You are playing Passage through Mirkwood in normal mode. What is the maximum number of resources you can accrue on one hero by the end of your first planning phase?

Conditions:

- You are playing in true solo mode.
- You are playing with a tournament-legal deck of >=50 cards.
- The composition and initial order of your deck can be anything you wish. This is also true for post-shuffling orders.
- If relevant, the order of the encounter deck can also be anything you wish, even after shuffling.
- You can only use cards already released as of 8/27/16 (no Justice Shall Be Done!)

I can get 28 resources onto one hero by the end of the RESOURCE phase, but it seems improvable, especially if you let the planning phase come into play. Can you do better?

It's too late for me to walk through the perfect optimization, but a dwarf deck could completely demolish 28 resources with A Very Good Tale, Lure of Moria, and We Are Not Idle. Drop two Sellswords, AVGT into two record-keepers and three Hidden Caches, AVGT into the last Sellsword and Record-keeper and three Ered Luin Prospectors, AVGT into two Zigil Miners, Mine for four resources, drop Lure of Moria, We Are Not Idle for fourteen, repeat. Then, drop Song of Travel, shuffle your deck back with Will of the West, and repeat, this time for 20 per Idle. Then Will of the West and repeat again, this time for 26 per Idle. Then Will of the West and repeat a fourth time for 32 per Idle. All assuming you haven't hard-cast any other dwarves in the meantime, (they'll quickly pay for themselves if you do. In the current card pool, Idle tops out at 59 resources per play, by my quick count.)

For draw, Taking Initiative works your first time through, Deep Knowledge is useful each time through (until it threats you out), and Steward + Rod eventually lets you draw through your deck at will, (since average resources gained per card drawn far exceeds 2). It might even be worth it to include bunches of recursion to get more then three Idles per trip through the deck.

With optimization, this should break 200 without really trying, and I suspect 500 would be within reach. I would not even be completely surprised if someone figured out a way to get all the way to 1000. At 50 resources per Idle, that would be 20 plays, or an average of five per trip through the deck. Tome of Atanatar + Second Breakfast could get you 15 plays in one trip alone, though in terms of global readies you'd top out at 9.

Note that a good chunk of the above can also be done purely in the Resource phase with Sneak Attacks and A Good Harvest, so, bravo, sir.

Alright, so I figured I'd sit down and see what I could do if I optimized. I went ahead and shot for "best planning phase" rather than "best resource phase", because I really want to see if I can break 1,000. I haven't run through it yet, but I think I can.

Heroes: Balin, Nori, Ori. This gives me three dwarves, access to Leadership / Lore / Spirit, and 26 starting threat. (These three dwarves also lack ally counterparts.)

Opening hand: 3x Taking Initiative, 3x Deep Knowledge

Opening draw: 1x A Very Good Tale

Play 3x Taking Initiative (flipping a copy of Ally Beorn each time) and 3x Deep Knowledge. Draw 12 cards. 2x A Very Good Tale, 3x Lure of Moria, 3x We Are Not Idle, 1x Sneak Attack, 1x Brok Ironfist, 1x Erebor Record-keeper, 1x Legacy of Durin

Sneak attack Brok Ironfist. Hard-cast Erebor Record-keeper (reduce threat by 1). (-2 resources)

A Very Good Tale Brok / Record-keeper, which flips 3x Hidden Cache, Veteran of Nanduhirion, Azain Silverbeard. (+6 resources)

A Very Good Tale Veteran / Azain, which flips 3x Ered Luin Miners, Longbeard Orc-slayer, and Zigil Miner

A Very Good Tale Orc-slayer / EL Miner, which flips two more Zigil Miners and 3x Elven-light.

Exhaust all three Zigil Miners, all of whom give you double-hits. (+6 resources)

At this point, your threat is 31, your hand consists of 3x Lure of Moria, 3x We Are Not Idle, 1x Legacy of Durin, and you have 13 resources on your heroes (3 on Nori, 6 on Balin, 4 on Ori).

