“Men once dwelt here, ages ago; but none remain now. They became an evil people, as legends tell, for they fell under the shadow of Angmar. But all were destroyed in the war that brought the North Kingdom to its end. But that is now so long ago that the hills have forgotten them, though a shadow still lies on the land.”

–J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Your desperate search for Iárion has led you from the Goblin dungeons of Mount Gram, across the perilous troll-fells, and into the ancient lands once inhabited by the men of Rhudaur before they fell under the shadow of Angmar. Although evil lies both before and behind you, the ruined keep that you have found may well hold some clue to the fate of your friend. Join Amarthíul and battle Undead spirits in The Treachery of Rhudaur, the fourth Adventure Pack in the Angmar Awakened cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, now available online through our webstore and at your local United States retailer!

The servants of Sauron may hide within this ruined keep at the heart of Rhudaur, but the chance to discover vital information is worth braving its crumbling hallways and mouldering catacombs. Now, you can search the ruins for clues with a new Noldor hero, Erestor (The Treachery of Rhudaur, 84), who features a powerful, innovative ability. For more insight into the decks you can build with Erestor and The Treachery of Rhudaur, here’s developer Matt Newman.

Discarded Legacy

Greetings, The Lord of the Rings players!

Today I’m here to share with you a fun deck concept based around the Noldor-themed cards in the Angmar Awakened cycle, and The Treachery of Rhudaur Adventure Pack in particular. This deck focuses on discarding cards from your hand to power all kinds of effects, and requires only one copy of the Core Set. The end goal is to create a few powerhouse characters who can handle both questing and combat. Once your ideal fellowship has been created, your wealth of cards can be discarded to speed through locations and deal with waves of enemies with relative ease.

Deck Created with CardGameDB.com The Lord of the Rings Deckbuilder

Total Cards: (65)

Hero: (3) Starting Threat: 28

1x Erestor (The Treachery of Rhudaur)

1x Legolas (Core Set)

1x Eowyn (Core Set)

Ally: (25)

3x Galadhrim Weaver (The Treachery of Rhudaur)

3x Elven Jeweler (Escape from Mount Gram)

3x Trollshaw Scout (Foundations of Stone)

3x Watcher of the Bruinen (The Watcher in the Water)

3x Silvan Refugee (The Drúadan Forest)

2x Galdor of the Havens (The Treachery of Rhudaur)

2x Arwen Undomiel (The Watcher in the Water)

2x Gildor Inglorion (The Hills of Emyn Muil)

2x Gleowine (Core Set)

2x Gandalf (Core Set)

Attachment: (18)

2x Silver Harp (The Treachery of Rhudaur)

2x Elven Spear (The Treachery of Rhudaur)

2x Steed of Imladris (Across the Ettenmoors)

2x Elven Mail (The Three Trials)

2x Rivendell Blade (Road to Rivendell)

2x Light of Valinor (Foundations of Stone)

2x A Burning Brand (Conflict at the Carrock)

2x Cloak of Lórien (Celebrimbor's Secret)

2x Protector of Lorien (Core Set)

Event: (22)

3x Stand and Fight (Core Set)

2x Fair and Perilous (Across the Ettenmoors)

2x Feint (Core Set)

2x Hands Upon the Bow (Shadow and Flame)

2x A Test of Will (Core Set)

2x Children of the Sea (The Blood of Gondor)

2x Elrond's Counsel (The Watcher in the Water)

2x Will of the West (Core Set)

2x Daeron's Runes (Foundations of Stone)

2x A Good Harvest (The Steward's Fear)

1x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)

This sixty-five-card deck contains many of the new cards in The Treachery of Rhudaur Adventure Pack. Erestor is, of course, the star of the show. His ability to draw three additional cards every turn supplies you with the card draw you need to take advantage of the Noldor discard strategy. Sixty-five cards is large for a player deck in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, but with Erestor’s ability to churn through your deck looking for just the right cards, you’ll barely notice the difference. Unfortunately, thanks to Erestor’s Forced effect, many other great card draw effects, such as Ancient Mathom and Peace and Thought, become less useful to you, since you can’t hold onto the cards you draw.

