Deck 2- Valiant Sacrifice Version 2.1 (Lord of the Rings LCG)

Alright I am back with another of my decks. This one is particularly close to my heart and I would say is my best and most played deck and has gone through several revisions. I think the deck is playable Solo against certain scenarios and really shines in 2 or more player environments.



When Dead Marshes was previewed way back in a Game Trade Magazine I saw the Boromir (TDM) hero card and was instantly hooked. A hero who could ready himself just by taking a threat? Wow! The possibilities for a Hero like this are amazing. He could quest, attack, defend and even exhaust to effects if need be. Of course with a Hero like Boromir you will always be running hot on threat. So you need to find a way to keep that threat down or play with a partner deck or two that can help manage your threat. Cards like Song of Earendil (RtR) played by another player or threat reducers such as The Galadhrim's Greeting (Core), Elrond's Counsel (TWitW) and Gandalf (Core) can go a long ways as well.

So lets get on to the constructing shall we?

Hero selection time shall commence.

First Hero out of the gate will be Boromir of course. The whole deck is centered around him and even somewhat themey since he is the namesake of the deck with his Valiant Sacrifice (Core). Next I am going to look at one of the main themes of the deck, Allies leaving play to generate effects. So since I have Allies leaving play quite a bit Prince Imrahil (AJtR) will be my second Hero. He also gives me access to Leadership cards like Valiant Sacrifice, Sneak Attack (Core) and Common Cause (Core) which are all within the deck. The third Hero I needed to be from the Spirit sphere to give me access to threat reduction. Early on this Hero was Dwalin (KD) and while good, he immediately took a back seat when the new Glorfindel (FoS) arrived on the scene. This new Glorfindel immediately reduced my threat from the get go, he gave me access to Elrond's Counsel and with Light of Valinor (FoS) was another character who readied himself by honestly not exhausting to quest.

Lets put some meat on the bones of this deck.

So I have Boromir and I will need some resource enhancer in this deck and he is Tactics sphere seems only fitting he would use the Horn of Gondor (Core). So with the Horn in place, I need things to trigger said Horn and also trigger Prince Imrahil. So lets look at the allies in the deck. For the most part they need to stay cheap and also have a discard ability of some sort. Boromir will be tanking just about everything that comes at this deck unless it is huge and then one of the allies will get to chump block. There are a decent amount of quests out there that have Enemy that require range, and I also want to be able to pick off the occasional Enemy that gets to ambush the other players or assign to the last player and what not. Vassal of the Windlord (TDM) fits the bill perfectly. I also want to be able to ready Prince Imrahil and Glorfindel multiple times if necessary or another player who might have a Hero with an exhaust ability, so I am turning to one of my favorite allies the Westfold Horse-Breaker (THfG). This ally can quest and still trigger his discard ability to fuel Horn and Imrahil. Questing is also key for this deck's chance to play solo and to be able to aid your fellowship members so I am going to go with The Riddermark's Finest (THoEM) and Bofur (TRG). Both of these allies can quest, they both have abilities that can make them exit play to feed Horn / Imrahil and if need be they can give a little ooomph to an attack. The Riddermark's Finest can also help with location removal. Last but certainly not least the ultimate enter and leave play Ally, Gandalf, who can help with card draw and threat reduction as well.


For the attachments section of the deck it is fairly straightforward. Readying and staying ready is pretty key to this deck so of course Unexpected Courage (Core) makes the cut. Light of Valinor is a must for Glorfindel (Sp) and the Horn of Gondor is in. I am also placing a couple Resourceful (TWitW) in the deck to help resource acceleration. Card draw gets a nudge with Ancient Mathom (AJtR)Dunedain Warning (CatC) will help Boromir survive multiple defences. Dunedain Cache (TDM) will allow any of my strength 3 attack Heroes to help Vassal of the Windlord kill those pesky Enemy enganged with another member of my fellowship. The attachments are rounded out by Song of Travel (THoEM) to allow for all the Spirit sphere cards in the deck.


Prince Imrahil was in the deck for another major reason, he is Leadership sphere and here come the cards of that sphere in the form of Events (well he also helps with the Dunedain cards above too). Sneak Attack allows for Gandalf play and quick play of every two cost Ally in the deck and will also send that Ally back to my hand for later play. This also triggers the Horn and Imrahil so it is definitely a card that is in. Common Cause is cheap, playable because of Imrahil and can be used off Boromir exhausting or unexhausting and then exhausting again to use it. Very useful and can come in handy again for other fellowship members Heroes who may have exhaust abilities or if they need to be up for defense or attack. I have a decent amount of allies going in and out of play so the decks namesake of Valiant Sacrifice is a no-brainer and also helps with card draw.

The Spirit sphere rounds out the Events with one Will of the West (Core) to help recycle the deck if necessary. Stand and Fight (Core) is a perfect fit to bring back all those exiting play allies to watch them do it again or to get a discarded ally of another player if need be. Elrond's Counsel helps with threat reduction and questing as well and is easily played now thanks to Glorfindel (Sp). Dwarven Tomb (Core) allows me to get back any of those Spirit sphere cards I may need to use again to help with any part of this decks journey through a quest.

Hero (3)
Prince Imrahil (AJtR) x1
Boromir (TDM) x1
Glorfindel (FoS) x1


Ally (12)
Vassal of the Windlord (TDM) x3
Westfold Horse-Breaker (THfG) x3
Bofur (TRG) x2
The Riddermark's Finest (THoEM) x2
Gandalf (Core) x2


Attachment (19)
Song of Travel (THoEM) x3
Horn of Gondor (Core) x3
Unexpected Courage (Core) x2
Dunedain Warning (CatC) x2
Ancient Mathom (AJtR) x2
Dunedain Cache (TDM) x2
Resourceful (TWitW) x2
Light of Valinor (FoS) x3


Event (19)
Stand and Fight (Core) x3
Valiant Sacrifice (Core) x3
Common Cause (Core) x3
Will of the West (Core) x1
Sneak Attack (Core) x3
Elrond's Counsel (TWitW) x3
Dwarven Tomb (Core) x3

So there is my deck, I still think that there can be even more refining done to it and more and more play of it will allow me to alter things. Of course there are future cards to consider but all in all it is my favorite deck to play and I enjoy it very much.

As a side note for Solo play and possibly for the future I would play Arwen Undomiel (TWitW). She would help with questing and bolstering Boromir. I don't currently play her as my gf likes to use her in her deck and I already stole Bofur and Glorfindel to use in mine which she liked both. She likes the Spirit sphere and Lore spheres a lot. Arwen would also be useful in multi-player as she can give Boromir sentinel as well. I would probably drop a Song of Travel and a Resourceful or Dwarven Tomb for x2 of her.