Ultimate LOTR LCG expansion review

Strap in; this is going to be a long article. For years, I have been busy reviewing products and quests for LOTR LCG, but I have never done an article on every single expansion, reviewing both quests and player cards. In truth, this article borrows a lot from Ian’s New Player Buying Guide over at Tales from the Cards. The last time that article was updated was 6 years ago, so I will try and update that myself. I will also add sections for the Revised Content and whether or not buying a pack would be smart if you already own things like the Starter Decks or revised Sagas. Nightmare decks will be left out at the moment since the market is very niche, and it would add 50 expansions to the list. If I don’t want to wait on this article until Christmas (and keep my sanity), I’ll exclude those and perhaps wait for a dedicated NM Buying Guide once I have reviewed every single NM quest. In the meantime, see Ian’s review of everything up til The Antlered Crown here. And to those of you looking for a summarized version of this list on what to buy, see my original buying guide article here.

A Guide to the Guide

Before we get started, here are a few notes: FFG has confirmed in 2023 that there will be no reprints of the old content, which will be the majority of what is covered in this article. You will have to rely on the second-hand market to get most of these items. I will refer you to this article of mine on where to have the best chance at finding these items, and what pitfalls to avoid. I will also not be including any fan-made content on this list. If you have heard of these projects, you are probably informed well enough to make a decision on whether to buy it or not. You can find more info about these expansions on the sites of the creators. This article only goes into content designed and published by Fantasy Flight Games.

From here on, the article will cover each expansion in a brief table on each expansion. The setup for this will look as such, followed by a short paragraph of me talking about the quest and the player cards.:

Title	[Image of the product]
Type
Difficulty Quest	[ranking from 1.0 to 10.0]
Quality Quest	[ranking from 1 to 5]
Quality Player Cards	[ranking based percentage useful cards]
Archetype Support	[traits that benefit from this pack]
Compatible with Revised Content?	[see below]
Get it now or later?	[see below]

These sections will first list the title of the expansion (not the quests) followed by an image of what the box should look like. This should help you to identify the expansion when seen in shops or online. The type of expansion lists whether or not it is an Adventure Pack, Deluxe Expansion, Print on Demand set, etc. If other expansions are required to play the quest, it will be listed alongside it. This assumes that everyone reading this has a Core Set, revised or otherwise. Without a Core Set, you cannot play the game!

Next up is the difficulty of the quest as experienced by the community. I could have added my personal experience, but I would like to make this article as objective as possible. I also won’t include FFG’s rating since that makes little sense. The community difficulty scores are obtained from https://www.lotr-lcg-quest-companion.gamersdungeon.net/, and you can leave your vote there as well! The quality of the quest is slightly more subjective, and I will rank the quest 1 to 5 stars in how well it balances the game mechanics and shakes things up. Boring quests with a lot of repetition will score lower than quests that have a signature mechanic that people often replay the quest for. The scale will be as such:

1: Aside from progression style, there is no value in playing this quest
2: Fine, but there are major flaws with the design
3: Decent, while not iconic, there is no harm in replaying this from time to time
4: Fun scenario mechanics that are definitely worth your time
5: All-time classics!

The next bit is on the included player cards. I rank the quality of cards included and will list the best card in the pack according to myself. This will be a scale of 0-10, judging on which cards I deem worth including in decks. It’s the best measurement I can think of, as there are 10 cards per AP. For larger collections, I’ll try and see if I can explain my reasoning behind the score. The archetypes supported by this pack will be listed below, these can also be found in the Archetype Analysis tab on the blog. I will also include a section on whether or not the cards included are in any of the revised content expansions, mainly those of the Starter Decks. These rankings are as such:

Yes – None of the cards are in the RCO cardpool and will expand your collection
Maybe – Some of the cards are included, but some useful ones are still in this pack.
No – Nothing of worth in terms of player cards is in this pack, but you can still get it for the scenario
Obsolete – The content of the entire pack is included in another Revised Content product.

The last section attempts to answer that burning question: should you buy it the second you see one. While the answer should usually be yes, there might be better options within the cycle or other expansions better worth your money. This depends on your collection size already, as you might be inclined to buy the last pack of a cycle to complete it even if I don’t recommend it. The categories are:

Get it now! – If given the option, buy the pack immediately, but don’t be fooled by scalper’s prices
Perhaps – The pack is still a good time, but there are better options out there
Get it later – You don’t miss out on much if you skip this one for now
Don’t get it – There are better alternatives, and you might just want to get this afterwards for completion’s sake.

Before we kick off, a shameless plug: In order to support our efforts at the blog, please consider donating any amount via Paypal. It helps us a lot in making these articles and supporting the community with both digital and physical content. Previous donations have allowed us to create two books already, and more support is appreciated for additional books in the future. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=UDQHK27L3EEAN

With that, we will kick off this monster of an article. I hope it helps you all to make informed decisions on what pack to buy next!

The Shadows of Mirkwood cycle

Color theme: Green
Mechanics theme: None, intro cycle
Quests overall: 1/5
Player cards: 2/5
Get for: Beginner-friendly player cards that help to make deckbuilding easier
Notorious for: Bad quest design and lackluster playing cards
Best pack: Conflict at the Carrock
Worst pack: A Journey to Rhosgobel

The Core Set should always be your first purchase for this game. Not this version though, go with the Revised Core set to get 3 copies of each player card and the latest errata on all of the cards. The scenarios included do a decent job at showing the difficulty levels of the game, though you will soon have to expand beyond the Core Set to make a decent deck. Easy to recommend this box, as it will be the start of your journey into the game.

The first AP that we ever got holds some nostalgic value, especially if you can find the old cardboard versions of the box. The quest is so-so, and much improved in Nightmare mode. The constant setback to stage 2 if you don’t fine enough clues, coupled with the potential location lock or huge enemies early in the game make for a weird balance with this pack. For player cards, the pack is surprisingly good for this cycle. Bilbo Baggins is over-costed, but if you are building an Eagle deck, this is a must-buy for The Eagles and Coming and Winged Guardian. Plenty of value to be had with this pack, apart from the nostalgia.

Another strong pack here, mostly improving on quest design. This is not a quest to play blind on your own, but is a great time with friends as you face the trolls and recruit Grimbeorn to your cause. The player cards are a varied set, filling in some niches and are worth to include in your deck. Song of Wisdom and A Burning Brand in the same deck allows any defender to ignore shadow cards, which is huge. Getting Frodo as a hero is nice, though you are not able to play him for most of the Saga’s. He is pretty solid though, as long as you pair him with threat reduction.

Poor Rhosgobel, always the butt of the joke. This is arguably the worst quest design in the game, and you are punished heavily while escorting a wounded Eagle to Radagast and finding enough Athelas to heal him. Sounds great in concept, but the loss-conditions on stage 3 are brutal, and there is a lot of direct damage that gets dealt to your characters. It’s not a good time, but better in Nightmare mode. The player cards are decent, but many can be found in the starter decks. If you want Radagast and Landroval for your Eagle deck, go ahead, but aside from that and getting more copies of Ancient Mathom, I would skip this pack if I were you.

Where Rhosgobel is an example of bad quest design, Emyn Muil is an example of boring quest design (though I personally don’t mind it). Getting nothing but locations for 8 turns straight can be pretty underwhelming, and a surprise treachery that deals 2 damage to the board will seem like an unfair way to lose. The quest is honestly nothing memorable. The player cards are… ok, I guess. Brand son of Bain is horrible and had to be fixed by AleP. The Leadership cards never see play. The eagle support is more padding for the deck than cards you rely on, but Gildor isn’t too bad for a Noldor deck. If you are playing progression though, it will be a while before that deck becomes viable. Until then, avoid this pack.

The quest design on this stinks as bad as the swamp, as you have to guard an objective that can disappear into the encounter deck. Still, if you are fast enough, it is an easy win. The reason to buy this pack though, lies in the player cards. This version of Boromir is awesome, and could be a fun replacement in the Gondor starter deck. Fast Hitch is an essential tool for Hobbit decks that you otherwise don’t have access to. Other good toolkit cards in this pack include a great Battle-quester (Vassal of the Windlord), threat cancellation (Elfhelm), and portable Ranged/Tactics icon/damage deflection with the other attachments in this pack.

To finish the cycle, FFG threw all the big enemies into one quest, gave you a screaming Gollum to draw them closer to you, pointed to Thranduil’s Hall, and wished you good luck. This is a tough quest, and many progression players will need to bring out the two-handed strategies to stand a chance. The player cards are hit and miss though. Dain Ironfoot is a staple for Dwarf decks, and with the Dwarrowdelf cycle coming up, he’ll be a great boon for your Dwarves, unless you already have him from the starter deck. Mirkwood Runner, West Road Traveller, and Astonishing Speed are also available in starter decks, so buying this pack won’t get you as much value. Eagles of the Misty Mountains is a staple for Eagle decks though, and the core of many of their synergies. If you are building an Eagle deck, this becomes a Must Buy in a heartbeat.

