Wrath of Merry 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

This is a pure kill-deck, designed to kill everything all the time. It needs to be paired with a good questing deck, and if there's a solid Sentinel out there too, even better. Also goes well with low threat decks, as together they can avoid engagement.

Merry + Aragorn is the equivalent of 6 attack, up to 12 with Daggers. Fast Hitch allows for multiple uses of both, and other decks can give out Unexpected Courage if necessary (it's usually not). Aragorn pulls over enemies from anywhere, so you only need a single engaged enemy to begin the chain. On power turns you throw out Hour of Wrath (with Hope Rekindled if necessary). Ideally HoW hits Merry who stands Gorn anyway, but occasionally you may need it on Aragorn so you can defend a little too. This allows you to clear the entire board.

All those engagements trigger Pippin, which means you draw very quickly into your power-ups and almost always have HoW by the time you need it. It's also why the cost curve is so low.

If you've already got more than one enemy in front of you, Legolas can combo with Merry instead of Aragorn, giving even more draw.

Keeping engagement costs up, and threat down, means lots of enemies stay in the staging area, which is great with Aragorn, as they don't attack, but you can still hit them. Also daggers, Boromir and Pippin of course.

The deck doesn't do much questing or defending however. Still, it doesn't need Steward or allied Attachments (in some scenarios UC for even more ready being the exception). It can throw out Vigils for global threat reduction, and does offer Healing (which you get too quickly thanks to draw) and emergency Quick Ears, plus keeping engagement costs high. Initial questing isn't terrible either, weighing in at 6 if you don't need to do any combat at all.

I don't have Rohan Warhorse, else it might be in here, though I find Fast Hitch and HoW do the job. Still it's an option for a restricted slot on Merry instead of a 2nd Dagger. Good Meal would be another way of making HoW cheaper, but isn't really necessary (also another pack I don't own).

Deck is strongest in 4 player enemy-heavy quests, where it actually trivialises combat to the point I would only use it in "hard" quests and usually not if someone else is running heavy attackers too, as it leaves them with nothing to do. It's particularly ridiculous in Sailing quests where you can take the boat that buffs attack, and where Corsairs boarding from a Gorn pull actually plays into your hands, fuelling draw and dying before they strike. In 2 player it's more of a normal power level, and it doesn't work at all in single player due to the lack of questing.

The advantage this has over other HoW decks is the super-strong draw to get set up, the high initial attack from the two-hero combo, and the consistency in non-HoW turns via Fast Hitch Merry. Low threat and a few tricks also helps. It also doesn't require a 2nd Tactics deck like Bain combos do. It can roll alongside numerous other deck combinations in pickup games without pre-planning.