51 - Helm's Deep (Progression Series)

This is another fellowship continuing on in my goal to play through all of the quests in release order to learn how all (or most) of the cards interact with one another. The first fellowship for the quests in the core set can be found here, and it contains a slightly more detailed overview of what I'm going for with building these decks. As always, any feedback is appreciated so that I can continue to learn more!

I really wanted to try to beat this quest somewhat thematically, so I went all in on Rohan to try to beat it (With Erkenbrand and Gandalf getting some extra money from ghost-Théodred). These decks ultimately function in a fairly similar manner to the decks I used for The Uruk-Hai, relying on getting a bunch of readying on the board and then loading up Aragorn with a whole bunch of attachments to help pay for things and provide even more readying.

The Rohan deck wants to take advantage of Théoden's cost reduction + Horn of Gondor to be able to put out the low cost allies, which can be used to chump when necessary, or can provide a huge Willpower boost when Sword that was Broken is on the same side of the table. Aragorn + Chumps + Sentinel Defenders should allow for Éomer and Theoden to be upright for swinging back and make sure enemies are only able to stick around for one round.

The Gandalf and Erkenbrand deck really want to see either Faramir or Gimli in the opening hand, to be able to cheat them into play with 1B's effect. Tighten Our Belts can also be a great card to play during that first refresh stage, allowing the deck to get a real head start. Warden of Healing can really help soak up some of the archery damage, as well as keep Erkenbrand upright to keep using his ability.

Both decks are loaded up with The Galadhrim's Greeting, A Test of Will and Path of Need (all can be paid with Aragorn once he has his attachments). All of the Treacheries in this quest are pretty nasty, but A Night Without End can pretty much generate an instant loss if it comes out before there are any tokens on The Defense of Helm's Deep. The Galadhrim's Greeting is expensive, but it is the best threat reduction possible since ally-Gandalf is a no-go, and it will probably be necessary with the Doomed Cards and Deeping Wall.