Cirdan's crew (Minimum Purchase: Dream-Chaser) 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

I'm currently trying a lot of different deckbuilding challenges and after a lot of games in progression style, now I've decided to try "Minimum Purchase" challenge.

This is the deck I've built using only cards from one (old) Core Set and Dream-chaser Hero expansion and is designed first and foremost to be played through Dream-chaser campaign. As for now, I've playtested it in first 3 quests (Voyage across Belegaer, Fate of Numenor and Raid on the Grey Havens) and I'm more than happy with the results. These quests cover all the themes and challenges from the whole cycle (sailing, exploration, swarming corsairs, focus on locations) quite well and while undoubtedly I can have some problems later on - it isn't an easy cycle at all - I hope that I'll be able to finish the full campaign without switching any 1 card.

Description

If it isn't obvious from the first sight, it is Narya deck. While I have to confess, that initially I didn't consider Círdan the Shipwright and his ring too powerful, after testing them in several decks containing strong allies (Dale archetype, for example) I've became really fond of them. This isn't the power level that I would compare with Elrond and Vilya, but it can be suprisingly strong in right environment.

Dream-chaser quests are quite varied, but when I was trying to figure out some common features, I'd came into conclusion that most of them need really fast start (turtling is really hard in most of them). Happily, in this cycle we've got one of the best heroes in the game - Denethor. While two resources at the start of the game may not seem too flashy, the first few turns are most often absolutely crucial and being able to play Steward of Gondor t1 or put some strong allies like Faramir or Knight of the White Tower early gives a great start. What is more, Denethor is quite a good defender and while he isn't as strong as Beregond or Dáin Ironfoot, in this cycle enemies - apart from bosses - aren't THAT huge; no trolls, giants, nazguls etc. As for third hero, I didn't want to add anyone from or sphere since tri-sphere decks struggle with playing high cost allies, which are crucial for Narya deck. Initially I just put Éowyn since she is still one of the best heroes in the game, but ultimately I've decided to switch to Lanwyn since she is less played, has cool synergy with Gavin from campaign pool, and with Eowyn I wouldn't have even a single hero with 3 attack. All other available heroes had their pros and cons (maybe besides Elfhelm, really cool hero, but without any support in this challenge since there are almost no mounts in Core Set and Dream-chaser cycle), but I've a feeling that it's way more important to be able to play more expensive cards.

From the Core Set, I've just took most good cards and it gave me half of the deck already. The only cards that didn't make the cut, but were strongly considered, were Will of the West (as Cirdan deck can run out of cards eventually), For Gondor! and Ever Vigilant (as they synergize with the "buffed allies" gameplan, but are just a little bit too expensive for their effects). Special shoutout for Stand and Fight, which has a really cool synergy with Cirdan - although I've cut the third copy eventually.

I had way more interesting choices, when deciding about cards from the cycle. Rhovanion Outriders were no-brainers, as they are on par with Northern Trackers and together provide very good location control package (supported by always great Snowbourn Scouts). Ceorl and Glorfindel are also great, as their built-in readying works really well with Narya. Actually Ceorl is probably a card that I should pack in 2 or even 3 copies, but even in such deck, I'm a little bit wary with putting more than 1x of non-essential uniques. Sam Gamgee was also a late addition, and while he obviously isn't that great without Frodo, he has solid stats anyway and using his ability -while rare - is just bonkers good in such deck. I'm still thinking, though, if I should find place for really solid Sailors of Lune.

As for attachments, they are pretty self-explanatory, although probably their numbers can be adjusted. Mariner's Compass isn't crucial in most games, but it can sometimes hide some troublesome location (and there are plenty of them in this cycle). On the other hand, Windfola is just a good card (+1 willpower for 1 resource is a bargain), but rarely a game-changer.

For events, I've decided to try Captain's Wisdom and it is really great, either on Denethor or (rarely, but still) Círdan the Shipwright. In first hand it gives even better start, later during the game most often it is discarded for Cirdan, but it proved to be better than I've expected. Elwing's Flight isn't really great, especially when played for the 1st time, but readying your characters is never really bad. 1 copy of Inspiring Presence though is probably an overkill and as for now I've never used it yet, but I really like its effect and I still hope that one day it will save me.

Strategy

I'll probably cover specific strategy used for all the scenarios played in game logs, but overall it's quite simple:

• most often hard mulligan for Steward of Gondor. If it doesn't show up, though, don't worry - with Denethor you have a solid start anyway. If it shows up, most often (in ~90% cases) it should go on Cirdan, but if you have a lot of expensive leadership cards and no Narya, it may be better call to play it asap on Denethor.
• Narya is a key card, BUT it isn't something you should play asap. During first turns Cirdan is going to quest anyway and it's more vital to play allies first.
• don't worry if you discard some nice ally because of Cirdan, Stand and Fight is here.
• Unexpected Courage is DEFINITELY a card for Cirdan. In less limited cardpool, Light of Valinor would be better (as on 99% cases you just want to both quest with Cirdan and trigger Narya), but here it is our only readying for him besides Elwing's Flight.
• cards that you shouldn't worry to discard: Glorfindel, Elwing's Flight, Dwarven Sellsword if you don't have Steward in play, Knight of the White Tower as well (also - if I understand it correctly - Stand and Fight bypasses his text), Captain's Wisdom if you HAVE Steward already, The Galadhrim's Greeting if threat isn't really a problem. Also shadow effects aren't mostly THAT bad in Dream-chaser, so I would call Hasty Stroke a little bit (just a little!) less useful than normally.
• you don't have a single strong attacker, but a lot of your allies have 2 attack natively and can be boosted.
• Gandalf bomb is always good, but it's even better, when you use Narya on him. Or when Sneak Attack doesn't appear, you can jump him in with Stand and Fight.
• when playing Dream-chaser campaign: choose Narelenya as your ship and boost it with additional defense. For Dream-chaser, I've chosen Ballista, but I think it's less important. Boost Galdor's Counsel asap (it can give you a huge boost e.g. during Raid on the Grey Havens); later on I'd consider boosting Calaerion, Black Key (burden), Ballista and/or Starla.

Have fun! Playing with such deckbuilding restriction is a challenge, but it is very satisfying!