Last Host of the Firstborn

The Grey Company and Line of the Half-Elven were designed to be played together at all times as each covers the others weaknesses and combined they run as one deck. I play them two-handed but both are fun to play so they could be used in two player or even three to four players paired with some other decks. They do feature quite a few unique cards however, and quite a few of the powerful ones, so may be slightly difficult to build around with extra players. I really believe that the sweet spot in this game is two player (or two handed in my case) and the decks are primarily designed for that so this doesn't really matter to me. Essentially The Grey Company is the combat deck but also generates high willpower towards the end of a game via StwB and strong allies and Line of the Half-Elven is the questing deck but it also fills many support roles for both decks such as healing, card draw and threat reduction. Both have a single copy of Gather Information because of the vast amount of combo cards featured in both decks as well as the ability of many cards to benefit both decks rather than just one. Here is a breakdown of each heroes role and the key strategies and cards in each deck:

The Grey Company

Elrohir becomes a super-defender for both decks with Elven Mail, Steward and Shield as well as Cloak and Warning if you draw them. Arwen helps with first turn Steward and ensures Elrohir has enough resources to both defend and play the key leadership cards like Sword that was Broken, Galadriel, Naith Guide and Sneak Attack. Once Aragorn has StwB he is able to pay for leadership cards as well further taking the pressure off Elrohir. Cards like Lembas or Miruvor or even Unexpected Courage allow you to more safely spend Elrohir's resources whilst still using him to defend multiple attacks. Once you get him truly set-up and so long as you manage leadership resources properly you should be able to defend against the majority of attacks throughout an entire quest with just Elrohir and without taking much damage along the way. Until you get Sentinel set up you need be wary of enemies engaging the other deck and there not being any way to defend against them, an early copy of Miruvor or Lembas or even UC on Elrond can be a life saving backup in these situations. Getting Elven Mail on Elrohir is key to both decks survival and efficiency as you want to use all of the questing decks characters to either quest or perform other actions other than defending.

Elladan becomes the main attacker and with a Rivendell Blade, Dagger and Mighty Prowess he becomes quite deadly. His resources can be boosted by Arwen (or Envoy of Pelargir) or simply saved to allow extra attacks and quite often extra kills and even extra direct damage if you have Mighty Prowess attached!. Once you get Elladan set-up with his various weapons and effects and even more so towards the end of a game when he should have more resources he can devastate enemies and take out several in one combat phase on his own. Mighty Prowess is insanely good with him because it triggers for every attack he makes allowing you to wear down a stronger foe or easily kill already weakened enemies whenever you are able to trigger it more than once.

Aragorn helps Elladan out with combat duties or in a pinch quests due to Elladan's ability to take out multiple foes on his own plus once you get a few strong combat-based allies out and with his inherent first ability Aragorn is less needed for combat most rounds. He is a great target for Naith Guide, especially with StwB attached as this allows him to quest and then help out with combat. Most weapon attachments go on Elladan first but once Elladan already has a few the next ones should go to Aragorn. Certain allies such as Legolas or Marksman of Lorien are fantastic recipients for a second copy of Rivendell Blade after Elladan as it can be played on allies as well. His -1 to enemies engaged with his deck is insanely good and when combined with Rivendell Blade it can reduce most enemies to 0 or at least just 1 or 2. With Elladan able to attack multiple times with his own ability and the many 2 or 3 allies featured in the decks it is not unusual at all for them to be able to take out many foes in one turn and with relative ease. Aragorn's second ability is also extremely useful for these two decks as often an enemy will wind up engaged with the other deck and although you may be able to defend against it with Elrohir or Elrond you may not have the firepower with the questing deck to destroy it and it will just sit there for several turns if you don't have ranged attackers to take it out. Simply destroy an enemy with Aragorn and pull it over to your side of the board. You can even combo this with Elladan's ability and use him to both help destroy the initial enemy with Aragorn then ready him to destroy the newly engaged enemy. Late game when you have many combat allies and far more combat strength you can use this to regularly engage extra enemies and destroy them. When you take them from the staging area you even create a feint like effect as they do not get to attack you and are destroyed before ever getting to. When you manage to pull this off more than once in a game it is very satisfying!

