Here's my second attempt at custom building my own deck. I built this one as I found that I was struggling against the Hill Troll in Journey Down The Anduin, and thought I needed someone who can hit back harder when they've been damaged, hence Gimli in my Hero choice. Also I thought Denethor with his defence of 3 plus the action to be able to look at the top encounter card and put it to the bottom of the deck if necessary was just too good to miss out on. Éowyn goes without saying as there's no-one in the core set that quests better than her. This deck will also teach you how to manage your resources better, as there's not as much wiggle room as you get in other decks that give you more resources than you actually need.
Ally:
Beorn and Gandalf when pitted together can virtually wipe out Hill Trolls in one attack, plus with Gimli attacking too, well it should almost be game over! However, there are still some nasty buggers to contend with while getting those questing points, so again we have Wandering Took, Gléowine and Henamarth Riversong are there more for there qualities of being cheap cannon fodder than there abilities. Gondorian Spearman is an absolute must, at a cost of 2 it's cheap, and when he defends, he automatically places one damage on the attacking enemy! excellent!! Horseback Archer and Veteran Axehand, maybe a little more expensive, but give the option of having good combat qualities, as well as being useful to discard and give Éowyn and extra willpower point when their skills aren't required Erebor Hammersmith is handy if you lose an attachment to an encounter card.
Attachment:
Citadel Plate maybe expensive, but gives the hero +4 hit points, attached to Gimli along with Dwarven Axe and again, it's almost game over! Forest Snare is an absolute must, especially if you're unlucky enough to draw two Hill Trolls at the same time. Horn of Gondor can help boost your resource pool, Self Preservation is awesome when your hit points are looking dicey, and when paired with Unexpected Courage should see you through many sticky wickets! Power in the Earth is a Godsend when you get 2 or more locations in your staging area, and The Favor of the Lady on Éowyn lets her quest on her own all day.
Event:
Swift Strike is awesome dealing 2 damage, put that with Gondorian Spearman and he can defeat enemies without firing a shot! Stand and Fight is a great card for getting Beorn out of your discard pile, but remember, you can't use it to get Gandalf out of the discard pile as he doesn't have a sphere of influence, but of a daft ruling, I know, but still a rule! Radagast's Cunning and Secret Paths help keep the threat levels low while questing, The Galadhrim's Greeting, though expensive get's your threat level lowered, Stand Together will let you use more than one defender if you find yourself outnumbered, and at 0 cost, there's nothing to lose. A Test of Will and Hasty Stroke are cheap and cover you against unwanted when revealed and shadow effects. Dwarven Tomb can get you The Galadhrim's Greeting out of you discard pile for a cost of just 1and finally Lore of Imladris gets you all better after being battered by those nasty Snipers!! Feint is great to stop an enemy attack if it's looking a bit dicey defence wise!
I've had better luck in ''Journey Down The Anduin'' with this hand than the others I have tried at the minute, but as I said, be prepared to use your resources wisely, don't rush into buying something when you could get something better the next round.
As always, I'm still new and learning, so any hints and tips would be very gratefully received.
I imagine you would still have trouble against the second quest card with this deck as it is a little lacking in willpower and location control. Do you find that when you do lose, it is because you threat out because of location lock? Personally, I favour a spirit/lore/leadership deck when taking on JdtA and use Théodred as my third hero. If you slap Steward of Gondor on Éowyn and give her the resource from Théodred when necessary, she can easily pay for either a Northern Tracker or The Galadhrim's Greeting each round. You can still get Beorn into play using Éowyn's discard effect and Stand and Fight or you can Sneak Attack him into play when needing that big attack. You can also use a clever trick with Sneak Attack, Son of Arnor and Forest Snare to trap the hill troll without having to fight him (though a Feint can serve you just as well).