Mono Leadership Results

Heroes: Aragorn, Gloin, Theodred

Results: 200 (Loss), 148, 143

Total Points: 491

The deck performes very well against this scenario, because I have a lot of resource generation and willpower boost in the deck. I lost the first round due to heavy pressing by enemies and very bad draws from the deck. I was being prevented from gaining resources due to poisonous forest all the time and the prowl effects made sure I couldn't even travel and explore there. 3 Gandalf on hand but no Sneak Attacks made me ultimately run out of options.

The other two games were fairly easy. Funny thing: In the last round I did not use Gandalf once, in the second game I used him quite extensively to deal with enemies.

Next up: Mono Lore

Last, but not least: Lore!

I am angry. That's why I only say two words: bad. shuffeling.

Heroes:

Mirlonde (Silvan. Sneaky.), Bilbo Baggins (Hobbit. Fashion Victim.), Aragorn (Dunedain. Ranger. Hard Drinking.)

Results:

game 1: win, score 116

game 2: loss, score 200

game 3: win, score 123

total: 439 points

Here are the enounters from game 2 and 3:

game 2: Men in the Dark, Druadan Elite, Druadan Drummer, Druadan Hunter, Overgrown Trail, Druadan Hunter, Druadan Thief/Glade of Cleansing

game 3: Secluded Glade, Garden of Poisons, Ancestral Clearing, Overgrown Trail, Overgrown Trail, Overgrown Trail, Lost Companion, Lost Companion, Druadan Elite, Men in the Dark, Druadan Elite

I lost game 2, even two Warden of Healing couldn't repair all the damage inflicted to my fellowship. One of the most frustrating games ever. Game 3 was also frsutrating, and if I had not played Henamarth on turn 1 I would have lost that game. I was running out of threat after 4-5 turns, but thanks to Henamarth's scouting I could throw every single point of willpower into the quest.

Still, I was tat convinced that lore would get me the best result. Very disappointing and frustrating end of this cycle. All in all it was fun though. Like I said, Druadan Forest is one of my favs, brilliant designa without being unfair, and excellently scaled for solo play.

TOTAL END SCORE:

400 + 522 + 382 + 439

= 1743 points

Lore
Elf-stone let me get Hobbit Gandalf and Gildor in to help with the questing, and Asfaloth helped manage locations, which is why I used the under- appreciated Lorefindel (who is very good for solo mono Lore because of his willpower and Asfaloth). Probably not coincidentally, the only quest I lost was the one I didn’t draw Asfaloth on. Denethor was crucial to winning, and I think he’s the best card for this scenario solo. I always knew when I needed to save my resources and when I needed to spend. The direct damage from Poison Spikes and Expecting Mischief helped make short work of many Woses.

Glorfindel, Denethor, Mirlonde
Attempt 1:
35 threat + 2 damage+ 7 rounds(x10) = 107
A lucky run through. Nothing but locations and weak enemies, and I had Asfaloth in my opening hand.
Attempt 2:
39 threat+0damage+8 threat for dead Mirlonde+ 8rounds (x10)= 127
Oops. I over quested on the second stage, advancing to stage three before I was prepared to go there. With all my heroes exhausted, Dru-buri-dru took out Mirlonde. I breezed to a win anyway.
Attempt 3:
Lost=200
After a rough start, with a bunch of enemies coming out on the first few turns, I regrouped and came agonizingly close to finishing before I threated out.
Sphere total : 434

Leadership
Pretty simple strategy: Steward, Visionary Leadership, A Very Good Tale, Lots of cheap Gondor allies, sneak attack Gandalf, and quest like mad. Rush through stage two, then Strength of Arms everyone for stage 3 to take down Dru-buri-dru. It worked like a charm twice, totally failed the third. In hindsight, I wish I would have tried someone other than Balin. His ability is great, but I was either resource poor and had to transfer those to Boromir, or was so resource rich with a superior board position I didn’t care about shadow effects. Sam’s value in leadership is immense, he really makes mono-leadership viable.

