Caputo said:

Sounds like bad shuffling to me. I have this problem with Ancient Mathom and Dunedain Mark. The more I shuffle, the more likely they come together.

leptokurt said:

I think its likely, although with Bilbo thats 3 Lore of Imladris over 10 cards rather than 5

My Radagasts do that too. Even though I split them up before shuffling

Posted an extensive narrated game in another forum.

I played only once, but won't play anymore today 'cause I'm watching Evans vs. Davis.
If it is allowed and I stay at home, I may give it another try tomorrow.

Game 3: Victory

Final score 153

Denethor killed by Ungoliants spawn and then a hummerhorn shadow effect from a different combat on the same turn

10 Turns (won in Turn 11)

A fast hitched Bilbo ended up with all 4 Athelas

A real nail biter to the end, I got the first 3 Athelas out early but was struggling to get through the quest due to treacheries killing off my allies and a mid game ungoliants spawn. Got 2 Lore of Imladris, second one with Gleowine in a last bid attempt when Wyliador was on 19 damage. Only had 12 cards left in my draw deck. Shadow of the past was critical to recover an Athelas that was discarded as a shadow card.

Game 4: Defeat

Lost turn 7 when a combination of Ufthak and Ungoliants spawn finished off my heros already badly wounded from their many festering insect wounds. Didnt make it past phase 1 due to lack of questing power due to need to defend against the stream of monsters.

Hopefully I will get to game 5 tommorrow

It's too bad I didn't see this thread earlier. I actually just came online to post that I had beat JtR for the first time earlier today!

I used Denethor, Beravor, and Eowyn

It won on my very first try!

Denethor used his special ability every turn and Beravor used hers on almost every turn. This let me avoid most of the nasty encounter cards and get through my deck quickly (I also got Gleowine out pretty early), which let me get enough of my Lore of Imladris cards to keep Wilydor's damage pretty low.

I had never even beaten JtR in multi-player and this was my second attempt at trying to tailor a deck specifically for this quest.

Gatharion: Care to post a decklist? Also, please indicate the card pool you used (How many Core Sets? Which expansions did you use?).

I'm still struggling with the "restricted" format Boooored came up with; wondering how useful Beravor would be (or Bilbo). For now, I've focused more on "getting the Athelas" (Denethor) and fighting the enemies than on getting my own Lore of Imladris.

SiCK_Boy said:

Crap. I just tore that deck apart. It had lots of Lore cards. Haldir of course, to help defend against the Mirkwood Flock. Most of the Spirit cards were about avoiding Encounter card effects like Test of Wills and Hasty Stroke. Also the Spirit event that let me shuffle my discard pile back into my deck. I used a Forest Snare when two Mirkwood Flocks were down. A Miner of the Iron Hills got rid of a Caught in a Web. I played a Radagast, but all he did was help quest while Eowyn was Caught in the aforementioned Web; he had three tokens on him at the end, but I didn't need them.

I have a single core set and all of the Mirkwood expansions.

After being forced to play this adventure again, my advice for new solo players is:

1) Don't buy another core because Rhosgobel is too hard for you

because

2) Rhosgobel isn't hard, it's just annoyingly depending on drawing two certain cards and designed for multiplayer

so

3) put Rhosgobel to some place you have no easy acess to and forget that it ever existed

and

4) play lottery instead

In two games I was lucky and drew the required cards, in three games I wasn't. That's why I won 2 out of 5 games. I didn't even have a proper deck (was too lazy to look for tactics cards, so my deck included only spirit and lore cards).

Heroes were Legolas, Glorfindel and Denethor. Results were 93, L, L, 117, L.

I'm sure there's a way to come up with a winning strategy against this quest, even using the restricted card pool. Obviously, it'll always remain luck-dependant (more so than other quests) because of the search for Athelas that his harder in solo, but it doesn't mean it's unbeatable.

