I play exclusively in multiplayer, and when I build decks I always do so with specialization in mind. Often that means a deck that expects to handle as much combat as possible, or a deck that expects to quest and bring a lot of willpower, maybe some location management, but engage no enemies (or rely on others to take care of them, when engagement occurs).

That 2nd type of deck can get really boring, because there are few decisions to make. Everyone goes questing, and I wait out the rest of the round. Have you built a specialized "questing" deck that felt fun and kept you involved in the game after questing was over?

Probably the best I've done was a Noldor discard deck with Cirdan/Narya. It had some ability to contribute meaningfully after the quest phase, plus there were decisions to be made about which cards to discard, the timing of playing certain events, etc.

To me the best questing deck can, specially after some turns, also take care of combat. Or at least choose if they need to go a lot in quest of a little less and take care of 1 enemy. When you play Galadriel / light of valinor on glorfindel you also easily get enough to deal with an enemy and quest a lot.

In those condition I find the questing deck to be the more interesting in the game. My questing deck who does that are:

Vilya: Gandalf / Glorfindel / Elrond http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/5280

Caldara: Caldara / Galadriel / Arwen Undomiel http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/4687

Silvan: Celeborn / Galadriel / Haldir http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/5320

Rohan: Théoden II / Théodred / Eowyn I http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/6298

Noldor: Arwen Undomiel / Galadriel / Galdor http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/4681

I also have secrecy decks, among them two are particularly quest based. They are less able to deal with fighting than the list of decks below :

Secrecy Energy / Lore: Galadriel / Merry / Pippin http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/5596

Secrecy Mono Energy: Frodon Sacquet / Glorfindel II/ Merry II http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/5652

6 hours ago, GrandSpleen said:

I play exclusively in multiplayer, and when I build decks I always do so with specialization in mind. Often that means a deck that expects to handle as much combat as possible, or a deck that expects to quest and bring a lot of willpower, maybe some location management, but engage no enemies (or rely on others to take care of them, when engagement occurs).

That 2nd type of deck can get really boring, because there are few decisions to make. Everyone goes questing, and I wait out the rest of the round. Have you built a specialized "questing" deck that felt fun and kept you involved in the game after questing was over?

Probably the best I've done was a Noldor discard deck with Cirdan/Narya. It had some ability to contribute meaningfully after the quest phase, plus there were decisions to be made about which cards to discard, the timing of playing certain events, etc.

This mirrors my concerns about power-questing decks as well. They aren't really that interesting. I find that the interesting decks of that kind deal with questing by manipulation (so basically encounter deck manipulation). That's because those decks actually require some strategic thought about when to apply the effects. Alternatively decks that boost questing by interacting with the staging area a bit more are interesting, but then you have to build in some combat strength.

The concern I have re: questing decks that can fight is that they usually include the usual suspects: Glorfindel, Arwen, Galadriel, Elrond etc. The new Eowyn has added some interesting sides to this, and Theoden II is good in that respect too (Rohan in general, thanks to their attachments that double up the use of willpower).

I realise that this answer is not an answer. I just agree. Oh. :/

Cirdan/Narya is a good idea. The Narya decision every combat phase could keep the game interesting.

You could try Lanwyn, Spirit Glorfindel and Tactics Eowyn. You can quest for a bunch, and with a Rivendell bow on Glorfindel you can put out a lot of attack across the board during the combat phase. Then there's the choice of when to trigger Eowyn.

My partner plays an Erestor deck that has a lot of moving parts. With Silver Harp and lots of discard effects, she's constantly trying to decide which cards to keep for next round, which ones to discard to power which effects, etc. Healing decks, too, can have a lot to do during the combat phase.

Thanks for all the ideas!

What I find is, the fun decks aren't always the most powerful one. One of my favourite decks is Merry/Pippin/Treebeard with lots of Ents and Hobbits. Lot of fun to play with and very thematic, but it won't defeat the tough quests like Belegost. Another fun deck in the same vein is my all Lore traps and Ithilien deck. A lot of fun to play but again not the most powerful.

Generally speaking I have a bunch of decks that I have permanently set up, and a sideboard of cards that I can quickly swap in or out. These deck are: 1) all leadership Dunedain, 2) all leadership Gondor, 3) Rohirrim, 4) Ents/Hobbits, 5) Dwarves, 6) Sindar, 7) Noldor, 8) Gondor/Outlands 9) a non-leadership power deck, 10) all lore Traps/Ithilien. The two most powerful decks out of them are Dwarves and all leadership Gondor - the rest are pretty good but do struggle sometimes.

I hear you, as I play two-handed as well, with one usually combat heavy and the other more questing. The first is easily more fun. Still, in the other, if I can get Ranged, Sentinel, Traps, and Healing, it feels far more involved.

A favorite is Haldir in the questing deck with Wingfoot, and Bows and Black Arrow given to him from the other deck, as he may kill an enemy before it attacks the other deck. Or I'll not rely on all 3 heroes to quest heavy, but two big ones, with the 3rd a Sentinel. (Like Spirit Beregond, on whom the combat deck gives a Gondorian shield and Spear, then he defends for them and lowers their threat). In those cases, I really like having at least one hero in the combat deck who's a reliant quester and attacker, such as Theoden with Snowmane.

Another fun combo is a dwarf like Gimli in the combat deck, and Erebor Record Keepers in the other, who keep readying him as needed.

Like you, I've been enjoying a Cirdan/Narya combo I'm now running in a quest deck. I have Beorn and Honour Guards in the combat deck. Beorn defends, 2 Honour Guards cancel 2 damage, Cirdan readies them, then Beorn defends again, with 2 more damage cancelled (or maybe one of them now defends with 2 shields). And if a shadow effect makes a Beorn attack too big, an Honour Guard is discarded to cancel 5 wounds... but then can come back (sometimes right away) via Stand and Fight from the quest deck. It's been fun.

I think you've seen me play this deck before, but it's an example of a questing deck that I don't find boring. When playing it, I'm faced with the decision of investing in more willpower or other helpful effects such threat reduction, healing, or cancellation recursion.

http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/3857/the-mirror-s-gaze-3.0

My suggestion is just to have your deck contribute something in addition to willpower. Look for cards you can run in a questing deck that let you support other players or contribute to combat.