Mono Tactics vs Carn Dum 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

...to Angmar and All We Got Were These Lousy Tshirts

Still a work in progress, but this deck beat Carn Dum, and it seems pretty decent for solo or group play especially with sideboard.

I'm a gaming and deck-building weirdo from way back, and fell in love with the LotR LCG. I haven't been at it for THAT long, though, so if I've made a blunder I'm happy for kindly corrections. Also, I don't have all the cards so if it looks like there's things I'm obviously missing from some of the earlier AP, it's because I'm missing things from some of the earlier AP. :/

I Hate Waiting

The key to the deck is Wait no Longer which, with Mablung, effectively costs only 1 resource, and can obviously be recycled with Háma. If you're playing solo, this card lets you dodge horrible treacheries, prevents getting location locked, and the enemy in question doesn't add its threat during the questing phase since it's engaged with you. This card is pretty great.

The other key card is Steward of Orthanc. He provides card draw and willpower, which as far as I can tell were real sore spots for Tactics until recently. So, er, thanks forces of evil! :)

Getting the Job Done

There's a pretty standard combat engine under the hood, with Háma, lots of weapons to boost him and make sure Foe-hammer is live, some chump blockers, some Ents, and three Legolas because he's great.

For card draw, we have 3 Steward of Orthanc, 3 Legolas, and 3 Foe-hammer, all of which are reusable in one way or another.

For willpower, Éowyn is obviously great, and the allies in the deck were chosen with an emphasis on willpower. If there's a neutral or tactics ally with 2 willpower for 3 resources, and it's in my collection, it's in this deck.

A note on Éowyn. Her Setup ability means this deck starts at 25 threat, so you can leave enemies in the staging area for build-up if you like. It is often better, though, to use the once-per-game action early to get an enemy out of the way fast. E.g. kill the Hill Troll from Journey Along the Anduin on Turn 1, or maybe Turn 2.

For resource gen, Mablung does double duty, since he gets a resource when you engage an enemy, and also enables Proud Hunters in conjunction with Éowyn.

The Singleton Events

The single Battle-fury can be amazing with Wait no Longer, but requires a hero who can kill solo to be really effective. It's also discard fodder without this combo, which is why there's only one.

Boomed and Trumpeted works with Derndingle Warrior pretty obviously, and unless I'm mistaken can also let Beechbone attack multiple enemies in a single combat phase. We can usually kill without, though, so there's just one for a spot of utility.

Thicket of Spears used to have a bigger presence in the deck, along with Dúnedain Hunter for Mablung, but it felt risky especially on quests with high-HP enemies. The ideal is one enemy per turn, dead every turn. Thicket is here in case things get out of hand.

Sideboard

I consider the 2 and 3 cost non-named allies to be flex slots. In multiplayer games, having ranged can be nice, and in a quest with a lot of Battle effects having the Silvan Warriors for extra attack can be helpful.

For multiplayer, probably swap out Arod and Captain of Gondor for the two Horn of Gondor. In solo, though, the Horn hasn't been worth the slot, what with Feint and Derndingle Warrior and all that.

Knights of the Swan are there for cheap chump blocking, but I'm very open to suggestions for replacements.

How Come This Card Isn't In Your Deck?

Beorn is too expensive for what he does, in the absence of ways to cheat him into play. I tried him, but the deck is too tight on resources and I always had something better to pay for.

Gondorian Shield is out, because Éowyn is always questing. The combat engine in this deck relies on chump blockers, large trees, and Feint as its defense rather than Éowyn tricks.

Secret Vigil is very awkward. Enemies usually die the turn they come into play. This card might be better in MP, but I haven't tested it. If someone wants to build a mono-Lore that keeps some things stuck in the staging area, though...

Book of Eldacar is a card I don't have, but that I'd love to try in place of Arod and Captain of Gondor. Unless I'm mistaken, it should work with Battle-fury, Feint, Thicket of Spears, and Wait no Longer.

The Red Arrow I also don't have yet. Quick, to the game store!

Thanks!

It you made it this far, thanks for reading! :)

Poknok