Elven-Wise and Limb-Lithe 1.0

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ELVEN-WISE AND LIMB-LITHE

"'Some of my kin look just like trees now, and need something great to rouse them; and they speak only in whispers. But some of my trees are limb-lithe, and many can talk to me. Elves began it, of course, waking trees up and teaching them to speak and learning their tree-talk. They always wished to talk to everything, the old Elves.'"

--Treebeard, LotR III, p.89-90

DECK OVERVIEW

This deck was inspired by WingfootRanger's "The Elven Sorceress" deck and is basically a variation on that deck that adds encounter scrying & manipulation. Mechanically, it is a Rossiel-Ent-Secrecy deck. Thematically, I see Rossiel waking the trees in Fangorn or Mirkwood and rousing them to action against the growing Shadow. Beravor [one of my favorite heroes and card art] fits in nicely, as it always seemed to me like she could have been a Woodman of Mirkwood.

PLAYING THE DECK

Mulligan for Resourceful. Strider & Wingfoot are good to get early, too. With just one Resourceful in the opening hand, the deck can usually be in pretty good shape on Turn 2, or Turn 3 at the latest. As the only resource acceleration in the deck save for Keen as Lances (which usually won't hit play for several rounds) both heroes should ideally get a copy of Resourceful.

Rossiel 2(4-9) 1 2(4-7) 5
Rossiel also gets Strider so she can quest and then defend, using Protector of Lórien and her effect to boost her and , while Ent Draught raises her to 5. She also wields A Burning Brand to cancel shadow effects.

Beravor 2(5) 2 2(5) 6
Beravor also gets Wingfoot so she can quest and still exhaust to draw cards or attack/defend. She also gets Protector of Lórien, Ent Draught, and A Burning Brand to make her a good secondary defender; though, she will usually want to draw cards as her second action. Alternately, you could play her Ent Draught & A Burning Brand on a Wandering Ent to make him into an even stouter defender. [Though, I find it a bit uncharacteristic for and Ent to walk around carrying an open flame. :)]

In addition to Beravor, card drawing comes from Elrond (though he is better saved for healing), Gandalf, Gléowine, Daeron's Runes & Keen as Lances.

Almost half of the allies are Ents for their high stats and to enable play of Ent Draught. Treebeard & Quickbeam, along with Ithilien Lookout, will be the primary attackers of the deck. Wellinghall Preserver provides healing for the Ents, while Elrond provides healing for the heroes, as well as condition control.

Secrecy keeps the cost of Ithilien Lookout, Resourceful, Needful to Know, Out of the Wild, and Risk Some Light low and can be maintained with threat reduction from Gandalf, Keen as Lances, and Needful to Know, as well as Vanish from Sight. With a starting threat of 18, you'll have a couple turns before you need to start worrying about threat reduction.

Encounter deck scrying plays a big part in this deck. Henamarth Riversong, Ithilien Lookout, Needful to Know, Risk Some Light [one of my favorite cards in secrecy decks], and Scout Ahead help make Wingfoot, Needful to Know, and Out of the Wild more effective. Risk Some Light, Ithilien Lookout, Out of the Wild & Scout Ahead also provide encounter deck control.

Out of the Wild and Scout Ahead are the fastest way to get the widest selection of encounter cards into the Victory Display in order to benefit Rossiel, Keen as Lances, and The Door is Closed!. For many adventures, just having one location and one enemy in the Victory Display will enhance Rossiel's stats for most rounds.

CARDS BY FUNCTION

7 Resource Acceleration/Cost Reduction: Treebeard, Resourceful, Keen as Lances

12 Card Drawing: Beravor, Elrond, Gandalf, Gléowine, Daeron's Runes, Keen as Lances

11 Threat Reduction: Gandalf, Keen as Lances, Needful to Know, Vanish from Sight

6 Willpower Boost: Rossiel, Protector of Lórien, Strider

0 Attack Boost: Use allies or direct damage from Gandalf.

3 Defense Boost: Rossiel, Protector of Lórien

2 Hit Point Boost: Ent Draught

11 Encounter Deck Scrying: Henamarth Riversong, Ithilien Lookout, Needful to Know, Risk Some Light, Scout Ahead

12 Encounter Deck Control: Ithilien Lookout, Risk Some Light, Out of the Wild, The Door is Closed!, Scout Ahead

3 Engagement Control: Ithilien Lookout, and other encounter control cards

5 Treachery Control: Risk Some Light, The Door is Closed!, and other encounter deck control cards

5 Shadow Control: A Burning Brand, and encounter deck control cards

8 Readying: Quickbeam, Treebeard, Strider, Wingfoot

4 Healing: Elrond, Wellinghall Preserver

2 Condition Control: Elrond

7 Victory Display: Keen as Lances, Out of the Wild, Scout Ahead

15 Secrecy: Ithilien Lookout, Resourceful, Needful to Know, Out of the Wild, Risk Some Light

COSTS

Total costs w/Secrecy, etc.:
40
+/-23