Okay, I have to admit something. For the past couple of weeks I have been toying around with Elfhelm deck possibilities. None of them have stuck with me. There were some lists that bloated to 60+ cards that were ultimately reduced to the nifty 50 needed, but none of them ever felt right enough for me to hit the publish button. While my desire to build an Elfhelm deck remains strong (can’t wait for Burst Into Song), I decided I’d refer back to the community. RingsDB user Xikitins has provided a unique entry into the Elfhelm archetype that has a lot going for it.

Xikitins explains on the deck’s page that this deck was built for a LOTR: LCG event in his area in Spain. The deck is combat focused with the goal of leveraging Elfhelm‘s global boost to provide even more combat readiness. “Readiness,” in this case, is almost taken literally as Xikitins included two Heroes I haven’t seen hit the table in quite some time: The Noldor Brothers and Sons of Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir.

The general “instructions” for Mounts of The Lobby is quite straightforward: Load up Elladan and Elrohir with various attachments, including mounts, and reaping the rewards as the buffs begin to pile up. Armored Destrier, in addition to Steward of Gondor and Gondorian Shield turns Elrohir into a mighty 6 Defense defender with the ability to ready. On the other side of the coin, Elladan‘s attack increases to 5 with the simple inclusion of Firefoot.

Mounts of The Lobby ‘s ability to synergize is wonderful to behold. With very little effort, powerful combos of cards are set-up (see the above example with Elladan). If, for whatever reason, our Heroes can’t handle the heat, there are a few allies that can help lessen the burden. The one I’m quite excited to see in a deck-list is the ally version of Halbarad. While his stats are pretty good, his cost of 4 can be taxing on a deck that will probably be using resources to ready its Heroes, no matter how plentiful they are. Thankfully, Halbarad reduces his cost by the number of enemies engaged with you, and without the “minimum of 1” clause we’ve seen on similar cards, meaning he could potentially be free.

There are also a smattering of other cards that round out this deck’s ability to hold it’s own. The classic Sneak Attack + Gandalf combo is found in Xikitin’s list, granting the deck the ability to pick back up after running out of gas or taking out an enemy should they become overwhelming. If Gandalf isn’t available, Legolas can be snuck into play, providing extra combat strength and the ability to, like Gandalf, draw cards for the deck.

What is perhaps my favorite part of the deck is its ability to laugh at uniqueness clashes. If you come to the table and someone else is running the brothers, or at least one of them, then you can easily switch out for something else. Your deck will still be doing the same thing, bestowing a bounty of attachments on the Elves. They just won’t be directly in front of you. They will still trigger each others’ buffs and they will still reap the benefits from Elfhelm‘s ability. One of the Heroes featured in Xikitin’s sideboard for such an event is Sam Gamgee, so this deck gets even more points in my book.

Truly, you can see the other Heroes that can send this deck in diverging paths, assuming some other player has brought either of the Noldor Brothers. On the tactics front Legolas, Beregond, or Eomer make fine alternatives, pending a few tweaks. Should you need to switch out Elrohir then, in addition to Sam Gamgee, Heroes like Amarthiul, Denethor, and Erkenbrand can find a nice cozy home in this combat focused archetype.

I feel like this deck has a lot of Fellowship Potential, with the ability to partner with a variety of other archetypes. A Trap or Haldir deck particularly come to my attention as worthy partners. Any Questing deck will relish having a combat oriented deck to handle the onslaught of enemies.

What are your thoughts on Xikitin’s mix of Old/New Heroes? I, for one, see a list that I want to sleeve as soon as possible. Check out the list below, click the link for his own insight, and, as always… Thanks for reading!

-The Secondhand Took

Mounts of The Lobby

Main Deck

Hero (3)

Elfhelm (Temple of the Deceived)

Elladan (Road to Rivendell)

Elrohir (The Redhorn Gate)

Ally (21)

3x Dúnedain Hunter (The Lost Realm)

3x Envoy of Pelargir (Heirs of Númenor)

2x Erestor (The Long Dark)

2x Errand-rider (Heirs of Númenor)

1x Faramir (Core Set)

1x Fornost Bowman (The Dread Realm)

3x Gandalf (Core Set)

1x Halbarad (The Flame of the West)

3x Honour Guard (The Wastes of Eriador)

1x Legolas (The Treason of Saruman)

1x Treebeard (The Antlered Crown)

Attachment (21)

3x Armored Destrier (Temple of the Deceived)

1x Arod (The Treason of Saruman)

2x Dúnedain Signal (Return to Mirkwood)

3x Dúnedain Warning (Conflict at the Carrock)

2x Firefoot (The Dunland Trap)

2x Gondorian Shield (The Steward’s Fear)

1x Heir of Mardil (Celebrimbor’s Secret)

2x Rivendell Blade (Road to Rivendell)

1x Rivendell Bow (The Watcher in the Water)

3x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)

1x The Day’s Rising (The Antlered Crown)

Event (8)

3x Feint (Core Set)

2x Foe-hammer (Over Hill and Under Hill)

3x Sneak Attack (Core Set)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards

Cards up to Temple of the Deceived

Sideboard

Hero (2)

Halbarad (The Lost Realm)

Sam Gamgee (The Black Riders)

Ally (7)

1x Anborn (The Land of Shadow)

1x Bill the Pony (The Black Riders)

1x Déorwine (Temple of the Deceived)

1x Gimli (The Treason of Saruman)

3x Snowbourn Scout (Core Set)

Attachment (7)

1x Arod (The Treason of Saruman)

1x Celebrían’s Stone (Core Set)

1x Elven Mail (The Three Trials)

1x Gondorian Shield (The Steward’s Fear)

2x Mighty Prowess (The Drúadan Forest)

1x The Day’s Rising (The Antlered Crown)

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.