The Last Homely House: Protect the Hidden Valley 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Disclosure – I am someone who loves to keep their sideboard large so I have the visibility to change out cards based on a certain scenario. Secondly, I primarily (only) play with two of my best friends, therefore we like to builds decks together for pure enjoyment. We realize they may not be optimal – we strictly want to build fun, thematic decks.

Goals: Questing and utility.

This is 1 of 3 decks that work in tandem with each other, focusing on the great House of Elrond. The other two decks are attack and defense focused relying of the abilities of Elladan and Elrohir, while this deck utilizes Elrond and Arwen Undómiel as a support deck with questing, healing, and threat management.

Heroes

• Elrond: There are two cards that are essential to Elrond’s kit. Like most Elrond decks, he relies heavy on his ring, Vilya, to essentially play any card for free. The second card is Light of Valinor, which allows him to quest and use Vilya each round. Besides the essential cards, there are plenty of others that synergize well with Elrond. Imladris Stargazer – plan out your use of Vilya, Warden of Healing – utilize Elrond’s ability to its fullest, Unexpected Courage – ready Elrond again in the rare instance you need to attack or defend.

• Arwen Undómiel: Her biggest uses are questing and acquiring extra resources via her ability. Attachments that work well with Arwen are Silver Harp to combat her ability as well as To the Sea, to the Sea! to help pay for the expensive Noldor allies.

• Thurindir: He is really helpful in collecting a card early in the game that you may not have drawn at game start with his setup ability for Gather Information. Consequently, this helps the Elladan and Elrohir decks grab essential cards needed for them to flourish, adding to the utility of this deck. Additionally, Thurindir becomes an increasingly stronger quester with more completed side quests, which can be sped up with The Road Goes Ever On in order to cycle more side quests out of your deck. Useful attachments on Thurindir includes Leather Boots and Wingfoot for readying and Dúnedain Pipe for deck cycling.

Gameplay

The point of this deck is to provide options in order to properly support the necessities of the Elladan and Elrohir decks. Additionally, you’ll act as the main quester, so go crazy. The purpose is to not feel bottlenecked into one or two cards that could make or break your game; however there are cards that take priority. First priority, attach Vilya and Light of Valinor as soon as possible. Thurindir will allow you to start with Gather Information during setup, which will allow you to grab one of them if you don’t early. Priority two consists of any 4 cards – Imladris Stargazer to optimize Vilya, Warden of Healing to synergize with Elrond’s ability, To the Sea, to the Sea! for expensive allies, and Unexpected Courage for Elrond or one of the other two deck’s heroes for extra attack or defense depending of the situation. I want to make it clear to not tunnel vision on these cards (besides the priority one cards). There are plenty of cards that could easily help you out.

Helpful Hints

1. It takes time to ramp up to your full potential (average of 2-3 turns). Don’t hesitate to discard a good card to gain a resource from Arwen Undómiel in order to play a better one. The faster you get your essential cards out, the more helpful you’ll be in supporting the other decks.

2. There are a lot of Song cards in these 3 decks. So the faster you attach Love of Tales (on Elrond), the more likely you’ll gain a free resource.

3. As stated above, threat management and utility are important functions of this deck. Keeping that in mind, always have A Test of Will and/or Elrond's Counsel available for extreme circumstances. Song of Eärendil is helpful when another player is approaching maximum threat levels.

4. Card draw is probably the greatest downfall of this deck. Once one expensive ally is played via To the Sea, to the Sea!, you will have minimal cards left for Arwen Undómiel ability. Cards like Gléowine, Lindir, The Long Defeat, Deep Knowledge, and Mithrandir's Advice are optimal to combat this weakness.