Solo League 29 - A Shadow in the East/ Vengeance of Mordor with LOTR Saga Cards

By Alonewolf87, in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

Posted at

Welcome to the last LOTR Solo League hosted on this forum. I created a copy of this thread on BBG Forum too to help transitioning.

This month we'll be playing three quests from A Shadow in the East and Vengeance of Mordor. The quests are:

1) The River Running
2) The City of Ulfast
3) Under the Ash Mountains

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 Leadership Frodo, Smeagol, Lothiriel and Gildor Inglorion.

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 Into the Pit 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 The City of Ulfast it does not matter how many tokens I needed to defeat The River Running.

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 A Shadow in the East/Vengeance of Mordor, the LOTR Saga 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.

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 A Shadow in the East/Vengeance of Mordor, LOTR Saga 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 The A Shadow in the East/Vengeance of Mordor and LOTR Saga. More is better.

3rd) The number of heroes used from this list: Leadership Frodo, Smeagol, Lothiriel and Gildor Inglorion. More is better.

4th) The number of cards in the deck outside The A Shadow in the East/Vengeance of Mordor and LOTR Saga. Less is better, and core cards are considered "outside" for this tiebreaker.

5th) The number of cards outside A Shadow in the East, The City of Ulfast and Under the Ash Mountains. Less is better, and core cards are considered "outside" for this tiebreaker.

6th) Performance in December's Solo League (if you didn't play or finish Novemberr'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 March'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 March'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.

The River Running: January 14th
The City of Ulfast: January 21st
Under the Ash Mountains: January 28th

8 ) I've created a google spreadsheet for results here:
https: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1o984xo38OhU1ApTQxs5z...

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.

Edited by Alonewolf87
Posted at

Thanks for doing this, I’ll post and join in as my BGG name Christian_Medic and hope to see you guys there

Posted at

I created a BGG account, name is Bobbymcbobface_ I don't have Shadow in the East however, so I'll have to sit this one out. Looking forward to next month though!

Posted at

After the third attempt (in the first two I was unable to stem the constant flux of enemies) I was finally able to beat the River Runnin with 3 Valar Tokens. My deck is showing severe lack of combat abilities and I fear this League will end up in a disaster for me due to a badly constructed deck, especially against The City of Ulfast

Here is the usual playthrough detailing the game I won

The River Running

Opening Hand (after mulligan): Merry, Fast Hitch, Bill the Pony, Resourceful, Cautious Halfling, Hobbit Cloak

Setup: set Warriors of the East aside, add Easterling Pursuit, Easterling Outrider and River Running to the staging area, give The One Ring to Frodo, add The Master Ring to my hand, put Sam Gamgee into play as Messenger of the King, shuffle 2 copies of Stinker in the encounter deck; draw Bilbo Baggins, add 1 resource to Frodo Baggins and 1 resource to Sam Gamgee

Turn 1 (16 Starting Threat)

Draw: Thorongil

Planning Phase; play Bill the Pony for free, play Fast Hitch on Frodo Baggins, play Resourceful on Frodo Baggins, play Hobbit Cloak on Frodo Baggins; play Bilbo Baggins (fetch Spare Pipe); resources left Sam Gamgee (0), Frodo (0), Smeagol (0)

Quest Phase: send Sam, Frodo (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready him again), Smeagol, Bill and Bilbo to the quest; reveal Warrior of Rhun; 9 Willpower against 6 Threat, 3 progress on stage 1

Travel phase: travel to River Running (engage Warrior of Rhun, raise Threat by 1 to draw Gandalf)

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: Frodo defends Warrior of Rhun (no Easterling treachery to fetch, shadow is River Running, 3 Attack against 4 Defense no damage)

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 18, add 1 resource to Easterling Pursuit

Turn 2

Draw: Drinking Song

Planning Phase: play nothing resources left Sam Gamgee (1), Frodo (2), Smeagol (1)

Quest Phase: send Sam, Frodo, Smeagol, Bill and Bilbo to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Smeagol); reveal Sword of Rhun (attaches to Easterling Outrider) surges into Weary Lands (TD 19, spend 1 Spirit resource to ready and boost Sam Gamgee); 8 Willpower against 2 Threat; 6 progress, 5 to clear River Runnin, 1 on Stage 1 (4 total); quested successfully so TD 18

Travel phase: nothing

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: Frodo defends Warrior of Rhun (no Easterling treachery to fetch, shadow is Rocky Outcrop, 3 Attack against 4 Defense no damage); Sam and Smeagol attack Warrior of Rhun (4 Attack against 3 Defense, 1 damage)

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 19, add 1 resource to Easterling Pursuit (2 total)

Turn 3

Draw: Hobbit Pipe

Planning Phase: play Cautious Halfling (top card of the encounter deck is Rolling Plains, draw Robin Smalburrow); play Spare Pipe on Frodo Baggins (add Smoke and Think to my hand); play Hobbit Pipe on Sam Gamgee; play Smoke and Think to play Gandalf for 3 (4 damage to Warrior of Rhun) resources left Sam Gamgee (0), Frodo (0), Smeagol (0)

