Deck for New Players: Minimum Purchase Silvan 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

This deck is designed with newer players in mind, and is part of a series of decks that can be contructed using cards from only the Revised Core Set and one other purchase: Elves of Lorien.

This deck has a rather low cost curve spread relatively evenly across three spheres, with a couple allies for some seasoning you can get in by discarding them to Protector of Lórien and then using Stand and Fight. Card draw here will be very consistent with Galadriel able to give you an extra card every turn, and Daeron's Runes accelerating that rate of draw for you.

The strength of Celeborn and Galadriel together is that on the turn an ally enters play it gets a boost of 1 to each of its stats, and it does not exhaust to commit to a quest. This last clause means that players are able to make the most of that ally and their boosted stats when it enters play. Allies will be expected to carry this deck and there are a handful of toys that let us return allies to our hand in order to play them again. But returning to the questing, Naith Guide will allow Celeborn to help with his willpower as well as being ready for combat, while Galadriel's Handmaiden quests for a very respectable 3 when she is first played, as well as reducing your threat by 1. Henamarth Riversong will allow you to see the first card of the encounter deck and plan accordingly, like whether or not to use Nenya and add Galadriel’s indirectly to the quest, or if you need to plan a Galadhrim Minstrel to search for A Test of Will because of some awful treachery just round the corner.

As for combat, there are a handful of options here. If you have managed not to engage anyone, Haldir of Lórien is able to pick away at enemies in the staging area, though he won’t do much to stronger enemies as we’ve no toys to boost his attack strength with. Again, it will be your allies carrying the day here. It could be Galadhon Archers entering play before the Encounter Phase ends with a The Tree People to help chip away at weaker enemies or doing that crucial single point of damage needed to make that enemy killable when it does engage you. It could be the Defender of the Naith absorbing an attack, only to be later healed by the Silvan Trackers, so that massed bow fire from Greenwood Archer take them down. It could be an ally being returned to your hand with Feigned Voices, preventing the enemy attack in the first place or Celeborn with Protector of Lorien discarding cards from your hand so you can defend an attack successfully. It could even be Rúmil entering play with Stand and Fight after Shadow Cards are dealt but before the enemy gets to attack, nuking that enemy with up to seven points of direct damage.

For more decks that can be built with only the Revised Core Set and one additional purchase, check out this article on Vision of the Palantir here: https://visionofthepalantir.com/2023/01/13/ten-decks-for-new-players/