August Monthly SBB Tournament Report

As with the last one, the following narrative has been minimally edited.

Round 1: Snow Angel over Potion Master, Horseman, and Krampus. Start with Lonely prince. I lose the first 3 fights as I can’t find a 2-cost princess, but on 3.0 I get a free Brave Princess, and buy a Peep from the shop. I pick up a couple of Spell Weavers and my princess finishes, giving me Sting. On L4, I get a free Godmother, with a second in the shop, and my board of Sting, 2x Peep, Good Spellweaver, 2x Godmother carries me easily through level 4 and 5 (while I triple Spell Weaver for a Ring of Thunder and Peep for a Crystal Ball). At level 5 I grab a Lance, and have a golden poly slay into Echowood (which I never use), a Maskerade Ball give me a Good Boy to proc Lance, and I kiss Lance into a gold Good Boy on 5.2. Then I get a free Princess Pea at Level 6, and close out the game vs FireOak’s Dwarves and a Horde Dragon also on Good Boy - at one point using Herc in my slot 4 flex spot to get a Phoenix Feather.








Round 2:Snow Angel over Cursed King, Peter Pants, and Jack’s Giant. Start with Lonely Prince again, this time over 2x Cutpurse, so less of a choice than the previous game, where I passed on a Dragon and Crafty. Prince 2, roll, and fortunately lock a Cinderella to stabilize on 2.2 this time. I Mixawhiz my free Sleeping Princess, and take one look for a Kiss, but just find a pair. Cindy gives me Bounty Board, and I start building into Slay, maybe? That plan works out as I get Mermaids into Lance, and some Babbas. Brave Princess eventually gets me a Treasure Map, where I take World Tree (with a Court Wizard in hand and a free Baby Bear on board) over Sword and Table. I get a free Bearstein on 6.0, but some unfortunate fight RNG involving my slot 1 getting killed right off, and a Wombat summoning a Medusa, knocks me out before I can finish making my comp (having locked a Good Boy, and landed an Echowood in my hand). This is a result of having my weak 2x Riverwish back row die to the opponents back row repeatedly, and taking 5-7 damage a round through level 4 & 5.








Round 3: Wonder Waddle over Catter, Pants, Horde Dragon. Nothing to complain about with hero selection today. I also get to start with Blind Mouse (and decline to lock Shrink Spell + medium stuff). Turn 2 is buy Chicken, free roll, sell for 2nd mouse, taking Fools Gold over Forking Rod. Noice. I still manage to lose a bunch at level 3, since the shops are just OK. After a brief dalliance with Bad Moon, I find a Crystal Ball (replacing Fools Gold) and two Spell Weavers and I move over into Aeon Ball. Map + Mice gets me Spear (over Wand of Wierding and Singing Sword) and that spear is enough to carry me until I hit the slaying Princess Pea and can’t quite get through enough to not die, despite my own Pea (as one of the supports gets sniped by a Lightning Dragon).








Round 4: Merlin, Bear, Pants, Skip. Actually a tough call. I actually spend too long thinking about it and get defaulted into Pants, the worst one. I start with an inverted Mim/Ogre Princess placement, and hope for the best. Despite never hitting Crystal Ball until the 8th treasure (on the final fight, with it held over since I was out of gold) I manage to parlay multiple Kisses & a gold Poly into a strong enough board to take 3rd, using a supported Soltek, and then a Juliet, with a Romeo, eventually kissing the soltek up to an Ashwood, and then an Oni King supporting some Ogres and Mummies.








Round 5: My luck runs out, and I get to pick one of Krampus, Galahad, Miri, Muerte. That is literally all D-tier or worse options. I go for the 45 health and cross my fingers. Turn 1 is Cinderella Free Roll, into lock for Roll the Dice (which gets me a Frog), and a roll to again lock for Mim+Cat, so at least I have a solid start with a L2 treasure on the way. Cat in front of mim gets me a bunch of ties against other cat/mim players, and I grab a speculative Romeo to flip the prince and head into L4. I never do get a Juliet, but a couple of Sporkos and a Friendly Spirit carry me through to get a gold poly slay on 5.1, which gives me a gold Pumpkin. At which point, I basically abandon having a hero power. Unfortunately, my Medusa/Sporko board doesn’t produce high enough quality Pumpkin fodder, and I die to the 4th place Ghost, for exacties again. Luckily, I still get 2nd, as Apoc was knocked from 12 to neg 3 - thanks +5 hp!








Round 6: In another abundance of choice, I can take Fates, Piper, or Fallen Angel (not Horseman). After some consideration, I go with Piper. My opening is locking a 3/3 chicken after rolling the dice and getting Cinderella. I then immediately burn the chicken to get +2 units with a Shink Spell, including a 3/3 Mouse. Follow up with a Fruit to get the discounted Unicorn, and it looks like I’m cosplaying Loki going into Level 3. I end up getting an early gold poly, which slays into Aurther, so he + Cindy carry me for a while while I continue finding Arthurs and other nice 4s. Once I’ve found 3 more Aurthers (at 4.2) I add a Sky Castle and continue to get more Royals. And by Royals I mean another 3 Aurthers. Fully exploiting the lack of pool limits, I’m quickly up to 3 golden Aurthers and continuing to deal chunks of damage and scale up. I have some trouble finding a Good Boy on 6, but I do poly into a gold Boom Hilda to go with my gold Sporko, and I have Gloves of Thieving, but in the end I can’t get past Princess Pea Slay in 3 tries. My 100/100 Arthurs just aren’t big enough.








Round 7: All I need is 7th place. Again. So, when offered Merlin, Grandmother, Horseman, Shadow, I go ahead and take the best early game hero. Which is Grandmother. Turn 1 I trade egg/attempted for glory with Spinzaku on Cursed King. 2.2 gives me Shureshot/Prince to get back on target. From there I continue to buy stats, kissing a slightly buff Water Wraith into a Friendly Spirit and picking up a Spellweaver and a Gingerbread Party and two Romeos, all for the future. I continue building up slowly, and buying combat spells to help stay alive long enough for someone to die off, with an eye to maybe taking a high slot, if things go well. I don’t find Juliet, but my board develops into Friendly Spirits in front of Supports, with a Quiver. As I reach Level 6, with 3 players out (including Spinzaku going out 8th when all they needed was a 7th to make Day 2 - ouch!), I pick up a Doombreath and lock a Good Boy, with a gold Spirit and a random Wombats providing power for now. I move into full Good Boy comp, but I leave the Doombreath/Sporko in 1 and 5 because everyone else seems to be going for a supports build too. As we hit top 3, I cut that and lean into Good Boys, Kidnapping an extra one from the Ghost, and eventually fall to a kissed familiar turning into a lightning dragon and wrecking me.






Day 2:


Round 1: All Ms: Merlin, Mask, Miri, Master (of Potions). I go with Mask over Potion Master.I have a nice start with Dragon into Wish for RTD getting me a Mouse, plus a Shureshot. Sadly there is a Skip in the lobby, who I play round 2, so on 3.0 I get a re-buy for heroes of: Potion Master, Grandmother, something dumb, and Morgan, which I take. I also get double poly slay into Book and Mermaid. I take a bunch of damage from Donkey players, and end up getting a Coin of Charon from Morgan on 4.0, The End brings me back to 22, but I lose the next fight as well, falling to 8 and then taking sky castle to go with my Mermaid and Bad Moon. That also leads me to taking Sad Drac over Pan’s Shadow, since I just need to get something going before I die. It doesn’t work, and I fall to 2. Fortunately, I get Skips Ghost, and my Mermaid pair gets me Horn, so now I just need to find some Babbas to go with my Feasting Dragons… Skip has a lightning dragon, and I die to his ghost.






Round 2: Fates, Midas, Pants, Loki. I should just take Loki, right? Better than Fates, barely. Not getting that extra unit in the early shops really cut down on the early medium-roll options for Fates. Loki, on the other hand, gives Shrink Spell into Poly + Mim + lock Egg. I run into a Unicorn, but then slay into Princess Wight, and consecutive Forbidden Fruit have me at the lowest life total, but with a full board on 2.2. I continue with the Dwarves, getting some extra gold off a pig and slowly improving my stats going into L4. Loki giveth, but Loki also Free Rolls away my 2nd and 3rd Doubly, and I start falling behind in stats. I combine Noble Steed and Princess to get Fools Gold, and follow up with a Ring of Meteors. When I hit 5 I get 2 tweedles to go with my two sporkos, but no Angrys yet. And then Potion Master kills me, because upgraded Herc + a quality board is way too much for a couple poor Tweedles. Skip got 8th again, though. Food for thought.






Round 3: Bot game. I take Fallen Angel over a spell hero (Merlin, PM, Sphinx). I start with Unicorn, lock for Sugar and Spice over Gruff or Bossy. Then instead of taking 2x crafty or some 1/1s, I go ahead and S&S again, and roll, ending up with a Gruff over 2x Lonely Prince. My shops continue to have a lot of neutrals, and even at 3.1 I still only have 2 good and 2 evil. And no summoners. I Poly into a Soltek, that eventually kisses into an Appletree. Cindy gives me Cookbook, and I triple a Frindly Spirit for a Ring of Rage, so I’m doing “OK”. My stags give me Crystal Ball instead of Treasure Map, and I go into 6 at +2 xp, hoping to find some direction or a Good Boy. The direction I find is Ashwood, but also a Princess Pea off For Glory, and I continue building in both directions as we hit the top 4. Unfortunately I don’t find enough of either direction, and end up muddling along until Mimic/Mirror/Good Boy ends the run.






Round 4:dropped for family obligations. My streak of always making Day 2 when I have time to play, and not being able to finish continues.

June Monthly SBB Tournament Report

The following are the notes I took during the event - this has not been edited, but could be entertaining regardless. #likecommentandsubscribe

Round 1: Fallen Angel over Geppetto and Share Bear, find tons of strong Frogs and Summons early, poly + Kiss into Womabats, but never find an XP spell or other scaling things. Poly into an Ashwood on 5.1, and go trees mostly successfully, Pan’s Shadow goes Puff PUff and gets 4th, Muerte finds a Good Boy and rules the lobby, outstatting me twice and leaving me in 3rd. Treasures were Fancy Pants, Fool’s Gold, Helm, Staff, (from two Nian triples), ending on Spear and SoFI for the last fight.


(Forgot to screenshot)


Round 2: My computer fritzes and I start the game in Round 2 with a random hero. Luckily its Charon. And I get a bunch of Wizard’s Familiars, including Kidnapping a golden one, so I’m able to stabilize at a high life total. I don’t find any spell treasures or Monster Books, but I’m strong enough to win a Wish fight at 5.0, and build into pumpkin/doombreath. Unfortunately Merlin is my finals opponent, and out-techs me with lucky Lightning Dragon hits on my Gold Pumpkin every time (or attacking it normally the one round I sneak it into slot 4), and a Soltek to protect his huge spellweavers from my Doombreaths. Our first fight I lose a 50/50, and 3 rounds later I finish in 2nd.



