Category: Player Card Review

Gandalf’s Search

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Player Card Categories
    • Card Search
    • Player Scrying

LotR LCG’s much worse version of Magic the Gathering’s Brainstorm or Ponder.

Background

The card refers to Gandalf searching the records of Minas Tirith for any mention of The One Ring. He recounted the events during The Council of Elrond. There he found Isildur’s Scroll that detailed that he kept it and made it an heirloom of Arnor. Also the scroll detailed how to identify the ring by the inscription that it bore that would only reveal itself in fire.

Card Theme

This game often represents knowledge as card draw. The Lore sphere in particular is full of examples cards representing Middle-Earth’s knowledge, stories, and songs with Gleowine, Daeron’s Runes, Deep Knowledge, Erestor, Drinking Song, and Mithrandir’s Advice representing the knowledge, stories, and songs present in Middle Earth. Gandalf’s Search centered around finding a very specific piece of knowledge. Mechanically looking at cards in a player’s deck to find 1 particular card fits very well with the theme.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Istari

Gandalf’s Search can assist in setting up Gandalf hero’s ability. Especially if the top card isn’t that helpful or just trying to find an event Gandalf can play to maximize on the once per phase limit. It also plays well with Flame of Anor to maximize the attack boost to the Istari heroes and allies. Any high cost card the search can put on top works. A player knowing what their top card is also helps enable Messenger Raven’s ability. Messenger Raven is run in a lot of Radagast hero decks to give him a repeatable way to quest without exhausting. The player just returns the raven to hand and plays it next round with the added bonus of possibly drawing a card.

Elrond Vilya

It is is not the most efficient option to set up putting an expensive card into play with Vilya’s effect compared to Imladris Stargazer, Gildor ally, or Wizard Pipe. Still it is an option that can be cheaper than Gildor in the same sphere as Elrond hero.

Dwarven Mining

The Dwarven Mining cards discard cards from the top of the player deck for an effect. Zigil Miner in particular it helps to know what the top 1 or 2 cards of a player’s deck are to gain resources. Rearranging more than 2 can help set up gaining 2 resources. The other mining cards get an effect no matter what the top cards are, but the rearranging effect if enough resources are paid can help avoid discarding key cards. Then there are two cards are designed to be mined. Hidden Cache offsets the nerf Zigil Miner received from its errata down to 1 resource per card with a matching cost. Ered Luin Miner is not an efficient ally for 3 cost, but great value when put into play for free.

Expert Treasure-hunter

Expert Treasure-hunter is similar to Dwarven Mining cards since it discards the top card of the player deck. A player that knows what the card is can always guess correctly to draw it instead.

Resource Acceleration

  • Legacy of Numenor - Leadership Event - 0 Cost - Doomed 4. Action: Add 1 resource to each hero's resource pool.

More resources or cost reduction increases X and the player can see and rearrange more cards. Steward of Gondor was the big one in the Core Set and still strong today. In Lore, options are more limited with Master of Lore that can only reduce the cost by 3 at best. Love of Tales while cheap requires multiple copies in play to generate significant resources and many song cards or Drinking Song with Scroll of Isildur. Hobbits with a Good Meal can basically turn the effect into X + 2. There are all the Leadership events like Tighten Our Belts, Legacy of Numenor, and Captain’s Wisdom that can add resources to heroes.

Ring Rating

Card Talk uses the highly scientific yet arbitrary scale of 1 ring for the card to rule them all to 10 to be cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.

I rate Gandalf’s Search at 9 rings. I strongly suspect Nate French modeled this card on Brainstorm or Ponder. Brainstorm is incredibly strong in Magic the Gathering, and Ponder while weaker is still very good. Both are cheap and have great ability to set up combos and find answers to cards played by the opponent. Brainstorm especially is strong because it lets you swap cards in your hand with the top 3 of your deck and then put them back in any order at any time. Ponder is much closer to Gandalf’s Search since it draws only 1 deck, the player reorders the rest, and its timing is limited to main phases (equivalent to LotR’s Planning Phase.)



