It seems like a lot of the discussion I read in this forum is about single-player decks. I'd like to get some discussion on 2-player decks as well. I'm pretty novice at deckbuilding, so pointers are always good. Does anyone out there spend more time building 2-player decks to complement one another?
That's what I do, since I play almost exclusively with my wife. There are some ideas that work well for single player decks, but don't make sense to me if you're using a single card pool to construct 2 decks. Splashing a 3rd color, for instance -- why stretch your resource pool to a 3rd sphere when you can just divide the spheres between two players? But again, I'm a novice, so I am sure I am missing things!
One thing I want to do more of is get 2-player synergies going. Right now I don't feel like the decks I construct really play off of each other well -- they complement one another, in that one person tends to be stronger in combat, the other stronger in questing, but I want to find more specific card synergies.
We usually play tactics/lore and spirit/leadership -- mostly because when we were starting out, that is what we started with, and now that my wife has learned all of her spirit/leadership cards, it's hard to get her to try anything else!
Recently, I was using an Eagles deck with important Lore cards mixed in (some healing, burning brand, etc). She was using a deck with no particular theme, just lots of allies (she loves allies!). She always has A Test of Will, Hasty Stroke, etc. Just recently I built a couple of decks around a Dwarf theme. Our card pool is the Core set, all of the Mirkwood cycle, and Khazad-dum. In September we'll start buying the Dwarrowdelf cycle one AP per month. So our Dwarf pool is limited at this time, but here is what we are running:
Tactics/Lore:
Heroes: Most of the time Gimli, Thalin, and either Bifur or Bilbo
Allies:
Rivendell Minstrel x 3
Miner of the Iron Hills x2
Erebor Hammersmith x2
Daughter of the Nimrodel x3
Gleowine x2
Longbeard Map-maker x3
Erebor Record Keeper x3
Veteran of Nanduhirion x3
Veteran Axehand x3
Gondorian Spearman x3
Gandalf x1
Events:
Ancestral Knowledge x3
Feint x2
Khazad! Khazad! x3
Quick Strike x2
Attachments:
Forest Snare x2
Citadel Plate x2
Dwarrowdelf Axe x3
Born Aloft x2
Horn of Gondor x1
Boots from Erebor x3
Song of Wisdom x2
Song of Battle x1
Total: 54
Spirit/Leadership
Heroes: Dain, and most of the time Gloin and either Eowyn or Dwalin
Allies:
Northern Tracker x2
Zigil Miner x3
Brok Ironfist x1
Longbeard Orc Slayer x2
Son of Arnor x2
Faramir x2
Silverlode Archer x2
Gandalf x3
Events:
The Galadrim's Greeting x2
Dwarven Tomb x1
Hasty Stroke x2
Stand and Fight x3
Fortune or Fate x1
A Test of Will x2
Untroubled by Darkness x2
Durin's Song x3
Campfire Tales x3
Sneak Attack x2
Grim Resolve x1
Valiant Sacrifice x2
Attachments:
Ancient Mathom x3
Unexpected Courage x1
Dunedain Warning x2
Narvi's Belt x2
Celebrian's Stone x1
Steward of Gondor x2
Song of Travel x3
Song of Kings x3
Total: 58
Way fewer Dwarf cards in the Spirit/Leadership deck at present. Also, she has way more Songs than she needs, but it never fails that we just don't seem to be able to draw them.
One problem we've had with this deck combo -- and with the Eagles one I was using previously -- is that she ends up rolling in the money and I end up poor. It's hard to get the Horn of Gondor, and even when it does come out it doesn't generate the amount of resources that something like the Steward of Gondor does. Now that I use Bifur occasionally, that helps. And she does play Steward of Gondor on my heroes if it seems like the smart thing to do. But if the Steward comes out early in the game, before Gloin has had a chance to build up some cash for her, it's tough to convince her to give me the Steward
She dislikes using the Zigil Miner's ability, also, since you can end up discarding something valuable (and we have).
Anyway, this has been a long and not so focused post… but I just wanted to get some ideas! Feel free to give some critique and suggestions, or to post your own 2-player setup (or even start a new thread with your own 2-player deck if you prefer).
Thanks for reading this far!
GS
