Old Friendships and Oaths Remembered 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

The Mono-Tactics Hirgon/Theoden/Eowyn deck quickly became a favorite of mine after Hirgon was released and I’ve played dozens of games with different variations on that deck. I found myself a little sad that King Theoden basically functions as a 3 quester the entire game. Théoden is a powerful hero and he deserves better!

As strong as that Mono-Tactics deck is, it has some weaknesses that can be covered by mixing in a little . I’ve been experimenting with this idea for a while and I’ve started having some good success with it, even beating Raid on the Grey Havens on my first attempt!

Opening Hand

Snowmane is the number one card you should be looking for in that opening hand. With Snowmane in play turn one you can quest for 10-11 , play a discounted ally with Hirgon and have Theoden ready to either attack or defend as needed. Other helpful cards for your early game include Golden Shield, Elven-light, Legolas, Rally the West and either the Defender of Rammas or Derndingle Warrior.

Basic Play

This deck plays a lot like your run-of-the-mill Hirgon Tactics deck but the inclusion of Spirit gives you a little more willpower and a few more support options. Rally the West is a great sidequest for this deck since the heroes always quest and that willpower buff will boost Theoden’s other stats through his Golden Shield and Herugrim. Complete this sidequest as soon as possible if the quest allows it. I included a full 3 copies since it helps so much and you can always discard duplicates to boost Eowyn.

You’ll want to keep a resource on Eowyn whenever you have A Test of Will in hand, but the rest of the time you can use the Éowyn/Elven-light combo to quest hard and dig into your deck.

Once you’ve completed Rally the West, your heroes can handily quest for 13-16 and if you successfully quest you’ll have flexible options in both the ally you play with Hirgon and how you choose to use Theoden who can be a strong attacker or defender as needed. With the Golden Shield he can defend for 5-6 and Herugrim can help him hit for 6-7 !

Most of the allies are straightforward combat strength. Try to get a defender out right away. With no healing available the Derndingle Warrior won’t last forever but the ability to play him for 1 resource with Hirgon makes him too good not to include. One of my new favorite defense combos is Defender of Rammas/Raiment of War and he can even be supported with Sterner than Steel. If you’re playing in a multiplier game either play Arwen or make sure someone else is so you can give him Sentinel. A 6 3HP Sentinel ally is so good!

The Riddermark Knight is a nice flexible 2-cost ally that can attack for 5 on his first (and last) turn if you need it. You might swap him out for the Galadhon Archer in a multiplayer game.

Legolas is expensive but entirely worth it for the card draw he’ll supply.

The support allies include the Honour Guard for your defenders/archery, the Westfold Horse-breeder to find your mounts and the rarely-seen Master Ironsmith to give Theoden his sword. With Hirgon’s discount you can play him for 2 and get Herugrim into play from either your hand or discard pile (discard it to Eowyn) for free. Herugrim and a 1 2HP quester for 2 Tactics resources isn’t bad at all!

The Rider of Rohan is expensive but I found the Spirit resources piled up if I didn’t draw an Elven-Light early and they can boost your late game willpower numbers in any case.

The deck starts with a relatively high starting threat of 30 so in included some free threat reduction with Well Warned. Try to not trigger Hirgon’s boost unless you really have to or it’s a short game. You can let yourself move into Valour territory long enough to trigger The Red Arrow and then bring it down a little with Well-Warned.

Summary

Overall this deck has exceeded my expectations and given me some great games! It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s a nice variation on a deck that’s been getting a lot of play and I enjoy seeing Theoden get some time in the spotlight.

If you can stay on top of the quest, you should do well, but if you can’t quest successfully you’ll probably fail hard as both Hirgon and Snowmane rely on you questing well.

The deck is both aggressive and flexible and will work well in either solo or multiplayer (with a couple possible alterations). It reasonably covers most elements of the game and can be a nice aggro deck to bring to a multiplayer game since it can cover early willpower needs until the other players get their decks ramped up.

• Willpower: Strong heroes, Rally the West, Rider of Rohan
• Defense: Theoden/Golden Shield, Defender Of Rammas/Raiment of War, Derndingle Warrior, Sterner Than Steel
• Attack: Theoden/Herugrim, Riddermark Knight, Legolas, Rider Of Rohan
• Card Draw: Elven-Light, Legolas, Westfold Horsebreeder
• Resource Acceleration: Hirgon, Master Ironsmith, The Red Arrow
• Cancellation: Test of Will, Sterner than Steel
• Healing: Honour Guard
• Threat Control: Well-Warned
• Awesome Last Turn: Oath Of Eorl

While this deck isn’t terribly unique, I was suprised to find out there were no other decks on RingsDB using this exact hero combination. I’ve had a good time with it. Give it a try and let me know what you think!