The Three Hunters 2.0

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• 2.0
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“We will make such a chase as shall be accounted a marvel among the Three Kindreds: Elves, Dwarves, and Men. Forth the Three Hunters!” -Aragorn, The Two Towers

This is an attempt at a strong but thematic Three Hunters deck that can beat most quests when played alongside its complimentary deck The Last Elven Host. This deck focuses on combat while the other focuses on questing and support however with cards like StwB, Faramir ally as well as the single turn allies like Galadriel and Gandalf this deck can contribute a fair amount of itself. Steward is probably the key card in the deck as it allows you to play expensive cards quickly and also gives you resources to use Gimli's ability. Many mid to low level difficulty quests can be beaten without using Steward or only drawing it mid to late game however any quests that are harder or have a very nasty start really require Steward early on for this deck to perform at full efficiency.

Heroes:

Gimli is the primary defender for both decks with Elrond coming in a close second. Gimli is boosted with Steward of Gondor and Gondorian Shield and is also the main recipient for Armoured Destrier and Dunedain Warning. The second copy of UC played is attached to Gimli is the majority of games as well. Lastly he is also the recipient of Heir of Mardil. Once he has several defensive attachments going he is an incredibly versatile defender that can defend several attacks on his own thanks to readying from the Destrier and/or UC and can also ready Elrond to allow him to defend an additional attack. This is especially handy when Elrond has burning brand attached as it provides further shadow cancellation. Between Armoured Destrier and Burning Brand the majority of shadow effects are cancelled or discarded which is integral to keeping control of combat especially in harder quests. Late game once you have readying attachments, defensive allies and Elrond set up as well Gimli is not quite as important for defense and so can quite often help quest or help with attacks against enemies after just a single defense.

Legolas is the exact opposite of Gimli and is the primary attacker for both decks. Ranged helps him attack across the board if need be and Hands Upon the Bow can allow him to destroy enemies in the staging area as well. His progress ability as always is absolutely amazing and gives such a boost to questing and placing progress for the decks. He is boosted with Rivendell Blade and Dagger of Westernesse. If it appears the third copy of UC goes on Legolas. Hands Upon the Bow is great with Legolas especially if he already has weapon attachments as it allows him to destroy an enemy in staging before it can even engage a deck or perform any attacks. He also places his two progress by doing so. Finally he can be readied with Gimli and given +1 attack after Hands Upon the Bow allowing him to make another attack during combat and potentially placing progress a second time as well.

Aragorn is the most versatile of the three heroes in this deck. He is primarily used to quest and attack, preferably both, but whichever is more important for the current situation if he can only contribute to one or the other. Once Elrond has LoV and/or UC setup Gimli's ability is primarily used to ready Aragorn after he quests so that he can help out with player attacks and hopefully even use his ability to pull another enemy out of staging (and potentially destroy it then and there thanks to Legolas and offensive allies) or from the other deck. Occasionally Aragorn will be used to defend in a pinch if need be and if Elrond and Gimli have already been used and no defensive allies can help out either. His 5 hitpoints are great for archery or undefended attacks and his -1 to engaged enemies is absolutely amazing especially paired with both his and Legolas's base 3. The fact that his passive ability helps any character attacking enemies engaged with this deck whether Aragorn is ready or helping out with attacks or not is the best part as it just boosts Legolas and the various offensive allies who are already capable warriors in their own right. The second (or sometimes third) copy of Dagger of Westernesse goes on Aragorn as does Sword that was Broken. Sword that was Broken not only gives the boost but also gives Aragorn the resource icon which takes pressure off Gimli. Wingfoot is also placed on him if drawn during a game so that Gimli's ability can be used on other heroes instead so long as Wingfoot triggers successfully on any given round.

Allies:

