of the Forge x1

2 Erebor Hammersmith x1

2 Quickbeam x1
2 Bilbo Baggins x2

2 Arwen Undómiel x1

2 Imladris Stargazer x1

3 Lindir x1

3 Guardian of Rivendell x1

3 Saruman x1

4 Treebeard x1

4 Prince Imrahil x1

4 Boromir x1

4 Legolas x1

4 Gimli x1

4 Erestor x1

4 Galdor of the Havens x1

5 Gildor Inglorion x1

5 Glorfindel x1

6 Beorn x1

0 Livery of the Tower x1

1 Miruvor x3

1 Elf-stone x1
1 Wizzard Pipe x2

1 Gondorian Shield x1

2 Raiment of War x1

2 Vilya x3

2 Gandalf's Staff x3

3 Shadowfax x1

4 Sword-thain x1

1 Word of Command x3

1 Desperate Defense x3

1 Flame of Anor x3

X The White Council x1

it's a good idea, and as spirit he does fit nicely in this role. However I'll remind you that Beregond's ability only works once per round, so you couldn't end up with less than your starting threat without any additional threat reduction (barring strange quest effects of course -or unless your allies played threat reduction on you, which maybe is what you meant).

Beregond would also be great for a permanent Valor setup.

I know. I said in coop I did end up below 37. Actually, you still can end up at 36 even in solo, if the game ends after you end up defending with Beregond. Which is exactly what happened the last two games I played. I do not even see the limit of once per round as something bad. Often when I choose to defend twice, once I block a more risky enemy where the damage is highly probable or certain.

Yes, the valour idea is also good, I feel. He functions in a similar way to Galadriel, though playing a very different role.

Can the deck you described above consistently beat Journey to the Cross-roads (from The Land of Shadow saga expansion)? I think I read a thread somewhere where you said it can...not sure. If it can beat it, what's the strategy to use?

I am sure it can. I play the same hero line-up with only a slightly different deck, and I would argue it is one of the strongest decks out there. Of course Vilya decks are, and I prefer them with Gandalf, and I too find Beregond an ideal choice for the third hero. There may be quests which are hard starting at 37 but Beregond really takes care of business. And you can always add more threat reduction if needed. Just try it out against the Cross-roads and see. Of course you can pick some other allies, and maybe there are new cards that fit this deck well, but it is important to keep the ally count high, so that Vilya can put them in play regularly (I would suggest at least 25 allies, majority of them big hitters). And you need vilya early. From seeing the deck above, I would not bother with the Tactics attachments, they are good but unreliable and not essential.

PS. I have not played for months but if you really need, I put the cards out one of these days to beat the Cross-roads with the line-up, and if I do (as I did before) I will write about the strategy. But maybe you’ll be quicker and win it yourself before me.

ok thanks. I'll play later today with this deck and see what happens. If I win, I'll tell you what strategy was there, if any. If I lose any games, I'll report them here and tell you what happened. I hope I'll win on the first shot, but I always doubt that. It probably takes a try or two to figure out how the deck works.

I will also follow your advice about removing the Tactics attachments. What I'm going to do is play the deck as listed above first. I'll see if those Tactics attachments are needed. If not, then I will put in 2 copies of Firyal (lore ally...he lets you see an encounter card after committing to the quest and then gives you the option of discarding it).

Just do one Firyal. She is good but not essential. You can try the Spirit Harad ally. I play neither for thematic reasons, but they are decent here.

So far, one failure on easy mode with this deck. I forfeited the game because I was engaged with 1 Harad enemy already, then THREE showed up in the staging area (one from drawing from the Crossroads deck like normal at the start of the Quest Phase, then another from the encounter deck with Surge ability, then the surge brought on another Harad enemy).

I'm telling you...this quest is ridiculously hard...the hardest I have ever come across. Easy mode is Nightmare mode, and good LORD what Nightmare mode is like! This is now my 15th attempt using 3 different decks...all losses. I'm only going to play THREE more...if I don't win, I'm selling off the whole collection, which is worth over $600 at least. Journey to the Cross-roads is about to become Journey to the Dumpster. I have never been so outraged at the designers for such an improperly scaled/balanced quest. How stupid can they be?

Ok, do you want to consider some other small changes to the deck? Just a few cards. I would surely drop Sword-thain, I think it was there mostly as a nice combo but against quick quests like this, it has no place, probably.

Try to mulligan for Vilya for sure, or Word of Command.