Quest Phase: send Sam Gamgee, Frodo Baggins (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready him), Bilbo Baggins and Cautious Halfling; reveal Rolling Plains; 7 Willpower against 7 Threat, no progress

Travel phase: travel to Rolling Plains (TD 21, then TD 22 to draw Smoke Rings)

Engagement phase: engage Easterling Outrider (immediate attack, Gandalf defends, shadow is Easterling Raider so +2 Attack, 6 Attack against 4 Defense, 2 damage)

Combat phase: Frodo defends Easterling Outrider (shadow is Rider of Rhun, 4 Attack against 4 Defense, no damage); Smeagol and Bill the Pony attack and destroy Easterling Outrider (3 Attack against 1 Defense, 2 damage)

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 23, add 1 resource to Easterling Pursuit (3 total, remove 3 resource, shuffle encounter discard pile into the encounter deck, discard cards until I discard an enemy (Rocky Outcrop, Easterling Raider), add Easterling Rider to the staging area

Turn 4

Draw: Sneak Attack

Planning Phase: play nothing ; resources left Sam Gamgee (1), Frodo (2), Smeagol (1)

Quest Phase: send Sam, Frodo, Smeagol, Bill, Bilbo and Cautious Halfling to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Smeagol); reveal Painful Fatigue; (exhaust Smeagol and deal 1 damage to him); 10 Willpower against 2 Threat, 8 progress, 4 to clear Rolling Plains, 4 on Stage 1 (8 total), quested successfully so TD 22

Travel phase: nothing

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: Archery 1 (1 damage to Cautious Halfling) nothing

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 23, add 1 resource to Easterling Pursuit

Turn 5

Draw: Silver Circlet

Planning Phase: play Robin Smallburrow; play Thorongil on Frodo Baggins adding Spirit Frodo; resources left Sam Gamgee (1), Frodo (1), Smeagol (0)

Quest Phase: send Frodo Baggings (ready him with Fast Hitch), Bilbo Baggins and Robin Smallburrow to the quest; reveal Sword of Rhun (attach to Easterling Raider) surges into River Running; 6 Willpower against 5 Threat, 1 progress on Stage 1 (9 total)

Travel phase: travel to River Running (engage Easterling Raider, TD 24 to draw 2 nd Resourceful, spend 1 Spirit Resource to boost Sam Gamgee)

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: Archery 1 (1 damage to Cautious Halfling, 2 total), Cautious Halfling defends Easterling Raider (shadow is Rocky Outcrop, 5 Attack against 1 Defense, 4 damage, destroyed); Sam, Frodo, Smeagol and Bill attack and destroy Easterling Raider (2+1+2+1 = 6 Attack against 3 Defense, 3 damage)

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 25, add 1 resource to Easterling Pursuit (2 total)

Turn 6

Draw: Rosie Cotton

Planning Phase: play 2 nd Resourceful on Sam Gamgee; resources left Sam Gamgee (0), Frodo (1), Smeagol (0)

Quest Phase: send Frodo Baggins, Smeagol, Bilbo Baggins and Robin Smallburrow to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Smeagol); reveal Stinker (exhaust The One Ring and cancel it with The Master Ring) instead reveal An Arduous Journey; 8 Willpower against 2 Threat, 6 progress, 5 to clear River Running, 1 on Stage 1 for 10 total clearing it, advance to Stage 2; add Warriors of the East to the staging area, shuffle the encounter discard pile in the encounter deck and discard cards until I discard an enemy (Easterling Horse, Easterling Outrider), add Easterling Outrider to the staging area, attach Easterling Horse to Easterling Outrider due to Warrios of East's effect

Travel phase: nothing

Engagement phase: engage Easterling Outrider

Combat phase: Frodo Baggins defends Easterling Outrider (shadow is Weary Lands, 1 damage to Frodo Baggins, 2 Attack against 2 Defense, no damage); Sam Gamgee, Smeagol and Bill the Pony attack and destroy Easterling Outrider (1+2+1 = 4 Attack against 1 Defense 3 damage

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 26, add 1 resource to Easterling Pursuit (3 total) remove 3 resources, shuffle encounter discard pile into the encounter deck, discard cards until I discard an enemy (Easterling Horse, River Running, Warrior of Rhun), add Warrior of Rhun to the staging area, attach Easterling Horse to Warrior of Rhun due to Warrios of East's effect

Turn 7

Draw: Gandalf

Planning Phase: nothing; resources left Sam Gamgee (2), Frodo (2), Smeagol (1)

Quest Phase: play Sneak Attack and put Gandalf in play (4 damage to Warrior of Rhun killing it); play Smoke Rings (TD 24, +1 Willpower to Sam and Frodo, exhaust Hobbit Pipe to draw 2 nd Bilbo Baggins); send Sam Gamgee, Frodo Baggins, Smeagol, Bill the Pony, Bilbo Baggins, Robin Smallburrow and Gandalf to the quest, (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Smeagol); reveal Enemies Close Behind (add 1 resource to Easterling Pursuit, TD 25); 17 Willpower against 1 Threat; 16 progress on Stage 2 winning the quest

Final Score = 6 Completed Rounds (x10) + 25 Threat +1 damage on Smeagol = 86

Edited by Alonewolf87
Posted at

I was finally able to defeat The City of Ulfast by using 4 Valar Tokens and in 13 grueling rounds. I am really regretting not investing more in Attack strength with this deck, during deckbuilding I let myself get too carried away with the fun interactions among some of my card.