Allies on the table: 3x EL Miner, 3x Zigil Miner, Azain, Brok, 1x Veteran, 1x Orc-slayer, 1x Record-keeper.

Trigger all three Elven-lights (-3 resources). Draw three cards-- 3x Dwarven Sellswords. Play Legacy of Durin (-1 resource). Play all three dwarves (-3 resources, -3 threat), draw three cards: 2x Record-keeper, 1x EN Prospector. Play one record-keeper and one prospector (-3 resources, -2 threat), draw two cards: 2x Prospector. Use your last three resources to play Lure of Moria and ready all Dwarves.

Trigger your three Zigil Miners (all successful hits, +6 resources, 2 on Ori and 4 on Balin)

Play We Are Not Idle. Exhaust all three heroes, plus 3x EL Miners, 3x Sellswords, Azain, Brok, 1x Veteran, 1x Orc-slayer, 2x ERKs, 1x Prospector. Draw a Song of Battle (+16 resources on Ori).

Cards in hand: 2x Lure of Moria, 2x We Are Not Idle, 1x EL Prospector, 1x Erebor Record-keeper, 1x Song of Battle. 26 threat, 22 resources.

Play your Prospector and Record-keeper (-3 resources, -2 threat). Draw a Prospector and Miner of the Iron Hills, and play both (-4 resources, -2 threat). Draw two Miners, play both (-4 resources, -2 threat). Draw Bifur and Dori, play both (-6 resources, -1 threat). Trigger Bifur to draw 3x Blue Mountain Traders and Gloin. 1 resource left on Ori. Play Gloin (-3 resources, -1 threat), draw Dwalin, add two resources back to Balin. Use his last three resources to play Lure of Moria.

Trigger your three Zigil Miners, (+6 resources, all on Balin).

Exhaust all three heroes, plus 3x EL Miners, 3x Sellswords, Azain, Brok, 1x Veteran, 1x Orc-slayer, 3x ERKs, 3x Prospector, 3x MotIH, Bifur, Dori, and Gloin. Draw a Longbeard Elder. (+25 resources on Nori)

Cards in hand: 1x Lure of Moria, 1x We Are Not Idle, 3x Blue Mountain Trader, 1x Dwalin, 1x Song of Battle, 1x Longbeard Elder. 18 threat, 31 resources (6 Leadership, 25 Spirit).

Drop your Song of Battle on Nori. Play 3x Blue Mountain Traders and 1x Dwalin (-7 resources, -4 threat). Draw 2x Veteran Axehands, Tactics Bofur and Kili; play all four, and pull Fili while you're at it (-10 resources, -4 threat). All spirit dwarves are now on the table-- woot! Draw 1x Veteran Axehand, 2x Longbeard Sentry, and 1x (undecided). Play the Axehand and Sentries with Nori's last 8 resources, (-8 resources, -3 threat). Draw 3x Erebor Battle-masters. Play your Longbeard Elder, (-3 resources, -1 threat), draw a Will of the West, then with your last three resources drop another Lure of Moria.

Trigger your three Zigil Miners, (+6 resources, all on Nori)

Exhaust all three heroes, plus 3x EL Miners, 3x Sellswords, Azain, Brok, 1x Veteran, 1x Orc-slayer, 3x ERKs, 3x Prospector, 3x MotIH, Bifur, Dori, Gloin, Fili, Kili, Dwalin, 3x Traders, 3x Axehands, Bofur, 2x Sentries, 1x Elder. That's +38 resources on Nori, holmes. Draw 1x Song of Kings.