Also, one of the best cards for this deck, especially in saga, is the Free Peoples. Put two copies in, at least. I think the post was made before the card came out. In saga it is super easy to have nine traits, you begin with seven already. And then just try to play it with Vilya whenever you need a big round questing (and/or combat). It is another great target for Word of Command as you will have Gandalf ready afterwards.

I would also put two Wardens of Healing, drop the Caregiver and maybe Ioreth also. And drop Galdor, not many targets for his ability to work. Erestor is enough. If some of the allies seem extra helpful, I feel the likes of Boromir might, put him there twice. And surely put in ally Glorfindel.

Thanks again. I'm modifying the deck as per your recommendations. For the Free Peoples card, it says "Action: Ready each character in play. Until the end of the phase, each character you control gets +1 willpower."

So in other words, if you want to quest with the extra willpower, it's best to play this card right in the beginning of the Questing phase, before you exhaust the characters. You can do this because you can play events before exhausting them.

1 hour ago, gpd924 said:

So in other words, if you want to quest with the extra willpower, it's best to play this card right in the beginning of the Questing phase, before you exhaust the characters. You can do this because you can play events before exhausting them.

Well actually I think the best moment to play it is after the staging step and before quest resolution (you have an Action window there too) so you can determine if that's the turn you really need the boost and the readying or not. If you play before sending characters to the quest you will probably not get much use out of the readying effect.

On a side note this card is even more amazing in multiplayer, since it readies "each character in play", even though the Willpower boost is only for you.

I'm going to try this with 2 decks. It's impossible to beat solo with just one deck. If this doesn't work, it's time to sell, baby.

3 hours ago, gpd924 said:

Thanks again. I'm modifying the deck as per your recommendations. For the Free Peoples card, it says "Action: Ready each character in play. Until the end of the phase, each character you control gets +1 willpower."

So in other words, if you want to quest with the extra willpower, it's best to play this card right in the beginning of the Questing phase, before you exhaust the characters. You can do this because you can play events before exhausting them.

Almost, yes in the quest phase but after you exhaust them, you can do this any time, you can either do it before staging to have everyone ready then (for an unexpected attack, for instance) or after staging before the quest resolution: you see if you really need it or not. Either way, it is better, unless you have an overflow of resources, to do it with Elrond (so he has to be ready) and Vilya.

Please, feel free to discuss some other issues like that. It may really help your experience. The game is hard in terms of remembering all the rules, it takes time to grasp the little nuances of the strategy that goes with it.

5 minutes ago, lleimmoen said:

Almost, yes in the quest phase but after you exhaust them, you can do this any time, you can either do it before staging to have everyone ready then (for an unexpected attack, for instance) or after staging before the quest resolution: you see if you really need it or not. Either way, it is better, unless you have an overflow of resources, to do it with Elrond (so he has to be ready) and Vilya.

Please, feel free to discuss some other issues like that. It may really help your experience. The game is hard in terms of remembering all the rules, it takes time to grasp the little nuances of the strategy that goes with it.

Right, but if you commit characters to the quest and then use the card to ready them before or after staging (but before quest resolution), you wouldn't get any quest power at all, so questing would be 0 points. Once they are readied before quest resolution, their quest points don't count anymore.

No. Why would you think so? That is not the rule. Character commited to the quest contribute the willpower regardless if they are ready or not. They just must not be removed from the quest (some encounters and even player cards can do that).

I am pulling my deck out now, and if I win and you are still interested I will present it here. It is nothing new, a regular Vilya update with the three mentioned heroes.

5 minutes ago, lleimmoen said:

No. Why would you think so? That is not the rule. Character commited to the quest contribute the willpower regardless if they are ready or not. They just must not be removed from the quest (some encounters and even player cards can do that).

ohhh..I see. Luckily, I haven't come across that in most games I played. Thanks for the heads up. And yes, please let me know how your deck fares against this quest. Post results here, and the decklist only if you win.

Just won, first try, normal mode, but it was not easy. I had Vilya after the mulligan. Quickbeam was the top card and I could play both him and Vilya first round. After I played QB, Gwaihir showed up (he is not that great in the deck for his ability but still he is a big hitter), so I put him into play with Vilya. I got the archer and Arrows Thick in the Air round one. That was not bad because of the low threat (I only sent Frodo and Gandalf questing), blocked the Archer with Beregond, killed it with QB and G.

The game went well untill Livery, Wizzard Pipe and Vilya all got discarded through Shadow effects. I usually like to get rid of the shadow cards with the Staff but I had it late. Then I already had three enemies under the Black Gate so I had to engage the last Mumak and that was tough, almost lost Beregond but in the end I won with 39 threat on round 8. I think I was quite unlucky with some of the treacheries and not getting more locations but I only revealed two additional enemies (and shuffled one back with the Frodo ability — make sure you pick the one from Black Riders). I later had both Trackers and also Meneldor out and they helped clear two locations. Played Free Peoples in the penultimate round for a nice questing push and then had everyone ready to dispose of two enemies.