Here is the usual playthrough

The City of Ulfast (4 Tokens)

Opening Hand (after mulligan): Hobbit Pipe, Fast Hitch, Cautious Halfling, Resourceful, Smoke and Think, Hobbit Cloak

Setup: add City Guard and Streets of Ulfast to the staging area, give The One Ring to Frodo, add The Master Ring to my hand, put Sam Gamgee into play as Messenger of the King, shuffle 2 copies of Stinker in the encounter deck; draw Bill the Pony e Rosie Cotton, add 2 resources to Frodo's pool

Turn 1 (16 Starting Threat)

Draw: 2 nd Resourceful

Planning Phase: play Bill the Pony for free; play 1 st Resourceful on Frodo; play 2 nd Resourceful on Sam Gamgee, play Hobbit Cloak and Fast Hitch on Frodo, resources left Sam Gamgee (0), Frodo (1), Smeagol (0)

Quest Phase: send Sam, Frodo, Smeagol and Bill to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Smeagol); reveal Side Street; 7 Willpower against 5 Threat, 2 progress on Stage 1, quested successfully so TD 15

Travel phase: travel to Streets of Ulfast (TD 16, TD 17 to draw Power of Command)

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: nothing

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 18, add 1 resource to Stage 1

Turn 2

Draw: Bilbo Baggins

Planning Phase: play Power of Command on Frodo Baggins; play Bilbo Baggins (fetch Spare Pipe); play Hobbit Pipe on Frodo Baggins; play Smoke and Think to play Cautious Halfling for 1 resource (top card of the deck is Overwhelmed, draw Drinking Song); resources left Sam Gamgee (0), Frodo (1), Smeagol (0)

Quest Phase: send Sam, Frodo, Smeagol, Bill, Bilbo Baggins and Cautious Halfling to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Smeagol); reveal Overwhelmed (TD 19) 11 Willpower against 5 Threat, 6 progress, 5 to clear Streets of Ulfast, 1 on Stage 1 (3 total), quested successfully so TD 18

Travel phase: travel to Side Street (shuffle discard pile into encounter deck, discard Extra Vigil, Catacombs, add Catacomb to the staging area, TD 19 to draw Gandalf)

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: nothing

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 20, add 1 resource to Stage 1 (2 total)

Turn 3

Draw: 2 nd Fast Hitch

Planning Phase: play Spare Pipe on Sam Gamgee (add Sneak Attack to my hand); play Rosie Cotton, play Fast Hitch on Rosie Cotton ; resources left Sam Gamgee (1), Frodo (0), Smeagol (0)

Quest Phase: send Sam, Frodo, Smeagol, Bill, Bilbo Baggins and Cautious Halfling to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, exhaust The One Ring and TD 21 to give +1 Willpower to all unique characters, spend 1 resource to ready and boost Sam Gamgee), reveal Messenger from Mordor (immediate attack Frodo defends, shadow is Servant of Sauron, 4 Attack against 4 Defense, no damage); 16 Willpower against 9 Threat; 7 progress, 3 to clear Side Street and 4 on Stage 1 for 7 total, clearing Stage 1 and advancing to Stage 2 (reveal Patroling the Streets, 1 resource on Stage 2, no progress on the stage for this phase)

Travel phase: travel to Catacombs (discard Unwelcome Travelers, TD 22 to draw Sword-Thain)

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: nothing

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 23, add 1 resource to Stage 2 (2 total)

Turn 4

Draw: 2 nd Smoke and Think

Planning Phase: play 2 nd Smoke and Think to reduce Sword-Thain cost to 2; resources left Sam Gamgee (1), Frodo (2), Smeagol (0)

Quest Phase: play Sneak Attack to put Gandalf in play (4 damage to Messenger from Mordor); send Sam, Frodo, Smeagol, Bill, Bilbo Baggins, Cautious Halfling and Gandalf to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Smeagol); reveal Stinker, play The Master Ring (TD 24) to cancel Stinker and reveal The King's Elite instead; 15 Willpower against 6 Threat, 9 progress, 4 to clear Catacombs, 5 on Stage 2, quested successfully so TD 23, take Gandalf back in hand

Travel phase: nothing

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: nothing

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 24, add 1 resource to Stage 2 (3 total)

Turn 5

Draw: Red Book of Westmarch

Planning Phase: play Gandalf (draw Smoke Rings, Old Toby, Taste it Again); resources left Sam Gamgee (0), Frodo (2), Smeagol (0), Rosie Cotton (0)

Quest Phase: send Frodo, Smeagol, Bill, Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Gandalf); reveal Under Guard (discard cards We've Been Seen, Ulchor's Agent, The King's Lawn add The King's Lawn to the staging area); 12 Willpower against 10 Threat; 2 progress on Stage 3 (7 total), quested successfully so TD 23