Round 3: The Fates over Cursed King. My first shop is Mim, Tiny, Bossy, Shrink Spell. I go with Bossy, and end up locking the shop every round until 3.2 even though I buy the 3rd bossy on 2.2. Bossy gives me Faire Tale, and I triple up a Mim as well, which (along with 2x Black Cat and some random dwarves like Doubly and Amy) gives me enough strength to win a Wish fight and get to L6 3 xp ahead. I also
poly into an Ashwood, so I go directly to Trees (with a slight detour to grab a Tweedle for immediate strength), Knighting that Ash and eventually finding enough pieces to beat Mirri, even though my treasures up to the last fight are Fairy Tale, Ring of Meteors (because I might have gone Dwarves), and Ring of Regeneration (which made me feel better, but I finished at life total > rounds, so it didn’t actually do anything). On the last fight I replaced one with Ivory Owl, and got 1st.



Round 4: Horde Dragon, Morgan, Pan’s Shadow, Charon.I take Morgan, since I’m doing well, and don’t need a high roll, just more 2nd and 3rd. I go into a standard double Mim, cat, peep start with a spell weaver, and I hit exactly 20 hp during level 4, grabbing Deck. At level 5 I find a The End to go back above 20, and add an Aeon to my board of double Fancy Pants Lady of the Lake. At level 6 it looks like I’m going Trees, with an early Ashwood, but Morgan gives me a 9th Book, and a Genes Wish knighthoods my Monster Book, so I pivot back into Mages. In the final 2, I lose a fight to an non-upgraded pumpkin, and it puts me at 3, giving me Mimic, which is enough to win the last one. 1st place again

(forgot to screenshot)

Round 5: Gep, Grann, Drac, Piper. I take Piper, again not needing to high roll. After a normal piper start, I’m taking some damage throughout the midgame while I grow a spell weaver and pick up a couple Sporkos and gold up a Poly. On 5.0 I slay into a Bearstein, but I’m on 9 health. I’m able to pick up some strong summons (2 Bears, Golden and Normal Flies), but just before 6.0 I run into double Lightning Dragon Slay w/ Drac’s Saber _and_ a piggomorph. So, I’m going to lose, clearly, but then the fight RNG is very bad, with Bearstein dying first, so I don’t even get a big Time Flies, and Piggo/Dragon hitting both Sporkos as well, so I don’t even have a ranged support to try and fight though the pile of medium stats (I have Eye of Ares and Ring of Rage). I manage to trade with some things, but the dragons grow _just_ enough from slay and saber to triple trade with my now ~10 atk bears, and I die in 5th place.



Round 6: Jack, Granny, Morgan, PM. Going with Morgan again to lock up Day 2 with 6 points needed. I have a Wizards Apprentice start, do normal early game things while accumulating two pollywogs for later golden 6-drop equity. I grab Sporkos and scam pieces, and eventually get Lance to proc, polly to slay, and take a bunch of damage from I don’t remember, but many golden supports and end up getting a gold Grumblegore, a L5, and a L6 treasure all as I hit level 6. I grab a Staff and an Owl to go with my SoFI, and start collecting pumpkins. Unfortunately I die shortly thereafter to Skip on dragon slay, where I miss the 33%er to have the second Jorm attack my Apple Tree after I hit the first one with Medusa, and my second pumpkin (the first obviously died to Dragon) doesn’t give me the scam I need to get through it. 5th place again.



Round 7: Just need 7th place. Fates, Horse, Evella, PM. Clearly we take the mistress of 2nd place, and go with Evella. I get a normal evella start with a cat and some level 3 evil ranged, pick up a Sporko on L4, and some casual XP. I eventually get lucky with a Poly and get an early Herc into Embiggening stone, wich is enough, in conjunction with a Dragon Slay Loki to clean out the lobby. I find a Soltek once we’re top 2, and that stuffs both Dragon attacks, letting my Doombreath kill both his Babbas, and leaving my trees to clean up easily for the win!



Day 2




Round 1: Fallen Angel over Geppetto and Mad Catter. Starting with an Egg over neutral dwarves against Piper. Safe. All good start, with a Frog and selling Egg for Stag ^ Romeo on 3.0. Lock for Wish on 3.2, but didn’t win. I don’t find a comp for a long time, and especially don’t find any treasures. I have kinda sorta some tree stuff going on when I hit 6, and find Pumpkin and Echowood (taking the first, but not the second), but no Ash and end up with a kinda bad scam board, and lose or win some close games before being crushed by double gold Bearstein from Piper (who won the lobby shortly thereafter). 4th place finish to start the day



Round 2: Gep, Evella, Pants, Skip. Taking Evella. Apparently I was in position to just play mono-Geppetto if I wanted. Beautiful start with Black Cat, lock Minotaur and roll. Which turned into buy 2nd cat and roll into Mim + Cutpurse. Just an ideal opening for Evella, and good enough to crack Apoc’s Egg T2. I add a spellweaver at 3.0, and then lose two in a row to the weaver getting attacked first among my back row. Then I pick up some additional ranged backline, and do some dragon stuff, but keep losing by inches until I eventually die in 7th with a newly acquired Radiant Prism (over Mirror Mirror and Excalibur, with a board + shop that did nothing with Mirror and 2x Time Flies in hand to go with Prism)








Round 3: Fates, Evella, Morgan, CT. Going with Fates - we aren’t quite at the point of needed 1st or bust. I get offered Minotarur, Cutpurse, Prince, Shugar and Spice round 1, so I’m on Cutpurse. Who then gets some slays, but again I lose literally every round through 4.0 and just die in 8th place.







Round 4: Bye & Drop so my wife could go play D&D - finish similar to my November performance, were I also made Day 2 and was out of it after 3 rounds.

SBB Pick Order for Level 2

 This is the comprehensive default pick order for 2-cost characters, assuming you are Grandmother. Other heroes might (will) adjust pick order, as detailed in their respective guides.

This list is based on the strategic goal of having the strongest board on 2.2, and in Level 3. Tactical considerations of not losing Round 1, or how good a particular shop is to lock, may dictate the actual decisions.

This list is a work in progress, and is subject to editing in the future.

Round 1 Happy Little Tree

Frog Prince

Cinder Ella

Mad Mim

Sherwood Shureshot

(Wizard's Familiar with a castable (or, on round 1, lockable) spell in shop)

Baby Dragon

Black Cat

(Minotaur if you have Black Cat)

Round 2 Happy Little Tree

Rainbow Unicorn

Wizard's Familiar

Lonely Prince

Golden Chicken

Free Roll before buying anything

Blind Mouse

Pollywoggle

Labrinth Minotaur

Humpty Dumpty

B-a-a-a-d Billy Gruff

Tiny

Baby Root

Bossy

Crafty

Kitty Cutpurse

Tier Lists for AGOT 2.0 Factions

Loyal cards:

Targarian - Dracarys, Danny, Plaza, Viserion, and a completely unique direction with Drogo

Greyjoy - Balon, Rise of the Kraken, plus good support in We Do Not Sow and the Warship

Baratheon - Red Keep, Consolidate Power, Bob, and Stannis, unique and strong

Stark - Winter is Coming. Grey Wind and Rob are incredible apart and together. Catlyn and Ice are also good.

Lannister - Tywin. Maester based draw. Supported by strong locations, and Cerci

Tyrell - Highgarden is amazing. The rest of the Loyals are passable, but expensive.

Martell - Gaston Grey. Aero Hotah. That's about it. It can be enough sometimes.

Night's Watch - Sam and his Ravens. A Meager Contribution and Take the Black. These could be strong, but the meta lacks non-uniques to exploit.

Non-Loyal cards:

Lannister - Tyrion, Jamie, Treachery, The Hound, Things I Do For Love. This is why Banner to the Lion is one of the most played agendas.

Baratheon - Melisandre and her kit (including the incredible Seen In Flames). Maester Cressen.

Greyjoy - 2 moderate cost stealth bodies, free setup warship, Lordsport Shipwright and other good curve filler. Risen from the Sea. This is a good solid kit to add.

Martel - Sunspear, Confinement, and Araine are all very strong. The cheap guys are better than average, which helps.

Tyrell - Margary is the big draw here. You also get 2 moderate cost Renown, and plenty of Intrigue icons.

Night's Watch - You can defend the Wall, or just splash for Maester Amon, Ghost, and some efficient Rangers.

Stark - Arya. Bran. The rest of the non-loyals aren't any better than what you could run in another faction.

Targarian - I guess you get some efficient uniques? Useful at the start of the game, when you might just want more 2-3 cost guys, but there is nothing here that pulls you to Targ.

One Deck to Rule Them All

After a bunch of playthroughs, I've settled on a version of my "Three Rings" deck that has been able to beat all* scenarios and all nightmare scenarios released to date, with a >33% win rate (usually 100%, but some of the harder quests have encounter and/or player draws that lose). Note that I stopped working on this just before the Grey Havens and the 3rd ring came out

*escape from dol gondur is excluded from this claim. I did manage to beat it once, but I'll need to play through it some more, and see if there is a slight modification that can improve my chances. Regardless, I'd have to play with the rule of "select which hero is the prisoner" rather than have it be random.

Decklist (with notes) - 51 cards.

The deck is 51 cards to allow one card to be removed before each scenario. In some cases, one of the Unique allies might not be usable. In many cases, there are no Condition attachments, so Power of Orthanc isn't needed. In other cases Nenya (Battle/Siege heavy quests), Flame of Anor (location heavy quests), or a Dareon's Runes (against Dunland enemies) might be removable.

This deck can be constructed from 2 core sets, and 1 of each expansion. Note that all unique cards (other than Vilya) are only 1x, just for fun.

Heroes (36 starting threat):
Gandalf
Elrond
Galadriel

Attachments (13):

For Gandalf:
Wizard Pipe
Gandalf's Staff

For Elrond:
3x Vilya
The Light of Valinor

For Galadriel:
Nenya

For Gandalf/Elrond, depending on need:
2x Unexpected Courage
2x Expert Treasure Hunter
A Burning Brand
Ring of Barahir

Events (18):
3x Elrond's Counsel
3x Hidden Cache
3x Daeron's Runes
2x Dwarven Tomb
2x Flame of Anor
A Test of Will
Hasty Stroke
Stand and Fight
Power of Orthanc
Will of the West

Allies (20):

Cheap:
3x Zigil Miner
2x Warden of Healing
2x Vassal of the Windlord
Henamarth Riversong
Arwen
Bilbo Baggins
The Riddermark's Finest

Expensive:
3x Northern Tracker
Faramir
Boromir
Treebeard
Gawahir
Gildor Inglorion
Beoren


If you don't have a second core set, you would have to replace one copy of the following three cards:
Northern Tracker, Unexpected Courage, and Dwarven Tomb

You can also replace the Northern Tracker and Dwarven Tomb with Elfhelm and an Asfaloth. I would make these replacements because Dwarven Tomb normally gets back and Elrond's Counsel for threat control, which Elfhelm can help with, while keeping the same number of 2 atk / 2 def / 3 hp characters. Asfaloth keeps the number of location control cards the same (needed for Journey to Rhosgobel to clear Rhosgobel before stage 2, as well as other location heavy scenarios / encounter draws).

Once the next set comes out, you can use one Shadowfax instead of the Unexpected Courage. Grim Resolve is another possible replacement.

