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 HeirloomsRing:
The One Ring, Answer To All RiddlesAdventure deck:
Steps of EdorasWest RoadThe DimholtAnduin BanksCity GatesMinas Tirith First CircleOsgiliath CrossingMorgul ValeDagorladFree Peoples Draw Deck (37 cards):
1x
Cursed of Erech1x
Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith (starting)
1x
Derufin (starting)
1x
King of the Dead, Oathbreaker1x
Shadow Host2x
Sleepless Dead2x
Sam, Son of Hamfast3x
Elrond, Herald to Gil-galad4x
Banner of Westernesse1x
Narsil, Blade of the Faithful1x
Scroll of Isildur1x
Seeing Stone of Minas Anor1x
Seeing Stone of Orthanc1x
The Shards of Narsil3x
Secret Sentinels4x
Still Sharp1x
Foes of Mordor2x
Hearts Raised3x
Stronger and More Terrible3x
Swept AwayShadow Draw Deck (37 cards):
1x
Gollum, Vile Creature2x
Gate Sentry2x
Gorgoroth Servitor4x
Mordor Guard2x
Mordor Trooper3x
Mordor Veteran1x
Morgul Warden1x
Orc Assault Band1x
Orc Insurgent4x
Orc Officer1x
Orc Patrol1x
Orc Slaughterer1x
Grond, Hammer of the Underworld2x
Ithil Stone2x
Captured by the Ring1x
So Polite1x
Dead Marshes4x
Fires Raged Unchecked1x
Flames Within2x
Teeth of MordorThis 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)