A Storm of Claws and Feathers

This deck explores the sphere with Eagles. I envisioned a flock of our creatures darkening the sky. Eagles are usually expensive beasts, so it seemed counter intuitive to swarm with them. But has the economy and the ally support to sustain the hottest airstrikes over the heads of the servants of Mordor.

It is designed with multiplayer in mind, because it doesn't play any of the staples such as Steward of Gondor, Gléowine, Faramir, Horn of Gondor to let other decks run them. Depending of your situation, you should probably experiment with those I put in the sideboard.

Opening hand

Mulligan for Radagast's Staff or Word of Command to get your economy going. With Alagos you should be good to go, with 6 resources a turn. Beyond this, you are happy to see Meneldor, Messenger of Manwë or Eagles of the Misty Mountains in your opening hand.

The draw

Drawing is key when playing swarm, but eagles being expensive, you will likely need to draw a tad less than Outlands or Gondor. I usually draw with Gandalf, fetch the 3 dogs one after another and always pop Deep Knowledge to provide the necessary cards to spend those 6 resources. A Very Good Tale draws and finance proportionally to your cost, which is perfect for the expensive eagles. Gwaihir's Debt and The Eagles Are Coming! also help drawing.

Calling in the airstrike

The most important choice is picking your moment to play your eagles: if I can play more than 1, I usually play only 1 during Planning and the rest at the end of Questing, when all encounter cards have been revealed. That way, I keep Radagast available for blocking, and gain maximum flexibility out of Faunith: an enemy I can barely manage? Play eagle untapped or keep your staff to untap my Eagles of the Misty Mountains. A 3 hit point enemy? Snipe with Descendent of Thorodor. Some treachery? At least my eagles stayed safe in my hand! A location? Play them committed to the quest! It's not unusual to spawn 3 allies in one turn.

The raid

With many eagles in play, jumping with Breath of Arda becomes a game changer for the Descendant of Thorondor, Chieftain of the Skies if you need to fight, Meneldor and the Messenger of Manwë if you need / questing. It's not unusual to have 10 eagles in play at some point, then The Eagles of the Misty Mountains become ultimate defender and attacker that can be untapped with Chieftain of the Skies or even Sneak Attack.

Fly like a hot shot

Don't hesitate to play with a high threat. Between Hidden Roosts, Gandalf and Secret Vigil, you can assume you will lower your threat by 8 every 5 turns. You can sneak attack your eagles or Gandalf, chump block or take undefended and heal.... this deck is easy to learn as it doesn't rely on layers of mechanism like contracts or side quests, but it provides many interesting opportunities to grow as a player through the extra flexibility of our 3 heroes.

Deck built for a mutiplayer Event Attack on Dol Guldur Epic in March 2022.