Like many LotR Core Set cards, cost was set fairly high compared to cards that came later. This could be Nate trying balance the card search and draw effect, or possibly it made sense with unknown plans for more strong resource acceleration on par of Steward of Gondor and original Zigil Miner. Either way, the cost never made much sense when Lorien’s Wealth can draw 3 cards for 3 cost. Gandalf’s Search for the same cost looks at 3 cards, draws 1, and the player puts the other two back on top in the order they want. Lorien’s Wealth effectively set the standard cost to draw a card at 1 resource. If you are paying more than 1 for Gandalf’s Search, then the player is better off just playing Lorien’s Wealth and drawing all the cards you get to look at. There also wasn’t any cards in the Core Set that trigger off what a player’s top card is. Getting to choose the order of cards is only setting up draws. It isn’t until Expert Treasure Hunter in The Hobbit Over Hill and Under Hill and Zigil Miner came out in Khazad-Dum that it could do more. Original Zigil Miner could help recoup the cost of it looking at more than 1, but with the errata version, it still wouldn’t be worth it.

The good news is we eventually got the better version of this card, Heed the Dream. That’s why despite the card have a few potential uses, I rated it so low. The cost is just too high for them and many cheaper more efficient alternatives exist.

  • Dave – 10
  • Grant – 10
  • Ted – 10
  • Matt – 9
  • Average 9.75

External Links

Sample Decks

Low-Cost Very Efficient 1 Core Set Deck by nelloianiro

Pretty much as the title says, a single (original) core set deck full of low cost cards.

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Aragorn (Core Set)
Eleanor (Core Set)
Glorfindel (Core Set)

Ally (17)
2x Daughter of the Nimrodel (Core Set)
3x Gandalf (Core Set)
2x Gléowine (Core Set)
3x Guard of the Citadel (Core Set)
1x Henamarth Riversong (Core Set)
1x Lórien Guide (Core Set)
2x Miner of the Iron Hills (Core Set)
3x Snowbourn Scout (Core Set)

Attachment (13)
1x Celebrían’s Stone (Core Set)
1x Dark Knowledge (Core Set)
2x Forest Snare (Core Set)
1x Power in the Earth (Core Set)
2x Protector of Lórien (Core Set)
1x Self Preservation (Core Set)
2x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)
2x The Favor of the Lady (Core Set)
1x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)

Event (20)
2x Common Cause (Core Set)
1x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)
2x Ever Vigilant (Core Set)
2x For Gondor! (Core Set)
1x Gandalf’s Search (Core Set)
1x Hasty Stroke (Core Set)
2x Lore of Imladris (Core Set)
1x Lórien’s Wealth (Core Set)
2x Sneak Attack (Core Set)
2x Stand and Fight (Core Set)
1x Strength of Will (Core Set)
2x The Galadhrim’s Greeting (Core Set)
1x Valiant Sacrifice (Core Set)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards
Cards up to Core Set

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Henamarth Riversong

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Player Card Categories
    • Encounter Scrying
    • Encounter Control
    • Messenger of the King

True solo king

Background

Henamarth appears to be a character created by FFG as there is no mention of him in any of the books. Presumably he is one of the elves of Mirkwood that lived in the Woodland Realm under King Thranduil. This assumption comes from that the Core Set is part of the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle and set in and around Mirkwood. It is still quite possible he is one of the Galadhrim Silvan elves as there many different peoples of Middle Earth represented therein.

Card Theme

Knowing little of Henamarth, there is really only the card art to go by. He is all dressed in various shades of green seemingly to blend in better with the grass and forest around him. He has hand raise shielding his eyes as if trying to see something in the distance. It appears he is being depicted as a scout or sentry of some kind. In either case, seeing dangers before they are generally known fits well with his ability to see the top card of the encounter deck.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Quest Control / Willpower Bonus

Henamarth is a true solo king because knowing the top encounter card gives a player the exact staging area threat they’ll be questing against most of the time. That is barring surge and other similar effects that would lead to another card being revealed or added.

This allows the true solo player to send exactly amount of necessary willpower or hold back enough characters for combat. Willpower bonus abilities that be added are still good to have. These allow the player to use their characters more efficiently and keep as many as possible open for combat.

