The Eaves of Lorien

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MDuckworth83 3499

This deck is yet another mono deck that I felt has finally been tweaked enough to be put up as my second published deck.

It is a thematic, silvan mono deck that takes advantage of the silvan mechanic, some victory display shenanigans, and the Haldir of Lórien "sniping" mechanic. It's designed as a solo deck, but could easily hold it's own and maybe even shine in multi player mode with just a few tweaks. Although this deck is probably not top tier, it's a HELL of a lot of fun to play and good enough to hold it's own against the majority of scenarios out there, and should scratch some wood-elf thematic itches.

Considering that this deck is built around three separate mechanics interwoven together and contains a total of 21 events, the first obvious necessity is card draw. This is where one of the advantages of being mono kicks in, as Mithrandir's Advice becomes the most efficient card draw in the game in a mono deck. Although Mithrandir's Advice and Keen as Lances are the only "traditional" forms of card draw, the Galadhrim Minstrel is the master of fetching the many events in this deck, and makes a great target for Island Amid Perils and The Tree People to keep them cycling in and out of play fetching events as a form of "non traditional" card draw. Indeed, it was this combo that originally gave me the idea of combining a Rossiel "victory display build" with her silvan bretheren in the first place. The idea is to use Galadhrim Minstrel to cycle all of the victory display events into hand while simultaneously thinning out the deck increasing the concentration of allies for The Tree People targets. Scroll of Isildur is then used to fetch the Mithrandir's Advice and The Tree People back out of the discard pile to keep the drawing and event fetching going.

They say that all good decks must address resource acceleration as well as card draw. While Keen as Lances is the only source of traditional resource acceleration in the deck and is only really useful mid to late game, there are many other more subtle ways to smooth resources over. Really, my favorite form of resource smoothing is usually just playing mono sphere. But wait, isn't this technically a tri sphere deck with a mono hero line up? This is where I once again use my tried and true faithful Rivendell Minstrel to not only bring some willpower to the table, but also fetch song cards for me to permanently make two of my heroes dual sphere. The Rivendell Minstrel's ability to turn any deck into a tri-sphere deck with ease is one of the best kept secrets of players, and when playing mono you can get her out first turn! Of course you also have The Tree People which can function as a form of resource acceleration by using 1 cost allies like Silvan Refugee and Henamarth Riversong to move more expensive or off-sphere allies into play while simultaneously capitalizing off of the silvan "in and out of play" mechanics. Later in the game, Keen as Lances can function as a wild card for card draw, resource acceleration, or threat reduction... whichever is most needed at that point.

As far as combat, the deck is designed to (hopefully) maintain a low through Island Amid Perils and Galadriel's Handmaiden, with the idea of keeping the majority of enemies in staging to be taken out with Haldir of Lórien's snipe mechanic after he is buffed with Rivendell Blades and/or Bow of the Galadhrim. The hope is that by the time your is high enough to trigger engagement of most enemies, Rossiel can tank with 4 (supplemented by Protector of Lórien). Also, never underestimate how fast Haldir of Lórien, Rossiel, and Mirlonde can hack up even stout enemies when equipped with matching Rivendell blades (-6 enemy ...actually happened in one of my playthroughs)!

I've had a lot of fun building and playing this deck. The only real problems I've had with it are that if you don't get your card draw or Galadhrim Minstrel event fetching effects going fast enough, it can stall out on a handful of event cards. I've also occasionally had trouble resource matching AND , but you can usually almost always count on getting either a Rivendell Minstrel or song card in a mulligan. Sometimes, I have trouble getting Rossiel or Haldir set up for their respective roles as well. However, when it all comes together, this deck is one of the most fun I have ever played.... and as always authentically thematic without over use of the same old power cards.

Hopefully others can enjoy it as much as I have!

9 comments

Jul 31, 2016 Trialus 23

@mduckworth83Loved your trap deck and like Silvan a lot so I'll definitely be giving this one a go!

Jul 31, 2016 MDuckworth83 3499

@TrialusThank you sir! I spend a lot of time trying to think up fun thematic decks that actually work, and don't (overly) rely on non thematic overpowered cards.

Should have a Gandal/Hobbit pipe deck on the way soon!

Sep 03, 2016 Jubelperser 1

  • crosspost from the "I HATE YOU ALL" thread - Hey @mduckworth83, just to let you know - I just joined this nice community of beautiful nerds and your deck was the first one I copied and played for several hours yesterday. It has been a real pleasure (innovative indeed - at least to my limited knowledge of the game). I made some arrangements as I wanted some readying effects for my heroes. Wingfoot works really nice with the two copies of Henamarth Riversong already included. One copy of Light of Valinor as well. That way, I don't have to chose which of Rossiel's stat bonuses I want to use each round. I also added the not very thematic Black Arrow to better get rid of big foes. It worked fine with Conflict at the Carrock and the Anduin scenario. So don't worry. I am currently really enjoying your work and looking forward to some more decks. All the best from Southern Germany :)

Sep 05, 2016 MDuckworth83 3499

@JubelperserThanks man! It is really awesome to hear somebody else get enjoyment out of something I put time into. Actually, cards like Black Arrow don't give me a lot of problem with theme. As long as you don't throw Steward of Gondor in it.... j/k. :)

Actually, I've got another Silvan deck coming up soon, but it will probably be released as the combat part of a fellowship (paired with a Noldor questing/support deck).

I can see where some of the above mentioned action advantage really helps this deck out, thanks for the suggestion. It makes better use of both Rossieland Haldir of Lórien.

Cheers!

Sep 18, 2016 dragonwarriorfan 673

I love mono more so am looking forward to giving this one a go. My trouble playing Rossiel has been the set up, so I'm anxious to see how this works.

Oct 07, 2016 MDuckworth83 3499

Let me know how it goes! I was thinking about taking another look at this deck and revamping it.

Jan 14, 2018 MikeGruz 50

What a fun deck to play - just slogged through Journey Down the Anduin with it, and it was very effective!

Nov 21, 2018 Wulf_Den 98

This deck is a blast to play! Thanks for sharing it!

Dec 08, 2018 MDuckworth83 3499

@SwampFox4776Thanks man! I'm glad to hear people are still enjoying this one!

This is one where I wasn't sure how well it has aged, and probably has a lot better tech it could take advantage of now, for sure cards like Woodmen's Clearing.

You should make an updated version of it, post me, and tag ;)