Rivendell and the Havens Starter Pack 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Welcome to the second edition of the Starter Pack Series! In this one, we uncover the might of the Noldor by showcasing two similar yet different areas of Middle Earth in one pack: The port city of the Grey Havens and the hidden valley of Imladris, known in the common tongue as Rivendell.

(No Vilya!)

While these two cities were of much importance in Tolkien's Legendarium, there actually seems to be not enough content from each of these that is cohesive and can make a well-thought-out deck. So, with both populations (at least in the game) being Noldor, combining them seemed like the best option. After testing the alternative, combining them is definitely the best option :) We'll see a combination in the next deck with the Silvan elves of Lórien and the Woodland Realm as well.

While just like all the other decks in this series in that theme comes before power, this deck legitimately runs really well. The main engine involves discarding cards for powerful effects like Imladris Caregiver (which is buffed by the lord of Imladris) and buffing up the heroes' ridiculous statlines with Unexpected Courage and Fair and Perilous.

Elven-light is part of the main discard engine, and although it's not as good without hero Arwen, it still is incredibly useful with the plethora of discard effects in the deck such as Elven Jeweler of Guardian of Rivendell. Lords of the Eldar is somewhat of a strange card to see in the deck, but if played at the right time it can be very effective.

While hero Arwen isn't here, her ally counterpart is. Again, this works beautifully with Unexpected Courage, and also powerful defensive allies like Elrohir that get even better with defensive buffs.

One thing that this deck certainly doesn't struggle with is early . The three heroes all have 3+, which is a massive benefit over decks that center around combat. That being said, this deck never shies away from combat, especially with the aforementioned Unexpected Courage-Fair and Perilous combo, but also with Light of Valinor on Glorfindel.

Speaking of the hero from the First Age, the standard Glorfindel package is in the list. With Asfaloth and Light of Valinor, Glorfindel can just feel unfair at times. (Which, in my humble opinion, he definitely is. I will never change my opinion of Glorfindel.)

To the Sea, to the Sea! represents the Grey Havens in this deck, and combined with allies like Galdor of the Havens and Elrond's sons, it feels very strong. There are lists that take better advantage of it, but it still feels good to have a powerful discard engine in the deck that works on even two-cost allies.

Mithlond Sea-watcher and Sailor of Lune have great synergy with this list (and great art too!). They can feel very powerful combined with To the Sea, to the Sea!, as you can discard whatever card you need to gain their effect. These are critical to the deck, and Elrond's off-sphere access is critical to this list, which is a good reason to use him over Erestor.

Speaking of Erestor, this is an interesting sub for Elrond in the list, but I ended up picking the lord of Rivendell for two reasons: Mithlond Sea-watcher access and his stat line. His high threat doesn't matter when combined with Glorfindel's ridiculously low 5, and Elrond's Counsel doesn't hurt either.

Without Erestor, you might be given that the deck hurts for card-draw with all of the discard, but with Círdan only giving you what you need, Galdor giving you consistent draw whenever you discard, Lindir helping when you need it most, and of course Daeron's Runes, I find that this deck actually does fine, even with all the discard effects.

Yet another benefit of the discarding mechanic is of course the ability to discard unwanted cards like extra copies of Light of Valinor or To the Sea, to the Sea!.

Imladris Stargazer is a card that you're probably used to seeing in Elrond lists when combined with Vilya, but there is only one copy in this list. This is because it's good but not great in the list; its ability is useful, but not of utmost importance like it is in Vilya decks. It's still thematic and pretty good though, so that's why there's a singleton copy of her in the list.

The list has a few weird cards like the previously mentioned Lords of the Eldar and a personal favorite, Flight to the Sea. Drawing a shadow effect that actually helps you is possibly more useful than getting dealt the card itself, and when you are eventually dealt it as an encounter card, Wind from the Sea is simply never going to hurt. For only two cost, it seems pretty worth-it to me.

Overall, this deck is very thematic and very strong, which makes it such a gem to play. I highly recommend taking this against any sailing scenarios or elven-themed battles.

General Tips:

• Unexpected Courage should go on Elrond first, because questing and defending with him in the same turn is awesomely powerful.
• Speaking of Elrond defending, if you're willing to go off-theme A Burning Brand is excellent with him.
• It doesn't matter what hero To the Sea, to the Sea! goes on, but I like to put it on Círdan because it makes the most thematic sense.
• Steed of Imladris was a card that almost made it into the final product, but was just cut short because of the twins, so if you prefer the steed, you can sub it in.

Have fun with the deck, and prepare to don your Cloak of Lórien, because we're going to see the Silvans!