The Eagles Have Landed (Two-Handed Mirkwood Cycle Progressio

I have been using this fellowship to play successfully through the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle with only cards released thru Return to Mirkwood.

Deck 1 (Spirit/Lore)

This deck handles the lion's share of everything that's not combat:

• Beravor is still one of the best ways to draw cards in the game. She can dig for whatever either deck is in need of. Her balanced stats allow her to contribute to questing, attack, or defense, but the goal is generally to use her ability each round (she's also the most common target for Unexpected Courage).
• Eleanor locks down the most nasty treacheries that the encounter deck has to offer (from The Necromancer's Reach to the many tantrums of Gollum). She can also serve as a defender on rounds when treacheries don't show up (give her Song of Wisdom, A Burning Brand, and Protector of Lórien).
• Éowyn remains arguably the best quester in the game. Once deck two gives her Celebrían's Stone, she becomes even more of a powerhouse.

Questing

In support of Éowyn, West Road Traveller and Escort from Edoras supply the raw willpower. This deck specializes in location control and has numerous tools to accomplish this:

• Northern Tracker and Lórien Guide place progress each quest phase.
• The Riddermark's Finest and Ride to Ruin are capable of targeting specific locations and neutralizing them.
• Strider's Path is, in my opinion, an under-appreciated card. It is an excellent counter to the Brown Lands, and can shorten your wanderings in the Hills of Emyn Muil when that last staging reveal is yet another Emyn Muil location.

Combat

This deck is not designed for heavy combat, and so relies upon the ranged and sentinel characters of deck #2. As mentioned above, Eleanor and Beravor are capable of providing defense on occasion.

Miscellaneous

Between Beravor and Ancient Mathom, card draw should be no problem for the fellowship. Daughter of the Nimrodel provides access to healing (Lore of Imladris is sideboarded specifically for Journey to Rhosgobel). Miner of the Iron Hills is the counter for the Caught in a Web condition (although it has to get past Eleanor first ;) ). Forest Snare still works great for Hill Trolls and Attercops. Song of Wisdom and Song of Travel are present to grant resource smoothing (and can be fetched by Rivendell Minstrel).

Deck 2 (Leadership/Tactics)

This deck combines the combat skills of with the toolbox of :

• Théodred's job is to grant an extra resource each quest phase. These can be shared across the table or given to Prince Imrahil as the situation demands (most of the time I find myself alternating from turn to turn).
• Legolas is the attacker. Power him up with Dúnedain Mark in the early game and eventually with Support of the Eagles to allow him to mow down enemies and place progress on the quest.
• Prince Imrahil does it all. He should quest most turns for 2, then ready when an ally inevitably leaves play (either from chump blocking or when Eagles fly off to join Eagles of the Misty Mountains). He should also get Steward of Gondor and Song of Battle as soon as possible so that he can start paying for all of the allies and events.

Questing

Théodred and Prince Imrahil will quest on most turns, but most of this deck's allies are present for combat purposes. Radagast can add his 2 if he hits the table and Faramir can power a late-game push with his ability. I found it helpful to send one Snowbourn Scout on most quests as a way to counter the damage effect of Dol Guldur Orcs (and to grant a ready to Prince Imrahil).

Combat

Legolas and Prince Imrahil combine for 6 from turn 1, but once a copy of Eagles of the Misty Mountains hits the table, the combat engine really gets going. Use The Eagles Are Coming! to grab a bunch of Eagle allies -> play as many Vassal of the Windlords and Winged Guardians as possible -> use their abilities or chump with them -> power up Eagles of the Misty Mountains -> use Support of the Eagles to boost Legolas to crazy numbers. Winged Guardians and Gondorian Spearman can defend across the table (remember to ready Prince Imrahil when they leave play!). For the more troublesome enemies, you can use Feint, pull the Son of Arnor + Forest Snare combo (as long as you are the first player!), or Sneak Attack in either Gandalf or Descendant of Thorondor. Though the latter isn't the most flashy ally, it's really enjoyable to Sneak Attack the Descendant in (dealing 2 damage to an enemy in staging) -> quest, attack, or defend with the Descendant -> it leaves play (dealing 2 more damage on the way out) to power up Eagles of the Misty Mountains.

Miscellaneous

This deck is rounded out by toolbox cards that provide value to both decks. Campfire Tales and Valiant Sacrifice supplement the card draw of deck 1, Celebrían's Stone allows Éowyn to quest for 6 , and Snowbourn Scout adds a bit more help with locations. I didn't end up using the Dúnedain Warnings much, but they can go across the table to allow Eleanor to defend more safely if necessary. This deck really depends on getting increased access to as early as possible, so the majority of card draw early game should be dedicated to digging out Steward of Gondor and Song of Battle. Radagast doesn't see much play, but if he hits the table early enough, his extra resources more than pay for his expensive cost.

Final Thoughts

I defeated each quest in the Core Set + Shadows of Mirkwood cycle with this fellowship, beating 7 of the 9 quests on the first attempt. Journey Along the Anduin took three attempts as I was done in by two early Hill Trolls in one run and a swarm of Stage 3B enemies in the other. Return to Mirkwood also took three attempts before I had a setup that could handle early enemies, but I was able to overcome two Attercops and a Hill Troll within the first four rounds on that final run. I enjoyed playing through the cycle with this hero lineup and getting to explore some cards that I had rarely (if ever) made use of. It would be difficult to select an MVP for both decks since each hero contributes in different ways, but I think I would pick Eleanor for deck 1 (her ability to essentially allow you to ignore one nasty treachery each quest phase is severely underrated) and Prince Imrahil for deck 2 (he just does so many different things well and combos really well with eagles).