The Eagles Aid Annuminas 2016 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Here is the deck I used for the Siege of Annuminas 2016 Fellowship event, which had great success with managing combat for my team. I went for the high stat boosts in Tactics that come from the Eagles and Gondorian Fire to make superheroes out of this dashing trio. I had plenty of defense to block the attack of the massive boss enemies and more than enough attack to destroy them. The forces of Angmar were turned back!

The Heroes

I counted on someone else using a super Beregond deck, so no one here really has high defense to start off. However, Gondorian Shield turns Prince Imrahil into a decent defender (consider using Denethor if another player is using a Caldara deck). His response readies him often because of the eagles leaving play and all the chump blocking. All three of our heroes have high attack values, so we will even be dealing with the big enemies soon. Brand's ranged attack is an assistance to other players, and he is a good target for the Support of the Eagles. Boromir definitely gets Steward of Gondor, not only to help pay for the eagles but for Gondorian Fire with which he will soon make short work of any orc daring to attack Annuminas.

Playing the Deck

Having Steward of Gondor in the opening hand is very helpful (maybe even crucial) for jumpstarting the deck. Depending on our draws, we will be buffing our heroes in at least one of two ways, the Gondorian Fire or Support of the Eagles with a built up Eagles of the Misty Mountains. Card draw comes in a few ways, from ally Legolas, The Eagles Are Coming!, and Valiant Sacrifice. Gandalf can also be included for card draw or threat reduction, the only reason I left him out of the deck is that one of my teammates was using hero Gandalf already. Utilizing Faramir instead proved to be a great choice, since that giant willpower boost was very helpful for progressing through that massive 50 progress stage. Now, when it comes to combat we will be defending with Prince Imrahil equipped with a Gondorian Shield and perhaps Support of the Eagles too, or chump blocking with the poor squires . . . Their sacrifice nets us a resource for either Boromir or Imrahil, this can in fact allow Imrahil to pay for an immediate Valiant Sacrifice or Sneak Attack. Don't be shy about chump blocking with Vassal of the Windlord or Descendant of Thorondor, especially with Eagles of the Misty Mountains already on the table. I actually once chump blocked with the vassals only to bounce them back by playing Gwaihir with Sneak Attack. With the eagles built up and Boromir equipped, handling 2-3 enemies is well within our means. Quick Strike let's us attack and therefore destroy any enemy within our reach, possibly better than Feint here since engaged enemies can even boost the threat of a certain location and some will attack more than once too. However, there is no shortage of alternative events in the sideboard, each of which can go well in this deck. Rohan Warhorse and Dúnedain Cache both go on Boromir, it's always better when he gets ranged and can ready without taxing threat.

Concluding Thoughts

This deck goes a long way as far as shoring up combat needs for the team, potentially defending for 10 and hitting with enough combat to take out the Host of Angmar in one attack. I feel it plays like many eagles decks, but also doesn't absolutely need Eagles of the Misty Mountains in order to function. They may be one the oldest traits we have, but from what I've seen they have aged well and are still useful in the hardest scenarios of this game. I'm thankful they saved the fateful day at Annuminas.