Spirit of the Eldar Days - Multiplayer 1.0

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• 1.0

This deck is one half of an Elven fellowship designed to tackle some of the more challenging quests this game has to offer with a combination of the martial progress of Elven archery and the questing support of Galadriel's entourage.

Spirit of the Eldar Days

Hero Lineup

-Glorfindel is his usual, powerful self. He gets Light of Valinor and Asfaloth, and can even attack across the board with a Rivendell Bow from the archery deck.

-Haldir of Lórien plays several crucial roles, not least of which is providing instant access to for those quests when Nenya doesn't want to show up. He also combines with (MotK) Legolas from the archery deck to bring 6 to bear on turn 1, which is often sufficient to take out an early enemy and maintain tempo. Once he is powered up with Bow of the Galadhrim from across the table, he can put his sniping ability to good use as well.

-Galadriel does what she does, controlling threat, providing card draw, and giving allies a free first turn of questing. After Nenya shows up, she is typically my first target for Unexpected Courage to allow full usage of her potential.

Questing

At a cool 23 starting threat, I've found that you can afford to quest with Glorfindel from the beginning, even if you haven't found Light of Valinor yet. Nenya is the most critical piece for early questing (you can provide 7 once you have it), but if it tarries you still have plenty of Silvan allies that can pick up the slack (all boosted by Celeborn across the table). You may not be bringing obscene levels of to the quest each round, but 3 copies of Host of Galadhrim allows for huge strategic pushes at the right moment (time these carefully!). Between Asfaloth, Lórien Guide, and Woodland Courier, locations are rarely an issue, and so I've never felt a strong need to include Hithlain or Thrór's Key.

Defense

Hopefully, you are not having to engage too many enemies, though the archery deck can assist with Defender of the Naith and Thranduil (once he gains sentinel). Arwen Undómiel provides further support to this as well. In general, you should have a consistent stream of chump blockers thanks to Galadriel's ability to allow allies to quest w/out exhausting. In a pinch, Elrond or Silvan Tracker can defend and potentially survive (and Glorfindel has a large enough pool of hit points to take an undefended strike).

The real contribution of this deck to the common defense is the support of healing (Silvan Tracker and Galadhrim Healer) and shadow cancellation (Quicker Than Sight. This may not always be flashy, but it is a critical cog in the machine of the combat deck. Mainly for this reason, I am usually happiest to see a Silvan Tracker pulled out with The Tree People.

Attack

Aside from Haldir of Lórien, this deck is not going to blow anyone away with its attack power, but it can do more than enough to complement all the ranged characters across the table. Add in Glorfindel's base 3 , and you have a solid fellowship.

Resources

The only resource acceleration is The Tree People, but you should be taking advantage of O Lórien! and Tighten Our Belts from the other deck. I really enjoy the decision points that come with this, including the decision on whether to spend it all or to leave 1 resource for A Test of Will (or to enable Host of Galadhrim on the next turn).

Miscellaneous Strategy

Nenya is the main card you want to see early, followed by questing allies and The Tree People, and of course Light of Valinor. Try to time your Galadhrim Weavers to recycle your key cards (A Test of Will, The Tree People, Quicker Than Sight, Host of Galadhrim). The main goal is to build up a board of at least 3-4 Silvan allies and then to drop Host of Galadhrim for a big push. The archery deck should be grabbing most enemies, but it is usually wise to keep at least one ally unexhausted to block unexpected attacks.

Final Thoughts

I have had a lot of fun piloting this deck two-handed through the Angmar cycle, the ALeP Oaths of the Rohirrim cycle, and miscellaneous other quests (Battle of Five Armies, Morgul Vale, Three Trials, The River Running, Wrath and Ruin). It doesn't always quest well right out of the gate, but with the Wood-Elves keeping combat locked down, it can catch up in a hurry and drop large amounts of when needed. Most of all, it's just a lot of fun to play and provides plenty of chances to make meaningful decisions about how to handle a given round of questing and/or combat.