The Oliphaunt in the Room 3.0

• Versions
• 3.0
• 2.0
• 1.0

Disclaimer: This is not a secrecy deck...

Middle Earth academics believe that, if you want to go deep into Mordor without raising any suspicion, giant bears and eagles are not recommended as your first choice. However, Radagast has never paid attention on the people behind the desks.

Just some minor adjustments from the previous version. I've found the Wizard Pipe + Expert Treasure-hunter combo a little more satisfying than the old one with the Messenger Ravens. Then I find it more useful to have a 3rd copy of Giant Bear than my previous copies of Descendant of Thorondor. Finally, Born Aloft has been moved to another deck, where its action is more vital, Meneldor's Flight has come in replacement.

Heroes:

• Radagast
  • A Burning Brand
  • Expert Treasure-hunter
  • Radagast's Staff
  • Wizard Pipe
• Gwaihir
  • screeeeeech!!
• Beorn
  • roarrrrrrrr!!!

Notes:

• Mulligan for Radagast's Staff.
• Gwaihir can be readied outside planning phase, without discarding allies, via: Meneldor's Flight, Flight of the Eagles, or Gwaihir's Debt.
• Beorn is not immune to Landroval's response (and those are good news).
  • When destroyed, you can put him back in play with just one assigned damage (and also get ready Gwaihir in the process).
• Meneldor's Flight, and Flight of the Eagles are also useful to...
  • put back in hand (avoiding the discard actions):
    1. Eagle Emissary
    2. Vassal of the Windlord
    3. Winged Guardian
    4. Wilyador
  • trigger leaving play responses of:
    1. Descendant of Thorondor (see sideboard)
    2. Meneldor
• Favor of the Valar and Gandalf are our threat reducers.
  • Gandalf can be used multiple times with Gwaihir's Debt.
• The Wizard Pipe is useful for using the Gwaihir's Debt as a Sneak Attack.
  • Use the pipe to move the target card in your hand to the top of the deck and then play it for 1 with the debt.
  • The pipe also synergizes with Expert Treasure-hunter. Do the swap after staging and it will be a safe card draw on quest resolution.
• Since Radagast will be usually ready on combat phase, he can take some defensive duties (especially if Word of Command is not in hand).
  • The Burning Brand will be his safety net for such occasions.
• Use the Word of Command to find key attachments like the Brand, the Pipe, or (obviously) the Staff.
  • If we are in a hurry, Favor of the Valar will be another good pick.
  • Remember that Radagast is going to quest without exhaustion most of the time, so the word can target him as well.

Sideboard:

• Descendant of Thorondor
  • It's a bit expensive but its response might be worth it.
• Messenger Raven
  • It synergizes with the pipe in the same way as Treasure-hunter.
• About A Burning Brand
  • Since, in the early-game, we will usually defend with Beorn, and then we will have pretty good defenders like Winged Guardian, or Giant Bear, maybe it is worth to swap the brand for another card.
• Born Aloft
  • It is useful for leaving-play cards... including Gandalf!
  • It was originally in the deck, but I moved it to another one with more istari-action. It was replaced by 3x Meneldor's Flight.
• Support of the Eagles
  • It was originally in the deck also, but I found threat reduction more needed than boosting Gwaihir (since this deck already has good defenders and attackers). I swapped them for Favor of the Valar.