Encounter Control

There are a number of cards that trigger based on when a certain kind of card is revealed during staging. Thalin from the Core Set is an example of the later and works really well with Henamarth. Thalin’s 1 willpower is not that helpful for questing. A player knowing when to send him, especially in true solo, to trigger his ability versus hold him back to use his 2 attack or 2 defense is much more efficient. Expecting Mischief is very similar to Thalin but being a one time event is much riskier to play blindly. Warden of Arnor being the location version of Thalin can ensure that the Scout hero is only questing when needed. Spirit Merry hero and can quest if Henamarth shows no enemy is expected in true solo. There are also a few cards like Leadership Gimli ally, Leather Boots, and Wingfoot that can ready a character depending on the card revealed. Henamarth can ensure a player knows when the ready will be triggered and send them to the quest without worry.

There are also a few cards that trigger based on looking at the top card of the encounter deck. The Longbeard Elder gets to do a little location control if the top card is a location. The Ithilien Lookout can help set that up with his response to discard the top encounter card if it is an enemy. That would also allow the player to draw a card when playing a Cautious Halfling. Otherwise the Celduin Traveler can get rid of the top location if the player(s) don’t like it.

Messenger of the King

Henamarth as a Messenger of the King (MotK) hero doesn’t bring much in stats, but the threat cost of 3 is prime to enable Secrecy. The biggest problem with Henamarth as a MotK hero is his 1 health. He is only a single undefended attack or direct damage from a treachery away from dying. There is Elven Mail to give him 2 more hit points. Still very risky and potentially lose a Lore resource per round. Gleowine for the same threat cost can quest for the same, has 2 hit points, and can draw a card. Gleowine for the cost seems to be a better pick than Henamarth.

Silvans

Henamarth doesn’t have the enter play effects of the later Silvan allies that came out in the Ringmaker cycle. He can still benefit from Celeborn’s stat boosting ability and the cost reduction offered by O Lorien!. Galadriel synergizes well with him too since he can quest when he comes into play and still be ready to use his ability. Targeting him with The Tree People is a decent option since he is cheap to replay.

Silvans also have a few attachments that can played on allies. Generally they’re better on the stronger Silvan allies like Legolas or Marksman of Lorien or a Silvan hero. They’re still an option to make Henamarth into a ranged attacker that lowers enemy defense by 2 or potentially a secondary defender for weaker enemies with 1 defense and 3 hit points from Elven Mail and Cloak of Lorien. Silvan Trackers can heal off any damage taken quite easily.

Ring Rating

Card Talk uses the highly scientific yet arbitrary scale of 1 ring for the card to rule them all to 10 to be cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.

I rate Henamarth at 2 rings. He is cheap to play, gives the player 1 willpower or 1 attack, and has a useful ability. Worst comes to worst, a player can always chump block with him as well. Just tremendous value for his cost.

Then his ability is just so strong in true solo. Knowing exactly what the staging area will have most turns allows a player to split their heroes and allies most efficiently between questing and combat. If there is a treachery, foreknowledge of its effect can let a player play around it. For example, knowing the top encounter card is Necromancer’s Reach that will deal a damage to each exhausted character, then the player can just commit characters that have more than 1 hit point remaining. His ability can also help in defending because it can show what the first shadow card will be. That foreknowledge can make the difference between losing a defending hero and losing a cheap ally in their place.

The low cost means he can slot into just about every deck with Lore. He doesn’t synergize perfectly with the Silvan cards that came later, but he still works with them although there might be better options. There isn’t really any downside to him. If I’m not playing him in a deck with Lore then it is because it is built around a theme or trait.

  • Dave – 3
  • Grant – 2
  • Ted – TBR
  • Matt – 2
  • Average 2.33

External Links

Sample Decks

Pretty Fly for a Scry Guy by Durins Father

An encounter scrying deck full of direct damage effects. The direct damage is meant to kill enemies as soon as possible after they’re revealed in staging.

