Hi there guys,

Ever since I got the game I loved playing solo, it just has a thing about it, the challenge is great. So I built a deck and after several months have been tweaking it after each expansion. I'm really comfortable with it so I wanted to share it with you. I love the deck and I think it has amazing potential, being able to win all quests without changes to it.

So I'm sharing the deck with you guys and hopefully you will try it out and let me know. I'm also going to share my games experiences, basically each quest I played and how many times to win it, some are more difficult of course.

With this last version of the deck I've played against all the "Hunt for Gollum" cycle as well as all the quests from "Khazad-dûm", I'll update as I play the other cycles and expansions. I also need to play against the core quests.

The deck is built using 2x Core Sets as well as all adventure packs from the Shadows of Mirkwood and Dwarrowdelf cycles. Plus the Khazad-dûm and Over Hill and Under Hill expansions.

----------

MAGGICAL'S DECK v1.7 (Nov 2012)

Eowyn (Spirit)
Glorfindel (Spirit)
Denethor (Lore)

3x Stand and Fight
3x Northern Tracker
3x A Test of Will
3x Elrond's Counsel
3x Arwen Undomiel
3x A Light in the Dark
3x Ancient Mathom
3x Hasty Stroke
3x Light of Valinor
2x Unexpected Courage

3x Haldir of Lorien
3x Warden of Healing
3x Gleowine
2x Rivendell Minstrel

3x Sneak Attack
3x Steward of Gondor

3x Gandalf (Core)
1x Song of Kings

----------

The deck plays around the low starting threat (22) and tries to quest heavily the first rounds with Eowyn and Glorfindel, alongside Arwen most of the time. Then the idea is to use Denethor to always know what cards are coming and quest accordingly, leaving Glorfindel and the allies to attack enemies which I try to engage one at a time if possible.

For some quests I mulligan till I get a Northern Tracker, for example Emyn Muil or Conflict at the Carrock, and for some others I need more allies (like Haldir or Gleowine) fast like playing Khazad-dûm.

I try to abuse Steward of Gondor as much as possible as well as to use Stand and Fight to get a quick Haldir into play sometimes. It really depends on each quest to tell you the truth but I'm really comfortable with the deck right now.

Each time I play I realize that the key for this deck is getting an Unexpected Courage on Denethor really quick. Just being able to defend and then know what's coming your way the next turn enables all the BIG plays and this deck to flow.

----------

ATTACHMENTS

Due to a request from hendersondayton on this thread I'm going to add here my personal preferences for attachments on this deck. Basically who I usually attach them to and why. Hope you like it!

Ancient Mathom: This one is self-explainatory, I always get it out as soon as possible but try to do it only on the same turn I'm going to complete the location. I don't want any treachery switching locations and messing up my expected card draw.

Light of Valinor: Obviously on Glorfindel, the sooner the better. It's an amazing first turn attachment.

Unexpected Courage: 95% of the games I get this on Denethor as soon as possible. The idea is for him to be able to defend but most of all for him to always tell you what's coming next. One of the strenghts of this deck is being able to know each and every turn what it is going to face and work around it. On the other 5% of games, usually heavy fighting quests, I get this on Glorfindel to be able to attack two enemies on one turn since he is basically my main attacking character.

Song of Kings: The rule for this card is basically this: if you have Steward of Gondor in hand get this on Denethor, if not then get it to Glorfindel. The idea behind attaching this to Glorfindel is that you will still have one Hero that produce only Spirit (Eowyn) and one Hero that produces only Lore (Denethor), so you want to keep it that way. Also he is the one with the most hit points and it's really important to keep this card into play.

Steward of Gondor: I get this card on Denethor 95% of the games because I really need him to produce as much Lore resources as possible to make this deck flow. On the 5% left are cases where my hand is filled with Spirit cards and I need to play them as soon as possible. For example if I have 2x Northern Tracker and 1x Stand and Fight in my hand I will probably attach this to Glorfindel (since he has 5 hit points).