The Hills of Emun Muil (2 player, Round 2, One Core Set)

The Hills are almost impossible to beat in Round 1, due to the need to actually see 20 VP worth of locations, and be able to put 18 progress on them. The most card efficient way to do this is to reveal 2x The Outer Ridge and 2x The East Wall of Rohan, for a total of 20 VP alongside Amon  Hen and Amon Lhaw. We'll be using Legolas again to blow up some Eastern Crows to help clear out locations.

Setup:
Add Amon Hen and Amon Lhaw to the staging area

Deck 1:
Legolas
Dunhere
Eleanor

Hand:
Blade of Gondolin
Northern Tracker
Stand and Fight
Stand and Fight
Strength Of Will
?

Deck 2:
Eowyn
Gloin
Theodred

Hand:
Steward of Gondor
Unexpected Courage
Northern Tracker
Sneak Attack
Snowbourn Scout
Snowbourn Scout


Round 1 Planning:
Draw ? and Sneak Attack
Attach Blade of Gondolin to Legolas
Attach Steward of Gondor to Eowyn, and exhaust it.
Attach Unexpected Courage to Legolas

Round 1 Quest:
Commit Dunhere, Eleanor, Eowyn (Deck 1 discards), Gloin, Theodred (resource to Eowyn) (10 Willpower)
Reveal 2x Eastern Crows, surging into 2x The Outer Ridge (10 total Threat)

Round 1 Travel
Travel to Amon Hen

Round 1 Engagement:
Both Crows engage, one on each deck

Round 1 Combat:
Both attacks go undefended (no shadow effects). Dunhere and Gloin each take 1 damage. Gloin gains a resource.

Legolas kills both crows, clearing Amon Hen, and adding the needed progress to the quest.

Round 1 Refresh:
Raise Threat to X and Y

Round 2 Resource/Planning:
Draw ? and ?
Exhaust Steward of Gondor (5 resources total)
Play Northern Tracker
Deck 1 Play Northern Tracker

Round 2 Quest:
Quest with 2x Northern Tracker (clearing 2x The Outer Ridge, Amon Lhaw at 2/5 progress), Gloin, Theodred (resource to self), Eowyn (Both decks discard), and Dunhere. (12 total Willpower)
Reveal 2x Eastern Crows, surging into 2x The East Wall of Rohan (12 total Threat)

Round 2 Travel:
Travel to Amon Lhaw, exhaust Eleanor to play Strength of Will (4/5 progress).

Round 2 Engagement:
Optionally engage 1 crow, and the second also engages Deck 2.

Round 2 Combat:
Sneak Attack x2 puts Snowbourn Scout x2 into play, clearing one Wall
Each scout blocks a crows, and dies due to a shadow effect boosting attack
Deck 1 plays 2x Stand and Fight to put the scouts back into play (clearing the other Wall)
Legolas attacks and kills a crow, putting the last 2 progress needed on Amon Lhaw

The Dead Marshes (Solo, Round 1)

The Dead Marshes fall, beaten in Round 1 by a single Core set (as released):

Heroes (30 Threat)
Legolas
Glorfindel
Gloin

Hand:
Blade of Gondolin
Protector of Lorien
Sneak Attack
Gandalf
Sneak Attack
?
Draw: ?

Setup: reveal Evil Storm (no effect)

Planning:
Play Blade of Gondolin on Legolas
Play Protector of Lorien on Glorfindel

Quest:
Play Sneak Attack to bring in Gandalf. Draw 3 cards, which are discarded to Protector of Lorien.
Commit Gandalf, Gloin, and Glorfindel to the quest (12 Willpower)

Reveal Eastern Crows, which surges into Despair (no effect).
Discard a 4th card to Protector of Lorien, since this takes place before the errata.
Place 12 progress on stage 1, completing it.

Escape test:
Exhaust no-one, fail the test, add 2 resources to Gollum

Engagement:
Wolf Rider engages

Combat:
Take Eastern Crows attack undefended. Gloin takes 1 damage (and gains 1 resource)
Sneak Attack to bring out Gandalf again, reducing Threat by 5.
Legolas dispatches the crows, adding three progress to Stage 2, and completing the quest.

Exhaust Gandalf for the final Escape test, discarding 2 cards that do not beat Gandalf's Willpower.

Final Score: 25 (Threat) + 1 (damage) + 0 (rounds) - 0 (VP) = 26!

How to beat Journey Down the Anduin in Round 1

The best solution I've come up with to this challenge is three players, and using a third Sneak Attack. For a single core set, it is relatively trivial to beat it solo in 2 rounds, using the same hero lineup and technique as Passage Through Mirkwood.

3 players, 2 core sets, 1 round:

Deck 1:
Legolas
Gimli
Thalin

Hand:
2x Blade of Gondolin
Horn of Gondor
2x Quick Strike
Blade Mastery

Draw: Veteran Axehand

Deck 2:
Aragorn
Theodred
Gloin

Hand:
3x Sneak Attack
2x Son of Anor
Gandalf

Draw: Steward of Gondor

Deck 3:
Eowyn
Dunhere
Eleanor

Hand:
Unexpected Courage
Stand and Fight
(other cards are irrelevant)

Staging: Reveal Hill Troll, Despair x2.

Planning:
Play Steward of Gondor on Eowyn & exhaust it
Play 2x Blade of Gondolin on Legolas
Play Horn of Gondor on Gimli
Play Unexpected Courage on Legolas (3 Spirit resources left on Eowyn)
Use Sneak Attack to put Gandalf into play, dealing 4 damage to the Hill Troll (5/9 HP remaining)
End of phase, return Gandalf to hand, Gimli gains a resource.

Quest:
Discard Son of Anor, Veteran Axehand, and an irrelevant card to boost Eowyn.
Use Stand and Fight to put Son of Anor into play, engaging the Hill Troll.

Commit Gimli, Thalin, Aragorn, Theoden (resource to Gimli), Gloin, Eowyn, and Dunhere to the quest (16 willpower), along with the Son of Anor.

Reveal 2x The Necromancer's Reach (Gimli gains a resource when the Son of Anor dies (total of 3), Gloin gains 2 resources, 14 total damage on heroes)
Reveal Goblin Sniper

Play 2x Sneak Attack to put Gandalf (deal 4 damage to Hill Troll, 1/9 HP remaining) and Son of Anor (engage Goblin Sniper) into play.

Play Blade Mastery to give Legolas +1 Attack
Play Quick Strike and have Legolas ranged attack the Hill Troll, defeating it and adding 4 progress to the quest.
Ready with Unexpected Courage
Play Quick Strike and have Legolas ranged attack the Goblin Sniper, defeating it and completing Stage 1.

Resolve the quest, adding 16 progress and completing stage 2.

Reveal 6 locations for the Forced effect on Stage 3, completing the quest!

How to beat Escape From Dol Guldur on Round 2

In this case, we will need to use 2 decks, but can still use only 1 core set worth of cards (and perfect draws). It might be possible to get a slightly better score by using smaller heroes - but less than 2 rounds is still insane!

Setup: Add 3 objectives to the staging area. Reveal 3 treacheries with no effect.

Deck 1 (29 Threat):
Legolas
Gimli (Held Prisoner)
Gloin

Opening Hand:
Blade of Gondolin
Sneak Attack
Son of Anor
Blade of Gondolin
Feint
For Gondor

Deck 2 (26 Threat):
Eowyn
Eleanor
Beravor

Opening Hand:
Unexpected Courage
Protector of Lorien
Henamarth Riversong
3 other cards

Round 1 Resource/Planning:
Each deck draws a card.
Attach Unexpected Courage to Legolas
Attach Blade of Gondolin to Legolas
Play Henamarth Riversong

Round 1 Quest:
Commit Eowyn (discard 1 card), Eleanor, Beravor, Henamarth, and Gloin (11 total willpower)
Reveal Tower Gate and Iron Shackles (2 total Threat)
Attach Gandalf's Map to Eowyn (26 Threat)
Make 9 progress, completing Stage 1.

Round 1 Travel:
Travel to Tower Gate. Each player puts a 1 ATK Orc Enemy into play

Round 1 Engagement:
No action

Round 1 Combat:
Let both orc attacks go undefended. No Shadow effects.
Gloin takes 1 damage (2 resources)
Elanor takes 1 damage
Legolas attacks each Orc (ranged & unexpected courage), placing 1 progress on Tower Gate, and 5 progress on Stage 2 (5/15)
Free Gimli (1 damage), and add Nazgul (3 def, 9 hp) to the staging area
Pay 1 resource to Sneak Attack Son of Anor into play, engaging the Nazgul
Attack Nazgul with Gimli (3 attack) and Son of Anor (2 attack), dealing 2 damage (7hp remain)
Return Son of Anor to hand

Round 1 Refresh:
Deck 1 to 30 Threat, Deck 2 to 29 Threat. Deck 2 becomes first player.

Round 2 Resource/Planning:
Deck 1 discards Iron Shackles
Deck 2 draws a card (4 arbitrary cards in hand).
Play Blade of Gondolin on Legolas
Play Protector of Lorien on Beravor

Round 2 Quest:
Commit Eowyn (Discard a card), Elanor, Beravor (discard 3 cards), Henamarth (12 total willpower)
Reveal Tower Gate and Iron Shackles (2 total Threat)
Raise Deck 2 Threat by 4 to attach Dungeon Torch and Shadow Key to Beravor (33 Threat)
Make 10 progress, completing stage 2.

Round 2 Travel:
Travel to Tower Gate. Each player puts a 1 ATK Orc Enemy into play

Round 2 Engagement:
No action

Round 2 Combat:
Let both orc attacks go undefended. No Shadow effects.
Gimli takes 1 damage (2 damage)
Elanor takes 1 damage (2 damage)
Play Feint on the Nazgul, no attack.
Legolas attacks an Orc, and readies (ranged & unexpected courage), placing 1 progress on Tower Gate and 3 progress on Stage 3 (3/7)
Play For Gondor!
Attack Nazgul with Gimli (5 attack), Gloin (3 attack) and Legolas (4 attack), dealing 9 damage, defeating the Nazgul, and placing the final 4 progress on Stage 3.

Final Score: 30 (deck 1 Threat) + 33 (deck 2 Threat) + 5 (damage) + 20 (1 round, 2 players) - 0 VP = 83 - or 42 on average! Or 73 with normal counting.

How to beat Passage Through Mirkwood on Round 1.

With a perfect draw, it is possible to beat the first quest on the first round of the game, using only the cards from a single Core Set.

Heroes (27 starting threat):
Legolas
Eowyn
Gloin

Starting Hand:
Sneak Attack
Sneak Attack
Son of Anor
Gandalf
Stand and Fight
Horn of Gondor

Top of Deck:
Valiant Sacrifice
Beoren
Brok Ironfirst

Setup:
Add Forest Spider (2 threat, 1 def, 4 HP) and Old Forest Road (1 threat, 3 QP) to the staging area.

Planning Phase:
Play Horn of Gondor on Eowyn.

