The Last Nauglamír Alliance (QOTW Dreamchaser) 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Intro

Lay of the Nauglamír may be my favourite ALEP card. It combines many of the things I love about this game: a way into Lore that I wasn't aware of (look it up if you haven't already), powerful mechanics that combo with other cards, and a chance to create a "what if" thematic scenario. The "what if" in the case is along the lines of exploring the potential if the Dwarfs and Noldor could find a lasting way to work together. I am publishing it now as it is the deck I am using for the QOTW voyage through the Dreamchaser campaign.

Description

This is a ally swarm deck that uses The Last Alliance exclusively to allow Dáin Ironfoot to boost the Noldor along side his kin (the cost reduction is a bonus that I often end up forgetting and this deck still works very well without it). After that it is a case of getting as many allies in as possible. This is where Lay of the Nauglamír comes to the fore. Potentially overpowered but always fun this allows you to discard cards that you want to see discarded (Hidden Cache , Ered Luin Miner, Glorfindel , Elven-light ) as well as getting two allies into play. The other events support this principle play in obvious ways. It is a really fun deck to play with many choices to be made and, as it draws cards very well, can happily add quest specific cards (e.g. Unexpected Courage for more Dáin Ironfoot readies, A Test of Will for treacheries or The Evening Star for locations) ) without affecting the main mechanics significantly.

Strengths

This Deck can be so quick to get started. With the correct cards, which Galdor of the Havens can help you find, it is very easy to get several allies into play on turn one and almost guaranteed to have 4/5 by turn two. Even without any cards it will quest for 7 turn one with a strong Dáin Ironfoot defence ready. It quickly becomes a questing power house and could deal with questing for 3 players on its own but is weaker against quests that have a small number of powerful enemies. Even then you will have so many allies that you can chump and then attack back with a swarm of boosted characters so it should work well as a solo deck in most quests.

Other combos / play ideas to note

Ered Nimrais Prospector is really important in case you need to shuffle Will of the West back into the deck. It's great that you don't need to play him, just get him into play and so he is a great target for A Very Good Tale or Lay of the Nauglamír

Imladris Stargazer is obviously excellent for Zigil Miner but also King Under the Mountain and A Very Good Tale. Discard the cards you want to discard!

Cram may not be the most efficient form of readying but used alongside Reforged (I'm sure Dwarves use a forge to make cram, right!?) and Will of the West it will give a large number of readies for Dáin Ironfoot at no cost. The flexibility and speed this provides trumps Unexpected Courage as the first source of readying for me. Being able to use cram and then immediately return with Reforged is something I really enjoy.

Conclusion

A massive thanks to ALEP for creating two amazing cards which make this deck a blast to play. The Last Alliance and Lay of the Nauglamír are both so much fun and are very powerful but, in my opinion at least, not broken.