Saruman tricks Ents

Questlogs using this decklist
None.
Fellowships using this decklist
None.
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
None yet.
Card draw simulator
Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
The gameplay simulator is an experimental feature and is currently only available for those that support RingsDB development on Patreon.
Gameplay simulator
Round
0
Threat
0
Hand
In Play
Deck
Discard Pile
Log a Quest
Play on DragnCards

kobeljic 296

Saruman tricks Ents to join him and do his bidding. He was described as persuasive after all. Here are the basic attributes:

  • card draw: Master of the Forge can be used to fetch attachments, in this case we're mostly interested in Saruman's Staff so we can play Deep Knowledge without paying the Doomed cost. Later we can play by combining Expert Treasure-hunter with Wizard Pipe.
  • resources: drawing Resourceful as early as possible would be great, buying it for cost of 1 while in Secrecy is a steal. The Grey Wanderer helps in the early rounds, but don't go crazy with it before buying all the secrecy cards you want. Necklace of Girion is a pretty good card to draw as well, provided you can deal with the Guarded keyword. Treebeard can help with resources you want to spend on ents.
  • questing: Saruman should start with Strider attached so he'll be able to quest for 5 without exhausting for a couple of rounds at least. The Grey Wanderer is used to equip him with that attachment. There are multiple allies with willpower of 2 and Necklace of Girion should be useful as well. Courage Awakened can also be used in early rounds while still in secrecy.
  • defending: Saruman can serve as a defender in the early rounds, but Treebeard and Soldier of Isengard are good candidates for later as well. Seems to be the weakness of this deck.
  • attacking: there are multiple allies useful as attackers, but Saruman can deliver nasty blows himself: use Wizard Pipe to set yourself up for Flame of Anor.

When starting out we want to get the most out of the secrecy cards. Also we want to be able to play some doomed events so Saruman readies a lot. I would say that Resourceful is a pretty important card to mulligan for. Master of the Forge is the other, since you need the Saruman's Staff to be able to play the doomed events while staying in secrecy.

Once you get that going, you want to have some allies out and Entmoot helps with that. Treebeard is pretty important since he can help with resources as well.

Overall this deck doesn't have too much synergy, it's mostly tricks with two card combos - Saruman will ready a lot and help with everything.

5 comments

Mar 20, 2020 kobeljic 296

I plan to use this deck as a silent support deck within the Ringmaker cycle. Thematically I consider it like this - Saruman bids the heroes to do his work, but then does some secret stuff in the background to make sure that they are successful without ever exposing himself.

Mar 20, 2020 Alonewolf87 2489

Nice deck, you could also A Burning Brand for some emergency defenses with Saruman

Mar 20, 2020 kobeljic 296

Thanks @Alonewolf87! I was thinking about it, there's definitely room to remove some doomed events to allow for more attachments. I guess I'll first have to test it out on a couple of scenarios and see how important it is.

Mar 20, 2020 Jreilly89 443

Why not include The Wizards's Voice? It would be good for an emergency defense or to stop a big guy.

Mar 20, 2020 kobeljic 296

Good question @Jreilly89. The scenario I'm going to test this deck on as a support deck is Antlered Crown, where clearing locations is much more important than defeating enemies. I will include that card in the sideboard and see how effective it is, given that with this setup it's going to act as a card draw mechanism as well.