Greyfindel 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

I have wanted to make a deck where Glorfindel was the star of the deck for YEARS. Nothing really quite fit. Spirit Glorfindel was always fantastic as a the perfect supporting hero to make another hero shine, but trying to piece all the things he needed to be the focal point of the deck always seemed to be more work than it was worth. He needed Lore to access Asfaloth, and he needed tactics to access weapons weapons worth his time. Tri-sphere decks are tricky though and all my ideas either turned someone else into the deck's natural focal point or just fizzled out and weren't very good.

It was a deck-building puzzle that stymied me for years.

Along came The Grey Wanderer and its ability to access other spheres and I thought my spirit Glorfindel day had finally arrived, only to discover that I couldn't find much card draw and still couldn't easily grab Asfaloth.

Enter a long-forgotten hero, lore Glorfindel. The only thing really "wrong" with him is his high starting threat of 12, which scarcely matters with this contract. His ability is expensive too, but with all the resources the contract and Resourceful can bring here it can still be useful in a pinch. But the rest of this card absolutely shines here.

His lore access is perfect for the card draw you need to make the deck work and gets you Asfaloth. Strider as your starting card with the contract makes both his willpower and his attack relevant, and the healing on the contract allows him to soak up damage and heal at a rate any hospital would be thrilled by, so you use up his large hit point pool regularly.

I typically take most attacks undefended on him, using Ent Draught and Vigilant Guard to get his health up to crazy levels. (If you haven't seen Vigilant Guard at work in a 3-4 player game, it is ridiculously good.) Glorfindel heals up with his contract the next round and you can do it again. If more healing is needed Song of Healing, Ioreth, Warden of Healing, and his own ability can cover a lot of ground.

This deck IS designed for multiplayer games. You'd probably want to swap out some stuff from the sideboard to play solo, or just make your own. I bet there's a great solo deck to be found here with Grey Wanderer and lore Glorfindel, but somebody else will have to do that. I never play true solo.

HOW TO PLAY:

~Grab Strider for your opening attachment.

~Mulligan for card draw, either Master of the Forge or Gléowine. If you find one of those and either Resourceful or Timely Aid in your first hand it's a definite keeper.

~Gandalf is there for threat reduction. The longer you can stay in secrecy the more time you have to find your key secrecy cards, especially Resourceful. Vanish from Sight can help you play a Resourceful if you're out of secrecy but you may not find it. The contract costs a threat to use so you won't stay in secrecy as long as you'd like to.

~Get an ent out early so you can play Ent Draught.

~You're limited to only playing one out-of-sphere card per round, and it has to be the first card you play that round, so try to play one if you have one.

There are plenty of other ways to build an effective Lorefindel GW deck. He's a natural fit for the contract and I'm surprised I haven't seen more of them with him. This one focuses on absorbing damage and has become one of my favorite decks to play, as in a multiplayer game it always holds its own but presents such a life-saving capacity when Vigilant Guard hits the table. It's not a power deck and doesn't try to be one, but it WILL be a welcome addition to a fellowship and is great for playing pick-up games where you don't know what other players are bringing.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes for you! Or better yet, try your own hand at a Lorefindel GW deck. I think it may just be Glorfindel at his best.