Welcome to the LOTR Solo League. This month we'll be playing three quests from Grey Havens and Dreamchaser. The quests are:
1) Raid on the Grey Havens
2) The Drowned Ruins
3) A Storm On Cobas Haven
Here are the rules:
1) Each player will construct a 50+ card deck, then use that exact deck against all three quests. You may use that deck freely against any quests (include the three quests in the league) prior to the run for testing purposes, but you may not use any trial runs for your official results.
2) At least one of the heroes must be from a box with those quests. This means that you must have at least one of Cirdan, Galdor, Argalad, and Na'asiyah.
3) Your score against each quest will be how much help you need to defeat it, based on the Grace of the Valar variant invented by Seastan. It works like this:
For each token you have, you can choose to draw a card or give a hero a resource. This happens one at a time, so if I use my first token to draw a card, I see the card before I decide whether to use my second token for a card or a resource. This can be done *anytime* during setup.
The original variant starts at zero tokens and gains two tokens if you lose quickly (first five turns) and one if you do not -- however, for the purposes of this league I will allow you to start a quest at any number of tokens, and adjust by as many as you want. The only rules for adding/reducing tokens are these:
Rule 1) If you lose a quest with X tokens, you cannot play that quest again with X or less tokens.
Rule 2) If you defeat a quest with Y tokens, you cannot play that quest again with Y or more tokens.
So for example, if I start with six tokens against Raid on the Grey Havens and defeat it, I can play it again with 0-5 tokens. If I then try with three tokens and lose, I can play it again with 4 or 5 tokens. If I try with four and lose, I can play it again with 5 tokens. If I win, my final score for that quest is 5, and if I lose my final score for the quest is 6. (Alternatively, I could've decided that 6 was a good enough score the first time I played it, and just have my final score be 6 without playing again.)
Remember that tokens do not carry over between quests. When playing A Storm on Cobas Haven it does not matter how many tokens I needed to defeat The Drowned Ruins.
4) You are not required to publish your deck, but providing a ringsdb link is encouraged (otherwise I may need to ask you for your decklist at the end of the month if required for a tiebreaker). You are required to reveal which Heroes you used, and how many cards in your deck came from outside GH/Dreamchaser, VoI/Ringmaker and a single core. Do not include outside heroes in this count, only cards in the deck itself.
Note: Contracts (from the most recent cycle) are not part of the deck and should not be counted. A Loot Deck (from the Burglar's turn contract) is also not part of the deck and should not be counted. The One Ring or the Messenger of the King ally/hero should also not be counted *unless* your deck uses those cards to reach 50 -- the Master card fetched by the One Ring should be counted. You may follow contract/One Ring setup instructions at the same as hero setup, ignoring Caleb's ruling.
Note: Na'asiyah conflicts with her enemy/ally versions in two of the quests -- for the purposes of this league, if you use the Na'asiyah hero this should be considered her identical twin sister, coincidentally also named Na'asiyah.
5) Tiebreakers have frequently mattered in this league. Here are the tiebreakers, in order:
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1st) The number of outside cards (i.e. not from GH/Dreamchaser, VoI/Ringmaker or a single core) used in the deck. Do not count outside heroes in this count, only cards in the deck. Less cards is better.
2nd) The number of heroes specifically from GH/Dreamchaser and VoI/Ringmaker. More is better.
3rd) The number of heroes used from this list: Cirdan, Galdor, Argalad, Na'asiyah. More is better.
4th) The number of cards in the deck outside GH/Dreamchaser and VoI/Ringmaker. Less is better, and core cards are considered "outside" for this tiebreaker.
5th) The number of cards outside Grey Havens, The Drowned Ruins, and Storm Over Cobas Haven. Less is better, and core cards are considered "outside" for this tiebreaker.
6th) Performance in August's Solo League (if you didn't play or finish August's League, a median performance will be assumed). Whoever did worst wins this tiebreaker.
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6) 1st place gets to choose the cycle for November's league, 2nd place gets to choose a quest from that cycle, and 3rd place gets to choose a quest *not* to be used from that cycle. In an effort to expand the diversity of decks used, the last place player will choose an additional cycle that may be used for deckbuilding in November's league. October's cycle will be Angmar, chosen by the winner of August's league.
7) Weekly deadlines will at 11:59pm Eastern on the 14th, 21st, and 28th. Only the final deadline really matters for scoring and cannot be extended -- the first two deadlines are only to be included in intermediate standings.
Raid on the Grey Havens: September 14th
Drowned Ruins: September 21st
Storm on Cobas Haven: September 28th
8 ) I've created a google spreadsheet for results here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mnQGj54v_xjelFnc0TOl6YQBzvSiWr1YZpWxWKI60G4/edit?usp=sharing
To join the league, merely add your name and information about your deck to the spreadsheet, then enter your results as you have them. Please give a link to your deck if you built or published it on ringsdb, but it is not required.
If you wish you may run additional decks against the quests and record your results, but only the first entry will be considered for the competition itself.