Hey guys.

I am new to LoTR LCG. I play with my son and we can fun. We have been able to pass the Passage Throough Mirkwood and Along the Anduin. But EfDG is impossible. We are not super keen on deckbuilding and adjusting them a lot. I am considering just searching out 2 decks that claim to be able to solo it and double up them if card count allows it. I was wondering if it is even possible to pass EfGD with two of the Starter Single sphere decks.

Also, I also have a few decks from the Mirkwood cycle (Return to M, Massing at O, and Journey to R) and the Kazad Dum expansion. Would it be recommended that I just skip EfGD and try these first?

https://visionofthepalantir.wordpress.com/2018/01/21/escape-from-dol-guldur/

I find this can be helpful, an I depth analysis of the quest.

Yes I would just skip Escape from Dol Guldur for now. I didn't like deckbuilding when I started (it was too new to me), but I couldn't beat that quest until I had some more cards available from later packs, and I started to build my own decks.

Maybe skip to Khazad Dum. The other packs you mentioned are also on the hard side: Massing at Osgiliath will be really hard for you right now, and Return to Mirkwood also presents a significant challenge. Journey to Rhosgobel is not that hard but you HAVE to deckbuild for it, it has a different kind of win condition.

Hi, Ceahorse! Welcome to LotR!

Yes EfDG is notoriously hard, especially for solo players. It's caused many players to rage quit the game. It would be no shame to forget the quest and move on to the rest of the Mirkwood cycle, or Khazad-dum, or even the Saga boxes.

If you do chose to tough it out, the Tactics and Spirit starter decks are probably the best suited for two player. If you're looking for more advanced decks, this is the fellowship I used to two-hand this quest http://ringsdb.com/fellowship/view/2624/core-set-fellowship (it uses multiple core sets). Here is my solo deck, if you want to beat it by yourself. http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/5701/escape-from-dol-guldur-solo-1.0

I hope this game works out for you, and don't give up!

I always point new players towards https://hallofbeorn.wordpress.com/beorns-path/ , probably one of the best resources for teaching the process of deckbuilding in a core set context.

It's also got high-quality decks. But yeah, I definitely wouldn't attempt Dol Guldur with the mono-sphere decks that the game comes with. It might be possible to win that way, but you will lose so often it won't be fun anymore.

I am going to go with the recommendation to play Khazad-dum, then return to the Mirkwood cycle decks I have, then consider Dol Guldur after that time. I will also keep my eyes open for other Mirkwood cycle decks on eBay and BBG market.

Thanks for your help guys.

5 hours ago, Onidsen said:

I always point new players towards https://hallofbeorn.wordpress.com/beorns-path/ , probably one of the best resources for teaching the process of deckbuilding in a core set context.

It's also got high-quality decks. But yeah, I definitely wouldn't attempt Dol Guldur with the mono-sphere decks that the game comes with. It might be possible to win that way, but you will lose so often it won't be fun anymore.

This is quite encouraging and makes the thought of starting to deck build much less daunting. Thanks for this.

your link is broken, so I have included a fresh one to the starting article of the series.

This is a good deck using one core set:

http://www.ringsdb.com/decklist/view/951/back-to-basics-a-killer-deck-using-cards-from-1-core-set-1.0

This core set only deck is also reportedly good: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/898293/journey-down-anduin-deck-built-only-single-core-se

Thanks again. I have been reading into Khazam and think it will be suitable. Most decks and guide focus on solo, but I play this game with my son. Are there any good decks for 2 playing KD?

I was wondering if there is an elf focused expansion like that of Khazam. Is it accessible

37 minutes ago, Ceahorse said:

Thanks again. I have been reading into Khazam and think it will be suitable. Most decks and guide focus on solo, but I play this game with my son. Are there any good decks for 2 playing KD?

I was wondering if there is an elf focused expansion like that of Khazam. Is it accessible

We have gotten a number of Elf-themed cards (both Silvan and Noldor - the two traits play out very differently). But they are spread out a little bit more than the Dwarf support. The closest thing you could get would be the Grey Havens deluxe box, I think. You get a couple of powerful Noldor heroes, one of the 3 Elven Rings of Power, and some Elf allies of varying usefulness. The quests in the box are much more complex than quests in the early cycles of the game, though, so the learning curve might be quite steep.

Other highly important packs for the Noldor trait would be the Dread Realm, for hero Arwen and the event Elven-Light - an essential component of many such decks. Also, Treachery of Rhuadar for the hero variant of Erestor, which almost single-handedly defines the Noldor archetype. There are some other really useful ones - Shadow and Flame for Elrond, and Foundations of Stone for the Spirit variant of Glorfindel, along with Asfaloth and Light of Valinor.

For the Silvan Trait, you want at least the Dunland Trap, for hero Celeborn, and the event The Tree People, which starts to define the Silvan archetype. The rest of the Ringmaker cycle will give you more events focused on the Silvan archetype and more useful Silvan allies (and two exceptional Heroes - Galadriel and Haldir) to use them with.

Neither of the elven archetypes will be as straightforward to play or deckbuild for as Dwarves will, though.

As for 2-player decks for playing through Khazad-dum, try The Line Unbroken - a progression style series that only uses cards that were available at the time of the release. I've linked you to the Khazad-dum blog entry.

I played around with the RingDB and made two quick decks. They might be heavily faulted for Khazad-dum, but I was just messing around with it.

Eowyn White and the Many Dwarves - Deck A

http://ringsdb.com/deck/view/95193

Eowyn White and the Many Dwarves - Deck B

http://ringsdb.com/deck/view/95194

8 minutes ago, Onidsen said:

As for 2-player decks for playing through Khazad-dum, try The Line Unbroken - a progression style series that only uses cards that were available at the time of the release. I've linked you to the Khazad-dum blog entry.

I don't have many of the Mirkwood cycle. But I do have Dain Ironfoot as recommended on this blog. I will take a closer look through this. Thanks.

These are the decks I used to two-hand the Khazad-dum quests. I beat all three first try with them (Dwarves are OP). http://ringsdb.com/fellowship/view/4041

1 hour ago, Wandalf the Gizzard said:

These are the decks I used to two-hand the Khazad-dum quests. I beat all three first try with them (Dwarves are OP). http://ringsdb.com/fellowship/view/4041

how did you merge the two decks into one page on ringsdb ? nevermind.. found it. Make them a fellowship.

and what is meant by "progression"

When people say "progression" they mean they are playing the scenarios in the order that they were released, and that their decks are only using player cards which were available at the time of release.