Some of the key cards in this deck are:

• StwB. As mentioned earlier helps take the pressure of Elrohir and allows Aragorn to pay for leadership cards as well. The boost is amazing and turns all your Envoys, Naith Guides and Sea-Watchers into much better questers. It also buffs Galadriel and Gandalf as well as Gimli and Orophin as well all of whom are primarily used to quest.
• Galadriel. Great willpower boost for a turn, free attachment (Steward, StwB and Elven Mail are the ideal cards you want to see with this ability) and you get to put the remaining four cards back in any order. She also gets boosted by Lords of the Eldar, allows Mithlond Sea-Watcher's ability to activate buffing its attack, can have her cost reduced by To the Sea! to 2 or even 1 and is also a fantastic sponge for archery or direct damage because she will leave play at the end of the round anyway! She is honestly such a fantastic ally and works so ridiculously well in this deck because of the high count of attachments and her various interactions with many other cards. One of my favourites has to be how she helps the recently added Sea-Watchers to get their +2 and ranged by sitting on the top of the discard pile unless something like feint or sneak attack is played.
• Envoy of Pelargir is fantastic ally and although unthematic is just too good to not include. It can help with first turn Steward, it can help in getting out an expensive , or ally out a turn faster, it can help Elrohir or Elladan perform extra combat actions or can even give you that one resource you need as backup in case you need to play Test of Will or Hasty Stroke. The fact it is neutral is the key here because you can spend whatever resources you want to play it. Using Aragorn's resources is always your best option as he doesn't need them like Elrohir or Elladan for any abilities.
• Legolas and the other elven tactics allies. These allies serve as the backup to Elladan and Aragorn when performing attacks against enemies. Legolas is number one by a longshot as he sets up repeatable card draw and has higher hitpoints to soak archery damage along with his 3 attack and ranged. Marksman of Lorien is number two and not only matches Legolas in attack and has ranged as well but also has more than 1 hitpoint and has a great ability of its own albeit one that only lasts one turn. Last we have the Mithlond Sea-Watchers who have 3 attack and ranged as long as the top card of the decks discard pile is an ally. Galadriel, Gandalf (not sneak attack though..) and Erestor all help to make sure this is the case and if need be you can always chump block with an Envoy of Pelargir or Naith Guide if you REALLY need that extra attack for the round. Late game this ally can serve a very different purpose however as with StwB and Lords of the Eldar they can be boosted to 3 willpower! I have often had multiple copies questing for 3 each helping massively during big quest pushes.
• The attachments in the deck were already discussed in relation to the heroes and all there is to say is that Steward, Elven Mail and Shield are the key attachments you always want as quickly as possible. The weapon attachments are almost as important and StwB is essential for mid to late game.
• Sneak attack + Gandalf is a bit of a no brainer and a powerful combo featured in many decks. It is just as useful in these ones and helps you negate the high starting threat of The Grey Company, provides a strong repeatable ally that is strong at everything, provides desperately needed card draw to its deck and provides a strong direct damage effect. It always depends on the current situation but I find myself using all three abilities to great effect in various games. The card draw can be the most powerful in many situations however as it can draw you some key combo cards or even just more powerful allies. Once you get those powerful allies or combo cards out the direct damage isn't as necessary anymore and you should also be able to handle more enemies so threat shouldn't matter too much anymore either. He is a great bomb against bosses as well as you can sneak attack or play him and do 4 direct damage then also include him in the attack against that foe giving you +4 which when you already have Aragorn's - ability, a Rivendell Blade and several other high attack characters is nothing to sneeze at!
• Send for Aid is an amazing sidequest and probably my favorite because of how exciting it is to dig for a powerful ally that you get to play for free and for both decks as well! Getting cards like Legolas, Gildor, Haldir, Gimli, Erestor or Galdor out for free is amazing and it is even extremely useful just to get out a Warden of Healing or Marksman of Lorien as well to get some instant healing or to weaken an enemy in play.

