An Avalanche in the Mountains 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

[Merry and Pippin's] coming was like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains - Gandalf, The Two Towers

Thematic deck designed to take on Road to Isengard (as a standalone scenario, not part of a campaign).

Treebeard is your MVP

Front and centre in this deck is Treebeard's ability to dig into his hitpoints for extra willpower. That's undeniably helpful for the extra servings of willpower we'll need to clear stage 3 as a solo non- deck. But it also allows us to always quest for exactly the right amount in stage 2 to avoid triggering Orthanc's forced effect while we let our Ent of Fangorn (just 1 unless you're lucky) and perhaps Arod get on with the business of tearing down Isengard.

To allow us to use Treebeard to maximum effect then, we're going to need some healing:

• Daughter of the Nimrodel: Her primary job is going to be healing Treebeard, but a bit of healing on your other heroes won't go amiss if you're trying to avoid the effects of Poisoned Vapour.
• Self Preservation: Slap on Treebeard, 2 healing a turn, bish bosh.
• Elrond: As well as healing all damage from Treebeard, an extra three willpower is invaluable in the final stages.
• Ent Draught: Beyond being a nice safety net to Treebeard's max HP, the Ent Draught pushes him into being able to take a single undefended attack from Saruman in the event he gets Grima as a shadow card.

The Hobbits are coming to Isengard!

Merry and Pippin aren't going to be performing at their "Three Hobbit heroes plus Frodo Baggins" best, but that doesn't mean they can't still work for their place.

Pippin's primarily acting as a fairly mediocre questing bot, but in a scenario that loves to make you discard, his smidge of card draw can help keep you ticking over. Given Treebeard's inability to take restricted attachments, he's also going to be your go-to hero to attach the Horn of Gondor and gather an extra willpower resource or two.

Merry pulls his weight a little harder, ideally both questing and biffing some orcs once you've got him Fast Hitch'd. This deck brings a sprinkling of attachments with Merry in mind:

• Fast Hitch: This deck has just enough willpower for the quest, so can't usually afford to leave a 2 hero waiting for combat.
• Dagger of Westernesse: 1 extra attack is nice, but against Snaga and (early on at least) Isengard Orc, the second bonus pushes Merry into one-shot range.
• Arod: Sometimes the 2 progress from the Ent of Fangorn isn't enough for a location, and sometimes you just want more ways to place progress without triggering Orthanc.

Honourable Mentions

• Aragorn is mostly going to be readying heroes to cope with the combat phase. A timely use of The Three Hunters can give you enough heroes to damage Saruman sufficiently on the same turn you clear stage 2.
• Gléowine and Gandalf both bring the card draw to make sure you've seen enough of your deck before Saruman starts hitting you with card-draw-hate.
• Gildor Inglorion brings the willpower this deck struggles for, as well as providing you with non-card-draw options to access the top of your deck. Elf-stone pays for him.
• Henamarth Riversong is invaluable in any deck that's trying to score exact amounts of willpower during questing.

What to Look for in a Starting Hand

• Self Preservation or Daughter of the Nimrodel get Treebeard rolling from the start. Elrond will do too, bringing less long-term healing, but making up for it with the willpower to cope with not having enough allies in your first few turns. If you've got no healing at all, consider a mulligan.
• An Elf-stone is great if you have a suitably busted ally to slot straight into play (Gandalf or Gildor Inglorion are best, both bringing some solid questing and card draw / deck manipulation to the table).
• You're going to have to bring Merry along on a good number of the quests, so a Fast Hitch to ensure he's available for combat too won't hurt.
• And finally Gléowine to bring you some early-game card draw to compensate for all the discarding the scenario throws at you.

Does it work?

When I constructed this deck, it was because I wanted to take on the the scenario with a canon trio of heroes, not because I thought this was an optimal line up. I've been pleasantly surprised though, with a 2/3 win ratio.

Came for the theme, stayed for the Treebeard mayhem - Me, 2021