Travel phase: travel to The King's Lawn (add 1 resource to Stage 2 for 4 total, TD 24 to draw 2 nd Gandalf

Engagement phase: engage The King's Elite

Combat phase: deal shadow card; Frodo defends The King's Elite (add 1 resource to Stage 2 for 5 total; shadow is Crowded Market, exhaust Rosie Cotton to give Frodo +2 Defense, 6 Defense against 5 attack no damage); City Guard is now considered engaged so it attacks and Cautious Halfling defends (no shadow card, 9 Attack against 1 Defense, 8 damage, destroyed); ready Rosie Cotton with Fast Hitch; Gandalf and Sam attack The King's Elite (exhaust Rosie Cotton to give Sam +3 Attack, 4 + 3 Attack = 7 against 2 Defense, 5 damage destroyed

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 25, add 1 resource to Stage 2 (6 total), discard Gandalf from play

Turn 6

Draw: 2 nd Hobbit Pipe

Planning Phase: play 2 nd Hobbit Pipe on Rosie Cotton; play Red Book of Westmarch on Frodo; resources left Sam Gamgee (2), Frodo (1), Smeagol (1), Rosie Cotton (0)

Quest Phase: send Sam Gamgee, Frodo, Smeagol, Bill and Bilbo Baggins to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Sam Gamgee); play Smoke Rings (TD 22, exhaust both Hobbit Pipes to draw 2 nd Drinking Song and 2 nd Spare Pipe); reveal Under Guard (add 1 resource to Stage 2 for 7 total); 15 Willpower against 6 Threat; 9 progress, 5 to clear The King's Lawn, 4 on Stage 2 for 11 total; clear Stage 2 and advance to Stage 3 (TD 27); quested successfully so TD 26 and add 1 resource to Frodo's pool

Travel phase:

Engagement phase:

Combat phase:

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 27, add 1 resource to Stage 3

Turn 7

Draw: Silver Circlet

Planning Phase: play Silver Circlet on Sam Gamgee; play Old Toby (draw 2 nd Hobbit Cloak, 2 nd Smoke Rings, 2 nd Taste it Again); play 2 nd Hobbit Cloak on Sam Gamgee; resources left Sam Gamgee (0), Frodo (2), Smeagol (0), Rosie Cotton (1)

Quest Phase: send Sam Gamgee, Frodo, Smeagol, Bill and Bilbo Baggins to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Sam Gamgee); reveal We've Been Seen (TD 30); 15 Willpower against 2 Threat, 13 progress on Stage 3; quested successfully so TD 29 and add 1 resource to Frodo's pool

Travel phase: nothing

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: nothing

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 30, add 1 resource to Stage 3 (2 total)

Turn 8

Draw: Robin Smallburrow

Planning Phase: play 2 nd Spare Pipe on Frodo Baggins (add 2 nd Sneak Attack to my hand); play 2 nd Gandalf (TD 25); resources left Sam Gamgee (0), Frodo (1), Smeagol (1), Rosie Cotton (0)

Quest Phase: send Frodo, Bill, Bilbo and 2 nd Gandalf to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready 2 nd Gandalf); reveal Side Street; 12 Willpower against 6 Threat; 6 progress on Stage 3 for 19 total; clear Stage 3 and advance to stage 4 (shuffle discard pile into encounter deck and discard cards Ulfast Sentry, add Ulfast Sentry to the staging area; quested successfully so TD 24 and add 1 resource to Frodo's pool

Travel phase: travel to Side Street (discard Under Guard, Messenger from Mordor, 2 nd Under Guard, 2 nd Messenger from Mordor, The King's Lawn, add The King's Lawn to the staging area, TD 25 to draw 2 nd Bilbo Baggins)

Engagement phase: engage Ulfast Sentry (immediate attack, Smeagol defends, shadow is Servant of Sauron, 1 Attack against 2 Defense, no damage)

Combat phase: deal Shadow Card; Frodo defens Ulfast Sentry (shadow is Guarded Archway, 1 Attack against 2 Defense, no damage); 2 nd Gandalf and Sam boosted by Rosie attack and destroy Ulfast Sentry (4 + 3 = 7 Attack against 1 Defense, 6 damage)

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 27, add 1 resource to Stage 4, discard 2 nd Gandalf from play

Turn 9

Draw: Thorongil

Planning Phase: play Robin Smallburrow; play Thorongil on Frodo Baggins; resources left Sam Gamgee (2), Frodo (1), Smeagol (0), Rosie Cotton (0)

Quest Phase: send Sam, Frodo, Smeagol, Bill, Bilbo and Robin to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Sam); reveal Unwelcome Travelers; play Smoke Rings (TD 24, exhaust both Hobbit Pipes to draw 2 nd Rosie Cotton and 2 nd Old Toby); exhaust Rosie Cotton to give +4 Willpower to Sam Gamgee; 24 Willpower against 6 Threat; 18 progress, 3 to clear Side Street, 15 on Stage 4; quested successfully so TD 23 and add 1 resource to Frodo's pool