The Dwarrowdelf cycle

Color theme: Brown
Mechanics theme: None, introduction Secrecy keyword
Quests overall: 3/5
Player cards: 5/5
Get for: Memorable quests and hero-focused player cards in the same box
Notorious for: Horrible treacheries that can end the game (Sudden Pitfall, Sleeping Sentry, Foul Air)
Best pack: Foundations of Stone
Worst pack: The Redhorn Gate

Our first Deluxe box gave us a taste of what these boxes feel like. The player cards are focused mostly around a single archetype, and there are three quests that build onto each other narratively. Into the Pit is a classic decktesting quest that tries to hurt you from all different angles. The Seventh Level is a beat-em-up kind of quest, where you have fight hordes upon hordes of Goblins whilst trying to make it through the quest cards. Flight from Moria has aged a little more than the others, and can be over in a single round with a bit of luck. Play it the intended way, and you will be running for your lives with a Balrog close behind. If you ever have a spare afternoon on your own, try beating these three quests back-to-back, it’ll be a good time!

As for player cards, it’s all beardy boys in this box. If you don’t like Dwarves, then this set of player cards is going to do very little for you. However, if you like Dwarves, then you likely already own the Dwarves of Durin Starter deck, and you will have access to the best cards from this box already. There are some decent additions to that deck, especially in Spirit with the Zigil Miner and Untroubled by Darkness (which is great in a cycle set mostly underground), but there is nothing that this box has that pushes Dwarves to further heights. Get this for the quests, rather than the player cards.

The first AP of the Dwarrowdelf cycle takes you up the mountains above Moria. This quest punishes characters by reducing willpower, and dealing damage to any that have 0 willpower. This makes it difficult to get to the end, but not impossible if you build for it. The final stretch is designed poorly though. You need a set number of Victory Points to win, and the necessary locations could not show up all game or be discarded as shadow cards. This can make the quest take forever if you are unlucky. For player cards, this is quite a weak pack. Elrohir is nice, but you will need Elladan to make him worth his cost. Timely Aid is perhaps the only card that is used often by me out of the 10 cards in this pack, and that’s mostly thanks to later cards making Secrecy viable.

While there are some absolutely BS treacheries in this quest (which haunt the dreams of many players to this day), the Ambush mechanic is great! It forces enemies to engage you in the quest phase, often punishing you if they engage right away. The idea is quite novel and I would have liked to see this be used more often. Sadly, many players remember the quest for Sleeping Sentry and Orc Ambush giving them a quick scoop on turn 1-2. In terms of player cards, you get Elladan, for whom you’ll need Elrohir from the previous pack. There are also some good Secrecy cards in here, as Out of the Wild can be a fantastic way to remove some horrible cards from the encounter deck. The End Comes is… less than ideal though.

This is the first hero-focused deck, where many of the included player cards focus on the hero included. This is Lore Aragorn for this pack, the first time a hero gets a second version. Sword that was Broken, Arwen, and Elrond’s Counsel all go well in his deck, and you can even give him the Rivendell Bow included here as well. Aside from him, Resourceful is a fantastic way to compensate for being down a hero if you choose to dive into Secrecy. The quest is pretty iconic, fighting off the many tentacles of the Watcher. The ending is a bit clunky though, and later player cards clear this quest without you having to go through the Doors of Durin or kill the Watcher.

This is quite a forgettable pack, were it not for the fact that this includes one of the best healers in the game. Warden of Healing can be reason enough to get this pack, though the rest of the cards are more niche. Erebor Battlemaster and Hama have received errata that make them less powerful than before, but Word of Command can be useful in the right deck. The quest is nothing special, and nobody really replays it. The Locate tests can be infuriating the one or two times per game that you have to do them. Skip it to get to the good stuff!

This is the best quest in the cycle, and an all-time community favorite for multiplayer games. You are sent to the lowest point of Moria, where you’ll fight off horrors unlike any other. Washing away and splitting up for the first time gives you a really unique experience, trying to find ona another to escape the Nightmare. The player cards in this pack are top-notch. This is the Spirit Glorfindel pack, who is one of the best heroes that threat can buy. Pair him with Light of Valinor, Asfaloth, ánd Daeron’s Runes in one pack, and I’d almost suggest you get more than 1 copy of the pack! Don’t though, other people will want this pack as well.

The conclusion of the Dwarrowdelf cycle gives a fight against the Balrog, which is a very climactic boss-fight. It also gives you a taste of Secrecy, since every deck starts at 0 threat. For player cards, this is the Elrond pack, but there are a lot of other useful cards in here as well. Hands Upon the Bow can snipe anything from the staging area, Hardy Leadership further buffs your Dwarves, and Master of the Forge allows you to find the attachments in your deck a lot faster. Elrond is already included in the Elves of Lorien deck though, as well as some other player cards, so you won’t get the best deal with this pack if you already own that one.

The Against the Shadow cycle

Color theme: Light Grey
Mechanics theme: Siege/Battle keywords, Archery introduced
Quests overall: 3/5
Player cards: 3/5
Get for: Sharp spike in difficulty, beginning of narrative throughout the cycle
Notorious for: Difficult quests, mono-sphere focus
Best pack: The Steward’s Fear
Worst pack: Encounter at Amon Din

At the start of the Against the Shadow cycle you will find that the difficulty for the game has suddenly increased. Progression players now come to a steep learning curve but the player cards included do help to overcome some of the struggle. Peril in Pelargir is an introduction to the Siege/Battle quest mechanic, where you fight through the city to keep hold of an objective. Into Ithilien is your first introduction to the Mumakil enemies, which will force you into combat if an objective ally dies. The final quest at Cair Andros has some interesting quest design, where the number of stages you have to clear depends on the number of locations you’ve cleared. All three quests fall victim to notorious treacheries that punish multi-sphere decks, and enemies that hit way harder than anything in Dwarrowdelf. It’s a struggle, but that does make victory over these quests all the sweeter.

The player card focus in this pack is on the Gondor trait, and setting up the Outlands and Trap minor archetypes to be later expanded upon in the cycle. Most of these cards will be in the Gondor starter deck, making this a tricky box to recommend. The heroes are solid, but you won’t need duplicates. Additional copies of Ranger Spikes and Envoy of Pelargir are nice to have if you want to build two Gondor decks at the same time, though I would recommend different expansions if you are going in that direction.

This is arguably the best AP in the collection based on player cards included. There isn’t a single card in here that I’d rather not touch. The stand-out trait in this pack is obviously Outlands, which get a hero and 1 ally per sphere in this pack. It makes the pack almost a deck of its own, and makes this pack worth getting even if you cannot find the Deluxe. The quest is good as well, and very replayable with different villains and plots to discover. It does require proper location control, but that’s a minor comment on an otherwise amazing pack. Get this whenever you can.

Coming off the incredible high of the previous pack, the Druadan Forest helps decks that feature heroes of the same sphere. Each sphere gets one card that works best in a mono-sphere deck, and the neutral White Tower Watchman can slot into any deck with heroes of the same sphere. Aside from this, the pack has Forlong for the Outlands deck and Mighty Prowess as a great tool to dish out some direct damage. The quest itself is quite novel, but I am not a big fan personally. The Prowl keyword is annoying, as it steals resources you desperately need to pay off the enemies. It’s nice fighting something other than Orcs though.

Honestly, there is little harm in skipping this pack. The quest is a nice break from the brutal difficulty of the cycle, but poses little challenge and can be beaten in as little as two turns. The idea of you rescuing villagers is nice though, but it is better executed in the Nightmare version of the quest. The real stinker in this pack are the player cards. Pippin is outclassed by his Lore version and even his ally version if you slap Messenger of the King on him. The Gondor cards in this pack don’t see a lot of play, as Gondorian Discipline is reactionary, Minas Tirith Lampwright needs a lot of scrying (or luck), and ally Denethor is just bad. Get this pack for completion’s sake, but skip it otherwise and have a quick run through the quest digitally.

This pack is a little better than the last one, though the quest suffers more from early-development-syndrome. The quest can either be won in 1 turn, or it can take forever. The gimmick is that you take control of locations you explore, and enemies can push those locations back into play. As long as not too many locations enter play, you can still win, but it gets harder and harder the longer the quest takes. For a better feeling of this quest’s mechanics, play Wrath and Ruin. The player cards are decent, focusing on Outlands (Sword of Morthond/Men of the West) and Rangers with their traps. It also contains the Palantir card, so I cannot not recommend it 🙂

The concept of this quest was interesting, as you obtain “Hidden” cards that can suddenly reveal more enemies halfway through the round. However, the mechanic falls a bit flat on its face when you play this in multiplayer mode, as the encounter deck runs out of cards. That means you are cycling the same treacheries over and over again, and it gets a bit dull after a while. The player cards are pretty sweet. You get Caldara in this pack, which at one point ruled the meta of this game. Mono-spirit also gets support from Emery, a free ally if you discard the right cards. Dwarves will also gladly take Well-Equipped from this pack, which can get them attachments for free!

