Hey guys, I'm new to this game and in the middle of building a high elf deck, and I just wanted to ask the more experienced HE players around about what they think of certain cards!

So then, I guess I'll just start asking

What do you guys think of White Lion Vanguard? I'm looking for a good unit to replace the 2-cost Shadow Warriors in my starter deck, and I was debating whether to go for these guys or for other alternatives like Keeper of the Flame and Hawkeye Archer and Sea Guard Captain. I also run 3 Tyrions in my deck, but unfortunately I just found out that the redirects from both White Lion and Tyrion don't stack, so I was wondering if they would still be worth it.That said, I do run Loremasters of Hoeth right now in my deck and there is a nice synergy there.

What about Dragon's Lair? It seems like a really strong card, but there is a drawback associated with pumping your deck full of dragons and the possibility of having them dead in your opening hand (looking at you, Moon Dragon.) In your guys' experience, has Dragon's Lair been a worthwhile addition to the deck?

What about some of the heroes? I really love having Illyriel and Caladryan, but Lelansi seems like she might be pretty useful too (especially coupled with cards like Keeper of the Flame). It's really too bad that I only have one Illyriel and one Caladryan (T_T), but thus far they seem to have a ton of utility and I really like them. I'm actually considering picking up a second Assault on Ulthuan but it's a lot to pay just for a few select cards haha.

Those are all my questions for now, thanks!

Oh, and also: what about quests?! Are they worth playing??

White Lion Vanguard - nice card, works well with Korhil/Tiranoc Chariot builds (when this unit attacks reveal the top card of your deck, if the cost is 3/2 or less, then put it into your battlefield attacking). ( This thread has a couple of sample decks for this build. Not updated with some of the newest battle packs). Also, they've got synergy with Loremaster of Hoeth/other indirect damage cards.

Shadow Warrior/Hawkeye Archer are both good early sniping cards, coupled with some support control (Judgement of Loec) could hamper an opponent's first couple of turns.

Dragon Lair - I've been playing with a deck that uses Forest Dragon (Fiery Dawn), Moon Dragon and Descendant of Indraugnir (The Silent Forge). Problems I've found with it is that it's a 2nd turn card, meaning you're not seeing any searches for a dragon until turn #4 (unless you play some other resource gaining effects - Innovation and Mountain Brigands for example). And with only 12 dragon cards available (Star, Moon, Forest and Descendant)... there is always the chance that the card search won't be successful.

Building around dragons/dragon lair makes this type of deck very very susceptible to rush (giving up at least 15 cards to the dragon theme, more if you include Scroll of Asur, Follow the Portent and/or Scout Camp)

Quests wise - Follow the Portent is a handy quest. The rest of the HE ones are mediocre at best.

Lelansi is good with an Indirect Damage deck ( Thread here ) for the infinite combo - Lelansi + 2 Outpost of Tiranoc + Gifts of Aenarion + Loremaster of Hoeth.

The other heroes you've mentioned are alright.

Of course, posting your deck along with what you're looking for could help the deckbuilder gurus with future suggestions?

Thanks for your informative response!

I'd post a decklist, but I'm still so early in the deckbuilding process that I feel like it wouldn't be too much help

I think I mostly like going for cards that stand out on their own without relying on combos too much. I realize that Korhil is a great card in the right deck, but I don't have him at the moment, haha. I'm thinking of going for either White Lion Vanguards or Sea Guard Captains, but I'm not sure how often attachments are generally used so I don't know if Keeper of the Flame would be useful or merely a dead card the majority of the time.

I also think I'd like Dreamer of Dragons in my deck over Initiate of Saphery, but I don't know if his usefulness is dependent on combos (heals/redirect/Lelansi) or if he can stand on his own merit.

I will go ahead and playtest Follow the Portent, but I think Dragon's Lair is staying out (which is such a pity, given that it's such a cool-looking card haha).

Also, does anyone know what card my forum avatar art comes from? I thought it was Illyriel at first, but then I looked at the card and now I have no idea haha. Thanks and sorry for all the double-posting!

Your avatar is "First sight" or "something sight", the 1-cost HE tactic to look at the opponent's cards, and then, to draw 1 card.

