The Grey Wanderer 1.0

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• 2.0
• 1.0

The Fellowship contract is a proxy for The Grey Wanderer contract.

This is my attempt to build a thematic The Grey Wanderer deck, that is why there are some typical cards missing that you often see in Gandalf decks.

Deck piloting

The deck is quite easy to pilot. Use the ability in The Grey Wanderer side A to put into play Strider so that Gandalf starts questing for 5 without exhausting.

First rounds

Mulligan for Resourceful, or Word of Command or Timely Aid. You are going to need the extra resources, so try to play those Resourceful while you are in secrecy. If you have a Word of Command, play it the first thing and then ready Gandalf and give him two resources with the contract. You will need the Wizard Pipe to help playing all those unique cards, but I have found that it is better to mulligan for Resourceful. You have about 4 rounds of secrecy, though if you need it, The Galadhrim's Greeting is here to buy you a few more rounds.

Try to put out Radagast and Treebeard as fast as possible, ideally with a Timely Aid of course :) They are key allies in this deck. If you have the choice, I try to put Radagast first unless I have many ents in my hand.

Card Drawing

Besides Gandalf's Staff, there are no specific cards that allow card drawing. Yet you won't be short of card drawing thanks to Gandalf's ability combined with the two wizard pipes. There is also Galadriel, who ideally will give you that attachment for free and the possibility to order the next five card.

Sideboard

I have included a small sideboard that I use depends on the adventure. The most expendable cards are the three copies of Flame of Anor. If the adventure is heavy on treacheries, get yourself some A Test of Will, if the adventure has nasty shadows and it is not enough with Gandalf's Staff, dump in a copy or two of A Burning Brand, and so on :)

For multiplayer you may want to swap one Unexpected Courage for another Shadowfax in order to increase the chances to give Gandalf sentinel and ranged, combined with Support of the Eagles is really nice.

Glamdring is there, it is too much to play it in solo, but in games of 3+ players it is ok. Totally unnecessary card, but very thematic :)

All in all, I am very happy with the result. The deck is quite pleasant to play and it is decently strong, I have used it to beat nightmare quests such as Journey down the Anduin or the 7th level. Nevertheless, it needs about two rounds to develop, so probably it is not a the best choice in solo for quests such as Raid in the Grey Havens or similar quests that are very demanding on the first turns.

I hope you enjoy the deck and happy gaming!