I am confident to beat it at least two thirds of the time with this deck. If you want me to, I keep going at it for ten games, for instance.

Bilbo x2, Arwen, Stargazer x3, Zigil x2, Wild Stalion, Warden x2, Quickbeam, Meneldor, Son of Arnor, Northern Tracker x2, Elfhelm, Erestor, Faramir, Boromir, Treebeard, Radagast, Glorfindel, Gildor Inglorion, Gwaihir, Beorn.

Livery of the Tower, Wizzard Pipe x2, Gandalf’s Staff x3, Vilya x3, Shadowfax.

Hidden Cache x2, Flame of Anor x2, Word of Command x3, Desperate Defence x2, A Test of Will x2, The Galadhrim’s Greeting, The Free Peoples x2.

Won the second game too. It did not start well. I got Mumak first which I like but then the captain popped up right away and I had to let both go because I was not ready for them. Another Mumak showed up in round three and I had to take him because having three enemies under Black Gate that early is too risky. So I struggled with it for four rounds but things got gradually better, it just took me a round more but I ended up with no damage on 34 threat after the Galadhrim.

As I said I will play more, it is an ejoyable quest anyway (when there is a chance of winning). If you still struggle, we should talk some strategy tips.

One thing I am afraid is when Vilya doesn’t show up right away. With Word of Command, the chances of having it are much higher but I think the game will come soon when I don’t have it for the first few rounds when it is needed most. Later I have not even always used the Ring because I actually had quite a few resources but in the beginning, it is just precious.

6 hours ago, lleimmoen said:

Won the second game too. It did not start well. I got Mumak first which I like but then the captain popped up right away and I had to let both go because I was not ready for them. Another Mumak showed up in round three and I had to take him because having three enemies under Black Gate that early is too risky. So I struggled with it for four rounds but things got gradually better, it just took me a round more but I ended up with no damage on 34 threat after the Galadhrim.

As I said I will play more, it is an ejoyable quest anyway (when there is a chance of winning). If you still struggle, we should talk some strategy tips.

One thing I am afraid is when Vilya doesn’t show up right away. With Word of Command, the chances of having it are much higher but I think the game will come soon when I don’t have it for the first few rounds when it is needed most. Later I have not even always used the Ring because I actually had quite a few resources but in the beginning, it is just precious.

Ok,so this is a much different deck than the one described by Fingolfin Fate above. Your hereoes were Gandalf, Frodo (from Black Riders), Beregond (spirit), and Elrond (lore), yes?

Thank you for the card listing too. I just have to check out what sphere some of them are from and then I'll let you know how I do.

Also,

With Faramir, he's the Leadership ally, I believe.

As for Frodo's cancel encounter card effects ability, I've only used that to cancel an encounter card that was just revealed from the main deck (not the Crossroads deck, and never the crossroads deck. I don't think those cards have When Revealed effects anyway.). Also, Frodo's ability can't be used against Shadow cards because those weren't technically revealed from the deck itself.

Of course, you play it correctly. Just note you can shuffle any card, not only those that have when revealed on them. It is very useful here to shuffle back the extra enemies from the encounter deck.

Yes, you got the heroes right. And Faramir is indeed a Leadership ally, probably a card that is due for errata, seems too strong for questing. Here he is very useful for the push, as you basically need one big round to put all the progress on. There is a new Lore Faramir ally coming in the deluxe.

Game 3. Did not have Vilya for first three rounds, so I am glad to have a game like that. The beginning was brutal, and then I got three Mumaks on rounds 2 to 4, which was lucky becaus I did not get the captain at the same time. But I had no choice but to let all three go. It was risky but luckily I was then ready to deal with the shadow and treachery that put enemies under the Black Gate (which would mean game over). From the round 4 the game was nervous but went all well, I got Marching up the Road twice in a row and first time I was able to return the archer back and engage him again because I did not need to engage anyone else, and second time I found the annoying surging man of Harad. I got a lot of cards discarded again, and this is something you can plan against a little, to time how you play your cards. That is why a card like Livery of the Tower is great, not always for its ability but because I can discard it instead of Vilya, for instance. What is also important is to save Gandalf’s Staff for shadow cards as much as possible, they are really annoying in this quest. I won on round 9 again with the threat of 36, no damage, 11 Victory points.