With our adventures in Angmar behind me, I find myself heading into what is almost certainly the last official cycle of the game to sport Nightmare content. While nobody can say for certain what the future holds, reports that the Nightmare content didn’t sell well and communication from the game’s developers that Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is in “sunset” make it unlikely that we’ll see the remaining Nightmare quests completed. Though I have the Nightmare The Hobbit Saga to complete as well as the first two-thirds of the Lord of the Rings Campaign, I am nevertheless left feeling bittersweet at being within sight of the end of the official Nightmare content. It has been an amazing journey so far, and I intend to savor those steps which I have left.

The Grey Havens / Dreamchaser cycle has long been my favorite cycle of the game. Unlike the cycles before it, which take place in well-known locations from the Lord of the Rings, this cycle takes place around the edges of the map. It’s all sourced directly from Tolkien’s writings—often digging deep into the lore from places like the Appendices and the Silmarillion—but it does so in a way that lets us see Middle-Earth from a new angle. It’s a fresh and interesting take for the game, with a set of fresh and interesting mechanics to go along with it!

It does present a challenge, though

Generally, at the start of a new cycle, I like to look at the map of Middle-Earth and try to figure out what sorts of themes I might be using to source my decks. Generally, I look at the Free Peoples settlements that surround the locales where the cycle takes place and extrapolate which of Middle-Earth’s races I’m going to be playing around with most. That doesn’t work as well here.

This cycle takes place all along the Western coast of Middle-Earth, starting in the grey elf-haven of Mithlond in the North and ending in Umbar in the South. Between those two points are a few key areas in Gondor: Dol Amroth, Pelargir, and many of Gondor’s Southern provinces. We do have a few cards in the game representing these regions: there are a few scattered Noldor cards referencing the Grey Havens, and a handful of Gondor and Outlands cards which refer to their southernmost holdings by name. But we don’t have many such cards. I very much hope to build an interesting deck from each category, but I’m not convinced I will be able to scrape together more than two, maybe three decks total from those two themes alone.

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We also have a handful of Harad cards and depending on how you want to count Haradwaith and Harondor you could argue that they might be found along the coast where our adventures are taking place. Combining some of these four traits (Noldor, Gondor, Outlands, and Harad) might yield some interesting results as well and bring up my total viable deck count even further. It’s still a small and underdeveloped card pool, though, so I think I’m going to need more than just that.

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Ultimately, I think I’m going to have to supplement with some decks whose themes either draw from other regions of the map or get creative with some non-tribal deckbuilding. Who knows, maybe there’s a viable cross-trait deck out there using nothing but characters with boats in the art?

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Maybe this is the cycle where my deck themes finally jump the shark! We’ll see in due time. Whatever I end up building, I’m sure it’ll be interesting.

A long-considered question

There’s one other thing I need to settle before embarking on this voyage. The first fan-expansion from A Long-extended Party, Children of Eorl, has been released, with more expansions coming soon. In the past, I didn’t spend too much time on fan-expansions, since quality frequently varies and the community of people who play with the expansion is significantly smaller than the main game itself. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t to throw shade at any of the amazing fan-creators out there! But there’s only so much one or two people can do on their own.

ALeP, however, is different. The quality of the first expansion is superb, and it is widely known and respected throughout the online LotR LCG community. With the future of official game content murky at best, A Long-extended Party seems to be the closest thing we as a community have with respect to picking up where the official content left off and continuing to develop the card pool. I joined the ALeP team shortly before the release of the first Deluxe, and I have become convinced that ALeP’s collaborative process, extensive playtesting, and advanced homemade toolchain will produce better results than any one-fan-band could hope to build alone. And without the pressures of a profit motive, investors to impress, or unnecessary deadlines, I daresay the final product can achieve some quality advantages over a commercial endeavor as well.

So, I have decided that I will indeed be using ALeP cards on my blog going forward as I play. I’m excited to see these cards we’ve been playtesting perform in even more contexts, and I savor any opportunity I can get for my printed copy of ALeP to hit the table!

Hoist the main sail

I’m already brewing some neat deck ideas to challenge Nightmare Voyage Across Belegaer, and I can’t wait to start my voyage! But, as with any long-expected journey, I must be patient. Between my day-job and contributing to ALeP, I haven’t had nearly as much time to devote to my Thematic Nightmare series as I once did. But rest assured, it’s still always in the back of my mind. I have an ALeP playtest deck I’m just dying to share with all of you here once the requisite pack drops; I know you’re going to love it!

So, keep your eyes peeled and watch the horizon; when the time is right, you’ll see the billowing sails of the Dreamchaser and her fleet, ready to take us off on another adventure.