The Steward's Fear Solo Progression 2.0

• Versions
• 2.0
• 1.0

DECK NAME - "It's Not a Sphere!"

https://youtu.be/0KHjtCdXmeY

OVERVIEW - This is a quest that is much more difficult in solo than it is in multiplayer. It took me multiple playthroughs to create a deck for this quest, and boy is this a fun deck to play. Kind of feels like a Noldor deck with discard effects and Will of the West recursion.

And despite the title of this quest, I'm with Jared: "Steward is not a sphere!"

HEROES

• Beravor - draw cards each round
• Denethor - attach 2X A Burning Brand, Protector of Lórien and 3X Unexpected Courage; he uses his ability to keep from having to engage in combat early and then can ultimately defend against the Villain
• Glorfindel - attach Asfaloth, Light of Valinor, Protector of Lórien, and Steward of Gondor

STRATEGY

• SETUP - look for Light of Valinor primarily; also good to have a copy of Expecting Mischief or even a Ranger Spikes
• STAGE 1B - use Beravor to draw cards and Denethor to peek at what's coming; you should draw into an Asfaloth fairly quickly and can begin to whittle away at the active location; use Protector of Lórien on Glorfindel to boost but be selective in what you discard; don't claim any of the Objective cards until stage 2B; keep in mind you have to clear the Active Location to place a resource on 1B, so don't go crazy with Asfaloth on locations in the staging area as you will need to travel to them to gain the necessary resources to progress
• STAGE 2B - the random plot card makes things more tense; the worst one to get is Unholy Alliance but you should be able to manage; Up in Flames is the main reasons we have included 2X A Test of Will; Poisoned Counsels is the easiest to manage due to recycled Elrond's Counsels; use any Objective cards you may have revealed during this stage; NOTE: Be careful not to move on to 2b if you don't have Will of the West in your hand just in case Up in Flames is the selected plot
• STAGE 3B - I've included a single copy of Gandalf primarily for use against the boss at the end; use math to your advantage; Denethor is the MVP of this boss fight
• OUTLANDS ALLIES - keep them alive by having at least 1 Anfalas Herdsman in play to nullify Zealous Traitor; if no allies are in play, consider putting out an Anfalas Herdsman to act as a A Test of Will of sorts against A Knife in the Back
• Gandalf - mostly in play to deal with Villain boss but also helpful against Umbar Assassin
• Miner of the Iron Hills - for discarding Local Trouble but the is needed to get enough to be able to kill the toughest of the Villains (9 total) without Gandalf in play
• Warden of Healing - great for nullifying Umbar Assassin's archery damage if he get pinned in staging area by a Ranger Spikes
• Ranger Spikes - make sure to place one of these in the staging area before you explore an Underworld Location with a facedown attachment; this will keep those enemies from engaging you; try not to attach to Underworld Dissident; it's much better to bury him w Denethor or kill with an Expecting Mischief; use Erebor Hammersmith to recycle after you have safely engaged and destroyed any enemies pinned in the staging area (this is helpful for handling other Underworld cards being revealed)
• A Good Harvest and Steward of Gondor - these cards will get your resources going; also can use A Good Harvest to get a first round Unexpected Courage or to use any resources Glorfindel has accumulated due to Steward of Gondor
• A Test of Will - use when you need a free round but mostly good for canceling A Knife in the Back
• Expecting Mischief - thanks to Denethor we know when an Underworld Dissident is coming and we can kill it with one of these; keep in mind this does not fire on any of the enemies revealed form the Underworld deck as that is not the "encounter deck"