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Damrod (The Land of Shadow)
Denethor (Core Set)
Thalin (Core Set)

Ally (14)
2x Anborn (The Blood of Gondor)
2x Descendant of Thorondor (The Hills of Emyn Muil)
2x Henamarth Riversong (Core Set)
2x Ithilien Tracker (Heirs of Númenor)
2x Marksman of Lórien (The Drowned Ruins)
2x Master of Lore (Heirs of Númenor)
2x Warden of Healing (The Long Dark)

Attachment (16)
2x A Burning Brand (Conflict at the Carrock)
2x Ambush (The Land of Shadow)
2x Forest Snare (Core Set)
2x Gondorian Shield (The Steward’s Fear)
2x Ithilien Pit (Encounter at Amon Dîn)
2x Poisoned Stakes (The Blood of Gondor)
2x Protector of Lórien (Core Set)
2x Ranger Spikes (Heirs of Númenor)

Event (27)
2x Arrows from the Trees (Temple of the Deceived)
3x Behind Strong Walls (Heirs of Númenor)
3x Daeron’s Runes (Foundations of Stone)
3x Deep Knowledge (The Voice of Isengard)
3x Expecting Mischief (Over Hill and Under Hill)
3x Feint (Core Set)
2x Forest Patrol (Assault on Osgiliath)
2x Infighting (A Journey to Rhosgobel)
2x Interrogation (The Drowned Ruins)
2x Risk Some Light (Shadow and Flame)
2x Rumour from the Earth (Return to Mirkwood)

Player Side Quest (1)
1x Scout Ahead (The Wastes of Eriador)

3 Heroes, 58 Cards
Cards up to The Drowned Ruins

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Horn of Gondor

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Card Talk Season 6 Episode 7
    • Video episode
    • Audio episode
  • Cycle
    • Shadows of Mirkwood
  • Set
    • Core and Revised Core Set
  • Player Card Categories
    • Resource Acceleration
    • Burglar Treasure

Pre-Errata Version

Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

Background

Vorondil the Hunter created the horn from a wild ox of Rhun. Vorondil was the father of Mardil, the first ruling steward of Gondor. The horn passed down to the eldest son until borne by Boromir. Legend had it that the horn’s call would not go answered if sounded within Gondor. In the Lord of the Rings, Boromir sounded the horn to call for aid in fighting off the Uruk-hai at Amon-hen. While the Fellowship heeded its call, they were too late to help Boromir.

Card Theme

The resource acceleration mechanism for a character being destroyed fits with Boromir’s sort of. The one resource can help put an ally into play which would fit with the horn’s legend of always being answered. That it gives resources for multiple characters falling to Sauron’s forces is quite a mismatch. A more thematic mechanism would have been a mustering effect like Elf-stone or Timely Aid.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Leaves Play

Cards that have effects when a character or itself leaves play can increase the value of a destroyed character. These are generally better since they work with Sneak Attack like effects. Horn of Gondor will only trigger when damage on a card is equal or greater than its hit points. Still stacking effects to get more value out of a chump block or losing a character to Archery can make the resources better spent. There are many useful effects this can trigger. Tactics Eomer can get his attack to 5 without any attachments and Leadership Prince Imrahil can ready. Allies like Descendent of Throndor, Meneldor, Squire of the Citadel, or Eomund can deal damage, place progress, get more resources, or ready characters if they are the chump blocker with Horn of Gondor essentially defraying the cost a bit. Valiant Sacrifice, Rallying Cry, or Horn of the Mark help with the card disadvantage created by a character being destroyed.

Burglar’s Turn

The Burglar’s Turn contract allows items like the horn to be put in a loot deck. The loot are attached to locations when they are made the active one. Exploring the active location will put the attached card into play. This is much more valuable for high cost attachments, but it can still work with Horn of Gondor.

Cheap Allies

Zero or one cost allies work best in a chump blocking strategy and the Horn. The Horn of Gondor will recoup the resource cost the lost ally. The main issue will be drawing enough cards to keep playing allies to defend with. Some of the cards mentioned earlier with leaves play effects can help offset the card disadvantage there.