This is a painful pack to analyse, as the quest is pretty good. It is a desperate race through 3 bosses in order to rescue Faramir before he is brought to Minas Morgul. There are some flaws in the design, but I still enjoy it in lower player counts. The problem is that nearly all the player cards from this pack are in the Starter decks. Dwarves have Hidden Cache and Ered Nimrais Prospector, Gondor has Visionary Leadership and Pelargir Ship Captain, and Rohan has 3 of the cards included in this pack. You can still get it for Tactics Theoden and Scroll of Isildur, but I’d skip this in favor of other packs that give you fewer duplicates.

The Ringmaker cycle

Color theme: Purple
Mechanics theme: Time mechanic introduced, Doomed player cards
Quests overall: 2/5
Player cards: 4/5
Get for: Strong archetype expansion for Rohan/Silvan/Ents/Secrecy/Doomed
Notorious for: Time counter pressure, Nalir
Best pack: The Antlered Crown
Worst pack: The Nin-in-Eilph

I would not recommend this box as your first Deluxe expansion, as the quests will be quite tough and complicated if you are just starting out. The Fords of Isen is a fine quest that I run often for deck testing. You are introduced to the Time mechanic and the Dunland enemies that feed on your handsize. To Catch an Orc is a quest I may have only attempted a handful of times in the decade since its release. It is a complex tug of war with the objective hiding in your deck and occasionally escaping. I have heard it is next to impossible in higher player counts. Into Fangorn is a rather forgettable quest that does have a rather unique enemy type, but people rarely play this quest due to the tough enemies and potential location lock.

The player cards are split into two camps. On one hand, Eomer and a handful of Rohan cards build further on the Morgul Vale pack, expanding the Rohan archetype. Too bad most of the cards are in the Starter decks already. Grima and the Isengard cards are interesting, as players can now raise their own threat for rewards from events. It’s a cool mechanic, but will need some more cards (mainly Hero Saruman and his staff) to be a viable deck. Deep Knowledge and Legacy of Numenor are staples though, and can warrant the purchase of this box.

If you enjoyed the Dunlendings and their hatred of large handsizes in Fords of Isen, then you are going to love this quest. And you’ll be on your own, since this is not really a highlight of this cycle. Still, the final stand in the ravine is quite cinematic, but it really is a quest you have to build for. The player cards are great, and were the start of the official Silvan archetype back in the day. Too bad most of the cards are now in the starter decks, making this less of a recommended purchase. Ithilien Lookout is still a great card to have for Secrecy decks though!

The quest in this pack is pretty cool, as you decide in which order to want to search for three keys. These are tied to three bosses, and the random element of three unique locations means that the quest is very replayable. It’s best enjoyed with a few friends, though 4 players might be too much. Progression solo players might have a hard time against this one though. The player cards are focused a lot on the Secrecy mechanic and are a bit of a mixed bag. I personally like the versatility of Idraen, but there isn’t much in this pack that is worth buying it for, aside from the quest.

I really enjoy the quest, as it is one of only a few times that the game interacts with your threat elimination level. The hunt through the city towards the ruined bridge is pretty fun, though this is one of two quests where you have to bring Nalir the Dwarf objective ally with you. He’ll raise your threat throughout the game. Luckily, any progress you make on stage 1B will lower your threat, making this a great quest for Secrecy decks. Some support of that archetype is in this pack, though the main focus is the Silvan trait. As a result, 60% of player cards will be duplicates, which makes me recommend this pack a lot less. A pity, since the quest is pretty cool.

You know what quest isn’t pretty cool? Nin-in-Eilph. This horrible quest has you swap quest cards every time that the Time keyword ticks down. This lets you setup very poorly and makes advancing through the quest very difficult. On top of it all, you are facing a rather big boss at the end of it all, which can be a run-ender. Nalir is also with you on this one, though the quest mechanics no longer lower your threat, so you’d best bring some threat reduction yourself. The hero of this pack will be in your Gondor starter deck, and the Silvan cards in their respective starter. Aside from them, there isn’t much here to get.

It is starting to become a pattern that the player cards in these Ringmaker packs are great, but you’d be better off buying the starter decks. If you do buy them, you’ll be getting a lot of duplicate cards. So I suppose we’ll talk about the quest some more. The theme of the quest is pretty cool, where you are racing the Orcs through Ost-in-Edhil to find Celebrimbor’s secrect mould. There are various mechanics here that work pretty well and make the quest more difficult if you fail to clear certain locations before the Orcs. Maybe try it digitally to avoid getting so many duplicate cards.

The quest takes you to the conclusion of the Dunlending civil war, and has you take down the Raven Clan in an epic fight. You get a decent objective ally and need to clear locations before they spawn reinforcements. It’s a tough fight, but doable with pick-up decks. For player cards, Treebeard will be the reason many buy this pack. He is the key to the Ent trait and even works well in non-Ent-themed decks. People with the revised Angmar cycle will be looking for this pack, mostly because of him. Rohan also gets some support here, but in Leadership. Erkenbrand is a fantastic defender, and the pack has some tools for him as well.

The Angmar Awakened cycle

Color theme: Dark Grey
Mechanics theme: Side-quest introduction, Valour introduction
Quests overall: 4/5
Player cards: 4/5
Get for: First repackaged cycle, fantastic narrative built by encounter cards
Notorious for: Enemy swarms, side-quests building up faster than you can clear them.
Best pack: The Dread Realm
Worst pack: Escape from Mount Gram

This was the first cycle to get a repackaged version, so if you do not already own a lot of expansions for this cycle, there is little reason to buy the Deluxe or any of the APs in this cycle unless you can get them for cheap and don’t mind losing out on the campaign mode. This Deluxe comes with three quests that are quite fun to play back-to-back. The first one is the highlight of the box in my opinion, as it shows off the new side-quest mechanic. The second quest can be a bit tricky as you try to fight off both the Orcs and the elements at the same time. The final quest is you trying to stop a horde of zombies while trying to not run out of cards. The variety in quest design is great here.

The player cards focus on a single archetype, Dunedain. These engage enemies often and leave them in play to get benefits. This Deluxe has all the beginnings of a Dunedain deck, and you can quickly make a deck together with the cards in your Core Set. Beyond a Dunedain deck, a few cards will have their niche, like Secret Vigil being one of few ways to lower your threat in Tactics. This box does only really focus on the Dunedain archetype, leaving not much room for anything else.

This is quite a brutal start to the cycle of APs, as this quest has you fight Wargs on and off again while you try to make progress across the empty lands of the north. Stand-out feature for this quest is the Day/Night cycle, which weaves into nearly every aspect of the quest. Players can only move forward during the Day, but at Night, the wolves come out. For player cards, you get some quality damage cancellation in Tactics, and further support for Spirit Hobbits. It’s a decent pack to get, were it not that all cards are in the repackaged boxes.

An easier quest, but with the unique spin that you have to find most of your heroes, allies, and attachments as they are guarded by encounter cards. You start out with very little, hence the lower difficulty. If you design a deck for this quest, it’ll be over quickly, but it is a fun break from the norm, with some tougher enemies in the second half of the quest. For player cards, this pack focuses a lot on putting encounter cards that don’t have a Victory Score into the Victory Display. Getting Rossiel, Leave no Trace, and Keen as Lances in the same pack is amazing. You also get a frequently used side-quest that lowers threat, a reliable Ent defender, and a readying effect for your Dunedain.

I personally really like this quest, as you try to find cover to shelter you from the weather and the enormous enemies this quest features. It also makes you make some tough decisions deciding between side-quests and the main quest as you search for a safe location. The player cards in this set are not great, as Dori is an underwhelming hero. There is some support for various traits here, though Steed of Imladris is probably the best card in here, as you can clear the active location with it while questing, allowing you to usually travel even if questing unsuccesfully.

The first hint of the Noldor trait really picking up in this cycle. Erestor is a great engine to keep your hand stocked with cards to fuel their synergy. The pack also contains several other decent cards for other archetypes, like a cancellation event in Lore, and useful ways to get more allies into play from both Leadership cards. The quest is also fantastic for pick-up games. It has you attempt to clear 3 different side-quests in a few rounds, earning you boons when you clear them. This helps in the final boss-fight against a wraith and his army of minions. Not too hard, but a good time for sure!

This is the climactic battle of the cycle and a major roadblock for progression players. This is a tough quest to beat, due to horrible treacheries, a big boss, and shadow cards that stay attached after the end of the round. It is going to take a lot of tries to get through the first stage, but at least that adds to the replay value. Player cards are decent. You get some additional Dunedain characters and more fuel for the Noldor deck. This is also a good pack for Valour-enthusiasts, as this pack contains a “get out of jail free” card with Favor of the Valar if you aren’t great at keeping your threat below 50.

Just because the main battle is won, doesn’t mean the cycle is over. You have to go into Carn Dum and fight the source of the evil that you have been facing throughout Arnor. This quest sees your own cards turn against you, and whoever is kept alive is likely cursed by Condition attachments. It’s a big boss-fight to close the cycle with, and pretty fun if you are well-equipped for it. The player cards of this pack are the reason to get it though. This pack features Arwen in her hero form, a staple to this day. Both Spirit events work well with her and you get some nice cross-play between Dunedain and Noldor with this pack. Sword-thain is also a great card, turning nearly every unique ally into another hero!

