So I've come to feel like I'm banging my head against the wall when trying to build some decks to play for this game. I've got two core sets, Kazad-Dum, Return to Mirkwood, and the Hills of Emyn Muil. I've been trying to make at least two good decks from that pool, but I seem to only be able to make one. There was a list I copied from the Solo Woes thread that seems really powerful, but it also feels like it saps my pool of the cards to make other good decks. I'm currently looking at this one below as a possibility as it doesn't eat up my card pool too much and seems about as powerful.

Lore/Spirit

Beravor, Denethor, Eowyn

Lore (26):

Henmarth Riversong x1
Gleowine x2
Miner of the Iron Hills x2
Erebor Hammersmith x2
Daughter of Nimrodel x3
Mirkwood Runner x3
Gildor Inglorion x3
Forest Snare x3
Lorien's Wealth x3
Beorn's Hospitality x1
Protector of Lorien x3

Spirit (21):

West Road Traveller x3
Zigil Miner x3
Test of Will x3
Unexpected Courage x2
Durin's Tomb x2
Greeting of the Galadhrim x3
Hasty Stroke x3
Stand and Fight x2

Neutral (3):

Gandalf x3

It was copied from a thread somewhere and I made some modifications. What do you guys think? I'm hoping that it's at least decent solo. Ideally I'll pair it up with another deck. Here's one I've been looking at, again based on one I saw in a thread…

Gimli, Bifur, Dain Ironfoot

Tactics (15):

Khazad! Khazad! x3
Veteran Axeman x3
Dwarrowdelf Axe x3
Erebor Battle-Master x3
Feint x3

Leadership (15):

Durin's Song x3
Faramir x2
Longbeard Orcslayer x2
Sneak Attack x3
Guard of the Citadel x3
Steward of Gondor x2

Lore (15):

Erebor Record-Keeper x3
Miner of the Iron Hills x2
Erebor Hammersmith x2
Ancestral Knowledge x3
Daughter of Nimrodel x3
Gleowine x2

Neutral (5):

Boots of Erebor x3
Gandalf x2

My concern with this one is the high starting threat. Maybe swap Gimli for Dwalin and add a Spirit package? That will strain my card pool a lot. I think this deck could work, especially with heavy hitters like Battle-Master chopping through any engaged foes.

Based on these lists and my cardpool, how can I make two, or even three, solid decks? I don't mind if they require pairing with another deck to work, but Ideally they should be okay solo as well. Probably a tall order considering how punishing this game can be.

Oh and thanks in advance for any feedback I get. I will appreciate any and all I can get!

Make Gimli into Thalin, put a third Gandalf and a third Hammersmith in……throw out the 2 Guards of the C.

In the other deck, get rid of the hammersmith an throw in a second Riversong.

for your dwarf deck i would throw gimli for gloin and put in leadership and lore cards to replace the tactics ones

it may sound daft to not run all the powerful axes and warriors of dwarfs, but ive had alot of succes with dain/gloin/bifur….admittedly ive just seen your card pool, so it may be lesst effecting-

make sure you include protector of lorien in your deck, and put in a couple of card draw mechanisms such as wealth of lorien and gleowin

rich

Thanks for the help, everyone. I've tried the Thalin instead of Gimli approach and it seems better than it was before, but still lacking something.

richsabre said:

I like this idea, but I'm curious about how you've built yours. Could I maybe take a look at your list? What's the general strategy?

You could try to make 2 dwarf decks. Even with your carpool they should be quite good.

I found Dain/Gloin/Bifur and Thalin/Gimli/Dwalin to work real good. Make sure to include some card draw effects ( loriens wealth, Gleowine..)

I tend to play the Steward of Gondor on one of the red dwarves ( which you could also give a song of travel ).

So every round both players get 4 resources ( Bifur gets one from the dwarf with the SoG )

Here are two decks…..

Hero
Bifur (KD) x1
Dain Ironfoot (RtM) x1
Gloin (Core) x1

Ally (22)
Daughter of the Nimrodel (Core) x3
Erebor Hammersmith (Core) x3
Erebor Record Keeper (KD) x3
Gandalf (Core) x3
Gleowine (Core) x2
Longbeard Orc Slayer (Core) x3
Miner of the Iron Hills (Core) x3
Henamarth Riversong (Core) x2

Attachment (8)
Forest Snare (Core) x2
Protector of Lorien (Core) x3
Steward of Gondor (Core) x3

Event (20)
Ancestral Knowledge (KD) x3
Durin's Song (KD) x3
Ever Onward (KD) x3
Grim Resolve (Core) x2
Lorien's Wealth (Core) x3
Sneak Attack (Core) x3
Valiant Sacrifice (Core) x3

Hero
Gimli (Core) x1
Thalin (Core) x1
Dwalin (KD) x1

Ally (16)
Gandalf (Core) x3
Gondorian Spearman (Core) x3
Northern Tracker (Core) x1
Veteran Axehand (Core) x3
Veteran of Nanduhirion (KD) x3
Zigil Miner (KD) x3

Attachment (17)
Citadel Plate (Core) x2
Dwarven Axe (Core) x2
Horn of Gondor (Core) x2
Unexpected Courage (Core) x2
Boots from Erebor (KD) x3
Dwarrowdelf Axe (KD) x3
Song of Travel (THoEM) x3

Event (17)
A Test of Will (Core) x3
Feint (Core) x3
Hasty Stroke (Core) x3
The Galadhrim's Greeting (Core) x3
Khazad! Khazad! (KD) x2
Untroubled by Darkness (KD) x3

Sorry for bumping an old thread but i didn't feel like creating a new one for a similar request. So basically, i'm trying to make two decks to tackle kazhad-dum quests. I've got the core set once, the kazhad-dum expansion and two APs : Foundation of Stone and Shadow and Flame.

Any suggestions : I tought about doing a elrond-glorfindel and bifur maybe...and then doing a dwarf deck i suppose

I really have no clue what to pick