Cards in hand: 1x Song of Kings, 3x Battle-master, 1x Sentry. 6 threat, 44 resources (44 Spirit/Tactics)

Song of Kings on Nori (-1 resource), then Will of the West to shuffle your discard back into your library (-1 resource). Play your Battle-masters, (-9 resources, -3 threat). Draw a Sentry and 2x Veterans of Nanduhirion, then play them (-11 resources, -3 threat, and all Tactics dwarves on the table! Huzzah!). Draw 2x Longbeard Elders and Gimli, play them (-10 resources, -3 threat). Draw 3x Deep Knowledge, play all three (+6 threat). Draw 2x Longbeard Orc-slayers, 3x Lure of Moria, 1x We Are Not Idle. Drop the two Orc-slayers (-8 resources, -2 threat) to finish up your Leadership dwarf set. Draw a Song of Wisdom and Ally Bombur.

Play Lure of Moria and ready everything. Trigger your Zigil Miners (+6 resources, give them to Nori).

Play We Are Not Idle and exhaust your three heroes plus: Dwalin, Kili, 3x BMT, Azain, Bofur, 3x EBM, 3x LBS, 3x Axehand, 3x Vets, Brok, Fili, Gimli, Gloin, 3x Sellsword, 3x LBE, 3x LBOS, Bifur, Dori, 3x ERK, 3x ENP, 3x MotIH, 3x ELM. That's 49 resources. Dump them all on Nori again.

Cards in hand: Song of Wisdom, 2x Lure of Moria, Ally Bombur. 57 resources on Nori, 4 threat.

Song of Wisdom on Nori, then chain the Ally Bombur into 3x Longbeard Mapmakers into 3x Erebor Hammersmiths, (-18 resources, -7 threat). End the chain on a We Are Not Idle.

Congratulations! Now that we're done with setup, we can go about making money. Every single possible dwarf is on the table, 59 in total (counting heroes). Each We Are Not Idle will net 62 resources (6 from the 3 Zigil Miners, 56 from all other dwarves combined). We're at 0 threat and there are 39 resources left on Nori, who will be the recipient for all additional resources from here on out since he has every sphere icon.

Lure of Moria (-3 resources) > We Are Not Idle (+62 resources). Draw the last We Are Not Idle. 98 resources on Nori.

Lure of Moria (-3 resources) > We Are Not Idle, (+62 resources). Draw Wealth of Lorien. 157 resources on Nori.

Wealth of Lorien (-3 resources) > 2x Wealth of Lorien + Tome of Atanatar. 154 resources.

2x Wealth of Lorien (-6 resources) > 2x Tome of Atanatar, 1x Steward of Gondor, 1x Rod of the Steward, 2x Grim Resolve. 148 resources.

Steward on Nori (-2 resources / +2 resources), followed by Rod Steward. Draw is now solved. Grim Resolve (-5) + Tome of Atanatar (-3) into We Are Not Idle (+62). 202 resources.

Grim Resolve (-5) + Tome of Atanatar (-3) into We Are Not Idle (+62). 256 resources.

Rod of the Steward (-4) to draw Tome of Atanatar, Grim Resolve. Grim Resolve (-5) + Tome of Atanatar (-3) into We Are Not Idle. DO NOT EXHAUST ALLY BOFUR ON THIS IDLE. (+61). 305 resources.

Rod Steward (-6) to draw 3x Second Breakfast. Pull back all three Tomes of Atanatar (-3). 296 resources.

Exhaust Bofur to search for a weapon. Shuffle your library to get your Idles back to the top.

Rod of the Steward (-2) to draw 1x Idle. Tome (-3) into Lure of Moria (-3). We Are Not Idle (+62). Draw another Idle. 352 resources.

Rod Steward (-2) into Galadhrim Weaver (-1) to shuffle that last Idle to the top of your library. 349 resources.

Tome (-3) into Lure of Moria (-3). Bofur to shuffle those two Lures back towards the top of your library. We Are Not Idle (+61). Draw another Idle. 404 resources.

Rod Steward (-2) into Lure of Moria (-3) into We Are Not Idle (+62). Draw the last Idle in your deck. 461 resources.

Rod Steward (-2) into your last Lure of Moria (-3) into your last We Are Not Idle (+62). Draw a Born Aloft. 518 resources.

