Rossiel and the doomed elves vs. Desert Crossing (true solo) 1.0

• Versions
• 2.0
• 1.0

Here is a thematic deck that calls on Rossiel, the Silvans and the victory display mechanic, in mono-lore and true solo, in a scenario without troll or undead but nevertheless ruthless : Desert Crossing (scenario 2 of cycle 7). The lovely elf and her Silvan allies benefit from the reinforcement of Elrond and... of Grima, who carries in the procession her intrigues and her suspicious profits.

Genesis

The scenario sounds to me like an admirably well-constructed crescendo. Step 1 makes us sweat heavily. Stage 2 is already likely to decimate fragile allies. Stage 3 is a race against the degrees and the giant worm(s). The treacheries are sometimes ineffective, sometimes manageable, sometimes frustrating as ever (Sandstorm). Enemies attack you during the encounter phase AND during the combat phase, or directly discard a wounded ally, or force you to suffer an attack without defense. The encounter side quests have Forced effects which add further difficulty and slow down your progress while increasing the temperature. Winning requires either building a non-thematic deck but equipped with cards that largely annihilate the damage from heat and enemies (The One Ring + Well Preserved on Glóin makes the scenario ridiculously easy...), or developing a thematic deck but much more uncertain as to the result.

Including Rossiel (with or without Silvan theme) in a true solo deck is a challenge in itself. Playing it in a scenario which adds to the usual constraints (threat level, draw, resources, quest, attack, defense, life points, etc.) the constraint of temperature, puts this scenario into almost nightmare mode! And it's fair game, because Wood elves have few if no reasons to walk in a desert!

Building the general and strategical frame

The lore sphere, through its affinities and facilities for healing, was essential. The Silvan Tracker is a perfect ally here to take up to two heat damage, and fully self-regenerate in the restoration phase thanks to the boost from Elrond's response. The Woodland Sentry combines wonderfully with the events Out of the Wild, Leave No Trace, None Return, which themselves are drawn more quickly thanks to the Galadhrim Minstrel. Galion and Silvan Refugee are good candidates to return to hand during the The Tree People event. They are also questing supports and chump-blockers.

The main problem I had in building this thematic deck was the cost-stat ratio of the Silvan allies from the lore sphere, since I mainly relied on them to advance in quest. Their cost of 3 for a single point of willpower made it insurmountable to overcome the 16 quest points (+ the tens digit of the temperature) of the last stage. To remedy this, I included one of the rare (but formidable) resource accelerators in the lore sphere, and a very versatile character : Gríma. Thematically,he is often used to add a contrast and light "ambiguous evil flavor" to create a more complex and anti-manichaean deck. I also integrated the Noldor Elrond, which remains in the Elven theme, facilitates the hiring of allies outside the sphere of lore and which has its place against a scenario which literally vampirizes life points (I did not add it Vilya! Do I need to explain why? ;-)

Finally, I have planned enough Silvans to be (almost) sure to always bring a relevant ally into play with the The Tree People: the Silvans of the spirit sphere bring the willpower for the quest, those in the lore sphere bring a mixture of willpower and judicious actions to face the problems of the scenario. Orophin is the only ally of the leardership sphere. Its initial effect can be interesting in certain cases. Henamarth Riversong is not vital in the deck, but it is useful to help us direct our resources in the planning phase and to optimize the management of the workforce in quest and combat (Rossiel included).

Rossiel is very suited to the location and enemy structure of the encounter deck, as there is only one trait for each of these card types, Desert and Creature respectively.

Zoom on some particular strategies and tactics

Take a mulligan for Out of the Wild. It will help you place a copy of the Were-Worm (47% chance of finding one in the first five cards of the encounter deck) in the victory display from phase 2 of the first round, and will make Rossiel defend at 4 for the entire duration of the game. Given that the highest attack will potentially be that of the Worm, you will not have too much difficulty defending, provided however that you do not let enemies multiply in the staging area and then have to engage them to clean up things. The only enemy that can engage you early is the Were-Worm. Encountering it when the temperature is below 30 is not too troublesome. Its power increases with temperature, but Rossiel is able to tank his attack long enough until Woodland Sentry or Gandalf come up.

The second very important card in the deck is Keys of Orthanc (yes it's in 3 copies :-). If you draw it, play it before any other card. Then trigger Grima's action to trigger the Keys' response and generate an additional resource. When you apply this combo on a printed value 1 card, not only will you have spent nothing, but you will also have gained a resource. One of the great strengths of Grima and the Keys of Orthanc here is to be able to accelerate the general implementation thanks to great flexibility : the action can be applied to an ally, an attachment, an event, on any sphere or without a sphere, and be declared during the action window that seems most appropriate to us... and all this without any real compensation (the threat is an important criterion but less of a problem in this deck and this scenario, than is temperature). In short, it’s happiness!

The threat is regulated by Galadriel's Handmaiden, by one or more copies of Keen as Lances as needed, or even by Gandalf's entry-level effect.

I added three different ways to usefully get rid of duplicates : the Daeron's Runes, the Protector of Lórien (its bonus in willpower and defense is totally thematic with Rossiel), and Song of Healing which can, if necessary and punctually, heal more damage points than the Daughter of the Nimrodel. (I did not use the Waters of Nimrodel event, so as not to overload the threat meter, already sufficiently stressed by Grima's regular action.)

No enemy is unique. Therefore, The Great Hunt can be used to instantly clear the staging area of one or more enemies other than the Were-Worm. The direct attack of Gandalf + None Return, then The Door is Closed!, can achieve the same result, by eliminating an enemy and its copy.

If, on the second turn, you still have not drawn Leave No Trace (or the Forced effect of the potential next active location dissuades you from traveling towards it - the Strider's Path event would not change anything, alas...), you can plan to quickly play another copy of Out of the Wild to place a location in the victory display, in order to boost Rossiel's willpower.

Send as many characters as possible on a quest (Haldir of Lórien, Orophin or Silvan Tracker during step 1B, because they have enough life points to take a point of damage rather than bowing; any of them afterwards), and avoid lingering to reach step 3 at a temperature that is not too high. Just before passing stage 2, keep two characters ready to defend, because the Worm will attack you twice right after. For example, Rossiel facing the first attack without a shadow effect, then a trash ally facing the second.

Conclusion

Sure, you'll need a bit of luck to win, but victory is entirely possible. My Rossiel deck has survived crossing the desert several times!

Feel free to adjust the number of card copies to your likes / game style, and to suggest any good idea to further improve the deck.