And so the companies came and were hailed and cheered and passed through the Gate, men of the Outlands marching to defend the City of Gondor in a dark hour; but always too few, always less than hope looked for or need asked. --The Return of the King

An Alternate Art Starter Deck

Inspired by AutumnRose's work on her two incredible alt-art starter decks (Flight to the Ford and Where the Stars are Strange), I am releasing my third alternate art starter deck. This deck asks the question: what if Saruman and Isengard had not betrayed the Men of the West, and instead answered Gondor's call for aid in their dark hour of need? This deck combines the incredibly powerful Outlands trait with the Doomed mechanic.

For those keeping track, this deck features four cards featured in my previous works. Close Call, Deep Knowledge, and Legacy of Númenor were all included in the in Root and Twig starter deck but feature new artwork for this deck. The Grey Wanderer is a repeat of my Alt-Art Contracts, and has the same art.

Outlands

Revised Content Only players might not be aware of the power of an Outlands ally swarm. Each sphere has an ally that boosts all Outlands characters in a different way, with their hero Hirluin the Fair being the engine to play any out of sphere cards. The strategy for Outlands is simple: put as many allies into play as you can, and have them do almost anything you need. Simple, straightforward, and effective. Each sphere's ally provides a different boost: Warrior of Lossarnach provides , Anfalas Herdsman provides hit points, Ethir Swordsman provides , and Knights of the Swan provides .

(MotK) Forlong provides action advantage if you manage to get a diverse board of allies into play, and Men of the West is there to recover any Outlands allies you lose. Hunter of Lamedon also lets you gamble on drawing the Outlands cards faster. The sideboard includes two attachments that don't have a place directly in this deck, but in modified decks can shine. Sword of Morthond allows you to share the Outlands love with any Gondor ally while Lord of Morthond accelerates your card draw in a mono-leadership deck.

Doomed

Speaking of action advantage and card draw, Doomed provides both and more. The Doomed mechanic treats your threat level as a resource. You can trade some of it for card or resource acceleration with Deep Knowledge, Legacy of Númenor, or The Seeing-stone. You can use it for combat tricks with Defiant Challenge, Reckless Attack, The Wizards's Voice, or Close Call. You can even use it for healing (Waters of Nimrodel) or clearing nasty conditions (Power of Orthanc).

Saruman is a high threat hero, but is well worth it. His stats make him excellent at almost everything, and he has built in readying whenever you play a Doomed event. Gríma can give any card you play Doomed in order to reduce its cost, providing even more acceleration.

A vital way to slow down the damage of the Doomed mechanic is the use of Saruman's Staff, which can reduce the Doomed value by two of any event. The staff can also be used for card draw in a pinch. The Keys of Orthanc provide a resource each time you gain threat from Doomed, adding even more value to the Doomed event cards and allies. The keys should ideally be played on Hirluin to help you get more Outlands allies even faster.

The Isengard allies provide a variety of utility. Herald of Anórien is yet another way to keep playing allies quickly. Isengard Messenger can be a reliable source of willpower to help while questing. Orthanc Guard and Soldier of Isengard have solid stats at a low cost and can fill a variety of roles. Steward of Orthanc provides even more card draw, and his two willpower is another good option to help with questing.

The Grey Wanderer

The Grey Wanderer is a Contract, which is a cardtype that RCO players might not be aware of. For a high level overview: Contracts are cards that create new deckbuilding restrictions and provide various benefits, which helps to create more deck building variety. The Grey Wanderer requires you to play with a single hero, which is almost perfect for Saruman. The lower starting threat gives you more leeway to use The Grey Wanderer's Side B abilities and the Doomed cards themselves. Just be careful to not get into any trouble before you have your board fully set up!

Customizing the deck, or other uses for its cards

While no Outlands cards were included in the revised content, there were plenty of Gondor cards that made the cut. Almost any Gondor hero in the sphere would be a good target for Lord of Morthond and granting them access to the crazy Outlands stat boosting.

Partnering Saruman with lower threat heroes would allow you to make even more use of the Doomed cards before you need to start worrying. The various Hobbit heroes make an interesting pair for that reason, especially in-sphere Pippin. If you go The Grey Wanderer route, Strider is the most common choice for your initial attachment. Resourceful would also be a great card to include to help make up for the loss of resources from having a single hero, if you have access to it.

Print this deck

I have set up a Make Playing Cards project with ALeP backs that can be found here. If you wish to use official backs, a PDF of the deck that can be sent to MBPrint can be found here. A photo album with high-res versions of each individual card is available here.