Born Aloft a Hammersmith. Play your last Tome of Atanatar (-3) and use it to play another Lure of Moria (-3). Play your Hammersmith to recur the Tome of Atanatar (-2) and draw a card (another Born Aloft). Use the We Are Not Idle in your hand (+62). 572 resources.

I'm kind of running out of steam here, but you can see how it goes. Lure of Moria or Grim Resolve + We Are Not Idle for 50+ resources a pop. Tome of Atanatar to recur your Idles and Lures, with Bofur to shuffle them back to the top for a third play. (Your Very Good Tales can also handle shuffling duties, as well as flipping some more Hidden Caches). Erebor Hammersmith to recur your Tomes, with Born Aloft to recur your Hammersmiths. Galadhrim Weaver to recur your Tomes again, with Tree People, Island Amid Perils, and Pursuing the Enemy to recur your Weavers, and Dwarven Tomb / Map of Earnil to recur your Island Amid Perils another nine times. Rod of the Steward to handle any draw you might need in between. Then, when you run out of recursion, drop a Will of the West and repeat. Then drop your last Will of the West and repeat again.

By my quick count, you can recur the Tome 3x (Hammersmith), +3x (Born Aloft > Hammersmith), +3x (Weaver), +3x (Island Amid Perils > Weaver), +6x (Map of Earnil > Island Amid Perils > Weaver), +12x (Dwarven Tomb > Map of Earnil > Island Amid Perils > Weaver), or 30 times, plus the three times you can play it originally, so 33 total. Each play of Tome of Atanatar gets you two more plays of Idle or Lure of Moria, plus the three original plays you get of each, for 36. Each Lure/Idle gets you 50+ resources, (depending on how much you had to spend to enable it), so a perfectly optimized run through the deck should be netting you more than 1500 resources. With a minimum of three runs through the deck (assuming you spend the entire first run just getting set up), I think you really should be able to push 5,000 total resources on a single hero by the end of the first planning phase. Which ain't too shabby.

Note: I realize I forgot to account for the resource cost of the Song of Battle, but that's easily fixed by working a Legacy of Numenor somewhere before in the sequence. Basic principle remains the same.

Crap, after posting I realized I forgot about Second Breakfast. The correct answer to "how many resources can you get on one hero in the first planning phase" is actually "infinite", since you can use one Tome of Atanatar to recur Second Breakfast, which gives you two more plays of Tome of Atanatar. (One from the initial recursion, a second from when you shuffle Breakfast back to the top and draw it again). This greatly simplifies the sequence, too- forget all those Hammersmiths, Born Alofts, Galadhrim Weavers, Islands Amid Peril, etc. Just spam Tome of Atanatar > Second Breakfast > Tome of Atanatar > Lure of Moria > Second Breakfast > Tome of Atanatar > Second Breakfast > Tome of Atanatar > We Are Not Idle > Second Breakfast...

You could even mine your deck down to empty and forget about the whole "shuffle Second Breakfast back to the top" step.

It's a shame you guys don't post videos!...

I think the potential for arbitrary Leadership event recursion is a real thing to drop out of this initially silly exercise. Longbeard Sentry, here we come...

Alright, so I figured I'd sit down and see what I could do if I optimized. I went ahead and shot for "best planning phase" rather than "best resource phase", because I really want to see if I can break 1,000. I haven't run through it yet, but I think I can.

Heroes: Balin, Nori, Ori. This gives me three dwarves, access to Leadership / Lore / Spirit, and 26 starting threat. (These three dwarves also lack ally counterparts.)

