An Aes Sedai and Her Warder 2.0 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

This is an updated version of my At the End of All Things deck (https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/44548/anaessedaiandherwarder-1.0) revolving around the Herugrim-Nenya combo to smite enemies in the staging area with Éomer before they have a chance to engage. Thematically here, this represents the bond between Aes Sedai (Moraine/Galadriel) and warder (Lan/Éomer). The allies represent other Aes Sedai aiding in the quest, potentially novices with some talent for the Weave.

An earlier version of the deck egregiously omitted Galadriel's Handmaiden, who helps with and threat. It could also have some issues with resources once the supply from the contract was expended, particularly in scenarios with Archery-type effects that force you to use Ioreth a lot. To counter this, I've added Captain's Wisdom and replaced Hasty Stroke with Quicker Than Sight. Captain's Wisdom simplifies the calculus of "Should I pay for Unexpected Courage?" and Quicker Than Sight gives you access to shadow cancellation even when you don't have resources, provided you have a Silvan ally, which this deck tends to.

The ability to defeat enemies without engaging them mitigates much of the risk in a game of Lord of the Rings, as you will not have to defend or reveal shadow cards as often. In addition, At the End of All Things' tutoring ability adds incredible consistency, especially coupled with the inclusion of the Mirror-Harp combo to secure your future.

The first three turns of the game, before the contract flips, are when you are at your most vulnerable. Strider is the card you want most in your opening hand, getting Éomer to 4 without having to exhuast to quest. With this card alone, you can quest with 4, defend for 3 with 5, and attack for 4 in the opening round - very formidable. If you don't draw Strider, Silvan Refugee is a decent alternative, providing willpower and turning on your Silvan events.

Sometimes, engagements cannot be avoided, even with Éomer's staging area attacks and the threat reduction from Galadriel, Handmaidens, and Elrond's Counsel (which you can recur with Dwarven Tomb!). Fortunately, you have plenty of ways to deal with engaged enemies if it comes to it, like Feigned Voices, Unexpected Courage to ready Éomer, and Ring of Barahir to increase Galadriel's hit points to 8. Gúthwinë is a backup sword for when Éomer has to attack twice. The sideboard has other options for quests where engaged enemies are a more consistent issue.

Thanks to its low threat, solid questing and combat potential, access to cancels and healing, and amazing card tutoring, this is a deck which can elegantly solo many quests. Quests with escalating thresholds, 1 hit point ally hate, dangerous immune enemies, and aggressive starts may be more challenging.

Multiplayer: I played this one quite a bit at Con of the Rings 2024, where I swapped the Refugees for Dúnedain Cache, Double Back, and an additional Unexpected Courage. Your teammates will most likely not be able to keep up with your low threat, so having ranged on Éomer to make use of his big can be very nice! Thanks to the Mirror-Harp combo (and At the End of All Things), you can bring one-of's to support your team (e.g. give a Dúnedain deck Silver Lamp) and have a good chance of actually playing them. You can even throw in Desperate Alliance to share Galadriel's mirror uses and help other players find their key pieces.