Messenger from Dale

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GrandSpleen 1438

Straightforward Dale deck. A clone of and older deck I made called Generations of Dale (unpublished), with Bard the Bowman removed from that deck and replaced with Messenger of the King Wiglaf for this one. Just looking to update some decks with fun new contract mechanics.

Play allies, get attachments on them. Try to play attachments onto allies who don't already have one, as this will draw you a card. Move them around later with Long Lake Trader if you need to. (MotK) Wiglaf is a nice addition to this deck, bringing an in-trait Leadership resource, low starting threat, good willpower (3 with an attachment), and action advantage. You won't get a free attachment from him, but that's not a big loss. He's still very solid.

Bard son of Brand gets Steward of Gondor and King of Dale. Wiglaf usually gets the first item attachment. The best one for him is Bow of Yew (his combat role is generally going to be attack), but since he will likely quest every round also, Map of Rhovanion is good on him too. If he doesn't quest, his ability would allow him to attack twice per round instead.

A note on Keen as Lances. You can drop this card and put Gandalf in there instead. I had Keen as Lances because Gandalf was in play as a hero in a companion deck I ran this with. Dale decks can get stymied on card draw if you draw cards in the wrong order (lots of allies but no attachments). The purpose of Gandalf would generally be for draw, but Keen as Lances does the same thing with actually a superior cost curve even in a solo game, at the cost of not having Gandalf's stats available to you. Anyway, I sometimes include KaL when Gandalf is not available and I need a flexible solution for threat/card draw, and I expect the deck to accrue resources without a way to spend them.

14 comments

Apr 28, 2020 Denison 633

I've played my Dale deck 50 times and it's almost always with Lanwyn as the third hero. My card draw comes mostly from the accompanying deck. Wiglaf has never been part of that deck until now. I think you have me sold, particularly with his low threat cost. I'm loath to throw SoG in there, but I understand it serves well as a backup to King of Dale. Well done!

Apr 29, 2020 GrandSpleen 1438

Lanwyn is a great choice in a Dale deck too, but it’s so nice have Wiglaf now so you have more of a choice of spheres if you’re looking to keep your heroes in-trait. And his ability is totally a hero-quality ability. He’s a great addition to the card pool as a hero.

Aug 11, 2020 BeowolfMN 116

Question on how you are paying for Long Lake Trader? I don't see any sphere fixing to green. I know Bard son of Brand can play Map of Rhovanion but not allies?

And why do you have a Wiglaf allies in as well?

Aug 11, 2020 Truck 1472

WHERE IS UNEXPECTED COURAGE?!!!!!

Aug 11, 2020 GrandSpleen 1438

@BeowolfMN King of Dale lets you play an ally without a resource match and is a staple for any Dale deck. As for Wiglaf, the Messenger of the King contract actually pulls the ally out of your deck, so the ally needs to be one of your 50 cards. It creates redundancy if you use the deck in OCTGN though. @Truck I only have one core set so I tend to build with those deck restrictions, even when I'm building for OCTGN, so if I included it here, it'd be a 1-of. In other words, inconsistent. It's a good card but not that needed for this deck-- it has plenty of action advantage due to the sheer number of allies that hit the table.

Aug 11, 2020 BeowolfMN 116

@GrandSpleen thanks. I have not played Dale yet. I did figure out that it was King of Dale that you were using to play them.

That is interesting that your ally is included in the 50 cards for Messenger of the King that makes for even a higher deck.

Aug 11, 2020 BeowolfMN 116

@GrandSpleen I took the deck and was making some tweeks to it and I wasn't sure if you considered adding a few of the newer dale cards.

Aug 12, 2020 GrandSpleen 1438

All good cards! There are a lot of fun ways to tweak a Dale deck, it’s a nice deck for being toolboxy like that also.

Feb 10, 2021 Uruk-guy 554

I really like this deck, nice work. I'm considering using this lineup as I recently thought about how cool it would be to use MotK Wiglaf. Have you ever used Well Warned with him? It was one of the reasons I liked him as a hero.

Feb 19, 2021 GrandSpleen 1438

Well warned is a great card, I don’t think I had considered it. Would be a good replacement for Keen as Lances and good tech against a quest you expect to raise your threat.

Feb 19, 2021 Truck 1472

Does (MotK) Wiglaf get a free attachment from your hand on to him?

Feb 19, 2021 Truck 1472

I mean, don't you draw your starting hand before putting him into play?

Feb 19, 2021 Uruk-guy 554

@Truck I've always wondered this. I'd be interested in hearing a ruling about it. I could see it both ways.

Feb 19, 2021 GrandSpleen 1438

Regardless of timing, it wouldn't work either way-- Wiglaf's ability requires you to "play" him from your hand, which MotK doesn't do. It "puts" him into play, which is a different trigger. He's still a great MotK hero though.