----------

CORE SET

Passage Through Mirkwood - Won on the first attempt
Journey Down the Anduin - Won on the first attempt
Escape from Dol Guldur - Won on the first attempt (Denethor was the captured hero)

SHADOWS OF MIRKWOOD

The Hunt for Gollum - Won in the first attempt
Conflict at the Carrock - Won on the second attempt (had a rough draw the first time)
A Journey to Rhosgobel - Won on the third attempt (it's hard to get Athelas!)
The Hills of Emyn Muil - Won on the first attempt
The Dead Marshes - Won on the first attempt
Return to Mirkwood - Won on the second attempt (first attempt I flipped Attercop as my first encounter card)

THE MASSING AT OSGILIATH

The Massing at Osgiliath - Won on the first attempt

KHAZAD-DÛM

Into the Pit - Won on first attempt
The Seventh Level - Won on third attempt (I had trouble when more than 5 enemies engaged me)
Flight from Moria - Won on the second attempt

DWARROWDELF

The Redhorn Gate - Won on the first attempt
Road to Rivendell - Won on the first attempt
The Watcher in the Water - Won on the first attempt
The Long Dark - Won on the first attempt
Foundations of Stone - Won on the first attempt
Shadow and Flame - Won on the third attempt (its a tricky and complicated quest) - Need to play again without negative threat

THE BATTLE OF LAKE-TOWN

The Battle of Lake-town - Won on the first attempt

OVER HILL AND UNDER HILL

We Must Away, Ere Break of Day - Won on first attempt
Over the Misty Mountains Grim - Won on first attempt
Dungeons Deep and Caverns Dim - Still to play against it

----------

And I'm currently waiting on these expansion to be out so I can play against them!

Heirs of Numenor
On the Doorstep
The Steward's Fear
The Drúadan Forest
Encounter at Amon Dîn
Core Set Quests (Nightmare Mode) x3

----------

Several guys have asked me to add the side-kick deck I usually play with for 2-man games. Here it is, keep in mind that the entire deck is thought and built arond the idea of complementing the main deck so I woulnd't recommend it for a solo game at all. Also this is built from the remaining cards that I had after building the first deck, so that's why you will see things like 1x Sneak Attack or 1x Steward of Gondor instead of 3…

MAGGICAL'S SIDE-KICK DECK v1.0 (Jan 2013)

Legolas
Prince Imrahil
Háma

3x Born Aloft
3x Descendant of Thorondor
3x Foe-hammer
3x Quick Strike
3x Feint
3x Rivendell Blade
3x Blade of Gondolin
2x Beorn
2x Horn of Gondor

3x Snowbourn Scout
3x Valiant Sacrifice
3x Dúnedain Watcher
1x Path of Need
1x Steward of Gondor
1x Sneak Attack

3x Master of the Forge
2x Miner of the Iron Hills
2x Erebor Hammersmith

3x Song of Wisdom
3x Gandalf (Core)

----------

As you can see this second deck is more fight oriented. It runs around the idea of getting allies in and out of play to draw cards and generate resources, as well as to use their abilities. It also tries to get swords into Legolas and Háma as fast as possible off course, to make them kill machines…

----------

UPDATE LOG

Jan 8, 2013
Due to a request on this thread I added a section explaining my thought process behind attaching cards on Heroes for this deck, basically who I attach things to and why.

Nov 6, 2012
Tried 2 other times against Shadows and Flame and managed to beat it. The first time I got really close, and the second time I will say it was easy. First turn Light of Valinor + Elrond's Council gave me basically 3 extra turns before the Balrog attacked. In those turns I just quests as fast as possible reaching the 3rd stage of the quest and then with 2 Warden of Healing I could stop the Balrog's attacks all turns with Denethor and heal him (had Arwen questing). After the Balrog got some items I just sacrificed one ally each turn while swinging for 9 damage with Glorfindel, Haldir and 2 Northern Trackers.

Nov 5, 2012
Updated quests played against after defeating The Massing at Osgiliath and the first 5 adventures of the Dwarrowdelf cycle

Nov 2, 2012
After the suggestion from TheDisturbed1 I removed 2 copies of "Song of Kings" and replaced them with 2 copies of "Rivendell Minstrel", also updated the quests since I played against the 3 from the Core Set

Oct 23, 2012
After the suggestion from Dam I removed all 3 copies of "Favour of the Lady" and replaced them with 3 copies of "Light of Valinor"

----------

I'll be updating the post as I play against each quest and as I update the deck with new cards.