Travel phase: travel to The King's Lawn (add 1 resource to stage 4 for 2 total; TD 24 to draw 3 rd Fast Hitch

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: nothing

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 25, add 1 resource to Stage 4 (3 total)

Turn 10

Draw: Merry

Planning Phase: play 3 rd Fast Hitch on Rosie Cotton; resources left Sam Gamgee (2), Frodo (3), Smeagol (0), Rosie Cotton (1)

Quest Phase: choose Unwelcome Travelers as current quest (discards Guarded Archway; Patroling the Streets, Cat and Mouse and Servant of Sauron, put Servant of Sauron into play engaged with me) send Sam, Frodo, Bill, Bilbo and Robin to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo Baggins, pay 1 from Frodo's pool to ready Sam Gamgee); reveal Ulchor's Agent (TD 28, Servant of Sauron makes an immediate attack, Smeagol defends, shadow is Ulfast Sentry, 2 Attack against 2 Defense, no damage); exaust Rosie Cotton to add 3 Willpower to Sam's (exhaust 2 nd Fast Hitch to ready Rosie Cotton); 19 Willpower against 7 Threat, 12 progress, 5 to clear The King's Lawn and 7 to clear Unwelcome Travelers and adding it to the victory display; quested successfully so TD 27 and add 1 resource to Frodo's pool

Travel phase: nothing

Engagement phase: engage Ulchor's Agent

Combat phase: deal Shadow Cards; Sam Gamgee defends Servant of Sauron (shadow is Patroling the Streets +3 Attack, 5 Attack against 3 Defense, 2 damage); play 1 st Taste it Again to ready Sam Gamgee; Frodo Baggins defends Ulchor's Agents (shadow is We've Been Seen, +1 Attack, 4 Attack against 4 Defense, no damage); play 2 nd Taste it Again to ready Frodo Baggins; Sam Gamgee attacks and destroys Servant of Sauron (exhaust Rosie Cotton to add +2 Attack to Sam Gamgee's for 5 total against 1 Defense, 4 damage); exhaust 3 rd Fast Hitch to ready Rosie Cotton); Frodo Baggins attacks Ulchor's Agent (exhaust Rosie Cotton to add +2 Attack to Frodo's for 5 total against 2 Defense, 3 damage)

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 28, add 1 resource to Stage 4 (4 total)

Turn 11

Draw: 3 rd Gandalf; play 2 nd Sneak Attack to put 3 rd Gandalf in play (4 damage to Ulchor's agent destroying it)

Planning Phase: play 3 rd Gandalf (TD 23); resources left Sam Gamgee (1), Frodo (2), Smeagol (1), Rosie Cotton (0)

Quest Phase: send Frodo, Bill, Robin and 3 rd Gandalf to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo Baggins, pay 1 from Frodo's pool to ready 3 rd Gandalf); reveal Streets of Ulfast; exhaust Rosie Cotton to add 3 Willpower to Frodo's (exhaust 2 nd Fast Hitch to ready Rosie Cotton); 14 Willpower against 10 Threat; 4 progress on Stage 4 for 19 total; quested successfully so TD 22 and add 1 resource to Frodo's pool

Travel phase: travel to Streets of Ulfast (TD 27; TD 28 to draw 2 nd Sam Gamgee, spend 1 resource to boost Sam Gamgee)

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: deal Shadow Card; Bilbo Baggins defends City Guard (shadow is Crowded Market; 9 Attack against 0 Defense, 9 damage, Bilbo is destroyed); Sam, Frodo, Smeagol and 3 rd Gandalf attack City Guard (Rosie boosts Sam twice giving him +4 Attack so 6 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 13 Attack against 4 Defense = 9 damage)

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 29, add 1 resource to Stage 4 (5 total), discard 3 rd Gandalf from play

Turn 12

Draw: 3 rd Taste It Again

Planning Phase: play 2 nd Bilbo Baggins (no pipes to fetch); play Merry ; resources left Sam Gamgee (0), Frodo (2), Smeagol (2), Rosie Cotton (1)

Quest Phase: send Frodo, Bill, Robin and Merry to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo Baggins, pay 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Bill); reveal Extra Vigil (attach it to City Guard); 14 Willpower against 6 Threat; 8 progress, 3 to clear Streets of Ulfast and 5 on Stage 4 (for 24 total); quested successfully so TD 28 and add 1 resource to Frodo's pool

Travel phase: nothing

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: deal Shadow Card; 2 nd Bilbo Baggins defends City Guard (shadow is We've Been Seen; 10 Attack against 0 Defense, 10 Damage, 3 on Bilbo and 7 on my other characters, 2 on Robin Smallburrow, 2 on Merry, 2 on Smeagol and 1 on Frodo); Sam, Frodo, Smeagol and Bill attack City Guard (Rosie boosts Sam three times for +6 Attack so 7 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 10 Attack total against 4 defense, 6 damage for 15 total)

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 29, add 1 resource to Stage 4 (6 total)

Turn 13

Draw: 2 nd Cautious Halfling

Planning Phase: play 2 nd Cautious Halfling (top card of the encounter deck is Crowded Market, draw 3 rd Drinking Song); resources left Sam Gamgee (2), Frodo (4), Smeagol (1), Rosie Cotton (2)

