The Light of Her Eyes, The Lilt of Her Voice 1.0

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THE LIGHT OF HER EYES, THE LILT OF HER VOICE

"As Elrond entered and went toward the seat prepared for him, elvish minstrels began to make sweet music. Near him sat the Lady Arwen. To his surprise Frodo saw that Aragorn stood beside her; his dark cloak was thrown back, and a star shone on his breast. They spoke together, and then suddenly it seemed to Frodo that Arwen turned towards him, and the light of her eyes fell upon him from afar and pierced his heart."

"He stood still enchanted, while the sweet syllables of the elvish song fell like clear jewels of blended word and melody. At first the beauty of the melodies and the interwoven words in the Elven-tongue, even though he understood them little, held him in a spell. Almost it seemed that the words took shape, and visions of far lands and bright things that he had never yet imagined opened out before him; and the firelit hall became like a golden mist above seas of foam that sighed upon the margins of the world."

--LotR II, p.303-313 [edited]

DECK OVERVIEW

Music & song play an important role in The Lord of the Rings. Indeed, the universe itself was created through the Music of the Ainur and, thus, songs often have power in Middle-earth. The LCG does a fair job of representing this through Song attachments & events. Though the full-blown Song deck is not usually very competitive, it can still be a fun theme.

This thematic solo deck is based in part on Frodo's sojourn in Rivendell from The Fellowship of the Ring. Imagine the Noldor of Imladris and their honored guests sipping miruvor in the Hall of Fire as Arwen, with Aragorn at her side, enchants them with the Lay of Lúthien. For a moment, all is well in the world. But the growing Shadow outside the peaceful, protected dell can no longer be ignored and, soon, our heroes must venture forth to combat the forces of the Enemy. Will the power of song be enough?

HEROES & ATTACHMENTS

Arwen Undómiel is the star of this deck, as most of the songs attach to or are played by her. Song of Wisdom can enable her to gain a Love of Tales and, thus, more resources; To the Sea, to the Sea! helps pay for the majority of the allies in the deck; and Tale of Tinúviel is the main method of readying & boosting Aragorn, especially for attacking.

In addition to her repertoire of songs, she also has the Light of Valinor to keep her ready for playing Tale of Tinúviel (Miruvor works, too, and also gives her +1 ); Star Brooch for +1 ; and the thematic Silver Harp to help recycle cards in this discard-heavy deck.

Aragorn has a Love of Tales to gain resources from the songs in the deck; Song of Travel for resource smoothing; and a Star Brooch. He will also be the primary attacker. After he quests (at +1-2 from Elrond's Counsel & Star Brooch), Arwen can ready him with Tale of Tinúviel so he can defend or attack with a +3. Miruvor & Unexpected Courage are also good attachments for Aragorn.

Despite his small size, Frodo Baggins is the deck's defender. After questing, he can tie a Fast Hitch or find some Unexpected Courage and defend, using his innate effect when needed. He can also sing a Song of Wisdom to acquire a Love of Tales.

ALLIES & EVENTS

Most of the allies are Noldor who can be played at a discount with To the Sea, to the Sea! and boosted with Lords of the Eldar. These allies also variously provide card drawing, healing, player deck control, and combat ability.

Of the non-Noldor allies, Sam Gamgee is worth noting for his cost discount and effect, which can be triggered after using Frodo's effect or playing Deep Knowledge. Elrond's Counsel & Aragorn provide threat reduction and help offset those threat increases.

True to a Noldor-themed deck, many of the effects require or enable discarding from your hand: Arwen Undómiel, Elven Jeweler, Guardian of Rivendell, Imladris Caregiver, Glorfindel, & To the Sea, to the Sea! Good cards to discard include: Elven-light & Lords of the Eldar (both of which can only be played from the discard pile), as well as extra copies of Light of Valinor, To the Sea, to the Sea! & unique allies.

With all of the discarding, Elrond, Galdor of the Havens, Lindir, Deep Knowledge & Elven-light provide plenty of card drawing, while Glorfindel, Silver Harp, Elven-light & Lords of the Eldar can either retrieve or play a card from the discard pile.

PLAYING THE DECK

Key cards to mulligan for are Elven-light & To the Sea, to the Sea! along with one of the larger Noldor allies. Love of Tales, Light of Valinor/Miruvor & Tale of Tinúviel are nice, too, but usually not crucial on turn one. Discard Elven-light for Arwen's effect or for To the Sea! to get the discarding/drawing mechanic going. With a good starting hand, you should be able to play a couple small allies or one large ally on the first turn.

After a couple turns, the heroes should all be able to quest, then take a second action. Typically, Frodo's second action will be defending; Arwen's will be playing Tale of Tinúviel on Aragorn; and Aragorn's will be attacking. Ultimately, though, the goal is to get the larger Noldor allies to handle combat, boosted eventually by Lords of the Eldar.

VARIATIONS

One may notice the conspicuous absence of Gandalf in the deck. I have found that, early in the game, he tends to sit in my hand due to a lack of resources; whereas large Noldor allies can be played early (and any duplicates discarded) with To the Sea, to the Sea! If you miss Mithrandir, you can substitute in 3 copies for the duplicates of Galdor, Gildor & Glorfindel.

If you like the Song theme, you can go for the "More cowbell!" option. Substitute a couple of the card-drawing events with Song of Eärendil. It's not as effective for card drawing (or in a solo deck), but it should also get you a resource or two. And Lay of Nimrodel could replace Star Brooch for boosting.

You could add a third sphere by replacing Song of Travel & 1x Song of Wisdom with a couple Song of Kings for . This opens up inclusion of cards like Celebrían's Stone or The Day's Rising (another Song) for Aragorn; Sneak Attack for Gandalf; or additional Noldor allies like Erestor & Galadriel. And, if you don't care about sticking with the Rivendell theme, Steward of Gondor.

With three Hobbits in the deck, you could replace Deep Knowledge with Hobbit Pipes for card draw. The Pipes certainly fit the theme and actually have more overall drawing potential, especially if you recycle Elrond's Counsel, but I find that Deep Knowledge usually provides a quicker influx of cards in the early game.

Several other Noldor-themed cards could also work with the discard/draw/recycle mechanic of the deck: Steed of Imladris (on Arwen and/or Frodo) & The Evening Star for location control; Elwing's Flight for questing & readying; Fair and Perilous (in lieu of Lords of the Eldar) for attacking; Will of the West, Galadhrim Weaver, or the non-thematic Dwarven Tomb (in lieu of Elven Jeweler or Silver Harp) for recycling.

THANKS!

Thanks for looking. If you give the deck a try, let me know what you think and what changes you would make while staying within the theme. Please remember that this is intended to be a fun, thematic deck; not necessarily a competitive one.