The Labours of Mithrandir 1.0

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THE LABOURS OF MITHRANDIR

"'And I will choose you companions to go with you, as far as they will or fortune allows. The number must be few, since your hope is in speed and secrecy. With you and your faithful servant, Gandalf will go; for this shall be his great task, and maybe the end of his labours.'"

--Elrond at the Council of Elrond, LotR II, p.360-361 [edited]

DECK OVERVIEW

In both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf always seems to be coming and going. Such is the way of wizards, it seems. This is well-portrayed in the LCG through ally Gandalf's forced leave-play effect. However, the option to keep "Over Hill & Under Hill" Gandalf from leaving play by raising your threat has always been a tempting theme to build a deck around. This solo deck is my take on that idea. I initially conceived it with Sam, Merry & Glorfindel (FoS), but eventually preferred an all-Hobbit theme. With few or no changes, the deck works well for "The Black Riders" Saga adventure, too.

PLAYING THE DECK

The goal is to get Gandalf in play as early as possible, so mulligan as needed for any combination that can help do so: Gandalf in the opening hand can get him in play on Turn 2. If he doesn't show up in the opening hand, Timely Aid is another possibility and can succeed on Turn 1. It can be kind of a crap-shoot but can play another ally if Gandalf doesn't materialize. A Very Good Tale, Celduin Traveler & Rivendell Scout/Bill the Pony can work on Turn 1, too. Those allies can be played for 0-cost, then exhausted for A Very Good Tale. Like Timely Aid, though, it's a bit of a crap-shoot and will also discard 3-4 cards. Pippin & Out of Sight can help protect the Hobbits until Gandalf's arrival.

Once Gandalf enters play, keep him around by paying the -2 threat cost each round. Merry, Elfhelm, Galadriel's Handmaiden, Elrond's Counsel, Smoke Rings & Double Back help keep the threat level low; preferably below Secrecy level to benefit Resourceful, Timely Aid, Celduin Traveler & Rivendell Scout. The unique Noldor allies Arwen Undómiel, Glorfindel & Lindir facilitate the play of Elrond's Counsel.

With his innate effect, Gandalf can quest for 4 and remain ready to defend at 4 or attack at 4 each turn. Shadowfax, Desperate Defense & Flame of Anor all have readying effects that can allow him to take additional actions. Desperate Defense will also boost his , while Flame of Anor will boost his . Shadowfax & Arwen Undómiel give him the Sentinel trait for Desperate Defense. Wizard Pipe can move extra copies of Gandalf (or another high-cost card like Resourceful, Timely Aid, or Out of Sight) to the top of the player deck for Flame of Anor.

So, what's left for the Hobbits to do? Mostly quest, preferably with +1 from Elrond's Counsel or the Hobbit Pipe+Smoke Rings combo. Afterward, Merry can ready with Unexpected Courage to use his threat-reduction effect; and Sam Gamgee can ready with his effect to defend or attack in a pinch. Pippin can use his effect without exhausting.

Resources come from Resourceful & Gandalf's Staff; card drawing from Lindir, Hobbit Pipe, Gandalf's Staff & The White Council; and treachery & shadow control from A Test of Will & Gandalf's Staff, respectively. Gather Information can get Gandalf's Staff or another key card from the deck, and Bilbo Baggins can get a Pipe (especially Wizard Pipe) from the deck; while The White Council can recycle key cards, including those discarded by A Very Good Tale.

Note that with Secrecy and other cost discounts, total card costs for the deck are closer to: 39 , 3 , and 18 . And with A Very Good Tale & Timely Aid playing several of the allies, the totals might be more like: 27 and 13 . Note that Sideboard cards are merely other cards I considered for the deck, some of which are noted below.

VARIATIONS

Include Imladris Stargazer in lieu of Galadriel's Handmaiden to make A Very Good Tale & Timely Aid more consistently successful.

Include Send for Aid as another option for playing Gandalf.

Erestor & Galadriel are other possible Noldor allies for Elrond's Counsel. Erestor also provides additional card drawing, and Galadriel can equip key attachments like Gandalf's Staff & Shadowfax.

In lieu of Elrond's Counsel, The Galadhrim's Greeting can provide a larger threat reduction, but at greater cost and with no boost. Good Meal or Leaf Brooch can mitigate the cost of The Galadhrim's Greeting (and other events), if desired.

If playing "The Black Riders" adventure, Frodo's Intuition can replace Hobbit Pipe & Smoke Rings for card drawing and boosting. If so, consider adding The Galadhrim's Greeting to replace the threat reduction from Smoke Rings.

For variety, make the deck tri-sphere by using Pippin in lieu of Pippin. Like his alter-ego, he can also help protect the company, but with his engagement control effect. Then, reduce costs by replacing Unexpected Courage with Fast Hitch; Out of Sight with Take No Notice and/or Noiseless Movement; and some of the allies with Elrond, Galdor of the Havens, Gildor Inglorion, and/or Ithilien Lookout. Barliman Butterbur & Mablung would also be good ally additions. [Personally, I prefer the duo-sphere version of this deck as it gets cards into play more consistently. I also like that Out of Sight makes an excellent discard for Flame of Anor.]