The Three Hunters of Rohan 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Wow, I really screwed up. War Axe can't go on Eomer. Also, you apparently can't flip the contract while you have a captive hero? Put a big asterisk next to this one for now.

1. Overview

At its core, this is a Voltron-style [Forth, The Three Hunters!](/card/22049) deck with three of key synergies.

A. [Éomer](/card/07001) attacks an enemy in the staging area when he commits to the quest.
B. [Forth, The Three Hunters!](/card/22049) buffs based on the number of restricted attachments wielded by your heroes, therefore increasing Eomer's as you buff his .
C. [Fastred](/card/17081) uses his ability to send enemies back to the staging area, keeping you at net negative threat most turns, and enabling Eomer's attack once again.

2. Quest Log

So far, this deck has taken down the following quests: NM Passage Through Mirkwood: 1/1 attempt
NM Journey Along the Anduin: 1/1 attempt
NM Escape from Dol Guldur: 1/1 attempt
NM The Hunt for Gollum: 1/1 attempt
NM Conflict at the Carrock 1/1 attempt
The Oath: 1/1 attempt
The Caves of Nibin-Dum 1/1 attempt

3. Strategy

Getting Started

Begin the game with [The One Ring](/card/21001) attached to Eomer, with [Strength and Courage](/card/22033) in hand. Your goal is to have as many restricted attachments in your opener as possible.

Using the cost reduction from Forth, the Three Hunters, play attachments on your heroes. Your priority is to get at least 1attack-boosting attachment on Eomer - [Firefoot](/card/08004), [Spear of the Mark](/card/06137), and [War Axe](/card/22032) are great options. Likewise, you must supply Fastred with at least one piece of armor as quickly as possible. [Golden Shield](/card/145010) is exceptional, as are [Round Shield](/card/19118) and [Raiment of War](/card/12034). Besides [Windfola](/card/12116) and [Celebrían's Stone](/card/01027), we do not much care which attachments go on Eowyn. Ideally by the end of turn 1, each of your heroes will sport 2 restricted attachments - remember, The One Ring counts toward Eomer's limit. If each hero is carrying at least 2 restricted attachments during the refresh phase, you will flip the contract and "go off" and you will be in great shape. You want this to happen on turn 2 at the latest.

Riding Out

Once your contract is flipped, your heroes should be working with a significant amount of willpower, with Eowyn at ~6 and Eomer at ~3-4, not counting bonuses from [Windfola](/card/12116) or [Celebrían's Stone](/card/01027).

You will be questing with Eomer and Eowyn nearly every turn, activating Eomer's ability to chop down an enemy from the staging area, usually reducing the threat in the staging area by anywhere from 1-3.

During the encounter phase, you should attempt to engage no more than 1 enemy if possible. If Fastred is wielding the [Golden Shield](/card/145010) and one other attachment, he will be able to defend at 6 once per round, plus additional bonuses from attachments such as [Raiment of War](/card/12034) or [Round Shield](/card/19118). Ideally Fastred will defend, take 0-1 damage (not difficult against ordinary enemies), then activate his ability to lower your threat and push the enemy back into the staging area, leaving you at -1 threat for the round.

Cleaning Up

With your questing at ~11-14 per round and chopping through an enemy on the way, you should be able to clear a location every turn and add progress to the quest, all while keeping your threat even or negative each round (not counting doomed effects). From here, it's a matter of optimizing your attachments for the situation at hand, holding up [A Test of Will](/card/01050) for back-breaking treacheries, and charging ahead to victory. Remember to use the side-B ability on [Forth, The Three Hunters!](/card/22049) to heal damage from your heroes whenever necessary.

4. Card Choices

[Celebrían's Stone](/card/01027): If I owned an extra copy of this, I'd play 2x. Always goes on Eowyn.

[Firefoot](/card/08004), [Dagger of Westernesse](/card/141014), [Spear of the Mark](/card/06137), [War Axe](/card/22032), [Herugrim](/card/143010): These stack onto Eomer until he can't carry any more; place these on Eowyn/Fastred only if you are otherwise going to be unable to flip the contract.

[Golden Belt](/card/22060): You will place this depending on your needs for this quest. In a scenario with a low engagement cost, high-attack enemy, you will likely want to place extra armor on Fastred. Otherwise, this will usually go on Eomer.

[Raiment of War](/card/12034): A unique card in that it qualifies as 2 attachments for the purposes of flipping your contract. Place on Fastred or Eowyn, whichever you need to supply in order to flip. As you optimize your attachments later in the quest, Fastred will want at least one copy.

[Steed of Imladris](/card/10059): Usually a dud card because it can only be played on Fastred, who will be less likely to commit to the quest. Still, can be useful to fight through location lock in a scenario with a low number of enemies.

[Snowmane](/card/144010): Place this on Fastred, allowing you to commit ~3 more willpower to the quest, then pop back up to defend.

[Strength and Courage](/card/22033): You should almost never play this when you can use the resource to pay for a restricted attachment instead. However, the extra 1 (or 4) attack will sometimes make the difference in helping Eomer chop down a beefy enemy.

[Foe-hammer](/card/131015): Your only card draw. Trigger it whenever you get the chance.

[Unexpected Courage](/card/01057): The first copy always goes on Fastred. Taking an undefended attack in this deck is about as close to a death-sentence as this deck gets.

[Late Adventurer](/card/131017): You may use this to hold Eomer back on a quest if there are no enemies in the staging area. However, only do so if you are ahead on the board. This is probably the most situational card in the deck, and is a likely cut if I decide to make changes.

[Power of Orthanc](/card/07014): This deck is extremely soft to conditions which take a hero out of the fight - Sacked!, Caught in a Web, etc. seriously deplete your actions. If Fastred or Eomer is out of the fight, this deck will die very quickly.

[The Galadhrim's Greeting](/card/01046): In the midgame, you will often find Fastred and Eowyn stockpiling resources. This card is a great resource sink for Fastred, and will help keep your threat manageable if you haven't been able to trigger his ability often enough.

[We Are Not Idle](/card/04129): Simple deck-cycling. By functionally shrinking your deck, you are more likely to achieve critical mass on attachments a bit earlier.

5. Didn't Make The Cut

I tested a few versions of this deck, including one with [The King's Return] (/card/19147) and [Orcrist](/card/19058). But this deck doesn't really struggle with achieving insane attack values for Eomer, and felt a little on the "cute" side. I also ran two copies of [Wait no Longer](/card/17005), which worked okay. Ultimately, this deck wants to see enemies in the staging area, not engaged with you. Cut it in favor of [Late Adventurer](/card/131017).

6. How Did This Deck Beat Nightmare Escape From Dol Guldur in One Try?

Fastred was the prisoner. We equipped Eomer with weapons and Eowyn with Celebrian's Stone + a dagger. Eomer killed the enemy guarding the scroll objective, which Eowyn claimed. The second turn, we flipped the contract, cleared a Torture Chamber, and finished stage 1. Turn 3, we placed progress on stage 2, freeing Fastred. Turn 4, Eomer charged into the staging area, one-shotting the Nazgul of Dol Guldur. From there, it was pretty straightforward!

7. Is This a One Deck Contender?

Probably not. Though I haven't taken this deck up against NM Journey to Rhosgobel, I expect it to go VERY poorly. There simply isn't enough healing to seal the deal. Because of the lack of "bodies," I also expect this deck to fare badly against sailing quests, so much of the Dream-chase Cycle is probably a no-go. It's also going to be weak against any scenario with a boss that's immune to player card effects or a multiattack (The Lonely Mountain comes to mind). That said, I believe this to be a serious power deck, capable of taking down most quests with style.