Boromir, Sam, Balin
Attempt 1:
31 threat+ 8 damage+6 rounds =99
A first turn Very Good Tale (exhausting Envoy of Pelargir and Pelargir Ship Captain) yielded Faramir, and the quest became a breeze. Flew through the quest before the encounter deck could muster much against me. A late sneak attack Gandalf improved my score.
Attempt 2:
37 threat+ 5 damage +9 rounds=132
Similar to the first game, but not as lucky with my encounter draws.
Attempt 3:
Lost=200
My loss was brutal. Setup/first turn Druadan Elite and Glade of Cleansing. I play enough allies to take the archery, block and kill it, but the shadow card returns it to the staging area. Next turn, Druadan Hunter. Take seven archery, block, hold back enough attack to kill the hunter, but shadow card returns it to the staging area. Last turn I take another seven archery, everyone dies but Boromir, so I laughed and threw in the towel.
Sphere total: 431

Tactics
I tried some decks with Elladen, but I kept getting hammered, so I gave up and settled on a hero combination I enjoyed. The key was using trained for war to battle quest through the end of stage two, so that my “high” willpower characters were ready to take down Dru-buri-dru in stage three (Beorn took the attack undefended unless I had a feint). Beorn + Landroval = 19 possible damage soaked, and Tactics Bofur + Theoden and Merry meant a respectable 8 willpower first turn questing.

Heroes: Theoden, Merry, Beorn
Attempt 1:
40 threat + 8 damage + 10 rounds (x10)= 148
It took me eight rounds to clear the first stage, and eight of my first nine encounter cards were locations or treacheries. But in round nine, I played trained for war and blew through stage two in one shot, let Dru-buri-dru damage Beorn undefended, and swung back with all my will power to add him to the victory display. Easily siege quested for victory the next turn.
Attempt 2:
40 threat + 4 damage + 10 rounds (x10) =144
A more normal game, took my time through one and two, sped through stage three. The best luck was drawing both of my feints just in time to face Dru-buri-dru. Saved me from needing to use a Beorn-Landroval combo.
Attempt 3:
Loss=200
Another loss to end my run, mostly because I took a big gamble. Locations were piling up in the staging area on stage two, so I spent all my resources to drop in allies and make a trained for war push to stage three. I would then sacrifice Beorn to Dru-buri dru (already used Landroval because of an unusually high number of enemies in the early game) and have enough willpower to take Dru-buri dru down, then siege quest to victory. Unfortunately, Dru-buri-dru returned to the staging area, and so Beorn died in vain. I didn’t draw a feint, so Merry went down next turn, and I couldn’t come up with enough willpower to bring him down, so Theoden went down in the final round.
Sphere total: 492

Spirit:
Mono-Spirit is my favorite deck archetype now since the release of Caldara and Hidden Cache. As much as I wanted to include, Frodo’s damage cancellation is too good in this scenario, especially when facing down Dru-buri-dru. The strategy was pretty simple, which is why I think I won all three games. Do nothing but quest and soak up damage through threat if possible for the first few rounds. This built up a resource buffer that gave me the ability to respond to encounter cards. Play Hobbit Gandalf in round three and start taking down some enemies, then play a few more allies (sometimes to soak up archery and protect Gandalf in stage 2) and charge to the last stage so that you can attack with willpower and take out enemies.

Glorfindel, Frodo, Eowyn
Attempt 1:
44 threat + 4 damage + 6 rounds (x10) = 108
This was a 4 man show until the very end, with Hobbit Gandalf and the four heroes carrying the load. I also had some really lucky encounter card draws. The strategy above worked perfectly, and the last quest stage featured my only use of Against the Shadow ever.

Attempt 2:
32 threat + 6 damage +10 rounds (x10) = 138
Different game from the first one. Didn’t get Hobbit Gandalf until the very end, but I drew both of my Northern Trackers, and they helped carry the combat load.

Attempt 3:
46 threat + 2 damage + 9 rounds (x10) = 138
4 man show again for the win. My threat got all the way up to 49 before I dropped it back down with a timely Galadrihm’s Greeting and Elrond’s Counsel.
Sphere total: 384

Fun challenge. I rarely keep score when I play, so this was a fun and different way to think about deck building and in-game strategy. I played aggressively, quested extra aggressively, and took a lot of risks. This lead to low scores, but also caused some of my losses. This quest has a very different feel solo, and Dru-buri-dru can be challenging for spheres without great hero defensive options (or without enough willpower to attack him).

