3 Heroes for every Adventure 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

General Information

I have all the newly released revised boxes (except for the “Fellowship” saga box, which hasn't been available for a while) and all the starter decks. I try to have about half of the deck as ally cards (so about 25), which didn't quite work out here. I'm also a bigger fan of long-term advantages, so I usually have few events in the deck. The deck is designed for Aragorn to get a lot of resources, so his playable cards tend to be more expensive, and he also has allies with a cost of 4. Grimbeorn the Old will have the least resources available due to his ability, so he has most of the cards with little to no cost. Arwen Undómiel is in the middle here.

Drawing Resources and Cards

The deck focuses on Aragorn getting and spending resources. This is done through Steward of Gondor, which always gives him 2 resources in the resource phase, and through the interaction with Arwen Undómiel. Arwen Undómiel can discard a card each turn, which gives Aragorn (or herself) a resource. With Silver Harp she can even take this card back and with Elven-light (the card that you should then discard and take back) you even draw another card without spending resources. Elven-light is also the only way to get more cards in the game. When these three cards are played, Aragorn receives 4 resources in the resource phase, and you draw two cards. So that Aragorn can also support the other two heroes with his many resources, there are Roheryn (he receives tactics ) and Celebrían's Stone (he receives spirit ). Envoy of Pelargir is a good way to give Arwen Undómiel a resource from Aragorn, who pays for the card, at the beginning if you have not yet played Celebrían's Stone.

Willpower

Celebrían's Stone is also important for more willpower. With this card, Arwen Undómiel and Aragorn face the adventure every round and together they have 7 willpower. For Arwen Undómiel there is Windfola as attachment for 1 more willpower. The allies Galadriel's Handmaiden and West Road Traveller are there to further increase willpower (each of them is in the deck three times and has 2 willpower). Furthermore, Gimli should always take part in the adventure and if an opponent is drawn from the encounter deck, he helps in the battle afterwards, as he can be made ready to play again. Orophin can contribute willpower or help in combat, depending on the situation. As the last ally for willpower, Faramir is the best, especially with his ability, when many characters are facing the adventure.

Threat and Ready to Play

The cards Galadriel's Handmaiden and the very cheap (for zero cost) Elrond's Counsel, which also increase willpower for one round, are there to lower the threat level. If you play “True Solo” the game is harder than with two players or “Two-handed Solo”. It is therefore essential to have the option of making heroes ready to play again. That's why Aragorn and Grimbeorn the Old are in the game. Aragorn can be made ready to play again after the adventure phase by spending a resource, Grimbeorn the Old after defending. Another option is Unexpected Courage, which is useful for Aragorn and Grimbeorn the Old, as Arwen Undómiel does not have good defense and attack values.

Attack and Defense

Grimbeorn the Old is mainly responsible for attack and defense. His ability to be declared an attacker by spending a resource after defense is worth its weight in gold, especially as the opponent gets -2 defense. However, this also means that Grimbeorn the Old almost always spends the resource he receives on this, as long as Aragorn can't pay for him with Roheryn. That's why Grimbeorn the Old only has very cheap cards (cost zero or one). Since the focus is on defense, cards for this are: Captain of Gondor, Round Shield, and Hauberk of Mail, which can/must even be paid for by Aragorn. For attack there are Bow of Yew and again Captain of Gondor. For Aragorn's attack value there is Sword of Númenor (with which he can also get resources) and for his defense value there is Round Shield again. An ally for defense is Defender of Rammas, but Faramir and Gimli can also defend without dying right away. For attack (with a value of 2), Orophin and Gimli are also suitable. Victim candidates for heavy enemy attacks are Snowbourn Scout and Envoy of Pelargir. Without a “Lore” hero and associated cards, it is difficult to heal damage. But that's what Dúnedain Remedy is for, which initially has a cost of zero, but can then constantly go back and forth between heroes with damage for one resource each, usually between Aragorn and Grimbeorn the Old.

Unique and Restricted Cards

I only ever have two unique cards in there, as the second card of the same type that is drawn usually remains unusable in the hand for the time being (unless Arwen Undómiel has not yet played Silver Harp, in which case the second card of the same type can also be discarded for to get one resource). I tried to include only two restricted essential attachments per hero, since only two can be attached per hero. Attachments for Grimbeorn the Old are:

• Captain of Gondor
• Hauberk of Mail
• Bow of Yew (restricted),
• Round Shield (restricted).

Attachments for Aragorn are:

• Roheryn
• Steward of Gondor
• Celebrían's Stone (restricted),
• Sword of Númenor (restricted)
• eventually Round Shield (restricted).

Attachments for Arwen Undómiel are:

• Silver Harp (restricted)
• Windfola (restricted).

Dúnedain Remedy and Unexpected Courage are mostly for Aragorn and Grimbeorn the Old.

Optimal Starting Hand

Since the deck focuses on resources for Aragorn, these four cards in the starting hand are optimal:

• Steward of Gondor
• Silver Harp
• Elven-light
• Celebrían's Stone

At the start, Arwen Undómiel discards Elven-light and Aragorn gets a resource. He uses it to buy Steward of Gondor and immediately exhausts it again, so that he keeps two resources (the resources then flow for the next rounds). If you only have/expect one opponent in the first round, he can immediately get Celebrían's Stone and contribute 4 willpower to the adventure. If there are more opponents, keep the resources for now and make Aragorn ready to play again with a resource after the adventure. Arwen Undómiel first saves her one resource and can then play Silver Harp in the second round and Aragorn pays for Elven-light from the discard pile in the second round (through the spirit granted by the Celebrían's Stone) and thus you draw two cards in the second round and Aragorn receives 4 resources. From the third round onwards, Elven-light is retrieved free of charge by Silver Harp. Two other good cards for the starting hand are Bow of Yew and Round Shield for Grimbeorn the Old attack and defense, both of which have a cost of zero, allowing Grimbeorn the Old to keep his one starting resource for his ability. Elrond's Counsel is the seventh optimal card, as the threat level can be lowered immediately, and you can possibly bypass an opponent in the first round and for the first adventure willpower also increases by one.

Weaknesses

Since the deck does not offer the advantages of drawing many cards or searching your deck for cards, you can sometimes have problems drawing just the right cards for the situation at hand. The deck relies on Aragorn getting resources. If this doesn't work and the start of a scenario requires a lot of willpower (e.g. in the core set “Escape from Dol Goldur” with many places-cards at the beginning) or you have a lot of opponents (e.g. the last scenarios in “Angmar Awakens”) and you haven't drawn the right cards, things can get difficult. You then have to wait for a more optimal starting hand. If the starting hand was almost optimal, I have so far managed every scenario from the newly released revised boxes well (except for the saga boxes, because I wait for the “Fellowship” box to start playing these ones).