You can only hope to contain her 1.0

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• 1.0

After the Spimrahil ruling re: Caldara -- in short, he counts as a hero for the purposes of her ability -- modern Caldara decks' power level, already quite high, shot through the roof. I had fun with them for a while, but sometimes got to wondering: how many times in a game do you really need to recall four allies at once? The archetype is so powerful now as to be a bit... boring? Nah, she'll never be boring. But the decisions aren't as tough as they used to be.

So to spice things up, I decided to see if a 2-hero Caldara deck could work.

Turns out, it can!

Why would you want to do this? You don't: of course the traditional 3-hero setting is best. But the fact that this is viable at all is testament to the raw power that has always undergirded Caldara: the cost savings, the action-speed ally recall, the use of the discard pile like an extension of the hand...

The one advantage that 2 heroes can give is initial Secrecy. Celduin Traveler is arguably the best Secrecy ally in the game, and the Resourcefuls are important for the deck's endgame. Elrond's Counsel can extend your stay.

Past that, getting Spimrahil out is paramount. WIth Arwen's resource-generating, you can hard-cast him, but I have sometimes triggered Caldara just to get him into play. His stats are slightly better anyway, and if you do it after questing with Caldara, it's a form of action advantage (always good to keep in mind with her no matter who you're recalling).

Once he's in play, you now have the equivalent of a regular 3-hero deck with respect to Caldara's ability. And the usual Sword-thain+Emery combo will do you one better. If you can stomach waiting, putting Sword-thain on Bofur is even better, as it opens up the potential of playing multiples of Emery sequentially to speed the discard pile seeding process. (I myself am never that patient.)

Seeding the discard is a problem early on. You don't have, say, the 1-2 punch of an Arwen & Éowyn build, so you will definitely run up against Arwen's once-per-round limit. The Elven Jewelers can help immensely. Eventually, Glorfindel makes it all much easier to get things out of your hand. The traditional Zigil Miner approach remains the most efficient, but be careful not to mill all your Resourcefuls...

Why? Because you want to live the dream! If you get Spimrahil, and Sword-thain, and a full set of Resourcefuls out, then you are generating 6 resources/turn, regardless of Caldara's status. That means you can recur Glorfindel every single turn. (Glorfindel: glorified chump blocker!) Even more impressively, after you've used your Ziggys and Elven-lights to empty your deck, you can deploy the Dwarven Tomb+Map of Earnil trick to recur Fortune or Fate... forever. (Every other turn, that is, since the cycle costs you 8 resources in this deck.) Lose a couple Northern Trackers? They'll be back soon! Or just keep chumping with Galadriel's Handmaidens and bringing them back to keep your threat stabilized.

It sounds like a pipe dream, and of course you won't be able to pull it off in every game. And you could've done most of the above in a regular ol' 3-hero deck. But I just took this as one of my hands against The Thing in the Depths, and by the time I started hacking away at tentacles, I had virtually every ally in the deck on the board -- I think I was missing two Elven Jewelers -- and my deck was empty and ready for the Fortune or Fate shenanigans. So even in modern quests, this build is capable of feats nearly as ridiculous as full-bore Caldara decks.

I guess the point, as far as a 2-hero Caldara deck can have a point, is that her power is not to be underestimated. Feel free to change up the ally suite... Háma should certainly be considered, and Wardens of Annúminas can give you a little more concentrated combat bite if you feel you need it.