Rangers of Ithilien

“They walked in silence for a while, passing like grey and green shadows under the old trees, their feet making no sound; above them many birds sang, and the sun glistened on the polished roof of dark leaves in the evergreen woods of Ithilien.”

 ~  The Lord of the Rings, Book Four,

Chapter Five: The Window on the West

The realm of Gondor grows ever wary as the looming darkness of Mordor strengthens.  Its two greatest sons, Boromir and Faramir, lead a seemingly losing battle against the shadow spreading into their lands.  Now, Boromir has been called away to the north to attend a clandestine meeting with the other realms of Middle-earth, and so it is up to the younger brother to spearhead the defense of Gondor.  With some of his best rangers, Faramir will begin his efforts in the bordering woodlands of Ithilien, where outsiders seldom travel. 

Now that the Against the Shadow cycle has ended, the Gondor trait has been both introduced and expanded upon over the course of several adventures.  Perhaps my favorite new deck theme that has arisen as a result of this cycle is the Gondorian Ranger theme.  Traps, archers, and lots of green are some of the hallmarks of this new theme, but the real joy comes from the new play style it brings to the game.  Rangers make use of their vast knowledge of the forest to mount an offensive against enemies before they’re even encountered.  Ranger Spikes trap those woodland spiders, bats, and Orcs in the staging area, but if they do manage to escape, the Forest Snare will fall upon them and prevent them from doling out so much as a scratch. 

I almost always design a dual-sphere deck when building; however, for the Gondorian Ranger deck to really shine, it needs to be mono-sphere in design.  After a few play tests, I have come up with a build that I particularly like - both thematically and functionality.  Though I’m constantly tweaking my deck builds, adding some allies or events here and removing others there, this is the base that I've been working off of.  So far, these rangers have already been to the dark woodlands of Mirkwood to bring Gollum back to the Elven-king, and now they’re preparing to join Celador and the current guardians of Ithilien to retake the forest from the enemies of the south - the Haradrim. 

Heroes: Faramir, Strider, Mirlonde --- Starting Threat: 28

Allies: Gandalf (3x), Ithilien Archer (3x), Ithilien Tracker
 (3x), Anborn (3x), Warden of Healing (3x), Envoy of
Pelargir (3x), White Tower Watchman (2x), Master of Lore (2x)

Attachments: Ranger Spikes (3x), Forest Snare (3x),
Poisoned Stakes (2x), Ithilien Pit (2x), Ranger Bow (2x),
 Scroll of Isildur (3x)

Events: Secret Paths (2x), Radagast's Cunning (2x),
Risk Some Light (3x), Lorien's Wealth (3x), Mithrandir's Advice (3x)

*** Several of the player card features are obvious in their purpose, such as the abundance of traps to assail the enemy before they're allowed to strike and the wealth of Gondorian rangers to assist Faramir in his woodland defense.  Since this is a mono-Lore deck, it was a no brainer to throw three copies of the Scroll of Isildur in there in an effort to reuse the two main types of event cards of this deck: scrying and card draw.  Scrying comes from Rumor of the Earth and Risk Some Light, two very useful cards that let the rangers know exactly what foul beasts or locations are on their way.  The card draw engine may become very powerful in this deck build through the use and reuse of Mithrandir's Advice.  This effects let the rangers draw three cards from their player deck for just one resource.  The wizards of Middle-earth are always around to lend a helping hand as well, with Gandalf appearing to assist the rangers occasionally, and Radagast providing a cunning diversion for the threat of any enemies that do appear.  

Have you got any ideas of some additional allies that the rangers should call for aid from, or perhaps an attachment or two to make them more agile against the enemy?  And where should the rangers travel to next after Ithilien is safe from the shadow of Mordor?