Opening hand: 3x Taking Initiative, 3x Deep Knowledge

Opening draw: 1x A Very Good Tale

Play 3x Taking Initiative (flipping a copy of Ally Beorn each time) and 3x Deep Knowledge. Draw 12 cards. 2x A Very Good Tale, 3x Lure of Moria, 3x We Are Not Idle, 1x Sneak Attack, 1x Brok Ironfist, 1x Erebor Record-keeper, 1x Legacy of Durin

Sneak attack Brok Ironfist. Hard-cast Erebor Record-keeper (reduce threat by 1). (-2 resources)

A Very Good Tale Brok / Record-keeper, which flips 3x Hidden Cache, Veteran of Nanduhirion, Azain Silverbeard. (+6 resources)

A Very Good Tale Veteran / Azain, which flips 3x Ered Luin Miners, Longbeard Orc-slayer, and Zigil Miner

A Very Good Tale Orc-slayer / EL Miner, which flips two more Zigil Miners and 3x Elven-light.

Exhaust all three Zigil Miners, all of whom give you double-hits. (+6 resources)

At this point, your threat is 31, your hand consists of 3x Lure of Moria, 3x We Are Not Idle, 1x Legacy of Durin, and you have 13 resources on your heroes (3 on Nori, 6 on Balin, 4 on Ori).

Allies on the table: 3x EL Miner, 3x Zigil Miner, Azain, Brok, 1x Veteran, 1x Orc-slayer, 1x Record-keeper.

Trigger all three Elven-lights (-3 resources). Draw three cards-- 3x Dwarven Sellswords. Play Legacy of Durin (-1 resource). Play all three dwarves (-3 resources, -3 threat), draw three cards: 2x Record-keeper, 1x EN Prospector. Play one record-keeper and one prospector (-3 resources, -2 threat), draw two cards: 2x Prospector. Use your last three resources to play Lure of Moria and ready all Dwarves.

Trigger your three Zigil Miners (all successful hits, +6 resources, 2 on Ori and 4 on Balin)

Play We Are Not Idle. Exhaust all three heroes, plus 3x EL Miners, 3x Sellswords, Azain, Brok, 1x Veteran, 1x Orc-slayer, 2x ERKs, 1x Prospector. Draw a Song of Battle (+16 resources on Ori).

Cards in hand: 2x Lure of Moria, 2x We Are Not Idle, 1x EL Prospector, 1x Erebor Record-keeper, 1x Song of Battle. 26 threat, 22 resources.

Play your Prospector and Record-keeper (-3 resources, -2 threat). Draw a Prospector and Miner of the Iron Hills, and play both (-4 resources, -2 threat). Draw two Miners, play both (-4 resources, -2 threat). Draw Bifur and Dori, play both (-6 resources, -1 threat). Trigger Bifur to draw 3x Blue Mountain Traders and Gloin. 1 resource left on Ori. Play Gloin (-3 resources, -1 threat), draw Dwalin, add two resources back to Balin. Use his last three resources to play Lure of Moria.

Trigger your three Zigil Miners, (+6 resources, all on Balin).

Exhaust all three heroes, plus 3x EL Miners, 3x Sellswords, Azain, Brok, 1x Veteran, 1x Orc-slayer, 3x ERKs, 3x Prospector, 3x MotIH, Bifur, Dori, and Gloin. Draw a Longbeard Elder. (+25 resources on Nori)

Cards in hand: 1x Lure of Moria, 1x We Are Not Idle, 3x Blue Mountain Trader, 1x Dwalin, 1x Song of Battle, 1x Longbeard Elder. 18 threat, 31 resources (6 Leadership, 25 Spirit).

Drop your Song of Battle on Nori. Play 3x Blue Mountain Traders and 1x Dwalin (-7 resources, -4 threat). Draw 2x Veteran Axehands, Tactics Bofur and Kili; play all four, and pull Fili while you're at it (-10 resources, -4 threat). All spirit dwarves are now on the table-- woot! Draw 1x Veteran Axehand, 2x Longbeard Sentry, and 1x (undecided). Play the Axehand and Sentries with Nori's last 8 resources, (-8 resources, -3 threat). Draw 3x Erebor Battle-masters. Play your Longbeard Elder, (-3 resources, -1 threat), draw a Will of the West, then with your last three resources drop another Lure of Moria.