The Dream-chaser cycle

Color theme: Blue
Mechanics theme: Sailing, Ship enemies and objectives
Quests overall: 5/5
Player cards: 3/5
Get for: Amazing quest design and exploring beyond the map of Middle Earth
Notorious for: Sailing, Ship-enemies, low-cost ally hate
Best pack: The Flight of the Stormcaller
Worst pack: The Thing in the Depths

I will mention it again, but this cycle was reprinted in its entirety. Get those reprinted versions and not this Deluxe or the accompanying APs. The cards are identical, but you get a campaign mode and the latest printing of the cards in the revised versions. It will also be cheaper, unless you find this box and all the APs for a decent price and decide to print the campaign yourself.

The quests from the Grey Havens Deluxe are pretty solid. The first one is an introduction to ship mechanics, how you perform sailing tests, and what the Boarding keyword entails. Getting to go faster through the quest if you are on-course is a great feature. The Fate of Numenor is a game of Memory, where you can flip double-sided locations to see if you want to go there. The new Undead enemies are also tricky to build decks around, making for a decent challenge. The final quest, Raid on the Grey Havens, is by far the most difficult in the box, as you try to douse the fires on your ship before your fleet burns down. The Aflame keyword is pretty tricky here, and fights against the Stormcaller’s Elite bosses are pretty tough.

As for player cards, this is where the Noldor archetype of the Angmar cycle gets kicked into high gear. You get two fantastic heroes, a ring of power, and the cost-reducer for the archetype in the same box. Add to this one ally for each sphere and some useful events, and you’ll have enough to build a Noldor deck with just this box and a Core on its own. Still, it will help if you own the Silvan starter, or some of the Dwarrowdelf packs that expand the trait.

The first AP already sets the bar for quality for this cycle way up there! The quest involves two separate staging areas that are racing each other. The Stormcaller is trying to get through the final quest card before you can, and you are busy catching up to it. If you overtake the Stormcaller, you win. If you defeat the Stormcaller in combat, you also win! The different win-conditions and random effects that can happen make this a brilliant quest to play. For player cards, you get some amazing support for Gondor, featuring the Leadership version of Denethor to kickstart your resource economy in the early game. You also get a way to turn resources into cards, which is pretty useful for mono-Leadership decks. You also get one of the strongest allies in the game with Glorfindel, who can ready each phase as long as you have cards to discard.

This quest is very interesting, as you have to fight Corsairs at the first stage, and tentacles in the second stage where your previous foes turn to allies. The mechanics included can be a bit difficult to understand at first, but it works well. The quest does require some difficult decisions on your end that will impact the rate at which you clear this quest. As for player cards, you get some decent cards here, with Lanwyn offering some interaction with the Surge keyword, and Mirkwood Explorer being one of the few ways to put heaps of progress on a single location.

Here we have one of the truly unique quests in the game, which takes a hint from the Arkham Horror LCG to create a random map out of all the locations in the encounter deck. Players are forced to find their way through this map to find their way out. This makes it so that no two playthroughs are ever the same, and that scrying can help you save rounds off your game. The player cards are decent here, with Elfhelm getting a hero version that boosts heroes with Mounts attached. Other inclusions are traps that lower enemy’s stats, and an ally for the Dwarven mining archetype.

This is the easiest quest of the cycle, but can still be enjoyed if your deck requires a bit of setup. The quest is rather slow, but requires you to think quickly once you advance to the final stage. The penalty that Underwater locations give you is pretty severe, as you cannot bring out more allies or attachments when underwater, and terrible effects trigger if you cannot clear the locations fast enough. For player cards, you get the key to making Secrecy decks work with Strider, but also get some additional Silvan cards that work well with your Silvan starter deck.

The quest is a rather climactic naval battle, where you try to claim different objectives and can take over enemy ships to fight in your own armada. The Corsairs do have some massive ships to support them, as they throw up a blockade that you need to run in order to catch Sahir. A pretty cool quest that even got a fan-made Epic Multiplayer version. For player cards, you get our only Corsair player card with Na’asiyah, who can turn her resources into improved stats. The Lore cards are the stars of the show though, with Ioreth being an amazing healer for single targets, and Houses of Healing being one of the few ways to resurrect a hero. Windfola is also a great mount and cheap willpower in Spirit.

This quest has it all: Sailing, a climactic shift in the encounter deck, and a final boss-fight to conclude the cycle with. The quest is pretty difficult and can be quite long as a result, so be ready to take on a lot of different foes. The new player cards finally reintroduce the Outlands trait, though this is worthless if you do not own The Steward’s Fear pack. Prince Imrahil is a great hero and this pack already gives you a few good targets for his ability. Sulien is also an excellent ally who can lower the threat of locations in the staging area. This is a tool that is often used by me to get through a location lock.

The Haradrim cycle

Color theme: Red
Mechanics theme: Objective-based gameplay
Quests overall: 4/5
Player cards: 3/5
Get for: Expanding player archetypes, return of player side-quests
Notorious for: Southron Champion, stealing progress from quest cards
Best pack: The Mumakil
Worst pack: The Black Serpent

It feels weird that this box did not receive a revised version, as it takes off right where you ended City of Corsairs. The box is pretty good, with three very different quests and a decent expansion of existing traits without introducing anything new. Escape from Umbar is a very popular quest that is often used to test decks. You have to balance killing enemies and maintaining progress on the quest cards, as you can never run out of progress, else you lose. Desert Crossing is more of a Dune-crossover, where you must find your way through the desert of Harad, being stalked by creatures and sandworms as the temperature keeps rising. A great quest to play during the summer! The final quest acts a lot like Escape from Mt. Gram, where you start with just one hero. Luckily, you are being supported by new objective heroes, who will help you to find your other heroes and beat the quest. Not my favorite quest in the box, but it is worth your time at least once with every objective hero.

The player cards in this box do not introduce a new archetype, but instead promote cross-trait play. There are several events in here that can only work if you have heroes with different traits that normally wouldn’t work well. To illustrate that, you get new versions of Legolas and Gimli, along side an attachment and ally for each of them. Unlikely Friendship is the event that unites them, fueling both of their abilities. Their deck will need some support (maybe get Aragorn in there for some Three Hunters action), but can definitely work well.

I always recommend this pack to new players that have the matching Deluxe. This is an incredible pack that features both a great quest, and the start of a new deck in the player cards. It acts a lot like the Steward’s Fear in that regard, though the Harad deck isn’t as strong as Outlands is. The quest is very replayable and sees you tame several Mumaks for your journey north. It’s great not actually killing an enemy of this size, but finding ways to reduce its hitpoints so that you can capture it. It is not too difficult, though it does still have dangerous treacheries like Savage South. The player cards give you versions of each of the objective heroes from the Long Arm of Mordor to be used in any deck. Firyal and Jubayr are staples, but you can also create a Harad-themed deck with most of the cards in this pack, as well as some others later in the cycle.

It’s like Flight of the Stormcaller, but reversed! And you are on top of your own Mumaks, what’s not to love??? Well, for starters, the many wargs howling at your feet make this quest quite difficult. Players need to keep up in order to outpace the enemies, making for a pretty fast-paced quest that does not give a lot of time to set up. The player cards in this set are OK, as you get Thurindir to help support the side-quest archetype, making it easier to start the game with a side-quest and benefitting from clearing many of them in a single game. The other cards are fine, though Eryn Galen Settler can surprise people at times when it clears a big location from the staging area.

Taking a break from all that sand, you dive underground in search of lost tribesmen that got captured by spiders. Even outside of Mirkwood, you still have to deal with them. The quest is pretty nice, as you can only make progress when you are on track of the captives, and the final boss-fight against the Brood Mother can be quite challenging if you are not also making enough progress. The player cards are decent, though you will already have Hirgon if you have the Rohan starter deck. The other cards in here are still decent, and offer a way to cancel “when revealed” effects on enemies in Lore. The old Bilbo-song deck also finally gets some much-needed love.

Having faced the spiders in the previous scenarios, we now get to one of the most “Haradrim” quests in the entire cycle. This quest is about taking control of three objectives, but it will be difficult to advance as progress is constantly removed from the main quest. This is a pretty difficult quest, as you have to balance horrible effects with having enough progress on quest cards. The player cards are nothing too special. Fastred is a nice defender in Spirit, but is already in the Rohan starter deck. You also get some Pipe-synergy, but that deck will need a lot more packs to get going. Defender of Cair Andros is a good ally though, providing good defense and even some direct damage in Valour.

Where you’ve had plenty of quests that required you to extract from a dungeon, now, you first have to infiltrate it. Your objective is to rescue an objective ally and make it out the Orc stronghold in one piece. That’s not easy, with several new encounter cards capturing your allies and even some heroes during the late game. The quest can be enjoyed by many, but the player cards will be the main reason why you buy this pack. Folco helps the Hobbit deck to keep a low threat, and you get a ton of support for various factions. Knight of Dale offers some action advantage to the Dale deck and will be important to get if you’re buying into Ered Mithrin. Noldor also get a good ally to pair with Erestor, and Heirs of Earendil is very powerful location control.

