Deck: Brave Explorers

As I play more three and four player games, locations are quickly becoming a thorn in my furry side. Nothing is more frustrating that having all of your soldiers lined up and ready for battle, only to lose to location-lock. With a high percentage of surge in modern encounter decks, it is not uncommon to reveal 5 or 6 encounter cards each round in a four player game. If three of these are locations and your party is not prepared with location-control and willpower-boosting, you are in for a rough time.

With that in mind, I wanted to build a mono Sphere deck for multi-player that focuses on location-control, threat-control and questing. Thanks to Idraen, it is now possible to create a mono-Spirit deck that can handle some combat as well. I share the community’s sentiment that Glorfindel is over-used. However, he fit into this deck for two important reasons. First of all, he is the best rider for Asfaloth, which really puts this deck over the top when it comes to spot location-control. The other important aspect of the ever-present elf is his three attack strength. Between Glorfindel and Idraen, this deck can take down medium-sized enemies without help from other decks. This is important for those games when locations don’t show up and you find yourself surrounded by enemies.

Galadriel is an amazing support card in multi-player games. Don’t underestimate the impact of being able to lower any player’s threat by 1 as an action. This can be vital for ensuring that the encounter phase works out to everyone’s advantage. With the ability to make sizable questing pushes, it is often possible to leave dangerous enemies in the staging area while you control the locations and the other players focus on easier targets. Once the combat-heavy decks are setup with their weapons and support, they can pull the larger enemies from the staging area at their leisure.

It bears mentioning that Idraen’s ability does not have a limit. With careful planning and a bit of luck, it is possible to ready her multiple times in the same round. West Road Travelers help you to avoid onerous travel effects and ensure that there is always an active location to explore during the quest phase. Locations in the staging area aren’t a problem either. Northern Tracker, along with The Riddermark’s Finest and Asfaloth can all explore those locations – the later two can even do so during the combat phase. Idraen’s well-balanced stats make her useful in all phases of the game.

Pelargir Shipwright is the workhorse of this deck. While the heroes have high-willpower (or a powerful boosting ability, in Galadriel’s case), it takes allies to create the huge questing pushes that will allow you to overcome a staging area filled with locations. This deck pairs well with a Gondor Leadership deck. For example, Visionary Leadership on another player’s Gondor Hero will allow the Shipwright to quest for 4 each round. In addition, if another player controls Faramir, they can choose you as the recipient of his effect for a huge willpower boost.

One interesting side-effect of Galadriel’s passive ability is that it prevents Arwen Undómiel from exhausting the round that she comes into play. It does seem a bit ironic that Galadriel would neutralize her granddaughter’s power but this is sadly true. Regardless, Arwen does fit well into the deck as she can boost Idraen’s defense to serve as a solid blocker. In addition, she joins other allies in the deck with more than one hit point to help deal with archery and direct-damage.

Fielding all of these allies can get expensive. That’s where the classic Zigil Miner and Imladris Stargazer combo comes into play. While I wish that there was a more thematic means for mono-Spirit decks to get some resource acceleration, this combo is the best you can do without support from other archetypes. As an advantage, this does allow you to think your deck and search for vital cancellation and threat-reduction cards.

One last thing to keep in mind with this deck is a sideboard. While sideboards are more common in competitive card games, the card pool of the game has reached a point where there are extra cards worth considering. The sideboard is a collection of cards that are either scenario specific or that alter the strategy behind the deck in some way. For example, someone scenarios feature treacheries that turn into condition attachments. As we’ve seen in the Ring-maker cycle, many of these conditions can be very destructive. In these kinds of quests, Power of Orthanc is an invaluable card. Before you play this deck, be sure to take a look at the sideboard and consider if any cards would be useful for the challenge ahead. May you all have safe travels through Middle-Earth!

Heroes:
Idraen (TTT)
Galadriel (CS)
Glorfindel (FoS)

Allies: 23
Arwen Undómiel (TWitW) x2
Galadriel’s Handmaiden (CS) x3
Imladris Stargazer (FoS) x3
The Riddermark’s Finest (THoEM) x3
West Road Traveller (RtM) x3
Zigil Miner (KD) x3
Pelargir Shipwright (AoO) x3
Northern Tracker (Core) x3

Attachments: 17
Nenya (CS) x3
Ancient Mathom (AJtR) x3
Light of Valinor (FoS) x3
Miruvor (FoS) x2
Warden of Arnor (TTT)  x2
Unexpected Courage (Core) x2
Asfaloth (FoS) x2

Events: 10
A Test of Will (Core) x3
Dwarven Tomb (Core) x2
Hasty Stroke (Core) x2
The Galadhrim’s Greeting (Core) x3

Sideboard: 15
Bofur (TRG) x2
White Tower Watchman (TDF) x3
Blood of Númenor (HoN) x2
Power of Orthanc (VoI) x3
Hasty Stroke (Core) x1
Lay of Nimrodel (TMV) x2
Light the Beacons (HoN) x2