Trigger your three Zigil Miners, (+6 resources, all on Nori)

Exhaust all three heroes, plus 3x EL Miners, 3x Sellswords, Azain, Brok, 1x Veteran, 1x Orc-slayer, 3x ERKs, 3x Prospector, 3x MotIH, Bifur, Dori, Gloin, Fili, Kili, Dwalin, 3x Traders, 3x Axehands, Bofur, 2x Sentries, 1x Elder. That's +38 resources on Nori, holmes. Draw 1x Song of Kings.

Cards in hand: 1x Song of Kings, 3x Battle-master, 1x Sentry. 6 threat, 44 resources (44 Spirit/Tactics)

Song of Kings on Nori (-1 resource), then Will of the West to shuffle your discard back into your library (-1 resource). Play your Battle-masters, (-9 resources, -3 threat). Draw a Sentry and 2x Veterans of Nanduhirion, then play them (-11 resources, -3 threat, and all Tactics dwarves on the table! Huzzah!). Draw 2x Longbeard Elders and Gimli, play them (-10 resources, -3 threat). Draw 3x Deep Knowledge, play all three (+6 threat). Draw 2x Longbeard Orc-slayers, 3x Lure of Moria, 1x We Are Not Idle. Drop the two Orc-slayers (-8 resources, -2 threat) to finish up your Leadership dwarf set. Draw a Song of Wisdom and Ally Bombur.

Play Lure of Moria and ready everything. Trigger your Zigil Miners (+6 resources, give them to Nori).

Play We Are Not Idle and exhaust your three heroes plus: Dwalin, Kili, 3x BMT, Azain, Bofur, 3x EBM, 3x LBS, 3x Axehand, 3x Vets, Brok, Fili, Gimli, Gloin, 3x Sellsword, 3x LBE, 3x LBOS, Bifur, Dori, 3x ERK, 3x ENP, 3x MotIH, 3x ELM. That's 49 resources. Dump them all on Nori again.

Cards in hand: Song of Wisdom, 2x Lure of Moria, Ally Bombur. 57 resources on Nori, 4 threat.

Song of Wisdom on Nori, then chain the Ally Bombur into 3x Longbeard Mapmakers into 3x Erebor Hammersmiths, (-18 resources, -7 threat). End the chain on a We Are Not Idle.

Congratulations! Now that we're done with setup, we can go about making money. Every single possible dwarf is on the table, 59 in total (counting heroes). Each We Are Not Idle will net 62 resources (6 from the 3 Zigil Miners, 56 from all other dwarves combined). We're at 0 threat and there are 39 resources left on Nori, who will be the recipient for all additional resources from here on out since he has every sphere icon.

Lure of Moria (-3 resources) > We Are Not Idle (+62 resources). Draw the last We Are Not Idle. 98 resources on Nori.

Lure of Moria (-3 resources) > We Are Not Idle, (+62 resources). Draw Wealth of Lorien. 157 resources on Nori.

Wealth of Lorien (-3 resources) > 2x Wealth of Lorien + Tome of Atanatar. 154 resources.

2x Wealth of Lorien (-6 resources) > 2x Tome of Atanatar, 1x Steward of Gondor, 1x Rod of the Steward, 2x Grim Resolve. 148 resources.

Steward on Nori (-2 resources / +2 resources), followed by Rod Steward. Draw is now solved. Grim Resolve (-5) + Tome of Atanatar (-3) into We Are Not Idle (+62). 202 resources.

Grim Resolve (-5) + Tome of Atanatar (-3) into We Are Not Idle (+62). 256 resources.

Rod of the Steward (-4) to draw Tome of Atanatar, Grim Resolve. Grim Resolve (-5) + Tome of Atanatar (-3) into We Are Not Idle. DO NOT EXHAUST ALLY BOFUR ON THIS IDLE. (+61). 305 resources.

Rod Steward (-6) to draw 3x Second Breakfast. Pull back all three Tomes of Atanatar (-3). 296 resources.

