Gandalf's and Pippin great adventure (now with a write up!) 3.0

• Versions
• 3.0
• 2.0
• 1.0

This is a deck that I've always wanted since seeing Strider spoiled, a deck with one hobbit and a strong bodyguard. Gandalf always seemed the most interesting choice because of his versatility in terms of sphere match and because it make some level of thematic sense. My first attempts had been disastrous, but this one is working quite well. Altought i'm going to test on harder quest this weekend, at the moment the hardest it has won against have been The Steward's Fear and the Thing in The Depth (Solo). Surviving multiple turns of being engaged with the Corsair Elites!

Basic Strategy:

This decks has basically two phases, early turns when the +2 willpower buff on Strider is key and you can easily survive with a couple of allies, relying on low threat to avoid engaging strong enemies, and the late game, where flooding the board with strong and durable allies is your goal, having enough action advantage with Gandalf that you can use him to quest, attack/defend and Narya.

Opening moves:

This deck wants to get rid of Folco Boffin ASAP, for that what we need an opening hand of Strider and either Resourceful or Gandalf's Staff. This opening means you are already questing for 7 willpower, while still having a defender. But, and most importantly, you still have a resource left that can be used for mulitple things. Playing Ithilien Lookout in order to have decent ally out that can also warm you about what is coming from the encounter deck. If you are lucky enough, you can also play Timely Aid from top of your deck or with A Good Harvest, sneaking in a strong ally at the beginning, ideally Firyal, Jubayr or Gildor Inglorion. Remember to manage carefully which heroes are spending resources, as cards like A good harvest don't work with Gandalf. Finally that resource can be used to play Wizard Pipe or if you have Ioreth, taking an attack undefended and healing, which in quest that begin with enemies engaged with you might be necessary.

Turns 2-3 (still in secrecy):

First thing you want to do is play at least one more strong ally, or an Ioreth if this is a quest with direct damage. At the same time, use Daeron's Runes or Gandalf's Staff if you have to dig for the next things you need such as a second Resourceful, Narya and Shadowfax, or Wizard Pipe if you have not drawn it yet. Remember once you have it, even if you don't need it to play a card, use wizard pipe to move the cards that you are going to play to the top of your deck, as this basically draws you a card.

By turn 3 If you still haven't done it, try to get out one of your good defenders out, such as Boromir, Jubayr or Treebeard. Remember, if you have Narya Treebeard can be redied the turn it comes into play, for a whopping 5 attack value. Firyal is also a good defensive card, giving you a good chance to maintain a manageable staging area, discarding enemies that would come into play.

Turn 4 onward:

From this point on your boad state should on it way to become a power house. This is the moment when you no longer care about staying under 5 characters for Strider, and you should try to get a strong fighters out, allowing you to engage and destroy most enemies in one turn. If you still lag behind on allies, try to set up a Flame of Anor and a Ered Luin Miner combo. This gives Gandalf a 3 attack bonus, redies him and gets you a chump bocker. It is not impossible for you take on multiple enemies in a turn (if you reached a higher threat level), questing with a non-exhausting Gandalf and all your allies, using narya to ready a couple, using Flame of Arnor to ready him, bringing in a Miner as a chump, and be able to fight back.

When the plan doesn't work:

I believe that this deck's main strength is that while it depends on a few key cards to work as intended, it has a few ways to stay strong if you don't get this cards in your starting hand. I've won games without Strider or Resourceful in the first half of my deck. The main crutches are Vanish from Sight and A Good Harvest. The first of this cards allows you play secrecy cards even when you have past 20 threat, or in some cases, without needing to discard Folco if you still don't have Strider. Altough you should keep in mind that Folco doesn't nothing for you, if you need to discard him to avoid fighting enemies you are still not ready for, do it. Surving more turns to get the cards you need is much more important that his 2 willpower and his resource. This deck can survive gaining just two resources for a few turns.

Your combos are great, but don't sacrifice board position for maximum value. If you need to play an emergency flame of arnor not for attacking but for defense, do it. Later on you will have allies that can fight, you don't need Gandalf as a fighter. What you need is time, every turn, this decks gets stronger.

Also, remember that Gandalf's Staff can put resources on other heroes, this is important for using a A Good Harvest with Pippin. Also Protector of Lórien of lorien is here for a reason. There are a lot of uniques in this deck, 28!!! cards that can be considered reduntant after playing a copy. You will have a fat hand and a little to with a lot of cards, but Protector allows you to discard multiples of the uniques for questing or defending. Also take into consideration, that if you can hold your own against the threat in the staging area, use your low threat value to avoid unnecessary battles until you can play your allies later on. This deck can't fight that good at the start, but it becomes a beast later on. It doesn't hurt to keep a Miner and Flame combo in hand for emergencies though.

Remember that Pippin is here just for his 2 willpower and card draw. AND NOTHING ELSE, not even getting a Protector of Lórien on him, with should always go on Gandalf, as he has multiple ways to ready. There is no need to waste deck space on cards for him.

Be smart, take some calculated risk and remember, ACTION ADVANTAGE.

Note: I dunno if I got the ally balance right, i've whiff a couple of times with TImely Aid (though only once it cost me the game once). But the rest of the cards are so important I dunno what to take out. I've thought about A Good Harvest, but it has enabled early combos and allowed Pipin to contribute when playing non-lore cards, so I think it has saved me more times than hurt me. Nonetheless is something to consider, 22 allies is a lot better than 20.