Gandalf

Never loved him due to his lack of flexibility vs Hero and Core Gandalf but I really want to try him out in a deck featuring Spirit Merry. With the occasional Galadriam's Greeting or Elrond's Council you could probably keep him out pretty much indefinitely without much of a threat bump.

I made a hobbit secrecy deck that tries to maintain secrecy long enough to get allies out through Timely Aid or other secrecy Allies in spirit/lore/leadership and after about 3 or 4 turns then get this Gandalf out and keep him for the rest of the game.   It works out pretty well in a group setting because you lack offensive capabilities.

Yeah. He seems really nice and that extra 4 to questing every turn (including Battle and Siege, which is huge for me as my decks are never well enough prepared for them) is a big deal. 

For me it's just hard to find time to try him out. I don't get to play as much as I used to and when I do it's a 2 or 3 player game I use one of my go-to decks with. Most of those are already running (and counting on) Core Gandalf or have Hero Gandalf (my girlfriend especially loves the Hero Gandalf Outlands deck I built her--OP but she's a casual player at best so in harder quests she needs it if I'm not going to tell her what to do every turn). 

Yea, that secrecy deck is about the only one I'd ever use him in. Never even considered him before Merry (S) came out.  Core or Hero Gandalf are so much more fun and versatile! 

I find him to be very powerful with Gandalf's staff and Shadowfax. With just those toys he can quest, attack, defend, all at once and even generate a resource.

No doubt that's a good combo, I just feel like if I am going to dedicate that kind of deck-space to getting him up and running (between 6 and 12 cards, presumably) I would just as soon use Hero Gandalf, save a little room in the deck and start with him on the board as a Hero so when I get those attachments in had I can get them on the board and working. 

But I guess if you have another combo going on between your Heroes and want a long-term combo to build towards then this is a very powerful one when everything fits together. And you are getting an extra Willpower, Attack and Defense over Hero Gandalf. 

Personally I would envision this Gandalf in a sneaky secrecy Hobbit deck (like @slothgodfather describes) but I always love when people take cards in more unexpected directions. 

Narya gives this guy an extra point of attack and defense as well as standing (and giving the same bonus to) another ally. 

Now I really want to try him!

Narya gives this guy an extra point of attack and defense as well as standing (and giving the same bonus to) another ally. 

 

Now I really want to try him!

But Narya actually requires Gandalf to exhaust to trigger the effect, so you are spending the effect to stand just one ally. I don't think that the numbers are good enough to justify adding 1 attack/1 defense to an already 4/4 character, and the standing effect can be achieved by other cards, some even cheaper.

It would be nice to try the combo you mentioned, but it calls for 10+ resources spent - 5 for Gandalf, 2 for Narya and at least 3 for a decent ally to repeatedly stand. For me Narya is made for Cirdan and those turns when you don't want to push through the quest but need to manage multiple enemies - then the ring actually gives Cirdan's total combat stats to your allies (turning even small and cheap cards into decent combatants), which is flexibility in its' finest.

But Narya actually requires Gandalf to exhaust to trigger the effect, so you are spending the effect to stand just one ally. I don't think that the numbers are good enough to justify adding 1 attack/1 defense to an already 4/4 character, and the standing effect can be achieved by other cards, some even cheaper.

 

It would be nice to try the combo you mentioned, but it calls for 10+ resources spent - 5 for Gandalf, 2 for Narya and at least 3 for a decent ally to repeatedly stand. For me Narya is made for Cirdan and those turns when you don't want to push through the quest but need to manage multiple enemies - then the ring actually gives Cirdan's total combat stats to your allies (turning even small and cheap cards into decent combatants), which is flexibility in its' finest.

Eh...I think we may have to agree to disagree on that one

Don't get me wrong--I like Narya on Cirdan (much more than Hero Gandalf, certainly) and with Light of Valinor he represents an amazing combo. But Cirdan is 12 threat. That alone makes it unlikely you're running him along with this version of Gandalf where you'll have to choose one target or the other.

Usually this Gandalf is played in low threat (possibly Secrecy) decks designed to get allies into play by non-conventional means (Elf-Stone, Timely Aid, A Very Good Tale, etc.). So right there you are probably getting a discount on someone (Gandalf, the other ally, or someone else that's letting you save resources). 

But even imagining you are paying full price I think it's worth the cost. If you are playing this Gandalf then you have a way to mitigate his threat increase. So that leaves you with a 4/5/5/4 that automatically assigns his own 4 willpower and can attack or defend each turn and readies another ally every turn. For 7 neutral cost (you would have played the other ally anyway or it wouldn't be in your deck). 

If he didn't automatically add his willpower every round without exhausting I would agree with you but as is...I think that combo is very strong. Just as strong as the Cirdan+Narya+Light of Valinor combo (though they fit in very different decks). 

EDIT:

For some reason my post cut off--here is the math on both combos assuming the effected allies have at least 2 willpower (W) and at least 2 attack or defense (A/D). 

Cirdan + Light of Valinor + Narya = 8w + 3a/d + 3a/d

OHaUH Gandalf + Narya = 6w + 3a/d + 5a/d