My assault on Dol Guldur Deck 1.0

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• 1.0

This is the deck I used to beat assault on Dol Guldur. This is by no means fail safe as it is a VERY tough quest. I found that this deck stands a decent chance. It is a classic Elrond swarm deck, of which I am very fond.

For opening hand you want: Gondorian Shield, Vilya, Wizard Pipe, Imladris Stargazer. If you don't get Vilya or a Stargazer, mulligan.

Turn 1-3 is where the assault on Lorien happens. During this time, your priority is to kill the Marauder (as he will engage in turn 1. Don't be afraid to pop a Flame of Arnor) and get 10 progress, so you will get the Host of Lorien. I found this a better priority than setting up a ton of allies right away - unless Glorfindel, Gildor or Firyal is in the opening hand, I generally don't start churning out allies until turn 2. If you can choose which ally to play, pick Firyal and Glorfindel early on. Firyal is fantastic to avoid Host of Dol Guldur and Olog-Hais and nasty Forest Battlegrounds. By turn 3, you should be ready to throw down your first very good tale (Glorfindel helps here as he can both quest, exhaust for aVGT and attack for discard). By turn 3, you should have 4 strong allies in play. When you advance to 2B you will hopefully have Host of Lorien. If possible, get the unexpected courage on Elrond (which basically gives Free Vilya) and Shadowfax on Gandalf, so he can be used as a blocker. Ideally you also want to play Galadhrim's greeting to lower your threat.

A note on the sideboard: Since playing this, I have acquired a second core, and for furture use I would include one more unexpected courage (for Beregond) and Beorn, instead of one test of will (which rarely can be used due to locations) and a flame of arnor. I would also include 2 will of the west, as I managed to run out of cards several times. These would be instead of a Stargazer and a flame of arnor.

For stage 3, you will deal with a stage you have chosen yourself, which initially might give you bad stuff if you don't place 5 progress there. Furthermore, you will be hit with a random effect from another stage 3. This random effect can often be devestating, so it is really a race. Your priority is to lower the defense of Dol Guldur as soon as possible, and as efficiently as possible when you get below 5. However, the random effect of 3B (increase city strenght by 3) has a bad habit of popping up at the most inconvenient of times, so be prepared to do some more fighting.

For your location you pick at 2B, I usually take the tower of sorcery, as it can be quite easily explored. Otherwise. Gate of Dol Guldur is a good choice if you have played one or more Galadhrim's greeting.

Before Dol Guldur reaches 0 strenght, you want to minimize damage. I found it effective to go to 3C first - usually. you might not have enough quest power for the 5 progress causing you to discard your hand. You don't really need cards in your hand due to Gandalf and Vilya. Your Stargazer should help you arrange the deck, so it doesn't hurt you when the sorcerer attacks (discarding the top card, and discarding all copies in play).

You now have an empty hand. This means that the bane of Amon Lanc is much less dangerous. PLay the card you draw, or discard it to ready Glorfindel after questing. Both Sorcerer and Bane of Amon Lanc can be easily blocked with a Beregond+Shield (and damage can be healed easily with Warden of Healing). You can alter between these two for mininmal effect - the most damaging is really the random effect at the end of the round. Once Dol Guldur is below 5 strenght, you need to be ready for two attacks. If Gandalf's staff is in play, use it to remove shadow cards form the lieutenants (as far as I understand, they are immune to player cards but the shadow cards are not) and block a low-level enemy with Jubayr and discard the shadow card. Without a shadow card, enemies can be easier blocked with Gandalf (readied by Shadowfax or Flame of Arnor)

Once Dol Guldur reaches 0, first order should be to kill Chieftain Morlug. The extra enemies are simply too dangerous. Once he is dead, 3E can effectively be used for resting between stages. Once one lieutenant is down, it should be managable to kill the others.

Hope the deck works out for you!