Quest Phase: send Frodo, Bill, Robin and Merry to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo Baggins, pay 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Bill); reveal Crowded Market; 11 Willpower against 9 Threat; 2 progress on stage 4 (for 26 total); quested successfully so TD 28 and add 1 resource to Frodo's pool

Travel phase: nothing

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: deal Shadow Card; Cautious Halfling defends City Guard (shadow is The King's Elite; 9 Attack against 0 Defense, 9 damage, Cautious Halfling is destroyed); additional attack goes undefended (shadow is Overwhelmed, TD 30, spend 1 resource to boost Sam, raise threat by 9 with Spirit Frodo's effects so TD 39); Sam, Frodo, Smeagol and Bill attack City Guard (Rosie boosts Sam three times so 8 + 1 + 2 +1 = 12 Attack against 4 Defense so 8 damage for 23 total) City Guard has no hit points remaining so I win the quest

Final Score = 12 Completed Rounds (x10) + 39 Threat +5 damage on heroes – 10 victory points = 154

Posted at

Under the Ash Mountains required 4 Valar Tokens too (but I started from 3 Tokens from the get go). In the end I was able to beat it on the second attempt, finishing with exactly 1 card left in my deck and 26 tokens on Stage 2.

I guess I can safely say that I will end up this league in the last spot, but that's part of the game too.

Here is the usual playthrough

Under the Ash Mountains (4 Tokens)

Opening Hand (after mulligan): Fast Hitch, Silver Circlet, Bill The Pony. 1 st Resourceful, Bilbo Baggins, 2 nd Resourceful

Setup: give The One Ring to Frodo, add The Master Ring to my hand, put Sam Gamgee into play as Messenger of the King, discard Taste It Again, Sneak Attack, Spare Pipe, Drinking Song, Rosie Cotton, add Torech Gorgor Patrol and A Haunt for Beast to the staging area, add 1 resource to Frodo's pool and 3 resources to Sam's pool

Turn 1 (16 Starting Threat)

Draw: Hobbit Cloak

Planning Phase: play Bill the Pony for free; play Fast Hitch on Frodo Baggins; play 1 st Resourceful on SamGamgee; play 2 nd Resourceful on Frodo Bagging; play Hobbit Cloak on Frodo Baggins; play Bilbo Baggins; resources left Sam Gamgee (0), Frodo (1), Smeagol (0)

Quest Phase: send Sam Gamgee, Frodo, Smeagol and Bill the Pony to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Smeagol); reveal Fiery Chasm; 7 Willpower against 6 Threat; 1 progress on stage 1; quested successfully so TD 15

Travel phase: travel to Fiery Chasm (TD 16 to draw Power of Command)

Engagement phase: engage Torech Gorgor Patrol, Bilbo defends the immediate attack (shadow is Spawn of Shelob, 5 Attack against 0 Defense, 5 damage, Bilbo is destroyed)

Combat phase: deal Shadow Card; Frodo defends Torech Gorgor Patrol (shadow is The Tunnel of Torech Gorgor, 5 Attack against 4 Defense, 1 damage)

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 17, discard Smoke and Think, Odo Proudfoot and 2 nd Taste it Again (35 cards left)

Turn 2

Draw: Gaffer Gamgee

Planning Phase: play Silver Circlet on Sam Gamgee; play Power of Command on Frodo Bagging; resources left Sam Gamgee (0), Frodo (1), Smeagol (1)

Quest Phase: choose A Haunt for Beasts as the current quest; send Sam Gamgee, Frodo Baggins, Smeagol and Bill to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Smeagol, exhaust The One Ring and TD 18 to give all other unique characters +1 Willpower); reveal Nameless Beast; 13 Willpower against 3 Threat; 10 progress, 5 to explore Fiery Chasm (discard Merry, 2 nd Drinking Song and Smoke Rings), 5 to clear A Haunt for Beasts and add it to the victory display; quested successfully so TD 17

Travel phase: nothing

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: deal Shadow Card; Frodo defends Torech Gorgor Patrol (shadow is Burning Reek, 5 Attack against 4 Defense, 1 damage)

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 18, discard Cautious Halfling and 2 nd Hobbit Cloak (29 cards left)

Turn 3

Draw: 2 nd Gandalf

Planning Phase: play Gaffer Gamgee ; resources left Sam Gamgee (2), Frodo (2), Smeagol (0)

Quest Phase: send Sam Gamgee, Frodo Baggins, Smeagol, Gaffer and Bill to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Smeagol, exhaust The One Ring and TD 19 to give all other unique characters +1 Willpower); reveal Fearful Shadows (TD 20); 15 Willpower against 3 Threat; 12 progress on Stage 1 for 13 total, quested successfully so TD 18

Travel phase: nothing

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: deal Shadow Cards; return Gaffer Gamgee to hand to cancel Torech Gorgor Patrol's attack

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 19, discard 2 nd Fast Hitch and 2 nd Smoke and Think (26 cards left)

