Rohan's Royal Line 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

I can't believe I haven't published this deck yet! I've been playing it a lot all summer and it has become my favorite Rohan swarm to date. Thengel has really brought the Rohan discard archetype into its own.

Heroes

Money, money, money! Theoden's regular discount is essential if you plan to discard an ally per turn and still build up a board state. Theoden can wield Gúthwinë as your primary attacker. I usually put Snowmane on Thengel so he can quest and defend, but it could go on Theoden as well. Snowmane and Unexpected Courage basically get split between these two heroes.

Thengel's ability is the strongest part of this deck. Getting a free ally every turn is amazing. It's a form of card draw and resource acceleration. The discarded ally counts for something but once you get Gamling into play, that cost is largely mitigated. Thengel is also your primary early defender. He won't last forever and there are other options in the deck, but a 3/4 stat line is a good first defense early in the game. Hauberk can boost him to 4/4 or you can put it on an ally later in the game. Arwen Undómiel can also boost him (and give him Sentinel which can give him a temporary HP with the Hauberk). My first readying card goes on Thengel so I can use his great stats in both the quest and combat phases.

Théodred boosts the deck with even more resources, provides the resource for Guthwine and Sneaky Gandalf and comes in a low threat cost to offset Theoden and Thengel's high threat. His extra resource during the quest phase can allow a timely A Test of Will of Sneak Attack without cramping your planning phase. The combined resource acceleration of Thengel (we'll say two per turn), Theoden, and Theodred comes to a total of about 7 resources per turn.

Allies

There's a lot of Rohan allies to choose from now! Gamling is a great ally to see early so you can get your engine running without draining your hand. Morwen Steelsheen combined with a cheap ally like the Squire of the Mark is also a great opening. You can play the Squire for free, then discard him to put Morwen into play and immediately trigger Thengel and fetch another ally! You could potentially get 7 or 8 cost worth of allies into play by only playing the 0 cost Squire!

Once you have Gamling in play (he honestly might be worth 3x), Escort from Edoras, The Riddermark's Finest, Háma, Deeping Bowman, and the Westfold Horse-Breaker are all good targets to discard one per turn. You really want to discard one ally per turn to keep up Thengel's mustering ability. If you have a particularly challenging combat phase, there's a potent combo with the Westfold Horse-Breaker and the Squire of the Mark. Since the Horse Breaker doesn't have to exhaust to ready a hero, you can use the Squires to keep bringing it back and ready your defender and/or attacker several times in one turn. My buddy Liam used this trick to clear out a bunch of enemies on the last turn of Epic Multiplayer Helm's Deep.

With a deck of nearly all Rohan characters, Éomund can provide some amazing readying and you can just keep doing it if you have Guthwine in play. But, lacking any events to discard him, you have to either chump block or throw Archery on him to accomplish this.

I find Hama an amazing defender in this deck. It's easy to pay for him multiple times in this deck. He can handily defend a 3-4 enemy and then defend any big enemy and it doesn't really matter if he dies because you're discarding him anyway. I often pivot to using him more in the late game and letting Thengel off easy.

Morwen Steelsheen is an amazing ally. She can come into play for almost nothing, she can quest for two or provide threat reduction or healing to Rohan and both are sorely needed! Just a little healing goes a long ways! She can keep Thengel in the game if he gets hit with a shadow card or she can just methodically clean up direct damage or archery. I love the choices she gives you every turn. Deeping Bowman is another new guy that is really great for Rohan. Rohan doesn't have tons of attack, especially outside the sphere but this guy can help you take out a big bad boy quickly. And his ability doesn't rely on him being ready so you can use his without losing the opportunity of using his effect.

Théodwyn is a nice ally here but not much to say. Ceorl provides so low cost and his Response can be used in a multiplayer game.

Deeping Defender isn't particularly amazing, but he can help out with the defending duties and he's easy to get into play with the Devoted keyword.

Gandalf is here because he's a meddler and can't leave Rohan alone! I most often use him for threat reduction but his card draw ability can give the deck a shot in the arm if it hasn't found some of the key cards yet.

Attachments

Horn of the Mark is the MVP here. Thengel basically draws you a card every time you discard an ally and then if you stack this draw on top of that, you actually draw enough cards which is amazing for a Rohan deck!

Guthwine is the other key card for making the deck hum. Having a 5 hero is always good, but having the ability to pull allies back every turn is great for this deck as well. Without a true super defender or any shadow cancelation, Silver Lamp can make the combat phase much easier. I usually put it on Thengel since he gets my first readying.

Events

The usual suspects. Can't pass up A Test of Will and Sneak Attack! Astonishing Speed can get you out of a tight spot or help you blitz the last quest stage. It's always fun to quest for 60+ on the last turn! Threat can be an issue so I threw one The Galadhrim's Greeting in there to make me feel better.

Final Thoughts

I'm so happy I can finally play the Rohan army I've been trying to make work since Mirkwood days. These heroes make sure you can get stuff into play quickly and I find the combos in this deck quick to come together and fun to manage. I was very proud of making a Rohan deck without any version of Éowyn!

Theme-wise, it's cool to see Grandpa Thengel, Papa Theoden, Mama Morwen, Sister Théodwyn and (ill-fated) brother Théodred all work together in a single deck! It's so multigenerational!

Testing

I've played this deck against a lot of quests with a high ratio of success. It was the MVP deck in our staging area of the Epic Helm's Deep game and I've beat The Aldburg Plot and Nightmare Across the Ettenmoors with it on the Three is Company YouTube channel.. It's not foolproof or a "One Deck," but it's a powerful and thematic Rohan deck you can throw down against most any quest and have a good time.

You can hear Ryan and me build this deck live on Episode 21 of the Three is Company podcast.