Gondor Wraiths-- Needs Adjustment

[Creator]

I love playing Gondor Wraiths because they look so cool. But I find two consistent problems with them:

1) Archery/Threats blows me up.
2) They clog.

I've managed to partially solve 2 by pairing it with a Shadow that cycles very well, but I find my threats get out of control so easily, and if Aragorn dies for some reason, Frodo takes them all. I sometimes also have a hard time getting the Fellowship set up fast enough.

How can I make this deck more competitive?

Ring/Ring-Bearer:
The One Ring, Isildur's Bane
Frodo, Hope of Free Peoples

1x Aragorn, Driven by Need (Starting)
1x Sleepless Dead
1x Oathbreaker
2x Dead Man of Dunharrow
1x Shadow Host
1x King of the Dead, Oathbreaker
1x Cursed of Erech
1x Shadow Host

1x Hobbit Sword
4x Spectral Sword
1x Anduril, Flame of the West
2x Banner of Westernesse

4x Stronger and More Terrible
4x Swept Away
4x End of the Game
2x Elessar's Edict


Suggestions?

[Cw0rk]

One way to deal with archery is to add Mithril Coat, Shield of Boromir (bearer can be a wraith) and Gondor Shield for Aragorn. If you add some Elven support, you can then have Elven Cloak.

[gashad]

One way to deal with clogging is to use the shards of narsil (I have two in my wraith deck).

Also atar is a much better ring to reduce damage from archery/threats; one extra vitality and only 1+n burdens from threats. It also makes your frodo strength 5 making harder to overwhelm if your wraiths are slow to come out. .

[bibfortuna25]

I find that Isildur works as a better RB for a Wraith deck. His "penalty" text actually can benefit your Wraiths.

[Creator]

One way to deal with archery is to add Mithril Coat, Shield of Boromir (bearer can be a wraith) and Gondor Shield for Aragorn. If you add some Elven support, you can then have Elven Cloak.

That's an interesting idea. I don't have the Shield of Boromir, but I'm intrigued by the idea of an Elf/Wraith combo deck. How would I do that? What sort of Elven support cards would work well with a Gondor Wraith deck?

One way to deal with clogging is to use the shards of narsil (I have two in my wraith deck).

Also atar is a much better ring to reduce damage from archery/threats; one extra vitality and only 1+n burdens from threats. It also makes your frodo strength 5 making harder to overwhelm if your wraiths are slow to come out. .

How does ATAR protect me from archery? It's a skirmish-only Ring. I figured Isildur's Bane would work better because I can put it on during the Archery phase if need be (although the 2 burden penalty is very steep...)

Unfortunately I do not have TSON, or I would use it.

[bibfortuna25]

On Gemp you can use any cards you want.

[Creator]

Yes, I realize that, but this deck is built with real cards I actually have, so...

[sgtdraino]

The problem I've had with Wraiths, is their total dependence on that one condition, which obliterates them if it ever gets discarded unexpectedly. There's no real way to protect gondor conditions that I know of, so for me playing them is like a ticking time bomb where threats are involved.

[Gerontius]

For the Ring, I would definitely use Such a Weight to Carry if you have it, because it's the best ring for absorbing archery.
My wraith deck uses Bilbo with Consorting With Wizards as the ring-bearer, meaning that if someone dies during skirmish he at least is safe. Notice as well that you can play as many copies of CWW on Bilbo as you want, so it's hard for the shadow player to get rid of them all unexpectedly.

If you don't have these cards, then it would be extremely important to control the number of wounds on your fellowship (don't keep all your wraiths exhausted) and the number of threats. Men of Numenor is a good card for this, because it can heal Frodo as well. End of the Game I don't find to be a terribly helpful pump, despite the healing it offers, so I would be using Swordarm of the White Tower or, my favorite for wraith decks, Banner of the White Tree. Lastly, Stronger and More Terrible is a risky way to remove threats in my opinion. The requirement means it's easier to get clogged and it's not much help if your already in trouble with threats. My preference here is Nine Fingered Frodo and the Ring of Doom, combined with using Aragorn's effect to remove threats frequently.
One more thing- you may know this already, but make sure you use City Gates as your site five. When you're moving there, it triggers after Swept Away, and when you're moving away it triggers before, basically ensuring that you can move to site six with at least two threats leeway.

[fenix]

I have had some luck playing with Gondor Wraiths in movie block, so I think I could help give you some advice.

1) You are correct to point out that Gondor Wraiths clog very easily, so don't start Aragorn. There are 9 cards that spot a wraith in your deck and then 8 cards that are useless without wraiths. I recommend starting a 2 cost companion and then an oathbreaker. The 2 cost companion would benefit you the most of they supported some condition or possession removal.

2) To help against archery, use two more sleepless dead instead of dead man of dunharrow. They will be stronger than the dead men and can absorb two archery wounds each

3) Remove one shadow host. They are hard to play so you don't want two of them

4) Replace spectral swords with nine-fingered frodo and the ring of doom. This will allow you to remove threats or burdens if you need to. Wraiths are weak to corruption, so this will help. It will also help you in the shadow phase because your opponents won't get the three extra twilight from frodo as often. Moreover, one of the most powerful strategies against Wraiths is corsairs because of their war galley. The spectral swords only fuel this strategy.

5) Remove Elessar's Edict and replace it with foes of mordor. This hurts beseigers, which destroy your strategy and also let you exhaust your wraiths more quickly

4) end of the game will choke your hand. Replace it with condition removal cards, another cursed of erech, or some more frodo protection.

5) you need isildur's bane for the ring. There will be too many times where your wraiths will die and you will need a quick way to absorb more wounds.

6) I would use one fewer Stronger and More Terrible

[Jamacus]

I've found that it's necessary to throw in some "splash" companions to kill off/ take wounds.  Consider adding the defender +1 sam or pippin hobbit of some intelligence just for the purpose of killing them off and assigning threats.