I wanted to make four full 50 card decks, which can be put together with two core sets. They are meant to be played with two or more players, and based off of the ideas dicussed in the thread on deck archetypes. I built them today, but won't be able to actually play them for a day or two. If anyone has any thoughts/reactions/questions/criticisms of how they work, I would love to hear.

Elves (and Denther) - LORE/Tactics
Heroes: Denethor, Glorfindel, Legolas
15 Allies
3 Daughters of Nimrodel 3L
2 Erebore Hammersmith 2L
2 Gelowine 2L
2 Minor of the Iron Hills 2L
2 Gondorain Spearmen 2T
2 Veteran Axeman 2T
2 Gandalf 5

21 Events
2 Beorn’s Hospitality 5L
2 Gandalf Searches XL
3 Lore of the Imladris 2L
3 Lorien’s Wealth 3L
2 Radagast’s Cunning 1L
2 Secret Paths 1L
3 Blade Master 1T
3 Rain of Arrows 1T
2 Feint 1T
2 Quick Strike 1T

13 Attachments
2 Dark Knowledge 1L
3 Forest Snares 3L
2 Protector of Lorien 2L
3 Self Preservation 3L
2 Blade of Gondolin 1T
1 Dwarven Axe 2T

Women of Middle Earth - SPIRIT/Lore
Heroes: Beravor, Eleanor, Eowyn
19 Allies
3 Lorien Guide 3S
3 Northern Tracker 4S
2 Wandering Took 2S
1 Daughters of Nimrodel 3L
2 Erebore Hammersmith 2L
2 Gelowine 2L
2 Henamarth Riversong 1L
2 Minor of the Iron Hills 2L
2 Gandalf 5

24 Events
3 A Light in the Darkness 2S
3 A Test of Will 1S
2 Dwarven Tomb 1S
2 Fortune or Fate 5S
2 Hasty Strokes 1S
3 Stand and Fight xS
2 Strength of Will 0S
3 The Galadhrim’s Greeting 3S
3 Lore of the Imladris 2L
2 Radagast’s Cunning 1L
2 Secret Paths 1L

7 Attachments
2 Power of Earth 1S
3 The Favor of the Lady 2S
1 Forest Snares 3L
1 Self Preservation 3L

Men of Middle Earth - LEADERSHIP/Spirit
Heroes: Aragorn, Dunhere, Theodred
20 Allies
2 Faramir 4L
3 Guard of the Citadel 2L
2 Longbeard Orc Slayer 4L
3 Silverlode Archer 3L
3 Snowborn Scout 1L
2 Son of Arnor 3L
1 Lorien Guide 3S
2 Wandering Took 2S
2 Gandalf 5

23 Events
2 Common Cause 2L
3 Ever Vigilant 1L
2 For Gondor 2L
2 Grim Resolve 5L
2 Sneak Attack 2L
2 Valiant Sacrifice 1L
1 A Light in the Darkness 2S
1 A Test of Will 1S
2 Hasty Strokes 1S
3 Stand and Fight xS
2 Strength of Will 0S
1 The Galadhrim’s Greeting 3S

7 Attachments
2 Celebrain’s Stones 2L
2 Steward of Gondor 2L
1 The Favor of the Lady 2S
2 Unexpected Courage 2S

Dwarves - TACTICS/Leadership
Heroes: Gimli, Gloin, Thalin
19 Allies
2 Beron 6T
2 Gondorain Spearmen 2T
2 Veteran Axeman 2T
3 Horseback Archer 3T
1 Brok Ironfist 6L
3 Guard of the Citadel 2L
2 Longbeard Orc Slayer 4L
1 Snowborn Scout 1L
1 Son of Arnor 3L
2 Gandalf 5

18 Events
3 Blade Master 1T
2 Feint 1T
2 Quick Strike 1T
2 Stand Together 2T
2 Swift Strike 2T
1 Ever Vigilant 1L
2 For Gondor 2L
2 Sneak Attack 2L
2 Valiant Sacrifice 1L

12 Attachments
2 Blade from Gondolin 1T
3 Dwarven Axe 2T
3 Citadel Plate 4T
2 Horn of Gondor 1T
2 Steward of Gondor 2L

Bohemond said:

I assume you mean Gimli, Gloin, and Thalin?

