Gandalf (trying to) Stridin' Solo 4.0

• Versions
• 4.0
• 1.0

Solo Stridin' Gandalf, the version where he is no longer solo, but with Glorfindel!

This is going to be my new testing deck once the upcoming AP drops next week.

Straightforward. Gandalf. Strider. Mulligan for it. FIND IT. Get Radagast out. Call upon the The White Council and the Eagles to aid your adventures!

In a perfect world, you would either Send for Aid for Radagast, or Timely Aid to save cash. Resourceful early on would also be helpful.

Expert Treasure-hunter to keep that card draw going, especially for a few Hidden Caches.

Honestly, if I need to tone down the thematics to make the deck work, that will be coming next. This is what I would like to try.

8/24/16 NOTE: The Eagles Are Coming! are likely the placeholder for Strider, once it is released. I think between Expert Treasure-hunter, Gandalf's Staff, Word of Command, that you will be able to find the tools you need to succeed. Also, Narya was replaced with my Strider proxy to see how that works. With only 2 purple cards in the deck, Narya may not be that necessary, particularly since it also would exhaust Gandalf, who in his own right is a great defender possibly.

We'll see how all this shakes out very soon! Going to test it tonight against the Anduin likely today (8/25).

8/25 Notes: Tried running it with just solo Gandalf - does not seem to pick up fast enough. Going to try subbing in Glorfindel, to stay in the realm of secrecy. Added in the Westfold Horse-breeder - for a 1 , 1 cost ally, it can't really be beat for a 1-turner. Plus, you get to look for your 1-of Shadowfax. Some Light of Valinor so that neither of your heroes exhaust to quest is also great. Lowered the amounts of high cost Eagle allies - was getting too many of them in drawing hands which was messing everything up. Might have to work in some threat reduction with The Galadhrim's Greeting, or the neutral event Vanish from Sight. Also, cards that used to be 3 of's that were not requirements for an opening hand were all reduced to 2 of's.

For one positive note: the Strider attachment works wonders for boosting willpower and keeping your heroes ready to go! Also, it is very possible this deck could work marvelously with only Gandalf when playing co-op games, or solo two handed or something (I play all my solo games as true solo though, I already forget encounter cards here and there enough already!)

I'll be back tomorrow or Saturday with more musings.

8/27 Notes: With this set-up, I was able to beat Aduin on first try. Killed two of the Hill Trolls even. Looks like it's time to test it on other scenarios!

8/28 Notes: Deck held it's own through two multiplayer games today - granted neither of them were particularly combat heavy on my end, rather I did a lot of questing. Strider really helped. Beat Saga Black Riders "A Shadow of the Past" quest, and Grey Havens "Voyage Across Belegaer." First game I never saw a Resourceful, and even lost Glorfindel. Second match I found a resourceful about 2 rounds from the end of the game, so its impact was negligible there too. Decks I played with were a Silvan Ranged (Legolas Haldir of Lórien and Merry), and the second one a Rohan combat/questing deck, consisting of Dúnhere, Éowyn, and Pippin.