Quest Specific

Basically any scenario where a player is better off using a chump blocking strategy. The Against the Shadow cycle particularly any scenario with the Mordor Elite and the Orc Vanguard with 8 attack. The cycle’s propensity for multiple shadow effects makes chump blocking generally safer.

Fire in the Night, there is a side quest that stops characters from using their defense versus the dragon, Dragnir. When it is in play a chump blocking strategy is better than losing a hero.

Ring Rating

Card Talk uses the highly scientific yet arbitrary scale of 1 ring for the card to rule them all to 10 to be cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.

I rate Horn of Gondor at 8 rings. I’m really tempted to go even to 9 rings. It does have some use with a chump blocking strategy and multiplayer since it is not limited to characters the owner controls. The pre-errata version I would probably would have rated 2 or 3 rings. It had many more uses synergizing really well with Rohan, Eagles, Sneak Attack, To Me! O my kinsfolk and many other effects that put an ally into play temporarily. It would have been overpowered with Silvans of course. I understand why it received errata, but the nerf hammer hit it into near irrelevance. That is because the trigger is less under the player’s control. It also has the Brok Ironfist ability problem, its an effect that a player typically would rather not trigger. The player loses an ally that had to be drawn and paid for to get a single resource.

  • Dave – 7
  • Grant – 7
  • Ted – TBR
  • Matt – 8
  • Average – 7.33

External Links

Sample Decks

Meat and Potatoes (And Awesome) by stephenball

A deck that centers around leaves play effects plus The Horn of Gondor of course!

Meat and Potatoes (And Awesome)

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Éomer (The Voice of Isengard)
Éowyn (Core Set)
Prince Imrahil (A Journey to Rhosgobel)

Ally (23)
2x Arwen Undómiel (The Watcher in the Water)
2x Bofur (The Redhorn Gate)
3x Envoy of Pelargir (Heirs of Númenor)
3x Errand-rider (Heirs of Númenor)
3x Ethir Swordsman (The Steward’s Fear)
3x Gandalf (Core Set)
3x Squire of the Citadel (The Blood of Gondor)
2x Westfold Horse-breeder (The Voice of Isengard)
2x Westfold Outrider (The Voice of Isengard)

Attachment (13)
3x Ancient Mathom (A Journey to Rhosgobel)
1x Celebrían’s Stone (Core Set)
3x Firefoot (The Dunland Trap)
2x Gondorian Shield (The Steward’s Fear)
2x Horn of Gondor (Core Set)
1x Rohan Warhorse (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)

Event (14)
3x A Test of Will (Core Set)
2x Hasty Stroke (Core Set)
3x Quick Strike (Core Set)
3x Sneak Attack (Core Set)
3x Valiant Sacrifice (Core Set)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards
Cards up to The Dunland Trap

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Hasty Stroke

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Card Talk Season 6 Episode 6
    • Video episode
    • Audio episode
  • Cycle
    • Shadows of Mirkwood
  • Set
    • Core and Revised Core Set
  • Player Card Categories
    • Shadow Control

Basic shadow cancelation

Background

The flavor text refers to when Aragorn tells Gimli and Legolas the he used the palantir of Orthanc. Gimli expresses concern that Sauron is aware of them now. Aragorn responds with basically saying he is intentionally forcing Sauron to attack them. The intent is have to misled Sauron to attack them and lead him away from Frodo and The One Ring.

Card Theme

As Aragorn hinted at in the flavor text, Sauron will attack them, but the attack won’t be effective. This is because it will be misdirected away from the true threat to his power. Shadow cards typically make attacks stronger and canceling one will make it less effective. The parallel between the theme and mechanism is there although the scale is different. Aragorn is using a metaphor to explain his strategy for the war. The card affects only an attack by a single enemy.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Discard Recursion

The big downside of the card is that it is an event and can normally be used once. Fortunately, Spirit is the sphere of Discard Recursion. Dwarven Tomb can get it back directly to hand to play Hasty Stroke again. Will of the West, Galadhrim Weaver, and The White Council will only shuffle it back into a players deck. These do make it possible to get another play Hasty Council, but then a player has to draw it again.

