Gandalf and his toys 2.0

• Versions
• 2.0
• 1.0

After some testing I have made a few tweaks to my previous version of this deck. My collection is limited to both sagas and the first six cycles (up to the Dreamchaser), so I didn't include any cards from the last three cycles as I never use cards that I don't actually own ;).

Just as before, here are some basic guidelines:

You want a copy of Gandalf or Timely Aid in your starting hand (mulligan if you don't neither of these). Steward of Gondor is always nice to have early on, but the two extra resources from Denethor will allow you to play Gandalf on turn one. The most important thing is to build a strong table presence during first round or two, so try to make the most of Timely Aid when you are still in secrecy, even if this means delaying playing Gandalf for one round (hopefully Merry should help you remain in secrecy for a few rounds and give you more time to play your secrecy cards). Send for Aid can also help you play a key ally (obviously grab Gandalf if you struggle with drawing him), but that requires a longer set-up. Initially I had Gather Information in this deck as well, but I think this was an overkill - you might consider it though if you want to have even more control over your draw.

The basic idea of how to play this deck is this: Gandalf and his attachments will do much of the heavy lifting. Keep him in play as long as you can. He doesn't exhaust to quest and with the help of Gandalf's Staff and Shadowfax he will be very useful in combat (especially in multiplayer games, as he receives ranged and sentinel from Shadowfax). He and Éowyn will quest for 8 by themselves, and if you engage some nasty enemy early on you can always defend with Denethor or Gandalf and use Éowyn's ability to make a finishing blow.

Once you manage to play two expensive allies feel free to use A Very Good Tale - there's a high chance of drawing a strong ally or two.

The sole purpose of Merry is to keep reducing threat constantly, which mitigates the major drawback of having Gandalf around all the time (obviously The Galadhrim's Greeting and Double Back are also used for the same purpose). I almost never quest with him, unless of course I have a Hobbit Pony, then it's up to you how you will utilise him. I was considering putting Common Cause in this deck to use it on Merry to ready Denethor (or other player's heroes in multiplayer) during combat if no enemies were revealed during staging, but that's not as useful I think.

Ever Vigilant is always nice to have in a deck with such strong allies (especially if you use it to instantly ready Treebeard or ready Beorn after using his ability). It has a great synergy with Narya as well.

Feel free to experiment and modify this deck to your taste ;). Let me know what you think ;).