Prince Imrahil's Men 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

I wanted to try out the new Prince Imrahil, so this deck is built entirely around his ability. The other two heroes are fairly interchangeable, but Éomer is an obvious fit because you will be doing a lot of chump blocking. Éowyn is also a good choice because the deck has minimal willpower. If you want more willpower or if you are playing solo, swap out Eomer (and Firefoot) for Théoden. Otherwise, Aragorn or Mablung would be my go-to substitutions if other people at the table are using Éowyn or Éomer.

Prince Imrahil's ability is really quite amazing. At the most basic level, it's like you have a repeatable Feint because you can pay one resource to block an attack. Of course chump blocking isn't as good as feint because you have shadow cards and potential penalties for allies getting killed, but it's close enough. And unlike the classic Háma trick where you can recycle Feint every turn, you don't have to spend a card to replay your Feint. It's almost like you are drawing an extra card every turn because you get the free chump blocker. As such, I never find myself lacking for card draw despite only having one card (2x Legolas) that fills that need. This might be the first mono-tactics deck I've made that didn't run Foe-hammer.

Some aspects that make Imrahil's ability better than Feint are enter play and leave play effects. Many allies in the deck have enter play abilities that you can trigger repeatedly, and every time you chump block you are boosting Éomer and/or sounding the Horn of Gondor. If you have two or three enemies, you can potentially chump block one enemy, then use the resource from Horn of Gondor to play Quick Strike and have Éomer kill another enemy before it attacks (or two if you have Firefoot).

If I've learned anything from playing with A Very Good Tale, Timely Aid, and The Tree People for years, it's that you really don't want to whiff on those abilities. That's why I've crammed 38 allies into this deck, every one of which is a potential target for Prince Imrahil. I would love to add more, but the choices get pretty mediocre with the likes of Gondorian Spearman, Longbeard Sentry, or maybe Guardian of Rivendell. There are some typical staple allies in here, but I want to touch on a few highlights:

• Boromir: Probably the ally you most want to see in the deck. He can potentially block multiple times and attack for 3. Then he gets shuffled into your deck and loses his damage, so next turn you can do it all over again. If I draw 1 or 2 copies in my starting hand, I might take a mulligan just to get them back in the deck.

• Mithlond Sea-watcher: With 38 allies in the deck, many of which quickly enter the discard pile, these guys are virtually guaranteed to be activated all the time. 3 attack and ranged for 2 cost? Yes please! I almost want to take out Feint because that is the one card that occasionally blocks their ability.

• Envoy of Pelargir: Imrahil gets his resource right back, so it's a 0 cost chump blocker.

• Beorn: Fairly straightforward, he can block a boss without dying or attack for 8.

• Honour Guard: If you are in Valour, you can bring them in and sacrifice to prevent 5 damage. This has saved a hero more than once for me.

• White Tower Watchman: These guys can block twice, once regularly and again as an undefended attack.

• Soldier of Dol Amroth: It's rare that you can use their ability when you bring them in via Imrahil, but they are effectively a 1 cost chump blocker that can soak a point of archery.

• Knight of Minas Tirith: You can trigger his ability if you bring him in via Imrahil. However, this is after engagement checks and I have very rarely actually been able to use it. Still, 3 attack isn't bad.

• Galadhon Archer and Marksman of Lórien: These guys effectively do 1 or 2 damage even if you decide to chump block with them.

• One ally I tried but eventually cut was Veteran Sword-elf. I figured you could get a copy or two in your discard pile pretty quickly, but even with 1 copy in the discard pile they aren't very cost effective. It takes too much work to get 2 copies in the discard pile and the reward isn't great enough.

The strategy is fairly straightforward. Look for Defender of Rammas, Firefoot, and Horn of Gondor in your starting hand. Always save a resource for Prince Imrahil and use his ability almost every turn that you are fighting enemies. Prioritize chump blockers or Boromir if you don't have all of your defenses covered. Otherwise look for enters play effects or Legolas for card draw.

I've been playing this deck lately along side a Silvan deck with Celeborn and it's been a blast. The Silvan return to hand effects mean Éomer is always powered up, and Celeborn's boost effects the Galadhon Archer, Marksman of Lórien, and Legolas that will be frequently entering play.

Give it a try and let me know if you have any suggestions!