Gondor Traps - Into Ithilien 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

This is a deck that tries to take advantage of the Gondor synergy with Boromir (who is in the paired deck) and because I have Damrod I thought I would also take advantage of traps. I built and changed this deck to try and have success against Into Ithilien, but have managed to use it with middling success against some other quests.

This deck began as a Mono-Lore deck with Treebeard instead of Faramir but I found the starting threat was too high against Into Ithilien. I could have put Prince Imrahil in this deck and it would fare better against round 1 Lost Companion in Into Ithilien, but this deck has better allies for Faramir's ability.

With this deck I don't normally mulligan for any one particular card, but Quickbeam, Radagast's Cunning, Ranger Spikes and Warden of Healing are all cards that are great to have early on against Into Ithilien. Wealth of Gondor can also be really good if I have a trap to play and an ally to play early on. I aim to clear Ithilien Road round 1 so having at least one of the first 3 cards mentioned is really useful as it makes it much more likely.

A nice combination of cards early on is Mablung and Forest Snare. If I have only spent 1 resource in round 1, and get Wealth of Gondor I can play Mablung and Snare in round 2 and neutralise a Southron Company, and also provide a completely safe way to discard horrible encounter cards as unresolved shadow cards.

The first Song of Wisdom I draw goes on Faramir and if I get a 2nd and a 2nd A Burning Brand I will put them on Boromir from the other deck. Elrond is usually used for healing, but can be used for card draw. The first Ithilien Tracker played will use his ability most rounds, but I will sometimes use him to help clear Overgrown Trails.

The general idea for Into Ithilien is to keep Celador alive and progress to stage 3, then to clear stage 4 as quickly as possible. I quest with Faramir and Damrod until I need to kill off enemies or have loads of allies. Denethor stays ready to defend or use his ability if there are no enemies to deal with. I often risk optionally engaging one of the Southron Companies early on and defending with Denethor if I have Hasty Stroke ready from the other deck, and even sometimes without if I need to.

The Wardens of Healing are key to surviving against archery damage and Blocking Wargs, and healing up defenders and Celador when necessary.

Regarding the Traps, Ranger Spikes is probably the most useful to play at all times, Forest Snare is great if i have a Southron Company or Morgul Spider engaged with either deck, Ithilien Pit is good just to draw with but is excellent during stage 3. Ambush is good later on when I have enough allies to be able to quest with enough characters and leave some ready for attack.

I know this deck isn't perfect, and I do sometimes build up lots of resources on Faramir with no use for them, but his ability is great with Quickbeam and Warden of Healing, and can be good with Elrond and Haldir of Lórien as well.

I'm welcome to any suggestions for improvements to this deck!