*CAW*-mikaze Attack! 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

It's sad. The Eagles keep dying.

Why the name?
"Oh no!" scream the orphaned eaglets in their eyries. --sad caw!--

See in your mind's eye a majestic bird, a mighty Eagle of the North, tucking his wings and plunging through the deck of a Corsair ship, sacrificing himself to bring the pirate vessel to the bottom of the winedark sea...

See Gwaihir, bringing Eagles back from their watery graves...only to have them disappear...

See the Descendant of Thorondor, Meneldor, Vassal of the Windlord, and Winged Guardian soaring into sight for a time, only to be lost to sight...

In short, this deck has a lot of Eagles flying in and out, and I built it to play a cycle that involves sinking pirate ships. I guess you could call this particular flight of eagles CAW-mikazes.

What's the origin story?
Radagast is the second hero I was so excited to try I proxied him immediately (the first being Thranduil because, well, Silvans). This deck is built off of the bare bones of @nooa's Mono-Tactics deck, which I loved because it didn't rely on what I consider to be the old, tired out trope of weapons + Foe-hammer to get things done.

At the time Radagast was spoiled, @Minkewhale and I were having a tough time defeating Raid on the Grey Havens, in part because we didn't have a huge killing blow to deal to Captain Sahir or Nasiyah. So I built this deck to do that.

Why this lineup?
Éowyn offers the obvious - a great combination of willpower, low thread, and the ability to deal a killing blow early if I get swarmed or late if there's a boss to take care of. Since she is a Noble and Mablung is a Ranger, I can play Proud Hunters, which lets me pay for those expensive Eagle allies. Mablung is there for his balanced stats and excellent resource generation. (His stats can be put to use with readying from Leather Boots or Outmatched.)

Radagast is his own kind of bonkers. He's an extremely beefy early defender and can almost always contribute two willpower because you're playing a Creature ally almost every round (and thus he doesn't exhaust to quest). In a pinch, I also like to throw the second copy of Leather Boots on him in case I don't have a Creature ally to play and I still want him to quest. With Radagast's Staff in hand, he is significantly discounting those Eagle allies OR readying beefed up Eagles of the Misty Mountains to do more work.

How does the deck work?
In addition to the hero notes above, here are a few other things to keep in mind. First, the access gets me tons of card draw and tutoring via Daeron's Runes, Drinking Song, and Heed the Dream. The Eagles Are Coming! is also helpful for obvious reasons. By round two, I'm usually flush with cards and then using the Staff to discount Creatures, Proud Hunters to pile up more resources, and get out more Eagles.

By mid-game, it's likely I've got a hardy Eagles of the Misty Mountains out there, which means it's time to drop Support of the Eagles on Mablung, with a second copy on Eowyn if I absolutely need it to murder some big boss. I'm also eyeing the encounter deck - if it's depleted, it's time to play Flight of the Eagles to shuffle a Eagle of the North in there. Those guys rule and can really pull a game back from the brink of defeat.

Throughout, there's a bit of location control via Thror's Map and Meneldor, lots of staging area shenanigans with the Descendant of Thorondor, and a tiny bit of encounter deck manipulation via Wait no Longer.

Solo or multiplayer?
As is, this deck is designed for multiplayer use and would require a substantial overhaul (especially in the willpower department) for solo play. I'm open to ideas here and would love to see someone tweak this deck for solo play.

Anything else?
The sideboard is there as a toolbox based on the quests I'm facing. The Hidden Way offers some more location control, A Burning Brand is there for bad shadows, etc. As regard's Gwaihir's Debt - I'm really just not sure yet if it works, so I keep it in the sideboard and try it out every now and again.

As always, please comment - I appreciate especially suggestions for improvement!