Axepecting Mischief 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Introduction

I've always wanted to make a solo deck based around dishing damage in the staging area with Thalin and Argalad, but I've struggled creating one for a very long time. That is, until Firyal and the Messenger of the King contract showed up.

Scrying

The idea behind this deck is to scry the encounter deck and pre-emptively deal with enemies before they actually get to engage the player. The following cards are crucial for planning your round:

• Firyal
• Henamarth Riversong
• Far-sighted

Driving Enemies Back to the Staging Area

Unfortunately, engaging enemies is sometimes hard to avoid either due to their low engagement cost or perhaps the entire quest is designed to swarm you. That's why I've included cards such as Deeping Defender (MVP... or MVC, I guess), Mablung, and Guardian of Ithilien so that I can push back any engaged enemies to the staging area and damage them there with Argalad and the ranger bows. That's the place you'll often want the enemies to be when playing this deck.

Dishing Damage into the Staging Area

In addition to Argalad and Thalin, here's a list of cards that increase the damage output in the staging area:

• Ranger Bow - The Guardians of Ithilien are the perfect target for this attachment because they aren't that useful when they're in play.
• Expecting Mischief - Firyal, Far-sighted, and Henamarth should prepare you for any enemies unaware of the upcoming mischief...
• Hail of Stones - Use Guardians of Ithilien, Gondorian Spearmen, Galadhon Archers, or someone else who's not contributing any willpower to the quest to snipe the enemies who survived Argalad's and Thalin's assault.
• Galadhon Archer - If you haven't managed to defeat an enemy in the previous round and you've just managed to bounce it off to the staging area, these archers might prove to be useful.

Drawing Cards

There's nothing fancy here. The Daeron's Runes, Mithrandir's Advice, and Gleowine should provide you with enough card draw.

You can use any extra cards you have to fuel the Elven Spear or the Protector of Lorien. Sometimes you need to boost Argalad's attack strength to make him work, and this is an unorthodox way of doing it.

Resource Acceleration

ALeP's Seasoned Forager is a nice addition to this deck. Otherwise, it would be hard to generate enough resources for fun cards like Expecting Mischief.

Willpower

Depending on the quest, you won't need that much willpower if you manage to deal with the enemies right away. In case you need that extra willpower boost, you can count on:

• Firyal - Clearly the main quester in the deck.
• Emyn Arnen Ranger + Ranger Spikes
• Gildor Inglorion - There's only one of him, but still...
• Mablung - Also a ranger if you a have bow at hand.
• Thalion - Again, only one copy. Also a ranger if you a have bow at hand.

Sideboard

These cards are quite thematic revolving around the Ranger keyword. You might find a spot for Quick Ears in one-handed solo. It's a very powerful card and with so much scrying, you'll probably find it useful. I'm not sure how the others will fare, perhaps in multiplayer they might be fine...