Quest Phase:
Pay 1 Leadership resource to Sneak Attack Gandalf into play, killing the Forest Spider.
Quest with Gloin, Gandalf, and Eowyn, discarding Son of Anor to boost Eowyn's Willpower  (11 total willpower)
Reveal Dol Gondor Orcs (dealing 2 damage to Gloin, Gloin gains 2 resources)
Place 8 progress on Stage 1, completing it. (11 willpower - 3 threat)
Return Gandalf to hand. Eowyn gains 1 resource (2 total).
Play Valiant Sacrifice, drawing Beoren and Brok

Travel Phase:
No Action

Engagement:
Engage Dol Gondor Orcs (0 def, 3 HP)

Combat Phase:
Play Sneak Attack to put Beoren into play.
Take attack undefended (no shadow effect), letting Gloin die. Eowyn gains 1 resource (3 total).
Put Brok Ironfist into play.
Exhaust Legolas to attack and defeat the Dol Gondor Orcs.
Place two progress on Stage 2, completing it.
Reveal "Don't leave the path!" - search for Ungoliant's Spawn (2 Def, 9 HP) and put it into play.
Play Stand and Fight to put Son of Anor into play. Engage Ungoliant's Spawn.
Attack Ungoliant's spawn with Beoren (activated for 8 ATK), Son of Anor (2 ATK), and Brok IronFist (2 ATK), dealing 10 damage and winning the game.

Final Score: 27 threat + 9 cost defeated hero + 0 damage + 0 rounds = 36!

Solo Escape from Dol Gondor rules

Setup:
Do not capture one of your heroes. Instead, you are rescuing an objective ally "The Prisoner"
Search the deck for the 3 objective cards, the Nazgul, 1 Tower Gate, and 1 Dungeon Jailer
Attach Gandalf's Map to a Hero of your choice.
Resolve the Travel effect on Tower Gate and make it the active location. Attach Dungeon Torch to it.
Set Shadow Key, Nazgul, and Dungeon Jailer aside, out of play. Add The Prisoner to the staging area.

You cannot place progress on Stage 1 unless Dungeon Torch is attached to a Hero.

When you reveal Stae 2A, add Shadow Key to the staging area, guarded by the Dungeon Jailer previously set aside. Instead of flipping The Prisoner face up, take control of him (and deal him 1 damage).

You cannot place progress on Stage 2 unless Dungeon Key is attached to a Hero.

The Dungeon Jailer game text is active, even when he is set aside.

"The Prisoner" - 0 will, 0 atk, 0 def, 5 hp. The Prisoner is exhausted and cannot ready or be healed. If The Prisoner leaves play, you have lost the game. Forced: if an objective would be shuffled into the Encounter deck, deal 1 damage to The Prisoner instead.

Out of Mirkwood

A custom scenario, to be played in the Hobbit campaign between Flies and Spiders and The Lonely Mountain, or as an independent quest.

Quest 1: The Elf King's Hospitality.
Setup: Remove Orcrist from the Campaign pool. Remove Barrel Room, Keeper of the Keys, and all 6 Elven Guards from the encounter deck, along with the Lake Town Mayor and Lake Town Docks. Add Keeper of the Keys to the staging area, and make Barrel Room the active location.
Quest 1b: (4 quest points)
During each Quest phase, instead of revealing cards from the Encounter deck, each player must chose a set-aside guard and add it to the staging area, or add two resource tokens to this card (if all guards have already been added).

The total Threat in the staging area is increased by 1 for each resource token on this card.

Forced: when the 4th progress token is placed on this card, discard all Elf enemies from play

Barrel Room (Unique Location; 4 Threat, X quest points, 1 VP)
X is equal to the total number of characters in play

Keeper of the Keys (Unique Enemy; 50 engagement level, 4 Threat, 5 ATK, 4 DEF, 7 HP)
Elf.
Forced: after Keeper of the Keys attacks and destroys a character, return him to the staging area.

Elven Guard (Enemy; {22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 37} engagement (one of each), 2 Threat, 4 ATK, 2 DEF, 4 HP)
Elf.
Forced: after Elven Guard attacks and destroys a character, return him to the staging area.

Quest 2: Barrel Rider
When Revealed: Reveal cards from the Encounter deck until the total Threat in the staging area is at least equal to the number of players. Skip the engagement phase this round.
Quest 2b: (SIEGE quest; 14 quest points)
Forced: After placing any amount of progress on this quest, the players as a group must assign that much damage among characters they control (to a maximum of the number of characters committed to the quest).

Quest 3: Masters of the Lake
When Revealed: add the Lake Town Mayor to the staging area, make Lake Town Docks the active location (discarding any previous location)
Quest 3b: (8 quest points)
The players cannot complete this phase unless the Lake Town Mayor is in the victory display.

Laketown Docks (x1) - Unique, 3 Threat, 5 Quest Points, 3 VP
While Laketown Docks is the active location, each Hero gains "Action: Exhaust this character to heal 1 damage from it"

Lake Town Mayor (Unique Enemy; 1 engagement level, X Threat, 2 ATK, 6 DEF, 1 HP, 4 VP)
X is the total number of players. The Mayor cannot leave the staging area, and is immune to player card effects. Attacks against the Mayor use Willpower instead of Attack.

Each hero gains "Pay 1 resource from this hero's pool, this hero can attack the Lake Town Mayor this phase as if he was engaged with you."

Remaining Quest Deck (30 cards) - 2 location, 1 enemy, 2 treachery removed for Easy Mode

Locations (10):
Banks of the River (x4) - 1 Threat, 3 Quest Points
Surge
{if this attack is undefended, raise the defending player's Threat by 3}

Rapids (x2) - 3 Threat, 2 Quest Points {one with difficulty indicator}
Forced: after any amount of progress is placed on the Rapids, each player must deal 2 damage to an ally he controls.

Streets of Laketown (x2) - 2 Threat, 2 Quest Points
Immune to Player card effects
{attacking enemy gets +2 Defense for remainder of the round}

Staging Area (x1) - 4 Threat, X Quest Points {difficulty indicator}
X is the total number of characters in play
{Raise defending player's Threat by 1 for each damaged character he controls}

Manor House (x1) - Unique, 1 Threat, 4 Quest Points
Travel: Raise each player's Threat by 3. Each player may heal up to 3 damage from his or her characters.
{Heal all damage on attacking enemy}

Enemies (12):
Goblin Archer (x3) - 33 engagement; 1 Threat, 3 ATK, 1 DEF, 3 HP. Goblin. Orc.
Archery 1
{deal 1 damage to defending character}

Goblin Scout (x2) - 45 engagement; 3 Threat, 4 ATK, 3 DEF, 3 HP. Goblin Orc.
Forced: at the end of the round, raise each player's Threat by 1.

Wargs (x2) - 20 engagement; 2 Threat, 3 ATK, 1 DEF, 3 HP. Creature.
Forced: if Wargs is dealt a shadow card with no effect, return Wargs to the staging area after it attacks.
{+1 attack; +2 if undefended}

Black Forest Bats (x2) - 15 engagement; 1 Threat, 1 ATK, 0 DEF, 2 HP. Creature
When Revealed: Each player must chose 1 character committed to the quest and remove them from the quest.

Man of Dale (x2) - 28 engagement; 2 Threat, 3 ATK, 2 DEF, 4 HP.
When Revealed: Any player may exhaust a Hero he or she controls with Willpower of 3 or higher to discard Man of Dale
{cancel this attack}

Goblin Chieftain (x1) - {difficulty} 35 engagement, 2 Threat, 3 ATK, 3 DEF, 6 HP, 4 VP. Goblin, Orc.
While Chieftain is in the staging area, other Goblins have +1 Threat and +1 Attack.
When Chieftain attacks, deal it an additional Shadow card.
{If attacking enemy is a Goblin or Creature, deal it 2 additional Shadow cards}

Treachery (8):
Chilled to the Bone (x2): When Revealed: attach to a Hero. Counts as a Condition attachment with "Attached Hero gets -1 Willpower, -1 Attack, and -1 Def for each damage on him."

Fighting among Friends (x2) When Revealed: The first player names a sphere. Then, all non-baggins characters not of that sphere are removed from the quest
{+1 attack; +2 if undefended}

Hatred Rekindled (x3) {2 with difficulty} When Revealed: Each engaged enemy makes an attack (without shadow cards). If no attacks occur, Surge.
{Attacking enemy makes an additional attack}

Elven Delegation (x1) Surge. When Revealed: shuffle each Elf enemy from the encounter discard pile into the deck.
{Shuffle this card back into the Encounter deck}

The Battle of Laketown

I'm a little worried about this quest. It wrecked me multiple times, until I tried it with 6 extra 1-cost chump blockers in my deck. I don't have those now, but let's see how it goes with just One Deck to Rule Them All.

Opening hand had no chump blockers or Vilya, mulligan to a hand with both.

First reveal is Town Baiting, which does nothing, leaving me with a clear staging area for

Round 1 (36 threat, 0 in staging area, 1 damage on Lake Town)

Play Vilya. Vilya in Beoren.
Runes to draw Expert Treasure Hunter (discarding 1 of 2 Unexpected Courage). Play on Gandalf.

Reveal Smaug the Terrible engaged with me. No burn.

Quest for 4 with a Counsel backup. Reveal another Town Baiting. Scorching Blast as a Shadow card does no damage, but Smaug does 7. 4 progress made (4/14)

Beoren defends. Fisherman's Dock added to the staging area. Beoren takes 4 damage.

Round 2 (36 threat, 2 in staging area, 8 damage on Lake Town)

Zigil miner, milling a known Hidden Cache, and hitting a second one! +6 resources to Elrond.
Runes off the top, discarding Expert Treasure Hunter.
Play Gandalf's Staff, Bilbo, Gandalf's Pipe, swap to Vilya in Treebeard, and play Riversong. No resources remaining.

Reveal Smaug the Magnificant engaged with me.

Quest with Gandalf and all the new allies for 7 with counsel backup. South Pier is reavealed, and I make another 4 progress (8/14).

Chump block with Beoren. Shadow card is nothing. Lake town takes 3 excess damage.

Scout with Riversong, and generate 2 extra resources (using one to Tomb off the top for the discarded UC).

Round 3 (36 threat, 2, will be 6, in staging area, 11 damage on Lake Town, 0 VP)

Arwen off the top. Pipe for a free UC. Play Asfaloth.

Reveal Smaug the Terrible, burn 3.

Quest with Gandalf, Elrond, Bilbo, and Arwen for 10 (bonus to Treebeard). Reveal the known Merchant's District. Play Counsel off the top, and make 5 progress (4 on location, 9/14 on quest)

Runes from hand, discarding a vassal. I now have Will of the West, A Test of Will, and Hasty Stroke in hand, so I'm feeling pretty safe.

Deal 2 damage to Lake Town to add Merchant District to the Victory display. Leave the Dock, since I have a Northern Tracker coming up.

Generate a resource on Elrond, and defend Smaug with Treebeard. No Shadow, he takes 3 damage.

Riversong scouts Reckless in his Rage, so Miners generate 6 resources, discarding another Cache, and the Northern tracker. Assfaloth adds 1 to the only location in play, and then finishes it off in the Refresh phase.

Round 4 (33 threat, 0 in staging (5 progress needed), 16 damage, 9 VP)

Play Light of Valinor, Ring of Barahir, and A Burning Brand on Elrond. This will allow him to defend against 9 attack without dying. If I get the big Smaug, I'll just have to Test of Will the shadow card.