Thanks!

Javier

Two cards in that I find odd:

A Light in the Dark

Favour of the Lady

No sign of Light of Valinor for Spirit-Glorfindel is curious, as is no Galadhrim's Greeting and/or Will of the West. I'm thinking you have little trouble getting WP to quest, so Favour shouldn't be all that important. Is it?

Dam said:

Hi there!

Thanks a lot for the suggestions. As you mention in fact "Favour of the Lady" is the least necessary card in the deck, so it can easily be taken off. I wouldn't take "A Light in the Dark" from the deck since it's the best way to avoid getting too much people engaged at a time, or even to get an extra turn to build up against a hard opponent, it's the only way to do that right now with these spheres.

I did consider "Light of Valinor" at first and it still seems like a good choice. Now that I think about it getting one out on Glorfindel will basically be a +3 to any quest which is way better than the +1 that I get from "Favour of the Lady", so I will probably switch them out. It will also save me from that +1 threat everytime I commit Glorfindel.

On the previous version of the deck I had "Galadhrim's Greeting" in place of "Elrond's Counsel" but the last card is much better. It's just a plain +1 to quest and half the threat reduce but for 0 cost, which is huge. Spending 3 resources for "Galadhrim's Greeting" was too much almost everytime, and "Elrond's Counsel" is just more useful early on, and that's when this deck shines the most.

When it comes to "Will of the West" I'm not really a big fan of the card in this deck. I find it's great for decks that have powerful draw, but what I really need from my discard pile are allies like Gandalf or Haldir, which I get from "Stand and Fight" instead. Am I missing something?

Would love to hear more from you, I updated the deck with "Light of Valinor" on the first post.

Thanks a lot!

Javier

Cards I would drop:
3x Haldir: Since you are doing single player, you dont get to make use of either of his Ranged or Sentinel abilties, making him an espensive guy.
2x Song of Kings

Cards I might add:
2x Rivendell Minstrell, if you swapped them for the Song of Kings cards, would give you the same chance to pull Song of Kings, but with the benefit of having two extra 2 Willpower allies to help with your questing.

Henemarth Riversong could help with your scrying. If you use Denethor to scry, you can move the card to the bottom, then have Henemarth scry and you still know exactly what is coming. If Henemarth goes first, you might not even need to use Denethor to scry, opening him up for other uses.

Gildor Inglorion is my suggestion to replace your Haldirs. He costs one more, but helps you stack your deck, and has 3 Willpower instead of 2, otherwise their stats are the same, I believe.

Also, since you are playing Glorfindel, I might try to find room for Asfaloth, though I dont know what to suggest to drop for it. He could help a lot with clearing locations.

I've got a similar deck right now, though I doubt it is able to beat any and all quests. I'm curious how you handled Conflict at the Carrock considering all four trolls will engage you at once.

With this deck you will never beat: Lake-town and Shadow and flame, Dol-guldor is also almost impossible. Is not possible to beat those quests with this deck.

all other yes you can do. Journey to Rhosgobel will be hard but possible.

TheDisturbed1 said:

Glad you made time to reply!

I'll go point-by-point so it's easier:

- Haldir: I know I can't use his sentinel ability, but he is in there to be able to get through the quests and enemies that can only be attacked by ranged attacks, without him those quests became really hard to get through

- Songs of Kings/Rivendell Minstrel: I hear your point and it makes sense. In a previous version I had 3 copies of each to pull the Songs as fast as possible but Rivendell Minstrel always felt too expensive having just 1 hero that produces Lore resources, I'll try it out again! It's also 2 more card to use with Light of Valinor, maybe to quest and then sacrifice her to block someone

- Henemarth Riversong: I used to ran him as well, but at the end of the day I just used Denethor most of the time so I took him out. Usually I attach Unexpected Courage to Denethor and that's all I need, that's one of the reasons this guy was taken out

