Saruman's Council of the wise rings 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

Maybe there is somebody who remembers the PC-game "battle for middle-earth". I know I do. In the second iteration of that game there was one playable faction in this real-stime-strategy, which was called "Isengart" and had Saruman as a summonable hero. It was my favourite faction and so I knew I had to come up with an idea for a Saruman-deck, once he was available.

Unfortunately, nothing seemed to work properly. Either I had too many events, to ready him as often as possible, or not enough reliable ways to reduce my threat - and even if something worked, it was not particularly fun. So I looked again through the cards, years later, and somewhat stumbled upon Council of the Wise - something that works well with events (such as the doomed events) and reduces my threat and seems fun, all at the same time. Very naturally the next idea came into my mind: Why not add another istari? What about Gandalf? And while I was at it (quickly building a deck including Radagast as a third istari), the final spark was ignited: What about a deck about rings of power?

And here we are: Gandalf, equipped with Narya, Galadriel, wielding Nenya, and Saruman, who finally took The One Ring. The new and improved white council, ready to banish anything they encounter! But keep in mind, that two of these three rings can only help, heal and support - thus this council gives counsel and is fit for multiplayer.

Deack-Idea The general idea of this deck is to play events as often as possible, to draw cards and keep their threat low. All those doomed-events also help out other players, making this deck best fit for multiplayer as a supporter (even with the threat-increase).

To maximize the tempo provided by the council of the wise, over 50% of the deck is made up of events - and most of them cost 0 or 1. Gandalfs ability to play cards from the top of the deck supports the "play many events"-plan even more.

Generally you want to play 3 events each turn. Most of the times it is more useful to hold onto an event and play it the next round, if you have no more bonuses from your contract, than to play it without a bonus. However, sometimes that can not be helped and while you should try to avoid that scenario, you should not be afraid to run into it.

All these bonuses and all this card draw, partially from cards like Daeron's Runes, Heed the Dream and Galadriel and partially from the contract as well as Gandalf, will help you to get your key-cards - which is no easy feat, considering there is only 1 copy of them in the deck. The most important cards are Saruman's Staff and Nenya and you should mulligan for these. If you have only one of them, mulligan for the staff, as that one is more important than Nenya. Other cards like Gather Information and Word of Commandprovide more ways to search your deck for these key-cards, should the carddraw not bring them to you.

When the game progresses, you will beef up Sarmuan, with all the attachments related to the one ring, make Gandalf stronger, with his well known toys, and have a couple of allies, generally strong bodies. However, you will not build an army or an overpowerde board - you will have enough to pull your weight but not much beyond that.

Why is this a multiplayer deck? Council of the Wisealmost forces you to have many events in your deck in order to maximize its upside. That comes with the side-effect of not having too many attachments and/or allies. Thus there is not that much of a board to be build.

In solo-games this deck struggles to pull ahead. It can stay afloat and fend of many things, but at some point it gets drowned in most scenarios, as it does not fight or quest much better in round 12 than it did in round 4.

On the other hand, the effects of Galadriel and all the doomed events provide some well received support for other decks. Your ally needs more resources to play their big card? Play Legacy of Númenor. Your companion has a deck with little carddraw? Give them Deep Knowledge. Your partner gets close to threading out? Galadriel got them covered. Need another defender or attacker on your compatriots side of the battlefield? Gandalf with Shadowfax can quickly ride over or he can use Narya to ready up two allies and prepare them for battle.

Many, if not all, events in this deck can provide some support for other players - and sometimes it is even an ally or attachment, that helps other players out.

Threat You start out at a rather high starting-threat of 36. Now, there have been decks with a higher threat, but they might have had a bit more leeway, which Sarumans council lacks - due to two reasons.

The first one being tied to the hero himself. You constantly increase your threat by playing doomed-events and you can reduce your threat only by small amounts. Due to that, you desperately need Saruman's Staff. Furthermore, that is the reason, why many cards provide a threat reduction of 1, mostly in form of events. This, combined with galadriel and the contract, can keep your threat at bay. I constantly stay at 42 or 43 threat for many turns, before I start to feel uncomfortable.

The second reason to look out for your threat is The One Ring. It sets your elemination threshold to a threat of 45 instead of 50, which is a very big deal when you start only 9 threat away from that threshold. It owuld translate to another deck starting at a threta of 41. The ring-package also comes with cards that, allbeit powerful, raise your threat even more by using them. I am still always able to play all three events without being afraid of my threat, but I tend to wait until the very last moment to play them.

Is this hero lineup even worth that threat? The three heroes were chosen for two reasons:

1. Flavour
2. Synergy

Saruman gets better by using doomed-events, which was the starting point of this deck. He can also attack very well, quest decently and can do both multiple times, if needed.