Mine off a bunch of weak cards. Play 2 Warden of Healing (one off the top).
Vilya in Gwahir (plus Vassal), and give Elrond a second Unexpected Courage.

Reveal the 3rd Smaug the Terrible, burn 0. The rest of this game will be full of double attack Smaug.

Quest with Gandalf, Elrond, Arwen (bonus Elrond) and Gwahir. Finish stage 1. Gandalf keeps coming along to trigger is Expert Treasure Hunter. I'm down to 4 cards in my deck, so it's almost time for a re-set.

Elrond defends and takes 5 damage. The wardens heal 4 of that (and Treebeard's damage)

Counter-attack Smaug for 12 (Elrond, Treebeard, Gwahir, Vassal). With his reduced defense, Smaug takes 7 damage.

Riversong scouts a Wharf.

Round 5 (33 threat, 0 (will be 3) in staging, 16 damage, 9 VP, 7 damage on Smaug)

Play a Vassal off the top, then draw a Counsel and Will of the West (revealing Dwarven Tomb on top). Pipe to Vilya the Northern Tracker from hand.

Reveal Smaug the Mighty, defend his attack with Treebeard (3 resources). Hasty Stroke to cancel Too Close to the Flame, and get it back with a Tomb. 2 damage.

Quest with Gandalf, Elrond, Arwen (bonus Elrond), Bilbo, Tracker, 1 warden, Gwahir, and both Miners. A total of 15 willpower, which makes 12 progress. Double Elrond's Counsel from hand, 9 progress on the quest, and heal 5 damage from Lake town.

Travel to the Wharf. Defend the attack with Elrond, and scout a Dock on top. Not enough attack to breach his defense. Mine off a Cache in the refresh phase.

Round 6 (27 threat, 0 (will be 2) in staging, 11 damage, 9 (will be 13) VP)

Dig through the deck looking for a good Vilya/Flame target.
Play Tracker, Vassal, and Vilya Beoren, leaving Boromir on top of the deck.

Reveal The Magnificant. Lake Town takes 3 damage, Smaug goes down to 4 damage.

Quest with new allies, Gandalf, Elrond, Arwen, Bilbo (that's 13, which removes 6 damage after all is said and done)

I will need 24 attack to take down Smaug. I acutally have that already, so I also commit one Warden of Healing, Treebead (usinging 2 resources to ready) and Gwahir to the quest as well.

Heal 11 damage from lake town, leaving it with just 3. Arwen bonuses Elrond. Advance to stage 3.

Elrond defends Smaug, takes 4 damage. Warden + 2 resources heals that.

Flame of Anor, discarding Boromir, allows me to attack Smaug with:
2x Vassal (6), 2x Tracker (4), Beoren (8), Gandalf (7) and the Zigil Miner (1) for a total of 26. 8 defense means we deal 18 damage, more than enough to defeat him and win the quest.

Before that resolves, use the last Dwarven Tomb to play Counsel again, for a final score of:

5 full rounds (50) + 23 threat (23) + 0 damage/dead heroes - 14 VP = 59!

Conflict at The Carrock - second attempt

After making the mistake of not reading the Trolls, and getting Threated out by Louis, I'm ready to try again.

Setup - Add Cloak of Lorien and 2 Vassal of the Windlord (Frieghtened Beast protection, and extra attack to burst Troll defenses) to my deck, setting the rest of the sideboard aside, and removing Dwarven Tomb, Unexpected Courage, and one Silvan Refugee to make room.

In OCTGN, I added my 15 sideboard cards to the "Heroes" section of the deck, which puts them in my hand at the start of the game. From there, I can easily move them to the Player Secondary Deck zone, minimize it, and get on with the game.

My first hand is pretty bad, so I mulligan into double Unexpected courage, double Vilya, double Vassal of the Windlord. Not the most balanced start, but it should work out.

Round 1 - 36 Threat, 2 Threat in Staging, no troubles. Draw Cloak of Lorien, top card is Nenya.

Nenya is quite useful for these "slow start" quests, as it allows me to quest just enough, and then add +4 if I get more threat than expected. So, I will start with a pile of Neutral cards, playing Nenya off the top, Vilya from hand, and using that to get Treebeard into play. While I have no other Ents in my deck, he can always use his ability on himself to ready 1 extra time every 2 turns. He also has an astounding 4 attack, as well as 3 def / 5 hp, so he is one of the best combat guys in the deck.

Questing with just Gandalf for 3, I flip Gladden Fields for a total of 5 Threat. I can either add 4, which gives me 2 progress and a personal Threat of 36, or draw a card, which adds 1 progress (Nightmare Forced effect), +1 card, and a Threat of 37. Since I don't have an Expert Treasure Hunter yet, I'll go with the card draw option - exhausing Galadriel for her ability, rather than Nenya's.

I'll go ahead and make Gladden Fields the active location, and I also uncover a Runes on top of my deck. My new 4 cards are Ring of Barahir, Beoren, and 2x Expert Treasure Hunter. Things are coming along nicely for

Round 2 - 39 Threat, 2 in Staging, no troubles, Elfhelm atop the deck (Vilya'd into play, revealing Light of Valinor).

I use my resources this turn to play Unexpected Courage and light of Valinor on Elrond, play my two Hunters, and quest for 7 (holding Galadriel in reserve, and Treebeard for attacking in case an Enemy comes up).

River Langford makes it 4 Threat, I make just enough progress to clear Gladden Fields (replaced with the River), and take Faramir, Beoren, and Hasty Stroke into hand for questing and Galadriel. One more free progress, and we're on to

Round 3 - 39 Threat, 2 in Staging, no troubles, draw Northern Tracker, Bilbo atop the deck.

Play Bilbo off the top, then play the Wizard Pipe, swap Beoren to the top and Vilya him into play. At least, that was the plan. After searching, Gildor Inglorion was on top, so I just Vilyad him instead, and spent the extra resource on a Vassal.

Quest for 11 this turn, exhausting only Gandalf. Encounter another River, meaning 7 progress. That is exactly one short of finishing stage 1, which is fine by me. Draw Vilya and Runes, which (with Galadriel) turn into 2x Warden of Healing and a Zigil Miner.

Before the round ends, activate Gildor to put Beoren third from the top, play an Elrond's Counsel for free, just for the Treat reduction, and take Boromir into hand, planning to draw Will of the West.

Round 4 - 36 Threat, 2 in Staging, still no troubles, but the Trolls are coming out this turn.

Vilya Beoren
Play Zigil Miner, and mine off a hidden cache and redundant Bilbo
Give Elrond the Cloak, and the Ring of Brahir. He is now 4 defense, 6 hp.
Save 1 resource on Gandalf, and one on Elrond

Questing is light, sending just Beoren, Bilbo and Elrond, and playing Counsel off the top to make a total of 7 (and, crucially, my Threat down to 33). Staging is a Savage Hill, so I make 4 progress, and get to stage 2 exactly.

Not repeating my previous mistake of engaging Louis first, I take stock of my attack prowess. I have 21 total attack, assuming I use Treebeard twice, defend with Elrond, and take 1 attack undefended. The savage hill troll requires 9 attack, leaving me with about 12 available for other beasties. I also have a Hasty Stroke in hand, and the resource to use it. With The Carrock in play, none of the other trolls will fall to a mere 12 attack, but I could still use Beoren to buff that by 5.

All things considered, I optionally engage the least offensive troll to have in the victory display: Rupert.

Dealing with an attack of 4 and 6, Elrond defends the 6. The shadow card is Sacked! which I allow to attach to Galadriel (it's coming off in a moment, as soon as I defeat a troll). Elrond takes 2 damage.

For the 4 attack, I use my smallest attacker, Gildor, to defend. A Muck Adder means he also takes 2 damage. Not lethal, so I care little.

To attack and defeat Rupert, I need 14 total. Treebeard (4), Beoren (8) and Elfhelm (2) combine for just enough. Galadriel is un-sacked.

To defeat the Savage troll, I need 9 total. Treebeard (spending 2 resources to ready), Gandalf (3) and Vassal (3) is a total of 10. 2 Trolls down, 3 to go!

Use Galadriel to draw A Burning Brand before shuffling Beoren back in.

Round 5 - 33 Threat, 9 in staging area from Trolls, plus I want to quest for 6 extra to clear The Carrock this round. In the Refresh phase, I Vilya Beoren back into play, since he ended up on top of my 15 card deck.

For staging, I play the other Vassal, a Warden of Healing, Mine off a Hidden Cache, activate Gildor to be able to play an Faramir off the top this phase, an Elrond's Counsel when Questing, and leave a Hidden Cache on top (take Northern Tracker, the 3rd card down, into hand).

I can quest for 13 with my newly played allies, Elrond, and Bilbo (exhausing Faramir for his effect). This would not be enough, so I add in Gandalf for a total of 17 against 9 threat so far.

Staging is A Frightened Beast, which I gladly pitch my Vassal to negate. 16 willpower against 9 threat clears the Carrock, and lets me have my pick of the trolls. It also draws me a hidden cache (2 resources for Elrond) and Runes -> Zigil Miner, Arwen, discard Tracker.

I'll go ahead and take Louis now - I have Elfhelm to prevent is "in VP" effect, and I want to get a couple more threat so I can take both trolls at once next turn (since I'm at only 30 right now, that may also involve failed questing).

Warden heals all of last turn's damage, and Elrond defends. The shadow card does nothing, Elrond takes no damage, and I raise my threat to 33, then back to 32 from Elfhelm, and 31 from Galadriel.

9 attack at the ready, out of the 13 I would need. Play Flame of Anor off the top to ready Gandalf, and have him participate, but I flip a 0 cost card, so I also have to activate Beoren to defeat Louis.

Round 6

Vilya out Beoren at the end of the round, again. Play and use Wizard Pipe to make Hidden Cache the only card in my deck, then Will of the West to shuffle everything back in. Miner hits 2x Cache, allowing me to play:

Riversong (top of deck is Hives, so the total Threat will be 8. I need to quest for 7 to get both trolls down this turn).
A Burning Brand (for Elrond)
Arwen (off the top)
Zigil Miner (milling Vilya and Counsel)
Boromir

Quest with Elrond, Boromir, Arwen for a total of 6. Raise threat by 2, lower by 1 with Elfhelm.

Leave Hives in the staging area, but engage both Trolls.

Elrond defends Moris, taking 1 damage. Brand cancels both shadow cards, and his 4 defense means he takes a total of 1 damage.
Boromir defends Stuart, Galadriel lowers my Threat to 33 so he has 3 defense. no shadow effect, so he takes 1 damage and readies.

Counter attacks:
Moris requires 13 attack to dispatch. Gandalf (3), Treebeard (4), Boromir (3), Elfhelm (2) and Faramir (1) are up to the task.
Stuart requires 15. Beoren (8), Gildor (2), and Treebeard (4) are not. quite. enough.

Quick - retroactively don't play Arwen, and don't use the extra Zigil Miner. That gives 1 extra attack while still keeping resources around for Hasty Stroke if needed.

Move on to stage 3. Add Rob and Bob and a Savage Hill Troll to the staging area (8 total threat). Warden of Healing removes all damage.

