Mithrandir and Gondor Deck

[jc1138]

I'm trying to build a deck around Gandalf, Mithrandir and Aragorn, King in Exile.  I don't really want to go down the Noble Leaders route because I'm looking for more variety in my decks.  The Guards of the White Tree are there because I've been looking for a way to use them since I got back in the game a few months ago, and they have some synergy with Isildur.  One final note, I'm not a fan of Hunters block, so please keep recommendations to FotR--Bloodlines and Ages End. 

34 cards

Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms
   The One Ring, Answer to All Riddles

      Gandalf, Mithrandir x1 (starting)
      Aragorn, King in Exile x3
      Stern Words x1
      Guard of the White Tree x3
      Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith x1
      Knight's Spear x2
      Glamdring x1
      Narya x1 (RotEL)
      Watch and Wait x2
      Might of Numenor x3
      Sharpen Your Swords x4
      Servant of the Secret Fire x3
      Citadel of the Stats x3
      Anduril, Flame of the West x1
      Hard Choice x3
      Pallando, Far-traveled One x1

Sites
                Pinnacle of Zirakzigil (in case Gandalf dies)
                The Prancing Pony (to pull Aragorn, as he's CRITICAL to the deck)
                Helm's Gate (lots of hand weapons)

Any ideas for a good shadow side to pair it with?  I have a Grima/Saruman Isengard deck I've toyed with combining this with, but am open to suggestions.

[Yrael]

A couple things

I know you aren't a fan of hunters block, but there is really no reason to use that Anduril and not the hunters Anduril.

If you do switch to the hunters Anduril, you can get Aragorn's bow (or Bow of Minas Tirith) and Knife of the Galadrim for Aragorn.

Also, you seem to have a healing based deck, so I suggest getting King's Legacy in there with Elendil, HkoG, and Narsil, BotF. With Watch and Wait, you can have Isildur skirmish with Narsil and get some extra healing out, and Elendil can tank with just Armor and a Sword.

If you do decide to have Isildur skirmishing, I recommend getting Glamdring, Foe Hammer. I also recommend getting Scroll is Isildur.

Another very useful hunters card is Armor of the White City if you are interested.

Finally, I recommend having only 1 Aragorn in your deck. Bid 2-3 burdens to start the game and start on Prancing Pony, this way you can pull Aragorn on this first turn and don't need multiple copies of him in the deck.

[jc1138]

Thanks for the reply!

I'm going to stick to pre-Hunters block.  I just don't like the ramp in power from Hunters (especially the "hunter" mechanic  ).  It seems like if you make decks with Hunters block cards they tend to become dominated by it, whereas if you exclude them your spread of 1-13 can be more even (of course, this has many exceptions).  Also, I play with physical cards and Hunters block=$$$$ intensive!  

I like King's Legacy and Elendil for this a lot, but wouldn't Elendil, The Tall be better than High-King of Gondor for the potential triple move and site liberation (which this deck lacks)?  And with the corruption removal already in place I don't see High-King's resistance bonuses necessary.

I am planning on bidding high for Prancing Pony, but put the three copies of Aragorn in because I still may not get the first turn and need that Aragorn early (another use for Denethor).  Maybe if I shave it to 2?

Here it is with the revisions:

Gandalf, Mithrandir x1 (starting)
      Aragorn, King in Exile x2
      Elendil, The Tall x1
      Narsil, Blade of the Faithful x1
      Sapling of the White Tree x1
      Guard of the White Tree x3
      Scroll of Isildur x1
      Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith x1
      Knight's Spear x2
      Glamdring, Foe Hammer x1
      Narya x1 (RotEL)
      Watch and Wait x2
      Might of Numenor x2
      Sharpen Your Swords x4
      Servant of the Secret Fire x3
      Citadel of the Stars x2
      King's Legacy x1
      Anduril, Flame of the West x1
      Hard Choice x3
      Pallando, Far-traveled One x1

-Now I'm looking at 35 cards. . .

Sites:
      The Prancing Pony
      Pinnacle of Zirakzigil
      Helm's Gate
      The Fords of Isen
      (any other ideas? Of course, I still need the shadow side)

[Yrael]

Elendil, HkoG is has higher strength than Elendil, The tall, since he is a knight and gets a bonus from Isildur. It really depends on what you want to go for, and Elendil, the tall might fit your deck better.

