This deck had a 20% winrate against Return to Mirkwood, which is good enough IMO. This quest is on a level with Escape from Dol Guldur, made especially harder going solo. You threat out very fast in this quest so low starting threat and threat reduction in the form of Elfhelm, Galadhrim's Greeting, and Gandalf are essential. The goal of this deck is to win fast, not to stick around and fight. Get out of Mirkwood! Eowyn is a beast, especially if outfitted with Celebrian's Stone. Escort from Edoras and West Road Traveler are your most important allies for their willpower cost efficiency. Almost every ally in the deck is a Rohan ally, including Snowbourn Scout, who is useful as a chud blocker, but is also useful for receiving a willpower buff from Astonishing Speed. With that spell, my highest questing willpower strength was 19! Recur Escort from Edoras with Stand and Fight, and draw 2 off of his discard with Valiant Sacrifice. If a beastly, impossible to defeat enemy is drawn, it could spell disaster. So towards the end of my playthroughs of this quest, I learned to keep Gandalf in hand to deal with those enemies, only using his threat reduction at the last second if I was about to threat out and had no other choice. I rarely drew Ancient Mathom even though it's 3x and a very reliable draw card. Sometimes it's best to use Riddermark's Finest's ability to discard and place 2 progress tokens on a location, if its quest value is lower than its threat, or to just generally help shred locations which is necessary to rush through the scenario. A Test of Will is the best cancel in the game at this moment (even better than Eleanor because it does not require drawing a new card). Shadow of the Past is an excellent card to put a safe harmless location back on top of the encounter deck, giving you a safe round and questing certainty. The encounter card that discards 10 cards off your deck is actually a blessing for a Spirit deck that runs Dwarven Tomb and Stand and Fight, so don't cancel that encounter card when it flips. I found that I did not need the event that cancels shadow effects because the game designers showed mercy in that arena.
Hero-wise, Eowyn is a questing beast, and Eleanor is essential to stop the worst treacheries (like the one that raises your threat by 8). Theodred was a eureka pick because his starting threat is low, he gives immediate access to the leadership cards, accelerates resources with his ability, and has the Rohan trait.
In all, it was fun to play against this deadly scenario. I learned a lot on how to optimally play the game, and saw new levels of depths in this game. This is the scenario that pulled me over the edge into full fandom for this game. One last comment: drawing Addercop at any time in the first half or so of the scenario will be an automatic loss. There is just only so much you can do playing 1H progression, and dealing with an 8 strength attacker with 4 armor and 9 hit points is just not something a Spirit deck can handle. So just tap out when that happens. Or remove leave just 1 copy of Addercop from the deck - seems like a reasonable balance adjustment for 1H solo progression.
you are right! Return to mirkwood is scenario for fast play. I will try this deck someday