Keepers of the Flame are awesome. In my opinion they are one of the strongest tools the HE have right now. They help against orc rush (Choppa, etc), chaos buffs (Mark of Chaos, Deamon Sword, etc) and diseases, Dark Elf hexes (Withering Hey, Witch Hags Curse, etc) and most importantly get rid of the strong Empire Buffs (Helblaster Volley Gun, Griffon Standard). All of those are very common in my Meta and the Keepers will negate them if you have a way to keep them on the table.

Oh wow, I didn't know all of those were so commonly run haha - okay, I think I'll definitely try switching the Keepers in

Thoughts on HE buffs? War Crown of Saphery, maybe? Or any other good support spells?

Right now I mostly use Judgement of Loec, HE Disdain, Drain Magic, Gift of Life and Dragon Mage Awakening for support/tactics, but I have been wondering about the usefulness of things like Scroll of Asur, Second Sight, and even Comet of Casandora. Or maybe Fury of Aenarion/Courage of Aenarion? Asuryan's Cleansing seems limited, and Citadel of Dusk seems good but I already run 3 Warpstone Excavations and 3 Contested Villages.

Should I be running Envoy from Averlorn? I have them in my deck and I like them, but I'm wondering if I should switch them out for something that scales better into late game.

(Also, does Innovation count every development you have, or every development in your kingdom zone?) I'm not very sure on when to play developments at all, actually - I hate giving up the options in my hand haha.

The problem with attachments is that they are easier to remove than units or supports because basically every unit/support removal will destroy it. Because of that the war crown is bad, but all the zero cost ones are good. Good combinations are: Dreamer of Dragons + Dragon Mage Wakening; Isha's Gaze + Greater Heal; Starwood Staff + Spells + Valorous Mage

Tactics depend heavily on your other cards: Heals are great if you have Dreamer, Glittering Tower; Fury is great if you have Dragons; Deck manipulation cards are great with Korhil, Dragon's Lair; Comet, Master of the Earth; From beneath the Waves are great in an indirect damage deck; etc.

Universally good are: Jugement of Loec, High Elf's Disdain/Shield of Saphery and Charge of the Silver Helms

Contested Village + Envoy of Averlorn + Citadel of Dusk or Barracks of Charce are your basic economy and i use those in every high elf deck I have. Envoys + Village have a great power to cost ratio and allow a lot of great first turns like Citadel + Envoy. And in the late game they make great developments.

There are a lot of decks that will punish you if you do not develop, especially empire decks. There should be a good reason to not develop and "but all my cards are soo pretty" dose not count . And Innovation counts the developments in your kingdom.

Envoy from Averlorn is your must-have card. Gives you fantastic start if on first hand with Citadel od the Dusk. Surely take him. Envoy + Citadel + Village + Warpstone is your economy core. As you can't have Innovation and Warpstone in one deck due to restrictions, I would recommend playing with Warpstone in most decks (only with Master of Earth you could think of Innovation, especially when allied with dwarves, as you need many developments then).

War Crown begins to work well after a few turns and is an expensive card. It is simply too slow to be good in any deck, taking into account currently used cards which include a lot of unit-hate.

Asuryan's Cleansing is currently one of the best HE cards. Use it as often as you can as it gives control of opponent's moves for no cost, especially in early game. If the opponent will not play cautiously, he will loose Warpstone Excavation or Contested Village or - if he will - he will not be able to play something cheap this turn.

Judgement of Loec is another must-have, though play it carefully, there are only 3 in a deck!

Comet of Casandora is good only in a deck designed for it. It surely should contain Star Dragon (cost 10!) and some cards that change the order of cards in a deck.

HE buffs - Charge of the Silver Helm is a great one and the new - Inflame will be a great addition too.

HE Quests - nothing very handy I'm afraid, only Return to Glory in a specific combo 3-race deck (Paesant Milita + Return to Glory + Grudge Thrower).

White Lion Vanguard is great, especially when comboed with True Mage and Loremaster of Hoeth.

Scroll of Asur and Second Sight are OK but I never have place for them. There are simply better cards for basically any HE deck.

Dragon's Lair can be great with new dwarf support-defending card, Master Rune of Disguise. Without it, it's simply too vulnerable and will never work against any controll deck.

Hero - as said before, Lelansi is good for a combo deck, Korhil for a deck with a lot of units, designed for him to work (still, it is not working very well I'm afraid) or a great hero in control deck - Sea Lord Aislinn. Still, also for him you have to change a lot of cards in a deck so that there are many mages there. Therefore basically any HE heroes are good only in concrete decks and for any other, simply don't take any hero.

Hope it'll help.