If you are looking to have Gandalf do a lot of fighting, Gandalf's Staff, Ash Staff can help him deal even more damage. When you combine that with the damage boost Aragorn can give other companions from King's Legacy, you may be able to kill off most of the minions each turn (which will help with the extra moves from Elendil)

[Haszor]

What are you trying to get the shadow side to do?

[jc1138]

Shadow side is based around assigning Isengard minions to skirmishes and, mainly, slowing the opponent down and killing key characters.  Wormtongue, Desertion, Throne of Isengard, Saruman (Servant of the Eye), Saruman's Staff (Wizard's Device) and the three fallen wizards are the keys of the deck.  I found this deck on an OLD post (either on TLHH or CC, can't recall which) and have been slowly updating it.  Throne of Isengard makes Saruman, Servant of the Eye a murderer with his staff.  It is combo-dependent and vulnerable to archery and Ring-Bound strategies but hits hard for not a lot of twilight.  Wormtongue can make a big difference (having Desertion to add to a companion bearing 2 FP's cards is an old tactic that can frustrate the FP's player) because he or she can load the FP's player with non-shadow cards, making my potential 3 moves with Elendil safer.

Shadow side Isengard Wizards and Men

35 cards

Grima, Wormtongue x4
Unferth x4
Rohirrim Traitor x4
Agents of Orthanc x2
Desertion x4
Saruman Servant of the Eye x4
Saruman's Staff, Wizard's Device x4
Saruman's Snows x2
Orthanc Champion x2
Saruman's Power x1  
Pallando Deceived x1
Alatar Deceived x1
Radagast Deceived x1
Throne of Isengard x2
Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul x1 (he's in there as the only specific insurance against large parties. . .)

(yes, I realize I'm breaking my own rule of not using later sets with Throne of Isengard)

[Yrael]

 How do you intend on activating Radagast Decieved? I have a Saruman style deck as well, but instead of using Isengard men to combo with (which are unreliable at best), I go with Uruk-hai. Also, I use Saruman, Agent of the Dark Lord. Basically, he can pull all 3 of the decieved wizards on his own (if you kill someone), can buff either himself or other minions, and is a lurker (which is usually a good thing in this situation. For that, you sacrifice being able to potentially assign him. This doesn't matter, however, because Grima can almost guarentee that no companion can beat him. Here is the deck list I use. It probably doesn't have the right card number (42), so you'll have to change it (and may even improve it). Also, I have a number of Hunters/RoS/TnD cards in here.

Grima, Wormtounge x3
Saruman, Agent of the Dark Lord x4
Throne of Isengard x3
Alatar Decieved x2
Pallando Decieved x2
Radagast Decieved x2
Fury of the Evil Army x2 (this is to get an easy heal for Saruman and pull radagast decieved)
Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul x3
Bloodthirsty Uruk x2
Mahur, Relentless Hunter x2
White Hand Exorciser x2 (another healer for Saruman)
Tyrannical Uruk x4
Uruk Blitz x2
Shagrat, Tower Captain x2
Uruk Dominator x2

[jc1138]

I LOVE Agent of the Dark Lord, as he's so versatile and a steal for 4 build (I think he's one of the best "starter/fixed" cards in the game) and have decks that use him.  My deck is a revision where I wasn't careful enough to remove Radagast Decieved, but you're totally correct in that he serves no function here!  D'oh!  

I like your deck and will have to give it a try when I branch out into Hunters territory.  Even though AotDL can be wicked-effective, I don't think Servant of the Eye is a TOTAL loss in comparison.  He doesn't just potentially assign himself, as you say, but if he doesn't manage to assign you've thrown a lot of exertions around (yes, some decks can take advantage of this, say with Strength of Spirit and Gandalf's Staff, Ash Staff, but that's hardly a reason not to run the deck).  My deck is based on slowing down the FP's player and/or killing characters with wounds, a purpose  helped along by Servant of the Eye's forced exertions and damage bonuses with the staff and throne.  Desertion is also nice for an occasional overwhelm.  It's a fun deck to play, and uses lots of cards that aren't seen too often.  Its two biggest weaknesses I see are archery and healing.  I'm hesitant to run Spies of Saruman because it's such a dead card against many opponents and this deck doesn't have much cycling.

[Yrael]

Archery is actually terrible against this type of deck, because you usually get plenty of minions out and also usually have some that are not worth much beyond the shadow or maneuver phase (such as wormtongue). Of course, if you let them get 5-6 archery out every site, then you are going to have a problem, just like any deck would.