Exhaust Bofur to search for a weapon. Shuffle your library to get your Idles back to the top.

Rod of the Steward (-2) to draw 1x Idle. Tome (-3) into Lure of Moria (-3). We Are Not Idle (+62). Draw another Idle. 352 resources.

Rod Steward (-2) into Galadhrim Weaver (-1) to shuffle that last Idle to the top of your library. 349 resources.

Tome (-3) into Lure of Moria (-3). Bofur to shuffle those two Lures back towards the top of your library. We Are Not Idle (+61). Draw another Idle. 404 resources.

Rod Steward (-2) into Lure of Moria (-3) into We Are Not Idle (+62). Draw the last Idle in your deck. 461 resources.

Rod Steward (-2) into your last Lure of Moria (-3) into your last We Are Not Idle (+62). Draw a Born Aloft. 518 resources.

Born Aloft a Hammersmith. Play your last Tome of Atanatar (-3) and use it to play another Lure of Moria (-3). Play your Hammersmith to recur the Tome of Atanatar (-2) and draw a card (another Born Aloft). Use the We Are Not Idle in your hand (+62). 572 resources.

I'm kind of running out of steam here, but you can see how it goes. Lure of Moria or Grim Resolve + We Are Not Idle for 50+ resources a pop. Tome of Atanatar to recur your Idles and Lures, with Bofur to shuffle them back to the top for a third play. (Your Very Good Tales can also handle shuffling duties, as well as flipping some more Hidden Caches). Erebor Hammersmith to recur your Tomes, with Born Aloft to recur your Hammersmiths. Galadhrim Weaver to recur your Tomes again, with Tree People, Island Amid Perils, and Pursuing the Enemy to recur your Weavers, and Dwarven Tomb / Map of Earnil to recur your Island Amid Perils another nine times. Rod of the Steward to handle any draw you might need in between. Then, when you run out of recursion, drop a Will of the West and repeat. Then drop your last Will of the West and repeat again.

By my quick count, you can recur the Tome 3x (Hammersmith), +3x (Born Aloft > Hammersmith), +3x (Weaver), +3x (Island Amid Perils > Weaver), +6x (Map of Earnil > Island Amid Perils > Weaver), +12x (Dwarven Tomb > Map of Earnil > Island Amid Perils > Weaver), or 30 times, plus the three times you can play it originally, so 33 total. Each play of Tome of Atanatar gets you two more plays of Idle or Lure of Moria, plus the three original plays you get of each, for 36. Each Lure/Idle gets you 50+ resources, (depending on how much you had to spend to enable it), so a perfectly optimized run through the deck should be netting you more than 1500 resources. With a minimum of three runs through the deck (assuming you spend the entire first run just getting set up), I think you really should be able to push 5,000 total resources on a single hero by the end of the first planning phase. Which ain't too shabby.

Note: I realize I forgot to account for the resource cost of the Song of Battle, but that's easily fixed by working a Legacy of Numenor somewhere before in the sequence. Basic principle remains the same.

... This is impressive. I don't even know what to start to check to figure out why / how you could be wrong!

This is intense, brother!

5000 resources and nothing to spend them on. LOL

5000 resources and nothing to spend them on. LOL

Drop a Will of the West to shuffle your discard back into your deck, spam Rod of the Steward to draw it out, and then play... whatever you want, really. 5000-point Lay of Nimrodel? Three 50-cost Gandalf's Searches to fix the deck order of every other player at the table? Livery of the Tower to make a hero immune to damage until the end of time? Ain't no thing.

'Some sort', have you thought to open a personal blog? ^^

'Some sort', have you thought to open a personal blog? ^^

I did start something a couple months ago just to toss random thoughts on, but my work is very seasonal and we're in-season right now, so there won't be anything resembling regular activity there for a while. (If ever.) For the most part I'm just kicking around on the Discord channel spouting nonsense.

http://verygoodtale.blogspot.com/

Insane. This thread is so insane.