WAB Series #7: Amarthiul Plays a Game 1.0

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• 1.0

Here is the link to the original post, which explains the goal of the series and the collection so far: https://www.reddit.com/r/lotrlcg/comments/1kla99q/deck_building_series_what_a_bargain/

This just about concludes our first contract, The Grey Wanderer. I will return to it in part A and B of the Messenger of the King WAB, but for now, we have to pair our singular hero with The Riddle-game contract. This is a unique contract and thus if we were hoping to play a deck multiplayer (thus far, these decks have been multiplayer-friendly), we are taking this out of the pool.

When approaching the Riddle-game, you have a couple things to consider. First, you have to have a fairly balanced deck of costs, maybe gearing a little towards the cheaper side. You're looking to toss some cards early in order to "win" the riddle. With different scenarios, you might be facing a lot of treacheries and thus would need some 0-cost cards. On the other hand, Into the Pit has some 4- and 5-threat locations. The other thing to consider is how long you want Hungry Creature and the Riddle-game to be in play. You could pick a hobbit and, in theory, get it out in round 2. You could pick a Dunedain hero and in theory keep him in play until round 5. It was the latter approach that made me consider the hero I did.

(One quick honorable mention to my solo Boromir deck. It works best as a Suicide deck, but can somewhat hold its own. Getting the action advantage of his ability + either of the +2WP attachments suddenly makes him a one man wrecking crew, and strider isn't an auto-include. I recommend someone try building one!)

In my play testing, I alternated between choosing the Necklace of Girion and the Stone of Elostirion. When I chose the necklace, I would be swimming in resources, but would often fail the riddle game. If I picked the Stone, I was a little slower out the gate setting up my board, but I'd usually have the appropriate cost card to discard.

This deck is by no means powerful. It works like any traditional Dunedain deck, except that you get the benefit out the gate of an extra card and an enemy engaged with you (so your 1-cost Dunedains are available right away). I thought about running Hero Halbarad instead, but ultimately decided that engaging an extra enemy and having a weaker form of the Strider effect wasn't worth it.

One thing to watch out for -- hitpoints. Of all the WAB decks I've published, this one has the fewest in hero hitpoints. You really can't risk any undefended attacks, and so I often found myself chumping the 1-cost allies.

One FUN feature I've found is when you burn through your deck when choosing the Stone, you can essentially recycle multiple copies of the Ranger of Cardolan. If you have the cash (hopefully with Steward of Gondor), once you engage an enemy, you can put two Rangers into play on the same trigger. Then, they can defend or attack, and then back into the empty deck they go, only for you to draw them again next turn.