Drop your guard! 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

This is a fun deck to try out those Guarded Attachments.

I ran this deck through my 4 testing quests (Journey Along the Anduin, Escape from Umbar, The Mumakil, and The Ring Goes South) and easily beat them all. I think this deck in multiplayer would really shine as well.

The Gimmick

Most games I end with at least 3 Guarded Attachments in play, a lot of them being attached to a hero the same round they enter play. This is accomplished by Asfaloth clearing the locations, and Bilbo Baggins with the help of Haldir of Lórien killing enemies. This is a Hero Deck. Your 3 heroes will be doing 80-90% of the work, so load them up!

Opening Hand

Look for a Guarded Card in your hand, Sting is especially good because it is free and if you also have a Bow of the Galadhrim for Haldir you can almost guarantee you will kill the enemy guarding it that round. The other cards to look for are card draw, this deck does not have a lot of variety so drawing at least one copy of all the unique attachments is essential. Westfold Horse-breeder is also a fantastic card to see in your opening hand, but more on her later.

Gameplay

Play those guarded attachments when it makes sense to, and keep your threat low with Elrond's Counsel and Woodmen's Clearing. The Arkenstone and Necklace of Girion help you quest. The Necklace would go best on Haldir for the resources, but the would be wasted. In a multiplayer game you might get away with in, but in a solo game put the necklace on Bilbo. If you get Bilbo on a Hobbit Pony you can hold him off from questing and apply his response to a revealed enemy. If one is in staging already you should still hold off in case you reveal an enemy with more threat or a treachery that effects characters exhausted or committed to the quest.

You should rarely engage enemies with Haldir and Hands Upon the Bow.

The Secret Weapon

Some call her the Horse Whifferer, but in this deck that is okay. Westfold Horse-breeder does more than find you mounts in this deck. You probably noticed the lack of defense this deck offers. Feint and Defender of Rammas are there, but don't help against immune or 5+ attackers. The Horsebreeder is a great chump, for one resource she can remain un-exhausted in case you engage a surprise enemy or one too big for a Defender to handle. Reveal a treachery that says 'exhaust a character', no problem. Discard an ally? Who cares. I have been very surprised how many times having her un-exhausted has been a huge help. During the Mumakil quest I defended a Mumak 5 times thanks to her being on the table.

Sideboard

The sideboard has a lot of cards that would fit well in this deck. You may want to add some condition removal if the quest needs it. Perhaps more healing in an archery heavy quest.

Final Thoughts

This is just a fun deck to get Guarded Attachments in play and see how clear you can keep the staging area.

Happy Questing!