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AnxiousChieftain

Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2006 3:58 pm

Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Posts: 3947 Location: Maryland

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This article shows how powerful Gandalf can be, and why many players include him in their decks. It examines the many things that Gandalf can do.
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In the Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf tells Frodo “I will help you bear this burden”. In the TCG, Gandalf does just that; he helps out in many different ways (including helping with burdens!).

Since Gandalf has an answer for almost every problem, many players splash Gandalf in their deck to provide what their deck normally cannot do. Gandalf can remove burdens, discard conditions, discard possessions, increase the move limit, heal companions, remove twilight, add strength to companions, play cards from your draw deck, and many more things.

Which Version Should you Use?

There are many versions of Gandalf. Many are helpful in certain decks, but only a few are good in nearly every deck.

The overall best Gandalf to use is Gandalf, Leader of the Company. If you can play him early, he can almost guarantee your safety in region 1. Once you are region 2, he provides an awesome strength bonus to every companion. In region 3 he makes himself an automatic 9 strength. To top it all off, he has 7 resistance.

Gandalf, Leader of Men is another good choice to consider. If played in your starting fellowship, he only costs 2 twilight. This is helpful, since you can play a companion with a twilight cost of 2 in your starting fellowship as well. The main downside is that this version of Gandalf has no other special ability.

The other versions of Gandalf are good in specific decks - use the one that works best for you:

• Gandalf, Friend of the Shirefolk is a strong fighter in a multi-culture deck.
• Gandalf, The Grey Wizard can reduce twilight in a Gandalf-signet deck.
• Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim draws cards, which can set up a powerful hand.
• Gandalf, Greyhame plays companions from your discard pile, which can be great in conjunction with unbound Hobbits.
• Gandalf, The White Wizard has 10 strength if your deck can generate the twiight needed.
• Gandalf, Mithrandir is a large companion, but has a downside that can be countered by Aragorn, King in Exile.
• Gandalf, Defender of the West is a nice splash if you want a decent-strength companion.
• Gandalf, Manager of Wizards is awesome when used with the cards that trigger when you lose initiative.
• Gandalf, The White Rider is nice if you need to save an unbound companion.
• Gandalf, Bearer of Obligation is almost never used in any type of deck except for an all-Gandalf culture deck.
• Gandalf, Powerful Guide is amazing in a Shadowplay deck, and has a pre-regroup muster ability.

Now, let’s check out what Gandalf can do.

Discarding Possessions and Artifacts

Corsairs have ships. Easterlings have their polearms. Sauron

minions have Grond and Ithil Stone.

Let’s face it: possessions and artifacts can be a nuisance. To cope with this, Gandalf has Roll of Thunder. It’s easy to play, requiring no exertions, and lets you choose which possession or artifact you discard. I often include several copies of this card, knowing that without possession removal Corsairs can run rampant.

Turn of the Tide is an optional way to discard possessions, but since the Shadow player can prevent it (quite easily sometimes!) it is not often used.

Discarding Conditions

This is really what Gandalf does best. He has a bunch of different cards to do this:

Sleep Caradhras - Discards all conditions, including your own. Costs 3 + an exertion.
Deep in Thought - Discards only Shadow conditions, but you have to spot 4 twilight tokens in the maneuver phase
Grown Suddenly Tall - Discards all conditions. Costs 5.
Fools Hope - Discards all but 2 Shadow conditions.
New Awakened - Discards 2 conditions. Costs 6, but has toil 2.
Introspection - Discards one condition.
Brooding on Tomorrow - Discards a Shadow condition every time you lose initiative.
Pallando, Far-Traveling One - Is a follower, so stays out every turn. Has the ability to discard many conditions.
Traveler’s Homestead - Discards up to 2 conditions, but can discard even more when used with Alatar, Final Envoy.

If your deck has very little Free Peoples conditions, then consider using Sleep Caradhras or Grown Suddenly Tall. If your deck has crucial Free Peoples conditions, then you should opt to use any of the other cards mentioned. Deep in Thought is a good card to use in conjunction with the Gandalf Followers: attach the followers to companions (adding twilight), and then use Deep in Thought (spotting the twilight) to discard your opponent’s conditions.

Grabbing Cards from Your Draw Deck

The card Saved From the Fire is a great card in many situations. If you wish to include it, then Gandalf, Leader of Men is probably the Gandalf you should use. If you use this Gandalf, you can start off with another cheap companion, who you can promptly burn with Saved From the Fire to grab 3 cards of that companion’s culture from your draw deck. Any 3 cards! If you use a combo-intensive deck, then you can use Saved From the Fire to take the cards you need into your hand fast.

Healing

Healing isn’t one of Gandalf’s strongest abilities. However, he does have one nice card for healing: Have Patience. It costs 3 twilight, but it can heal any unbound companion twice. That would help a great deal if your deck has a lot of companions of different cultures.

Removing Burdens

Ease the Burden is a neat event that will remove either 1 or 2 burdens. It’s a tad pricy though - 2 twilight and an exertion during the fellowship phase.

Watch and Wait is probably one of the best burden removal cards. Play it on a big companion, and your opponent will have to think twice about playing minions with small strength.

Another possibility is Glamdring, Foe-hammer. Stick it on Gandalf, and he can beat up any small minions that are played, thus removing some of your burdens.

