2 hours ago, Rouxxor said:

Don't be that negative. Your build seem as strong as mine. I'm sure you can take down those quest. In fact I think you already to the worst part. The only one where a boat is likely to sail you early. You probably can manage to win flight on the stormcaller turn 3 like we did (or win it on the long term, just calculate it right and stick to the plan you choose since you need to usually commit fully to your plan). And temple is the easiest part: it is only about setting up before making any relevant move (I do travel discover what there is around the island map to keep me busy, just stay out of any temple until you draw all your deck).

I forget to post it but I do another 2 win on the two first scenario and still no loss. @theagesthrough56 can testify :). I probably won't finish the 2 runs he ask me to do. Because there is so many things to do and those games I playing this months like very similar one to another ^^.

Seems you were right, I pushed past the stormcaller in a yolo quest on stage 4. So one more to go.

So this got me curious how different the three decks are, since they feature the same heroes. Here's the Ally/Attachment/Event breakdown:

Rouxxor: 28/6/16

GIBraag: 27/7/16

PAOE: 25/11/14

Proportions are similar, though PAOE has notably more attachments. Here's the cards all three decks have in common:

1x Ceorl (2x for PAOE)

2x Erebor Hammersmith

1x Faramir (2x for PAOE & GIBraag)

3x Gandalf

1x Gleowine (2x for Rouxxor and PAOE)

1x Glorfindel

1x Guardian of Rivendell (2x for PAOE)

1x Henamarth Riversong

2x Snowbourn Scout (3x for Rouxxor and GIBraag)

1x Narya (3x for PAOE)

2x Steward of Gondor

1x Unexpected Courage

2x A Test of Will

1x Dwarven Tomb

2x Sneak Attack

2x Stand and Fight (3x for Rouxxor and GIBraag)

1x Galadhrim's Greetings (2x for Rouxxor and PAOE)

So exactly 50% of the deck is identical between the three decks.

Here's the cards that two of the decks had in common

2x Imladris Caregiver (0x GIBraag)

1x Ioreth (2x GIBraag, 0x PAOE)

2x Rhovanion Outrider (3x Rouxxor, 0x GIBraag)

1x Robin Smallburrow (0x PAOE)

3x Sailor of Lune (0x PAOE)

1x Windfola (0x PAOE)

1x Armored Destrier (2x PAOE, 0x Rouxxor)

1 Protector of Lorien (2x PAOE, 0x Rouxxor)

2x Captain's Wisdom (3x Rouxxor, 0x PAOE)

2x Hasty Stroke (0x PAOE)

As you can see, PAOE is often the odd man out. Rouxxor and GIBraag shared 37 cards in common, or 74% of their deck.

Here's the cards that only one of the three decks thought were worth including:

3x Ered Luin Miner (Rouxxor)

2x Miner of the Iron Hills (PAOE)

2x Northern Tracker (PAOE)

2x Dwarven Sellsword (GIBraag)

1x Knight of the White Tower (GIBraag)

3x Lindon Navigator (GIBraag)

Lindon Navigator was called out as the MVP in sailing quests by GIBraag, he Galdored cards to get them in the opening hand.

1x Celebrian's Stone (Rouxxor)

1x Rod of the Steward (PAOE)

1x Will of the West (Rouxxor)

3x Heed the Dream (PAOE)

2x Valiant Sacrifice (PAOE)

2x Tides of Fate (GI Braag)

1x Justice Shall Be Done (GIBraag)

So what do the variations mean about how much a deck constructs itself, given the same heroes and a self-imposed limitation to single core plus single cycle? The identical portion was 50%, Rouxxor devoted 10% of his deck to cards the other two didn't use at all, GIBraag devoted 18% of his deck to such cards, and PAOE devoted 20%. I think that's significant variation, but YMMV.

Wow that's a thorough analysis for just 3 decks. Applause to dalestephenson. Some of the variation may be explained because I only own 3 packs of the Dreamchaser cycle (FotS, Thing in the depths & temple of the deceived). If I had access to the cards from the other 3 packs other cards would have also seen play in my deck (e.g. Ioreth) and others would have been cut or reduced to fewer copies.

I usually pick up packs based on what's available at a discount.

