Angbor's Argonath Vacation 1.0

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• 1.0

"Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old..." - The Fellowship of the Ring

One day, Angbor, who feared no living (or dead) thing, determined to make a voyage to the northern borders of Gondor of Old to gaze upon the Pillars of the Kings. Upon hearing of this, Boromir, son of the Steward, could not be dissuaded from joining in the expedition, along with his brother Faramir and the most skilled of their rangers, Mablung.

As they traveled, Boromir took the Lead in sending out Heralds to gather in a retinue of Spearmen and Defenders to provide escort as his Honour Guard. By night, the Grey Wizard would drop in and out to regale the men with Very Good Tales about the valour of Gondor. The Veterans of past battles were often the most attentive, longing to re-live the glory of their exploits.

At last, when all was prepared, they reached the Argonath. To the surprise of many, Boromir winded his mighty Horn with a blast that echoed into the distance. "Is that wise, brother?" Faramir inquired, "Does the threat of Mordor give you no pause?" As if to confirm his words, the howling of wolves and harsh voices of orc-horns immediately filled the air.

Yet, Boromir merely smiled as their men began to arm themselves with Raiments of War. At that moment, a Soldier of Gondor marched into sight, leading five more companies behind him. Before Faramir could give a proper greeting, another Soldier marched up with five more companies. "We hear you have need of valour this day," they stated simply. "Indeed," replied the steward's Heir as he prepared to rally the willpower and attack of his new army. Angbor, feeling a newfound energy flowing through his veins, prepared to lead a charge with these stirring words: "Need Drives Us onward, and if the Favor of the Valar is with us, we shall have our own Tale to tell by the day's end!"

The genesis of this deck came as I was contemplating how to get the maximum benefit (4 cards) out of Pillars of the Kings so that I could start triggering valour effects, like that of Angbor the Fearless. I had previously considered whether Angbor was a good target for Messenger of the King, but his low starting threat seemed to work against his innate ability. Eventually, those two streams of thought converged, and the result is Angbor's Argonath Vacation, which takes advantage of a low starting threat to ensure a big pay-off once once (MotK) Angbor the Fearless finally arrives at the Pillars of the Kings.

This is neither a power deck, nor is it designed to be a solo deck, so ideally you want to pair it with to help out with questing, cancellation, and threat reduction in the late game. I've had success using Beregond and Damrod to shore up these areas. I enjoy piloting this deck, and once the swarm takes off it can be a sight to see. Here's how it works:

• Early game: You really want to see Steward of Gondor, Visionary Leadership, and Pillars of the Kings as soon as possible to make sure that you can get going. Use Sneak Attack + Gandalf aggressively to draw cards in the early rounds. Once you have Pillars of the Kings in hand, the most crucial card is Soldier of Gondor. Try to hold off on playing this guy unless you already have multiple in hand. In the meantime, you can use Herald of Anórien and A Very Good Tale to start building a board state. Your goal should be to have Steward of Gondor on Boromir and several allies on the table before your threat goes above 30.
• Arriving at the Argonath: This is where the fun starts. If all has gone to plan, you should be able to: 1) Play Pillars of the Kings to draw four cards and to activate all of your valour triggers -> 2) Play Soldier of Gondor to fill your hand with Gondor allies (I routinely draw 3-4 with him) -> 3) Play as many as you can, taking advantage of Herald of Anórien, the discount on Citadel Custodian, and A Very Good Tale -> 4) Smash through the quest with the hosts of Gondor inspired by Boromir's Visionary Leadership (+1 ) and natural charisma (+1 ) spurring on your allies to victory.
• Late Game: Between (MotK) Angbor the Fearless and your Veterans of Osgiliath, you should have enough on the table to quest and attack anything that comes at you. Keep your threat under control with a combination of Pillars of the Kings, Favor of the Valar, and Gandalf as needed. Don't forget that Honour Guard can be a life-saver in a pinch, and, if you need a major push, Need Drives Them is clutch!

Miscellaneous Notes

Gondorian Shield can go on Mablung or Boromir, but is mainly to be played on Beregond across the table. Raiment of War can go on Defender of Rammas or Veteran of Osgiliath to give them more staying power. Horn of Gondor and Heir of Mardil are partly included for the sake of theme, but can combo together nicely to give an extra attack or defense to Boromir. The sideboard includes some cards I've tinkered with, but haven't quite made the cut. One thing that this deck would really benefit from is access to ranged, but it's hard to justify the inclusion of something like Dúnedain Cache or Tireless Thoroughbred in a deck that relies upon swarming as opposed to one big attacker/defender.