Quest 50: The Thing in the Depths

Victory on the Fourth Attempt!

The Deck 

Knowing this was going to be more of a tactical quest, I was looking for a Dunedain deck to try out. I kind of found one. The Eagles Comeback Album has a few Dunedain in the line up but is, as the title hints, primarily an Eagles deck. It developed a nice board state rather quickly, but the questing power wasn't quite what I needed (or at least what I was able to use effectively). A.C.E. was up to the willpower challenge, but not the tactical aspect. Ally swarm had my focus. Quad Sphere Dwarf Swarm caught my eye...until I realized it had done so last month. Then I came across a deck I had heard mentioned several times: Seastan's Everything* Costs 2. Exactly what I was wanting!

Everything* Costs 2

Heroes
Arwen Undomiel (The Dread Realm)
Beregond (Heirs of Numenor)
Galdor of the Havens (The Grey Havens)

Allies
Bilbo Baggins (The Road Darkens) x1
Ethir Swordsman x3
Galadriels' Handmaiden x2
Zigil Miner x3
Galadhon Archer x3
Honour Guard x3
Mithlond Sea-watcher x2
Erebor Hammersmith x2
Ered Nimrais Prospector x2
Gleowine x1
Quickbeam x1
Warden of Healing x3
Envoy of Pelargir x3

Attachments
Unexpected Courage x3
Raven-winged Helm x2
Spear of the Citadel x2
Protector of Lorien x2
Ranger Spikes x2

Events
Elven-light x2
Will of the West x2
The Evening Star x3
Hidden Cache x3

Sets Used
Core Set
Khazad-dum
The Long Dark
Heirs of Numenor
The Steward's Fear
The Morgul Vale
The Road Darkens
The Nin-in-Eilph
Celebrimbor's Secret
The Treason of Saruman
The Wastes of Eriador
The Dread Realm
The Grey Havens


RingsDB Link

The Journey

Attempt 1 was a reminder of how brutal location lock can be. I let a few slip past me and then, largely due to Quarter Deck, found myself in a hole there was no digging out of. At least combat went well!

Attempt 2 was death by tentacles. Learning (part of) my lesson on location lock for this quest, I dashed into battle with the beast. Things were looking like they might work out after all, until the following quest phase occurred - Reveal: Eye of the Beast. Surge. Reveal: Crushing Arm. Surge. Reveal: Lashing Tentacles.

Attempt 3 was a lesson in learning the wrong lessons. So wary of location lock, I forgot that this deck has more of a tactical weakness and rushed passed the first stage. While A.C.E. can start spitting out the allies, The Thing in the Depths can spin up tentacles much faster. As with attempt 2, there was a slight glimmer of hope that was quickly crushed.

Attempt 4 was a return to my Attempt 1 strategy, with the exception that this time I kept the locations moving. And my threat! I spent so much time building my army that I let myself get into the low 40's before moving on. Even then that first battle vs the tentacles was tense. I had five ungrapple from a Quarter Deck and enter the staging area at once. Two were Crushing Arms which attacked immediately (and one attacked an additional time) and two were Grasping Arms that tapped down two of my allies. I was able to take the eight attacks and take down two of the Grasping Arms. After that, it was more a matter of watching my threat climb each round and hoping I could get to 11 damage on the Thing before I reached 50. Revealing a From the Depths and not hitting a single enemy was a bummer. Then a Thrashing Arm came out and victory was mine!


Final Scoring
12 Completed Rounds x10: 120
Ending Threat: 45
Total Damage on Heroes: 0
Threat of Defeated Heroes: 0
Victory Display: -15 (Helm of the Stormcaller: 5, The Thing in the Depths: 10)
Total Score: 84


The Recap

The Thing in the Depths really brings out the puzzle aspect this game can have to it. Exactly how much willpower should you bring to the table? How much attack & defense? How many allies? You can answer all of those by bringing a deck that excels in all three areas (the route I took) or try to find a deck that hits that balance just right. Might be a fun challenge some day.