How can you threaten that which has no life? A Movie Wraith deck.

[Orophoin]

Let's be honest, when you saw Gondor Wraiths for the first time you thought that they were cool. Because they are. Sadly, virtually everyone then tries to play them and then realises that as soon as anything goes wrong they blow themselves up faster than you can say "Devilry of Orthanc".

The real trouble is the fact that you need to be completely set up with some form of threat removal, Swept Away and enough wraiths to not get swarmed. Playing Wraiths adds threats, so you run the risk of not being able to afford Swept Away. Plus Besiegers and Corsairs murder these undead (somewhat ironically given what happened in the story). Here is my go at making them work!

Ring-bearer: Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms
Ring: The One Ring, Answer To All Riddles

Adventure deck:
Steps of Edoras
West Road
The Dimholt
Anduin Banks
City Gates
Minas Tirith First Circle
Osgiliath Crossing
Morgul Vale
Dagorlad

Free Peoples Draw Deck (37 cards):
1x Cursed of Erech
1x Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith (starting)
1x Derufin (starting)
1x King of the Dead, Oathbreaker
1x Shadow Host
2x Sleepless Dead
2x Sam, Son of Hamfast
3x Elrond, Herald to Gil-galad
4x Banner of Westernesse
1x Narsil, Blade of the Faithful
1x Scroll of Isildur
1x Seeing Stone of Minas Anor
1x Seeing Stone of Orthanc
1x The Shards of Narsil
3x Secret Sentinels
4x Still Sharp
1x Foes of Mordor
2x Hearts Raised
3x Stronger and More Terrible
3x Swept Away

Shadow Draw Deck (37 cards):
1x Gollum, Vile Creature
2x Gate Sentry
2x Gorgoroth Servitor
4x Mordor Guard
2x Mordor Trooper
3x Mordor Veteran
1x Morgul Warden
1x Orc Assault Band
1x Orc Insurgent
4x Orc Officer
1x Orc Patrol
1x Orc Slaughterer
1x Grond, Hammer of the Underworld
2x Ithil Stone
2x Captured by the Ring
1x So Polite
1x Dead Marshes
4x Fires Raged Unchecked
1x Flames Within
2x Teeth of Mordor

This deck aims to remedy the usual problems by starting Derufin and Denethor, LoMT. They can usually survive to site 3 where you want to use Denethor to grab the three best cards for the moment (Usually Narsil, The Shards of Narsil and Swept Away, or a Wraith of you have any of these already). You can do this by playing Narsil on Denethor. If you play your site 3, you may be able to grab another Wraith from your deck, maxing out on threats.

Denethor loses heart at seeing the inevitable beatdown of an opponent with 14 cards in hand, so throws down his sword and takes his own life before some orc can. If your opponent is not playing possessions or Besiegers, pass Narsil to Derufin, and let him take three threat wounds from killing Denethor, so you can use the site again, and then kill Derufin by passing Narsil to Isildur. Now you should have several Wraiths out, all the support you need, no threats on the table and one very strong Ringbearer.  Site 4 would normally hurt, but exhausted Wraiths don't take wounds. Laugh as your opponent is helpless to stop your "good guys" of Isildur and those he cursed (unless they play The Witch King, Morgul King with The Pale Blade).

Most of the rest of the cards are pretty self explanatory-keep the Wraiths alive for as long as possible. Foes of Mordor is a fantastic card that can single handedly win you games against the very popular Sauron builds, so it should be pulled with Denethor if you know you're up against them. Orc Patrol can't get it as you wound it first, so your conditions often stick around against Sauron. Use the Shards of Narsil to keep additional copies of Swept Away in case Saruman's Power hits. You can normally survive a few sites without it, especially as Still Sharp is a brilliant pump.

Whilst the Fellowship is a lot of fun, and you will find loads of top tier decks cannot touch it (most notably morcs not packing The Pale Blade and Ninja Gollum), the real strength of the deck lies with the Shadow. The idea is to hit your opponent with the Red-Eye Triumvirate of Mordor Guard, Mordor Veteran and Orc Officer. With enough minions out, you don't have to overwhelm a Ringbearer, since taking anyone down will corrupt them. The Gorgoroth Servitor ability to deny archery is so good that I'm surprised that I don't see it splashed everywhere.

Early versions played Plotting, and used my Orc Patrol to discard it, but it didn't really work, and saving for a swarm at City Gates is generally more potent (Fires Raged Unchecked is a really good card). Otherwise I'll wait until they double or reach Dagorlad.

The synergy between the Fellowship and Shadow is one of the best I've seen. The sites help both of them (mainly site 5, though do note that the Fellowship can easily double through Minas Tirith First Circle), and a swarm is easier to set up with the Wraiths not wanting to ever discard down to three. Seeing Stone of Minas Anor can also help set up a huge swarm. Plus, your opponent will often move to site 5 the turn after your Fellowship set up at site 3 letting your opponent draw 6 cards. Most players will be full of FP cards for this turn after emptying their Shadow at you last turn, giving you loads of Twilight to play all your orcs.

Stand Against Darkness is the best counter to this Shadow, but that card is unfair, and I really don't know what Decipher were thinking when they made it. Otherwise, Maneuver wounding is probably the worst matchup, though even then, three vitality per orc is pretty big for Movie.

Feel free to copy or comment. I've had a lot of fun with this deck, and in 100 games on Gemp, it won 75, which is pretty good considering Wraiths really shouldn't be competitive. It even has very positive records against Besiegers and Corsairs (just keep Derufin alive)

[ket_the_jet]

Looks fun and seems to have its biggest counters considered in the build. A 75% success rate seems about right for a skilled player against random competition. The Shards of Narsil is a clever way to protect extra copies of Swept Away, etc.

I would consider keeping Derufin alive under any circumstance (or perhaps starting a Dead Man of Dunharrow and using Denethor to tutor Derufin). Then again, if you stack Derufin on the Shards of Narsil and the latter gets discarded by, say, Grond, Hammer of the Underworld, you are out of luck.

Any time a non-Super Friends deck ends up on the forums, Manwë smiles on us.
-wtk

[Shelobplayer]

I want to play this. But I'm not a fan of movie block. First world problem of the day

[Orophoin]

Thanks for the feedback!  I have to start Derufin instead of a Dead Man, as Denethor requires two men to play.  

The trouble with keeping Derufin alive is site 4. When you give your opponent six cards in hand and plenty of Twilight, anything that dies to a strength 12 minion is unlikely to survive the skirmish phase.  Often I would rather have an additional Wraith out, though I'll try let him live against Sauron, since Grond will happily self discard to take out Foes of Mordor.