Ally Elrond Vilya (MD - Vilya Alternative) 1.0

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• 1.0

why not taking Denethor istead of (MotK) Halfast Gamgee ?

only for better Drinking Song? i think the 1 res more and decent defender is better.

Because you want 3 reosurces on Radagast even if you don't Steward turn 1. Legacy + Halfast makes that possible. Threat, questing, deck thinning and Drinking Song all factor in as well. You want consistent access to your combopieces, Drinking Song is probably the best card in the game to ensure that. Plus you already have a decent defender in Radagast, questing is what you need more early on.

I appreciate the creativity in trying to build a Vilya deck without using Hero Elrond! Obviously it's not fair to judge a jank deck (and I use that term with affection) by the same standards as a power deck, but ... is the central combo here worth it? There are only 7 allies in the deck that cost 5 or more resources, which means Vilya is likely to whiff unless you have Wizard's Pipe or Imladris Stargazer in play. And if you play Elrond normally, in most cases you're going to end up spending 5 resources (3 for Elrond, 2 for Vilya) just to cheat a 5-cost ally into play. The combo only seems worthwhile if you can get all 4 pieces into your hand: Sneak Attack / Horns, Elrond, Vilya, and Wizard's Pipe / Stargarzer. But even then, you're only saving 2 or at most 3 resources each time you trigger the combo. Or am I missing something?

It does seem fun to be able to use Vilya more than once per round, even if it's not especially consistent or cost-effective.

Perhaps it goes against the spirit of the deck, but have you considered adding 3x Sword-thain? If you put it into play with Vilya, you'd then have Elrond and Vilya in play for the rest of the game.

@ Sword-thain only work with allies that not leave end of the round permanently. the leaving is independent of ally or hero (that the reason u can make it on a regular ally sneaked in. Sneak Attack returns that ALLY to your hand, that you will overcome with Sword-thain but not the permanent effect on the ally itself Elrond first line.

@FattyBolger Thanks for your feedback :).

I understand your concerns, however there are a few things that should be considered in terms of the eficiency here.

1. Yes, you need at least three cards (Elrond, Vilya and a card to control the top card of your deck) to make it all worthwhile. Drinking Song and Word of Command however might be the two best cards in the game to ensure that happening.

2. Don't forget about draw. Elrond draws you 1-4 cards every time he enters play. Vilya is also a form of draw, since you use a card from your deck directly, not your hand. So every instance of the combo coming off also means 2-6 cards being drawn (1-2 for Vilya, depending if you can use it once or twice per round, 1-4 for Elrond).

3. Resources. Sure, to make the combo happen you need 2-5 resources (depending on how you get Elrond into play). But even if you cannot get two bomb allies, spending 3 or even 5 resources for a great ally that can belong to whatever sphere you want (or Steward of Gondor), 2-6 cards (as outlined above) and potentially doing it again at the end of the round is pretty worthwhile.

4. The flexibility. Stargazer, Pipe and Vilya are not restricted to planning, so there is great value in waiting what you see in staging and only afterwards deciding what ally you need in your particular situation.

Overall sure, the whole thing can go wrong and does go wrong sometimes. I was skeptical in the beginning as well, however I soon came around to being quite satisfied with how smooth the deck operated. Your drawing tools just help immensely and the whole combo has very useful sideeffects (like card draw through Elrond and resources smoothing through Vilya). I can only encourage you to try it out, it performs better than one might expect and is quite fun whatever happens!