II just played my 5 games using the restricted card pool (one Core set, cards up to Journey to Rhosgopel). Here are my results:

Game # 1 - Loss
Game # 2 - Loss
Game # 3 - Win: 28 threat + 0 dead hero + 0 wound - 4 victory points + (4 rounds * 10) = 64
Game # 4 - Win: 25 threat + 0 dead hero + 5 wounds - 4 victory points + (7 rounds * 10) = 96
Game # 5 - Loss

Here's my decklist:

Hero (3)
Eleanor (Core) x1
Eowyn (Core) x1
Denethor (Core) x1

Ally (21)
Haldir of Lorien (AJtR) x2
Eomund (CatC) x1
Gandalf (Core) x3
Erebor Hammersmith (Core) x1
Lorien Guide (Core) x1
Escort from Edoras (AJtR) x1
Radagast (AJtR) x2
Northern Tracker (Core) x2
Miner of the Iron Hills (Core) x1
Rivendell Minstrel (THFG) x1
Henamarth Riversong (Core) x1
Gleowine (Core) x1
Westfold Horse-Breaker (THfG) x1
Daughter of the Nimrodel (Core) x1
Wandering Took (Core) x2

Attachment (14)
Unexpected Courage (Core) x1
Protector of Lorien (Core) x2
Steward of Gondor (Core) x2
Song of Wisdom (CatC) x1
Song of Kings (THFG) x2
A Burning Brand (CatC) x1
Ancient Mathom (AJtR) x3
Forest Snare (Core) x2

Event (15)
Lore of Imladris (Core) x3
Hasty Stroke (Core) x2
Dwarven Tomb (Core) x1
The Galadhrim's Greeting (Core) x2
Sneak Attack (Core) x2
Infighting (AJtR) x1
Strider's Path (THFG) x1
A Test of Will (Core) x2
Stand and Fight (Core) x1

Notes on the games

Game # 1 - I lost due to a lack of Lore resources and meeting more enemies than locations. That proved to be an issue for me in all games. My drawing engine was based on Ancient Mathom, so I needed early locations to activate it. Also, since I always needed one or two Lore of Imladris to win, that meant holding on to Lore resources on Denethor.

Game # 3 - I had a sneaky Gandalf and Escort from Edoras to boost my questing power and I met locations which helped me fill my hand with all three Lore of Imladris. I also got a free Athelas when it was guarded by Driven by Shadows.

Game # 4 - This was the most interesting one. I had one Athelas, 5 resources on Radagast, a second Athelas being guarded by Necromancer's Pass in the staging area, a Lore of Imladris in hand (but no resource on any hero), a Steward of Gondor on Eowyn and 14 wounds on Wyliador. I had to decide whether I traveled or not. I chose not to, not wanting to risk my Lore of Imladris. Instead, Wyliador went to 16 wounds while I played a Northern Tracker of the 4 spirit resources (1 from Eleanor, 3 from Eowyn). Wyliador went up to 18 resources on the next turn when I finished exploring the Pass with Northern Tracker, grabbed the Athelas and healed the eagle for 20.

Game # 5 - The only Athelas I saw was guarded by a Chieftan Ufthak which prooved to strong for my army (Gandalf did his best to help from afar, but being alone, it wasn't enough).

Thoughts and ideas:

- You want to finish this quest early. The worst situation is when you have enough resources to fully heal the eagle, but just can't get to the end of stage 2B. So that means heavy questing power. Cards such as Escort from Edoras becomes stronger than they usualy are.

- There are 4 cards that can heal Wyliador: Lore of Imladris, Radagast, Glorfindel and Athelas. You want all 4 in multiple copies (well, not Glorfindel...). Cards that prevent damage to Wyliador should be seen in the same light: A Test of Will, Hasty Stroke, A Burning Brand (if you can have a ranged Lore hero), Eleanor and, to a lesser degree, Denethor and Unexpected Courage (and Common Cause).

- Because you want to finish early, you won't have a lot of resources. It means each resource must be maximized. I'd remove cards such as The Galadhrim's Greetings and Protector of Lorien. Although "good" in a generic sens, these become less useful when you cannot afford to cast them (the only time I played GG was when I had already clinched my win in game 4, although I had it in all games). Protector could be considered if not playing Eowyn, but you'll see that you don't have enough cards to throw away to make it very effective.

I'll try it with the other deck I spoke of earlier (Eleanor, Frodo, Legolas), but I don't expect any more success.