22 hours ago, Rouxxor said:

Don't be that negative. Your build seem as strong as mine. I'm sure you can take down those quest. In fact I think you already to the worst part. The only one where a boat is likely to sail you early. You probably can manage to win flight on the stormcaller turn 3 like we did (or win it on the long term, just calculate it right and stick to the plan you choose since you need to usually commit fully to your plan). And temple is the easiest part: it is only about setting up before making any relevant move (I do travel discover what there is around the island map to keep me busy, just stay out of any temple until you draw all your deck).

I forget to post it but I do another 2 win on the two first scenario and still no loss. @theagesthrough56 can testify :). I probably won't finish the 2 runs he ask me to do. Because there is so many things to do and those games I playing this months like very similar one to another ^^.

Yes I can attest. Very convincing wins, including one against Flight of The Stormcaller where he drew a terrible hand. He made me think the quests are too easy for the league, as many participants may end up with the perfect score.

In the September league two players (including the winner) upped the ante by playing against Nightmare versions of the quest. For some players (typically not me), the normal versions of practically every quest are too easy. All three quests this month have nightmare versions, but so far no one has felt compelled to beat them.

I think with this particular set of quests, the issue isn't just the raw difficulty level but the congruence of types -- two are sailing quests and both can be won by high-willpower rush, something Noldor decks are well suited for. Temple of the Deceived isn't the same sort of quest, but but doesn't require early boss engagement. I think next month's quests may be more challenging in this respect.

But ultimately the point in the league is just to have an excuse to play some quests, so I'm OK with the quests being beatable.

If I have the time, I will participate again and modify my Noldo deck to try a run in nightmare mode.

I will just hate puting steward of gondor in my noldo deck though...

One week left to go, with the Drowned Ruins as the final quest.

Six of us managed to post our results against Flight of the Stormcaller in time for the deadline, and made it look easy:

0 GIBraag (0)
0 PigsAreOurEquals (0)
0 Rouxxor (0)
0 dalestephenson (24)
0 Yepesnopes (30)
0 Drainu (33)

Since we also made it through the first sailing quest unscathed, the current standings through two rounds are the same:

0 GIBraag (0)
0 PigsAreOurEquals (0)
0 Rouxxor (0)
0 dalestephenson (24)
0 Yepesnopes (30)
0 Drainu (33)

Noldor allies may not be terrific combat characters, but they can sail like nobody's business. Next up -- Noldor resources pay Corsairs to handle combat for them.

Just finished my run at 1 valar token. Voyage across Belegaer caught me pants down with a well-timed treachery in the first turn that put a corsair right up my grill, when all my heroes were exhausted. He would have killed one of them, so I reset. I may have survived, since this quest isn’t that hard, but I didn’t want to take a chance at playing on just to be defeated at the end.

Flight of the Stormcaller was epic. I had to overcome a very bad start and I had little hope. It went down the wire, and I just blew past the Stormcaller with Lords of the Eldar at last.

Temple of the Deceived was pure turtling, but I really like the quest design. Looking forward to the Nightmare quest, which I have.

Drowned Ruins didn't present any obstacles, as we all took it slow this time:

0 Rouxxor (0)
0 GIBraag (0)
0 PigsAreOurEquals (0)
0 theagesthrough56 (29)
0 yepesnopes (30)
0 Drainu (33)
0 Velensk (34)
0* dalestephenson (25)


I'll put an asterisk by my zero score and listing me last, because I quit my first attempt near the Grotto after realizing I had ignored two important rules:

1) extra progress goes onto locations in staging
2) cursed temple gives the Guardian -50 engagement cost

This is what happens when you think you remember the special rules, but don't. Since I moved onto a Cursed Temple blind in my first turn, I would have lost if I engaged the Guardian then, except that if I had placed extra progress and realized that it'd engage the Guardian I wouldn't have moved there blind in the first place. I just restarted because I had botched the rules so badly, but maybe I should have taken a token as well. What do you think?

At any rate, it doesn't affect the prizes. Here's the cumulative tokens for the players who finished all three quests:

0 Rouxxor (0)
0 GIBraag (0)
0 PigsAreOurEquals (0)
0* dalestephenson (25)
0 yepesnopes (30)
0 Drainu (33)
1 theagesthrough56 (29)
2 Velensk (34)

With Heirs of Numenor coming up, I doubt we'll see three people tie for first with no outside cards or heroes next month. As I didn't specify a fourth tiebreaker, I'll randomly select the winners:

1st Place -- Rouxxor. Rouxxor gets to choose the cycle for December's league.
2nd Place -- PigsAreOurEquals. PAOE gets to choose a quest from the chosen cycle that we will play.
3rd Place -- GIBraag. GIBraag gets to choose a quest from the chosen cycle *not* to play (excluding the chosen quest).
Last Place -- Velensk. Velensk gets to choose a hero or player card from outside the cycle who does not count against the tiebreakers.