Map of Earnil should be noted won’t work to recur Hasty Stroke. This is because the shadow reveal that would trigger Hasty Stroke’s response doesn’t happen during an action window. The player can’t activate the Map’s action to play Hasty Stroke from the discard pile.

Gloin Decks

A big weakness of Gloin decks are shadow effects. A big attack boost that would go beyond his hit points or an effect that discards attachments can wreck the whole strategy. Also taking multiple undefended attacks increases the chances of seeing a bad shadow. Most of shadow control alternatives require the hero to defend, but Hasty Stroke does not.

Quest Specific

Not all shadows are created equal in this game. Early in the life of the game, scenarios are notoriously swingy. There were some encounter cards that would do virtually nothing and others would basically require the players to cancel them or lose. Shadow effects suffered from the same variability. Darrowdelf known for it’s terrible treacheries doubled up with many awful shadow effect’s like Sudden Pitfall discarding the defending character. Sleeping Sentry already notorious is arguably worse as a shadow since it will discard all exhausted cards.

Against the Shadow is also notorious for bad shadows because so many can add more shadow cards to an enemy. It is even possible to have a chain of several shadows on a single enemy.

Later scenarios, has many enemies immune to player card effects. That immunity doesn’t extend to shadow cards except for a few exceptions. Fire in the Night, The Road Darkens, and The Battle of Pelennor Fields make the big boss enemy’s shadows immune as well. Hasty Stroke won’t be as helpful in those scenarios.

Ring Rating

Card Talk uses the highly scientific yet arbitrary scale of 1 ring for the card to rule them all to 10 to be cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.

I rate Hasty Stroke at 4 rings. The effect can be very useful, but not every scenario has shadows that require cancelation. There are also many alternatives in the full card pool that provide shadow cancelation like Erkenbrand, A Burning Brand, Armored Destrier, Jubayr, Sterner than Steel, Balin, etc. Many of their shadow control effects are repeatable. Doubling up on shadow cancelation only makes it more consistent. It will still make it into many decks or at least their sideboard.

  • Dave – 5
  • Grant –
  • Ted –
  • Matt – 4

External Links

Guard of the Citadel

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Card Talk Season 6 Episode 5
    • Video episode
    • Audio episode
  • Cycle
    • Shadows of Mirkwood
  • Set
    • Core and Revised Core Set

The most basic of allies.

Background

Guarding the citadel and the White Tree was the highest honor and duty to the guards in Minas Tirith. They couldn’t leave their posts for any reason except if commanded by their lord. They could wear Elendil’s livery of the White Tree with a silver crown and stars on a field of black. They also wore mithril helms with wings of sea birds. The flavor text comes from The Council of Elrond. It is near the closing of Elrond’s recounting of The One Ring’s history and the aftermath of the Last Alliance.

Card Theme

The theme here is all in the name and traits since there are no mechanisms other than its stats.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Gondor Global Stat Boosts

The Core Set alongside this ally introduced the first Gondor global stat boost with For Gondor!. It worked to give each a character + 1 attack. It also gave Gondor characters +1 defense. The enemies in the core set often had 2 attack and the defense could save the Guard assuming there was no shadow effect. Faramir doesn’t just provide his bonus willpower to Gondor characters, but he is Gondor traited. Simliarly, Sword that was Broken thematically should be Gondor related as the sword of High King Elendil although the boost is given to all characters.

Then the Against the Shadow cycle introduced more Gondor centric cards. Leadership Boromir hero gave all Gondor allies +1 attack as long as he had a resource in his resource pool. Then much later in the cycle, Visionary Leadership could give all Gondor allies an extra willpower.

The Outlands, representing the southern fiefs of Gondor, provide global boosts to other Outlands characters. Sword of Morthond allows a Gondor ally to gain the benefit of these global bonuses as well.