I'll see if I feel like trying further later based on these findings.

SiCK_Boy said:

I'd keep Protector. You're right about GG, you also don't need Gandalf for lowering your threat. I used him to draw more cards, which was key to win game 2. You should consider to inlude Strength of Will. No cost for 2 progress.I alwas used Escort to activate it.

Agreed on Gandalf. I used him to either draw or shoot down an enemy I had no other way of dealing with.

I just went for another go with a different deck (same Restricted format; 1 x Core Set and only expansions up to JtR).

The results:

Game # 1 - Loss
Game # 2 - Win: 35 threat + 0 dead hero + 1 wound - 4 victory points + (11 rounds * 10) = 142
Game # 3 - Loss
Game # 4 - Loss
Game # 5 - Win: 36 threat + 0 dead hero + 5 wounds - 4 victory points + (8 rounds * 10) = 117

Decklist:

Hero (3)
Eleanor (Core) x1
Frodo Baggins (CatC) x1
Legolas (Core) x1

Ally (21)
Eomund (CatC) x1
Escort from Edoras (AJtR) x3
Gandalf (Core) x3
Horseback Archer (Core) x1
Landroval (AJtR) x1
Lorien Guide (Core) x2
Miner of the Iron Hills (Core) x1
Northern Tracker (Core) x2
Radagast (AJtR) x3
Wandering Took (Core) x1
Westfold Horse-Breaker (THfG) x2
Winged Guardian (THfG) x1

Attachment (14)
Ancient Mathom (AJtR) x3
Blade of Gondolin (Core) x1
Horn of Gondor (Core) x1
Song of Kings (THFG) x3
Song of Wisdom (CatC) x3
Steward of Gondor (Core) x2
Unexpected Courage (Core) x1

Event (15)
A Test of Will (Core) x2
Dwarven Tomb (Core) x1
Feint (Core) x2
Hasty Stroke (Core) x2
Lore of Imladris (Core) x3
Quick Strike (Core) x1
Sneak Attack (Core) x2
Stand and Fight (Core) x2

Although I didn't have much more success, I felt I had a better chance in each games. It could be that I'm beginnig to get a feel for the quest itself. My games lasted longer; I often ended up using multiple Radagast to heal Wyliador and buy me a few turns. Game # 4 was a sad loss. I only realized afterward that Legolas's ability is a response (thus optional) and I could have killed a few enemies without problem. I was looking for my 3rd Lore of Imladris (used the other two earlier) and drew 6 cards off Ancient Mathoms with maybe 10 cards left in my deck, but still couldn't get one. I also searched a while for Athelas in that one; over half the encounter deck was passed before I found my first. But once I got the location that lets you fetch one, it was guarded by a second Athelas. Anyway, a great game that was.

Question: If you get an Athelas and the guarding card is a Treachery that you cancel with Eleanor, will the replacement card still be guarding Athelas? I assume no, but I'm not certain.

Amongst the other comments I can make, that second deck performed better because I rarely felt I was overwhelmed by the encounter deck. Sure, Chieftan Ufthak is still a beast, but I could fight most enemies with Legolas and was letting undefended attacks go through, confident in Frodo's ability to survive. I also got Steward of Gondor out early in most games; having the 3 Song of Kings was critical. One of the issues I have, however, is the amount of "unused" cards I ended with (extra copies of Songs, Tactics allies I couldn't play). Maybe a Protector of Lorien would have been welcome after all...

Amongst the changes I would make to this deck, there's the removal of Landroval and Horseback Archer. I'd certainly add a second Quick Strike and the third Westfold Horse-Breaker instead. The Blade of Gondolin never showed its use. A third Stand and Fight would be better, I think.

I may give this one a last try, with a Glorfindel / Eleanor / Beravor deck (splashing Leadership for Sneak Attack and Steward of Gondor). After that, enough!

I am having a lot of fun with this myself.. I haven't got time for a full report right now but will when I get home from work.. I just want to say my deck is "almost" exactly like Sicks.. but a little more conservative I think .. also HillariousPete saw my deck yesterday b4 sick posted just in case the thought police are about! I did a lot of play testing and building over the weekend, and I honestly think this "deck" is the only option for constant scores.. and I find it terrible interesting that your deck is nearly exactly the same.

