Last Ride of Theoden 2.0

• Versions
• 2.0
• 1.0

This is the updated version of a solo thematic deck, built around the idea of Theoden's last ride at the Pelennor Fields. The primary focus of this deck is exploiting the high stats of Théoden and Éowyn. The core setup is Théoden and either Snowmane or Unexpected Courage. This lets Théoden quest for 3 and either defend or attack in the same round.

Combat power is provided by Herugrim and Golden Shield, allowing this deck to translate high willpower into boosted combat. Either Éowyn or Théoden would be good targets for either attachment; which hero gets the attachment should be determined by the gamestate at the time. These attachments gain a significant boost from Théoden's ability and make the variant the preferred choice for this setup.

The ideal setup would give Éowyn the Golden Shield and Unexpected Courage, with Théoden receiving Herugrim and Snowmane (and perhaps one of the Daggers of Westernesse), because Éowyn's can use the extra restricted slot to boost her up to 6 with Windfola (thus boosting her up to 7), while Herugrim has a reduced cost when played on Théoden; however, if a defender is needed early and readying has already been played on Théoden, then it might make sense to either reverse the order, or even to play all of the attachments onto Théoden.

Because the largest limitations of Golden Shield and Herugrim are that they only apply to one attack or defense, Merry is the third hero, keeping threat down so that enemies can be selectively engaged. With a Hobbit Pony and Unexpected Courage, he can reduce threat if an enemy is revealed during staging and add 2 to the quest.

The allies are a mixed group - Grimbold and Guthlaf provide some permanent questing support, while Escort from Edoras and Gandalf can contribute for an explosive single turn. Déorwine is a good secondary defender. The Horse-breeder helps dig for the important mounts, and can be used as an emergency chump-block. The Westfold Outrider is a cost-effective attacker, and can provide even further quest assistance if required, by engaging an enemy after staging but before quest resolution.

The remainder of the attachments, events, and side quests are largely self-explanatory. This deck suffers a bit in card draw, even with Foe-hammer and Ancient Mathom. As a result, Gandalf should almost always draw cards upon entering play.

This deck is quite strong right out of the gate, able to quest for 10 without any attachments being laid down, and quite capable of handling combat with only a little setup. The greatest danger is in the early game, before combos start clicking together, but between Grimbold and Feint, enemies with low engagement costs can be prevented from killing a hero, and Éowyn's readying and boosted attack can be used to eliminate them.

The most prominent weaknesses of this deck are location control and archery or other direct damage effects. Against quests where location lock is a danger, Ride to Ruin can provide a little bit of control. Against archery or direct damage effects, this deck's best chance is just to power-quest past it as fast as possible.

This deck can also function decently against Battle quests, although it's much less consistent than against standard questing. Horseback Archers should be subbed in to replace Escorts from Edoras. Also, Éowyn should use her ability turn 1 to quest for 10, allowing the deck to push past any initial location and put a large bust of progress on the quest. For a battle quest, readying ought to be played preferentially on Merry instead of Éowyn, as she can be kept back from the quest on later turns for defense (with Golden Shield) or attack (with Herugrim) with almost no drawback. This deck is not recommended for Siege questing.