Naith Elves and Isenmen, or Grima says no!

[jdizzy001]

I've wanted to build a Naith deck for a long time. I have also wanted to build an isengard man deck for a long time. I finally made one. The Shadow is more of a slow down your opponent kind of deck. I have yet to kill a single comp with it, but it slows down the freeps I have played against quite well. The freeps is an elf skirmish deck.

The Binding Ring
RB: Galadriel, BoW
Erethon
Thonnas

Pengedhel x2
Taurnil x2
Sam, SoH
Elrond, Herald to Gil-Galad
Asfaloth x2
Elven Sword x4
Naith Longbow x4
Vilya
Company of Archers x2
Defiance x4
Flashing Steel x4
That is no orc horn x2
Glimpse of Fate x3

SHADOW:
Agents of Orthanc x4
Grima, SoG x3
Grima, Wormtongue (aka Durin Armor)
Rohirrim Traitor x4
Saruman, Black Traitor, x3
Saruman's Staff, wizard's device x3
Unferth x4 (super important to the deck and I didn't realize it until the 2nd play thru)
Where has Grima stowed it? x4
Desertion x4
Wizard Storm x4

The shadow is very interesting when it works, and very dull when it doesn't. Either way, I have had a lot of fun playing it. The idea is to get your wizard storms out, along side Unferth and a few isenmen. When you do this a lot of exerting happens. Use the conditions to boost the rohirrim traitor and grima adds insult to injury. A lot of insult to injury. With WhGSI you discard their possessions, and with Grima himself you compound the pain of Desertion. What I have found out is that most companions are str 6-8. Grima + Desertion makes them -2. combine this with Unferth, no possessions and a wizard's storm and you have 2 exertions and a wound. OR 1 exertion, a wound and a freeps stop. Either way, it is a lot of fun. I'm sure there is some combination of freeps that will obliterate these guys, but in the mean time, "Grima says no!"

The elves are fun to run too. I tend to lean on Thonnas as my main fighter. An elven sword, Naith longbow and Asfoloth make him pretty great (each opponent skirmishing him is str -2 and he starts the fight at str 10). He has overwhelmed the witch king and taken out a number of other nazgul. Erethon makes a great str 9 dmg +1 clean up fighter, Pengedhel is the str 10 fighter and Taurnil runs support by boosting the cost of possessions by 2 twilight. Sam plays the role of Galadriel's burden bearer (I imagine he followers her around carrying her purse. Get it? Burdens!). Despite this being an elf-centric deck, I found Galadriel to be a little unsupported despite the fact she is str +1 from her ring and str +1 from a sword (if she gets one). Other than that, there is nothing amazing about this deck, it runs a bit of initiative abuse and That is no orc horn provides some site liberation (which is very important in movie block) and Elrond takes care of cleric duties (because he heals).

[Not a Zombie]

Why flashing steel? Supporting fire doesn't require the exert and gives a similar boost. Otherwise looks fun, got any replays?

[Durin's Heir]

Men Will Fall and Saruman, Servant of the Eye might get you that first kill.

[jdizzy001]

@Z: Reducing someone's strength makes overwhelm easier than boosting your own str. Hence flashing steel which combines very well with glimpse of fate.

@D I tried men will fail and i never had it when i needed it. When i did have the card in hand it never made a difference in a fight.

[jdizzy001]

Why flashing steel? Supporting fire doesn't require the exert and gives a similar boost. Otherwise looks fun, got any replays?

How do i make a replay?

[Cw0rk]

Click on the "game history" tab, then click on "replay link".

[jdizzy001]

cool! I will post the next game I play with my Naith deck.

[jdizzy001]

http://www.gempukku.com/gemp-lotr/game.html?replayId=jdizzy001$tj2xmiw7mb4jkh6f

[Cw0rk]

Great to watch someone lose to Izzy Men! Although your fellowship technically won, his crucial mistake was to stop at site 2. He was probably worrying about non-roaming men.

[bibfortuna25]

Men Will Fall is absolutely crucial for any Men deck.

[jdizzy001]

Mayhaps I'll drop a few copies of wizard storm for men will fall.

[ramolnar]

This is a fun deck, and you did win that game though your opponent made several mistakes. It has trouble with Grond and Promise Keeping and Firebomb, but fun decks aren't supposed to do that. Somebody was running Isengard Men in Towers Block - you?

* Exerting is expensive with Flashing Steel. I know -3 is better than +3 with Supporting Fire, but it doesn't work on Galadriel when she's exhausted.
* The Binding Ring scares me because of Morcs. It's too easy for Gollum to exhaust you. You've only got one ring to pull anyway. Isildur's Bane is also +1/+1 and a lot safer.
* Shadow Between would help this deck cycle. I'd replace Elrond and Vilya with Shadow Between and another Company of Archers for consistency.

* Men Will Fall is great! I'd pull a Wizard Storm and a Where has Grima Stole It? and try at least two. At the very least, it introduces panic, and panic leads to errors, as you saw.

[jdizzy001]

Those are excellent suggestions. I'm still not convinced about supporting fire though. Although the exert for flashing steel always worries me. The binding ring has not been a problem, even with morcs. However by adding shadow between, I wouldn't need the binding ring.

[Durin's Heir]

If exertions are worring you, perhaps you might try a radical change: Gimli BoG instead as Ringbearer, to use Shoulder to Shoulder. Then you should start Galadriel LR, in order to start Erethon and Thonnas as usually.

You can get the Naith elves to their full strength with a bunch of or allies and Lend Us Your Aid.

[dethwish07]

I have a variation of this deck that I'll post if jdizzy is cool with it. It incorporates some of the suggestions that have been offered here with some of my own ideas while still keeping to the spirit of jdizzy's original list. I will say this though: I like the way Durin's Heir thinks. As far as this deck goes, he and I seem to be operating on the same wave length.