Line of the Half-Elven

Arwen is the main support hero for the decks as she provides resource acceleration and smoothing as well as repeatable card draw through Elven Light and discard pile manipulation through Lords of the Eldar. She primarily boosts her brothers or father with her ability so that Elrohir or Elladan can perform additional combat actions while still using their resources to play and cards or so that Elrond can play cards more efficiently considering he is the only hero. She allows first turn Steward for Elrohir and also greatly speeds up her own decks ability to play expensive allies, attachments and even events (like Greeting or Lords of the Eldar). She provides repeatable card draw through Elven Light and although you need to fuel this with resources so long as you balance them carefully and always save resources for cards like test of will, hasty stroke etc it is not a worry as you quickly build spirit resources considering there are quite a few low cost cards in this deck or because you will be playing cards for free with Vilya or far cheaper with To the Sea!. Elven Light is insanely good and just this repeatable card draw can be literally all you need as it can essentially get you an extra card more or less every turn. Once you get more than once copy into rotation some turns you can return both to your hand and draw two cards! Arwen always quests as she is next to useless in combat and provides more than enough extra support through her ability and Elven Light.

Elrond is in a way the MVP of the decks as he is not only the Father of three of the other heroes but he plays a pivotal role in the decks. He boosts the healing from Lembas and Warden of Healing and allows you to easily clear the board of healing in most situations with just one or two Wardens. He can pay for all the various allies as well as the ones and with Vilya can even help pay for attachments or events as well. He primarily is used for questing but makes a fantastic backup defender with a copy of Miruvor or Unexpected Courage attached. Finally with Vilya attached and with a Stargazer in play he can play whatever card you want from the top 5 cards of your deck for free. This combined with Arwen's resource acceleration and card draw via Elven Light can allow this deck to play powerful and expensive cards very quickly. Early game it can be a bit hard deciding between using Elrond to quest or to use Vilya but honestly without Stargazer guaranteeing what card you will see I usually hold off on using Vilya until or unless I already have sentinel set up on Elrohir and have plenty of questing power in play and don't really need Elrond's 3 because I already have more than enough. Once it is safe to use Vilya without much setup or once you have a Stargazer in play it is extremely powerful.

Glorfindel finishes up this line-up for several key reasons. First off his low threat cost puts this deck at 27 starting threat which is well below the other decks 32 starting threat. This is fantastic as you want enemies engaging the other deck rather than this one as often as possible. The Grey Company is the combat deck after all and is specifically designed with combat as its main priority. Secondly Asfaloth is just too good for quests that are high on locations and without it in two player you can often get shut down by location lock. No Asfaloth would lead to many losses for these decks... Lastly Glorfindel is a great hero and not only has 3 but also has 3 which is often still relevant with LoV attached. Glorfindel usually helps out ranged allies across the board with any enemies that wind up engaged with Line of the Half-Elven. A Rivendell Blade on him in certain situations can be extremely handy but the majority of the time they are better suited on Elladan and ranged allies focused purely on combat. Glorfindel is primarily used to quest even if you do not have LoV as you can usually offset the threat gain later in the game anyway and his 3 is essential.

Some of the key cards in this deck are:

