Quietly sneaking in and out again (solo deck) 1.0

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• 1.0

"Hey, with the new Dwarrowdelf cycle we have enhanced the game with a new keyword: Secrecy!"

"Oh boy, that sounds great! I have to try it!"

5 minutes later: "These cards are kind of bad...but can I still use them?"

Welcome to this not-so-secrecy-heavy solo deck, which uses just one of the Dwarrowdelf secrecy cards (Resourceful). Some of the secrecy cards sound great on paper but are simply overshadowed by better regular cards or were not available yet (I only have the packs up to Numenor). There just aren't enough combo options at this point and while I thought some could be useful (Dúnedain Wanderer and Timely Aid) I couldn't fit them into this deck. The "cheapest" hero available to me is Théodred and then I'd have to work three spheres again and also have a higher starting threat. I first tried to work around that and use Song of Kings so I could add Sneak Attack, Steward of Gondor and Faramir among others to this deck though this makes me just use my standard deck again (http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/4393/solo-into-mirkwood-and-moria-1.0) and this is not what I was trying to do here, heh.

So without the Sneak Attack+Gandalf combo and without Faramir's buff I had to find a different approach. Éowyn is still one of the very best heroes for questing and with Glorfindel's help you are able to quest for at least 8 on turn 1. When you don't need Bifur for defense it goes up to 10 . Light of Valinor in your starting hand is great and even without it you only raise your threat from 21 to 22 in the beginning. You are not completely dependent on getting the attachments on turn 1 although it is very likely to get at least one or two anyway.

Resourceful is a decent option to enhance your early game when you get Elrond's Counsel, The Galadhrim's Greeting or even Gandalf in your first few turns and it's not the end of the world when you get it late. You can still discard it to improve Éowyn's or to satisfy Daeron's Runes' cost or play it anyway when you have many resources to spare. It's a win-more card without drawbacks even when getting it late. Don't forget you can always pass a resource to Bifur once per round and therefore pay for most of the cards as soon as you draw them (except Forest Snare).

You get a lot of location control with Northern Tracker, The Riddermark's Finest and Asfaloth if needed. Ancient Mathom enhances your card draw capabilities at will when locations are in play. Gandalf and Daeron's Runes add to it but if that is too unreliable for you then you might consider adding Gléowine and/or Peace, and Thought to your deck.

I usually attach Unexpected Courage to Glorfindel and Bifur. The latter being my defender in most situations while being empowered by Arwen Undómiel and healed by Warden of Healing. Versus trolls and similar enemies you need Forest Snare or chump blocking or...not engaging them at all, which is quite a possibility with all the threat reduction in this deck. Elfhelm is your best friend against immediate threat increase. Erebor Hammersmith is a brilliant all-around ally and can also bring back an attachment from the discard pile. Miner of the Iron Hills adds to your attacking and defending options or is removing nasty condition attachments.

Henamarth Riversong is the clear-cut MVP of this deck. The amount of planning you are able to accomplish with his help is crazy.

Anyway, is this deck good? So far I have played Into the Pit, The Seventh Level, Flight from Moria and The Redhorn Gate (don't forget to remove Arwen Undómiel from the deck when playing the latter) and won all of them first try. While playing The Redhorn Gate I ran into a situation where I had two Black Uruks, two Mountain Wargs and Caradhras in the staging area (+ one Black Uruk engaged) quite early in the game (11 ). Nevertheless I somehow managed to fight back slowly but surely since my threat was still low and I had Warden of Healing and Unexpected Courage in play. Phew!