Spirited Defense

Questlogs using this decklist
Win - Raid on the Grey Havens - 3 Players - 2020-08-02
Fellowships using this decklist
None.
Derived from
Threat-Control Defense 4 2 0 1.0
Inspiration for
None yet.
Card draw simulator
Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
The gameplay simulator is an experimental feature and is currently only available for those that support RingsDB development on Patreon.
Gameplay simulator
Round
0
Threat
0
Hand
In Play
Deck
Discard Pile

WanderingTook 1359

Synopsis

Heavy questing and defense deck, with some location control splashed in.

Design

Sometimes you just need a deck that can quest hard out of the gate, and maintain that momentum throughout the game. This deck will do that, plus so much more.

Modern quests hit you from all angles: tough enemies, big locations, brutal treacheries, direct damage... and the list goes on. With so much going on, player decks need to fill more than one role; so, in addition to mad questing, this deck provides solid sentinel defensive support, treachery/shadow cancellation, and location management.

Strategy

  • Mulligan for Silver Harp. With one copy on the table, you will effectively be drawing two cards per turn with Círdan's ability. If you can get a second Harp out, use it to boost Éowyn's willpower every round.
  • All copies of Unexpected Courage go on Beregond. If a friend can donate a Gondorian Shield, that would be ideal; otherwise, Desperate Defense is a good fallback.
  • Pump out allies, and quest hard!
  • Backtrack is amazing, even in quests where you think it isn't (like Race Across Harad).
  • The biggest weakness to this deck is a lack of resources. Hopefully, a friend can help you out; if not, then you'll just be a little slower ramping up your board state.

Sideboard

The deck list contains Silver Lamp, which is a great card when you are playing with a ranged deck, but next to useless if Beregond is defending with Sentinel. Depending on the situation, you may want to replace it:

Performance

I find this deck to be a refreshing take on the standard "questing rush" strategy. It has been part of fellowships that have defeated:

  • Desert Crossing
  • Race Across Harad
  • Raid on the Grey Havens
3 comments

Apr 24, 2017 bigfomlof 555

This deck has saved my poorly constructed ones on several occasions, and I'm grateful to it--and its designer. Superb build.

Apr 25, 2017 Wolves 33

First of all, I love this concept! I have a similar concept, although my deck is slightly more well rounded (and thus slightly less focused).

You can use Elven-light to fuel Eowyn, and get some card draw to boot.

Furthermore, Glorfindel is a great attacker for this deck without losing quest power. A great partner for him is Rhovanion Outrider, and I'll tell you why:

The outrider is the cheapest 2 attack ally for spirit (on par with Háma, which is unique). However, the outrider is a great location control ally and has an acceptable will power if he doesn't explore a location with his ability.

Narya on Cirdan will give you the option to untap two allies (Glorfindel and the Outrider) and give them +1 atk each, which gives you an attack of 7 each round, which should suffice to kill most non-elite enemies and allows you to use the outrider during questing and attacking :)

And to top it off, Narya also gives Cirdan the holy grail of resource acceleration: the leadership resource icon! This will give him access to Steward of Gondor or, if not available, The Day's Rising. It also opens up the option for Armored Destrier which works very nicely with Silver Lamp.

I love mono spirit decks which are not solely quest based, and this concept fits right in. Great effort!

Apr 25, 2017 Wolves 33

In addition to the above, Arwen Undómiel is a great addition to the deck as she provides a much wanted +1 defense for Beregond.

Another potential strong ally in this deck could be Treebeard. He and Glorfindel both have ready effects, which can be enhanced by Narya to either defend multiple enemies (treebeard only) or attack with great force multiple times.

Obviously, to use Cirdan and Narya to their best effect, Light of Valinor is a must.