What really makes the deck shine is the Silver Harp. This card allows you to return a card discarded from your hand back to your hand once each turn, creating an engine that fuels a lot of your other card effects. Be sure to drop the very first Silver Harp you find on Éowyn—it makes the deck flow much better! If you draw a second one, you can attach it to Éowyn, allowing you to use its ability twice per turn, or discard it and save Éowyn’s other Restricted slot for a Steed of Imladris.

Playing Discarded Legacy

I won’t sugar-coat it—your first turn with this deck might be a little rough. Because you are playing with three spheres and Erestor can’t hold onto any cards you start with, your massive ten card starting hand is likely going to contain a lot of duds. But you have a few things that can help. If you start with A Good Harvest, you can use it to play any of the two-cost cards in your starting hand, most importantly the Silver Harp. A first turn Silvan Refugee, Protector of Lórien, Light of Valinor, or Rivendell Blade can also be very useful. Since Elven Spear is free, you can drop as many of those as you draw from your opening hand, as well. Finally, you can play as many Elven Jewelers as you draw by simply discarding other cards. With any luck, you’ll have a fairly decent opening turn.

The most important thing when playing with Erestor is to remember that your excess cards are essentially garbage at the end of your turn, so be liberal when choosing to discard them. There are a lot of effects you can trigger by discarding cards. Right off the bat, you can discard one card every turn to give Éowyn a heightened willpower. If you get an early Protector of Lórien and place it on Erestor, you can discard up to three cards every turn to boost his willpower or defense. Drop an Elven Spear on Legolas and use it in conjunction with Hands Upon the Bow to completely destroy a powerful enemy in the staging area. Location-locked? No worries! Drop a Steed of Imladris on Erestor or Éowyn and use it to clear the location faster. Remember: use them or lose them!

This deck contains a few other tricks you can use to mitigate the loss of your cards. The most important one is Will of the West to keep you from being caught without a deck during a particularly long game. Another trick is using Galadhrim Weaver to cycle important cards you’ve discarded back into your deck. For example, let’s say you draw A Test of Will and end up not revealing any treachery cards that turn. When you discard the cards in your hand, leave A Test of Will on top (since you can choose the card order when the cards are simultaneously discarded). Next turn, shuffle A Test of Will back into your deck with Galadhrim Weaver. Stand and Fight and Dwarven Tomb can also bring important allies or events back once they’re discarded.

With enough time and luck, your eventual goal is to get a Watcher of the Bruinen and Trollshaw Scout into play and load them up with attachments. Many of the combat-focused attachments in this deck can be played on allies, and these two allies are especially suitable since they can attack or defend multiple times per turn by discarding cards. A Watcher of the Bruinen with a Cloak of Lórien and Elven Mail can defend with three to four defense multiple times per turn. A Trollshaw Scout with one or two Rivendell Blades can attack for two while ignoring some of an enemy’s defense. Combined with Legolas, this should be enough to handle many enemies, provided you have the cards to discard. If you need a stronger defender, Erestor with Cloak of Lórien, A Burning Brand, and Protector of Lórien can do great, or you can play Gildor Inglorian and give him Cloak of Lórien and A Burning Brand. The possibilities are extensive, which is helpful, since you never know what array of cards you’ll draw next turn.

Modifying Discarded Legacy

This is a decent framework for a deck, but there are many ways it can be modified and grown. If you have a second copy of the Core Set, you can throw in more copies of Will of the West, A Test of Will, and Dwarven Tomb. This deck has a heavy emphasis on theme, but there are many other cards that make for good picks—some of the Ents in the Lore sphere make good additions since they’re relatively cheap.

Another interesting modification is to trade Éowyn out for Galadriel. In addition to being a more thematic pick, Galadriel’s additional card draw can help if you find that you have too many discard card effects and not enough cards in your hand to trigger them. Additionally, you can use the Mirror of Galadriel in conjunction with the Silver Harp to search the top ten cards of your deck for any card, discard a card at random, and then get that card back. C-c-c-combo!

Last but not least, there are several cards that will definitely improve this deck in The Battle of Carn Dûm and The Dread Realm, which I’m excited for players to see. Be sure to revisit this deck with the new cards when those Adventure Packs arrive!

Thanks, Matt!

None Remain Now

Will you explore the tricks of the Noldor by discarding cards freely? Or will you venture into the depths of Rhudaur to face the darkness within? Enter the northern realms of Middle-earth and survive the evil that haunts this mansion in The Treachery of Rhudaur, now available at your local United States retailer!