Grimbeorn the Old 1.0 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Overview: A deck to try out spoiled new heroes Grimbeorn the Old and Gildor Inglorion, with help from an old staple, Arwen Undómiel. Gloin = Gildor, Gimli = Grimbeorn.

We make liberal use of Grimbeorn's ability by stacking his defense and attack as high as it can go. He gets Steward of Gondor, Captain of Gondor, Raiment of War, Dúnedain Mark, Dúnedain Warning, Hauberk of Mail, Unexpected Courages to completely handle most combat for you. Grimbeorn, with just 1 Captain of Gondor and Raiment of War will bring him to 5, 5, and 7. Fully stacked, he is a 8, 8, 8 sentinel with as many readying abilities as you can give him (Unexpected Couragex3). With all his readying cards, he can defend 4 times and (if you have the resources) attack back 5 times, with 4 of those ignoring 2.

Arwen Undómiel and Gildor are here to quest and give you card draw, giving you 6 right off the bat. With Arwen Undómiel's ability you can pass resources to Gildor as needed, or to draw extra cards. Since your Steward of Gondor is going on Grimbeorn to fuel his murder, Envoy of Pelargir is here to bounce some resources back to either Arwen or Gildor for even more smoothing.

Mulligan For: Steward of Gondor. Essential extra resources to pay for attachments and Grimbeorn's ability. Picture this turn 1: Opening hand is Elven-light, Raiment of War, Steward of Gondor and whatever else. Discard the Elven-light to put a resource on Gildor. Pay Gildor's two resources to put a Steward of Gondor on Grimbeorn. Trigger Steward to give Grimbeorn two resources to put a Raiment of War on Beorn. You can now quest for 6, leaving a 4, 4, 7 Grimbeorn back that can defend, and then attack back for 4, ignoring 2.

Attack: As mentioned, Grimbeorn is going to handle most of combat. You'll want to throw as many attachments as you can pay for on him and keep a resource or two spare to pay for his strike-back ability. With zero attachments, he can still handle many enemies out there with his ability to ignore 2. You have some Rhovanion Outriders, Ethir Swordsman, Knights of the Swan, and Gandalf that can help as well.

Defense: You'll want to defend as much as possible with Grimbeorn so you can get your "riposte" on and clear the board. Extra Raiment of Wars and Hauberk of Mail can also go on Grimbold or Honour Guard for another defender, if ever needed. Use Grimbold's discard ability if an enemy is too strong.

Questing: 6 right out of the gate with your heroes, and cheap staples. Ethir Swordsman is your best bang for buck, but they are susceptible to treacheries that do 1. In those quests, sub out for Sailor of Lune from the sideboard. With Arwen Undómiel/Elven-light you don't have a hard time giving them the 1 bonus and making them immune to damage while questing. Galadriel's Handmaiden have a respectable 2 for 2 cost while also keeping threat down. Since your Steward of Gondor is going on Grimbeorn, you probably will have a lot of resources to throw around, so we include Grimbold for his decent 2 for 3 cost.

Resource Acceleration: Arwen Undómiel can give a or resource at the price of 1 card. Steward of Gondor is going on Grimbeorn, Envoy of Pelargir can pass Grimbeorn's resources back to Arwen Undómiel or Gildor.

Card Draw: Gildor's ability should be used liberally as there aren't many cards. You can easily get 3 cards a turn with this deck at the cost of 1 resource and a discard. If you need more, Gandalf and Sneak Attack is always nice.

Healing: We try to keep damage down with A Test of Will and Honour Guards. Sideboard in some Dúnedain Remedy on Archery heavy quests if needed to pass around your heroes and top them off. A good partner deck would have some healing abilities, Self Preservation would be amazing on Grimbeorn.

Threat Reduction: Elrond's Counsel, Gandalf.

Shadow Cancellation: Sideboard option Hasty Stroke.

Treachery Cancellation: 3x A Test of Will

Location Control: Rhovanion Outrider can take care of locations with nasty travel effects.

Fellowship: A partner deck with some healing, possibly with Elrond would be a great fit. With Grimbeorn being sentinel, he would love to have another deck that can bring more enemies out for him to bash.