Quest 003(r): Escape From Dol Guldur FAILURE

Opening Thoughts

Not every failed attempt is going to get it's own post, but this one was special. Escape from Dol Guldur is something I have always viewed as a horrible inclusion in the core set. It is one of the most difficult quests, with an unpredictable handicap in the beginning (loosing a random hero) and a three card staging area possibly loosing you the game right away. So the test with this first playthrough was: does the campaign smooth some of the rough edges of this quest and make it a better part of the core experience? Let's find out...

The Deck

The top deck in the RingsDB Hall of Fame is Back to Basics - A Killer Deck Using Cards From 1 Core Set by Xanalor. When building the deck, Xanalor felt a 44 card build was the most appropriate with the cards provided in the original core box (1s and 2s of the best cards). With 3x of every card for every sphere in the revised core, I decided to fill out the build with six additions:

Henamarth Riversong x1

Steward of Gondor x1

Unexpected Courage x2

A Test of Will x1

Sneak Attack x1

So here is a 50 card version of the Back to Basics deck:

Hero
Beravor

Eowyn

Theodred

Allies

Beorn x1

Erebor Hammersmith x2

Faramir x2

Gandalf x3

Gleowine x2

Guard of the Citadel 3

Henamarth Riversong x2

Miner of the Iron Hills x2

Northern Tracker x2

Snowbourn Scout x3

Attachments

Forest Snare x2

Steward of Gondor x3

Unexpected Courage x3

Event

A Test of Will x3

Dwarven Tomb x1

For Gondor! x1

Hasty Stroke x2

Lore of Imladris x3

Sneak Attack x3

Stand and Fight x3

The Galadhrim's Greeting x2

Will of the West x2

The Quest

Setup

I decided to pick Beravor as the prisoner because Leadership is pretty important to how this deck functions. I do assign the keeper of Valor randomly and it is Beravor, so both of those cards go upside-down. Mendor goes upside-down due to the campaign set up. Appointed by Fate goes on Theodred (since he can help get resources onto others).

Gandalf's Map: guarded by Dol Guldur Orcs (when revealed effect does nothing!)

Dungeon Tourch: guarded by Great Forest Web

Shadow Key: guarded by The Necromancer's Reach (when revealed effect also does nothing!)

My opening hand is about as good as it can get: Steward of Gondor, Gandalf, Sneak Attack, Faramir. Nothing too special for the other spheres, but I am not letting go of this.

Round 1

Steward of Gondor goes on Theodred and is activated immediately. Snowborn scout goes down, putting one progress on Great Forest web. 

At the start of the Quest Phase, I sneak attack Gandalf and deal lethal damage to the Dol Guldur Orcs. Then I raise my threat by two to attach Gandalf's Map to Eowyn, allowing Mendor to be freed (with one damage). Eowyn, Mendor, and Gandalf quest for 9. Reveal: Dungeon Jailer. I put six progress on the quest, return Gandalf to hand, and exhaust Theodred to travel to Great Forest Web.

I'm going to leave the Dungeon Jailer in the staging area. I don't expect to fail questing and I only have one ally down to chump with not a lot of attack ready.

Round 2

I get Gandalf down again, putting four damage on the Jailer, then quest for five. Reveal: Caught in a Web, which goes on Theodred. I'm able to progress through the Great Forest Web and complete stage 1, readying Mendor and getting me a card.  

Dungeon Jailer is optionally engaged and the Scout is thrown in front of it, dying quickly. Gandalf then finishes off the Jailer before heading to the discard pile himself.

Round 3

Faramir comes down. I commit Eowyn and Mendor to the quest for 5. Reveal: Hummerhorns. Hopefully another Gandalf surfaces soon! I exhaust Faramir to add +2 willpower, getting 6 progress on the quest and Beravor back with one damage and adding the Nazgul to the staging area. I exhaust Beravor to draw two cards.

Round 4 

Beravor is exhausted to draw two cards, then I commit 6 to the quest. Reveal: King Spider. I pitch a card to Eowyn, then use Stand and Fight for X=1 to get a Snowborn Scout in play. Failed questing & raise my threat by 1. 

The King Spider engages me and destroys the Scout.

Round 5

Gleowine goes down Unexpected Courage goes on Beravor. I exhaust Beravor to draw two cards, then unexhaust her with Unexpected Courage.

Questing for eight this time, I reveal an Endless Caverns which surges into a Dungeon Jailer. Faramir is exhausted and a card is pitched to Eowyn to raise my willpower by 5 and get five progress on the quest.

I travel to the Endless Caverns, then sneak in a Guard of the Citadel who is destroyed by the King Spider. 

Round 6

Beravor draws some cards and readies, then I go in for 8, revealing a Cavern Guardian. I pitch a card to Eowyn to break even. 

The Guardian and the Dungeon Jailer engage me. Dungeon Jailer is undefedned and gets Dol Guldur Orcs as it's shadow card, giving it +3 attack. I choose to sacrifice Beravor.Guardian is undefended but does not get a buff and I put the two damage on Theodred. The Spider is defended by Faramir who takes 1 damage.

Round 7

Unexpected Courage goes on Theodred and I quest for 6. No way to get out of this without loosing both heroes. I have made poor life decisions.

Parting Thoughts

This was a much better and more satisfying way to loose to Dol Guldur: Some sub-optimal decisions and flips that did not work out in my favor. That is how I expect most losses to occur for a higher-difficulty scenario. There was not at all a feeling of auto-loss. So, in my opinion, the inclusion of the campaign element does a tremendous amount to redeem Escape from Dol Guldur's inclusion in the core box.