Hello all,

By a recent question of Bullroarer Took in which he asked me to post a deck with Elrond, Galadriel and Gandalf, I am going to post my list. It has a lot in common with the deck of Gwaihir, Lord of the Winds (totheeyrie.wordpress.com, and also: where is he? It's seems like he has vanished or stopped sadly.).

Heroes:

Galadriel (Celebrimbor's Secret)

Gandalf (The Road Darkens)

Elrond (Shadow and Flame)

Total card count: 53

Allies: (22)

Gwaihir 1x

Landroval 1x

Winged Guardian 3x

Eagles of The Misty Mountains 3x

Vassal of the Windlord 3x

Arwen Undomiel 1x

Warden of Healing 2x

Bilbo Baggins 3x

Beorn 1x

Radagast 1x

Treebeard 1x

Wandering Ent 2x

Attachments: (13)

Vilya 3x

Wizard Pipe 2x

Gandalfs Staff 2x

Unexpected Courage 3x

Expert Treasure Hunter 2x

Nenya 1x

Events: (18)

Hidden Cache 2x

Daerons Runes 3x

Elrond's Counsel 3x

The Galadhrims Greeting 3x

A Test of Will 3x

Flame of Anor 2x

Word of Command 2x

Sideboard:

Power of Orthanc

Light of Valinor (1x)

I actually wasn't able to find my final version, but I will edit this version once I have found it. That will be somewhere around sunday. It will probably feature a lot more cards, because I have a feeling I am missing a lot.

Maybe some people here have some advise so I can even upgrade this deck into a stronger powerhouse.

The strategy of this deck is just to actually let the heroes do everything and cheat those strong allies in with Vilya. The first UC goes therefore on Elrond. I always mulligan if Vilya doesn't show up. The 1 copy of Nenya is just there for the sake of it, so the title has some representation. I almost never use Nenya, only late game, because with this decks high starting threat, Galadriel's ability is really usefull. Also it gives you more draw, which lets this decks total card count grow even more if you want to. The next UCs go on Gandalf, so you can make use of his power. Galadriel also lets Eagles commit to the quests instead of only keeping them back for attackstrenght, and that can come out really nice.

Word of Command for finding Vilya if mulligan didn't work as planned.

You could also put in Steward of Gondor in here, but I am a bit tired of that card and that's why this deck makes use of the Hidden Cache - Expert Treasure Hunter - Wizard Pipe combo. If you guess event while Hidden Cache is on top you gain 2 resources, get Hidden Cache back in hand and Wizard Pipe lets you put it on top, so you know that you will get those resources.

Radagast does not only pay for the Eagles, but is also a bearer of the second Wizard Pipe which you can hold back for the above combo and use the first copy for Vilya uses.
The first version featured Splorfindel, but with removing him, Asfaloth and LoV lose their power. Asfaloth is a certain cut, but LoV could go actually on Elrond. Power of Orthanc for the condition heavy quests.

I left out the AP/DE name for the cards, but if anyone is interested I will add those too.

Any questions are always welcome.

you have a 36 starting threat, here. is Galadhrim greeting in to cancel that? other than that, it appears great! I've seen some people who will use spirit glorfindel to make your threat at least a little lower ( if 32 can be called low )

These decks are so much fun and can take FOREVER to play a round because of all the tricks. I've found that Galadriel can be a weakness in the early rounds, especially if you end up needing to exhaust the other heroes for effects because she can't pick up the slack by questing herself. It is still lots of fun, though if you can make it past the first couple rounds with a good ally hoard built up.

That was my experience too. Against a quest that has an early tough enemy you are in real trouble. Galadriel can't help with questing and the deck doesn't really need draw. Keeping your threat constant is nice, but everyone is going to engage you anyway... I've been playing a version with a bunch of elves, and it is a blast to play because it is SO complicated, but I agree trying to play it in a group wouldn't be nice.

I will sleeve up this version now and try it. It does have the advantage of a few low cost allies and so I think it will work a little better than my version, but the above problems won't change.

Yeah, I must say that this deck tends to shine the best in multiplayer BUT, other people may disagree for the time that this deck takes every planning. I haven´t really played Journey in the Dark and such quests yet, but it indeed proves some challenge. Only if you can get your treath reduction quickly you´re safe with Galadriel.

I remember that I also added Resourcefull for multiplayer purposes. You can Vilya it into play and make someone rich!

No, this deck doesn´t need draw, but it makes targets for Vilya more abundant.

Putting your deck together I see you've found another thing that I agree with: Galadriel's Birdbath really pales in comparison to Word of Command. Early on I tried the birdbath and in one game I searched for Vilya unsuccessfully three times, found it on the fourth but lost it to the discard - and I had eight cards in hand! Took two more tries to finally get Vilya. WoC is just so much more reliable and the Istari exhaust isn't that big a deal.

I also cut one UC and one Flame of Arnor for two Miruvors. This was a concession to needing extra actions early in the game.

Finally, I like your idea of Resourceful. The ETH/HC interaction is a nice one, but it starts to mess with your single use per turn of Wizard Pipe. You probably aren't going to be paying for Resourceful anyway and so it is easier to pull off. Would also free up two slots.

Now we're talking. Just finished a game of Fords of Isen. I was sure I had lost after turn one, but kept playing just so I could tell you about the defeat - but I won! I didn't see either ring for a long time (over five turns), but an early Miruvor allowed me just enough action to stay alive. I knew the eagle build would be better than the elf build, but I was surprised by how much better it was. The early access to Vassels and Guardians really, really help.

I made some minor changes in order to get down to 50 cards, including going to one Bilbo. Next I may cut out the ents in order to get a LoV and PoO in there. Not sure yet. I may also replace one EotMM with a Descendant.

Great! That's splendid news!

I will post a bigger response tomorrow, but I just don't like Descendant, so that's why he isn't in there. I prefer to use Bilbo instead of extra copies of Wizard Pipe, so I would advise if you are not using the second copy, remove that one instead because Bilbo sort of counts as a Wizard Pipe, but is more usefull.

U kidding me? With Radagast in there, I would never have fewer than 2 copies of Wizard Pipe. I usually get to the point where I want infinite uses of the pipe.

Bullroarer, why exactly are you cutting tthe deck down to 50 cards? Just curiou because this deck can easily deal with more cqrds. Also on your note of cutting out the Ents, I added them just because I wanted to see how they work. If you want to keep more to the Eagle engine I would cut them too. Also Wandering Ent is quite cheap, so he is quite usefull.

Just good deck building practice. Maximizes your chances of getting the cards you need in the early game.

Loving this deck gandalf, thanks. The Ents are still in at the moment. I've beaten the first two VoI quests twice each, but I'm not going to try the third... Don't like that quest. Going to try Heirs next.

Yeah, normally I also just keep my deck at 50 cards, but because of the draw that´s in this deck, I didn´t here.

Well, that´s great to hear! Have fun!

I thnk the ents need to go. This deck can't afford "comes into play tapped" allies in the early going and doesn't need the power late game. I had a game with Warden of Healing and Wandering Ent in my opening hand, but I had to Vilya out the Healer as a chump blocker. And if you aren't going to have other ents in your hand, Treebeard's usefulness falls of the table. On the other hand I have needed some WP boosts at times and so I think I'll be switching to Faramir and a couple of one drops such as Snowbourn Scout or some such.