Round 7 - 34 Threat.

I dig through my deck, playing a Vassal off the top, and playing as many Elrond's Cache as I can. (which is 2 in the planning phase, lowing my Threat to 27).

Riversong tells me I have Gladden Fields coming up, so I need to quest for 10 to avoid threat gain. Instead I quest for 12, including Gandalf, so I can draw more cards. I get a Seeker, and Vilya in Beoren.

Rob&Bob is 6 attack, Boromir takes 3 damage (Galadriel is Sacked again). Savage is 4 attack, Elrond takes no damage.

16 attack needed for Rob and Bob, Beoren (8), Vassal (3), Treebeard (4), and Elfhelm (2) are enough.

Victory! Final score:
6 rounds (60) + 27 Threat + no damage/dead heroes -13 VP = 74 total!

Conflict at the Carrock

Including the Lorien Cloak for this adventure.

Setup: Shuffle in one Sacked card, 2 threat Carrock in the staging area. I mulligan my opening hand and get:
Refugee, Tracker, Zigil Miner; Unexpected Courage, Vilya, A Test of Will, Runes.

Play Expert Treasure Hunter off the top (on Gandalf), revealing Elrond's Counsel (to be played next phase). Play the Zigil miner, and quest for 4 (Gandalf + Miner only).

Muck adder is my reveal, so I make 1 progress (playing Elrond's Counsel on Galadriel, just for the threat reduction). Before resolving the quest, I go hunting for a Hidden Cache, which I find after just playing Runes (+2 resources on Elrond, by taking it into hand with Treasure Seeker). I also chose to draw Flame of Anor (for future troll hunting). I dig further, looking for Hasty Stroke, but don't find it.

Elrond defends the Muck Adder, shadow card is just a River, so no damage (whew). Refresh, and move on to

Round 2: 30 Threat. 5 resources, Engaged Muck Adder.

I mine off another Hidden Cache, resulting in a second Unexpected Courage being discarded (the first went for the Runes, the last is in my hand). Play Riversong off the top. Use Vilya to play Boromir (revealing Beoren), and play Unexpected Courage, Silvan Refugee, and Light of Valinor from hand. This leaves 2 Northern Trackers, A Test of Will, Flame of Anor, and Warden of Healing in my hand, and 2 resources on Elrond.

Questing for 10 (sure, why not, it only exhausts Gandalf) I encounter a hill troll, and move on to Stage 2. Galadriel lowers my Threat to 29, so I can face the trolls at my leisure.

I decide to face Louis (trolls raise my threat by 1). Elrond blocks Muck Adder again. Boromir blocks Louis (5 attack with The Carrock bonus, Boromir at 3 defense, -1 from a shadow card) Boromir takes 3 damage and readies.

Boromir, and Riversong attack the muck adder, taking that annoyance out of the picture.

Round 3
I mill off my Hasty Stroke, revealing A Burning Brand. Brand goes on Elrond, revealing Will of the West.

Play Gandalf's Staff, and Warden of Healing from hand, then quest for 9 (against 8 threat) with Gandalf, Elrond, Refugee, and Warden. Shadow card is Roasted Slowly... which just does nothing! One progress on The Carrock, take Will of the West into hand (revealing Dwarven Tomb).

I use Vilya to play Dwarven Tomb, and play Elrond's Counsel to get back to 29 Threat, so I just take another attack from Louis. Elrond defends, and takes 2 damage (healed by warden).

Counter-attack Louis for 4, dealing 1 damage. Raise threat to 32, then to 33 as we go to

Round 4

Vilya in Faramir, play Expert Treasure Hunter, draw Warden, Staff to draw (and play) Cloak of Lorien, end with Beoren on top of deck.

Quest for 14, but reveal River Langfrod, meaning I fail by 1, going back to 33 Threat. Hill Troll engages.

Elrond blocks the 7 attack Hill Troll with his 4 defense, taking 3 damage. Boromir blocks Louis with his 3 defense, Shadow card makes him 7 attack, killing him and the refugee. This kills me, as I no longer have enough attack power to kill Louis. (6 from Flame of Anor, 3 from Gandalf, 2 extra is only 11, and I need 13. Even the Hill Troll requires 12) Apparently engaging Louis was a mistake.

Will have to re-deal.

Deck update #1

After losing a dozen times against Battle at Laketown, I made some significant changes in order to beat that quest. The first 10 cards for my sideboard are:

3x Anfalas Herdsman
3x Snowbourn Scouts -> Vassal of the Windlord, to minimize # of sideboard cards
1x Arwen Udominel
2x Hasty Stroke
1x Cloak of Lorien

The intent here is to ensure that I have chump blockers for the first two rounds, hopefully with 2 hp and/or Hasty Stroke protection, so they don't disappear and cost me actual heroes.

To make room for those 10 cards, I remove:

Nenya
Unexpected Courage
Expert Treasure Hunter
Miner of the Iron Hills
Boromir
Elfhelm
Gildor Inglorion
Elrond's Counsel
2x Flame of Anor

For Nightmare Journey to Rhosgobel, I needed additional Eagles, and some extra healing.

In:
3x Vassal of the Windlord
1x Haldir of Lorien (this might get moved to the main deck to make room, he's a fine "filler" guy)
2x Lore of Imladris
1x Healing Herbs (Herbs play for free off the top with Gandalf)

Out:
1x Elfhelm
1x Beoren
2x Flame of Anor
1x Expert Treasure Hunter
1x Silvan Refugee
1x Faramir


Current deck, with those changes:

Heroes (3) - starting threat 36
Gandalf
Elrond
Galadriel

Attachments (15)

For Gandalf:
1x Ring of Barahir
1x Gandalf's Staff
1x Wizard Pipe

For Elrond:
3x Vilya
1x Light of Valinor
1x A Burning Brand

For Galadriel:
1x Nenya

For Whoever (usually not Galadriel, though):

3x Unexpected Courage
3x Expert Treasure Hunter

Allies (19)

Questing power:
1x Arwen Undomiel
1x Bilbo Baggins
2x Silvan Refugee
1x Henamarth Riversong
1x Faramir
2x Northern Tracker

Support and protection:
2x Zigil Miner
2x Warden of Healing
1x Miner of the Iron Hills
1x Boromir
1x Elfhelm

Costly allies to Vilya into play (or discard with Flame of Anor)
2x Beoren
2x Gildor Inglorion

Events (16)

3x Hidden Cache
3x Elrond's Counsel
3x Daeron's Runes
2x Flame of Anor
2x Dwarven Tomb
1x A Test of Will
1x Hasty Stroke
1x Will of the West


Sideboard (15):
3x Anfalas Herdsman (Battle of Laketown)
3x Vassal of the Windlord (chump blocker for Battle of Laketown, Eagle for Journey to Rhosgobel)
1x Arwen Udominel (Battle of Laketown)
2x Hasty Stroke (Battle of Laketown)
1x Cloak of Lorien (Battle of Laketown, Journey down the Anduin)
1x Healing Herbs (Journey to Rhosgobel)
2x Lore of Imladris (Journey to Rhosgobel)
1x Haldir of Lorien (Journey to Rhosgobel, replacing Arwen/Faramir/Bilbo when illegal)
1x A Test of Will (Default choice for 15th card)

The Hunt for Gollum

Skipping Escape from Dol Gondor for now, we move on the the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle.

I played a few games, tweaking the deck, to beat Battle at Laketown. In the interest of keeping my number of changes as low as possible, I made a couple of changes to the main deck:

Out: Landroval, Gwaihir
In: Northern Tracker, Cloak of Lorien


Setup:
I mulligan a no-Vilya hand into:
Vilya
Hidden Cache
Northern Tracker
Bilbo
Arwen
Light of Valinor
Expert Treasure Hunter on top

Encounter deck starts with Old Wives Tales, exhausting all 3 of my heroes! At least there is no threat in the staging area.

Round 1 (36 Threat, clear staging area)
Play Wizard's Pipe off the top, revealing Elrond's Counsel. Play Arwen from hand, and move to Questing.
Quest for 3 (playing Counsel on Arwen). Staging reveals Flooding (doomed 1, surge, no effect) and Hunting Warg (1 threat, 3 attack). Add 2 progress, and look at top 3. Ravenous Hawk engages me, and I play Watched Path (and make it the active location), rather than a guarded Clue. The Warg also engages, and I have to fight two 3-attack enemies.

Arwen defends the first, giving herself a bonus. She is then Pursued by Shadow, returns to my hand, and I must take the attack undefended. 3 damage on Galadriel.
Second attack is undefended, shadow card is Hunters (no clues, so no effect). 3 damage on Elrond.
Hunting Wargs forces me to search the deck and add a Hunters to the staging area.

Refresh, and move on to

Round 2 (35 Threat, Hunters in staging area, 2 3-attack foes to deal with)
I have a Dwarven Tomb atop my deck, which will get back the Counsel, and allow me to avoid engaging the Hunters this turn. Gandalf pays for that, revealing Gildor Inglorian. I play Vilya, use it to play Gildor, and move to quest.

Gildor quests for 4. Encounter card is the Old Ford (1 threat for now) so my questing is successful by 1. No engagements, and we move on to the two 3-str attacks. Since I don't have the Attack power to eliminate either enemy, I will just defend each of them. Neither shadow card has an effect, and I take no damage. Galadriel exhausts just for the -1 Threat (I can't draw the card, due to Watched Path)

Round 3 (32 Threat, 3 threat in staging, +1 for every additional ally I play)
I play my freshly drawn Nenya, Silvan Refugee off the top, and a Light of Valinor on Elrond. Also, my two Expert Treasure Hunters finally come out to play.

Quest for 5 (keeping Gandalf ready) against 4 threat, then exhaust to play Beorn off the top. (oops, that's +1 threat) That reveals Daeren's Runes, which I can't productively play right now.

Staging gives me The Trail Goes Cold - making the total threat 8. Galadriel exhausts to add 4, getting me 1 progress this turn. Just enough to trigger Expert Treasure Hunter, and I use the Pipe before hand to swap in a Hidden Cache for +2 resources on Elrond. My new top card is Zigil Miner, so I should have plenty of resources going forwards. I look at 3, and play Relentless Hunters, which does nothing (not staging step, so no surge), rather than reveal Old Wives Tale and lose resources and Gandalf.

Block the first attack with the Refugee, no important shadow effect. Refugee dies.
Block second attack with Gildor, who is Pursued By Shadow back to my hand. Gandalf takes 3 undefended damage.

Gandalf and Beoren team up to kill the Hawk, leaving me with only one engaged enemy.

Round 4 (33 Threat, 5 + X in staging area, 1 enemy engaged)

Spend 4 resources for the Northern Tracker, then quest with Gandalf, Elrond, and him (7 willpower against 7 threat). Staging is an additional Hunters.
Before resolving the quest, I pipe Gildor to the top, Vilya him into play, and then activate him to look at Unexpected Courage, Refugee, Hasty Stroke. Swap Hidden Cache for Unexpected Courage, put Refugee on top. Exhaust Nenya for +4 willpower, passing by 1. (+2 resources to Elrond, leave Hasty Stroke on top from Expert Treasure Seeker).
Look at top 3, engage another Hawk, and add Eaves of Mirkwood to staging.