There was quite some controversy when this pack released, as it was delayed in the US for a full 8 months, while Europe got to experience this quirky quest. The encounter deck starts off small, but you get to add more encounter cards from different sets throughout the quest. This means that you can end up with an insane encounter deck by the end, which will make sorting out the cards after the game take a little longer. The player cards in this quest are also a bit odd. Quickbeam is the hero here, but the first print run lacked his uniqueness symbol. Aside from him, you get some more Trap support with Followed, and Magic Ring, which is a great toolbox card for most decks.

The Ered Mithrin cycle

Color theme: Turquoise
Mechanics theme: Revisiting Shadows of Mirkwood cycle, longer quests, Guarded cards
Quests overall: 3/5
Player cards: 5/5
Get for: Longer quests with fantastic player cards, heavier focus on Guarded (player) cards.
Notorious for: Very long quests
Best pack: Fire in the Night
Worst pack: The Ghost of Framsburg

The quests in this box return to the encounter cards you find in the Core Set, as the first two quests track back along the Anduin and through Mirkwood. It is great to see these old encounter cards again, alongside new cards that synergize with them. Journey Up the Anduin is a tricky quest that can quickly overwhelm you with enemies, though there are various strategies around that. Lost in Mirkwood is a long quest with diverging paths through the forest, making for a pretty replayable scenario. The King’s Quest is the only quest that doesn’t reuse Core Set cards, and instead forces you to learn about the new Caves deck while you track down a dragon. It’s a great time stalking the caves below the Iron Hills and ending in a big boss-fight.

As for the player cards, this box offers you a complete Dale deck in the box. While the cycle does expand on the trait, all the necessary tools are in this Deluxe to make a Dale deck viable. This is one of the few times a new archetype is so well-contained, and is pretty powerful as well! This has led to the box being quite popular, making it difficult to find. Fortunately, it has received a reprint in 2024, allowing players to build a complete Dale deck with all the cards from the cycle at once.

The first AP of the cycle sets the bar for the length of the quests in this cycle. Withered Heath is quite a slog, trying to find objectives in the Caves deck while hunting a Dragon. It’s a cool quest, but with 4 stages of which two take a minimum of 3 turns, you are going to be here for a while, especially in higher player counts. This is a good pack for player cards though. Grimbeorn the Old is a fantastic defender who deal damage to enemies that just attacked him. You also get the Skin-changer and Beorn’s Rage to further improve the Beorning trait. Dale also gets the Guardian of Esgaroth here, which is a popular card in their deck to get some crazy stats going.

This late in the game’s life, you start to get quests that are borrowing mechanics from other quests. It is not that apparent in Roam Across Rhovanion, but it will be later in this cycle and the next. This quest borrows a bit from The Three Trials, where you have three quest stages that can be completed in any order. The players will have to gather three objectives before a conclusive boss-fight. It’s a decent quest, but nothing too special compared to the fights with Dragons in this cycle. The player cards in this pack are all amazing though. This ranges from the expansion of the Woodmen and Eagle archetypes to threat reduction events that can bypass travel costs and lower everyone’s threat more than Galadhrim’s Greeting.

We have come to one of the highlights of the cycle, a fight against the main antagonist of the cycle while you are trying to prevent a town from burning down. It feels a lot like Battle of Lake-Town, but more replayable due to the various side-quests that you have to clear for this quest. No wonder then, that this pack includes Thalion, a great ally to bring to any quest with a lot of side-quests as he can turn into a hero. Silvans also get a big boost in this pack, as they get Thranduil, a free ally, and a way to consistently bring back allies to their hand. It’s also very compatible with the Silvan starter deck!

Poor Framsburg, we can see what the developers intended, but it doesn’t work out well in practice. The quest is probably one that takes the most rounds to clear on average, as it is very luck-based. Tales of 50+ round games are not uncommon, which means that threating out is a common way to lose. The quest tries to mimick the Discover keyword from Ruins of Belegost, but doesn’t quite work right. The player cards in here are fine, adding a bit more to the Dwarven mining archetype that will be compatible with the Dwarves of Durin starter deck. If I were to complement this pack on anything, it would be the story they tell about Fram and Scatha, it’s a pretty fun read actually.

Having found your way to the dragon’s lair, you must find your way through several stages before you can craft a weapon that can kill the beast. It works a lot like Flight from Moria, though it will be more likely that you see all the stages in this quest. It’s a good time, though it will take a while as you hunt for the right quest cards. The player cards in this pack are great and offer good support to Hobbits, Dwarves, and Silvans. All are compatible with their respective starters or the Fellowship of the Ring Saga Hobbit deck. Gaffer Gamgee has saved my game on multiple occasions, and Shire-folk is a great tool to keep a low enough threat to make him work.

The conclusion of this cycle isn’t as epic as the fight with the dragon in the previous pack, but does mirror the story in the Hobbit, where the Battle of the Five Armies was held in order to claim the mountain and its riches now that the dragon was dead. The execution of this quest is ok, nothing too memorable, except that you will have to kill a lot of enemies in order to not lose the quest. For player cards, we finally get Radagast and his staff, plus a host of creatures to help build a deck around Radagast. It’s a great conclusion to the cycle and offers yet another possible deck to be made.

The Vengeance of Mordor cycle

Color theme: Black
Mechanics theme: Revisiting past game mechanics, high difficulty
Quests overall: 3/5
Player cards: 5/5
Get for: Finishing out archetypes, Contracts, The One Ring, more challenging scenarios
Notorious for: Brutal difficulty that requires dedicated decks, enemies with attachment buffs
Best pack: The Land of Sorrow
Worst pack: Under the Ash Mountains

The final Deluxe box ever designed took us to Dorwinion and Rhun for a fight against an old foe. This box kicks off a very challenging cycle, but with some amazing quest mechanics. The first quest is a rush alongside the River Running to make it to safety, while Easterlings spring up out of the grass. It’s quite a hectic quest that doesn’t give you a lot of room to breathe, but it is a good introduction to the new mechanics where enemies now get attachments. Danger in Dorwinion is very similar to The Steward’s Fear, with new plots and villains. I will say that it is a bit easier, since you don’t have as strong a location lock than with Steward’s Fear. The final quest is Temple of Doom, where you are on the clock to stop a ritual. This summons special cards from the Power of Mordor deck every few turns, making it harder as you search the temple for your advisary.

For player cards, you get a few weird cards that will need some explanation (read the rules for that). The One Ring does nothing on its own, but is the catalyst for three events included in this box that are pretty powerful. It will also get more uses as you buy some APs. The Fellowship contract is the first contract we’ve ever gotten, limiting your deckbuilding options, but boosting your characters once you get 9 unique characters on the board. It’s a great tool to offer more deckbuilding options down the line. Frodo and Smeagol are decent heroes, and you’ll get plenty of unique characters in this box that can help you to get to the contract’s B-side.

As mentioned before, this quest’s mechanics mimick that of Assault on Osgiliath. This time without the punishment for mono-sphere decks, but with tough Easterlings and a boss-battle at the end. You try to take control of locations again, each with different mechanics to be returned to the staging area. The player cards in this pack are alright, but this is not the best pack of the cycle. Thorin was already spoiled in the Collector’s Edition at the time, and both Leadership cards are already in the Gondor Starter pack. That leaves you with Tom Bombadil, who is fun to have at the table, but doesn’t stick around for very long. Inner Strength is the best card in the pack, and one of the most used Master attachments with the One Ring.

A rather unique quest here, where you have to stealth your way through a city without the guards noticing you. The execution of this quest could have used some more balancing, but you’ll learn as you play when you need to advance. Strange that the enemy in this pack has better stats than some dragons and balrogs. The player cards of this pack are scattered in various starter packs, mostly because they are very strong. You can still get this pack for the Three Hunters contract or Knight of Belfalas. Put it lower on your priority list though, as you’ll already own several cards and the hero of this pack.

Now we’re getting to the good stuff. This quest sees you race across a track of 6 quest cards against your foes, trying to make 2 laps of the circuit first. This acts like catching up to the enemies in Flight of the Stormcaller and Race Across Harad, though there is now the option to get ahead by a few stages, or fall behind. You have to be fast and a little lucky to make it across the finish line. The player cards in this pack finally complete the Doomed deck with the introduction of hero Saruman and his staff which can lower the Doomed cost. You also get 2 more events and an ally for the archetype. The Grey Wanderer contract included in this pack also opens up Secrecy decks, making cards like Resourceful and Timely Aid worth their weight in gold.

I’m sorry, but I just cannot recommend playing this quest. It forces you towards a single deck type that can finish this quest successfully. You NEED Spirit, and you NEED a strong defender, preferably turn 1. This is made more difficult by the fact that this quest’s encounter cards will discard cards from the top of your deck, and they have patched the loophole that Will of the West would offer. It’s not a good time, don’t try it. The player cards in here are ok. Gildor is a nice way to turn resources into cards, making him very splashable in decks that need a Leadership hero. This pack also adds two more Doomed cards to add to the previous pack, completing your Isengard deck. The Contract is pretty nice, though it can be mess trying to organize the cards once you’ve dismantled the deck.