I hope you enjoyed playing. Next month's quests will be Into Ithilien, Steward's Fear, and Druadan Forest. You must choose at least one of Tactics Beregond, Leadership Boromir, Hirluin the Fair, and Mirlonde as one of your heroes.

7 hours ago, dalestephenson said:

Drowned Ruins didn't present any obstacles, as we all took it slow this time:

0 Rouxxor (0)
0 GIBraag (0)
0 PigsAreOurEquals (0)
0 theagesthrough56 (29)
0 yepesnopes (30)
0 Drainu (33)
0 Velensk (34)
0* dalestephenson (25)


I'll put an asterisk by my zero score and listing me last, because I quit my first attempt near the Grotto after realizing I had ignored two important rules:

1) extra progress goes onto locations in staging
2) cursed temple gives the Guardian -50 engagement cost

This is what happens when you think you remember the special rules, but don't. Since I moved onto a Cursed Temple blind in my first turn, I would have lost if I engaged the Guardian then, except that if I had placed extra progress and realized that it'd engage the Guardian I wouldn't have moved there blind in the first place. I just restarted because I had botched the rules so badly, but maybe I should have taken a token as well. What do you think?

At any rate, it doesn't affect the prizes. Here's the cumulative tokens for the players who finished all three quests:

0 Rouxxor (0)
0 GIBraag (0)
0 PigsAreOurEquals (0)
0* dalestephenson (25)
0 yepesnopes (30)
0 Drainu (33)
1 theagesthrough56 (29)
2 Velensk (34)

With Heirs of Numenor coming up, I doubt we'll see three people tie for first with no outside cards or heroes next month. As I didn't specify a fourth tiebreaker, I'll randomly select the winners:

1st Place -- Rouxxor. Rouxxor gets to choose the cycle for December's league.
2nd Place -- PigsAreOurEquals. PAOE gets to choose a quest from the chosen cycle that we will play.
3rd Place -- GIBraag. GIBraag gets to choose a quest from the chosen cycle *not* to play (excluding the chosen quest).
Last Place -- Velensk. Velensk gets to choose a hero or player card from outside the cycle who does not count against the tiebreakers.

I hope you enjoyed playing. Next month's quests will be Into Ithilien, Steward's Fear, and Druadan Forest. You must choose at least one of Tactics Beregond, Leadership Boromir, Hirluin the Fair, and Mirlonde as one of your heroes.

Ouch, tackling battle and non-battle quests with the same deck will require some masterful deckbuilding. Especially considering how willpower-demanding SF can be. I have this cycle for a change so totally going to play this time.

Rouxxor has chosen Angmar Awakens cycle, and Velensk has chosen Tactics Eowyn for our honorary out-of-cycle card. PigsAreOurEquals now gets to choose a quest from Lost Realm/Angmar Awakens that we will play.

I really like Across the Ettenmoors, so I will pick that one to be played.

Even if this means i give up the opportunity to be hated for picking Battle of Carn Dum?.

Maybe GIBraag will exclude Carn Dum. I can always hope!

Carn Dum/Eriador are my dream team. I'm most afraid of Mount Gram that I don't know how to play.

I last played through Angmar cycle with my Dori and the Damage fellowship (Dwarven mining, Argalad, and every direct damage card there was). It took down a lot of tough quests easily, but Mount Gram gave it fits -- I had to completely remake the decks to get through.

Mount Gram isn't a tough quest in general, but it really would challenge some fixed decks!

Sorry Rouxxor I still have nightmares about Carn Dum. Dread Realm is no walk in the park either. Angmar Awakened is a tough cycle, so I expect a very different outcome than the mostly 0 Favour of the Valar that we had in October.

GI Braag has chosen to exclude Wastes of Eriador. The randomly selected quests are Intruders in Chetwood and The Dread Realm, to go with the previously selected Across the Ettenmoors. Each player must use at least one of the following heroes: Tactics Aragorn, Halbarad, Dori, Arwen.

?