Maxine Newman's The Spear of Mirkwood 1.0

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The Elven Highborn, was designed to take advantage of the strengths of the Elves of Lórien and their leaders, Galadriel and Celeborn.

Still, there is another kingdom of Elves in Rhovanion. Thranduil, father to Legolas, rules the Elven kingdom of northern Mirkwood. As Legolas meets with the Elves of Lothlórien, I’d like to share with you a second deck, meant to pair together with The Elven Highborn. I’ll also share some thoughts on how these two decks might play together.

The Spear of Mirkwood focuses on combat and healing, using direct damage and swiftness to take care of enemies before they ever become a threat.

Playing The Spear of Mirkwood

The Spear of Mirkwood is all about managing enemies in the staging area and preventing them from ever becoming a threat. This is accomplished in a number of different ways, and becomes easier the more players are added to the game. Because Mirlonde ensures the deck features a low starting threat of just twenty-three, it can slip past many enemies unnoticed. Those that would engage you may still be trapped with Ranger Spikes or taken out swiftly using Hands Upon the Bow, Galadhon Archer, and Rúmil. The trick is to prevent enemies from engaging you so that you can take advantage of Haldir of Lórien's ability, using him to strike enemies in the staging area or enemies engaged with other players, before they get the chance to attack. If you find yourself engaged with several enemies, a well-timed combo of Rain of Arrows and Pursuing the Enemy can defeat more than one enemy at the same time!

In order to make this strategy easier, The Spear of Mirkwood contains an assortment of weapons which can be placed on Haldir or Legolas. The goal is to allow them to take enemies out in one shot, using Bow of the Galadhrim and Rivendell Blade. If these weapons are not enough to take out stronger enemies, Unseen Strike and some direct damage can surely do the trick. You can even place a Rivendell Bow on Mirlonde so she doesn’t feel left out. Better yet, give your Rivendell Bows to the Mirkwood Runner and they can take advantage of their abilities to penetrate an enemy’s defenses from afar.

Because most of the deck’s allies are a bit expensive, you have two Lore heroes and two copies of The Tree People. Your best bet is to use The Tree People on Galadhon Archers or Galadhrim Minstrel, so that you can play them again and trigger their Response abilities. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to get a three-cost Silvan Tracker, Mirkwood Runner, or Daughter of the Nimrodel for free. Since The Tree People doesn’t require exhausting the target character, you can also play it on Henamarth Riversong after looking at the top card of the encounter deck, then play him again for one resource and commit him to the quest.

Customizing The Spear of Mirkwood

As with The Elven Highborn , The Spear of Mirkwood can be customized or altered in many ways to suit your own needs or wants. Since this deck is very attachment and event-heavy, you might wish to add some other non- Silvan Tactics or Lore allies to help round it out. Also, The Spear of Mirkwood is built with the themes of the Silvans and the woodland realms in mind, so there are many cards that have been left out in order to complement this theme. In particular, the Horn of Gondor makes for a wonderful addition to this deck, giving you resources every time you bounce a Silvan to your hand [Edit- Not Anymore]. Finally, if you have enough copies of The Tree People and Galadhrim Minstrel, these cards are useful enough to increase to three copies in both The Spear of Mirkwood and The Elven Highborn .

The Woodland Realms Unite!

While both The Elven Highborn and The Spear of Mirkwood are solid decks when played by themselves, they really shine when paired with one another.

Playing The Spear of Mirkwood: Due to the high gap in starting threat between the two decks, most enemies will engage your partner. Your role is to focus on ranged combat and defeat the enemies revealed each turn, using Haldir’s ability as often as possible. If your partner is besieged by too many enemies to pick off with Haldir, you can use Rain of Arrows and Pursuing the Enemy to let fly a volley of arrows, and then you can pick off any stragglers with your ranged heroes. While your Willpower isn’t as high as your partner’s, you can still contribute to the quest. Ranger Spikes reduces an enemy’s threat, and Hands Upon the Bow allows you to pick off enemies in the staging area before resolving the quest.

Your deck features two defensive attachments, Cloak of Lórien and Elven Mail, which are intended for your partner; they can turn Celeborn, Elrond, or a Defender of the Naith into a defensive powerhouse who can grapple with the toughest of enemies, keeping them occupied while you pelt them with arrows from afar.

Playing The Elven Highborn: Your most important boon to offer your partner is Celeborn’s ability, which is global and affects all Silvan allies that enter play, even the Lore and Tactics allies your partner plays. You can also use O Lórien! to discount your partner’s allies, making it easier to play clutch allies like Silvan Tracker or Galadhon Archer. Used tactically, O Lórien allows you and your partner to take the best advantage of the allies in your hands at any given moment. Additionally, the healing generated by your partner’s allies are amplified by Elrond’s ability, which makes even a single Silvan Tracker a huge benefit to both players. If your partner’s threat is starting to get high enough to attract the attention of enemies, thus reducing the benefit of Haldir’s ability, you can use #Galadriel to lower the threat and provide some helpful card draw. Finally, in a pinch, you can use Stand and Fight to retrieve a defeated Silvan Tracker or Galadhon Archer from your partner’s discard pile.

-Developer Maxine Newman. Posted to the FFG website 12/17/14