Now that I have 2 enemies again: defend one with Tracker (1 damage) and one with Beoren (remove progress from quest, 0 damage).

Round 5 (34 Threat, 9 in staging area assuming Tracker quests, 2 enemies engaged)

Riversong off the top (revealing Elfhelm). Arwen from hand. Unexpected Courange on Gandalf.

Quest with Gandalf, Elrond, Arwen, Riversong, Tracker (completing Old Ford), and Gildor for 13 against 9. Staging reveals a new Watched Path. I play Elfhelm off the top, pipe Beoren for the Cache, and take Cache and Unexpected Courage into hand, revealing a Cloak of Lorien. I reveal another Restless Hunters, for no effect. Exhaust Galadriel for -1 Threat (to 33, dodging the Hunters) and no card draw.

Arwen defends the first attack (bonus to herself) - no shadow effect, she takes 1 damage
Second attack goes undefended - one extra shadow card, but no effect. Gandalf takes 3 damage.
Gandalf + Elfhelm finish off the Hunting Wargs. Beoren activates his rage, and pounds the Hawk - no enemies engaged!

Riversong tells me the top card of the deck is The East Bank. My new top card is Will of the West.

Round 6 (34 Threat, 9 in staging assuming Tracker quests)
Exhaust Gildor to look at Counsel, Treasure Hunter, and Beoren. Swap Counsel for Hidden Cache.
Play Zigil Miner, and mill off Cache and Treasure Hunter for 4 resources, leaving Beoren on top to be played later.

Using my accumulated resources, play Refugee, Bilbo, and Unexpected Courage (Elrond) from hand. Exhaust Courage and Vilya to play Beoren off the top. Use Gandalf's resources to play Unexpected Courage off the top on Galadriel. Pipe to swap Vilya and the Counsel from hand, and it's time to quest.

Counsel off the top, quest with Gandalf, Elrond, Tracker, Arwen (bonus to Bilbo) and the non-kneelers for a total of 14 against a known 12 to be revealed. Galadriel adds 4, finishing the active location, and adding 5 to stage 1 (6/8 complete).

I finally reveal a Signs of Golem, guarded by Hunter's Lookout. Make Watched Path the active location, and optionally engage one Hunter.

Beoren defends, no shadow effect, he takes 1 damage. Gandalf, Elrond, Elfhelm, and Riversong team up and take out the Hunter. Galariel lowers my Threat by 1.

Refresh, move the Signs over to the Hunter (from the Nightmare Card effect), and move to

Round 7 (31 Threat, still 9 in staging, A Test of Will, Hasty Stroke, and Will of the West all in hand, though)

Play Warden of Healing off the top, and move to Quest. My piles of Spirit allies add up to 17 Willpower, when the Heroes are added in. Staging is just another Eaves of Mirkwood, so I make 6 progress, just enough to finish the location (I can draw cards again!) and stage 1 of the quest.

Before that happens, though, I activate Gildor and take a peek at the top 3, and move Boromir to the top (play with Vilya). I reveal The Old Ford for my 1-of-3, and take Gildor and Runes into hand from my deck. With all the Watched Paths gone, I exhaust Galadriel to draw, mill off a Cache with Zigil Miner, and then play 2 Runes (discarding Vilyas each time).

Make Old Ford the active location, and engage the Hunters.

Boromir defends. No shadow effect (another Clue), so he takes 1 damage (and readies). Boromir, Beoren, Gandalf, and Elrond combine to take out the hunter - no enemies in play means I will be able to claim the Clue next turn. Riversong tells me a West Bank is coming up. Warden heals Eldrond and Galadriel for 2 each, refresh, and use Miner to mill off a Hidden Cache before

Round 8 (31 Threat, no enemies)

Play Faramir from hand. Play Ring of Brahir and Burning Brand on Elrond. Pipe a Northern Tracker to the top, and play with Vilya. Play Warden of Healing off the top.

Quest for 27 after exhausting Faramir (2x tracker, Faramir, Arwen (buff Elrond), Refugee, Bilbo, Warden, Gandalf, Elrond) This also clears out several locations. Reveal the West Bank as my choice of 2, then reveal a Hunters, making the total staging threat 9. 18 progress is more than enough to move on to stage 3.

I also draw a Flame of Anor, Cloak of Lorien, Dwarven Tomb (exhaust Galadriel).

Block the 4 attack hunters with 4 defense Elrond, cancel shadow with A Burning Brand. Gang pile to kill them off. Exhaust both wardens to heal all my Heroes to full. Riversong tells me my next encounter card is West Bank. To win, all I need is to quest for 16 next turn.

Round 9:

Draw the last card in my deck. Play as many Elrond's Councel as I can to lower my Threat:
1 from hand
1 Dwarven Tomb from hand
Will of the West to re-shuffle
1 from deck in the Resource phase
1 from deck in the Planning phase (after manipulating with Zigil Miners and Gildor and Galadriel)
1 from deck in the Quest phase
2 Dwarven Tomb from hand in the Quest phase

for a total of -21 threat, leaving me at 9.

Also, play 2 Flame of Anor for no particular reason.

Final Score: 8 rounds + 9 threat + no damage/heroes lost - 2 Flame of Anor VP = 87

Down the Anduin

With a starting threat of 36, the Hill Troll will be engaging immediately. Usually this results in Galadriel dying before I get all the allies in place, but we'll see how it goes.

Setup:

My opening hand isn't the best:
Eric draws 'Expert Treasure-hunter'
Eric draws 'Hasty Stroke'
Eric draws 'Zigil Miner'
Eric draws 'Hidden Cache'
Eric draws 'Miner of the Iron Hills'
Eric draws 'Elfhelm'
My top card is Arwen.

Even with draw and resource acceleration, this had isn't good enough. I'll mulligan to:
2x Unexpected Courage
Vilya - yay!
Gandalf's Staff
Expert Treasure-hunter
Gildor

Much better.

The encounter deck gives me a Wolf Rider, Flooded Ford, and Hill Troll. I have 5 threat to deal with so far, and two enemies coming down to play.

For Planning, I draw a second Gildor, and reveal Beorn atop my deck! I attach and exhaust Gandalf's Staff for +1 Resource, play Vilya and use Elrond to play my burly protector, revealing A Test of Will. Galadrial draws that, revealing a Northern Tracker, and we move to Questing.

Gandalf (with Expert Hunter) and Beorn commit, giving me 4 willpower against 5 threat, plus one extra card, a troll spawn. 4 will vs. 7 threat raises my Threat to 38, and I don't get to draw for Treasure Hunter. I make the Ford the active location, with plans to clear it next turn, and all 3 foes engage.

Beorn will defend against the troll, while I have to take the other two undefended. Hopefully this doesn't hurt too bad...
Troll - shadow card would put The Flooded Ford into play if I hadn't defended. Beorn takes 3 damage
Troll Spawn - no effect, Gandalf takes 4 damage
Wolf Rider - no effect, Galadriel takes 2 damage

I refresh, and immediately re-exhaust Elrond to play the Tracker, not wanting to risk a bad draw next turn.

So far, so good, on to

Round 2 (39 Threat, draw Elrond's Counsel, Flame of Anor atop the deck)
I exhaust Galadriel to draw the Flame, revealing Wizard Pipe, which I play using Gandalf, and reveal a Hidden Cache! Hopefully I'll quest successfully this round, and get that sweet +2 Resources.

With no Threat in the staging area, my biggest concern is clearing the Ford this turn, to avoid an explosion of Threat. So, I play Unexpected Courage to ready Elrond, then commit him and Gandalf, for 6 total willpower against 0 threat. Hoping for a treachery or low-threat card, I instead get Gladden Marshlands - 10 threat :-(. I play my Counsel, raising my Willpower to 7, then have my heroes take 4 extra damage, bringing all of them to 1 HP remaining, in order to quest successfully this round. I get my Cache, revealing a Zigil miner, and then it is on to combat...

Galadriel is definitely about to die, the only question is who should block the Hill Troll. I think the best bet, long term, is to suffer the +5 Threat from letting the Troll attack go undefended, and block the other two. I'm also going to let all 3 Shadow cards resolve, saving the Staff for resource generation this round.

First Combat - Wolf Rider (2) blocked by Northern Tracker (2) - shadow card is Rats, so I can't counter-attack the wolf this turn. No damage
Second Combat - Troll Spawn (4) blocked by Beorn (3) - shadow card is Reach, no effect, Beorn takes 1 damage
Third Combat - Hill Troll goes undefended - shadow card has no effect, Galadriel dies, my Threat goes to 40.

Gandalf then uses his Pipe to swap Gildor to the top of the deck. Elrond uses 1 resource to play Flame of Anor, allowing Gandalf to attack for 8, and kill the Troll Spawn.
My new top card is a Daereon's Runes, which I can play immediately, drawing a Counsel and another Expert Treasure Hunter. I discard my Zigil Miner. Gandalf's Staff gives a resource to Elrond.

Refresh phase, I play another Runes off the top, drawing a Burning Brand and Gwaihir, and discarding A Burning Brand.

Round 3 (Threat 41, Galadriel dead, other heroes 1 HP away, 10 Threat in staging area, all cards have Doomed 1)
I draw a Dwarven Tomb, Play Boromir off the top with Vilya and Unexpected Courage, and reveal another not-so-Hidden Cache. Gandalf gets some Unexpected Courage (yay for Vilya randomly giving Elrond a Spirit icon!).
For questing, I can only muster 8 willpower (and add a progress to the Marshlands). Hopefully I won't Threat Out soon, though I did lower my Threat to 38 with that Elrond's Counce.
The first encounter card is Smoking Blood, which would do nothing and Surge, which I can't afford right now, especially with all cards having "doomed 1," so I blow my Test of Will. 8 against 10 raises my threat by 2, back to 41.

For combat, Boromir will prove his worth by blocking the wolves (no shadow effect, he takes 1 damage and readies) and the Troll (no shadow, he dies, and my threat raises to 43).

Gandalf then kills the Wolf Rider, while Beorn rages, and deals 5 to the Hill Troll, then shuffles my deck. Gandalf's Staff gives another resource to Elrond.

Round 4 (Threat 44, Gildor, Gwaihir, Hidden Cache, Dwarven Tomb, Silvan Refugee in hand. Riversong atop the deck. Gandalf (4 damage), Elrond (3 damage) and Northern Tracker in play.

Play Riversong off the top using Gandalf, revealing another Flame. Wizard's Pipe swaps Flame for Gildor, play Gildor using Vilya. Play Refugee, top card is an Elrond's Counsel.

Gandalf (readies, and gets Counsel), Elrond, Riversong, and Refugee all commit. This is only 10 willpower against 10 Threat, but I need to save characters to get rid of the Troll this turn.

Staging gives me The East Blight, which is perfect, as I could NOT handle an enemy with more than 4 attack right now. I lose by 1, raising my threat back up to 43. My Tracker blocks the troll, dying, taking the Refugee with him, and raising my Threat back to 44. Gildor then looks at my top 3, seeing:
Runes, Courage, and Miner. I take Courage into hand, replacing it with Gwaihir, and use Gandalf's resource to play my second Flame. Gandalf attacks the troll for 8, killing it. I then play Runes off the top, drawing Miner and Landroval, and discarding my Unexpected Courage.