Grand total: 434+431+492+384=1741

Fun challenge. I rarely keep score when I play, so this was a fun and different way to think about deck building and in-game strategy. I played aggressively, quested extra aggressively, and took a lot of risks. This lead to low scores, but also caused some of my losses. This quest has a very different feel solo, and Dru-buri-dru can be challenging for spheres without great hero defensive options (or without enough willpower to attack him).

Grand total: 434+431+492+384=1741

Congrats Glowwyrm!

Why didn't you use White Tower Watchman to soak up the chieftain's damage?

Funny thing is that I chose a different approach, playing cautiously and trying to plan for every possible encounter. But scorewise it didn't make that much a difference.

It is really interesting to paricipate in this kind of "tournament". Especially I realize that I seem to be a really "slow" Player, I almost never manage to finish quests under 10 rounds...quess I am not much of a risk taker Well, I still have to do this with Spirit and Lore and I totally forgot about the heroes that give 30 points bonus, too!

It is really interesting to paricipate in this kind of "tournament". Especially I realize that I seem to be a really "slow" Player, I almost never manage to finish quests under 10 rounds...quess I am not much of a risk taker Well, I still have to do this with Spirit and Lore and I totally forgot about the heroes that give 30 points bonus, too!

There's nothing wrong with being slow, as long as you win. Most players here consider the win-loss-ratio a more significant expression of a player's ability to play the game than the ability to achieve a top score in a single game. That's why we usually use the scoring system in combination with the win-loss-ratio.

Example:

your tactics result would have been (180 + 166) * 3 (games) / 2 (wins)= 346 * 1.5 = 519 points

my tactics result would have been (219 + 133) * 3 / 2 = 352 * 1.5 = 528 - 30 points bonus = 498 points

Fun challenge. I rarely keep score when I play, so this was a fun and different way to think about deck building and in-game strategy. I played aggressively, quested extra aggressively, and took a lot of risks. This lead to low scores, but also caused some of my losses. This quest has a very different feel solo, and Dru-buri-dru can be challenging for spheres without great hero defensive options (or without enough willpower to attack him).

Grand total: 434+431+492+384=1741

Congrats Glowwyrm!

Why didn't you use White Tower Watchman to soak up the chieftain's damage?

Funny thing is that I chose a different approach, playing cautiously and trying to plan for every possible encounter. But scorewise it didn't make that much a difference.

The only sphere I used him in was leadership because he had some Gondor synergy. For the rest of the decks, I wanted to have a reliable defensive option already in place so that I didn't have to rely on drawing him, and I didn't want to spend a full turns worth of resources on an ally that wasn't going to help me push through the quest. The scoring system is strange in that losing Mirlonde didn't give me as big of a penalty as taking an extra round would have, so I prioritized finishing faster, even if it meant losing a hero.

It is really interesting to paricipate in this kind of "tournament". Especially I realize that I seem to be a really "slow" Player, I almost never manage to finish quests under 10 rounds...quess I am not much of a risk taker Well, I still have to do this with Spirit and Lore and I totally forgot about the heroes that give 30 points bonus, too!

I typically play much slower, depending on the scenario. In some scenarios (like this one), it helps to move quickly so that the encounter deck doesn't have an opportunity to start making combos with itself. In other scenarios, I prefer to take it slow, establish a strong position, and then move forward. I agree with leptokurt, that I prefer winning a game to scoring well. I hardly ever keep track of score, but it was fun for this challenge and made me take a different approach to the game.

Hi, I took the chance and tried your challenge too (great work/idea).

At the beginning I used leadership with Elrohir, Gloin and Sam.

Game 1: 83 (6 Rounds, Threat 20)

Game 2: 138 (9 Rounds, Threat 37, Gloin = Wose-Food )

Game 3: 100 (6 Rounds, Threat 29, Sam sacraficed)

Elrohir used: -30

Total: 291

Wow...I never thought that this deck works so good.

I'm fascinated by Gloin...even without healing-options his additional ressources made the beginning easier and 'King under the Mountain' and 'Durin's Song' did the rest

My Starting-Hand in Game 1 was nearly perfect:

'Shadow of the Past'
'Durin's Song'
'We Are Not Idle'
'King Under the Mountain'
'Steward of Gondor'
'Bill the Pony'

also I got 'Faramir' early and I could use 'Gandalf' 3 times by 'Sneak Attack' and 'Tome of Atanator' .

My next one is Tactics...Merry, Thalin, Theoden.

