Echo of Isengard

[hrcho]

Here is my Echo of Luthien deck with Isengard Orcs. So far, deck fares very well with shadow surprisingly good. Win/loss ratio is 4/1 -  all wins are shadow kills and 1 loss I was outrunned to site 9. Deck is big... first it was 37/37, but I decked myself before site 8. Now is 40/40 and I still deck myself before site 9. It seems I'll be adding some more cards.

Here goes:

Freeps:

Galadriel, BoW
The One Ring, ATAR

1x Gandalf, LoM (start)
1x Arwen, EoL (start)
4x Gil-Galad, Elven High King
2x Naith Warband
1x Sam, SoH

1x Barliman Butterbur, PPP

2x Nenya, RoD
1x Aiglos
1x Gandalf's Staff

2x Gwemegil
2x Asfaloth
2x Elven Sword
2x Naith Longbow
1x Glamdring
1x Phial of Galadriel

3x Mallorn Trees
2x Glimpse of Fate
1x Brooding on Tomorrow

2x Alliance Reforged
3x Company of Archers
3x Supporting Fire
1x That is no Orc Horn
1x Roll of Thunder
1x Terrible and Evil
1x Wielder of the Flame

Shadow:

4x Isengard Mechanics
1x Orc Overseer
3x Orc Commander
4x Isengard Servant
4x Isengard Retainer
3x Isengard Shaman
3x Isengard Tender
3x Isengard Warrior
3x Isengard Smith

3x Isengard Axe

3x Library of Orthanc
1x The Palantir of Orthanc, SSS

2x One of You Must Do This
2x The Trees Are Strong
2x Saruman's Power
1x Caradhras Has Not Forgiven Us


Freeps can be quite strong. Echo of Luthien is my favorite Arwen and her ability is one of the most powerful I've yet seen. It's especially nice when she's fighting more minions (thus Wielder of the Flame). I was considering Asfaloth, Elven Steed to further enhance that ability, but I'm not sure if it's worth 2 twilight, what do you think? I'm thinking I need 1 more Mallorn Trees since it is a big deck and it's hard to get 1 and there is nothing more frustrating than to discard your hand to discard 5-6 shadow cards under your deck. Hmm... I may add Hugin, EfL. Gil-Galad and Naith Warband are strong naked and with Swords, Aiglos and Naith Longbows, they are nasty.

Shadow has extremely pleasantly surprised me. It works very well. Especially once Library of Orthanc comes into play. Now that is a great card. I just may add another copy... simply because it deserves it. The Palantir of Orthanc, SSS is there to help me get cards beneath my deck. 2 copies of that may be too much since I didn't really get to use it that much. I got it in play every game, but rarely did I have enough twilight to use it. The Trees Are Strong is also an amazing card.

I think there are not many things that will better this deck, but I'm open to suggestions. Deck works well and I recommend trying it. It's very fun.

[Witchkingx5]

I think you're running the freeps wrong. You definitely need 4 Mallorn-Trees, otherwise you're toast. You can use Mallorn-Trees to discard Mallorn-Trees if your opponent doesn't have too much condition discard.

Just to show you, here's what I'd drop:

2x Asfaloth
2x Elven Sword
2x Naith Longbow
1x Phial of Galadriel

add some better events, Nenya, Ring of Adamant at least once more. I also prefer SaWtC over AtaR when playing with Galadriel.

I can't say much about the Shadow, I think it's a bit too slow and too expensive. You know what kind of Isengard Orc Deck I prefer...

[hrcho]

Aye, I added more copies of Mallorn Trees, but all those possessions you numbered are definitely staying. They help a lot. 1 more copy of Nenya, RoD is also in.

Shadow is actually very fast. As I said, I decked myself almost every time. Even now with 42/42 setup. Most of the credit for that goes to Library of Orthanc and Echo of Luthien.

[Cw0rk]

Banner of Elbereth is a must with Glimpse of Faith and Echo of Luthien. Cirdan is a very good companion for this type of deck and Gandalf, Greyhame would help you get your companions back from the discard pile if they are stacked on Library of Orthanc. Another suggest could be having a Rohan guy with Weapon Store to get the weapons that may be stacked on Library of Orthanc.

Using Caradhras Has Not Forgiven Us is a very good idea, I bet that this card will surprise your opponent!

[hrcho]

I prefer Gwemegil over Banner of Elbereth because I like my Arwen to win skirmishes even without her ability. Cirdan would indeed be a good companion for this kind of fellowship with some more events added, but I don't like him. He's OP.

Now, Gandalf, Greyhame is a very nice idea... I did sometimes get my companions on Library of Orthanc and then I had to wait for another copy. It is a bit frustrating. Thx.

[ket_the_jet]

Cirdan would indeed be a good companion for this kind of fellowship with some more events added, but I don't like him. He's OP.

Unless your meta has a gentlemen's agreement on using Cirdan, you're going to see him wherever you go so you might as well play him too.

I personally don't think he'd be so bad if he had a limit (3 or 5 both seem reasonable).
-wtk

[hrcho]

I agree about the limit, 5 would be ok.

I find some cards OP and as such, quite boring. I don't like boring. If I went to a championship of some kind, I wouldn't hesitate to use him. This way, it's all about fun, and I don't find Cirdan fun. So I won't play him unless I find out to use him in a way no one ever has (which is most unlikely).

[ket_the_jet]

Would you feel better about it if you used him, but the only events in your deck were Lightfootedness?
-wtk

[hrcho]

Hahaha. Indeed, shadow archery wouldn't stand a chance... imagine the shock on your opponent's face when you play Lightfootedness...

[Imrahil]

Well it was either Cirdan or Galadriel, and the Decipher gods chose Galadriel.