Encounter at Amon Din Nightmare Solo Progession 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

DECK NAME - Code Blue

OVERVIEW - There is not a bigger jump in difficulty from the base scenario to the NM version than this one. The original EaAD is almost impossible to lose whereas this new NM version is tough in solo. Like most of the NM decks this scenario presents several perils that synergize. There's just not going to be a deck that wins 100% of the time, so you have to pick your poison and live and die by what the encounter deck throws at you. The most important part of the scenario IMO is clearing the initial location in order to place some crucial villager tokens on Rescued Villagers. This forces us into mono if we want to guarantee we have the needed to get the job done in round 1. You will lose some and win some, but it's never going to be boring.

HEROES

• Éowyn - attach 3x Resourceful; can use her action if needed but I rarely find it useful other than potentially in round 1
• Glorfindel - it's rare not to include Light of Valinor with Glorfindel but in this case we have plenty of reduction so I'd rather save the deck space
• Pippin - attach Hobbit Pipe; one could argue for Frodo Baggins but Pippin gets us into secrecy in round one; useful for playing Celduin Traveler or Resourceful out of the gate

STRATEGY

• OPENING HAND - I usually look for Bilbo Baggins and/or Hobbit Pipe, Celduin Traveler, Silvan Refugee, Ancient Mathom, A Test of Will and reduction
• ROUND ONE - you want to try and clear Burning Farmhouse but depending on what is revealed in setup and staging you can lose or at least get behind; I suppose the dream is to get out a Celduin Traveler to avoid Besieged Homestead, Ancient Mathom on the active location, and another card that can be played with the remaining resource; use Lord Alcaron's response at the start of Questing to move the villager token to the active location and pray you don't get Orc Raiders (the main argument for incuding Frodo Baggins over Pippin)
• STAGE 2 - if possible, try not advance to stage 2 but not a big deal if you happen to
• ENEMIES - you'll leave them in staging and quest past them occasionally taking them out with Ride Them Down or Gandalf; DON'T ENGAGE enemies if you can help it as the shadow cards are nasty
• RESCUED VILLAGERS - you want to always have a location in play if possible to use Lord Alcaron's response on; as such early on you may want to reveal an extra encounter card rather than discard the villager token; just gotta be careful you can handle the ; it's okay to have a single copy of Besieged Homestead or some other location in staging at all times to target with Lord Alcaron's response
• GHULAT - once you have made 15 progress on Stage 2 you can bomb Ghulat with Gandalf and/or engage him and attack him using Out of Sight to win the game

CARDS

• Bilbo Baggins and Hobbit Pipe are the linchpin of this deck
• Celduin Traveler - useful for avoiding Besieged Homestead if not ready for it
• Ethir Swordsman - struggling to get out these guys can lead to being overrun
• Galadriel's Handmaiden, Silvan Refugee and Island Amid Perils all synergize
• Gandalf - a single copy of Will of the West allows us to use him for longer games rather than forcing us to save for Ghulat
• Thrór's Key - use on Besieged Homestead or Secluded Farmhouse if helpful
• A Test of Will - don't be shy with it; I don't mind letting a single copy of Trapped Villagers fire but try to cancel any additional copies revealed
• Free to Choose - I find including a single copy for Burnt Homestead is helpful as it saves A Test of Will and synergizes with Hobbit Pipe
• Lay of Nimrodel - sometimes necessary to make progress if the staging area becomes overrun with enemies; if Eowyn has all 3 copies of Resourceful she should be able to make the needed progress
• Out of Sight - can use on Ghulat if you can't bomb him to death; also it's likely there will be a Besieged Homestead that is loaded with villager tokens; this allows you to deal with the travel effect
• Power of Orthanc - for Those Now Sundered
• Ride Them Down - for dealing with enemies; can be hard to pull off if the staging area is loaded so don't wait forever
• Will of the West - helps in longer playthroughs