The Calcudaletor Deck 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Here is a straight up run of the mill Dale deck using as many Dale cards as possible.

Denethor is the splash hero and his additional 2 resources straight out the gate help with the early game setup. Bard and Brand are the core of the Dale deck. King of Dale is the card to mulligan for and this should go on Brand so that you can play allies of any sphere at a reduced cost. That leaves Bards resources free to contribute to item attachments of any sphere.

There are a few different Dale allies included in the mix. Guardian of Esgaroth is a handy all-rounder, and you can tailor him to be what you want him to be by using the different attachments included in the deck. Getting a Spare Hood and Cloak onto him from another character is a good combo for readying. Long Lake Fisherman is just fun - he would be better with a bit of deck scrying, but picking a number will do as more often than not you will find a card for that cost in your top 5.

Long Lake Trader is really handy for moving items around. To get going in the early game you can stick any attachment you have in hand on an ally or hero, then move that to another ally when a more suitable one comes into your hand. This means you can get the +1 willpower bonus from Brand right out of the gate.

North Relam lookout and Rhovanion Outrider will see you through questing. Get some Spare Hood and Cloak on North Realm Lookout and he will quest for 3. As he doesn't exhast to quest, after placing progress you can exhaust him and his Spare Hood, send the Spare Hood over to a Guardian of Esgaroth or other ally to ready it, then Long Lake Trader the Spare Hood back ready for the next round of questing.

It takes so little to get Redwter Sentry boosted up to a good defence. I have had him at 4 defence with 5 hit points for very little effort and cost - that's hero level stats!

Warrior of Dale is in there to join in the attack, and Wiglaf is always handy when you get him on the table. Ideally you would have a Ancestral Armor in hand to stick on him once played. Then he can hel with defence and attack.

Attachments are all cheap so that you can keep churning them out to get the bonuses. Black Arrow can go onto a Warrior of Dale once you get another weapong him so that you can do a big swing if need be. Cram is good to get onto your heroes even if you don't need the readying, as it will give a willpower bonus from Brand just by being there - essential in the first few rounds.

Events are straightforward enough. Once you are up and running Long Lake Trader and Long Lake Fisherman make good chump blockers, and Valiant Sacrifice will give you some card draw as they leave. To Arms! is handy for getting your Guardian of Esgaroth or Redwater Sentry back upright, A Test of Will is just good in every deck, and Traffic from Dale just shouldn't exist - I got 6 resources off one of them in the game I just played with this deck - that's insane!

All in all the Dale deck is really great fun. Just make sure you bring your calculator...