Narya is a solid card, that can remove a burden each turn. It adds 3 twilight though, so you wouldn’t want to use it if you are planning on choking the twilight pool.

Wounding

Gandalf possesses several great events that can wound minions during the maneuver phase. Probably the best of these is Terrible and Evil. It can be a bit expensive, but it’s usually worth it, since you can take out large minions fairly easily.

Mithrandir, Mithrandir! is an awesome card against swarm decks. One exertion, and you can take out plenty of minions. If swarm decks are your greatest fear, then you might want to include Gandalf and 4 copies of this event in your deck.

Various Things

Gandalf can also help out in various ways, such as...

• Threat Removal - Citadel to Gate removes all threats, plus heals some companions.
• Discarding Minions - Out of the High Airs can discard every minion if you move during the regroup phase.
• Wound Prevention - Intimidate and Salve can prevent fatal wounds.
• Exertion Prevention - Strength of Spirit cancels an exertion, which combos perfectly with companions like Legolas, Greenleaf and Aragorn, Ranger of the North.
• Strength Deduction - Servant of the Secret Fire is sooo good, since it can subtract 3 strength from any minion.
• Strength Addition - G for Grand can add strength to every companion, and is great when multiple copies are in play.
• Site Manipulation - Traveled Leader can provide the perfect site during the maneuver phase.
• Card Recycling - On Your Doorstep is a cheap way to retrieve your cards.
• Companion Reviving - Borne Far Away can revive any of your companions from the dead.
• Cycling - Fear and Great Wonder uses tokens to add muster to your companions.

These are just some of the things that Gandalf can do. As you can probably see, he has an answer for almost every problem. So, if your favorite culture has a weakness, let Gandalf fill it in!

Thanks for reading, and please comment!

Last edited by AnxiousChieftain on Sun Jul 09, 2006 12:44 pm; edited 8 times in totalMODS RULE. - lem0nhead

ingold55

Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2006 4:08 pm

Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 1199 Location: Out on the front line

*over speaker phone* once agian another hit article by AC!

in case you havn’t guessed, i love it.

There is a power in this world beyond any of us, and Jesus is that power and The Savior.

Cool

this is my attempt to look cool.
Trade list (Want Balrogs and Aragorns)

AnxiousChieftain

Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2006 4:10 pm

Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Posts: 3947 Location: Maryland

Thanks, Ingold!

MODS RULE. - lem0nhead

SnowBalrog

Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2006 11:20 pm

Joined: 26 Sep 2005 Posts: 63 Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Great article! Minor nitpicks are mainly that I think you should bold or italicize the points from Discarding Minions on.. and possibly bullet them too. But it’s not enough to affect my rating. Awesome job! BTW Salve is another wound preventor...

Marcus: Our Snow Balrog would be a lot more impressive if it didn't keep melting.
Jason: Maybe if we used a little less lighter fluid...?

AnxiousChieftain

Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 7:48 am

Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Posts: 3947 Location: Maryland

Thanks, SnowBalrog. I took your advice, and it made it look a lot better. I also added Salve to the list.

MODS RULE. - lem0nhead

sickofpalantirs

Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 7:58 am

Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 7750 Location: somwhere, over the rainbow way up high. There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.

Oooo I like it I can;t think of anything wrong I was thinking of entering an article but not vs. this competition.You get a 5

hblika

Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 10:54 am

Joined: 20 Jul 2005 Posts: 287 Location: Norway

Good read, allthough I would’ve liked to see more about some of the newer cards (especially from Bloodlines).

I’m thinking in particular of Fear and Great Wonder for cycling, Traveler’s Homestead for condition removal and maybe also Alatar, Final Envoy in conjunction with either of the 2 previously mentioned cards.

With Hunters comes the reintroduction of threats, and Citadel to Gate might have been a good card to mention, since many FP cultures lacks good threat removal.

The only reason I rated this a 4, is that it really didn’t explore anything not commonly known for a "veteran" player as myself. A must read for the novice LOTR player though!

I'm not stupid. I'm just unlucky when I'm thinking.

AnxiousChieftain

Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 12:59 pm

Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Posts: 3947 Location: Maryland

Quote:

I’m thinking in particular of Fear and Great Wonder for cycling, Traveler’s Homestead for condition removal and maybe also Alatar, Final Envoy in conjunction with either of the 2 previously mentioned cards.

I knew I had missed a good condition removal card, I just couldn’t remember which card it was. Traveler’s Homestead will now be included in the list of condition removal cards. Also, I’ll add something about Fear and Great Wonder.

Quote:

With Hunters comes the reintroduction of threats, and Citadel to Gate might have been a good card to mention, since many FP cultures lacks good threat removal.

Wow, I completely missed the fact that this card removed all threats. That’s awesome - I’ll add it to the article.

Quote:

The only reason I rated this a 4, is that it really didn’t explore anything not commonly known for a "veteran" player as myself. A must read for the novice LOTR player though!

Yes, it was definitely written more for the newer players, than for people who knew lots about the game.

Thanks!

MODS RULE. - lem0nhead

Pipsqueak

Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 1:02 pm

Joined: 06 Jan 2006 Posts: 331 Location: A northerner down south

I really like it. Very comfortable reading, and nice style.
Narya can also remove burdens...

Long live the southern bros. Homage