- Gildor Inglorion: I really feel that a 5 cost Lore ally is too expensive for this deck to pull off. For 5 resources I'll always rather play a Gandalf. His ability is good but I don't love it. He doesn't have the ranged keyword which I need for those quests I mentioned. It's true that now that I added 3x Light of Valinor having a second Noldor character would be good, so I'll consider this switch and give it a try

- Asfaloth: I also considered this horse but I didn't want to have much Lore cards since I only have Denethor producing resources. At the moment locations aren't a problem for this deck, I would say lots of enemies are instead

- Conflict at the Carrock: As I mentioned this deck starts out with 22 threat, so when I played this quests the trick is to build yourself up and then optionally engage each Troll one at a time and kill them that way. Denethor with a Arwen can hold their attacks and then I usually swung at them with Glorfindel, Haldir and a Northern tracker twice or so to get rid of them. I repeat this process 2 or 3 times, add a Gandalf there and it's really easy. I repeat, the key is the low threat and engaging them one at a time

I love the suggestions! Keep them coming!

Javier

Glaurung said:

I'll let you know once I try them out. But I have to say that I had beat in the past Dol-guldor with an older version of this deck, and the current version is much better. So I have high hopes!

Haven't looked at the other 2 quests you mention, I'll try them out!

Thanks!

Javier

Maggical said:

I am not sure if I misunderstand your meaning but please note that Light of Valinor is unique, so you can't have two copies of it in play (one on Glorfindel and one on Gildor) at the same time.

Angus Lee said:

You didn't misunderstood anything, I just typed without looking at the card you are totally right!

Maggical said:

You beat Dol-Guldor with this kind of deck solo??? Hmmm ok maybe i should to look more careful then on your deck list……

Glaurung said:

Yes, and in fact several times. I quests really fast and hard the first turns to get my 3rd character back (attaching the map to Eowyn), that usually takes me 2 turns. Then I just build up during the 2nd stage (I don't play more than one ally per turn so the restriction doesn't affect my deck) of the quest leaving the Nazgul there and move to the 3rd part. After that I just get the 3rd quest ready with all 7 tokens on it, engage the Nazgul with a Gandalf and swing with everyone. I would say I have a 50/50 chance on that quest depending on the treacheries, which is not bad at all. If Eowyn is the prisioner I usually have more problem. If Denethor is the prisioner then it's easier for me…

Thanks!

Javier

Sadly, you can't use "Stand and Fight" to put Gandalf into play (or other neutral allies). The chosen card has to belong to "any sphere of influence," and Gandalf belongs to none.

GrandSpleen said:

Thanks for clarifying, I didn't realize that. I rarely use "Stand and Fight" on Gandalf, just "Sneak Attack" really. "Stand and Fight" is in the deck to be able to play Lore allies even faster using Spirit resources…

Thanks!

Javier

Guys,

I edited the post with the following update:

Nov 2, 2012
After the suggestion from TheDisturbed1 I removed 2 copies of "Song of Kings" and replaced them with 2 copies of "Rivendell Minstrel", also updated the quests since I played against the 3 from the Core Set

Thanks and keep suggestions coming. I'm going to play against the Dwarrodelf cycle this weekend hopefully.

Javier

Post updated with the following:

Nov 5, 2012
Updated quests played against after defeating The Massing at Osgiliath and the first 5 adventures of the Dwarrowdelf cycle

Keep the suggestions coming! I'm loving this deck

Javier

Guys, I went against Shadows and Flame again and managed to beat it. I'm more and more happy with this deck everyday I play it. Now I only have to win against The Hobbit quests…

Nov 6, 2012
Tried 2 other times against Shadows and Flame and managed to beat it. The first time I got really close, and the second time I will say it was easy. First turn Light of Valinor + Elrond's Council gave me basically 3 extra turns before the Balrog attacked. In those turns I just quests as fast as possible reaching the 3rd stage of the quest and then with 2 Warden of Healing I could stop the Balrog's attacks all turns with Denethor and heal him (had Arwen questing). After the Balrog got some items I just sacrificed one ally each turn while swinging for 9 damage with Glorfindel, Haldir and 2 Northern Trackers.

