Shadows of Mirkwood

Overview

Hi everyone,

I've decided to share some of the decks me and my friend group play with for particular cycles. This fellowship is meant to be played by 2 players for a Shadows of Mirkwood Cycle. For more in-depth review of those decks check out their descrpitions :)

Each of those fellowships for each cycle contains two decks - one for players that I'm introducing to the game (Deck #1) and the other one for myself (Deck #2). Each of those Decks #1 is meant to represent the most fleshed out archetypes in the game, while Decks #2 are either some more niche archetypes or specific mechanics (think of Doomed keyword or Staging Area attack).

For additional flavour and some deckbuilding challenge I set up some rules regarding those decks:

Deck #1:

• most represented archetypes in the game, for each cycle they were chosen either for theme or what player cards were developed during this time (mostly both at once),
• strictly sticking to the theme,
• most powerful cards combination, while keeping in mind the rule above (so e.g. no Steward of Gondor in Silvan deck with , even though it is probably the most powerful card to include there),
• no card repetition by name (this means, that even though A Test of Will is no doubt really powerful and technicaly fits the theme of many decks, it can be only included in one of those Decks #1)

Deck #2:

• niche and underdeveloped archetypes in the game, for each cycle they were chosen either for theme, what player cards were developed during this time or what is the best approach to beat those particular quests,
• sticking to theme as much as possible (it was sometimes not possible to make a functional deck around a niche archetype while only including thematic cards),
• also the most powerful card combinations, while keeping in mind the rule above,
• no restriction on repetition (meaning even when previous Decks, either #1 or #2, used A Test of Will, it's possible to include them in every Deck #2 - I'm not a masochist. I hope.).

Also, while appreciating what this community can create but being a bit of a purist, I've decided to include ALeP cards only to a minimum, when it's either necessary to complete the archetype or it makes obvious thematic and mechanical sense.

Cycle

First cycle in the game - Shadows of Mirkwood - well.. didn't age well. Understandable, given those were first steps of this game and even in cooperative LCG game world. While it doesn't really capture the essence of this game too well - either through rough mechanics or lackluster backround - the quests are at least straighforward and simple. The biggest gripe I have with those quests is their inconsistency. You either reavel 1 location or a wimpy enemy but next turn you flip a Hill Troll. Because of that I found that the best strategy is to just try and rush through them, hence both of those decks excell in their aggresive playstyle. Here is quick overview for each scenario while using this fellowship:

1. Passage Through Mirkwood (Dificculty 1/5) - I mean you really need to try to fail this one.
2. Journey Along the Anduin (Difcculuty 3/5) - since both the decks start above 30, you need to kill the Troll ASAP. And it's easy. Éomer + Théoden + Gwaihir = exactly 12. Then either Rohan puts some chump to throw under the bus, or even better, Eagle deck blocks with Winged Guardian.
3. Escape from Dol Guldur (Difficulty 4/5) - strategy in this one depens mostly on which hero gets captured. The best outcome - Faunith, worst one Éowyn. Rest are in the mid in terms of overall difficulty. Go for Gandalf's Map on the first stage, and only rescue the prisoner after you gather enough strengh to take Nazgul in one go. Stand and Fight is really key here, since you can only play one ally per round as a group but this allows you to bypass that.
4. The Hunt for Gollum (Difficulty 2/5) - quite an easy one, just keep an eye out for those Evil Storms, have a Rohan deck keep A Test of Will in case.
5. Conflict at Carrock (Difficulty 3/5) - that's an interesting one. The only scenario of the bunch I would advise turtling. Keep it steady on the first stage, expect even to underquest, just to get enough firepower. Once the Trolls come out kill Louis ASAP, since that threat increase cannot be undone.
6. A Journey to Rhosgobel (Difficulty 2/5) - uhh. Hard mulligan for A Test of Will on the Rohan Side and Healing Herbs on the Eagle side. And just pray you don't get those treacheries. With one copy of Healing Herbs and some luck you can finish this in 2 turns.
7. The Hills of Emyn Muil (Difficulty 2/5) - zzzz. A Test of Will comes in handy for direct damage treacheries as well as The Riddermark's Finest and Meneldor can make short of those locations.
8. The Dead Marshes (Difficulty 2/5) - again, quite an easy scenario. Rush this one but keep in mind to hold some characters to Escape Tests. Usually just take the Gollum treachieries, and on the last stage have one player quest and the other one do the final test.
9. Return to Mirkwood (Difficulty 4/5) - rush, rush and rush this one. No threat reduction in those decks means you can't just stall. Also Rohan deck should mulligan hard for A Test of Will since Gollum tantrums can be game-ending. On the other hand Attercorps don't seem too bad when you have so much firepower from the get go.

Conclusion

So this pretty much sums up the fellowship. Keep in mind it's designed for this particular cycle and with some rules that I stated at the beginning of the description. Feel free to try those decks out!