Up to the Shadow and Flame I had really believed that there is a deck that can win pretty much every scnario (Dol Guldur or Rhosgobel aside) on a very regular basis. I had also thought that minor tweaking, like the elsewhere suggested 5 card "sideboard" could take care of some specific quests (like Rhosgobel).

But right now I am happy to see that this is no longer the case. I mean I partly see it already but expect to see it much more clearly with Heirs of Númenor and Against the Shadow. The riddle mechanic in Dungeons Deep and Caverns Dim has partly thrown away the balance, as I feel decks with no uniformity of cost, type and sphere won't stand a chance. However, this type of quest could still be counted among those very unorthodox ones.

The siege and battle mechanic on the other hand, and I really hope it is a continuous approach by the designers, could not only give a lot of weight to the previously shafted Tactics sphere in solitary game play, but it could also disregard those Lore and Spirit high willpower low threat decks that used to run away from every quest up to the Hobbit or so. I have seen and played several of these and none of them had substantial attack or defence strength to deal with both the questing and the subsequent combat.

We are yet to see whether this supposition holds true or not but I have a hunch the designers have gone the right way with this new challenge to make this game, and the deckbuilding, much less predictable. For me, personally, it doesn't mean I shall switch to deckbuilding specifically for one quest alone but I shall try to have several decks ready, each hopefully with a different strength, and pick the most appropriate for each quest. Of course, this could have already been done up to now, as it is certainly no fun to have most of your heroes and cards sitting in the box, but for the Boromir side of character, it is hard to prefer the weaker version over the stronger.

agreed, this new cycle looks like it should really give the game a new edge, and unpredictabilty can only be a good thing. i only hope though that it doesnt flip the other way with tactics becoming the new spirit…though i doubt it- the spoilers so far look balanced across the spheres, though with a obvious tactics heaviness.

rich

There has never been a single deck that can "rule them all" and I am glad this is so. We also must keep in mind that this game is primarily designed for 2 players, making it impossible to build a single deck that can consistently beat every single scenario. "It takes two baby…it takes two baby…it takes two!" Though, I still throw down a solo game every once in a while.

DurinIII said:

as a fully solo player until very recently, i think i am very good at building 'do it all' solo decks, as it was pretty much either learn that or sell the game……but i agree joseph….it probably does take two decks to really get the most out of this game…..now if only i could go back and edit out all the posts where i said the opposite

rich

I do agree it is likely most enjoyable (and "full") game to play with two players/decks, but since I have been mostly doing this from the start, right now I probably enjoy playing solo almost as much as coop.

I have to say that I started this game playing 98% of the time solo. A gaming group opened up for me a few months back where me and about 5 other local players meet each Thursday night. I am thankful for the opportunity to socialize in person with other Ringers of this game, and so, most of my play now is multi-player, in fact, I only really play about once a week now. Life has sped up a good deal recently, so that kind of stifles the solo player option for me right now.

I do enjoy both though!