Gandalf, The White Wizard (4C90)

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Gandalf, Greyhame (4R89)
Back to The Two Towers Index 		Gandalf, The White Wizard (4C90T)


Set: The Two Towers
Kind: Free Peoples
Culture: Gandalf
Twilight: 4
Card Type: Companion • Wizard
Strength: 7
Vitality: 4
Signet: Gandalf
Game Text: While you can spot 3 twilight tokens, Gandalf is strength +3.
Lore: “‘Behold, I am not Gandalf the Grey, whom you betrayed. I am Gandalf the White, who has returned from death.'”
Rarity: C

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General Strategy

The White Wizard is a strong and versatile card that works well in a variety of decks. He can reach the towering base strength of 10 by merely having 3 twilight tokens or more in the twilight pool, thus he can beat many minions barehandedly as a splashed companion, or survive tough combats where others would be overwhelmed or wounded to death. Pair those high base attributes with possessions like Wizard Staff, Glamdring or Shadowfax, or with conditions like Trust Me As You Once Did or Behold the White Rider, or with events like Servant of the Secret Fire or Down From the Hills, and you will get a companion that will defeat most enemies that dare to step into his path, often including threatening monsters like The Balrog or The Witch King.

The key then is getting those 3 twilight tokens on the board. Large Fellowships that constantly flood the twilight pool work well with this version of Gandalf, ensuring that the opponent cannot use the entire pool on minions. Abilities such as those of Boromir, Defender of Minas Tirith or Confronting the Eye also help in this regard, along with expensive cards such as Grown Suddenly Tall and Ent Horde. Even the transferance of possessions between companions can give you that desired extra twilight, at the risk of swelling too much your opponent's resources (but Glamdring, Treachery Deeper Than You Know and other hand revealing tools can tell you when and how many is safe to add).

Alternatively, the Free Peoples player can simply add twilight after the Shadow phase has ended, with abilities like Shoulder to Shoulder; Mithril Shaft or Eowyn, Lady of Rohan (or the gametext of Our Time). Many Gandalf culture events cost a lot of twilight (Mysterious Wizard, Roll of Thunder, Down from the Hills) and any of these can be used to help ensure Gandalf's strength bonus. The White Wizard also synergises with other cards that benefit from twilight. These include artifacts such as Walking Stick or Focus of Power, but also events like Under the Living Earth; Undaunted; Fury of the White Rider; Keep your Forked Tongue and Deep in Thought. Conditions such as Unknown Perils and Trust Me As You Once did also work well with The White Wizard.

Other means of making twilight include playing characters outside of the Fellowship phase using Rohan cards such as Theoden, Tall and Proud; The Red Arrow and Erkenbrand; or playing Rohan possessions with the help of Eowyn, Daughter of Eomund; Theoden, King of the Golden Hall; Gamling, Warrior of Rohan; Merry, Swordthain; Long Spear; Eowyn's Sword, Dernhelm's Blade and Charged Headlong.

With the release of Bloodlines, Followers (Such as Pallando and Alatar) can be used to easily and reliably add twilight for The White Wizard's text.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strong Versus...

  • Minions with Ambush
  • Low cost minions

Weak Versus...

  • Expensive minions or events
  • Special Abilities that use twilight

Extra Information

Other Versions of Gandalf

Other Prints of Gandalf, The White Wizard

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