Thanks,

Javier

Maggical said:

Hmm, do you mean that you reduce your threat level to -3? I think the general concensus in this forum is that a player cannot reduce the threat level below 0, simply for the fact that the threat tracker cannot represent a negative number. Although I haven't seen any official ruling on this point, I play the game that the threat level cannot be reduced below 0.

Angus Lee said:

Exactly that. I never found any rule that says your threat cannot be reduced and I don't think making a call based on the threat counter would be good. Imagine life counters for Magic, most don't reach more than 40 life and you can still gain more. It would be good to get an official ruling on this but I don't think a negative threat is illegal…

Any thoughts on this?

Javier

What is negative threat? You become the hunter instead of the hunted?

I would have assumed that there are only two options:

a) you have threat; So you have a positive number in your threat marker (1 to 50)

b) you don't have threat; S you have zero in your theat marker;

You cannot have a negative threat. What is that? You become the defender of the quest and the encounter becomes the "thing" that tries to accomplish the quest?

You will say "then I will not fulfill Gandalf response or Elrond's Counsel; the FAQ says:

Q: If I can’t discard 3 resources from all of my heroes due to Bitter Wind (KD 56), do I have to partially fulfill the effect?
A: Yes, players should resolve as much of any “discard” effect as they are able to.

So if it has this rulling to encounter card efects, i assume we must follow the same rule to player card efects.

I've been wanting a new solo deck. I'll give this one a try. I only have a single core set though so I'll have to add a few things. A copy of Song of Lore, Asfaloth, Daeron's Runes, and Master of the Forge I think.

How do you deal with the Troll at the beginning of Journey down the Anduin? Simply hope to get lucky with sneak attacks and Gandalf?

I just did the three core quests with my slightly modified version of the deck.

I did beat Journey Down the Anduin on my first try, but I also did get lucky with a Rivendell Minstrel (for Song of Kings), Sneak Attack, and Gandalf.

For Escape from Dol Guldur I had Glorfindel as my prisoner and a really brutal set-up (Ungoliat Spawn, Chieften Ufthak, etc). It was a loss within a couple of rounds.

I reshuffled and said "Heck with it, ima jus make Denethor be my captive." That time things went MUCH better. It was still close in the end though, Denethor went down, the other two Heroes were one wound away from being dead, I only had one ally left, and I was over 40 Threat, but I won!

It was my first solo victory against Escape From Dol Guldur !

CJMatos said:

I see your point but I still think a negative threat should be possible. Either way hopefully we get an official answer…

gatharion said:

You have such a low threat that you can basically build up. You then can defend with Denethor with +1D thanks to Arwen and swing with Glorfindel, Northern Tracker and such a couple of turns. Basically you build yourself and choose when to engage, that's the good thing about this deck…

gatharion said:

Glad you hear you like the deck! I've put a lot of effort into it…

Here's how the deck looks with my modifications: (Remember, only one core set.)

Heroes-

Eowyn, Glorfindel, Denethor

Spirit-

Norther Tracker x 2

Arwen Undomiel x 3

Elfhelm

West Road Traveller

Escort from Edoras

Ancient Mathom x 3

Light of Valinor x 3

Unexpected Courage

Miruvor

Elrond's Counsel x 3

A Test of Will x 2

Hasty Stroke x 2

The Galadhrim's Greeting

Lore-

Warden of Healing x 3

Master of the Forge x 2

Rivendell Minstrel x 2

Gildor Inglorion

Haldir of Lorien

Gleowine

Henamarth Riversong

Asfaloth x 2

A Burning Brand

Daeron's Runes x 3

Secret Paths

Leadership-

Steward of Gondor x 2

Sneak Attack x 2

Neutral-

Gandalf x 3

Song of Wisdom

Song of Kings

I burned through the Mirkwood cycle.

Easy victory on the first time through with all of the quests, except for Journey to Rhosgobel. For the second run through I modified the deck for that one, took out a few cards and added some Healing Herbs and Lore of Imladris, it then became a snap.