• Azain Silverbeard is an incredible ally and his 3 and ability along with his 2 and 2 makes him well worth the cost of 3 resources. His ability is well worth the one resource and is often used multiple times in games he sees play in. It can be used to weaken many bosses, it can be used to kill weaker enemies outright or even finished off already weakened enemies.
• Eldahir is a great backup defender but also doubles up as a decent attacker as well. His ability does cost a lore resource but its boost and even just getting to see a shadow card facedown before having to resolve it can be very useful. Paired with cards like Armoured Destrier and Burning Brand, Eldahir only furthers the control over shadow cards and effects that these decks have and makes combat that much safer. Its nice to have Sentinel on allies that are good at defending as well so that they can defend for either deck.
• Erestor allows this deck to discard extra copies of Steward of Gondor and anything else that I might not need and would prefer to discard to draw something new. His two willpower (or three when boosted with StwB) is also great and the fact he can use his ability and quest each round is exactly what you want. In a pinch he makes an ok defender against a weaker enemy with his 1 and 3 and is a perfect sponge for archery or treachery damage.
• Faramir boosts the other decks characters as the other deck not only plays far more allies overall but plays allies that are specifically intended to quest as opposed to the allies this decks plays which are focused on combat. Like almost all of the allies in this deck he can be used in a pinch to defend against a weaker enemy with his decent defensive stats.
• Fornost Bowman is a strong offensive ally that can attack across the board alongside Legolas to take out strong foes engaged with the questing deck or can easily take out weaker foes on his own when several enemies are engaged with this deck at once. Even at only 2 attack he is useful with his ranged ability but the vast majority of the time he is attacking for 3 or 4 attack and occasionally for 5.
• Galadriel is ridiculously good in this deck because of how many strong attachments are included and how key some of them are. She can be used to fetch that copy of Steward you haven't drawn yet and play it for free instantly getting the two resources right away. If you already have Steward out the main attachments you want to see are Elven Mail, Armoured Destrier or StwB. Even when you just get a free Blade, Dagger, Shield or Warning it is still a free attachment straight away. She also allows you to place the remaining four cards back in any order which is really handy especially for a deck with minimal card draw. Her 3 is a great boost on turns that you need to push through a nasty location or quest stage and she is a great target for a few points of archery before she leaves play anyway and is an even better target for effects that discard or damage allies especially after quest resolution as it essentially saves another ally and allows you to discard her just that little bit faster than you would have had to discard her anyway.
• Gandalf is primarily used with Sneak Attack but is used just as often without Sneak attack as he is easily affordable with Steward, Unlikely Friendship and Arwen's boost. His direct damage is fantastic for quests where you get swarmed with enemies, the threat reduction is fantastic is a deck that has no other threat reduction (but can have its threat reduced by the other deck) and the card draw is possibly the best of all three options especially for a deck without much card draw. Sneak Attacking a Gandalf and drawing into another Sneak Attack is just epic and if you don't sneak attack him and just play him for full cost during planning and draw cards with him you can then use any of those three cards that same planning phase. He is just the ultimate versatile ally and can help with almost any situation.
• Guardian of Arnor are the main defensive allies that backup Gimli and Elrond and often have 3 or 4 defense late game when this deck is engaged with several enemies at once. They have sentinel allowing them to defend for either deck (which is sometimes very helpful when both decks are swarmed) and when they aren't used for defense they can still contribute a point of willpower or attack as well.
• Halbarad is a bit of an all-rounder and is used for several purposes. First off his ability boosts Dagger of Westernesse and allows it to provide +2 instead of just +1 far more often. Secondly he can be played for as little as 1 or even 0 resources so long as this deck is engaged with several enemies. Thirdly he has a sold 2/2/2/3 statline so can help out with questing, attack or can even help with defense in a pinch.
• Rumil is the last ally in the deck and can provide a nice boost to willpower or attack with his 2 and . His ability is nice as it will always do at least 2 damage with Legolas in play and can do 3 if you have a Fornost Bowman out as well. With ranged he can attack alongside Legolas instead of a Fornost Bowman to take out especially nasty foes engaged with the other deck.

Events:

• Feint is a no brainer and so there is no reason to explain how it is used.
• Hands Upon the Bow is a great card with Legolas and Gimli's abilities. It allows you to potentially destroy an enemy and place progress before quest resolution or the travel phase. This can help get rid of a location opening up the option to travel. This can lower threat in the staging area to help successfully quest or place enough progress. Finally it even destroys an enemy before it gets to make any attacks.
• Captains Wisdom is another great way to get Steward out first turn (the first being Unlikely Friendship) as it allows you to add two resources to Gimli's resource pool by exhausting him during the first resource phase. You can then ready him after playing Steward if you managed to draw the copy of Heir of Mardil (which will ready him when you trigger Steward) as well or if you manage to get Lembas or UC on him. Mid game it is extremely useful as well allowing me to get high cost allies out more easily or letting me play Gandalf a turn earlier.
• Sneak Attack is primarily used with Gandalf but can be used with Faramir to great effect as well as with Azain or Fornost Bowman if you are desperate for some extra strength. Nine times out of ten it is used with Gandalf however.
• Sterner than Steel is a last ditch way to cancel an especially nasty shadow effect that you were not able to cancel with Burning Brand or discard with Armoured Destrier. It does require you have Elven Mail or Shield on Elrond or a Shield on Gimli to use however which means it is useless without an armour or weapon attachment on your defender. Due to Shield being such a key card to get out early however the vast majority of the time I am able to use this card to cancel the shadow effect I want as it will a shadow effect that triggers while Gimli or Elrond are defending with an armour attachment.
• Unlikely Friendship is actually a very important card in the decks. The whole point of this card is to draw a copy in your opening hand so that you can put a resource on Gimli and play Steward of Gondor first turn. Arwen's resource boost can then be used for the other deck so that it can play Vilya and Imladris Stargazer first turn and then play any of the top 5 cards of its deck for free with Vilya. This is an incredibly potent combo especially against difficult quests and can give you that edge you need first turn. All it does is give you a resource and replace itself... it essentially provides resource acceleration and card draw/deck thinning as it replaces itself instantly and at no cost so it is almost like I am playing with 48 cards and just get a resource boost for free every now and then. It allows you to see key cards more often while also giving you a resource boost to play those cards. A deceptively strong card that should be auto include for any deck that runs leadership and a Silvan and Dwarf hero.

-x3 Wealth of Gondor is a placeholder for x3 Unlikely Friendship from Sands of Harad

-Tactics Gimli hero is a placeholder for Leadership Gimli hero from Sands of Harad