Mono Tactics engagements in The Seventh Level (true solo) 2.0

• Versions
• 3.0
• 2.0

Here's a deck that I really like, designed to deal with a scenario that serves as an excellent "crash test" for combat-oriented decks. I accept the challenge, by building a 100% tactical deck (no out-of-sphere nor neutral cards), in true solo. This opportunity is rare enough not to be missed, when the scenario allows it.

1) The three heroes and their attachments:

• Éowyn : given that the scenario does not put a lot of pressure on willpower, I entrusted most of the quest to a character, in this case Éowyn, the best questing hero in the tactical sphere. The other characters will be able to support her occasionally if necessary. Her second interest lies in her action : she will be able, alone and in one blow, to defeat one of the two specimens (or even both) of the Cave Troll, the big boss of the scenario.

• Mablung : this hero has his place in a deck where we want to provoke a lot of engagements to reduce the threat in the staging area. The Gondorian provides a second justification for engaging in intensive combat : the generation of resources. It will provide us with something to quickly pay allies and attachments, thanks to its response which is only limited by the number of phases of the turn. Mablung will generate at least one additional resource each turn, and it will sometimes contribute to bringing us a total of five or six resources per turn, which can be immediately mobilized thanks to the mono-sphere. Proud Hunters will further increase our financial comfort. We will attach Book of Mazarbul and Gondorian Shield to Mablung.

• Aragorn : I chose him for his versatility, his ability to reduce the defense of enemies engaged in combat (being able to lower the Troll's defense from 4 to 3, is not a detail), his ability to engage an enemy during the combat phase (which allows you to attack without mobilizing a defender; and Mablung to take one more resource), including by bypassing the constraints of Goblin Archer and Goblin Scout. We will attach the Warrior Sword, Rohan Warhorse, and Mighty Prowess to him.

2) Allies and their attachments:

• For defense : Defender of Rammas (equipped with Raiment of War and Round Shield) and Honour Guard.

• For attack : Legolas is the most important ally of the deck for his Ranged keyword, his attack level, and his draw response. We will equip him with a Rivendell Blade and a Bow of the Galadhrim. Needless to say, you will be making a mulligan for him.

Like Wait no Longer, Dúnedain Hunter is an auto-include card in this deck. With 19 enemies on 34 cards, you are almost guaranteed when playing it to draw and engage an enemy among the first 5 cards of the deck. Immediate consequences : a) you have hired for free a wonderful ally who will attack at 3, query or defend at 1, and who has 3 life points; b) you can engage an enemy that could not be engaged intentionally in phase 5; c) you have bypassed a When Revealed or Surge effect; d) you have generated an additional resource.

Westfold Outrider can be useful to compensate for the absence of Dunedain Hunters, or to reduce the threat in the staging area and complete one of the quest steps more quickly. When you have several good attackers at the table, you can discard it, ideally in the action window of a phase where Mablung has not yet generated resources, and/or the action window that opens between the staging step and the quest resolution step.

• For the quest : Westfold Lancer and Pippin. These versatile allies are also very effective in attack.

3) Other attachments:

Secret Vigil can be destined to a Cave Troll, while setting up before engaging it, or even on one of the Goblins that cannot be optionally engaged.

Outmatched technically increases the number of players defenders, which is very useful when you haven't yet drawn many.

4) Events:

Wait no Longer is thematic.

Close Call, Feint, Sterner than Steel and, in a way, Oath of Eorl, are the four types of defensive events in the deck. We will obviously reserve Feint for the Troll(s).

Foe-hammer is the second draw solution, after Legolas.

5) General remarks:

• There are enough armors and weapons in the deck to take advantage of the Plundered Armory location (to which you must travel so as not to improve the enemies attack). Once explored, it allows us to attach one of this equipment to an in-play character for free.

• Watchful eyes as a treachery and attachment Condition is not really a problem here. This card will be attached to Mablung. Either we are already well-established and we can tolerate an additional number of enemies, or this is not the case and we will be content not to exhaust this hero. We can also attach Rohan Warhorse to him, in which case he will attack (if the Book of Mazarbul is not attached to him), then will be readied after having defeated the enemy, thus avoiding being subject to the constraint of the attachment Condition.

• Hidden Threat can target, depending on the context, one of our shields or Book of Mazarbul (detached, it simply returns to the staging area).

• Undisturbed Bones treachery can be scary at first. In fact, it is almost painless here. a) If you do not yet have any allies in play, its effect is null; b) If you have one or two allies in play, there is a chance that one of these allies can absorb 1 or 2 points of damage induced by this treachery; c) If you have 3 or more allies, you will have enough choice to sacrifice the most dispensable one, and likely enough resources at that point of the game to promptly replace him with another ally.

• After testing this deck with The One Ring + Strength and Courage + Firefoot, I understood that these cards and combos were paradoxically too powerful to be worth adding. Furthermore, even if most often the game is won quickly, the tension on the threat can in certain cases pose a problem, transforming the eliminatory threshold of 45 into a real sword of Damocles.

I also ruled out the Fornost Bowman, because it is rare in this scenario which pits us against pretty numerous but vulnerable enemies that its cost of 3 is justified. In general, we engage enemies one by one and defeat them during the turn in which we engaged them, without needing to give each attacker large offensive bonuses. Fornost Bowman therefore attacking at 2 in say 67% of cases, the Northern Bowmaster would have a much better cost-stat ratio. Facing the hordes of Seventh Level, the volume of our workforce is as (or even more) important than the intensity of our individual attacks. If I did not include any Northern Bowmaster, it is because of his single-task nature which does not bring anything special to the roster of characters. In a deck where the resources are good but the draw rate is moderate, places in the deck are precious and make me favor versatile cards.

• Legolas is in triplicate. Although it is unique and the deck space therefore seem "wasted" with that three copies, maximizing the chances of having a first-hand engine ally is always wise. I have had no hesitation nor scruples in doing so, as once the Silvan is played, his drawing ability will allow me to draw another copy of Legolas AND another card more quickly, thus reducing the cost of opportunity for duplicate(s).