Forging an Alliance 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Building a deck around a single trait has become easy as the cardpool expanded. However, there's a lot of creativity that can be expressed by smashing together two different traits and letting the synergies emerge.

This deck mixes the Noldor discard-from-hand archetype with the Dwarf's discard-from-deck. The Imladris Stargazer-Zigil Miner combo is as strong as it ever was, but there's a lot more to this deck.

Combined with Arwen Undómiel, Messenger of the King Galdor of the Havens is pure fuel. Discard a card to gain a resource, return it to hand once Silver Harp is in play, draw another card.

A good chunk of the deck needs to be either discarded (Ered Luin Miner, Hidden Cache) or in the discard pile (Elven-light, Lords of the Eldar, Elven Spear, Rivendell Blade), and Dáin Ironfoot makes sure it happens with all speed.

If the deck has a weakness, is that it takes time building up a solid attack value. Both tactic weapons can only be Reforged from the discard pile, and an army of Dwarves and Elves will be needed to take down the bigger enemies. In testing, it proved not to be much of a problem in most quests however: Dáin Ironfoot with Inner Strength can tank almost all attacks unscathed. In the early game, an enemy can stick around for a couple of turns with no ill effect.

I've been shying away from including A Test of Will from all my decks, but there's no doubt that it would make the deck more reliable. Expert Treasure-hunter is also a solid include, but at some point it becomes a win-more card.