While tough, this quest can be a lot of fun and is pretty replayable thanks to the random nature of the setup. You have to constantly fight three big bosses, but unlike in the Three Trials, there are also minor enemies to worry about. The focus on direct damage and the unrelenting attacks make it a very hard quest to beat, but what else did you expect to find in Mordor? The player cards in this pack are excellent, providing useful tools to many archetypes. Gwaihir is a strong hero, and getting to see Wilyador after Journey to Rhosgobel again is fantastic. The contract is also amazing, offering over 100 new heroes with most of the unique allies in the game. Deckbuilding options just doubled and the community has done amazing things with this contract since its release.

We’ve come to it at last, the final Adventure Pack. It’s also the only AP with a quest difficulty rating of 10/10 by FFG, so you know it’s gonna be a tough quest. I’ve personally never beaten it, but the setup alone should have you quacking in your boots as 80% of your deck is removed from the pile and captured. Add to this some random elements, tough enemies, and a final boss-fight, and you have an epic conclusion to the regularly released content. For player cards, people were a bit underwhelmed by Spirit Aragorn, but that was made up by the amazing contract included in this pack. It allows you to have 4 heroes in play at once, making some quests (including this one), a little easier. Thorongil is also a fun card to bring, as you can have a single hero get two spheres and his abilities from another version in your collection.

The Saga expansions

Color theme: Varies
Mechanics theme: Campaign style
Quests overall: Hobbit: 1/5, LOTR: 5/5
Player cards: 5/5
Get for: Play along with the books and play campaign mode!
Notorious for: Bad quest design for the Hobbit boxes, less ideal to play as stand-alone quests
Best pack: The Black Riders
Worst pack: The Land of Shadow

The developers were really testing the waters when they started the Sagas, and unfortunately, that didn’t work out so well for the Hobbit boxes. Let’s start with the quests. The first one (titles are too long) is a bit of a repeat of Conflict at the Carrock, but with some more innovative Sacks this time. It is also the only quest in this box where you could run a regular deck and have a pretty decent time. The second quest is split between two different sections, where at first you are running from Mountain Giants hurling stones at you, after which you are dropped in the biggest Goblin swarm you’ll ever see. I don’t recall the last time I’ve won this quest, but it gets pretty chaotic in higher player counts. The final quest is known to the community as “the one with all the riddles”. It is a bit infamous for being luck-based, and gets a bit weird in multiplayer, as one player is split off from the rest of the group. It’s not really enjoyable, but at least it does follow the books pretty closely.

For player cards, you get Dwarves. At time of release, we were getting nothing but Dwarves, so that soured the opinion on this box a little. The Dwarf swarm was the first archetype fully fleshed out, in large part thanks to this box. Aside from getting a lot of beards to add to your collection, there are some genuinely good cards here. Foe-hammer is some of the best card draw that Tactics has, and A Very Good Tale is a staple in any deck that tries to swarm allies. You also get hero Beorn in this box, who is fantastic on the battlefield, though his immunity to your player card effects makes it difficult to keep him alive. The version of Gandalf included in the box also opens up some fun deckbuilding ideas, though you have to communicate with the rest of the players to not run the Core Set version in their decks. If half the player cards weren’t in the starter decks, I could see a reason to recommend this box, but I would now just advise buying the Dwarves of Durin starter deck.

This second Hobbit box improves a bit on the quest front, and also has far less overlap with the starter decks than OHaUH. The quests can be a good time, though you likely won’t be playing them very often. The first revisits Mirkwood and its spiders again, while introducing a new Poison mechanic. This can cause you to lose part of your army for being unconscious, while the other half tries to bring you back to the waking world. It plays a bit funky, but can be fun. The Lonely Mountain on the other hand isn’t that fun. We’re back to the clunky tests again, this time trying to burgle treasures from under Smaug’s nose. These treasures are pretty decent and will help in the next quest, but get too greedy and you have to deal with a dragon. The final quest of the box is the best of this entire saga to me. It involves defending Erebor against Bolg and his armies. You have to hold on to three quest stages at the same time, so you have to determine where to put in your efforts. Once that’s all done, you can go for the head and kill Bolg with the help of some Eagles.

For player cards, you do get your money’s worth with this box. None of the heroes are in the starter decks, and they can each help your decks in different ways. Oin and Bombur support the Dwarf deck, while Bard and Balin are more generally useful in other decks. Bard also gets some nice toys in this box, including his bow and the Black Arrow, making him a very dangerous Ranged attacker. You also get some more Dwarf swarm allies, a few additional tools for the Dwarf deck, and Thror’s Key. That’s a pretty useful anti-location attachment that has been critical to some games of mine in the past. If you’re getting either of the Hobbit boxes, get this one.

This box kicks off the Lord of the Rings Saga and is heralded as one of the best expansions of all time. The quests are great, covering all the events leading up to Rivendell, and the player cards included are the foundation for the Hobbit deck. A Shadow of the Past has you walk through the Shire, with beneficial locations, but with deadly Nazgul searching for you. A Knife in the Dark follows the proto-fellowship as they leave Bree and culminate in a big fight against most of the Nazgul in one place. You’ll have to do your best to keep this number as low as possible during the quest. The final quest is a race against the clock as you rush to Rivendell with a wounded Frodo. The final push where you clear as many Nazgul as possible with the waters of Bruinen is an epic moment in every campaign.

The player cards in this box are amazing, setting up a complete Hobbit deck that you can later expand with other boxes to improve their sneaky playstyle. You get some amazing heroes for your deck and good support with allies and attachments. As this is the first LOTR Saga expansion, I used to always recommend this to newer players, but these days, all the cards have been reprinted in the Fellowship of the Ring Saga box. Get that.

Now that the Fellowship is formed, you are off to some of the best moments from the books. The journey over Caradhras and towards Moria is more book-accurate as you are hounded by Wargs all the time. There is also a great conclusion against the Watcher at the end of quest 1. The second quest sees you run through Moria to get away from the Balrog. Be fast enough, and you can avoid him. Otherwise, you are locked into combat with him and have to find a way to defeat him. After a brief stop in Lothlorien for some great Boons, you are met with a tough scenario that sees the players split up. One of them is going to be guiding Frodo to Mordor, while the others try to waylay the Uruk-Hai. There are some great campaign moments in this box, from the Council of Elrond to a hero failing to the lure of the Ring.

For player cards, you’ll get only 1 hero, but it’s Gandalf. He is a fantastic hero to have due to his amazing stats and ability to see the top card of your deck. You’re also given a few of his toys to add to the deck. If you are looking to get a Fellowship deck going, you will be a step closer now with ally versions of some major characters. Elrond and Galadriel are only temporary allies, but Boromir and Bilbo are here to stay! A great box that was duplicated in the Fellowship of the Ring Saga, so get it there.

As the campaign goes on, it splits into two paths. This box covers the events that happen to Aragorn in the Two Towers. The first quest is his journey across the plains of Rohan to catch up to the Uruks who captured Merry and Pippin. With strange spells and beneficial locations tempting you off-course, you have to be quick to catch up to them in time. The second quest is another highlight of the campaign and sees you defend Helm’s Deep from the forces of Saruman. The questing mechanics are turned on their head, as the enemy quests against you, and you try to keep as little progress on the quest cards as possible. The final quest sees you recruit an army of Ents to take down Isengard. There are some nasty twists in this quest that determine your Boons, so you might need a second try at it for maximum benefit.

For player cards, Rohan decks finally get their cost reducer with Theoden, as well as a useful defender with Hama. Ents also get a major buff, with hero Treebeard (for anyone without access to the ally version from Antlered Crown), Quickbeam (arguably one of the best allies in the game), and Ent Draught for bonus hitpoints. In case you wanted to recreate the Three Hunters for any of these quests, you also get very useful versions of Legolas and Gimli, who are also decent in decks of their respective traits.

This part of the Saga follows Sam and Frodo as they traverse the Dead Marshes and meet up with Gollum. His two-faced persona makes for an occasional enemy during the first quest, as you have to keep Gollum tamed in order to make it out of the marshes. The next quest is the first time that your actions will come back for you in a later quest, not counting any Boons or Burdens you earn. In Journey to the Cross-Roads, you are tasked with defeating a passing caravan of Haradrim before they reach the Black Gate. Should they reach the gate, they will be brought back to play a part in the Battle of Pelennor Fields. A fun concept, but the execution of the quest makes it so that people don’t generally enjoy this quest. The final quest has you climb the endless stairs above Minas Morgul before dealing with Shelob. She makes for a very interesting boss-fight, with special shadow cards that interact with her. The fight is for sure the highlight of this box.

As for player cards, this is not the best of the Saga boxes. The two Ranger heroes you get here have their niche, and if you are looking to expand the Trap deck, you’ll find plenty to enjoy here. Aside from that, Rohan gets some further support with Gamling and Snowmane. Mablung is also a very popular ally, as he is pretty cheap for his willpower in Lore.