Gondor Swarm

The global boosts available to Gondor are better the more allies they can get into play. Fortunately, the trait has many cheap allies like Guard of the Citadel. Some even help find or put additional allies into play like Soldier of Gondor and Herald of Anorien. Soldier of Dol Amroth can make Tactics Gondor allies cheaper. Pelargir Ship Captain, Envoy of Pelargri, and Errand Rider can help smooth resources for more allies in addition to being more cheap allies. Squire of the Citadel has one of the cheapest printed costs and Citadel Custodian can become free with enough Gondor allies in play.

Ally Attachments

Gondor doesn’t get any specific bonuses for attachments on allies like Dale. Guard of the Citadel does have a very useful trait to get ally attachments, Warrior. There are several that can increase the Guard’s combat ability with bonus attack, defense, and hit points. Bonus willpower is hard to come by with only Wild Stallion as an option.

Ring Rating

Card Talk uses the highly scientific yet arbitrary scale of 1 ring for the card to rule them all to 10 to be cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.

I rate Guard of the Citadel at 7 rings. I view the Guard as the Grizzly Bears of LOTR LCG. For those that haven’t played Magic the Gathering, Grizzly Bears is the epitome of a vanilla creature. It costs 2 for 2 attack and 2 defense/hit points. Nothing really bad about it other than it lacks any abilities. Great for a beginner deck. Guard of the Citadel fills the same role. It is a low complexity ally that is cheap and good enough. Later on as people build out their card pools, there’s usually not much reason to pull out Guard of the Citadel as there are many other 2 cost Gondor allies with the same or better stats and an ability.

  • Dave –
  • Grant –
  • Ted –
  • Matt – 7

External Links

Sample Decks

The Armies of Gondor by Gizlivadi 

Mono Leadership Gondor Swarm

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Aragorn (Core Set)
Boromir (Heirs of Númenor)
Denethor (Flight of the Stormcaller)

Ally (27)
3x Envoy of Pelargir (Heirs of Númenor)
3x Errand-rider (Heirs of Númenor)
2x Faramir (Core Set)
2x Galadriel (The Road Darkens)
3x Gandalf (Core Set)
2x Guard of the Citadel (Core Set)
3x Herald of Anórien (Trouble in Tharbad)
1x Ingold (The Wastes of Eriador)
3x Squire of the Citadel (The Blood of Gondor)
3x Veteran of Osgiliath (Escape from Mount Gram)
2x White Tower Watchman (The Drúadan Forest)

Attachment (16)
2x Celebrían’s Stone (Core Set)
2x Heir of Mardil (Celebrimbor’s Secret)
3x Rod of the Steward (Flight of the Stormcaller)
3x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)
2x Sword that was Broken (The Watcher in the Water)
1x Tome of Atanatar (The Blood of Gondor)
3x Visionary Leadership (The Morgul Vale)

Event (8)
3x A Very Good Tale (Over Hill and Under Hill)
2x Sneak Attack (Core Set)
3x Strength of Arms (The Drúadan Forest)

3 Heroes, 51 Cards
Cards up to Flight of the Stormcaller

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Dúnedain Message

Card Talk: An LOTR LCG PodcastLeave a comment
  • Card Talk Season 6 Episode 4
    • Video episode
    • Audio episode
  • Cycle
    • Angmar Awakened
  • Set
    • Across the Ettenmoors
  • Player Card Categories
    • Card Search

Basically an extra copy of a side quest.

Background

The flavor text comes from The Council of Elrond chapter in The Fellowship of the Ring. More specifically when Gandalf is telling of how he came to suspect and eventually know Bilbo’s magic ring was The One Ring. He was relating when he first started to wonder, he notice many spies around the Shire. He then asked the Dunedain for help and they increased their watch over The Shire.

Card Theme

Many cards that draw additional cards or search for a particular card are associated with knowledge. Particularly in the form of the spoken or written word. Dunedain keeping watch over The Shire and the surrounding areas would have considerable knowledge of it and the happenings there. A message from them would contain intelligence especially considering the added context of Gandalf asking them to watch The Shire for him from the flavor text.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Side Quests

Dunedain Message needs side quests to find. It is hard to go wrong with the first player side quest, Gather Information. It is only 4 quest points making it one of the easier quests to complete. It is also neutral making it easy to slot into a deck with Dunedain Message. The Storm Comes is also a neutral side quest that offers great resource smoothing for ally cards. The Leadership side quests, Send for Aid and Prepare for Battle offer powerful benefits although their a little harder to complete with 6 quest points. Outside the Leadership sphere Keep Watch, Scout Ahead, and Double Back all have very useful effects worth having sooner than later.

