Sam's Inexhaustible Pack 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

"Sam eased the pack on his shoulders, and went over anxiously in his mind all the things that he had stowed in it, wondering if had had forgotten anything..."

This is an attachment-heavy well-rounded solo deck that focuses on building up up its heroes. I've been wanting to use Aragorn in a solo deck for a long time and while his second ability doesn't ever really shine in solo play, this combination of heroes started to really work for me and I've really enjoyed playing this deck against a variety of quests.

Starting Hand

Nenya is the best card to see in your opening hand, just so you have the high willpower to commit on turn 1 if you need it. Other great cards to see early include Ring of Barahir, Sword that was Broken, Errand-rider, Steward of Gondor and Rosie Cotton. If you can get an Errand-Rider out turn 1, Aragorn's resource over to Sam since the Sword/Steward combo on Aragorn takes a lot of leadership resources.

Basic Play

The basic play is get as much as you can out of each hero. Sam functions as a quester and defender and you can even put a Dagger of Westernesse on him to help out with attacks if he properly hitched. Defense can be a little sketchy until you either get Rosi, Protector of Lórien, or Hobbit Cloak out to get his up to 4+.

Aragorn functions as a massive resource smoother with all his equipment, usually ending the game with all four resource icons. The Daggers are Artifacts so if you build him up as a quester with Celebrían's Stone or as an attacker with Daggers, he usually gets up to 9 hitpoints by the end so he can take either a massive amount of archery/direct damage or absorb even the largest undefended attacks. Great "insurance policy." Depending on how heavy of combat you anticipate going into, the first Unexpected Courage could go on Aragorn or Galadriel.

This deck has helped me re-appreciate how good Galadriel is. Between her and Elrond's Counsel, the deck rarely ever gets above 35 threat and stays flush with cards. If I can afford to forgo her 4 in the quest phase, I'll try to use her ability every turn, even early game, so I can keep threat low and get all those items out of Sam's pack and on the table.

Master of the Forge is clearly important to get out as soon as you can so you can start cherry-picking those high-priority attachments.

Most quests you can afford to quest with both Sam and Aragorn on turn 1 and possibly add Galadriel's if you're fortunate enough to draw Nenya. That will usually get you through the first turn handily and if an enemy comes down, we hope either Sam will pop up and defend, or Aragorn can take the hit undefended.

Master of the Forge is clearly important to get out as soon as you can so you can start cherry-picking those high-priority attachments.

Combos

Both Galadriel and Rosie's boosting powers are amplified by Sword that was Broken and things can get spectacular in the late game. With Sword and Nenya down and Fast Hitch on Rosie, the WP numbers go up fast. Sam quests for 4, Rosie quests for 3 and readies with Fast Hitch, Galadriel adds 5 (or 7 if you giver her Celebrían's Stone) to Rosie, then Rosie can trigger her action to dump her 8-10 on Sam bringing the combined willpower of the three characters to 20-24!

When you first play Rosie (or any ally for that matter), don't forget to actually quest with her using Galadriel's first ability. Even the lowly Errand-Riders and Masters of the Forge can quest for 1 for free if the Sword is on Aragorn.

The interaction between Aragorn, Sam and Quick Strike can be a lot of fun at the end of the quest phase. If you're engaged with an enemy and there's another in staging, after revealing the cards in the quest phase, you can play Quick Strike against the enemy engaged with you, kill it, then pull an enemy out of the staging removing its and potentially boost Sam's before the quest phase ends! It can turn a failed quest phase into a cleared location and actual progress on the quest.

Variations

There are so many restricted attachments that heroes fill up pretty fast which leaves some cards dead in your hand. Its possible to Sword-thain Rosie and start attaching things to her. She could either be an attacker with Daggers, or boost her inspiring action with Celebrían's Stone. If she becomes a hero, I believe she can actually use her action on herself, in which case she could attack and defend for decent numbers.

With so many unique attachments, options to discard cards from hand might be helpful. Daeron's Runes and Mirror of Galadriel might actually help the deck power up faster, but I couldn't bring myself to cut any of my precious attachments. Ioreth can usually keep up with the healing, but the Imladris Caregiver might be a good option as they could quest and heal as well through discarding cards.

Testing

I've tested this deck successfully against a variety of quest now including Journey Down the Anduin, Into the Pit, The Ring Goes South, Breaking of the Fellowship, Across the Ettenmoors, Desert Crossing, Treachery of Rhudaur and Celibrimbor's Secret.