Saruman of Many Colours 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

I was a little fearful when building this, as the Doomed keyword doesn't sound, well, inviting! I decided to have roughly a fifth of the deck with the Doomed keyword, with Nori's ability to avoid threat spiralling out of control. Thematically, the idea is that Saruman in his morally compromised but not consistently evil stage has used his silver tongue to get Denethor to lend him Gondor's considerable resources through the Palantir and has roped some dwarves into the mission in the hopes of learning their craft as he tries to forge a ring of his own. Mechanically, I needed Nori's ability! This deck turned out to be great fun, bringing exciting wins against Journey along the Anduin and Road to Rivendell, which I had not played before. Using The Wizards's Voice to bewitch the Mountain Warg, thus readying Saruman to deliver the killer blow, felt very cool! This deck isn't the simplest to play and tactics can vary by quest. I had thought Untroubled by Darkness would be vital as quest boosts are a challenge, but actually the deck quests quite well once built up. Saruman's readying ability really is amazing; he can make great use of his willpower and attack once he has Saruman's Staff attached. Master of the Forge and Daeron's Runes are there to look for that. The corruption and egotism of Saruman and Denethor feel apparent in cards like the Dwarven Sellsword and Magic Ring, while Nori's cheerful dwarvish company holds the gloom at bay. This deck does rely on thinking each round about what you have in hand and how best to play it, as the sheer variety of cards and effects is greater than I normally have. That feels right for the chameleon-like dark wizard and can be very satisfying. Far-sighted before the middle stage of the Anduin quest allowed me to map out exactly how to tackle that stage in two rounds, including how to use my copy of Hasty Stroke to counteract and dispatch the Warg in the first round! Usually, heroes contribute without dominating, but not Saruman: you are tempted to play his Doomed cards even when they aren't that useful to ready Saruman for another killer blow. Swiping the Dol Guldur Beast Master and the final Warg in the Anduin quest brought the win there. You will feel dirty playing this, but the devil has all the best tunes sadly!