The first box of the Return of the King books has you prepare for a major battle by clearing out two shorter quests first. The first has you recruit the Army of the Dead to your cause. These enemies don’t deal damage, but instead attempt to raise your threat and prevent you from lowering it. This changes the combat phase a bit. The next quest is likely the most forgettable of the entire campaign, as you try to secure the ships of the Corsair fleet to sail up to Minas Tirith. The time you take to clear this quest is important, as it will delay Aragorn’s arrival during the final quest. That’s the famous Battle of Pelennor Fields, a massive quest that leads you through the different stages of the battle. You spend some time preparing your forces, before legions of Orcs, Haradrim, and even Nazgul siege you out. The quest is pretty difficult and will take some time, but it is the culmination of several previous quests coming together.

To match the epic scale of the quests in this box, the player cards in here are also amazing. You get a new version of Eowyn and Beregond. Eowyn is equipped with a one-time massive damage boost that could be used to take out the Witch-King together with Merry. Beregond is also nice to have, though he has more competition of his Tactics version. The rest of the cards is also excellent, from Prince Imrahil stepping up as a hero when another one falls, to Ghan-buri-Ghan allowing you to ignore travel costs. While this box doesn’t let you make a single deck with just these cards, it will help you during these quests and the quests to come in the final box.

Before you are put off by my ranking of the quests as 1’s, let me just state that you’re not going to touch the final two quests of the Saga for anything other than the campaign. These are not quests for you to bring to a random table to sit down and beat. No, these are experiences that should be reserved only for the finale of your campaign. Cirith Ungol can be enjoyed as a random quest though, and involves mental battles against the watching statues at the front door, as well as enemies attacking each other. The final two quests can be played in Epic Multiplayer mode, and I would suggest you do so if you’ve been doing a multiplayer campaign. The Black Gate Opens is the only quest in the game that cannot be beaten, only stalled. You need to survive as long as you can, but eventually, you will lose. The number of rounds are important during Mount Doom, where you only have that many rounds to beat the quest. I won’t spoil the ending of the campaign, but let’s say that it is a very satisfying feeling to have completed this gauntlet.

For player cards, we’re back to Hobbits, even though there is no official Scouring of the Shire quest. You get Rosie Cotton and her father, both excellent additions to the Hobbit deck. Rohan also gets some support, with a new Eomer and a third version of Elfhelm. Getting ally versions of the twin sons of Elrond will help to add the flexibility of their hero versions, since you can mix and match them a bit and still get their buffed stats. A great conclusion to the saga, but get the repackaged box when it releases later this year.

The Print on Demand scenarios

The following packs are stand-alone scenarios that can be played with just the Core Set. This makes them easy to pick up and play, though their overall difficulty will be higher. The Print on Demand scenarios did not come with player cards, save for the contract that came with Hunt for the Dreadnaught. All packs are good buys when you only have revised content and are looking for just more quests to play. Be warned though, some are pretty challenging with a restricted card pool.

Our very first POD quest lets you know it means business when you start with 12 enemies in the staging area at the start of your 4-player game. You need to overcome that in the first round, after which, you can continue fighting your way through the ruins of Osgiliath. You are somewhat restricted in your travel destinations, depending on whether or not you have crossed the Anduin yet. The final stage is a lot more difficult because of this. You also have to face the Witch-King at some point, which is quite a memorable challenge. A fun quest for sure, and it can be difficult enough to retry a couple of times.

Contrary to what some people might tell you, this pack is NOT compatible with the Hobbit Saga. I would wish you all the luck in the world if you try to play this quest without a dedicated deck for it. This has been in the top 5 most difficult quests for a long time, including Nightmare scenarios. There are no enemies in this quest, except for 3 different versions of Smaug. You must find a way to defeat him before he burns down all of Lake-town. The locations are important here, as you cannot allow them to be burned down. At the end of the game, you must have cleared more locations than have burned down, else you will have still lost, despite bringing down one of the biggest foes this game has to offer. Don’t get this pack thinking it will be a quick game. You will be roasted alive unless you come prepared with healing and location control.

Honestly, this is probably the most forgettable POD quest out there. It’s not bad, but its mechanics are outdated and have been done better in other quests. The increasing difficulty as the sun sets is still nice to see, but reminds me of Wastes of Eriador, where it was much more of a back-and-forth. Here, when it gets Midnight, there is no more use for the Night objective, other than raising your threat further. It’s not my favorite POD, but if you want an additional quest, it’s certainly an option. Don’t pay too much for it though!

The next two PODs are a bit special. They can be slotted into your LOTR Campaign (both original and revised) in the Black Riders or Fellowship of the Ring boxes. These offer additional Boons for you to bring on your journey, and cover some chapters in the books that were not included in the movies. The Old Forest sees you search for a way through the ever-shifting forest in the hope of finding an exit. Location lock is a problem here, but the final boss-fight makes up for that. Finding Tom Bombadil in the encounter deck here and there is also fun feature for this quest. Definitely get this pack if you are looking to play a complete campaign.

Like the Old Forest, Fog on the Barrow-Downs can be played between A Shadow of the Past and A Knife in the Dark. It will also grant you an additional Boon when completed. Where the Old Forest was focused more on locations, this is a more combat-focused quest against the various wights that haunt the Barrow-Downs. The conclusion of this quest is a bit weird, where you are split off from your friends and have to rejoin them. I would still recommend getting this quest if you can, as it fills in a part of the campaign that also sadly wasn’t shown in the movies.

We’re getting a couple of great PODs here, though I would not pick them up with a limited card pool, as they will be rather difficult to beat in that case. Ruins of Belegost should be on your wishlist if you enjoyed the dragon-hunting in the Ered Mithrin cycle. It also does the Discover keyword from the Ghost of Framsburg, but the various paths you can take help to make the quest beatable in under 20 rounds. You are being stalked by a dragon the entire way, so you will have to move quickly and dodge the other hazards along your path to find a way to kill the dragon and claim all the loot for yourself. It’s a tough quest, but very replayable!

We’re mixing up the game a little by adding in elements of Clue with this quest. The goal of this quest is to correctly guess which of 5 suspects did the crime, and where they are hiding right now. While this is the main focus of the quest, it does still play as LOTR LCG, with plenty of locations to explore for clues, and enough brigands waylaying you that you’ll also have to bring enough of a combat deck for this quest. It’s a great quest in multiplayer, and the random elements add to the replayability of the quest. Do be warned that this quest is quite tough, especially if you make a false accusation.

Back in 2016, this was the first quest to introduce the concept of Epic Multiplayer to the community. These quests can be played with more than 4 players, all playing to achieve the same goal. In Annuminas, you can play with up to 3 tables of 4 players, though there is little interaction between the tables. You do get to pass some objective allies around and enemies that one team can’t kill, will move closer to the city. Outside of Epic Multiplayer, this quest does not offer too much other than a tough quest with some big enemies trying to smash down the gates to the city. You also cannot access the other two sets of quest cards. If you do not have a very large playgroup, skip this pack, or try to join in an Epic Multiplayer event during a convention.

When this pack was released during GenCon 2017, more than 200 people attempted to beat this quest with the decks that they brought. None managed to beat it. That should tell you enough about how difficult this quest is, even if you bring a maximum of 16 players to this Epic Multiplayer quest. The brutal treacheries, 4 Luitenant enemies, and the constant punishment for not questing hard enough will wear down almost any deck. If you are up for the challenge, then try this pack. But I wish you the best of luck if you think you can defeat it. Get this as one of the last packs on this list if you have a nearly complete card pool, and you might stand a chance.

These quests are a little bit different. Inside is not a single quest to be played, but instead 14 encounter sets in each box, and a quest with various stages that you can pick and choose. The scenario can be built by yourself following the instructions in the pack. That means you can make the quest as difficult as you would like. It also offers a ton of replayability, since you won’t have all the encounter cards in the same encounter deck. Get both sets in order to mix and match encounter cards, but remember that the quest cards cannot be mixed. These two sets will remind you a lot of the first cycle of the game, with a lot of reused artwork from the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle, as well as other quests set in the region.

These two sets are the same format as the previous two, so if you enjoyed those but would like a different setting, try these two sets. They are set in Moria, and offer customizable fights against the Watcher and the Balrog. You can choose to swarm your foes with Goblins, or to throw fewer, but bigger enemies at them, such as Trolls and Nameless Things. I personally like these sets over the Mirkwood ones, but that’s perhaps due to the more iconic foes and locations.

This was the last pack released before the hiatus started and the revised content was announced. And what a pack to end on! This is the best stand-alone quest that scales to an infinite number of players without it being too awkward to play. It reintroduces the ship mechanics from the Dream-chaser cycle, and has you fight one massive vessel along with all your teammates. Difficulty options and 6 new ships make it pretty replayable as well. Another reason to get this pack is to get the Perilous Voyage contract. This contract allows you to make a 100-card deck and rewards you with additional card draw and a second life after you’ve passed your threat elimination level. It is a bit clunky for physical games, but a great tool if you’re always building decks with more than 60 cards.

Revised Content

After the hiatus of 2019-2020, several expansions were repackaged and rereleased in the Revised Content. These feature additional campaign structures for cycles and generally improve upon the older editions. Not all expansions have received this treatment though.

