The first time I played this scenario, I got jumped by all four trolls (plus the hill troll) at once in the second stage. This was my fault, I like to play first time scenarios blind (without looking at the quest cards), so I don't know what's coming. After this, I realized I had to build up my forces and lower my threat, and take on the trolls one at a time on my own terms. So I beat it on my second try (although Theodred got sacked and roasted lol - but by that time I didn't need him).

The real reason I started this thread though, was to show the deck I built specifically for this scenario. It uses all cards from the Core Set (albeit multiple Core Sets), and it's very stripped down, but powerful. The main drawback is that it can't cancel threats or shadow effects, but there's nothing too nasty in this particular scenario. You could always replace Favor of the Lady with something. There are 50 cards exactly, and it's a Leadership/Spirit deck. You really need Leadership here for the resources to buy Grimbeorn:

HEROES: Aragorn, Theodred, and Eowyn

ALLIES:

Guard of the Citadel x 3

Snowborn Scout x 3

Wandering Took x3

Lorien Guide x 3

Gandalf x 3

Faramir x 2

Longbeard Orc Slayer x 2

Silverlode Archer x 2

Northern Tracker x 2

Son of Arnor x 1

Brok Ironfist x 1

ATTACHMENTS:

Steward of Gondor x 3

Celebrian's Stone x 3

Favor of the Lady x 3

Unexpected Courage x 3

EVENTS:

Sneak Attack x 3

Galadhrim's Greeting x 3

Stand and Fight x 3

Dwarven Tomb x 3

Fortune or Fate x 1

I would drop Fortune or Fate, Brok Ironfist, the Son of Arnor, the Silverlode Archers, the Orc-slayers, and the Lorien Guides for 3x Valiant Sacrifice, a For Gondor, a Grim Resolve, 2x Hasty Stroke, 2x Test of Will, and a third Norther Tracker.

But that's just me, of course.

2 hours ago, Wandalf the Gizzard said:

I would drop Fortune or Fate, Brok Ironfist, the Son of Arnor, the Silverlode Archers, the Orc-slayers, and the Lorien Guides for 3x Valiant Sacrifice, a For Gondor, a Grim Resolve, 2x Hasty Stroke, 2x Test of Will, and a third Norther Tracker.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm sure you have more experience than I do. It's a work in progress. I only threw Fortune or Fate in there to make it to 50 cards. I was thinking of dropping that and Favor of the Lady for 2x Hasty Stroke and 2x Test of Will.

I like the suggestion of a third Northern Tracker, that's a useful card. I wanted to have half allies, and I wanted a lot of cheap ones so getting some out early wouldn't be an issue. I kind of like Brok Ironfist though, even though maybe he's not worth his cost. I haven't gotten too involved with changing the allies around yet, I just kind of threw everything in there.