You are the all-powerful Saruman ( Seer ) in your tower Orthanc ( The Immortal Throne ). As you gaze into your Palantir ( Orb of Ba'al Berith ) you seek to destroy the armies of Middle-Earth (the Contested Realm).

Deck archetype: Control

Strategy:

Control the board until you can find your Throne or Orb and then out-value your opponent either by card draw via the Throne or copying your spells via the Orb. The cost curve of the deck is designed to be able to activate the Throne consistently as soon as you get it down. Remember that a Site counts as the 0-cost card, so make sure you have a site in hand, then drop your Throne, then play your site to immediately get that first trigger and card draw. Similarly, all of the Magic spells in the deck have been chosen to gain some benefit when copied with the Orb. e.g. - a copied Border Milita is huge. So is a copied Browse, or Common Sense, or Infiltrate, etc.

Ideally, you will want to place your Orb/Throne to the left or right of your starting Site. By placing these important Monuments on your starting Site, you make it very easy for your opponent to step forward and Disenchant/Dispel you. Avoid this!

Use your Seer ability wisely to find the cards you need at the right moment, as well as to find the sites you need to fix your Threshold. Don't forget what you've already peeked at with your Seer! A bad Seer forgets what they've already seen! Also, don't be afraid to bottom powerful, high-cost spells early because you will be shuffling the deck often with your 4x Common Sense.

Opening hand:

Besides the Throne, Orb, or P-Stone, you are looking for Browse, Dream-Quest, or Divine Healing. What you get in your opening hand will determine which mana Threshold you need to Seer for. Common Sense is also a good early draw to help you find what you need in the moment.

Tips/Tricks:

• Remember that the Orb is the spellcaster for the copied spell. This is important for cards like Poison Nova or Major Explosion where positioning matters.
• You can use Common Sense to grab specific cost ordinary cards to activate the Throne
• If your opponent's Avatar is sitting on your Throne, you can pull them off with Pudge Butcher
• Scavenging Fiend can get back your Orb or Throne if it gets destroyed
• A well-positioned River of Flame can make big plays with Poison Nova or Major Explosion
• Use Pillar of Zeiros against Deathspeaker. Watchtower stops Infiltrate. And Bedrock and Smokestacks are Roots insurance. (Don't turn off your own Cloud City or River of Flame with Smokestacks!)

Weaknesses:

As a control deck you are a bit slower to get going. Aggro decks like Battlemage are tough. Find those Divine Healings and Holy Ground quickly to survive their early aggression.

If your opponent is also playing a slower deck that's great, take your time, set up and roll over them.

Your Orb and Throne are very susceptible to being Buried. In a pinch, you can Disenchant your own buried Throne/Orb, then get it back with your Scavenging Fiend.

Good luck and have fun!