In classic, Secondhand Took fashion, I find myself at the 11th hour, trying desperately to get a Hero of the Month deck out before the actual month is over. This time I’m not too upset about that. This time, new cards have had the chance to arrive. I was laying the deck out in front of me, so that I could generate the list and begin writing, when I noticed a couple of cards seemed forced and out of place. I’m hoping that I’m not repeating that same mistake, but we shall see. Nevertheless, thanks to a certain new ally I see myself much happier with this version. Now if only I could get some time to test it out! 0_o

I digress. Here is the last deck featuring Boromir, April’s Hero of the Month! The deck right now is tentatively titled Warriors of Valor. I would like to think that when some new cards with the keyword of the same name come out, that this deck may get even more new toys but for now the deck will have to deal with what it’s been given. Teaming up with Boromir in this list is Mablung, Gondorian Ranger and leader of the rangers during the Battle of Pelennor fields. Together these two Heroes represent the Tactics portion of this deck. The other sphere represented in this deck is Leadership, and we can thank Halbarad for that.

This deck, despite its various edits, is geared towards combat and I would go further to say balanced between defending and attacking. Originally, I liked toying around with the idea of direct damage, and included several allies that went along with that style with some attachments. This lead to a deck with a heavy eagle influence that I just wasn’t liking. As I mentioned above, a certain new ally took me into a different direction and again, I’m happier with the result. Let’s delve into the allies, shall we?

This deck is mostly even in its distribution of card types. There are seventeen events, nineteen attachments, and fourteen allies. The ally that started the construction of this deck in the first place was the Dunedain Hunter a very new tactics ally that works very well with Mablung and Halbarad, especially if drawn on the first term. In this deck you will find three copies. He is a little squishy though, so he will be mostly doing attacking. For defense, I thought about including Defender of Rammas but still having direct damage on the brain I chose to add three copies of Gondorian Spearman instead. Though he is potentially just as squishy as the hunter, there are some attachments and events that can keep him alive a little easier. That and his direct damage, even if it leads to his downfall, just seemed more fun to me. Though I branched away from having several allies that engaged enemies, I still wanted a couple cards that could help keep the deck running since Halbarad truly shines while there’s an enemy in front of him. To that end I have put in two copies of Son of Arnor. He is a little expensive, hence having only two copies, but he can provide some extra attack and can drag enemies away from any other players on the table.

Normally, I like to keep each card type to one paragraph but I didn’t want to create too large a wall of text. The ally I to which I keep alluding is the Leadership ally, Gimli, from Treason of Saruman. Even though he comes in at an expensive cost of four resources, I really want to make sure I get him early on and have therefore put in all three copies. While I was looking at the deck and what I wanted it to accomplish I just kept going back to the card. His stats are very respectable (2 across the board and 3 hitpoints) and he has sentinel as well. His readying ability is especially nice, and since he can assist in questing as well he can do quite a bit of work in solo or multiplayer. Now that Gimli was included in the deck, I wanted to take it a step further. Though it will be explored in more depth when we get to attachments, I would like to add that I’ve included two copies of Bofur as well.

Since we are speaking of attachments, let’s move onto them. As I mentioned, there are nineteen attachments in this deck, and they all have various roles and characters to assist. Gondorian Shield and Spear of the Citadel come in at three copies a piece. Both will go on Boromir but they can also go on Mablung as well. The extra spears can go on the Spearman or Bofur if need be (assuming there aren’t other targets available with extra players). Gondorian Fire is meant for Mablung, whose resource generating ability is a match made in heaven. There are three copies of this attachment and so if Halbarad finds himself sitting around with resources and nothing to do then he can make great use of the card should we have extras in hand. Three copies of Steward of Gondor are included to provide valuable resources. In an ideal world, they will just go to Mablung and help him generate even more resources, becoming a fierce attacker. However it may most likely go to Halbarad to ensure our leadership cards can be played. I’m not too upset with this route either, even though there are only fifteen cards in the entire deck that are leadership. Steward can also give Halbarad the Gondor trait which this deck really likes to see, and not just with the Gondorian Shield. Now we still have two dwarves hanging out, with seemingly nothing to do. To make Gimli into a ferocious fighter I added two copies of Dwarrowdelf Axe. I would’ve liked to included a third, but considering they don’t work on any of my heroes, I kept it at two. To compensate for the lack of a third copy, I included two copies of Dwarven Axe. Of course these are meant for Gimli, and Bofur once he fetches the weapons we need, but in a worst case scenario where we don’t see any dwarves they can at least go on our Heroes. Lastly, there are three copies of Secret Vigil. These are mostly included to keep our threat low, since we have no other way of reducing Boromir’s threat raising ability.

Most of the seventeen events included in this list play with the Gondor trait. Those are Wealth of Gondor, Behind Strong Walls, Gondorian Discipline (all of which have three copies), and For Gondor (two copies). The six remaining events help round out the deck, each with a unique role that will hopefully allow the deck to adapt to a situation easier. The following events come in at two copies each. Feint can protect fellow players and manage enemies (potentially keeping Halbarad’s action advantage going) and is nearly similar in purpose to Quick Strike, which can also serve as a feint. Tighten our Belts is also included to give us valuable resources if we are falling behind, or a boost to our Gondorian Fires if we need it in the late game.

As I mentioned in the beginning, I’m very happy with where this deck ended up. It isn’t some stalwart defender yet it can survive a hit or two quite easily. That being said it can dish out quite a bit of damage once it gets going. I didn’t want the deck to be too linear and thankfully the deck can quest for a decent amount given it’s tactics oriented play-style. In moments devoid of enemies, Halbarad, Gimli, and Bofur can all commit to the quest lending six willpower and can even go up to seven if you add Boromir to the mix.

Nevertheless, I’m always interested to hear what others may have to say. For the complete list (as I think I left one or two cards out of the article) check below! Have a good night everyone.

-The Secondhand Took

Deck: Warriors of Valor

Total Cards: (50)

Hero: (3)

1x Mablung (The Nin-in-Eilph)

1x Boromir (The Dead Marshes)

1x Halbarad (The Lost Realm)

Ally: (14)

2x Bofur (Over Hill and Under Hill)

3x Gondorian Spearman (Core Set)

1x Landroval (A Journey to Rhosgobel)

3x Gimli (The Treason of Saruman)

2x Son of Arnor (Core Set)

3x Dunedain Hunter (The Lost Realm)

Attachment: (19)

2x Dwarrowdelf Axe (Khazad-dum)

2x Dwarven Axe (Core Set)

3x Gondorian Fire (Assault on Osgiliath)

3x Gondorian Shield (The Steward’s Fear)

3x Secret Vigil (The Lost Realm)

3x Spear of the Citadel (Heirs of Numenor)

3x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)

Event: (17)

3x Behind Strong Walls (Heirs of Numenor)

2x Feint (Core Set)

3x Gondorian Discipline (Encounter at Amon Dîn)

2x Quick Strike (Core Set)

2x For Gondor! (Core Set)

2x Tighten Our Belts (The Nin-in-Eilph)

3x Wealth of Gondor (Heirs of Numenor)

Side Quest: (0)