Accelerated Harad (the Noldor discard style) 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Intro

While the (unique) Harad Allies are very strong on their own, as a Harad themed deck they are missing a few important points:

• Card draw (there are only 2 and a half (dunno if Yazan is that important) allies which really, really have to be drawn), so this is huge!
• viable resource acceleration (Southron Refugee is some sort of acceleration, but setting up them first, then playing the real allies feels like ages)

There are some minor weaknesses, too. But these can either be fixed or ignored (especially playing one handed).

• no healing
• no location control
• noone can defend the real enemies (Jubayr has to be boosted to be a top tier defender) or you have to chump block

On the other hand, as soon as your deck is set up Harad shines - especially in single player!

• built in scything of bad cards
• shadow canceling
• ability to deal indirect damage
• a decent amount of willpower

This is what a Harad deck makes it so tempting. So, this is my take on a Harad deck.

Concept

Naturally all the Harad allies, the Headdress and Spears (attach either to Yazan or to Kahliel) have to be in this deck. Jubayr gets some toys (Hauberk of Mail and Wild Stallion) to make him a real beast. I added Wardens, while being fragile I think they have most bang for your bucks. As a side not you can attach a Wild Stallion to them, so they get two hit point and can also attack for 1 (or quest for 2) if nothing has to be healed.

Everything else in this deck (even the two other chosen heroes) supports card draw and/or resource acceleration. Sure, there would be other interesting cards to add, but these would slow down the build.

Sadly, with two Noldor heroes which do focus on the discard mechanic, this deck does feels somewhat like a Noldor deck but with replaced allies.

Starting Hand and how to play

Anyhow, what to look out in your starting hand? Either a Firyal or a Jubayr, depending on your preferences. Well, or both(!). Every other card should be a drawing/resource card. One or more Captain's Wisdom are nice, also spare Harad allies to ready Kahliel after using the wisdom.

There are quite a few combinations that can be played. For example, with a Legacy of Númenor, Gaining Strength, Arwens discard, a Captain's Wisdom you are at 10 resources and can play both Firyal and Jubayr. With any other Harad ally in your hand, you can ready Kahliel and with a Elrond's Counsel you could bring your theat back to 30. What a start. If having the right cards in your hand, it would also be an easy thing to play Jubayr and attach Hauberk of Mail and a Wild Stallion. Also nice.

If you only have a medicore starting hand, but a Drinking Song, then I'd advise to play all the cards which do give resources and then refresh your hand with the song. Also, I recommend to use Daeron's Runes agressively.

Anyhow, not usefull in your starting hand are:

• Haradrim Spear (to expensive in the beginning and not much of use)
• Kahliel's Headdress (also expensive)
• Warden of Healing
• Will of the West you do not want to paly this card early. In general, you want to discard the first drawn and play the second one to delay the depleting of your deck

Miruvor can be used to shift a spirit resource to Kahliel. If you put it back on the top of your deck and do play a Daeron's Runes, you can repeat this with the very same card.

Arwens additional resource can be added as a lore or spirit resource, which means you can decide to play one of the better two Harad allies more easily.

As a side note: I tend to aggesivly play the first two Legacy of Númenors and ignore all further I draw.

Sideboard

I kept some cards in the sideboard. As usual for me, these are cards which I did consider to add, but decided against them.

• Envoy of Pelargir can be used to shift a resource to Kahliel, but Southron Refugee can do this more in-theme
• Ioreth might be free to play, but you have to pay her ability
• the first card, I'd add into the deck would be Magic Ring, with this card you could add more resources to Kahliel
• this deck aims to be a single player deck, so having Steward of Gondor does not interfere with other players decks. anyhow, this would be another card which moves the deck away from theme and I do try to build my decks without the steward, but that is just taste
• Elf-friend could add Arwens resources directly to Kahliel, but this would be a net gain only from the second round on, so I'd value this option as a delay compared to the current state of the deck
• to be honest, I did not try out the exellent card dawn of Elven-light. It would cost a resource, which could be spend for Jubayr (or Wild Stallion), Daeron's Runes seem a better choice
• Stand and Fight is usually a good choice in a deck with Erestor. In this case this would result in a shortage of spirit resources (having to play other 5-cost allies from the very same sphere isn't a good deal)
• the two sidequests can also be an option to smothen the deck. I'd like to add them, but I couldn't figure what other cards to cut.