Deck Commentary:

This deck has beat all three of the new scenarios from The Road Darkens. It is very powerful, as well as thematic with Gandalf summoning all the eagles to help in time of need. It takes advantage of Gandalf alongside Elrond to "cheat" in expensive allies/events. I included Spirit Glorfindel as well merely for location control (Asfaloth) and early help with questing (you can run it without him, but it works a little better with him). Although it does start at 32 threat, it is very easy to play both Galadhrim's Greetings and all three Elrond's Counsel almost every game for a total of 21 threat reduction (most games I actually end up in the upper twenties for threat).

This deck can handle questing and combat with ease. Get Vilya in opening hand, and let the deck do the rest. Stargazer helps set up powerful turns as well as Gandalf's Pipe (via Bilbo).

You will notice some odd inclusions (such as White Counsel), but these serve to compensate for only having one core set as well as offering variety and theme (the recycling option is gravely overlooked I believe). This deck will run through all the cards most games because of Gandalf and Expert Treasure Hunter, so it is good to recycle a few that you lose due to Runes or Good Tale.

Lastly, I included two expensive 5 cost events (Grim Resolve & Light the Beacons) because with Gandalf and Elrond they are very easy to play. They are great for one last push at the end, or if you are faced with an enemy which is immune to card effects, you can still defend it (and everything else) with boosted defense. That is why I chose it over cards like Out of Sight or even Feint for that matter. Small enemies are no problem for this deck, but the boss badies are usually immune to card effects so I find Light the Beacons is a great way to combat.

Hope you enjoy!

I had some similar ideas. I would use Galadriel instead of Glorfindel, which would give even more card draw and would keep the threat steady. I also just had a bunch of strong 4/5 cost allies, rather than focusing on the eagles so much. Haven't tried it yet, but these look awesome. Any way you can combine Elrond and Gandalf (with their attachments) while managing your threat well should be awesome.

@joezim007

Galadriel would work great as well. Even more thematic too, 3/4 of the White Council. It actually doesn't need help in the card draw area, but I suppose you could take out the Expert Treasure hunters then. The way Gandalf works is that he functions as card draw himself, if you play a card during planning phase, quest phase, combat phase, etc. He can net you about 3-4 extra cards per turn...which is insane. To me, Gandalf is more powerful than Glorfindel, but you have to build around him.

Yea, i know, but Galadriel is also extremely helpful with threat, allows allies to quest for free one round, and frees you from the need of other card draw like Daeron's Runes. Also, the only cards you can play with Gandalf outside of the preparation phase is events, which means your 20 event count can certainly help, but events are the most situational cards generally. In any case, Im really looking forward to trying these decks.

I tried a modified version of this deck with Galadriel instead of Glorfindel and it was rediculously strong. I played through the three Hiers of Numenor quests and crushed all three of theme. The eagles are an amazing way to deal with any swarms of enemies at the start and with Galadriel's ability letting them quest without exhausting, they dominate Battle and Seige quests.

Now I REALLY wanna try the deck.

Just played this deck through all of Black Riders and it is very powerful--didn't lose once, not even close.

Gandalf/Elrond is on level or even better than Outlands. It starts out strong and gets even stronger. And a lot more fun to play!

Inspired by your deck, i took a very similar version thru the road darkens sets (for my first play through of them might i add) and it paved through the sets like butter. Didnt even encounter the Balrog in journeys in the dark. As noted previously, Gandalf and Elrond pair to do some absolutely zany stuff together, its even hard to even keep it all straight. Took me roughly an hour for each scenario even though i was playing solo and won smoothly just because there was so much going on at one time (and i had to learn all the encounter cards since it was my first go around)

Conveniently enough I think this would pair very well with the traditional Sam, Merry, Pippin Hobbit deck, will be looking forward to trying it two-handed

@Pharmboys2013

Glad it inspired you! And yes, it does go through like butter! I am consistently able to get out almost every ally and end the game with my threat in the twenties due to all the threat reduction.I went through the Road Darkens twice and the second time through Khazad Dum I intentionally set up sacrificing Gandalf to kill The Balrog and then immediately brought him back with Fortune or Fate via Elrond. I am glad they gave an opportunity to resurrection the fallen hero before the quest is over.

