They Escaped from Dol Guldur (Nightmare!) 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Built specifically to deal with the Nightmare version of Escape from Dol Guldur. You still need a favorable initial setup on the objectives but once that happens I found this deck can eke out a win.

The use of Allies as chump blockers works well here. The deck also focuses on Allies with good willpower stats to keep making quest progress. The strategy is pretty simple. The encounter deck must reveal as few cards as possible as Dol Guldur is perhaps the most dangerous place in middle-earth. You can generalize that statement to any scenario setting of significance but it truly holds firm in the context of this card game. So rush you must.

Perhaps my favorite card in this deck is Saruman because I finally found a home for him! The man speaks Nazgul and can be the one thing that wins this scenario. I also really like how Miruvor manages to shine in this deck. I generally avoid that card as I do not consider it to be as good as Unexpected Courage. After all, Unexpected Courage is the best readying effect in the game. Its pure, its simple, but it costs 2 and there is the challenge. This is a mono-sphere spirit deck and its hard to come up with 2 resources even for something as useful as an extra action. Miruvor shines because it gives that one crucial ready effect for ‘free’. This deck has two heroes with multiple uses (Glorfindel can attack or defend and Galadriel can get you cards or quest) which rewards action advantage and that is the thing Miruvor does really well for no cost. It is the card that fits the situation of only one resource but you need to ready a hero now.

Eowyn / Galadriel / Glorfindel

The heroes make the deck and this particular group results in a minimum of 7 Willpower on turn 1. Nightmare Dol Guldur usually puts up about 7 or 8 willpower on the first reveal and so I chose the strongest questing team I could come up with. Eowyn provides steady questing and a reliable willpower of 5 due to her ability. Galadriel provides both card draw and the ability to put allies into play that do not exhaust on the first turn to quest. That latter ability pays off in this scenario as the allies can chump block. Glorfindel is a necessary ‘evil’ as he provides a critical 3 attack value which can be used to deal with several of the weaker enemies like Catacomb Guardian and Dol Guldur Orcs. His real value comes with his starting threat of 5. Dol Guldur throws a lot of threat increasing effects at you. Just picking up the objectives will provide a threat increase of 6 throughout the game. Dungeon Torch also increases your threat by 2 at the end of each round if you’re forced to pick it up early. There’s also the Crazed Captive, a thematically appropriate prisoner who sounds the alarm when you kill him to raise your threat by a whopping 7.

Envoy of Pelargir / Arwen / Bilbo / Handmaiden / Shipwright / Refugee

These allies represent willpower at good cost. Spirit comes with several allies that are good for this. The shipwright in particular is a great value. Just remember in the early rounds he quests for 2 but once the prisoner is released then he reaches his max value.

Curious Brandybuck / Emery

Dol Guldur has a penalty that prevents you from playing more than one ally per turn. Both Emery and Curious Brandybuck get around this restriction since you ‘put them into play’ instead of playing them the normal way. They play using alternate ‘currencies’ which reduces strain on your resources. Emery is particularly nice with Imladris Stargazer as she can remove chaff out of the Stargazer’s way so you can get to the critical cards you need on later rounds (Saruman or Ride Them Down).

Imladris Stargazer / Minas Tirith Lampwright

Imladris Stargazer has her obvious skill of digging deeper into the deck to find the cards you need. Minas Tirith Lampright is there as an insurance policy against surge. This deck does not deal well with a lot of enemies. There are enough surge effects in the encounter deck to cause game-ending trouble. With the Lampwright you get to name the thing you want least and if it appears - good work. Just make sure you plan around the Silvan Refugee.

Saruman / Ride Them Down

These represent the only real way of dealing with the Nazgul in the staging area. I must get one of the two before I reach the final Stage. If all I have in hand is Ride Them Down then hopefully I will have enough willpower to generate a massive Ride Them Down hit on the Nazgul. I might need to augment that with a well timed Radagast’s Cunning. Otherwise I have Saruman. He’s great for this scenario as he comes into play and removes the Nazgul for that final quest push. Galadriel's passive ability makes a bomb card like Saruman doubly useful as he can quest for 3 and still be ready to attack or defend. Saruman represents one of the reasons I like the Nightmare scenarios. He is certainly a card I would not consider playing in normal mode but he’s perfect for dealing with Nightmare Escape from Dol Guldur!

Radagast’s Cunning

For that moment when the wrong enemy is in the staging area like the Nazgul or the Torture Master. Combos well with Ride them Down.

A Test of Will

Treachery cancellation is handy.

Elrond’s Counsel

Keeping threat low for zero cost is great.

Elven Light

I credit this card as being the card that finally enabled me to beat Dol Guldur Nightmare. Card draw is important and this card works great with Eowyn. Its the thing that let me dig deep enough to find the answers to pass the Nazgul at Stage 3B.

Asfaloth

With Nenya we have Lore resources and since we have Glorfindel I keep one copy around just in case. It rarely shows and I’ve rarely used it but I feel better with the option buried in there somewhere.

Thror’s Key

Much like Asfaloth this card is good for that one use every once in a while.

Nenya / Light of Valinor

Must haves when playing Glorfindel and Galadriel. Light of Valinor is purely for Glorfindel since Galadriel cannot quest.

Miruvor / Unexpected Courage

Both cards offer readying ability that is not to be underestimated. I like using them on Galadriel for that extra card draw. Miruvor is a card I did not expect to wow me as much as it did. This deck is very resource poor and Miruvor is easier to apply than Unexpected Courage simply because its cost is lower. There have been several times when I really didn’t need the permanence of Unexpected Courage. Miruvor has been enough to carry the deck on a crucial turn. This card is very good with Galadriel.