Round 5 - threat up to 45, and 11 in the staging area, but at least the Troll is dead, so I can finally start getting some allies into play.
I draw Bilbo, revealing a Cache atop my deck. I play the Zigil Miner, and mine away the Cache (+3 resources to elrond) and a Warden of Healing (oh, no!).
My new top card is Will of the West, which I Pipe/Vilya/Courage to swap with and play Landroval.
The new top card is Elfhelm, which I use my last 4 resources to play off the top, to mitigate the threat increases I keep getting.

I can only quest for 11 (leaving back Elfhelm), against 11 threat. Hopefully the encounter card won't be too bad...
Troll Spawn, which surges into Pursued by Shadow.
With 2 characters not committed, I raise my threat by 2 (2 doomed 1, 1 +2, and quest fail by 2, each of which is mitigated by Elfhelm. That's 47 threat. The troll attacks, and I use the staff to avoid any shadow effect, letting Elfhelm take 2 damage.

Round 6 - 48 Threat.

With Vilya on top, I Mine for +1 resource. With Nenya on top, I play Bilbo for +2 Willpower, and to shuffle the deck. With a Hidden Cache on top, I use Wizard pipe to swap the Ring back to the top, and play it on Gandalf. My new top card is Warden of Healing, which I Vilya into play, then quest for 12 against 11 Threat. Sadly, I reveal Marsh Adder (3 Threat)

Questing for 12 (Warden, Landroval, Elfhelm, Gandalf held back) and facing 14 threat, I have few options. I can take a bunch of damage to lower the threat, or use the Staff to add a resource, play Dwarven Tomb, and re-play an Elrond's Counsel. I pick the second option, lowering my threat to 45, and negating all the threat increases with Elfhelm.

I heal Elfhelm and Gandalf, and prepare to take 2 4 str attacks. Marsh Adder first (so Elfhelm can negate the threat increase). I defend with Gandalf, and the shadow card is Rats (Marsh Adder can't be damaged). Annoying but nonfatal, Gandalf takes 1 damage. Troll Spawn is blocked by Landroval, and the shadow card is nothing. Landroval takes 3 damage. Elfhelm can't counter-attack due to the Rants, so on to

Round 7 - 46 Threat
Draw Arwen, Vilya atop the deck. Use Pipe to swap Vilya for a Cache, then Mine away the Cache and a Refugee. This leaves Expert Treasure Hunter on top, which I can't play. I use 2 of the resources just gained to play Arwen, one off Gandalf for Hidden Cache from hand, revealing Light of Valinor, and then play the light off the top, leaving Elrond with one resource.
Finally, I get something worth Vilyaing, Beorn! I play him, revealing a Miner of the Iron Hills, and move on to Questing with nothing but the Will of the West in my hand (I'm not reshuffling, because I want to get Faramir first).

Gandalf, Elrond, Bilbo, and Arwen (boost Elfhelm) is an easy 10 willpower, so I exhaust Riversong to check on the Encounter deck. Pursued by Shadow means I want to commit everyone I possibly can, so I add Gildor, Landroval, Warden, and Beorn, making my total willpower 16, and leaving just 3 characters out of the quest (Elfhelm, Zigil Miner, and Riversong). Pursued brings my threat up to 49, then Elfhelm lowers it to 48. I make 5 progress, which is just enough to clear the Flooded Ford, and I then must travel to East Blight. I also finally trigger my Treasure Hunters, gaining the Iron Hills miner and a Hasty Stroke, revealing the second Beorn

2 4-strength attacks, and again Gandalf defends the Marsh Adder first, and the shadow card is Gladden Marshlands! Gandalf takes 2 damage (to 5/7) and the troll spawn gets +1 attack.
Elfhelm blocks the troll spawn, and his shadow card is Marshland Outlaw, which would threat me out, so I cancel with Hasty Stroke, replacing the resource with the staff. Elfhelm takes two damage.
Elrond counter-attacks the Marsh Adder, dealing 1 damage.

I desperately need threat reduction, so I play Will of the West before refresh, revealing a Northern Tracker after the reshuffle.

Round 8 - 49 Threat. Luckily the next card down is an Elrond's Counsel, which I play in the Resource Phase, just for the Threat reduction, revealing A Burning Brand.

In more need of cards and resources than Willpower at the moment, I activate Gildor and look at a Warden of Healing and Silvan Refugee, swapping the Warden with Vilya, and leaving the Refugee on top (to be played with Gandalf), then mining the two 2-cost attachments for 2 resources on Elrond.

My new top card is Gwaihir, who gets Vilya'd into play, revealing a Dwarven Tomb. Riversong scouts a second Gladden Marshland atop the encounter deck, so I need to quest All-In.

I have an easy 13 Willpower (Heroes, Arwen, Bilbo, Refugee, Dwarven Tomb to fetch Counsel). I add Gwahir for +2, and use both Wardens of Healing, in conjuction with the Marshland ability, to reduce the total threat down to 14 (to get the card draw). This ends up healing Elrond for 2 (3/4 hp remaining), and drawing Beorn and Unexpected Courage, revealing another Zigil Miner.

Beorn defends against Marsh Adder, who gets Rats as a shadow card, taking 1 damage. Gandalf discards the troll's shadow card, and Elrond defends (with +1 defense from Arwen), taking no damage. Gandalf, Landroval, and Elfhelm all counter-attack the Troll Spawn, killing it.

Round 9 - back down to 44 Threat.

Gildor looks at Hasty Stroke, Hidden Cache, and Neyna. Swap the Expert Treasure Hunter in hand for the Hasty Stroke, then Mine away the two zeros for +4 resources.

Use Pipe/Vilya/Courage to play the Northern Tracker, revealing Runes, which draws a duplicate Gildor and Vilya, discarding the useless Nenya.
I play another Unexpected Courage on Gandalf, and the second Zigil Miner, leaving Elrond's Counsel atop the deck for now. Riversong shows me Wargs coming up, and I'm ready to quest.

I'm able to quest for 17, leaving back Elfhelm, Beorn, and Landroval, giving a defense bonus to Elrond, and using both Healers to reduce the 22 threat in the staging area down to 16, while healing Elrond and Gandalf for 1 each (4/7 and 0/4 damage). Playing the Counsel drops me to 41 Threat.

Draw Hidden Cache and Boromir, revealing Faramir, giving 2 resources to Elrond. 2/6 progress on the East Blight.

Gandalf's Staff discards the Warg shadow card, Elrond defends against the Adder (no shadow effect, no damage). Elrond then takes 3 damage from the undefended Warg attack.

Gandalf and Elfhelm team up to kill the Wargs, then Gandalf readies and teams up with Beorn and Landroval to kill the Marsh Adder. Engaged enemies are all clear, and Faramir is coming to finish up the Locations.

Round 10 - 42 Threat

Gildor looks at Cache, Refugee, and Runes. Mine away the Cache and Runes, Vilya in Faramir, play Refugee and Boromir from hand. I also play Dwarven Tomb off the top, to get back Will of the West

For Questing, I send everyone but Faramir (who exhausts) and the wardens (who exhaust) and Boromir, Beorn, and Elfhelm. I play the Runes off the top of my deck, and draw Counsel and A Test of Will. This puts me at a total of 30 willpower against 20 threat. The encounter card is Smoking Blood, which surges into another East Blight (grrr). At least my Northern Tracker has been making a little bit of progress on the Gladden Marshes. Making 9 progress clears the first Blight, and finally puts 4 progress on stage 1! Luckily, the other Hill Troll showed up as a shadow card a while back, so I don't have to worry about getting stuck again (not that my army of allies would have a problem.)

Before resolving the quest I re-shuffle my discard again, and draw Runes and a Treasure Hunter. I use the Staff to draw a card, travel to East Blight.

I then play all 3 Runes over the next few phases, and end with an Elrond's Counsel in the Refresh Phase

Round 11 - 40 Threat, 4 progress on stage 1

In Resource phase, play Dwarven Tomb off the top to retrieve Will of the West. Then play 2 Elrond's Counsel in the Planning phase (one off the top), and re-shuffle. At this point, my deck is 10 cards: 3 Runes, 3 Counsels, 2 Hidden Cache, and Expert Treasure Hunter, and a Dwarven Tomb. I have Test of Will and Hasty Stroke in hand, and plenty of resources on Elrond.

Attach A Burning Brand to Elrond, mine two Runes for 2 Elrond resources, and then Quest:

I send the crew, +1 defense to Elrond, and pass with 32 willpower (play a Counsel) against 22 Threat, moving me on to Stage 2 (finally!). I Treasure Hunt up 2 Hidden Cache, and optionally engage the Marshland Outlaws who were revealed this turn.

Elrond defends for no damage, the attack team kills the Outlaw, and it looks like I have the quest well in hand (one Marshland has 5 progress in the staging area, the other is the active location with 4 progress). I also play the other two Counsels from my deck.

Round 12 - 25 Threat

No manipulation needed, re-shuffle 7 cards with Tomb/West, quest for 31 again. I get 2 Snipers, a Troll Spawn, and an Eastern Crows. That is a total of 17 threat, so I will make 14 progress. 6 will clear the active location, so I need +8 progress to clear stage 2 this turn...exhaust the wardens of healing to soak up -8 threat to the staging area Gladden Marsh (and pay 4 Lore resources to also heal everyone except Beorn to full, and have a ready Healer)

My bonus cards for stage 3 are Brown Lands and Necromancer's Reach (canceled with A Test of Will). I also take Hidden Cache and Elrond's Counsel into hand.

Eastern Crows and Troll Spawn engage, but I'm in a bit of a pickle now, since there are two Snipers, and I can't optionally engage either...

For combat, Elrond (at +1 defense) defends against both attacks, and takes no damage. Both enemies are then easily dispatched. All locations stay in the staging area. I play 2 Runes, discarding 2 Cache, to draw my deck. Then Tomb/Will to re-shuffle. Use the warden to heal up the Sniper damage, and the last point on Beorn.

Round 13 - 26 Threat.

The staging area contains 19 threat, and no more cards will be revealed. I quest with no-one, raising my threat to 46. Warden heals the 2 damage. Make Marshlad the active location.

Round 14 - 47 Threat

I quest with Northern Tracker (clearing Brown Lands) and Silvan Refugee. Lose by 1, raising my threat to 48. Both Snipers engage, and I play 3 Counsels + Tomb one of them to bring my threat back down to 36. Then I reshuffle, and use runes to re-draw them and reduce it to 27. I could possibly do it again, but I won't bother, but I do play both Dwarven Tombs to re-play 2 of them, and go to 21.

Elrond defends, takes no damage, and the snipers are easily dispatched.

Final Score: 13 full rounds + 29 threat + 9 damage/lost hero - 9 Victory = 159 final score. Much worse than the previous, but double Gladden Marshland is really, really insane. Luckily I had Elfhelm around to avoid the huge amounts of threat increase the deck was handing out. He was on the edge, and I was wondering if a second Northern Tracker (same stats) might be better, but this game really showed his worth!