So, Attack of Dol Guldur. The 2017 GenCon/Fellowship event quest, GenCon 2017 having occurred in the middle of the Haradrim cycle. I’ve written about this quest before since I played it at a Fellowship event and some months later beat it. So I have an easy time figuring out what I should be doing, but it’s still very difficult.
As with Siege of Annuminas, doing the quest in Epic Multiplayer would be cool, but not particularly practical for recording purposes.
So the main things I have to bear in mind are that making good quest progress is paramount, and a lot of things are far more manageable if I can stay low threat and control enemy engagements. Of course if I’m not immediately engaging enemies that means more threat in the staging area which makes the questing harder again, and of course I also need to be able to deal with the very strong enemies when I do engage them. Location control is helpful but limited by the mechanics of the quest, so effects to target a single location with enough progress to explore it all at once is far more significant than effects like Northern Tracker which place progress more gradually. The timing of GenCon in 2017 means that my progression-style card pool goes up to Beneath the Sands or Black Serpent (I believe Black Serpent was also at GenCon).
The Power that Dwelt There
Heroes:
Erkenbrand
Galadriel
Glorfindel (Sp)
Allies (17):
Errand-rider x3
Naith Guide x3
Woodland Courier x3
Galadhrim Weaver x3
Galadriel’s Handmaiden x3
Arwen Undomiel x2
Attachments (22):
Nenya x3
Steward of Gondor x3
Light of Valinor x3
Mirror of Galadriel x3
Unexpected Courage x3
Hithlain x3
Blood of Numenor x2
Armoured Destrier x2
Events (11):
Campfire Tales x3
A Test of Will x3
Elrond’s Counsel x3
The Galadhrim’s Greeting x2
Thoughts: Since I do need to be able to handle combat, I have to have a strong defender, and Erkenbrand is my choice here. I feel like being able to cancel shadow effects may be significant as well as just having high defence. Galadriel is a very natural choice for this quest, because she can provide strong questing power through Nenya but also her threat reduction helps with managing engagements as I mentioned and of course good card draw is always helpful for difficult quests like this. Glorfindel ticks three relevant boxes by being low threat, good willpower and also helping with my location control by giving me full power Asfaloth.
Now in the selection of allies I should note that all the 1 HP Silvans are vulnerable to The Necromancer’s Rage and therefore perhaps questionable choices, but it worked out. The reason I went for a bunch of Silvans was because I’ve got Hithlain for some good targeted location control. That said, their enters play abilities are all useful – Naith Guides mean more hero willpower or less Glorfindel threat, threat reduction is significant in general, Woodland Couriers are additional location control, and Galadhrim Weavers can recover things discarded by encounter card effects or (more likely) the Mirror of Galadriel. Aside from the Silvans we have Errand-riders to redistribute resources to wherever I need them and Arwen to strengthen Erkenbrand as a defender.
In attachments, Nenya is important for willpower obviously. Steward of Gondor is actually a key component of Erkenbrand’s defensive gear, since it synergises with both Gondorian Shield and Blood of Numenor (and additional resources can be moved by Errand-riders). Armoured Destriers of course are also for Erkenbrand. Then we have Light of Valinor for Glorfindel, Unexpected Courages can go all over the place, the Mirror to hopefully find other key cards in a timely fashion and Hithlain as noted for quick targeted location control.
The events comprise cancellation, a bit more card draw and threat reduction.
The Valour of the Elven People
Heroes:
Eowyn (Ta)
Argalad
Haldir of Lorien
Allies (15):
Master of the Forge x3
Warden of Healing x3
Mirkwood Explorer x3
Galadhrim Minstrel x3
Galadhon Archer x3
Attachments (20):
Asfaloth x3
Lembas x3
Secret Vigil x3
Gondorian Shield x3
Bow of the Galadhrim x3
Rivendell Blade x3
Dagger of Westernesse x2
Events (15):
Daeron’s Runes x3
Secret Paths x3
The Evening Star x3
Feint x3
Hands Upon the Bow x3
Thoughts: One of my first thoughts regarding deckbuilding for this quest was that if I’m going for a strategy where I stay low threat and control my engagements, Haldir fits in incredibly well, because controlling engagements means I can avoid engagements with the deck he’s in, and also he can snipe enemies out of the staging area if I want to avoid standard combat. Argalad also ties into that strategy since he can negate threat in the staging area to help me quest past enemies I may not be engaging, and the direct damage makes Haldir’s job easier. Finally Eowyn provides high willpower for very little threat, and also serves as a potential emergency button in the event this deck does end up engaged with an enemy.
For allies, we have a couple more Silvans to work with Hithlain some more – though also picking out events with the Minstrels can be good targeted draw and the direct damage from the Archers makes it easier to kill enemies through any means (regular combat, Haldir, Argalad or Hands Upon the Bow). Wardens of Healing are of course a standard choice. Masters of the Forge are significant since I want to get weapons and armour quickly, to say nothing of the other attachments which are all very useful. And Mirkwood Explorers offer another means of targeted location control given a little time to build up progress.
For attachments, I already mentioned Asfaloth as part of my location control efforts and Gondorian Shields to power up Erkenbrand as a defender. Lembas is also most likely for Erkenbrand to get more defensive actions and also counteract damage he may take either from defending or from triggering his ability to cancel shadow effects. Secret Vigils are more threat reduction, and they fit in very well given I already have in mind the possibility of sometimes leaving enemies alive in the staging area, controlling my combat experience and sniping them with Haldir. Speaking of Haldir, the weapon of choice for him is of course the Bow of the Galadhrim, but controlling my threat means Daggers of Westernesse should be equally good most of the time, and likewise Rivendell Blades since most enemies have at least 2 defence. A further advantage of the Bows and the Blades is that they can also be used by Galadhon Archers. Argalad can take Bows or Daggers but has less use for Blades since they don’t help with his ability.
In events, Daeron’s Runes of course is an ever-present choice, as is Feint. Hands Upon the Bow is another way of both controlling engagements and removing threat from the staging area while questing. And then we have Secret Paths to further cancel threat in the staging area if my willpower isn’t quite up to it earlier on (and particularly since there’s a couple of locations which can scale their threat to fairly high levels); and Evening Star to add to all my other targeted location control options.
https://ringsdb.com/fellowship/view/11888/thelineunbroken-attackondolguldur
https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/22561/thelineunbroken-attackondolguldurdeck1-1.0
https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/22562/thelineunbroken-attackondolguldurdeck2-1.0
Warden of Arnor 