Card talk Challenge #4: Card draw, Thurindir, Songs 1.0

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• 1.0

The deck was created as a response to the Second breakfast challenge on Youtube. It atributes were Card draw, Thurindir, Songs. The deck was built to beat the quest Dead Marshes, I only have single core set and I play solo!

Hero line up: Thurindir was given, he is one of the atributes. Which meant that I had to find cards for the deck to utilize the side quests outside of his ability.

(MotK) Erestor I love hero Erestor, but since I though cancelling and bit of encounter deck manipulation could be good idea in this particular quest, I decided to go for his MotK version, which allows me to swap unneeded cards in my hand for new card. He fits the card draw atribute.

Glorfindel I selected for his low threat, because I do not have a strong defender in the beginning of the game. Also he is Noldor and great target to one of the Songs in the deck, the Tale of Tinúviel. And with Light of Valinor he can also be ready for the escape test.

As Thurindir is one of the heroes and side quests are in, I decided to include Legacy Blade into the deck. With Light of Valinor Glorfindel is the primary target. The Road Goes Ever On is also nice to get as it is both a Song, and something that helps you to get the side quests on the table and into victory display. Since there are 5 side quests and getting at least one or more into victory display is easy, Thalion was auto include as well.

I also selected the Song of Wisdom so it can help to pay for all the Lore cards in the deck and it is a song. Helping pay for them is also one of the side quests - The Storm Comes, since the first ally does not require a resource match. This makes playing more expensive allies like Gildor Inglorion, Faramir or Galdor of the Havens easier.

Rivendell Minstrel was included to help me find the songs I would like to see in my hand.

For card draw, (MotK) Erestor lets you swap cards in your hand. Apart from Daeron's Runes, Gléowine and Galdor of the Havens are also included. And so is the side quest Prepare for Battle.

I knew that the quest has lot of tricky treacheries making you do addional escape tests. As result, I though some cards to reduce this chance would be good and I decided to try to remove some of them from the encounter deck. Scout Ahead was useful, and so was Out of the Wild. With starting threat at 19, you may even be able to use the Secrecy. And while I am wary of using The Door is Closed! I actually got few treacheries out of the way with this card. I do not often use it, but here it was fun! Plus it is a second cancellation when you only have access to A Test of Will.

The defenders of the deck are Gildor Inglorion and (MotK) Erestor. I only direct smaller hits on (MotK) Erestor but with Cloak of Lórien and Arwen Undómiel boosting him, he can take smaller enemies hits and the hard hitting one are higher threat, such as the Hill troll at 30 engagement threat. Gildor Inglorion definitely works for them, but I generally find, that I tend to just overquest them and do not have to defend against them a lot. And with Double Back and Elrond's Counsel you can keep your threat low. Plus Double Back is a side quest and Elrond's Counsel helps you to boost your willpower when needed!

Opening hand:

From the side quests I always select Gather Information. It allows me then fish a card from the deck that I feel like I am lacking, but often it is either Prepare for Battle or The Storm Comes. If I am struggling finding Light of Valinor then the Gather Information can also be used for that.

Good cards in the opening hand are Light of Valinor and card draw, such as Daeron's Runes or Gléowine. Other cards I like to see are Prepare for Battle for constant card draw, especially if you are playing solo or Out of the Wild so I can send some nasty treachery or another card I do not want to see into victory display. Also it makes using The Door is Closed! easier when this is done early on. Also (MotK) Erestor is there in case if you really do not like a card or like me get two Light of Valinor in my muligan!

Final comments: This is not a particularly strong deck. But it is fun to play and it was built with the Dead marshes quest in mind. And it works against that quest.