The Secret Life of Eagles

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Stoved86 407

This deck focuses on 3 important aspects: Eagles, Hobbits, and Secrecy (If you are looking for a deck to highlight Éowyn, I'm sorry. You'll have to look elsewhere). Although the deck is -heavy, it can hold its own during questing and has some fun easy combos.

With the recent addition of Éowyn, there are new options for decks to include 2 heroes and start in secrecy. This deck takes advantage of this new possibility to empower the hobbit heroes and swarm the table with powerful eagle/Istari allies for cheap/free. Even Bill the Pony wants to get in on the action.

Below I will discuss some of the card choices and why they are important to the deck:

Bill the Pony: Bill is great for a couple of reasons. Obviously he benefits the hobbits by boosting their HP and his free cost (thanks to Sam Gamgee) is great. Even though you can play him for free, his cost is still considered to be 2 which makes him great to combo with A Very Good Tale. Also, Bill is one of the few non-eagle allies in the game with the "creature" trait which means he can soak some damage and take advantage of Radagast's healing.

Radagast: This guy doesn't see much play, and it's no surprise why; His cost is high, his stats are low, and his ability is super-niche. This deck aims to get around his shortcomings in a few ways. Ideally you can play him for cheap or free by using Timely Aid or A Very Good Tale. His stats don't seem so bad when you only pay 1 resource for him. Once he's on the board there are 17 allies that you can use his resources to cast or heal.

Gandalf/Secret Vigil: These cards are the only way to drop threat and keep you in secrecy. In a perfect scenario you would play Secret Vigil onto an enemy in the staging area, Sneak Attack Gandalf into play during combat (dropping your threat), and use him to kill the attached enemy. Also, don't forget about the action window at the end of the round to combo Gandalf with A Very Good Tale when you do eventually hard-cast him.

Dagger of Westernesse/Hobbit Cloak: While these cards are not technically "secrecy" cards, they both trigger off of having a lower threat than the enemy's engagement. Just more reasons that a low starting threat is crucial here. The cloak goes on Sam Gamgee and the daggers go where ever you want.

Timely Aid: This is the key secrecy card of the deck. By my count there are roughly 13 allies that are great to find with this card, and 6 that are okay. Assuming you find one of these cards, this enables you to start swarming the board with eagles by comboing with A Very Good Tale.

What are you looking for in an opening hand?:

-Resource Acceleration: Resourceful or Steward of Gondor

-Threat Reduction: Secret Vigil or Gandalf + Sneak Attack

-Hobbit Helpers: Bill the Pony, Hobbit Cloak, or Dagger of Westernesse

-Combo Pieces: Bill the Pony, Timely Aid, or A Very Good Tale

-Allies with an efficient resource curve

-NEVER EVER do you want Radagast in an opening hand.

5 comments

Sep 01, 2016 DukeWellington 186

Great deck from concept to execution. I will definitely be trying it out.

Sep 02, 2016 AtaruSlash 4450

I love the concept of the deck, and it's good to see the eagles still get love in the modern card pool. Will have to try it!

PS- Some might argue that you don't want Radagast in any hand! :D

Sep 02, 2016 Sechen 130

I like how you can use merry to double-dip on eowyn's attack bonus. It'll cost you 3 threat, but getting to attack for 10, twice, is pretty good!

Sep 03, 2016 DúnedainLoreKeeper 47

Ehm, secrecy ends at 20 threat. So the only way to get into secrecy would be to (sneak attack) gandalf. I don't think Resourceful and Timely Aid would pull their weight if it's that unlikely you're ever able to pay their secrecy cost.

You could lose Merry and start with 2 heroes.

Considering Sam's role as defender, perhaps you have too many Winged Guardians?

Sep 03, 2016 Stoved86 407

@DúnedainLoreKeeper RingsDB displays the deck's starting threat at 23 because it does not account for the setup on Éowyn. It's a little misleading, but the deck does start at 20 threat.

I appreciate the feedback on the Winged Guardian, but it is one of the few ways this deck can directly assist fellow players using "sentinel." I play mostly multiplayer, so I like the Vassal of the Windlord and Winged Guardian. If you are playing solo, I think you could cut them and replace with more offensive allies.