Dale Deck for Ered Mithrin Cycle 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Overview

This is a thematic Dale deck that I am going to use to go through the Ered Mithrin cycle. I used the classic hero lineup of Bard son of Brand, Brand son of Bain, and Beravor, as this lineup has proved to be one of the best for the Dale archetype. A good substitute for Beravor could be Lanwyn, as she would greatly benefit with the Dale trait. I have play tested this deck against Journey Up the Anduin and this deck was very successful, as I was able to easily stall for a few turns until i got the deck rolling. I was even able to go through the entire player deck.

For your opening hand, Steward of Gondor or King of Dale are the priority to get in your hand. An easy way to get King of Dale out in the first turn is with Bartering, as hopefully you have a 1 cost attachment to play to trigger the event.

The Sideboard contains some cards that I thought would go well with this deck if you want to add swap some other cards to cater to certain quests or if there needs to be an adjustment. I found that with Steward of Gondor in the early game, I didn't need to use Traffic from Dale and so there is a possible three card slots available.

Bard son of Brand

Bard is going to be the main focus for hero attachments, with Steward of Gondor and King of Dale and I prefer to also put a Map of Rhovanion on him as a third attachment. With these attachments, you are able to gather plenty of resources to pay for attachments as well as field 3-cost allies for free each turn.

Brand son of Bain

Brand is there for the huge willpower boost that he puts out in the late game as well as a way to drive the card draw engine. Attachments on him aren't necessarily a priority but he has the potential to quest for 3 and you can draw a card and use Long Lake Trader to give it to someone else later in the game. I tended to use Brand for his attack during the combat phase.

Beravor

Beravor is the main source of card draw for this deck. Depending on what is in your opening hand, I would use her ability turn one to start to go through the deck. Once a few allies get out on the board then it was an automatic exhaust to use her ability to get through the player deck and get those allies and attachments out.

Guardian of Esgaroth

Like most Dale decks, Guardian of Esgaroth is the powerhouse of the deck. I like to put Wild Stallion on him as this basically doubles the stat boost. Once I get the three copies out, I like to have one as a beefy defender, one as a more powerful attacker, and the other can be whatever you need for the quest. Valiant Determination is also a solid attachment for this ally that I usually go with.

Redwater Sentry

A great and beefy defender for those quests that can create an enemy swarm. I like to put Ancestral Armor and Hauberk of Mail to bring his defense to 6 and 6.

Warrior of Dale

A great attacker that I like to put a Bow of Yew and Warrior Sword (which is free for this ally) on if available.

Long Lake Trader

This is a great ally whose ability I found to be very useful throughout the entire game. The ability to move around attachments is crucial as it gives you the flexibility to play attachments on characters that may not be the best fit for. This encourages you to not keep powerful attachments in your hand waiting to draw the best ally for it and rather reap the benefits of that attachment until that character comes into play. This also allows you to draw a card if utilizing Brand son of Bain's ability.

Side Notes

I included Power of Orthanc to help with getting rid of those annoying attachments in the Ered Mithrin cycle, but a good substitute would be Miner of the Iron Hills, as threat mitigation is the weakness of Dale decks. For quests without treachery conditions, Power of Orthanc isn't necessary and can be taken out or replaced with something else more useful. I would recommend adding more attachments as by the late game I found that some of my allies didn't have one or others could've use more boosts.