What An Engaging Proposition 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

The Deck:

This deck is all about engaging and killing enemies. This activates the engine of extra resources and extra cards, which in turn will make the next turns even better. The deck also makes use of strong (and expensive) allies to make maximum use of Faramir.

Some of the core cards are:

• Rohan Warhorse for making a double kill with Aragorn.
• Legolas for making the double kill alongside Aragorn, and delivering extra card draw. (Ready him with Faramir)
• Gandalf which is extra useful with Faramir, and can keep the threat low enough for not needing to defend every enemy (and drag him with Aragorn).

The Heroes:

Aragorn makes sure you can engage two enemies a turn, in different phases (handy for all those 'limit once per phase' abilities). He should be your primary attacker, so stack all attatchments on him.

Faramir has two tasks. His main task is readying allies (if possible, two allies per round thanks to Aragorn). His second task is being a boss-killer. The idea is to have Black Arrow and a copy of Keeping Count on him, with the other copy on Aragorn. Late game he should be able to one-shot almost any enemy in the game without special restrictions.

Mablung is the resource-generator. For every one engage a phase, he gets a resource. Because we try to engage in at least two phases, the idea is that gets pretty rich, pretty quickly. His second task is being the main (hero)-defender. Equip him with Gondorian Shield, Staff of Lebethron, and Dúnedain Warning. There are also some extra toys for him like Dúnedain Signal and The Day's Rising.

The Allies:

Boromir: Decent defending force, which can help finish off harder enemies. The deck only has Gandalf for threat reduction, so the +2 is not a guarantee.

Defender of Rammas: Decent defender, and has the Gondor-trait.

Errand-rider: Some much needed resource-distribution. Due to the fact that most of the resources are generated on the heroes, and the deckis more expensive on the side, this little ally might make the difference for a fluid start.

Gandalf: Hard working ally in this deck. Is your threat-decrease when necessary, otherwise some extra card draw. It is possible to receive three actions with him (2x ready with Faramir), which is alot of value. And offcourse there is always the Sneak Attack for a some cheap value.

Gimli: Some extra help with questing, and build-in readying when enemies are revealed.

Halbarad: Some support for Boromir and Staff of Lebethron. Again a decent ally for any situation.

Legolas: Provides much needed card-draw in the deck. Should make combined attacks with Aragorn for killing engaged enemies. Ready him when Aragorn's ability activates, and combo-kill the second enemy (provided Aragorn has a Rohan Warhorse). Could also help Faramir for his boss-killing attack with his 'Ranged'-keyword.

Squire of the Citadel provides some chump-blocking in the early game, or some questing power with Visionary Leadership and Sword that was Broken in the late game.

Weather Hills Watchman: Searches for the Dùnedain-attatchments. There are alot of them in the deck, so this should result in 'Draw a card' almost every time.

The Attatchments:

Black Arrow: Attatch to Faramir for the end-game kill.

Captain of Gondor, Dúnedain Mark and Dúnedain Warning : Attatch to Aragorn and Mablung for some general stat-boosting.

Dúnedain Signal: Some support for your partner in defending some of the enemies your are forced to engage. Those allies can be pulled back to your side with Aragorn, or killed with the limited 'Ranged'-characters in the deck.

Gondorian Shield: Much needed for Mablung.

Keeping Count: The card I always wanted to try. It is more of a gimmick, but this deck might be a good opportunity to take the card out of the binder. The idea is a copy for Aragorn, and a copy for Faramir, where Aragorn is expected to do all the killing. It should be avoided to kill enemies with Faramir. Late game, I would expect a 6 -ish resource difference. This, coupled with the Black Arrow, should make Faramir a beast for single attack (with 'Ranged') late game. Note: : I know we have Éowyn for such attack boosts, which doesn't require any setup, or a whole host of other options for a major attack boost late game, but this might be a deck where Keeping Count might do the trick, so why not give it a shot :).

Rohan Warhorse: Key-card for readying Aragorn for a second attack, after he kills a first enemy. Aragorn does not require any other 'Restricted'-attatchment, so two copies is possible for some extra destruction.

Staff of Lebethron: Shadow-cancellation for one attack. Should be attatched to Mablung. Not a 100%-firing-rate, due to the high threat cost of the deck.

Steward of Gondor: Because of the expensive allies. I do think there is enough resource generation to not make this card mandatory (The Day's Rising and Mablung), but can you have enough of a good thing?

Sword that was Broken and Visionary Leadership: Some boosting for those heavy questing decks. Not really consistent though, but might be the tipping point in some close games. Also a symbol for Aragorn!

The Day's Rising: Does require some setup (Dúnedain Signal), but is another source of extra resources on Mablung.

The Events

Behind Strong Walls: Readying for Mablung, if you have a hoard of more difficult enemies engaged with you.

Feint: For enemies you don't want to deal with at all.

Sneak Attack: Probably best on Gandalf, but the deck has a decent range of allies like Boromir or Legolas. So this card should always be decent.

The Conclusion

While we make our way through the 'Angmar Awakened'-cycle, I expect this deck to be tweaked a lot. There are some more experimental cards in it (Keeping Count and Visionary Leadership for example), but this makes the deck only more interesting to pilot. Give it a shot, and let me know what you think of it!

Feedback and questions are always welcome!

Enjoy!