The White Council

[Gil-Estel]

Well, now and then I like to get into themedecks, and see if I can make a strong one. Especially now I have vacation and am reading The Lord of the Rings again, themes come easily. The White Council was something that sounded appealing, so I gave it a try...here it goes:

*The One Ring, Answer To All Riddles (4R1)
*Galadriel, Bearer of Wisdom (RB)(9R+14)

Sites
(1R)Rohirrim Road (7U332)
(2R)King's Tent (7U335)
(3R)Hall of the Kings (7U339)
(4R)Pelennor Prarie (10U118)
(5R)Pelennor Flat (7U345)
(6R)Minas Tirith Fifth Circle (7U346)
(7R)Osgiliath Channel (8U120)
(8R)Morgulduin (7U358)
(9R)Dagorlad (7U360)

Fellowship (33)
1x *Aiglos (9R+12)
1x *Gandalf's Staff (2R22)
1x *Narya, Ring of Fire (9R19)
2x *Nenya, Ring of Adamant (9R20)
1x *Vilya (3R27)
1x *Celeborn, Lord of the Galadhrim (10R7)
2x *Cirdan, The Shipwright (10R8)
3x *Elrond, Venerable Lord (10R9)
1x *Gandalf, Leader of Men (8R15)
2x *The Splendor of Their Banners (1R62)
2x Company of Archers (4R61)
1x Reckless We Rode (8R12)
1x Stand Against Darkness (1U63)
3x Still Needed (7C29)
2x Terrible and Evil (7R50)
3x Valor (4C87)
2x Wielder of the Flame (2U28)
4x Elven Bow (1C41)

Shadow (33)
1x *Out of Sight and Shot (7R204)
3x Blade Tip (1U209)
2x All Blades Perish (1U203)
1x Corrupt (7U175)
2x Morgul Gates (1R217)
2x *Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow (2R75)
4x *The Witch-king, Morgul King (7R221)
4x *Ulaire Attea, Keeper of Dol Guldur (1R229)
3x *Ulaire Cantea, Faster Than Winds (7R211)
1x *Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul (1U231)
2x *Ulaire Nelya, Ringwraith in Twilight (2R84)
1x *Ulaire Toldea, Messenger of Morgul (1R236)
1x *Ulaire Toldea, Wraith on Wings (7R219)
2x *The Pale Blade (1R221)
3x Fell Beast (6U83)
1x Nazgul Sword (1U218)

The White Council start with the married couple, Galadriel and Celeborn, having a nice get to gether with the person who knows a lot: Gandalf. I wanted to do something with Celeborn's text, and utilize it to the max...within reason. Each minion wounded sounds good, so we need him to be defender +. Gandalf has just the tricks. Also, wounding both minions is not impressive if they are not exhausted, so archery should be the game to play. Galadriel is frightning with all the vitality she has and the option to blow the archery beyond all proportions. Also, there are a few extra's. Stand Against Darkness is for a lost Sauron, or another strong minion, but especially Grond. Don't need it? Get rid of it with Fell Beast. Reckless we Rode can be helpful as well, obivously. The great thing is that what ever you don't need, you can get rid of with the Fell Beast. And who said that those animals were all horrible?

Shadow is just to be annoying. Try to maximize the Witchking, because who else could complete this themedeck? Well, I have considered Sauron, for obvious reasons, but I went with the Witchking nonetheless. Should I have Sauron? I think so...so who knows

[ket_the_jet]

Add Saruman.
-wtk

[hrcho]

WHITE Council?! You racist!

I've got nothing productive to say. Although, if my wisdom helps you return to the right path, it was more productive than anything I could've said about the deck.

[Gil-Estel]

So...Nothing on the content of the deck? Hrcho...do you have any knowledge of the Lord of the Rings in general?

[rubbercarp]

Add Saruman.
-wtk

Yeah, continue the theme and use a shadow side that features Saruman!

[Gil-Estel]

Sigh...;-) I believe this to be somewhat competitive...If I am going to continue the theme it must be Sauron/Saruman....some sort of Palantir deck. Will look into it.

[ket_the_jet]

Saruman, Black Traitor could just be simple condition discarding. Don't need him to do anything else!

Or go with Rabble-Rouser and .
-wtk

[hrcho]

So...Nothing on the content of the deck? Hrcho...do you have any knowledge of the Lord of the Rings in general?

Yes... all elves are white, all dwarves are... white I guess, all humans appearing are white, all halflings are white... the only people black there are the Nazgul and they are villains, so go figure.

Do you need so many skirmish events? Maybe instead of few of them you could go with more copies of Reckless We Rode and That is No Orc Horn to help with healing and site liberation.
That way you can kill in archery minions who seem most troublesome and take care of the rest in skirmish.

Also, a copy of Grown Suddenly Tall could help you out against condition based shadows since 2 Company of Archers is really not much of a condition removal.

[hrcho]

Also, Gollum, like Nazgul is an almost ever present villain and I believe he held the ring at the time so he could also fit in your theme. Btw., Glorfindel and Radagast were also present at the White Council.

[ket_the_jet]

the only people black there are the Nazgul and they are villains, so go figure.

Southrons? In the books, they were dark-skinned.

Of course, this just adds to the idea that Tolkien believed in racial segregation...
-wtk

[Gil-Estel]

White Council is named after the reference we make to color as a status. White/light is good, black/dark is considered to be the badguys. Nothing to do with skincolor. And obviously Tolkien was a child of his time, so I don't believe him to be a true racist, a true sexist, just a product of his time. To add to that: Southrons came from the lands where it was hot and sunny, almost like Africa. Most people there are black too.

I will add a poll to see whether people feel offended by the title of the deck

My skirmish events are there to protect Galadriel, if she ever is under attack and +3 strength is just what I like. Maybe I should go with Servant of the Secret Fire so I can protect Gandalf as well, but then I have less events for Cirdan to toy with. Grown Suddenly Tall is nice, but not very delicate. I find it more a Dwarven way of playing....brutal. And again, not an elf event plus my own conditions get screwed too.

[hrcho]

I was never in any way offended (although, I'm not black), but was just kidding around. I think that anyone offended (who didn't go through a real discrimination) by such things has problems with other matters and not racial abuse.

I believe this discussion should end here now or continue in another, more appropriate section.

As for the deck, I still think That is No Orc Horn could still be very helpful, especially if you run into Dunland or Sauron Besiegers.

[legolas3333]

You definitely need better condition removal then 2x company of archers, I like hrcho's idea of grown suddenly tall that's all I got right now