The "Killer Deck" with a Full Cardpool 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

When I was starting out with this game and had a very small cardpool, I used the Core set "Killer Deck" a lot (or one of its variants), as I suspect that many others have done. It's a really fun deck to play and it's pretty powerful too. I still occasionally load it up in DragnCards when I need a quick pickup game with a deck that's fun but not too hard to pilot. But there are some seriously dud cards in the Core set that have been upstaged by later cards, so I thought it would be fun to update the Killer Deck with a full cardpool.

The rules I set were: I needed to start with one of the highly ranked versions of the Killer Deck on RingsDB (I decided on Seastan's Single Core Set Solo) and only make 1-to-1 changes that stay in the spirit of the original. For example, most decks are just better with ally Treebeard, but he doesn't directly replace the function of any of the Killer Deck cards, so I didn't use him. I did break this rule a few times, and instead of a direct replacement, I sideboarded some cards based on their low utility in most quests. I also tried to keep any cards that were already great (e.g. Northern Tracker) at the cost of maybe losing out on some possible synergies I would have had by doing a replacement instead.

Below is the explanation for each card that was replaced, in the form:

[Old Killer Deck card] -- card's function -- replaced by [New card]

This new deck is a reasonably strong, fun deck to play, that still has the same feeling as the original. I'm happy with how it turned out.

Théodred -- low threat hero with resource acceleration -- replaced by Denethor

Erebor Hammersmith -- 2 cost ally with decent stats -- replaced by Mablung and Quickbeam

Gléowine -- cheap card draw --1x replaced by 1x Unexpected Courage for Beravor

Guard of the Citadel -- 2 cost chump -- replaced by Soldier of Gondor

Miner of the Iron Hills -- condition removal -- sideboarded

Silverlode Archer -- ranged attacker -- replaced by Greenwood Archer, who also combos well with Beravor wanting to exhaust during planning

Son of Arnor -- engaging enemies -- replaced by Mablung and sideboarded

Snowbourn Scout -- cheap chump -- replaced by Envoy of Pelargir

Forest Snare -- great trap -- replaced by Ranger Spikes (best trap)

Protector of Lórien -- 1 cost defense boost (since Éowyn already covers the willpower boost) -- replaced by Dúnedain Warning

Self Preservation -- healing -- replaced by Warden of Healing

Ever Vigilant and Grim Resolve -- character readying -- replaced by Defiant Challenge

Lórien's Wealth -- event card draw -- replaced by Daeron's Runes

The Galadhrim's Greeting -- threat reduction -- replaced by A Lesson in Caution

With the sideboarded cards, we have room for a few more cards, so we add some staple questing allies: Arwen Undómiel and Ethir Swordsman