I will have to try two-handed with hobbits sometime soon. I am thinking of stepping away from Hero Gandalf to see how the new attachments and event work with Hobbit Gandalf.

Had a very similar experience in campaign mode this evening, sacrificed gandalf but then had to wait to draw into fortune or fate since i was playing campaign mode. Still very satisfying and very "edge of the seat" since i was close to threating out of the game but wanted to make sure Gandalf wasnt lost to me for the remainder of the campaign. Would have sucked to straight out lose too cause the quest took me well over an hour just playing solo two-handed

Here is the current version I am running. I took out White Council (x2), Flame of Arnor (x1), Light the Beacons (x1) and added Miruvor (x2) and second Wizard Pipe.

I found myself holding on to White Council and Flame solo handed a lot (and Light the Beacons really works well for multiplayer though, but not as useful as Grim Resolve for solo play in my opinion). Miruvor was something I thought I should include originally but tried without it, but it can provide an extra ready for Gandalf every round (since it can be placed on top of the deck and drawn with Expert Treasure Hunter at the end of the quest phase so it doesn't even mess up your drawing).

I have taken your deck and modifided it a bit. I found the deck struggling on resources, so I took out grim resolve and White Council to make room for Hidden Cache. Also took out 1 Bilbo, and put in another copy of Wizard Pipe. I also found room for 1 Galadriel ally because it is quite the attachment heavy deck and none of them are more expensive then 3. Really like the deck, but my first times running it I was just getting to know Gandalfs ability.. There is a lot going on, certainly in multiplayer. But it is cool!

Especially since it is an eagle deck, you should include Radagast. He'll help you pay for the eagles and he can hold the 2nd copy of Wizard Pipe, which can let you swap twice per round, which is pretty sweet. I also think a couple copies of Resourceful would be great for this deck. You can get them into play for free with Vilya, and the extra resources can help prevent your hand from swelling too much. Obviously, you could also use Steward of Gondor or Horn of Gondor (great with eagles), but SoG feels like a cheat. I have no problem with Horn of Gondor, though, unless you're playing multiplayer and someone else has the Horn. Of course, there's always the ridiculous combo of Hidden Cache + Expert Treasure Hunter.

I played a game with this deck using Galadriel, and even with the 4 extra starting threat I was down to 19 by the end of the game and I drew out the whole deck after maybe 4 or 5 rounds.

I've been playing Radagast in my list as a 1 of and he is very useful, if for no other reason then having that second Istari in play Wizard's Pipe on. The extra reasources help a lot as I don't need to drain Elrond's supply to play the smaller eagles and in late game, it makes playing the high cost eagles stuck in your hand doable. I am looking at possibly adding Treebeard and some ents in the deck, but their entering exhausted really sucks with Galadriel.

I have taken your deck and modifided it a bit. I found the deck struggling on resources, so I took out grim resolve and White Council to make room for Hidden Cache. Also took out 1 Bilbo, and put in another copy of Wizard Pipe. I also found room for 1 Galadriel ally because it is quite the attachment heavy deck and none of them are more expensive then 3. Really like the deck, but my first times running it I was just getting to know Gandalfs ability.. There is a lot going on, certainly in multiplayer. But it is cool!

Yes, Hidden Cache is great with this deck, alongside Expert Treasure Hunter and A Very Good Tale. I like Bilbo because to me, he essentially doubles as a Wizard Pipe (granted you need one additional resource after you play him to play the Pipe), but he adds 2 extra willpower for questing. I'll have to experiment with Galadriel, she is powerful, just have to make sure you actually play her with Gandalf's ability and not Elrond's otherwise it does not trigger.

Especially since it is an eagle deck, you should include Radagast. He'll help you pay for the eagles and he can hold the 2nd copy of Wizard Pipe, which can let you swap twice per round, which is pretty sweet. I also think a couple copies of Resourceful would be great for this deck. You can get them into play for free with Vilya, and the extra resources can help prevent your hand from swelling too much. Obviously, you could also use Steward of Gondor or Horn of Gondor (great with eagles), but SoG feels like a cheat. I have no problem with Horn of Gondor, though, unless you're playing multiplayer and someone else has the Horn. Of course, there's always the ridiculous combo of Hidden Cache + Expert Treasure Hunter.

