The Horse Lords - My Ringmaker deck 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Inspiration: Though this deck was an original creation, I ended up getting influenced by Devaresh's Excellent Rohan deck with the same hero lineup (http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/8846/a-sword-day-arise-arise-riders-of-thoden-1.0) once I got stuck at the Three Trials, which is one of the toughest quests I have tried solo. The addition of Guthwine and Elven Light are straight out of Devaresh's deck, and adds some much needed ally revival and card draw. However, all other similarities are coincidental.

Having Rohan protagonists doesn't make much sense storywise in the Ringmaker cycle. However, I wanted to build a deck around tactics Eomer, who to me is one of the ultimate Voltron heroes. The original outline of the deck included Fastred, but Theoden's ally discount made the deck much stronger. I really got to optimize the deck for the Three Trials, but in this edition, the deck should stand a fair chance against that quest. It breezed through the rest of the Ringmaker cycle (after a small stall at Nin).

Goal: Essentially, the deck wants to add Firefoot and Guthwine to Eomer, and Snowmane. Herugrim and Golden Shield on Theoden. If you get these on Eomer and chump block with a Horse-breeder, Eomer can attack each round for 9. Guthwine allows you recur Westfold Horse-breeder, which can be played for free with Theoden the following round. If you are punished for dead characters by card effects, Theoden with Golden Shield can block for 4, which should be enough to take one hit from most enemies. Theoden himself will get Snowmane, making him essentially quest for free (if you succesfully quest, that is). If you add Herugrim, he can attack for 5, so him and Eomer can one-shot most bosses. Eowyn and Theoden quests every round, supported by all the 2 willpower Rohan allies, that can be played at reduced cost due to Theoden. Elven Light and extra uniques can be discarded for Eowyn's ability, making you quest for 7 each round.

Opening hand: Snowmane or a Horse-Breeder is nice to have, to make Theoden a free quester from the start. Either Guthwine or a Good harvest are good, as it is nice to have one of the pieces for a two-card combo (making the other component prime Gather information target). Elven Light is good for the card draw/Eowyn. A rider of Rohan, Eomund or West Road traveler are all allies that can be played first round, and quest for 2. I also like seeing a Feint if the quest starts with a tough enemy in the staging area, so Theoden and Eomer (hopefully) can kill it first round. Firefoot is nice, but is usually easy enough to dig out later.

Ringmaker Tech: Ringmaker has several quests where threat increase can become a problem, such as Nin-in eilph, Antlered Crown and the Three trials. Hence, spirit Elfhelm is included to reduce threat. For the same reason, I included a splash Galadhrim's greeting, a Gandalf and a Double back. The quests also have some nasty condition attachments, so Power of Orthanc is a necessary tech in many quests. All these cards can be sideboarded in quests where threat/conditions are not a problem.

Ally: The Westfold Horse-Breeder is an essential component of the deck that helps you dig out your mounts and chump to power up Eomer. They are also free with Theoden, making them excellent Guthwine material. West Road Traveler, Eomund and Rider of Rohan are for questing, and should allow you to quest very efficiently. If you get a side quest in the victory display, Ruider of Rohan can both quest for two AND attack for 2. They are crazy strong, and I have had all three out in more than one game. Gamling and Grimbold are leftovers for an attempt to setup a Gamling recurrence deck, but I couldn't really get that part to work. However, if you can setup a loop of discarding Grimbold and recur him with Gamling, you can lock down enemies efficiently, which is very useful in three trials. Gathering information is very useful for finding one of them. Eomund can be held back for an emergency ready if you need it, and be recurred after with Guthwine.

Card Draw: Elven-Light is obviously a good source of card draw. Allies are cheap because of Theoden, and you can discard it with Eowyn each round. Gandalf can be used for a quick refill if the game stalls. Foe-Hammer is a bit of a nonbo with both Guthwine and Herugrim, but usually you can refrain from exhausting one of them, making one available for the event.

A word on theme: Elven-Light and Galadhrim's greeting stands out to me as being of theme, but their usefulness cannot be disputed. However, if you want a more "pure" Rohan experience, add Mustering the Rohirrim instead of Elven Light, and Windfola instead of Gandalf and Galadhrim's greeting. Increased theme can also be obtained by switching out some of the more generic events (Feint, a test of Will + the ringmaker specific cards) for some of the other allies in the sideboard.

This deck has become really, really strong and I look forward to bring it to events and organized play. I hope you will enjoy it! Spear shall be shaken! Shields shall be splintered! A sword-day! A red day!