So you've bought your first core set... 1.0

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• 1.0

We've all been there: you've bought your first core set and you have no idea how to create a working deck and just start playing. There are numerous ways to go about building one and this my attempt to give you some basic guidelines.

Before I begin, remember: learn your action windows and timing of abilities! This is the single most important thing to understand in this game in order to use your cards to their fullest extent.

First off: your heroes. I've picked ones with pretty interesting abilities and low threat (once you play Journey Along the Anduin you'll see why) ;):

Éowyn is your main questing hero with a fantastic ability that you can "abuse" in some very interesting ways. Use it to e.g. discard out-of-sphere allies so that you can play Stand and Fight and put them into play from your discard pile paying with resources. You can also "resurrect" allies that have been used as chump blockers (remember, you can even do that during combat, not just during the planning phase). Steward of Gondor should probably be attached to her, depending on your situation (she will have even more options with Stand and Fight).

Legolas is your fighter. There aren't that many ways of permanently and reliably boosting his attack in just the core set so just pair him up with some other character to deal a finishing blow and add those precious progress tokens to a quest card or active location (Blade of Gondolin synergizes with his ability really well). Horn of Gondor should probably go on him, especially if you have Citadel Plate in your hand.

Glóin might be a little tricky in this deck. Without an access to events and attachments he's only an occasional defender (you will need to defend with your allies most of the time). Use him to defend some weaker attacks and gain extra resources to play Steward of Gondor, Celebrían's Stone or Faramir as soon as you can. Citadel Plate is very expensive and you might not collect enough tactics resources to be able to play it (it's fine if you don't), but if you do, it belongs on Glóin. Don't let him die! Hasty Stroke is your friend when something unexpected happens. And most importantly, try to play Daughter of the Nimrodel from your discard using Stand and Fight so that you gain access to some healing. If you can't do that, another option is to play Dwarven Axe on him and just use him as attacker and keep defending with your allies.

Sneak Attack is absolutely essential. Use it to put into play out-of-sphere allies for their abilities, Beorn or Gandalf. If you happen to have Ever Vigilant in your hand as well you may then activate Beorn's ability twice and, what's even cooler, if you did put him into play with Sneak Attack he will bounce back into your hand before his end-of-phase ability triggers!

Without a hero like Beravor on the table your main concern might be insufficient card draw (Valiant Sacrifice may not be enough) so consider selecting this effect when playing Gandalf. He can also help you with managing your threat level or killing/damaging some nasty enemy instead (if you Sneak Attack Gandalf during a Resource Phase, he will go back into your hand before the Planning Phase and you'll be able to play him again for five resources, activating one of his abilites once more).

Feel free to modify this deck to suit your needs ;). Many of the included allies are way too overpriced for what they offer, but you have to work with what you have. And the fact is that you don't have that many alternatives with just a core set. Still, don't be discouraged! Experiment and, most importantly, have fun with the game.

If you want an alternative deck that includes a hero, check out my other single core set deck: https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/16008/mystrongestsinglecoresetdeckforsoloplay-1.0