I played a game with this deck using Galadriel, and even with the 4 extra starting threat I was down to 19 by the end of the game and I drew out the whole deck after maybe 4 or 5 rounds.

I've been playing Radagast in my list as a 1 of and he is very useful, if for no other reason then having that second Istari in play Wizard's Pipe on. The extra reasources help a lot as I don't need to drain Elrond's supply to play the smaller eagles and in late game, it makes playing the high cost eagles stuck in your hand doable. I am looking at possibly adding Treebeard and some ents in the deck, but their entering exhausted really sucks with Galadriel.

I have considered running Radagast as well--just haven't wanted to take much else out and feel like he is too slow for what the deck is doing. If you Elrond him in, then that is great, but paying 5 resources is counter-productive since you could have used those resources for an Eagle or something else. I left Steward of Gondor out intentionally, as I wanted to leave it open for someone else in multiplayer when I play with my group. Horn for the same reason. Resourceful could be a good option, but I feel like it is too slow and wastes an opportunity to Elrond in a powerful ally. This deck has about 10 expensive allies that I want to cheat in every game, so if I waste a turn on something else, then the game is now that much closer to being finished. Vassal and Winged Guardian are easy to get in without Radagast or Resourceful. I actually haven't found myself wanting more resources throughout the game (some smoothing would be nice), but if I get Vilya, Staff, and Pipe then I usually have no problems paying for everything.

Now Treebeard and his 2 Ents would be great to add when they come out. That would be about 7-8 additional cards to add, so I don't know what would go...but they look as powerful, if not more, as the eagles.

I feel like the card draw is pretty strong (especially with Galadriel instead of Glorfindel), so you wouldn't have to worry too much about adding more cards. 60 cards isn't all that bad with that kind of card draw. I also feel that if you get Radagast out early enough, he should definitely be able to pay for one of those big eagles himself at some point, so you don't lose out on any of the big allies from Vilya. Also, like goldensun05, just being able to use Wizard Pipe twice per round is worth it.

What would you take out if you had access to a 2nd core set? Anything?

What's your strategy against scenarios that start really fast? Do you change anything if you're playing like the Morgul Vale or Journey down the Anduin where you get attacked right away with such a high starting threat, or are those scenarios just a problem for this deck?

A Winged Guardian on turn one does well vs the Hill Troll to only raise your threat by 1. As long as you can survive a couple defends, you should be able to push through.

Is that assuming you're getting Vilya turn one though? I only ask because I built a very similar deck (Gandalf, Elrond, Glorfindel, that kind of thing), and it works very well, but when I was playing through Morgul Vale and didn't get Vilya on my first draw or mulligan, I knew I was in trouble.

What would you take out if you had access to a 2nd core set? Anything?

Yes. I would take out the Miruvor's for a 2nd and 3rd Unexpected Courage. I would also add a 3rd A Test of Will and 3rd Galadrim's Greetings. I would take out 1 Elrond's Counsel and probably Grim Resolve...but I don't want to make things too easy, so I am going to stick with one core set. ; )

Is that assuming you're getting Vilya turn one though? I only ask because I built a very similar deck (Gandalf, Elrond, Glorfindel, that kind of thing), and it works very well, but when I was playing through Morgul Vale and didn't get Vilya on my first draw or mulligan, I knew I was in trouble.

Yes. Mulligan for Vilya on turn one. That gets things started quick and makes things okay with a Hill Troll turn one. Gandalf is powerful enough to take a hit, but after one turn things should be already in place. This deck is not as slow as Outlands and can get powerful just after 1 or 2 rounds.

If you check out my video blog: "To the Eyrie" I am going to post Nightmare Journey Along the Anduin soon using this deck. Gwaihir, Lord of the Winds is my other log in name and the deck I am currently using to go through the Road Darkens Saga. Here is the link: http://totheeyrie.wordpress.com/

Can you use Gandalf's Staff after you flip a shadow card to prevent it from triggering (kind of like a reusable Hasty Stroke) or does it have to be before the attack takes place?

The step of combat that reveals the shadow card(s) simultaneously resolves the shadow effect(s), so you'd have to trigger the staff in an action window before that step. That card would be a tad over-powered if it could cancel them as a response.