• Galadriel's Handmaiden, The Galahadrim's Greeting and Elrond's Counsel are the various threat reduction cards that allow this deck to keep both at a safe level. The Handmaiden and Greeting can both be used on the combat deck as well and are in fact primarily used on the other deck (unless perhaps you don't have LoV and have had to raise this decks threat substantially because of this) and Counsel provides the threat reduction for this deck. The Handmaiden is a fantastic ally and although it doesn't have 2 like Sailor of Lune it has an unconditional 2 which is very nice for just 2 resources. Any of these cards can be retrieved for extra threat reduction via the single copy of Dwarven Tomb if necessary.
• Imladris Stargazer and Vilya like I mentioned are a fantastic combo and can allow you to play many key cards for free. I won't get into this because everyone knows how great Vilya can be.
• Lembas and Miruvor as mentioned earlier are key to Elrohir defending multiple attacks whilst also using his resources to get cards into play. They are also great on Elrond for emergency defense and Miruvor is also great on Elladan to allow extra multiple attacks.
• Ranger Spikes keep enemies in staging and reduces their threat helping with both questing and also lowering pressure on Elrohir and his defensive duties early game by keeping an enemy from engaging and attacking. Ranger Spikes are incredibly powerful and even combo with other cards like Mighty Prowess (allowing you to kill the enemy in staging) and Aragorn himself who can allow you to engage the enemy and destroy it without it ever making an attack. Often it is not worth keeping the enemy in staging forever, especially not if it has archery or some other nasty continuous effect or if it has more than 2 or even simply if it will contribute to some nasty quest or treachery effect later in the game. Engaging an enemy ensnared in the spikes on an easier turn or during a lack of enemies and dispatching it safely is far more ideal than it engaging you on the same turn as several other enemies overwhelming you.
• To the Sea! is a great alternative to Vilya. Rather than playing cards for free it allows you to play expensive Noldor allies like Galdor, Gildor, Lindir or Galadriel for less resources by discarding a few cards. If the cards you are discarding are Elven Light, Lords of the Eldar or extra copies of unique cards even better! It can even be great just lowering allies like Sailor of Lune or Mithlond Sea-Watcher to 1 cost.
• Warden of Healing is the key to healing for the decks and at three copies and with all the card draw as well as card search such as Elven Light, Gather Information and even Send for Aid
• Lords of the Eldar is a backup to Elven Light at first glance and is a card you can discard early game without any setback at doing so to fuel Arwen's resource acceleration. You can then play it from your discard similar to Elven Light but instead of going back to your hand goes to the bottom of your deck. Its whopping +1 to all stats for all Noldor characters until the end of the round can be amazing and can provide both a large boost to questing and a large boost to combat for one turn. There are quite a few Noldor allies and heroes in the decks on purpose and this boost can be far more powerful than it appears at first. You can get a willpower boost up to say 8 or 9 from this effect as well as boosting Elrohir's and boosting the of Elladan, Mithlond Sea-Watchers and any other Noldor characters that are sometimes used for offense such as Gildor or Galdor.
• Sailor of Lune is an interesting ally and provides some defense against direct damage and ally hate from the encounter deck. It is fairly easy to keep them at 2 and immune to damage during the quest phase (if committed to the quest) due to the abundance of events in this deck and the fact that Elven Light can be returned to hand and then rediscarded to Arwen's ability at any point.
• Dwarven Tomb serves as an extra copy of whichever spirit event you need an extra copy of or gets a copy of Handmaiden or Sailor of Lune back from your discard. It can also get back a copy of Miruvor to allow Elrohir to defend against extra multiple attacks once again or in a desperate situation can be used to get back the card you had to discard to use Arwen's resource boost in an emergency.
• Galdor finally deserves a quick mention due to how insanely good he can be if you get him out early game. His ability allows you to draw a card whenever you discard a card (once a turn though) which means you can turn the whole Elven Light + Arwen engine into one that draws you two cards a turn instead.... Even without Elven Light whenever you discard to Arwen's effect or even to activate To the Sea you get to draw a card. This doesn't seem like much but in this particular deck this ability will net you at least several cards over the course of a game and potentially far more than that.
• Lindir deserves a quick mention if Galdor does because he may not be quite as good but he also has an ability that can work extremely well in these decks. Lindir lets you draw cards until you have 3 cards in your hand when he enters play. In combination with To the Sea! you can discard cards to play him for a single resource and potentially draw 3 new cards as well! Even if he only draws you 2 cards or even just 1 he is still replacing himself and also has some nice stats of his own.

Well that about wraps it up! Feel free to leave comments or feedback if you try these decks out or just think any card would work well with them or do a better job than an existing card. I have spent a ludicrous amount of time sculpting and perfecting these decks over time and as new cards have been released over the two years or so I will be hesitant to make any actual changes but always appreciate constructive criticism and love to find out what cards other people would change if they were running similar decks. Similarly even if you just try these decks out let me know how you go always love to hear other people enjoying them!