Hidden Strength with Galadriel 1.0

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• 1.0

Hidden Strength - because no-one in the books rates these heroes, but they are all stronger than they appear. The original version used Bilbo Baggins, but we've replaced him here with Galadriel. This deck is all about drawing out that strength by piling on the attachments, and she fits perfectly into that theme - her inability to actually take actions means her true power is hidden until unlocked with her attachments, namely Nenya and the Mirror of Galadriel.

Despite not being allowed restricted attachments, Treebeardcan benefit from some well-chosen ones - get an Ent Draught on to him and you can add 5 damage to give him 8 or 7 . Use Self Preservation, Daughter of the Nimrodel, and Ioreth to heal him up and you can do it all over again next round, or even next turn with Unexpected Courage. There's also Wellinghall Preserver (who also works well with Quickbeam), and Boomed and Trumpeted for even more of a boost.

Get Golden Shield and Herugrim on to Éowyn, and she becomes a 4 , 5 , 5 hero, all for a de facto 6 threat! The numbers get even better with the Necklace of Girion and added support from Galadriel with Nenya. Herugrim+Nenya+Necklace of Girion+Éowyn's ability = 20 ! Cuck on Ent Draught to let her soak up unprotected damage, and add Steed of the Mark to ready her after questing. One other little trick: Use Battle-fury with Nenya and Herugrim to give Galadriel's willpower boost for both attacking and questing (Nenya's ability lasts until the end of the phase, and Battle-fury triggers at the start of the quest phase, so this works).

Third up in this party is Galadriel. Nenya is a must, as explained above, but there's plenty more we can do with her. Obviously getting the right cards out is necessary in this deck. In that regard she's better than Bilbo as she'll give you a card every round (instead of just when you're first player), and the threat reduction is nice too. There's also her Mirror to search your deck, and the potential risk of discarding something valuable can be negated with the Silver Harp, or at worst, Will of the West.

Apart from Galadriel, cards come from Lórien's Wealth, Gléowine, and Legolas. Elven-light gives you a card draw after discarding for a boost from Protector of Lórien, while Gandalf's Search and Heed the Dream get you the cards you want.

To pay for it all, you'll want to get your song cards out to maximise your resource matching. Rivendell Minstrel is a real boon here, with a useful 2 as well. Eowyn gets the Song of Travel and Song of Wisdom, while Galadriel gets the others. With Nenya, that gives Galadriel access to all spheres, and you can throw on a Steward of Gondor to pay for it all. Then add Heir of Mardil, and then you can boost Eowyn or Treebeard with Nenya, use the Steward for two resources, stand her with Heir of Mardil, and then use her ability to get a card and lower your threat.