Dunhere Hobbits (Solo League 78) 2.0

• Versions
• 2.0

This deck was made for the current Solo League 78 competition (https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3453460/solo-league-78-mirkwood-paths-with-4-starter-decks).

The challenge is to build a deck from the Sagas, Starter decks and 1 copy of the original Core Set to tackle Journey along the Anduin, the Oath and the Caves of Nibin-Dûm. This deck draws from just the Fellowship box, Rohan, Elven and Gondor starters as well as 1 copy of the old Core Set. Note: The extra copies of Steward of Gondor, Feint and A Test of Will come from the starters.

It's a pretty straight forward deck: keep your threat low, get weapons on Dunhere so he can mow through enemies in the Staging Area, keep a chump (Snowbourn Scout) or Feint ready in case of engagements and pretty much everyone else just quests!

In your starting hand, you're looking for Steward of Gondor, Galadhrim's Greeting, a weapon or two + cheap allies (ideally Bill the Pony!). Some card draw, either Mathom or Valiant Sacrifice, is also very nice to have!

It is a deck that tends to end up with both superfluous resources (especially on Dunhere) and dead cards in hand (extra copies of Steward, extra weapons) but I feel this is simply the price to pay for ensuring you get setup as fast and consistently as possible.

If adding multiple copies of Core Set, I'd bump both Greeting and Quick Strike up to 3 copies and consider an extra copy of Unexpected Courage and Sneak Attack. Both Silvan Refugees and an Archer would probably be dropped to make room.

Tricks and Plays

• Play threat reduction as early as possible!
• Steward of Gondor goes on Dunhere so he can play out the Northern Trackers and Galadhrim's Greeting as fast as possible. Once that's done, he can use his excess coinage on Gandalfs.
• Unexpected Courage goes on Dunhere to allow him to blast through enemies in Staging faster (ie during 2nd stage of Anduin quest). He can also either quest or Quick Strike during quest phase and still be ready for combat.
• Daggers are the main weapon (still get +2 even if engaged with the enemy) but if the choice is no weapons or Spear then definitely play the Spear! Extra Daggers can go on Merry to help with big enemies.
• Optional engagements can also be a useful tactic as long as you have a defensive option available: Sam will ready and get his +1 attack and defence, Merry if ready can hit for 2 and ready Dunhere, allies like Archer are strong attackers. Can be used to deal with enemies Dunhere can't one shot kill in Staging or if there's multiple/too many enemies up there.
• Naith Guide's ability is generally aimed at Merry to keep open the option of him providing action advantage to Dunhere in combat and, for Anduin, to protect him from Necromancer's Reach.
• Dwarven Tomb can be used situationally between A Test of Will or The Greeting.
• Archers should be kept in hand until there's a relevant target in Staging: works well with the Trolls for that final blow.
• Quick Strike can be used during the action window before quest resolution to kill enemies before they contribute their threat to the quest!
• Aside from the OG combo with Gandalf, Sneak Attack also gives you plenty of options: Snowbourn for some quick progress or an emergency chump, Archer for some extra damage and/or combat power or Faramir for either his questing boost or his defensive prowess. Best used when you also have a Valiant Sacrifice in hand!
• Halfling Determination is a flexible booster: generally used to boost questing, particularly early on, but can also be vital in combat.
• Hobbit Pipe is a 0 cost gimmick and is more there so Bilbo's ability finds something and for theme.

Weaknesses

• Low engagement enemies and treacheries or effects (ie Stage 2 of Nibin-Dûm) which force engagement. Counter-strategy: keeping threat below 20 (Wargs/Goblin Runners)/18 (Spiders of Mirkwood) to minimise engagements, having Feint or Quick Strike to annul enemy attacks, Halfling Determination to boost defence (if Sam or Merry defending) and the old chump block.

• Direct damage to questers (only relevant for Anduin). Counters: Test of Will, Bill the Pony for +1 hit points on Sam and Merry, 'chump questing' to absorb DG Orks' reveal effect, trying to finish as fast as possible!