Now that I got The Land of Shadow, I've been enjoying the new Rohan cards, but now I really want to build an Ithilien deck with Damrod, Faramir and traps. Now obviously new Faramir works much better with Ent allies, but I wanted to build a more thematic deck with him. Have any of you tried this? what third hero would you suggest using? (I'm thinking Sam, or another Lore hero, maybe Pippin?) Clearly Faramir's starting threat is rather high, so I don't know whether or not to run the whole "higher engagement cost than your threat" theme, and just stick with traps or if maybe I should use big powerful allies to take advantage of Faramir's response. Or maybe new Faramir just wasn't made to work in this archetype. Any of you tried a deck like this? Any help is welcome.

Solo or multiplayer?

That'd be solo.

What about Leadership Boromir and doing a Gondor-Valour deck?

That's certainly a possibility I've considered. The thing is, in a Boromir deck you'll want to have numbers (that's the reason it's hard not to run ally Faramir with him) while hero Faramir, I think, relies more on fewer but stronger allies you can ready with his response. I don't really know how well they would work together. An interesting possibility would be to run them with Damrod, make him the Steward and run a bunch of Lore rangers plus traps, and all of the rangers would get Boromir's bonus. For willpower, a few copies of Visionary should work.

It's unfortunate that Leadership Boromir and Faramir (hero) don't have much synergy, as you mentioned. Much like Dain with Dwarves, Boromir (and Visionary Leadership) clearly wants many smaller Gondor allies to achieve numerical superiority. This makes ally Faramir a natural fit with Boromir. On the other hand, Faramir hero works best with larger allies like Treebeard, Gandalf. I guess you can ready a smaller ally that is receiving bonuses from Boromir, but this seems like a bit of a waste for all of that threat. Then again, if you are planning on taking advantage of Valour effects, maybe it is worth it. I suppose a mono Leadership deck built around Boromir, Faramir and someone like Prince Imrahil (or Theodred, if you aren't stuck on Gondor-only) could be an option. With something like Seastan's "A Very Good Tale" deck you could take advantage of ally mustering (particularly Sneak Attack and Reinforcements) to play ally Gandalf multiple times. Not only does this help keep you from threating out while you are in Valour range, but Core Gandalf is a perfect combo with hero Faramir on the turn that you finally play him for full cost. Quest for 4, engage an enemy, ready Gandalf. You can then either use him for combat or exhaust him to fuel A Very Good Tale. While that all sounds nice, I can't help thinking that this deck doesn't take specific advantage of Faramir's ability except for those few times when you pay for Gandalf. I suppose that is the downside to thematic decks - they often lack deeper strategic synergy.

Indeed, Reinforcements doesn't really work with Faramir as normally you won't be engaging enemies outside of the encounter phase. Now, I could think of such a deck actually using Timely Aid for full cost. In mono-Leadership it's not that hard to do, and you can put into play an expensive ally with it.

Anyway, I built a deck with Leadership Boromir, Faramir and Damrod. I've only played against Helm's Deep and it actually beat it the first time. The deck is mostly Lore rangers and traps, a few utility Lore allies (Quickbeam, Warden of Healing) and the rest is pretty much only resource smoothing and card draw (x3 Good Harvest, Envoy of Pelargir, Errand Rider) so even if I don't draw Steward first turn, I can still play some Lore stuff. And if you do get Steward first round, it's really not hard to eventually flood the board with rangers. It actually works really good, as Boromir + Visionary makes the rangers even beefier and Faramir's ability was essential for readying Warden of Healing or any 3 attack ranger. It's a really fun deck to play.

That sounds like a really fun deck, Gizlivadi. Would you mind posting your list?

Using Faramir's ability to ready the warden of healing is a nice touch.

You can also ready Veteran of Osgiliath. Assuming you are playing with Visionary, Boromir, and Valour, then his stats are 3/4/3/2. Certainly not a bad option considering many people use Faramir to ready Treebeard to make use of his 4 attack after only committing 2 willpower to the quest.

