Vilya help me get these eagles out?

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Gwaihir, vilya ready please? 3 0 0 1.0
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Mr. Underhill 3950

Please forgive my terrible deck name. I'm still trying to get to Chad's level of punning but I should probably give up.

This is a simple eagles deck that uses Radagast and Elrond to make resource management straightforward alongside Vilya to get big eagles onto the table.

I feel a Tactics hero is needed for eagles when playing Radagast (because of how his ability is worded, you still need a resource match to play allies for 0). Here I've gone for Merry because he is low threat and can get an extra card from Drinking Song, but Éowyn's higher willpower is better once you start taking on tougher quests.

Look for Vilya in your opening hand. Radagast's Staff and Wizard Pipe are also important, which is why I run Bilbo Baggins and 3x Master of the Forge to help fish out these attachments. The deck has been tooled to make blind Vilya as reliable as possible, but once you get Wizard Pipe you can control what is played from the top of your deck.

I really like using Drinking Song in this deck. When played alongside The Eagles Are Coming!, you can sometimes pull 2-3 big eagles, play one of them, and then Drinking Song the leftovers back into your deck. This usually results in some different cards that you might be able to play in the same round.

The other card I like here is the Messenger Raven. You can think of this as a 1 cost, 3 willpower ally since he allows Radagast to quest without exhausting. Once I have my key attachments, I always name "ally" and trigger the Raven to draw an extra card. If the raven discards a dead attachment, that's also useful because it means it won't clog your hand.

The sideboard contains cards that will be much better in multiplayer. Faramir can also be helpful to boost the willpower of the deck, since it tends to top out around 12-15. I am not a fan of Gwaihir's Debt and Flight of the Eagles does not pull its weight in solo, but I would be more inclined to run the latter card in a four player game.

8 comments

Jul 12, 2019 Mavwick 46

There are worse bird puns available!

After trying to work with a different hero lineup, Elrond is going to be the power choice to make this archetype sing solo.

I still think there is room for Flight of the Eagles, as sometimes it is clutch to have an Eagle leave play at the right time. It also quickly fuels those Eagles of the Misty Mountains.

I have definitely cooled on Gwaihir's Debt, as it often ends up being a harder to play Sneak Attack. (And the only unique eagle who really pulls his weight is Meneldor.)

Jul 13, 2019 kypatzer 84

Haha, I audibly groaned when I read the name of your deck! The only thing I might add would be Word of Command. I’ve found it to be quite powerful with Radagast.

Jul 14, 2019 Mr. Underhill 3950

Thanks for the comments! The main reason I don't run those cards is because I never want them if I'm in a situation where I need to gamble on a blind Vilya. Flight of the Eagles could easily whiff or weaken my board position, and Word of Command could end up leaving me with Radagast exhausted before the combat phase. I think both cards would work better in a non-Vilya deck.

Jul 14, 2019 Mr. Underhill 3950

Also, I agree with your sentiments about Gwaihir's Debt,@Mavwick. I tried it in three games and it was a dead card in two of them. I decided to drop it after that, but it will improve a lot if we get another cheap unique or even an eagle hero.

Aug 07, 2019 Dunadan019 1

why would you run Radagast instead of ally radagast? both can use the staff and then you can get a hero better suited to vilya play (Gandalf) or better suited to eagles (Hirgon) and getting Ally radagast out for free with vilya is certainly worth it.

Aug 09, 2019 MinkeWhale 75

Deck name is dad approved. Only regret is I can only heart it once.

Aug 09, 2019 Snufflegator 310

It is a fowl pun, indeed.

Sep 11, 2019 Mythdracon 1

What would be a good replacement for Firyal who isn't Treebeard? (I don't have access to ally Treebeard)? Would just Leadership Faramir ally be sufficient?