[Lure2025] Royal Hunting Party 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Introduction

This is one of the decks I designed to take with me to Lure of Middle Earth 2025. Thus, the target is clearly to provide some benefits in a multiplayer game. Furthermore, this is finally a Rohan deck I am really happy with: It is rather consistent and powerful, feels mostly thematic without making use of common unique cards like Steward of Gondor. And I finally found a use for Théoden apart from guarding my binder (with sentinel he can even guard binders across the table!)...

Concept

The concept is quite easy: Load attachments on the heroes as quickly as possible. Ideally, the contract flips turn 2. There are some filler attachments which theoretically fit on any of the heroes like Raiment of War, Dagger of Westernesse or Silver Circlet which are really useful to flip the contract consistently quite early in the game.

There are no big surprises in the roles of the heroes: Éowyn handles questing, Erkenbrand is one of the best defenders in the game with his built-in shadow cancellation (multiple times with the right attachments) and he can even join the attack afterwards if there was some readying left. Théoden assists in questing, may also assist in defending (across the table, if needed), but is also the primary attacker.

Fun facts: (Thanks @alonewolf for two rules clarifications!)

• Round Shield even works if if the Erkenbrand cancels the shadow effect
• The cost of Snowmane is reduced by Forth, The Three Hunters!, although it loses the restricted keyword when attached.
• I realized only during deckbuilding how nicely the B-side of Forth, The Three Hunters! combines with Herugrim and Golden Shield. The numbers generated by these combos are insane.
• There is quite some card draw for consistency included: Campfire Tales, Elven-light, Foe-hammer, Open the Armory.
• Threat reduction is quite sparse, but The Galadhrim's Greeting can be a game saver. Since there is some imbalance wrt. to the sphere distribution, there is also a copy of Parting Gifts to help out in some rare cases.

What to look out for

In the starting hand, I want to see some readying, Snowmane is really great here. Apart from that, I want as many suitable attachments as possible to reach the flipping of the contract early.

Ideal Endgame Setup

There are so many combinations that work very well. A perfect endgame setup could be:

• Éowyn: Golden Belt, Silver Circlet, Celebrían's Stone, Windfola, Horn of Gondor

• Erkenbrand: Golden Belt, Armored Destrier, Golden Shield, Ancestral Armor, Unexpected Courage, Unexpected Courage, Hauberk of Mail, Round Shield

• Théoden: Golden Belt, Snowmane, Unexpected Courage, War Axe, Herugrim, Hauberk of Mail, Rohan Warhorse, Dagger of Westernesse

Multiplayer Benefits

• Théoden provides extra willpower for tactics heroes, although admittedly, there are not many heroes that really make use of this.
• Campfire Tales provides some card draw for the table
• Éowyn can provide some very valuable post-staging willpower adaption, if needed. In a 4-player game, this can range from 0 to 4.
• Most importantly, this deck can safely handle a good share of defending/overall combat