End of this Menace 2.0

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• 2.0

"...And it is not our part here to take thought only for a season, or for a few lives of Men, or for a passing age of the world. We should seek a final end of this menace, even if we do not hope to make one." --Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring.

A Normal Deck

Some of you may know me as the "Alternate Art Starter Deck" guy, and up until now all of my published decklists have been a part of that project. That project concluded last month (see here for more info) which turned my attention back towards making decks to use myself with my own cards.

One of my most played decks is the classic Elrond + Gandalf + Glorfindel combo, almost a direct copy of A Fellowship of Sheer Power. Since I typically play two handed I've rotated various decks to play alongside it, but have never really settled on one that felt like it "fit" as its partner. Thinking of the "theme" behind A Fellowship of Sheer Power led me to create this deck. The End of this Menace imagines that the Council of Elrond decided that maybe it truly would be best if the Council handled all of the dangers of Middle Earth themselves. While I mainly play it alongside the Elrond + Gandalf + Spirit Glorfindel deck, it has also performed quite well when tested solo.

Cirdan the Shipwright

Círdan the Shipwright has a powerful statline AND a great ability that helps you dig through your deck quickly. When playing solo (or alongside any deck not needing it) he is an excellent target for Light of Valinor, allowing him to quest for 4 while remaining ready. That sets him up nicely to help with combat early, and then switch to using Narya later to ready two allies (more on this later). Círdan should be your main questing hero and the driving force for combat later once he has slipped on Narya.

Radagast

Any hero lineup of powerful beings needs an Istari, and Radagast is our choice here. His abilities allow you to play off-sphere Creature allies and then quest without exhausting after doing so. Radagast's Staff helps accelerate how quickly you play creatures by reducing the cost of the first played each round by 2, but also offers two other helpful abilities if you have no more allies to play. Readying an ally can allow you to use an ally in combat multiple times, and returning a Creature to the staging area can help stave off an ill timed attack. He's your secondary questing hero, who can also help reliably in combat thanks to his 3 and 2 .

Thranduil

Thranduil was not at the council of Elrond, but after hearing back from his son realized the importance of lending his aid. Thranduil is the main defending hero in this deck - his initial 3 should allow him to handle most early enemies, and can quickly be increased with Dúnedain Warning. Other attachments like Armored Destrier and The Elvenking provide readying to help Thranduil block multiple enemies each round.

All of the above doesn't even touch on Thranduil's ability. Similar to Radagast, Thranduil provides a way to play Silvan allies without requiring a resource match. In a three-sphere deck this helps greatly with resource smoothing, and provides access to many fun bouncing Silvan abilities that will be discussed below. O Lórien! allows you to reduce the cost of these allies, further accelerating your options.

Creatures

The star of this deck is easily Eagles of the Misty Mountains. A well known powerhouse of an ally, EotMM can quickly grow into a card with a statline dwarfing any hero. Using Radagast and his staff you can often have an EotMM in play on the second round, giving it many chances to grow throughout the game as your other Eagle allies leave play. If Narya is in play, you have versatility to perform two combat actions in a single round with the same EotMM (be it blocking two big enemies, blocking one and striking back, or attacking twice to cut down how many are engaged with you).

There are seven other eagles in this deck to feed your two copies of EotMM, each filling their own roles as well. Descendant of Thorondor damages enemies in the staging area when entering or leaving play (a fun target for Sneak Attack), and can chip in for 2 if it is sticking around. Meneldor provides excellent targeted location progress, and his 2 is a big help for questing. Messenger of Manwë provides frequent boosting in multiplayer games, but still helps out with questing in single player and allows your other heroes to help play it by being a ally instead of like the other included Eagles. Winged Guardian is only a one-shot defender in this deck that is quickly captured by an EotMM, but its 4 helps prevent too much spillover from something like a Hill Troll attack.

The three remaining Creature allies (Fang, Grip, and Wolf) help you track down your copies of EotMM (or whatever other Creature you would like) and help get them into play without requiring a resource match (for one round).

Silvan

Similar to how Eagles like to bounce in and out of play, Silvan allies are frequently doing the same and typically provide an excellent bonus when doing so. Galadhon Archer and Marksman of Lórien deal some damage and reduce the defense of enemies respectively, while providing solid stats, Galadhrim Healer provides timely hero healing and Galadriel's Handmaiden lowers a player's threat before helping out with questing for as long as they stick around. Orophin can help you recover any Silvan allies that might have been tossed to Círdan's ability or been destroyed while in play, while also contributing a very solid 2 and 2 that can be used as needed. Legolas doesn't have any bouncing abilities, but his 3 helps with combat greatly and goes well with his card drawing ability.

Feigned Voices is similar to Feint in that it prevents an enemy from attacking you while also bouncing a Silvan ally back to your hand, allowing you to trigger its "enters play" ability again. Sneak Attack can also be used to trigger those abilities multiple times.

Remaining Cards and Possible Modifications

The only cards not discussed are fairly straightforward. I typically play Steward of Gondor on Radagast, using his resources to pay for any ally in your deck without worrying about resource matching. Elrond's Counsel is free threat reduction and a temporary willpower boost, an easy include in any deck with a Noldor hero. Daeron's Runes will help you continue to dig through your deck to find your desired cards.

I mentioned playing this deck alongside "A Fellowship of Sheer Power" which is why I do not include any copies of Gandalf. If you have no such conflict with his hero version, at least one copy of his ally form should be included in place of Descendant of Thorondor with additional copies replacing Legolas. Steward of Gondor can be replaced with Elf Guide if another deck really needs it - it's a clear downgrade in terms of not being as repeatable, but does allow you to re-bounce some of your Silvan allies. I like to keep both copies of Light of Valinor even when playing this deck alongside another that includes Light of Valinor, simply because it gives you better odds of one deck seeing it ASAP. If you want to avoid any such conflict or just want more flexibility, Unexpected Courage is a great replacement choice.