Turn 4

Draw: 2 nd Sneak Attack; play 2 nd Sneak Attack to put Gandalf in play (4 damage to Torech Gorgor Patrol)

Planning Phase: play 2 nd Gandalf (4 more damage to Patrol for 8 total); resources left Sam Gamgee (0), Frodo (1), Smeagol (1)

Quest Phase: send Frodo Bagging and Gandalf to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Gandalf); reveal Crumbling Passage and make it the active location; 7 Willpower against 3 Threat; 4 progress, 3 to clear Crumbling Passage (no one to damage), 1 on Stage 1 for 14 total, quested successfully so TD 18

Travel phase: nothing

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: deal Shadow Card, Gandalf defends Torech Gorgoth Patrol (shadow is Orc Passage, 5 Attack against 4 Defense, 1 damage); Sam, Frodo, Smeagol and Bill attack and destroy Torech Gorgor Patrol (1+1+2+1 = 5 Attack against 4 Defense, 1 damage for 9 total)

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 19; discard Old Toby and 2 nd Spare Pipe (23 cards left), discard 2 nd Gandalf from play

Turn 5

Draw: Red Book of Westmarch

Planning Phase: play Gaffer Gamgee; play Red Book of Westmarch ; resources left Sam Gamgee (0), Frodo (1), Smeagol (0)

Quest Phase: send Sam, Frodo, Smeagol, Bill and Gaffer to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, exhaust The One Ring and TD 20 to give all other unique characters +1 Willpower); reveal Mordor Cave Troll; 18 Willpower against 6 Threat; 12 progress on stage 1 for 26 total, clearing it and advancing to stage 2 (add The Tunnels of Torech Gorgor to the staging area, shuffle the encounter discard pile into the encounter deck, discard Ransacked Supplies, Orc Passage, Fearful Shadows, Ash Mountains Werewolf, add Ash Mountains Werewolf to the staging area)

Travel phase: nothing

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase:

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 21 ; discard 2nd Cautious Halfling, Hobbit Pipe and 3 rd Fast Hitch (19 cards left)

Turn 6

Draw: Rosie Cotton

Planning Phase: play Rosie Cotton; resources left Sam Gamgee (4), Frodo (0), Smeagol (1)

Quest Phase: send Sam Gamgee, Frodo Baggins, Smeagol, Bill, Gaffer and Rosie to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, exhaust The One Ring and TD 22 to give all other unique characters +1 Willpower); reveal Hideous Deeps (place 2 nd Smoke Rings, 2 nd Sam Gamgee and 3 rd Resourceful under it); 23 Willpower against 11 Threat, 12 progress on Stage 2

Travel phase: travel to Hideous Deeps (1 resource on The Tunnels of Torech Gorgor)

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: nothing

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 23 ; discard 3 rd Drinking Song, 2 nd Bilbo Baggins and Wilyador (12 cards left)

Turn 7

Draw: Robin Smallburrow

Planning Phase: play Robin Smallburrow; resources left Sam Gamgee (6), Frodo (2), Smeagol (0)

Quest Phase: send Sam Gamgee, Frodo Baggins, Smeagol, Bill, Gaffer, Rosie and Robin to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Smeagol; exhaust The One Ring and TD 24 to give all other unique characters +1 Willpower); reveal Orc Passage; 27 Willpower against 12 Threat, 15 progress, 6 to clear Hideous Deeps (shuffle 2 nd Smoke Rings, 2 nd Sam Gamgee and 3 rd Resourceful back in my deck) and 9 on Stage 2 for 21 total, quested successfully so TD 23 and add 1 resource to Frodo's pool

Travel phase: travel to Orc Passage (1 resource on The Tunnels of Torech Gorgor, TD 24 to draw 3 rd Gandalf)

Engagement phase: nothing

Combat phase: nothing

Refresh Phase/End of Round: TD 24; discard 3 rd Sneak Attack, 2 nd Smoke Rings and 3 rd Resourceful (10 cards left)

Turn 8

Draw: Hobbit Pipe

Planning Phase: Thorongil; play Gandalf (TD 19); play Thorongil on Sam Gamgee; resources left Sam Gamgee (2), Frodo (2), Smeagol (1)

Quest Phase: send Sam Gamgee, Frodo Baggins, Smeagol, Bill, Gaffer, Rosie, Robin and Gandalf to the quest (exhaust Fast Hitch to ready Frodo, spend 1 resource from Frodo's pool to ready Gandalf); reveal Stinker (exhaust The One Ring and TD 20 to use The Master Ring to cancel it), reveal instead Burning Reek (TD 21, spend 1 resource from Sam's pool to ready and boost him, discard 8 cards (3 rd Sneak Attack, Sword-Thain, 3 rd Cautious Halfling, 2 nd Sam Gamgee, 2 nd Old Toby, 3 rd Taste It Again, 2 nd Spare Pipe, 2 nd Smoke Rings) down to 1 card left in the deck; 23 Willpower against 8 Threat, 15 progress, 4 to clear Orc Passage (add Torech Gorgor Patrol to the staging area), only 5 on Stage 2 due to the Patrol's effect but that's still 26 progress total so I clear Stage 2 and win the quest

Final Score = 7 Completed Rounds (x10) + 21 Threat +2 damage on Frodo – 10 victory points = 83

Edited by Alonewolf87
Posted at

Don’t feel to bad it was one of the most difficult challenges this month! We could probably only up it by doing a POD month where it’s Attack on Dol Guldur, Siege of Annuminas, and The Battle of Laketown for a month of suffering hahaha. Or a saga month where it ends up being the three quests from Mountain of Fire haha.

