Bastards of Thorondor

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Bastards of Thorondor 6 3 7 1.0
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curiousboss 64

In this deck, I explore the combo Hirgon + Descendant of Thorondor ; Hirgon's ability gives a much better timing to the Descendant enter play effect than normal, as many people have already noticed. I have tried many different decks around this theme (like Argalad / Hirgon / Thalin). This one tries to set up the Eagles quikly using Vilya and efficient card drawing effects (including playing events from the top of the deck with hero Gandalf).

A typical game begins with a horrid Threat and tricky fights, then plays really fast, drawing the entire deck in about 5-7 turns. At the end of it, you have huge pumped up eagles and lots of action advantage. The performance of this deck is always a little random.

Please note that Support of the Eagles can only go on heroes, so Gandalf must either hard-cast it from the top of the deck, or get the Song of Battle first. I have no idea if you can use Vilya to play Support of the Eagles from the top of the deck on Gandalf, as the card comes from the top of the deck (so Gandalf may be considered to have the icon) but you don't really play it with Gandalf's special ability. Anyway, doing it the hard way is feasible.

The Eagles Are Coming! and Master of the Forge work really well with Gandalf and Vilya, as they allow you to shuffle the deck and reveal a new card choice. I also play Heed the Dream with the same added benefit, but the truth is that when siding for a specific quest or to adapt to a specific fellowship, I tend to remove those (it's more important to stay at 50 cards to maximize Eagle density). For example, I played this deck in a 3 player fellowship alongside a victory display deck and a song deck. I just had to make room for a Love of Tales and Keen as Lances of my own.

So, depending on quest and fellowship, I tend to use the side deck a lot, adding threat reduction, healing, location control or combat events, and removing a couple copies of what's less needed : a Descendant here, a Pipe there, a Test of will or a couple Heed the Dream.

In multiplayer games, your friends should know in advance that you are using Gandalf, as the Ally version of Gandalf is an auto include for many people.

I give my thanks to the people who gave me feedback, especially @BGamerJoe who even featured it on his blog ( https://lotrdecktest.wordpress.com/2018/01/18/deck-29-bastards-of-thorondor/ ). I'm currently seeking help to build a deep campaign fellowship (2 players going from Mirkwood to Harad). All your suggestions are welcome.

7 comments

Jan 19, 2018 The BGamerJoe 4845

I like it! I copied your basic engine and built myself a deck for some games with group last night. So many cards in hand!

Jan 20, 2018 curiousboss 64

Thank you !

Do you know if Horn of Gondor works when Eagles go under Eagles of the Misty Mountains ?

Anyway I should have waited before republishing the 2.0 version because last night I experimented with Elf-stone and The Red Arrow, and it was awesome. Then I added Radagast who got the second Wizard Pipe and proved extremely useful.

I'm still toying a lot with other as yet unexplored options, in particular Hour of Wrath and Flame of Anor.

This time I will get the proportions right before publishing, but you get the hang of it. Eagles flying everywhere, dying like crazy : I should rename the deck Kamikaze Turbeagles.

Jan 21, 2018 Adven96 1

curiousboss, Horn of Gondor tryggers only if a character die or discarded.

Jan 21, 2018 curiousboss 64

@Adven96 : So if you block an attack with Vassal of the Windlord who has 1 hit point and 0 , he gets killed in a normal fashion (taking damage in combat = "destroyed"), then you trigger the Horn, then as it leaves play, it goes under Eagles of the Misty Mountains ? But it doesn't work if you attack with him, which discards him, which doesn't trigger the Horn but triggers the broader "leave play" effect of the Eagles of the Misty Mountains ?

It is all a question of order of play, and the definition of destroyed, discarded, and leaving play, and the errata is not abudantly clear on it. I want it to work, though, so I may be partial.

If that's the case, I'm hearing a Stuka Shrikin' Horn ! Because Descendant of Thorondor often blocks 3 attacks and gets destroyed, as well as the Winged Guardian who tends to block Hill Trolls and dies in a normal, taking-damage-in-combat fashion.

Jan 21, 2018 curiousboss 64

Compared to this deck I'm currently playing :

+2 Flame of Anor +2 Elf-stone +2 Deep Knowledge +1 Horn of Gondor +1 The Red Arrow +1 Gwaihir -1 A Test of Will -1 Shadowfax -1 Unexpected Courage -1 Gildor Inglorion -1 Song of Battle -2 Master of the Forge -2 Heed the Dream

So far I'm doing alright in the Angmar cycle.

Oct 29, 2018 sappidus 727

Love this deck! Here's an official ruling I recently received that (minorly) affects how some might have played this deck. Hirgon's ability and Gandalf's are not a direct combo:

Gandalf’s ability does not combo with Hirgon… because [Hirgon only targets] allies in your hand. Gandalf’s ability only makes the top card of your deck count as if it were in your hand at the time that you play it. That means it only works when you would normally play that card. To play an ally with Gandalf’s ability requires you to play it during the planning phase.

This doesn't impact your deck too much—it's still amongst the most fun you can have with Eagles—but I still thought it was worth noting.

Oct 30, 2018 Aurion 868

Like the idea of this deck. It's similar to my Three Rings deck but I just use Vilya to get the Descendant of Thorondor into play during staging. Have you thought of introducing Radagast? I know he's expensive but you can get him in to play using Vilya and then he can help pay for and heal your eagle allies. He's also another target for Wizard Pipe so you can make sure Gandalf can help pay for allies, whilst also ensuring you've got the right card at the top of the deck during staging. Also Narya would be good for playing Heed the Dream as it gives Gandalf a icon but I prefer Word of Command for deck digging, particularly if you run with Radagast.