It's Rangerous business going out your front door... 1.0

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• 1.0

I guess you could say this is my first attempt at a Ranger deck. In some respects I suppose you'd say its a Trap deck as well. I've been playing around with this lineup for a few weeks now and it has changed some. I really like this hero lineup because Amarthiúl can defend attacks multiple times quite well along with shadow card discarding. Thurindir brings out The Storm Comes immediately which helps with resource smoothing and of course boosts Thurindir's . Damrod is obviously helping with resource smoothing and card draw. Normally I'm a stickler about sticking to thematic traits for allies but I do make exceptions for Master of the Forge, Henamarth Riversong, and Warden of Healing because they are so much better than Ranger-related cards in their categories. You could substitute them for more thematic options if you prefer.

The goal is to keep an enemy engaged with you with a trap on it, preferably Forest Snare, Followed, or Entangling Nets. This opens up the ability to pay for cards. You want to be able to engage two enemies as well for resource generation. I find you will always have enough resources to pay for any card after a few rounds. This includes taking advantage of The Storm Comes.

Ideally you'd like to see a Master of the Forge or Henamarth Riversong in your starting hand. This way you are drawing extra cards each round. You also get to know how to trigger Wingfoot, what traps to play, or if you should exhaust certain characters or not due to impending treacheries. Because of this questing is quite safe as well.

Speaking of questing its actually not a problem in this deck after you begin setting up. Truth be told, I use Northern Trackers more for attacking and defending. Faramir shines for questing as usual. I elected not to add an extra side quest for consistency reasons. One side quest does the job and still allows Thalion the quest and attack or defend.

Attacking is perhaps the biggest issue. But if you play your "cards" right you really don't need to destroy each enemy. Especially if they have Followed attached. Dúnedain Hunter is clearly the best attacker but you aren't playing him until you know you can handle an attack or have a trap ready. The Ranger Spears help immensely in the overall attacking scheme. Feint is better than Coney in a Trap all day, every day. In the long run you are steamrolling your enemies as you basically end up with a "Ranger Swarm" deck.

I have one copy of Wingfoot and one of Leather Boots so I can play both without waste. I use Mithrandir's Advice versus Daeron's Runes because you can afford it and to limit discarding needed cards. Dúnedain Pipe just doesn't make the cut unfortunately. Anborn helps recycle traps.

For allies you might find yourself swapping from quest to quest. Generally you are swapping the allies for what best fits the quest.

I think that's pretty much it. I'm new to Rangers and Trapping but I find it quite fun so long as you are able to plan carefully. That's what I like most about this deck. It forces you to plan carefully and mitigate any surprises. Do that and the encounter deck is basically yours!