Since I'm haven't had a chance to play the game myself (and I don't plan on initially getting 2 boxes) I can't really comment on whether your decks would be good or not. However I am trying to create a Leadership/Spirit deck using Aragorn, Theodred, and Eleanor. I choose the Heros semi-randomly and am now trying to figure out what Player cards to use with them.

Also I'm using Ld as the abbreviation for Leadership and L for Lore so that I can make a Ld/L deck without confusing myself.

Whoops, I forgot the third dwarf. Thanks for catching that. Given Eowyn's power, I wanted to pair her with the card drawing abilities in lore. However, she is an amazing character, so you can't go wrong with including her in your leadership/spirit deck.

Bohemond said:

I haven't yet played this game so keep that in mind while I talk about my deck idea.

One of my ideas when creating this deck was choosing Heros at random and seeing what the result would be. My first two random heros were Aragorn and Eleanor. Since I didn't want to play a 3 sphere deck the third random character came from either Leadership or Spirit and it was Theodred.

Once I had my characters I wanted to figure out what their advantages where. One things that Eleanor and A Test of Will let me ignore or replace every Treachery that comes my way. Ld/S also has several different ways of readying Heros. Unexpected Courage, Ever Vigilant, Grim Resolve, and Aragorn are all ways to let Heros to multiple things per turn. Leadership also has many resource improving cards to help with playing a dual sphere. Steward of Gondor, Celebrain's Stone, and Theodred all help me afford things.

I thing the standard way of playing would be to sent Theodred and Aragorn off questing. Aragorn readies himself. Eleanor either prevents Treachery cards or defends against Enemies. Aragorn then attacks.The willpower of them isn't very high but they should be able to keep the enemies and locations in the staging area low and make steady progress.

Or at least that is what I envision. Once I actually play the deck I might find that I get totally slaughtered every time.

Now for some uncertain thoughts on one of your decks so that I don't just will up your thread with me talking about me. Your Women of Middle Earth deck (S/L) looks good and will likely quickly deal with locations and quests. However it will probably have the most trouble with enemies. For some reason the idea of including powerful allies Beorn just to discard them with Eleanor and then bring them back with Stand and Fight sounds like a clever idea. I have no idea how well that would actually work but it sound cool.

(sidenote, like many I have not played yet - so this is sure to change drastically)

I will be rocking:

Aragon (standing just seems too good - using the same guy with strong stats twice for 1?)

Gloin (try to mix in some healing to get extra resources as well, if not every turn then at the beginning of the game to get allies out)

Eowyn (4 willpower/wisdom? is needed to rush through)

Then mix in what I think is the best card in the game (Steward of Gondor, which effectively brings your resources up 66%), Gandalf/Sneak Attack/Valiant Sacrifice, probably Celebrains Stone to make Aragorn even more beefy for Quest/Attack.

Eowyn will probably just be there for Gandalf, and some of the Shadow Cancel cards. Oh, and probalby Unexpected Courage to have someone else (Aragorn AGAIN?) keep straightening.

Can't wait to build my first 'Super-Aragorn' deck

rings said:

Super-Aragorn

Celebrian's Stone

Steward of Gondor

The Favor of the Lady x3

Unexpected Courage x3

Imagine it....

Aragorn commits to a quest with his 7 Willpower then he uses his ability to ready.

Aragorn defends against two of the Enemies attacking him with his 2 Defence and readying each time with Unexpected Courage.

Aragorn attacks both of the Enemies he just defended against with his 3 Attack using his last Unexpected Courage to ready before the second attack.

It would be even nastier if you made a Spirit/Leadership/Tactics deck and gave him three Dwarven Axes to boost his Attack up to 6.

Remember, both Dwarven axe and Celebrain's Stone are restricted, so no loading up with three axes.

Bohemond said:

Oh, your right. Darn, another brilliant scheme foiled again by the rules!