Game 1: 126 (7 Rounds, Threat 47, Merry was lost somewhere in the forest )

Game 2: 103 (6 Rounds, Threat 43)

Game 3: 92 (5 Rounds, Threat 38)

Total: 331

Very lucky because in every Starting-Hand was a 'Gandalf' (Hobbit) and i could pay him in the second round...

I started a 4th try and this time the Encounter-Deck stamped me into the ground...horrible reversal.

I'm glad to see everyone has been having fun with this now! Had a busy week and still need to finish two spheres. Happy questing all

My Spirit-Team consists of Eowyn, Glorfindel and Pippin.

Game 1: 102 (8 Rounds, Threat 21)

Game 2: 200 (just enemies came...couldn't defeat them as fast as they killed me...stupid archery)

Game 3: 78 (5 Rounds, Threat 25)

Pippin used: -30

Total: 350

Last and least Bifur, Mirlonde and Pippin.

Game 1: 141 (10 Rounds, Threat 41)

Game 2: 200 (argh...3 enemies and 'Ancestral Cleearing' )

Game 3: 95 (7 Rounds, Threat 25)

Total: 436

finished...all in all it ran better than I expected and it was very funny...thanks again for this challange.

Leadership: 291

Tactics: 331

Spirit: 350

Lore: 436

Total: 1408

Oh, every game my score got worse...

I never thought that my Tactics-Score will be better than Spirit and Lore...very strange.

I never thought that my Tactics-Score will be better than Spirit and Lore...very strange.

I think you already solved that riddle: Hobbit Gandalf on Turn 2 can work wonders, especially if it happens three games in a row.

Yes, sure...but I couldn't imagine before, that this could happen...very lucky, i know .

Nebur is a good player. So i think 1408 points mayb be an amazing number

I never thought that my Tactics-Score will be better than Spirit and Lore...very strange.

I think you already solved that riddle: Hobbit Gandalf on Turn 2 can work wonders, especially if it happens three games in a row.

Agreed. I tried out that hero combo and the Gandalf approach and won 4 out of 5 games with outstanding results (~100 points). It's impressive how that fellowship can bulldoze through the forest straight to the chieftain. The only thing that's bothering me is Merry's low HP. I got Men in the Dark twice during the setup and had to play cautiously afterwards. Perhaps Elladan might be a better choice here, because of the bonus and the plus of HP.

Otherwise: great idea and a well deserved lead!

Haha...thanks guys.

I tried to let Merry at least 1 ressource if possible...getting 'Men in the Dark' at setup is of course very unlucky.

I thought about Elladan, but I prefered the hobbit trait because of 'Halfling Determination', to have more ways for willpower.

Besides Merry has 4 threat less than Elladan so the bonus isn't so big and 4 threat means 2 rounds for 'Gandalf'.

Spirit Time

Figured i'd try out Caldara has i had thus far neglected her and I was quite pleased with the results. I actually only used her ability once, but it was incredibly timely as it allowed me to get the extra point of atk power i needed to kill off a druadan elite. I was then able to play her the next turn with Fortune or Fate at a discounted cost since I used a hidden chache i had drawn to grab a good meal for frodo which I new was on top from stargazer. Very satisfying combo overall. I thought I would have more trouble with spirit since it lacks attack power and everyone but Glorfindel has low hp, but just the sheer questing power allowed me to plow thru stages. The hobbit Gandalf was incredibly helpful in games 2 and 3 as well, playing him within the first few turns set me up to be basically invulnerable and his threat increase was not a big deal because...spirit, duh.

Frodo (Hobbit), Glorfindel, (Noldor, Noble, Warrior) Caldara (Gondor)

Game1: win 131

game2: win 103

Game3: win 136

total: 370

total thru 3 spheres: 1231

Well done -nebur-! I like your approach with all the low threat heroes, aggressive questing and Hobbit Gandalf. Congrats on taking the lead!

One thing I've noticed is that all the Tactics players have used Theoden. He's absolutely essential to solo mono tactics, and really makes it a viable deck type. I've used Theoden decks to beat many quests that Tactics would have been hopeless against without him. There's been a lot of Theoden hate in the community, but he definitely makes solo mono-tactics a viable deck type.

yea, i've been saving the hardest for last though, will be interesting to see how tactics does 4 me personally