Engagement Party 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

There are multiple decks found here with this hero combo, all with the same basic idea: utterly abusing the engagement abilities on these heroes while building an army of allies. Mine is focused on getting off to as quick a start as possible, and in that it succeeds as well as any deck I've ever built. In one game recently, on turn one, I bought a Derndingle Warrior, then a Dúnedain Hunter for free, with the enemy it brought readying the ent with Faramir's ability, earning Mablung a resource, and spending Mablung's new resource on a Ranger of Cardolan. A Very Good Tale exhausted the ranger and the ent and brought Legolas into play. All this in the planning phase...and I still could afford the Sneak Attack and Gandalf in my hand! (Sadly, we somehow STILL lost that game...it was the Battle of Carn Dum, what can you do?)

Now, obviously, that was a near perfect starting hand, but it's a good example of what this deck is capable of. It's not at all uncommon to have 4-5 very capable allies in play by round two. And thanks to Faramir's inspiration, any one of them can pull double-duty each round.

Your most important card, unsurprisingly, is Legolas. It's not an automatic mulligan for him, but you definitely want to see him, Gandalf, or A Very Good Tale in your first hand. Use Gandalf for card draw until you find Legolas. Once Legolas is in play he's my usual target for Faramir's readying in the combat phase when Aragorn brings a new enemy to you.

Of all the cards in the deck, The Wizards's Voice is possibly the most under-utilized in the current meta. I barely ever see it in any games I play. But I've seen it completely turn some games around. If you need it, you need it, and the doomed 3 cost will be better than whatever alternative you're facing.

This deck can quest! You won't do much of that in the early rounds but once you get Sword that was Broken in play you turn into a questing force to be reckoned with. I was questing for 20 by the fifth round of another recent quest where combat wasn't that demanding.

Lest this all sound too good to be true, there are definitely some quest-types that this deck has trouble with. Enemies with abilities that trigger when they engage you are tricky, like in Escape From Umbar. And Fog on the Barrow Downs gave it tons of trouble. Big bosses who can't leave the staging area and attack everyone are a pain too, but at least you'll have enough attack to take them down quickly when your chance finally comes.

All in all, this is a powerful deck that can make a mockery of the combat phase when it is going well, even in a four player game. Give a try and let me know how it runs for you!