This is the version of the Core Set that you will want to pick up when you are starting your collection. It contains everything you need to start the game with 4 players right out of the box. The differences with the traditional Core Set are an included storage tray in the box, a campaign that tackles some of the issues with the quests, and 3 copies of every player card (excluding heroes and Gandalf). This makes the Revised Core Set the best purchase you can make to get going. Once you own a Core Set, there is little reason to buy a second copy, which was a debatable topic for the older Core Set. Skip buying a second Revised Core, and instead look to buying guides on what to purchase next.

The first “new” revised product brought back two quests that previously only came with the Collector’s Edition (see Miscellaneous). These two quests are relatively easy and can be enjoyed with just a Revised Core Set. The two quests also slot into the campaign from the Revised Core Set, which expands the campaign further, allowing you to earn additional Boons and Burdens. But even outside of the campaign mode, the two quests are great to replay every now and then, and can be used for decktesting. The Caves of Nibin-Dum is a bit longer and more difficult than the Oath, but both should be beatable with a limited cardpool. A great second purchase after the Core if you want more quests. It should be noted that the pack does not come with any player cards. Get the Starter decks for more of those.

This was the first cycle ever revised into two boxes that contain everything that the corresponding Deluxe and 6 APs had to offer, and more! On top of having all the player cards and quests in these boxes, the Campaign expansion offers you a campaign through the 9 quests in the box with Boons and Burdens to be earned. This campaign mode is also available by FFG as print on demand, so if you want to get the original boxes instead, that’s also possible. I just do not recommend it, as these two boxes will be cheaper than MSRP for the original cycle, and it includes fewer expansions to hunt down.

As for the boxes themselves, they’re great. The Hero expansion offers you a lot of new tools to make decks with. You can immediately make a decent Dunedain deck with the cards included in this box, and you can use the others together with your Starter decks or Revised Core Set to make something useful! The Campaign expansion immediately introduces you to some decent quests from this cycle, at a point when the designers knew what they were doing. Get these two sets first (after your Core Set) if you are just starting out, and you’ll have plenty to play!

In the same format as Angmar Awakened, the repackaged Dream-chaser expansions were released in 2023 to bring newer players 9 “new” quests, a campaign connecting them all, and a ton of new player cards in the Hero expansion. Where Angmar Awakened arguably had better player cards, Dream-chaser has better quests. These quests include sailing tests, a map of locations to explore, and epic fights against corsairs, undead, and even a Kraken-like monster. The complexity of the quests is dialed up a little from Angmar, but nothing that the rulebook can’t explain. The player cards in this expansion improve the Noldor archetype that was started in the Angmar box as well, though you can still make a decent deck without that cycle. This cycle also primarily focuses on improving the various starter decks. Both boxes are an excellent buy, though I would advise to get the campaign before the hero box if you cannot afford both at the same time.

In 2024, the Ered Mithrin cycle was the third cycle to receive the repackaged treatment. This was not a surprise to many, since this has always been a fan-favorite on par with Dream-chaser. The hero box will offer a great variety of decks, though the Dale deck will be the star of the show. The added Beorning/Woodmen/Eagle/Creature and Hobbit cards can also still make for fun decks. The Starter decks are also improved with this box, mainly the Dwarven and Silvan decks. As for quests, these will be a bit longer than previous quests. They include epic fights against dragons, and uneasy alliances that have to be made in order to survive the wilds. If you are struggling to make a fun deck, definitely get the hero box of this cycle. The campaign will also be a good time, though you will have to take a bit more time out of your schedule to complete it.

This repackaged Saga expansion is exactly the same as the Black Riders and the Road Darkens expansions combined. Since those already had a campaign mode, there was no reason to change anything for this repackaged version. Important to note is that this box does not include The Old Forest or Fog on the Barrow-Downs. Those quests can be played as part of the campaign for additional boons, but you will have to find the POD packs somewhere. As for player cards, you get an almost complete Hobbit deck from this set, making it worth the purchase already! You also get access to hero Gandalf, who is expensive but offers a lot of insight into your deck. He also gets many of his attachments in this box, so you can play with him immediately. I do recommend The Two Towers for Shadowfax, and the Dream-chaser Hero expansion for Narya though. If you like the books, then this is an obvious expansion to pick up. The included cards can get you through the six quests, though it will help if you own more expansions to aid in the deckbuilding.

Another Saga expansion that combines two previous products into one box. This box covers the story of the Two Towers in six quests. On the one hand, you have Aragorn’s quest to rescue Merry and Pippin, culminating in the Battle for Helm’s Deep and the siege of Isengard. On the other hand, Sam and Frodo meet up with Gollum and are led towards the pass of Cirith Ungol. Both stories offer some thematic player cards as well, expanding on the Rohan trait a lot, and boosting the Hobbit deck from the previous box as well. While the quests in this box aren’t stellar, there are still epic moments to be experienced, and the included campaign will force you to find new Boons and Burdens along the way.

The Return of the King	[no image available yet]
Type	Saga expansion (Previous LOTR Saga boxes required for campaign mode)
Difficulty Quest	See The Flame of the West/The Mountain of Fire
Quality Quest	See The Flame of the West/The Mountain of Fire
Quality Player Cards	See The Flame of the West/The Mountain of Fire
Archetype Support	Hobbit/Rohan/Gondor
Compatible with Revised Content?	Yes
Get it now or later?	Get it when it releases

While this box hasn’t released at time of writing, it is likely to be released in Fall 2024. This is the conclusion of the LOTR campaign and holds many of the epic moments as the quest for the Ring enters its final hour. The Battle for Pelennor Fields is an absolute highlight, as well as the option to play the final two quests simultaneously in Epic Multiplayer mode. The player cards in this box are amazing, featuring new versions of Eowyn, Beregond, and Eomer. You also get useful ally versions of many characters that took part in the battles, and solid attachments and events to help you overcome some of these difficult quests. If you’ve bought the other Saga expansions, there is no reason not to buy this one as well. If you are looking for strong heroes to include in your decks, then this box also offers that, perhaps more so than others.

Miscellaneous

This was a tie-in expansion for the digital version of the card game. It came with two never-before-seen quests (which were later repackaged in the Dark of Mirkwood), and two mediocre pre-made decks. The additional items in the box included a replica of the One Ring, four postcards, and a playmat. These days, the box holds little value, since all the items inside have been reprinted in other expansions and the digital card game never really took of. It’s a nice novelty item to have on your shelf, and the larger box is good for storing playmats. That’s about it. Get two Starter decks and the Dark of Mirkwood for a better experience at half-price.

Dwarves were the first archetype to really get developed, so getting those archetypes in a single pack is great value! These are expensive but powerful characters who’s swarming archetype kicks in after the fifth Dwarf has entered play. From there, you can more easily play additional allies, overwhelming your enemies with numbers. Additionally, the side-board opens up the option for a more mining-themed deck where you discard cards from the top of your deck for certain abilities. Some cards from there will give additional rewards, making for a fun mechanic. With the Hobbit boxes and the Dwarrowdelf cycle focusing on this trait, you can easily customize your Dwarf deck to your liking!

This is arguably the best starter deck to get, due the amazing value of player cards you get. Two rings of power, an entire host of Silvans under Celeborn and Galadriel’s buffs, and amazing cards to use in other decks, like Test of Will, Daeron’s Runes, Lembas, and Elrond’s Counsel. This is also a good starter for a Noldor deck when combined with the Angmar Awakened and Dream-chaser Hero expansions. The Silvan trait is a personal favorite, where allies have special effects when they enter play. They’ll get buffed by Celeborn for their first turn, but are afterwards quite weak. So you have to recycle them with the events in this pack to keep those buffs going.

Gondor is a great archetype as it can be very different to many different players. The starter deck gives you the “classical” Gondor ally spam, but also gives an option for including Traps from the side-board. The third option, which is to have a threat of 40 or higher for additional buffs is also represented, though you could lean in on this a bit more with additional expansions. The archetype works well though, getting a ton of useful allies on the table and buffing them with Boromir and Visionary Leadership. Using Beregond gives you a solid defender for the table, with some useful attachments at a discount.

This final starter deck is to me the weakest of the lot, but it still offers a great deck for you to try. The lack of Leadership Rohan cards does mean you are hurting a bit for defence, but you will compensate for that with attack and questing. Rohan decks are about strategically discarding allies for various effects, so see your allies as a secondary resource. Events like Astonishing Speed will greatly help your questing efforts, and Eomer on Firefoot can clear a ton of enemies by himself. Only having Fastred as a defender in your side-board does mean that this deck needs to chump, or will need to get packs from the LOTR Saga for more options, like Theoden.

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3 thoughts on “Ultimate LOTR LCG expansion review”

Christopher Simons says:

21 May 2024 at 17:50

This is tremendous – well done

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Steel Lightning says:

22 May 2024 at 00:58

This is article is amazing thank you! While we may differ in opinion on some of the quest quality, I think this is a great guide for new players throughout

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1. durinsfather says:
  
  22 May 2024 at 05:17
  
  It’s unavoidable that opinions will differ, but at least it will be an indication of what I feel is the best and worst that the game has to offer.
  
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