Gandalf can defend (as well as quest and attack) and supports the contract by providing a ton of carddraw. He is also able to get more powerful with Gandalf's Staff and Shadowfax.

Galadriel offsets the threat-threat and provides even more carddraw. Once Nenya is attached to her, she can also quest very well. Furthermore she can directly support other players by lowering their threat and providing them with more draws.

All these abilities work very well together - and the best part is, that they are all related to a member of the white council. And since the idea was to have "Saruman's council of powerful rings", Nenya and Narya fit even more.

Even Elrond makes a quick appearance, both in providing Elrond's Counsel and bieng physically there - evene if it is for only a short time.

Why would I play this deck? Having only one copy of each card means, that you have to get a bit more creative with how you use those cards and when to play which.

I have a ton of fun with this deck and it turned into my most favourite one, by far. Every game plays a bit different than the last and there is a constant fear of miscalculating. Every play feels like it has a ton of weight to it and the deck goes well beyond "I Sneak Attack Gandalf for the third time and kill yet another enemy in one hit. Glad I have Steward of Gondor to pay for it and drew 37 cards with Arwen Undómiel and Elven-light, to have that combo in hand".

What is this jank I am seeing? I thought it would be fun, to include Helm of Secrecy to switch Saruman for Aragorn, should the threat be too high. And it is a fun panicbutton that saved me a couple of times from threating out.

Now let me quickly answer some question, that may arise.

Wouldnt it be better, to attach the one ring and the corresponding attachments to gandalf? Yes, but then Saruman would not have any ring - and that would be boring.

Do I need the ALEP-cards that are part of this decklist? Not necesserily. You can swap in any of the sideboard-cards. These are used to change things up, if a certain quest proves unwinnable (which I did not encounter yet) or if you do not have certain cards.

Can this deck even quest? Yes. From the get-go, Gandalf and Saruman quest for 6 and once you have Nenya, Galadriel can join as well. Furthermore, most allies have good questiong-power.

Can this deck even fight? Yes, but it may need some support here and there. But with good planning, it can handle anything by itself (except for very strong bosses).

Is saruman really the right choice with only 10 (11 with sideboard) doomed-events? Yes, absolutely. Also, Steward of Orthanc can give one event (of which there are many in this deck) Doomed 1, which does trigger Saruman's response. It only specifies ä card with the doomed keyword", not that it has to be "printed" (this even works on Soldier of Isengard).

Why is there no Keys of Orthanc? I did run this card, but it turned out to be dead weight. On one hand, you do not need that many resources so most of the time I did not play it when I had it in hand. And when I did have it in play, it did not do too much, as it requires you to raise your threat - which you want to avoid as often as possible with Saruman's staff.

Should I play Helm of Secrecy, even when another player brings Aragorn to the table? I would not recommend so. In my experience, Helm of Secrecy is not often worth it - I would much rather keep my initial heroes. But I am sure I am missing some interesting combos - so feel free to experiment.

What are the cards with the highest priority and in whcih order should I mulligan for them? Saruman's Staff is the most important card. You can also accept Gather Information or Word of Command to fetch it. Mulligan for any of these cards everytime. Nenya is almost as important, as you do lack behind in questing power, until you play that card. Mulligan for it, but not if you have any of the cards mentioned above. While Wizard Pipe and Unexpected Courage and Shadowfax and Gandalf's Staff are all very good for Gandalf, i would not mulligan for any of these - however, if you did not get any fetcher or Nenya, any of those can still save the day and keep you afloar, until the real gamechangers show up.

Which powercard for the ring shall I pick up at the start of the game? That depends entirely on the quest. I tend to pick The Master Ring or The Ruling Ring , but I also had games where I started with Inner Strength or The Ring of Power or even Power of Command. Depending on the quest and decks your partners bring to the table, any choice can be as valid as the next.

Why is Gléowine only in the sideboard? He did not do too much. Either he showed up when no one needed cardraw or he was a dead card in hand as I wanted to play other cards before him. He can work very well and support others - again, depending on deckchoice and scenario.

Is Flame of Anor really worth it when you discard a card you have only a single copy of? Yes, absolutely! This card can save you in a pinch. It can either ready gandalf or Saruman and if you have the Steward of Orthanc, it can ready both. Plus it is an event, thus triggering Council of the Wise.

Did this deck ever beat any quest? I did not play against many decks in solo but thus far it beat the whole Harad- and Ered-Mithrin-cycle as well as the first half of Shadows of Mordor. All of that was in multiplayer.

In the end I love playing this deck and hope, that others can find as much fun in playing it as I do. It challenges every strategy and can be a really good friend in any multiplayer game - even with Doomed.