The less difficult scenarios can be a nice change of pace, especially as they give us a chance to try out different decks, and strategies which might not be viable in more difficult quests. While it is fun to play top-tier decks, sometimes it is good to mix things up, and play a more unorthodox deck. This deck is certainly not going to dominate the more troublesome scenarios, but it can be very effective, especially in quests with a large number of locations.
Idraen is an intriguing hero, and combined with other supporting cards, she can form the center of a potent location-control strategy. This deck needs locations to run smoothly. Not only will it allow Idraen to ready, but exploring a location is the key to unlocking the potential of Ancient Mathom and Elf-Stone. Beyond having an impressive level of willpower, this deck has a multitude of options for clearing locations. Asfaloth, Warden of Arnor and Lórien Guide are all ready to clear locations.
Further, events like Strider’s Path and A Watchful Peace can help control where locations are, and keep them in play. A Watchful Peace is another badly underrated card – a fact that this deck underscores. It is vital to remember that every time we put a location back on the top of the encounter deck, it is buying us a round (in solo play) where we don’t need to worry about the encounter card that is coming. Alternatively, when are engaged with an enemy, we can use this knowledge to ensure that the attacking enemy does not get a troublesome shadow effect. When used correctly, this card couples with A Test of Will and Hasty Stroke to give us a tremendous level of control of the game.
With the help of these support cards, and a bit of luck, this deck can create an ideal situation where most of the revealed encounter cards are locations. This plays right into our hands, as we have a plethora of options for dealing with, and benefiting from, these locations. Thanks to Idraen – only the second Spirit hero with 3 attack – this deck can manage some combat. To be clear, prolonged conflict against multiple large enemies will bend this deck to the point of breaking. However, we are not without defenses. Arwen and Protector of Lorien can transform one of our heroes into a solid defender, and our allies can collectively mount at least a meager counter-attack.
Still, direct confrontation is not what this deck is designed for. Think of this as more of a scouting deck, with an aim at disabling one key aspect of the scenario’s assault. As a more focused deck, it will need support from another deck in order to handle the more combat-heavy quests. Paired with a deck like Sons of Númenor, this deck can handle the weaker enemies from most scenarios, and cover that deck’s lack of effect cancellation and location-control.
For players that are only interested in power decks, this is probably not the deck for you. On the other hand, anyone interested in a change of pace, or a nice thematic pairing for Sons of Númenor, might just find this to be a pleasant surprise. As someone who has always appreciated the heroic characters in Tolkien’s legendarium, of either gender, it is nice to finally be able to make a viable deck that includes only female characters. It is good to see there card pool reach a size where more unique decks like this are finally possible.
Heroes:
Idraen (TiT)
Éowyn (Core)
Mirlonde (TDF)
Allies: 22
Silvan Refugee (TDF) x3
Envoy of Pelargir (HoN) x3
Arwen Undómiel (TWitW) x3
Imladris Stargazer (FoS) x3
Galadhrim Minstrel (TiT) x3
Lórien Guide (Core) x3
Daughter of the Nimrodel (Core) x2
Silvan Tracker (TDM) x2
Attachments: 15
Ancient Mathom (AJtR) x3
Warden of Arnor (TTT) x2
Elf-Stone (TBR) x3
Protector of Lórien (Core) x2
Unexpected Courage (Core) x3
Asfaloth (FoS) x2
Events: 13
Daeron’s Runes (FoS) x3
A Test of Will (Core) x3
A Watchful Peace (HoN) x3
Hasty Stroke (Core) x2
Strider’s Path (THfG) x2
Hall of Beorn 
Great deck! I have tried to build decks that focus on Idraen’s ability and succeeded in Trouble in Tharbad, where Strider’s path shined, especially when taking away the travel effects (I am playing that correctly, right?). Idraen readied nearly every turn, and with Haldir’s help smashed many enemies. I’ll have to give this a go.
You are correct, Strider’s Path allows you to travel to a location that has just been revealed without having to trigger its travel effect.
Just a question, as I’m new to OCTGN, can you play two-handed lotr lcg? I would love to try these two decks together!
I suppose that you could play two handed on OCTGN, but you would need to run two separate instances of the program. Each instance would use a different login and deck and one would join a game started by the other. To my knowledge, that is the only way to do a two-handed game on OCTGN.
You need two OCTGN instances, but there’s no need to log in, because there’s an option to host game offline. More info here: http://talesfromthecards.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/a-quick-guide-to-octgn-two-handed/
Thanks for clarifying this!
I can’t wait to try out this deck against Hills of Emyn Muil. Since I’ll be playing two-handed, a location is almost guaranteed to appear. Quick question: For those who only have one Core Set, what cards could be used to fill in the gaps (i.e. Unexpected Courage)?
With 1 Core Set, you lose 2x Unexpected Courage, 1x Lórien Guide, 1x A Test of Will. I would replace them with 3x Miruvor and 1x Dwarven Tomb.
Thanks! And again, amazing deck!
Me again. I was wondering: How do you manage to make such balanced decks? Not just when playing, but in the ratio of one sphere to another. I’m always having trouble when it comes to keeping the ratios proportional.
The short answer is: practice. I have been building decks for card games for many years. With time, you get an intuitive sense for the ratios of each kind and cost of card. That said, I still make mistakes and will often go back and adjust a deck after playtesting. For example, this deck can struggle if you draw multiple expensive Lore cards in your opening hand. Without an Elf-Stone to help get that Daughter of the Nimrodel or Silvan Tracker into play, you can be waiting for a while to play those allies. If you find this happening to you consistently, you might consider including one or two copies of Song of Wisdom to help smooth out the resources. This is why I only included 2 copies of each of these allies. The deck relies more on powerful Spirit events and attachments, and allies like Silvan Refugee and Lórien Guide than it does on the Lore cards.
I’m glad that you like the deck!
Great desk! I was looking for a female desk for my girlfriend, although she likes the game in general, she always feels more identified with female characters. But I still have pending introduce Galadriel who is her favorite character.
PS: I’m new to the game but I find all your articles very interesting, thank you very much for the work! You’re a great help!!
Thank for the support! I have a Silvan deck that I have been playing with Legolas, Glorfindel and a proxy of Galadriel that is a lot of fun to play. Once she is officially released, I will post that deck list.