With Friends Like These, Who Needs A Fellowship? 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

This deck likes attachments. All. Of. Them.

Opening Hand and Early Game:

Opening hand is looking for Expert Treasure-hunter or Gandalf's Staff to begin the card draw engine. A Light of Valinor or another quester such as Arwen Undómiel or Bilbo Baggins is nice too (but not required). First Expert Treasure-hunter goes to Glorifindel, second to Aragorn, and third to Gandalf. First turn is typically questing with all 3 heroes, considering each hero has 5 it is pretty safe to make an early game undefended attack if need be. I tend to prioritize playing cards from the top of your deck when possible for the early game to maximize "pseudo card draw" (and use up Gandalf's resources). Master of the Forge is nice early game because it is almost guaranteed card draw and allows you to choose which pieces of the attachment puzzle you want to put together at any given time.

Mid/Late Game:

This deck comes together through many different routes, which is why I've found it so fun to play! In general though, these are the goals for each hero:

• Aragorn - He is all about questing hard and readying when needed for attacks. Wingfoot takes care of him being ready in time to attack enemies, but Unexpected Courage is an option if additional attacks are needed. With everything on him, he can quest for 5 and by late game should be able to pay for anything/everything since he will have , , and icons.
  • Steward of Gondor
  • Celebrían's Stone
  • Sword that was Broken
  • Wingfoot
  • Unexpected Courage (1x - optional)
  • Expert Treasure-hunter (second copy)
• Gandalf - He is the ultimate defender! He has his usual assortment of toys, Gandalf's Staff is usually used for resources or to discard shadows prior to getting A Burning Brand out. A first priority is getting readying attachments on him to quest/defend, and eventually to quest/defend/attack. Protector of Lorien will help keep his defense up before healing and Arwen hit the table. With Expert treasure-hunter's out, you will have no shortage of extra cards.
  • Unexpected Courage (2x - 3x)
  • Shadowfax
  • A Burning Brand
  • Gandalf's Staff
  • Wizard Pipe
  • Lembas (typically)
  • Protector of Lórien
  • Expert Treasure-hunter (third copy)
• Glorfindel - Very straightforward, nothing special about his build. It is okay if Light of Valinor is not out early game since Aragorn will eventually drop your threat anyways.
  • Light of Valinor
  • Asfaloth
  • Expert Treasure-hunter (first copy)

Other Thoughts:

Ered Luin Miner and Hidden Cache are included to discard to Expert Treasure-hunter. Wizard Pipe them on top before questing. This deck has a total of 12 possible. That's barely boss-killer material, but it is easy to have 6-7 available during combat making it very good at taking out a standard enemy every round. If Ered Luin Miner is on top of your deck when you play Flame of Anor, Gandalf will have 6 AND you'll have another ally for the attack! Gandalf's Staff can discard a shadow so you can safely take an attack (or two) undefended, Warden of Healing or Lembas can eventually heal it up.

Gameplay:

I was happily surprised when this deck beat Carn-Dum solo. It may not be all that surprising when you consider Gandalf set up with A Burning Brand and readying but getting there isn't necessarily quick or easy. Early on I became swarmed with enemies, so I decided to quest very unsuccessfully for 3+ rounds just to get a grasp on the combat again. Aragorn was crucial to this strategy so my threat could be lowered after I was at 48 by turn 4! Gandalf's Staff was used strictly to discard shadows until I found A Burning Brand. Early healing cards allowed me to be aggressive with undefended attacks. Once Gandalf was set up, it took pressure off of killing all the enemies immediately and I focused on building . By the time I managed to get to to the point of defeating Thaurdir, my deck was empty making my final Flame of Anor useless. It took me multiple rounds to take him out since I only had 10 to my name, but we eventually prevailed despite his attempts at healing!

NOTE: This write-up was done prior to the community knowledge of Thror's Map and Burning Brand errata. Still, between the Staff and Burning Brand that should be the most shadow cancellation required for basically any non Carn-Dum scenario. Thror's Map could be substituted for Thror's Key or a third copy of an event like Flame of Anor or Hidden Cache.