Dunedain take The Fortress of Nurn 1.0

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• 1.0

This is the deck I used to defeat The Fortress of Nurn. You can find the playthrough report here: https://theroadlotr.wordpress.com/

Because of the nature of this quest, your deck needs to be able to function with as few combo pieces as possible. There are only two cards this deck needs to run. You will need to be able to muster as much as possible as fast as possible, so mulligan hard for Celebrían's Stone. Everything else is secondary. Also, there are a fair few Spirit cards, such as Arwen Undómiel and Northern Tracker, so Aragorn needs the Spirit sphere.

Use Thurindir to fetch Keep Watch, the reduced of the enemies will make the difference here. This is the second vital card. If you can, use the Vigilant Dúnadan to defend against multiple engaged enemies to power up your abilities, especially the Warden of Annúminas, Heir of Valandil and the Guardian of Arnor.

This quest is filled with side-quests, so Thurindir’s will be up to 5 with just the bare minimum completed, Legacy Blade will give you 3 for free and Thalion is up to hero status. If you complete all 4 Castle side-quests, which East Road Ranger will help with, both Encounter side-quests and Keep Watch and Prepare for Battle, Thurindir will have 10 by the end. And once you have Keep Watch in the victory display, your Vigilant Dúnadan can keep several enemies at bay and still be able to counterattack. The Legacy Blade and Thalion are must-includes for any deck attempting this quest.

After your key pieces of Celebrían's Stone and Keep Watch are in place, this deck almost runs itself. Use Andrath Guardsman and Northern Bowmaster to chump enemy attacks if needs be, counter attack with Amarthiúl and Fornost Bowman. Only attack with Aragorn if either you have an Unexpected Courage on him, or your concerns are taken care of.

The Long Defeat is the only card that we have 3 of here, because it will be helpful at every point of the quest except the very last Quest Stage. When you complete a Castle side-quest and can draw a card, this will allow you to draw 2 more. Or you can help 5 damage from your characters, which will be sorely needed in this quest.

This is not a fast deck, so don’t expect to get all your Northern Trackers and Warden of Annúminass out straightaway, but it is a resilient one, with every ally except Warden of Healing having more than one hitpoint. Take your time, use Thorongil with Aragorn to reset your threat when you need to, boost Thurindir’s as much as possible, and you will stand a decent chance of victory.