Beorn’s Suicide Mission 1.0

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• 1.0

The recently-spoiled contract — Forth the Three Hunters — requires an ally-free deck, and in return allows three restricted attachments on each hero and gives willpower bonuses. Powerful stuff, as Seastan has already proved. It will help most heroes. Just don't do something perverse like, say, use a hero who can't take attachments at all, right?

But some of us were born to try perverse things.

Here's the idea. During the early rounds, Beorn defends and attacks, buying time to set up. Get three restricted attachments each on Éowyn and Glorfindel. Hopefully you should get them out in about three rounds (during which each will be 1 resource less than normal). At the same time, you will hopefully also get Strider on Eowyn (for the willpower boost) and Light of Valinor on Glorfindel (to quest without exhausting).

But during this time, Beorn will get beat up. He might even die!

In fact, he's supposed to.

Once you have at least two attachments on each, let Beorn die. Then, in the refresh stage, each of your heroes will have two restricted attachments, and you can flip the contract. Eowyn will quest and defend; Glorfindel will quest and attack. Unexpected Courages can get extra uses out of them, especially Glorfindel.

Of course, it's a bummer to have only two heroes. You can't play any additional tactics cards, for instance. And Eowyn — outfitted with her Golden Shield — can defend well once, but only once.

So you bring him back, with Fortune or Fate. The key is to notice that unlike the Fellowship Contract, there is no provision for turning the card back to side A — if, say, you add a hero back without attachments. Glorfindel and Eowyn will still get +1 willpower per attachment, and can still have three restricted ones.

Ideally, you want the set-up to be Eowyn with Celebrían's Stone (played with Reforged, discarded with her ability), Golden Shield and Snowmane. plus the non-restricted Strider. With these, Eowyn will quest for eight, ready with Snowmane, and defend for 9. And ideally on Glorfindel you want a Rivendell Blade, a Warrior Sword and an Elven Spear (which can be used to recycle Elven-light.) But Glorfindel can have repeats, and you can put Gondorian Shield on Eowyn, if it helps set-up more quickly; you can replace them later, after the contract is activated.

This will not (obviously!) be the strongest Forth the Three Hunters deck you can make. But the idea amuses me, so I am sharing it.

(For further shennegans, note that the contract says that your deck can't contain ally cards; it never says you can't put them into play. So in a mutli-player game, have your friend toss some allies in the discard — I bet Legolas would help this deck, for the card draw — and pull them out with Stand and Fight (in the sideboard.))