This is the decklist:

Faramir

Damrod

Boromir

Errand Rider x3

Envoy of Pelargir x3

Ithilien Tracker x2

Gléowine x1

Quickbeam x1

Mablung x1

Ithilien Lookout x3

Ithilien Archer x2

Warden of Healing x3

Anborn (Lore) x2

Veteran of Osgiliath x2

Gandalf x3

Steward of Gondor x3

Ambush x3

Ranger Spikes x3

Forest Snare x2

Wingfoot x2

Visionary Leadership x3

Deep Knowledge x3

Sneak Attack x3

A Good Harvest x3

So the idea is simple: get Steward on Damrod ASAP and then just trap enemies and play rangers. It's basically a Lore version of the Mono-Leadership deck, but with card draw and healing, which is nice. The lack of action advantage you'd normally have with Core Aragorn and Strength of Arms is compensated by traps (they "defend" for you) and Faramir's ability, as well as Wingfoot. I think the deck could MAYBE work a little better if it had another Lore hero, but resource balance hasn't been an issue so far. A Good Harvest (which I had never used before) is a star in this deck. I've thought of adding a few copies of Galadriel, but I don't know if she's really worth it, except for fetching Visionary and Steward. Maybe a couple Master of the Forge would be nice.

Thank you, the deck looks very fun, and I'll certainly be sleeving it up as soon as I get my Angmar Awakened & Saga order (waiting for the Dread Realm to get to CoolStuff is torturous)

Thanks for asking this! I have been thinking of how to build a good Ithilien Rangers deck too. Thematically, I'd really like to work out something with new Faramir, Damrod and Mablung heroes and a host of rangers /traps...not sure if it will really be the most effective deck, but will give it a shot. Will likely give Gizlivaldi's and Seastan's decks a try as well. Thank you for posting them! If i'm feeling brave, I'll post my attempt as well.

Nice one. My longterm memory from AtS times suggests that Erebor Hammersmith is a viable candidate for a Ranger badge in traps deck.

That's certainly a possibility I've considered. The thing is, in a Boromir deck you'll want to have numbers (that's the reason it's hard not to run ally Faramir with him) while hero Faramir, I think, relies more on fewer but stronger allies you can ready with his response. I don't really know how well they would work together.

As I said before, Boromir and Faramir work wonderfully together. But, just as with Reinforcements, it might have to take Seastan to claim the same so that you believe that. Boromir, Faramir, Imrahil is one of the stronger decks out there (though not as strong as Lórien or Rivendell if you know what I mean) and certainly (for me) one of the most entertaining ones. I am so happy they created Leadership Faramir, and I cannot see ever coming back to the ally version -- it is a super strong card (too strong I would say) but so boring for me.

However, to answer your initial question. I struggle composing a good Ithilien Ranger deck. I hope Arrows from the Trees (Storm-caller half-spoiler) may help a little.

That's certainly a possibility I've considered. The thing is, in a Boromir deck you'll want to have numbers (that's the reason it's hard not to run ally Faramir with him) while hero Faramir, I think, relies more on fewer but stronger allies you can ready with his response. I don't really know how well they would work together.

As I said before, Boromir and Faramir work wonderfully together. But, just as with Reinforcements, it might have to take Seastan to claim the same so that you believe that. Boromir, Faramir, Imrahil is one of the stronger decks out there (though not as strong as Lórien or Rivendell if you know what I mean) and certainly (for me) one of the most entertaining ones. I am so happy they created Leadership Faramir, and I cannot see ever coming back to the ally version -- it is a super strong card (too strong I would say) but so boring for me.

I would love to see the decklist. I can't even imagine what advantage you take from Faramir in a, I suppose, Gondor allies deck with Visionary that doesn't need the excellent ally Faramir.

I showed the deck before. But I will again if it was not just a rhetoric question.

Can't you really imagine what advantage you get out of the allies? Well, with Boromir's bonus and yes, Visionary Leadership, most of the Gondorians become good in questing and attack, obviously. Plus, you can always ready a semi-decent quester (2 willpower) for a chump block.

Veteran of Osgiliath have often got to 3 willpower, 4 attack in my games, is he not worth a double action?

Plus, mono Leadership is bound to play Gandalf. And when you are out of Sneak Attack and Reinforcements, you can play him from hand. And with Faramir, you get double use out of him. Bad?

White Tower Watchman, another Gondorian, can quest, defend, and take an undefended attack.

Even the cheap and useful Envoy of Pelargir quests for 2 (given you have VL) and attacks for 2 (for a single resource).

But of course, you can have a few friendly allies from other parts of Middle-earth (if you wish). Ally Treebeard is excellent with Faramir, for instance.

Galadriel is not very useful in such a deck (lack of attachments) but at least Faramir can turn her into a quester and a safe chump blocker.

ps: the thing does not change much if you play Lore and Ithilien rangers, they will again be quite strong in more than a single action… Ithilien Tracker, Mablung, using the Ranger Bow...