I posted it in the solo-all-quests-challenge thread
but I thought I could also share my mono-spirit decklist here, where decklists should be !
Frodo Baggins
Glorfindel
Eowyn
Ally (26)
Bofur x 1
Eomund x 1
Damrod x 1
Arwen Undomiel x 2
Elfhelm x 2
Emery x 3
Gandalf (OHAUH) x 3
Northern tracker x 3
The riddermark's finest x 3
Pelargir shipwright x 3
Minas Tirith Lampwright x 3
White tower watchman x 1
Attachment (7)
Unexpeted courage x 2
Ancient Mathom x 2
Light of Valinor x 3
Event (17)
Hasty stroke x 3
A test of will x 3
Stand and fight x 2
Dwarven tomb x 3
Elrond's counsel x 3
O Elbereth! Githonial ! x 1
The Galadhrim's greeting x 2
the same list with comments:
Frodo Baggins
Glorfindel
Eowyn
I once thought going for secrecy, especially with a starting threat so close to 20! But it turns out that the available secrecy cards in neutral / spirit sphere are not very strong. These three heroes are just so much stronger and versatile than the others in the spirit sphere. I though about Dunhere for his two attack and rohan trait, and Caldara, but I stuck with the 3 heroes with the best individual potential.
Ally (26)
Bofur x 1
I playtested with 2 but this deck is not the one where he shines the most
Eomund x 1
There are a bunch of Rohan characters in this deck, and you can usually ready one ally and Eowyn for 2-3 extra attack after defending with Eomund. Eomund will shine with future expansions, but he is ok in this deck
Damrod x 1
His stats are just ok, but attack strength is so much lacking in spirit that I think he is worth the slot.
Arwen Undomiel x 2
Elfhelm x 2
Arwen and Elfhelm are two extremely strong allies, but not that mandatory to include three and be very likely to draw extras.
Emery x 3
I decided to go with 3 times Emery, because her 'drawback' is actually entirely beneficial, with a deck including Stand and fight and dwarven tombs, and no strong "draw and discard" mechanic that deplete a deck very fast. And well, she is free -- in a resource limited deck
Gandalf (OHAUH) x 3
Gandalf is a very strong card, his high defense and attack are almost mandatory for battles and sieges, and his 4 attack is needed for tough minions like Smaug and the Balrog. There are efficient way s to play around his threat cost in the spirit sphere, meaning you usually keep him every turn if you play him late in the game after playing everything else you had.
Northern tracker x 3
No brainer
The riddermark's finest x 3
His ability can be useful, he readies with Eomund, he has 1 attack strength for 2, which is not that easy in spirit, 2 life ... all these details make him a reliable filler.
Pelargir shipwright x 3
3 willpower and 3 life points for 3 resources make him a nearly no-brainer.
Minas Tirith Lampwright x 3
Cheapest blocker (disregarding Emery) in spirit. His power is to consider very carefully, but can be very handy. A good situation to use his power is when:
- you are questing for tons and have one or two test of will - in that situation treacheries and locations are not a worry and you can take the risk of shooting a minion.
- you have a good idea that the encounter deck is strongly dominated by one kind of cards.
White tower watchman x 1
I playtested with more - he sounds great being able to handle one small and one big attack, but he did
not prove being that strong - I usually prefere paying one more for an attack-2 ally.
Attachment (7)
Unexpeted courage x 2
This is usually a crazy card, but not that much in this deck that has light of Valinor for Glorfindel, and Eowyn being quite poor in the combat phase if you cna ready her. It is nice to put one on Frodo, but the second one is not very strong. Putting two in the deck is probably the right number.
Ancient Mathom x 2
The most efficient way to draw cards in Spirit, but you rarely want to have 2 with your limited resources. Good target for dwarven tomb in long games.
Light of Valinor x 3
No brainer with Gorfindel - having it in your starting hand is a strong component for the muligan decision. You can discard extra with Eowyn
Event (17)
Hasty stroke x 3
strong, cheap and flexible
A test of will x 3
No brainer
Stand and fight x 2
Very good card, but you don't really have combos with it in this deck with the timing of playing allies, and you sometimes prefer just drawing an ally in the early game, than being able to reuse one if he is discarded.
Dwarven tomb x 3
This card shines in a mono-spirit deck. Yes you pay one more for the card, but there are so many good targets depending on the situation ... Elrond's councel, A test of will, ancient mathom, athe galadhrim's greeting, O Elbereth, a strong ally you discarded, or a cheap blocker.
Elrond's counsel x 3
This card is very strong, especially in a deck limited in resources and including Frodo
O Elbereth! Githonial ! x 1
This card is an oddball. You can sometimes play it for free, but even for 4, it is quite often a very good answer to nasty minions, including unique ones immune to atachments. I really struggled between including a second one or another cheap ally.
The Galadhrim's greeting x 2
This card is virtually 6 more life for Frodo at worse. It offers a lot of flexibility. I could have included three but I prefered going strong on allies. But is is a frequent target for dwarven tomb.
Other cards I considered:
Against the shadow
it sounded ok with cards like Eowyn, but it paled in comparison to The Galadhrim's greeting ... just one less resource, but 6 more life sounded better than a boost of defense, and it is much more flexible.
KIli
I though about adding a package of 2 Kilis + 1 Fili, but it did not make the cut ... yes, either 2 attack or 2 cheap blockers for just three resources. But it happens pretty often that you just draw Fili, or that Fili discards Emery, bith being frustraing.
There are no other cards that struck me as being worth a spot. Once I settled on the heroes, it was more in the selection of the number of each cards (previously discussed) that I had to do the fine tuning. My overall decision was to prioritize cheap allies for flexibility, over expensive contextual events.
Please share your comments if you have different thoughts on efficient ways to go with mono-spirit !
Edited by Fanfan