"We have become friends in so short a while that I think I must be getting hasty – growing backwards towards youth, perhaps. But there, they are the first new thing under Sun or Moon that I have seen for many a long, long day. I shall not forget them. I have put their names into the Long List. Ents will remember it." --Treebeard, The Two Towers.

An Alternate Art Starter Deck

Inspired by AutumnRose's work on her two incredible alt-art starter decks (Flight to the Ford and Where the Stars are Strange) I am releasing my eleventh alternate art starter deck, The Long List. The Long List is a poem that lists every living creature known to the Ents. The theme of this deck takes inspiration from that poem, and from The Free Peoples, in that it tries to get as many different Traits into play.

For those keeping track, this deck features fifteen repeated cards. Firyal and Gildor Inglorion were included in Autumn's Flight to the Ford deck. Warden of Healing was included in Autumn's Where the Stars are Strange deck. Merry, Pippin, and Treebeard were included in my Root and Twig deck. Erestor and Wilyador were included in my Dear to Manwë deck. Thorin Stonehelm and Nori were included in my Masters of Stone deck. Faramir was included in my Long and Hopeless Search deck. Erkenbrand was included in my The White Mountains deck. Messenger of the King was included in my The White Mountains and Labours in Dale decks. Gléowine is a repeat from the Core Set. All repeated cards feature new artwork.

Heroes

Firyal is a great questing character, one that you can make use of turn one thanks to Messenger of the King. Her three is among the highest base values for any hero or MotK hero, and her ability can help you gain a degree of control over what cards you avoid from the encounter deck. Erkenbrand is your main defending character, with a high and hit points plus the ability to cancel out any terribly timed shadow effects. Thorin Stonehelm is your main attacker, with the ability to trade cards from you deck for direct damage to whatever enemy he is attacking (possibly allowing you to finish off an enemy you might otherwise not have been able to kill). Between these three heroes, you already have six different Traits.

Allies

The allies in this deck can fill a wide variety of roles depending on what you need. Card draw? Gléowine has got you covered early, and Erestor and Gildor Inglorion can help out once you can get them into play. Healing? That's in Warden of Healing's name. Direct damage to enemies? Faramir is ready and willing. Questing? Merry boosts the of most of his fellow allies. Attack support? Nori, Pippin and Wilyador are ready and willing. Strong trees? Treebeard, duh.

Attachments

Diligent Noble, Doughty Ranger, and Mighty Warrior are essentially included for the card draw as only the Ranger trait is missing from your heroes. Followed is a trap to help boost Faramir's damage, and also helps your questing by reducing the based on whatever enemy it attaches to. Haradrim Spear and Keen Longbow are niche attack boost cards that can go on Firyal - if you are able to hold her back from questing, she can potentially provide a knockout blow on even the biggest enemy with her weapons.

Events

Expecting Mischief and Fresh Tracks are ways to sprinkle some damage on enemies as they are revealed from the encounter deck, and Hail of Stones can pepper even more damage into the staging area if you have characters to spare. Infighting can then be used to move that damage around at will. After you're able to finish off one of those weakened enemies, Proud Hunters will grant a hero bonus resources. Follow Me! and Campfire Tales can be added if you need more card draw, with Campfire Tales in particular an auto-included in 3P or 4P games. The Gathering Storm can let you get one of your many expensive allies into play at a discount at the cost of an enemy, which depending on the ally you play can easily be worth it. The Free Peoples most embraces the "theme" (if there is one) of this deck. Once you have 9 different Traits in play, The Free Peoples can be dropped for a massive payoff of readying ALL characters in play and granting 1 to them, which can be just the final push you need to finish a tough quest.

Print this deck

I have set up a Make Playing Cards project with ALeP backs that can be found here. If you wish to use official backs, a PDF of the deck that can be sent to MBPrint can be found here. A photo album with high-res versions of each individual card is available here.