Palantir Pals 1.0

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• 1.0

You can check out this deck in action here: https://youtu.be/e1GcyHz7WxY (I do make a mistake on the final turn, forgot that I could not play cards.)

The Palantir, a Seeing-stone. Using it is a risky gambit, especially if you don't know what the encounter deck has in store for you.

I received a comment on my Elevenses video asking me to try to do something interesting with the Palantir. I thought that was a great idea, so this is what I came up with after a LOT of trial and error.

The first achievement I set for myself was a thematic one; to create a workable deck using only heroes that actually handled a palantir. Denethor used the Palantir of Minas Anor (Tirith), Pippin got his hobbit hands on one and it almost killed him, and Saruman of course was fully corrupted by the Palantir of Orthanc.

To go along with this thematic achievement I packed a lot of Doomed cards and Isengard into this deck (no Orthanc Guard though, I tried and he just plain stinks). Constantly raising your threat from Doomed helps represent the threat of using a palantir and the risk you take. Even with Saruman's Staff you will see your threat rising steadily, bringing you ever closer to defeat by corruption and become enslaved to the will of Sauron. For the best palantir results, try to use the scrying cards in this deck as much as possible to know what the encounter deck is sending your way.

The second achievement I set for myself is to let Saruman actually USE a palantir. To accomplish this you must first attach Diligent Noble to him. Once he can utilize the palantir a lot of really fun things start to happen. Saruman can ready when you play a card with the Doomed keyword. Here is an example of a really fun turn:

Exhaust Saruman to use Word of Command to find a card you need. Play Far-sighted to look at the top 5 cards of the encounter deck, ready Saruman.

Exhaust Saruman and the Palantir and name an encounter card type that draws you the most cards.

Play another Doomed card (like Herald of Anórien, or Deep Knowledge, or an event you give Doomed to via the Steward of Orthanc to ready Saruman again. Remember, each time you raise your threat from the Doomed keyword Isengard Messenger gets a boost.

You might be thinking, how do you have all these cards in hand? Well, I have found that I use his Staff to find doomed cards almost as much as I use it for the doomed reduction. Also, there is A LOT of card draw here. Drinking Song, Daeron's Runes, Deep Knowledge, the Palantir, Steward of Orthanc, Word of Command, The Seeing-stone and a single copy of Master of the Forge. Plus, Pippin might trigger at the early rounds of the game.

The third achievement I set for this deck is the most fun. Tempt fate and play recklessly with your threat. Go ahead, raise it. Get your board state rolling with Steward of Gondor on Saruman, playing as many allies as you can using the boosts the Doomed keyword gives you. Get your threat to the breaking point....and then play Helm of Secrecy in the Refresh phase. The forth hero we have that handled a Palantir is Aragorn. Swap Aragorn in for Saruman and drop your threat back down to 27. Even though Helm of Secrecy is a Limit One per deck, you should find it easily with Word of Command. How high can you get your threat before you do the swap? Remember, you must raise your threat prior to the Refresh Action Window opening.

What is really fun about this is now you can once again play more doomed cards because your threat is down.

Defiant Challenge needs a special shout out. This card is REALLY good. For example, in the combat phase can ready Treebeard the turn he entered play AND Saruman. Really powerful stuff.

Sideboard: (Remember I built this deck with a bit of theme in mind, I even left out Mithrandir's Advice since NONE of these heroes ever listened to him.)

Power of Orthanc and more healing if the quest demands it.

More ents if you want them, I did not include them because I was trying to use other Isengard or Doomed characters, but I know the ents would replace some of the other allies nicely.

Dúnedain Warning if the enemies hit hard.