Grizzl's Men of the Twilight 2.0

• Versions
• 2.0
• 1.0

Original Deck "Men of the Twilight v1.0" by WingfootRanger -Credits to him

I really liked the idea and mechanics of this deck and thought it could use some love, after newer cards like Horn of the Mark and Hauberk of Mail got released. I also wanted to give it my personal touch and push the deck from a great soloplay to an awesome multiplayer deck anyone on the table wants to team up with! :-D

I have a feeling that nowadays almost every deck uses either Éowyn, Arwen Undómiel or a Aragorn version or Gandalf as hero / Ally. So I wanted to make use of the more niche heroes and allies. Because it becomes more and more demanding to synchronise decks on a 4-player game where everyone has the same characters.

On the other hand I really enjoy playing thematic decks and don't want to blindly auto-include a Steward of Gondor for example in every Leadership deck that comes across.

~ A short excursion about my deckbuilding thoughts ~

In playtesting I came up with a combo of The Day's Rising and Heir of Mardil that works as a similar resource generator like Steward of Gondor only a bit weaker but with the advantage of an in-build Unexpected Courage. But I learned the hard way, if you only have one of the two cards the combo is useless. On top of that with Théoden's ability the resource problems weren't as big as I thought to begin with.

When improving the deck I found myself soon to be restriced by the "restricted attachment" rule (pun intended ;-) Since there are many beautiful and matching cards like Herugrim, Warrior Sword or Rohan Warhorse even a Silver Circlet or Raiment of War look juicy here. Just read the next passage and think about that Théoden could also wear a Silver Circlet... So I also thought of throwing in three Golden Belts in there but am not convinced yet. Let me know your thoughts about it :-)

~ Gameplay and deck mechanics ~

Théoden with his Snowmane and a Golden Shield becomes a 5 4 powerfull defener with sentinel, hence you want to give him an Armored Destrier for readying. I also swapped out Dúnedain Warning for Hauberk of Mail since they cost the same, are also not restricted and give +1 +1 instead.

Éomer gets Firefoot and Gúthwinë so with Elfhelm's passive boost Éomer hits for 10 each round dealing excess damage (most likely the case) to a second enemy. Look at that, sister Éowyn! :P

Elfhelm is the allrounder in here. Finding himself sometimes questing, sometimes hitting enemys or is also a valid target for the Golden Shield. Give him an Armored Destrier and Hauberk of Mail as well. If either Théoden or Elfhelm has got the Golden Shield, the other one will appreciate the single thrown in Ancestral Armor simply because I feel sorry for this expensive card and it synergizes so well in here that don't see it in any other deck.

That's it for the heroes. The allies cover some questing and I put in a bit more location control, since you are limited to travel once per round helping with some extra The Riddermark's Finest being able to trigger Éomer and being recycled through Gúthwinë. That's why I decreased 3 West Road Traveller to 1 copy and put in one Escort from Edoras as a replacement. Maybe I'll even sideboard the last Road Traveller as well.

I'm currently playtesting the swapped Valiant Sacrifice for Horn of the Mark for more consistent card draw.

And I like side-quests in general because they give you an option to stall the game, build up force and advance to the next stage when you've got the situation under control.

~ Last polish / variants and 3-4 multiplayer ~

To reduce the deck to 50 cards I remove depending on the situation either:

• West Road Traveller
• one copy Feint
• one copy Hasty Stroke
• Escort from Edoras

In a more combat-focused 3-4 player variant it may be necessary to increase the possibilities to engage enemies, so I'd recommend adding 2x Westfold Outrider and 1x The Hammer-stroke or some Wait no Longer depending on personal preference

Looking forward to thoughts of any kind :-)

Greetings vom the Grizzl