Posted at
6 hours ago, General_Grievous said:

Don’t feel to bad it was one of the most difficult challenges this month! We could probably only up it by doing a POD month where it’s Attack on Dol Guldur, Siege of Annuminas, and The Battle of Laketown for a month of suffering hahaha. Or a saga month where it ends up being the three quests from Mountain of Fire haha.

Thanks for the kind words, but it was definitely a mistake on my part on choosing the heroes and building the deck. I didn't take enough into account the needs of these specific quests.

Posted at
10 hours ago, Alonewolf87 said:

Thanks for the kind words, but it was definitely a mistake on my part on choosing the heroes and building the deck. I didn't take enough into account the needs of these specific quests.

They do require very specific deck-building and since I had just played through them with my wife (we are still stuck on Nurn) the challenges were fresher in my head and I just went for pure tailored decks for these quests pretty much ignoring trying to just use the available cards. It was just about survival hahaha

Posted at
On 1/22/2021 at 8:05 AM, Alonewolf87 said:

I guess I can safely say that I will end up this league in the last spot, but that's part of the game too.

Don't worry, I still haven't played my games yet!! lol

I am trying to use a Frodo/Smeagol/Hirluin deck but getting smoked by Under the Ash Mountains. I managed to get through the first two after a few games but it seems like my wins came with very favorable card draws where I was able to get Outlands going. If I do not draw into allies I am in trouble so I am sure there will be a number of tokens in my future! I have never built an Outlands deck but actually finding it pretty fun. I may have to run it against some other cycles a bit after these quests. Anyway, going to give Under the Ash Mountains one more trial and then probably just suck it up and go for it. At this point tweaking my deck for this quest is probably hurting my potential for the first two!

Posted at

I took two tokens to beat The River Running. This deck basically lives and dies by getting Steward on Hirluin early and a fresh stream of allies out, particularly early Ethir Swordsmen to keep up with the questing. After not seeing Steward in the first two games it still took a Mulligan, into a Daeron's Runes draw which turned into a Drinking Song that finally drew Steward lol! Then Gleowine and Smeagol helped with card draw and I was able to Sneak Attack Gandalf to keep my threat low and draw even more cards. Flush with resources and a hand full of cards I was able to finally get to work and got through pretty easily. Amazing what opening draws can do for the game. Hopefully luck stays with me for City of Ulfast because I still to this day have not beaten Under the Ash Mountains in any form so am expecting quite a few tokens there...

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City of Ulfast - 1 token

While figuring out my deck in practice runs I did pretty well on this quest so I hoped this would be a low token count. I made some poor decisions on traveling in my first game though and managed to build up an impressive 7 resource tokens on Stage 1 until I could pass it, by this time City Guard was wrecking my board and by the time I got to Stage 2 I was overrun with enemies I had no answer for.

On the 1 token run things went much better. I kept my threat under 20 most of the game with Woodman's Clearings and Gandalfs. I almost did not put Gleowine in the deck but the card draw was clutch and allowed me to draw through a good portion of my deck. Once some Ethir Swordsman and Knights of the Swan were out I was feeling pretty good. I had to chump block a few City Guard attacks due to travel effects but Men of the West brought 5 of them back from my discard pile and with Resourceful and Steward collecting resources all game they all came out again quickly. It was a pretty fun win and overall this deck seemed to match well against the quest due to the low threat. Now I see what all of the Outlands talk was about!

On to Under the Ash Mountains where I will probably start out with a couple of tokens to avoid replaying a bunch of times. I am not sure I have the combat style in this deck to keep up with the big defense and hit point enemies.

Posted at

Under the Ash Mountains - 10+ tokens

So this went pretty much as expected. This deck is definitely not even closely matched to this quest. I was one turn away on my first run (started with 2 tokens off the bat) but my deck ran out of cards right before I could make my final quest push. I was very lucky with the draws and I had some Sneak Attack Gandalfs early to help me deal with the Patrol and allow me to get big pushes in questing. Little did I know that would be the closest I ever got with most runs not even making it out of Stage 1. I definitely know what NOT to build to try and beat this quest in the future lol! I believe I am firmly in last place which is rough considering my good runs in the first two quests. At this point I am just going to concede as bashing my head off the wall with a sub-optimal deck waiting for lucky draws from both my deck and the encounter deck is just draining! I also have the Wasp pack from Marvel Champions staring at me and after being humbled by this quest I may need to go beat up some villains to lift me up again!

I will not be able to get in next month as I believe it is a cycle I have not opened yet, but I will see everyone over on BGG for the next one after that!

Best of luck to you all next month!

rlogan4/weaponx1017