I build my decks pretty much always in the same fashion.

I decide on the heroes (or at least decides on the spheres I want these heroes to be part of), figure out a few items or themes I want to exploit (ex: in this scenario, it would include Healing, Ranged combat and Treachery defense) and then I use the deckbuilder on CardGameDB.com to build. I start by doing a "search" on all existing cards and I go from top to bottom, adding 3 (or whatever number is made possible by the rules) of each card I want to potentialy play.

I find that website very useful because it tells you which expansion each card is a part of, so it's easy to see what is valid or not based on the restriction you want to use.

Once I've gone through the list, I now have "my" pool of cards. I start cutting down to get to 50. I usualy want at least 20 allies, but I don't have any specific ratio in mind for Events or Attachments.

SiCK_Boy said:

You should try the Deck Builder By Zorbec...

It has everything you want.. Click "Filters" and you can remove APs from the Card Pool. It tells you the amount of cards that core had of each card. You have super advanced filters. Personally I like grouping by TYPE/SPHERE/TITLE, but for special times you can sort by cost, will, defense etc etc etc. In the Filter section you can filter to only show ranged, or Dwarfs .. or w/e...

It is really an amazing tool.. it even has a draw engine so you can test your opening hands and stuff. As well as a advanced "statistics" were you get pie graphs and all sorts of stuff for what is in your deck..

On top of that you can open the encounter deck (use all the same filters) so you can see the encounter cards while you build your deck..

Just THE best tool ever.

Oh, it can also output to text files for posting decks on forums, and even output to LackeyCCG

I played 5 games.

Wins: 5

Every game went 11 rounds with 0 threat and 0 wounds. Victory points: three games with 4, one with 7 and one with 13.

Heroes: Frodo, Beravor and Eleanor.

Edit: Made a mistake. Game three had a final threat of 2.

Muemakan: Decklist please?

SiCK_Boy said:

Same as before but without the 6 cards from Emyn Muil. ( the two horses, the two Ride to Ruin and the Songs of Travel )

Put one more Test of Will, 3 Songs of Kiings, one Mark of the Dunedain and one Dunedain´s Cache in.

Intriguing booored. I will try this as soon as I have some spare time (semester started again, and hence my involvement in the game slows down).

muemakan said:

Nooooooooooo, Dunedain Cache is from the Dead Marshes Expansion. What was I thinking. And I did use it only once and I could have easily used Gandalf instead.

****. So please don´t count my games. f*****

muemakan said:

"same as before" - Your other deck list is not in this thread that I can see... How did you deal with The Bats and the Crows? I can nto see your deck, but I assume your using a leadership splash so you are running the leadership archer? Still 2xSpirit+1xLore.... how did you handle Bats and Crows.. no way you played 5 games and got no Crows and Bats.

muemakan said:

Just to check you are using a single copy of core? So only 1 UC (makes Beravor not the draw engine she is usally used for ... why Bilbo is in thiese posted decks... though the +1 Will dose count at the start... and you can only have 2 copies of Test of Will for example.

I was asked in another thread by the same player for the deck list.

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=201&efcid=4&efidt=607459&efpag=5

Yes only one core set. Kill the bats with Gandalf. And as I said, I killed them with Dunedain Cache once......sadly that was illegal. Should have gone for the archer.

muemakan said:

Finally someone who can talk and do at the same time.

Kudos for you, my friend.

Thanks for confirming about the decklist.

Was Dunedain Cache that critical to your victories? I don't think the main point of this thread was to score high; the big point was mostly to find a deck with a high win % using the restricted format for the JtR quest. With 100 %, yours sure did better than mine and anyone else's deck reported until now (in this thread).

Kudos!

Next "event", I'll give a shot to this Beravor / Draw all your deck strategy if possible.

that deck is not possible with out using more than one copy of UC... so far you are the only person to have completed this challenge.

SiCK_Boy said:

I hope until we start the next event we will have found a solution to break this deck. If that's not the case , I hope everybody her is man/dwarf/elf enough not to use a deck that is based on exploiting a major designer error.