Side Quest Bonus

Thurindir is amazing to run in any deck with a side quest in it because he gets a bonus willpower once the side quest is completed. He automatically gets to search for one at the start of the game. Dunedain Message can help find more side quests to complete and power him up. This is especially helpful as many of the side quests are limited to 1 copy per deck.

Thurindir is not the only player card to get better as players complete or attempt to complete side quests. East Road Ranger in particular is helpful because they can quest for 3 when the active quest is a side quest. The others like Thalion, Vigilant Dunadan, Rider of Rohan, Halfast Gamgee, and Legacy Blade require the quest to be completed. Thalion and Legacy Blade like Thurindir are better the more side quests are completed. Thalion can become a hero if 3 or more are completed. Legacy Blade gives +1 attack per side quest completed to max of 3.

Weather Hills Watchman

The Weather Hills Watchman can search the top 5 cards of the deck for a card with the Signal trait. This includes the Dunedain Message helping to make Dunedain side quest bonus a little more consistent.

Quest Specific

Running player side quests is very scenario dependent. Some scenarios purposely get harder the longer players take to complete them.

  • The Ringmaker cycle with the Time mechanism is the prime example. Every few turns, an encounter card will trigger a nasty effect the player(s) will have to deal with or survive.
  • Journey in the Dark from the LOTR Saga players gives players only so many turns before the Balrog arrives.
  • The first stage in the Over the Misty Mountains Grim, has very strong and tough Giant enemies and bouncing boulders that are are hero killers. It is best in that quest to hurry to the second stage.
  • Flight of the Stormcaller and Race Across Harad, the players are chasing the enemies and being chased, respectively. Delays in questing means letting the enemies escape or catch up and it is game over.
  • Deadman’s Dike and Under the Ash Mountains the scenario is trying to mine the player(s) deck(s). Each turn whittles away a little more at the deck. If deck(s) run out, it is game over.

On the flip side, there are quests where it is helpful to not advance too quickly or even stay on a particular stage for awhile.

  • Journey Along the Anduin in the Core Set, staying on stage 1 even after defeating the Hill Troll is a good idea. Stage 2 forces the players to reveal an additional encounter card so questing through it quickly to avoid location lock or having too many enemies is ideal. Then the last stage could introduce up to 4 enemies in true solo for a player to fight. Both of these stages are much easier with a large board of allies.
  • Conflict at the Carrock and We Must Away ‘Ere Break of Day it helps to stall on Stage 1. Once the player(s) have a strong board state, then advance to Stage 2 to take on the strong trolls that ambush them.
  • There are quests with no quest points like The Steward’s Fear or The Morgul Vale because advancing the quest is dependent some other trigger. In those scenarios a player might as well quest against a side quest and get a benefit beside not just raising their threat.

These are by no means exhaustive lists. The Vision of the Palantir’s scenario analyses, however, indicate at the start of each if a quest is good to use side quests in or not.

Ring Rating

Card Talk uses the highly scientific yet arbitrary scale of 1 ring for the card to rule them all to 10 to be cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.

I rate Dunedain Message at 8 rings. There is some utility to the card considering that the side quests from the Angmar Awakened cycle are limited to one copy per deck. The card can act like an additional copy of a side quest to increase the chances of finding it. Unfortunately, it is in Leadership which doesn’t have many side quest centric cards. Lore has more of the side quest bonus cards including Thurindir that can search for a side quest at set up anyway. On top of that, Lore has more card search cards like Word of Command and Heed the Dream that can find side quests or whatever card a player needs. Dunedain Message just is a very limited use case card that is easily overshadowed by better alternatives.

  • Dave – 9
  • Grant – TBR
  • Ted – 8
  • Matt – 8

External Links

Sample Decks

The Storm Comes! by ksym77

Deck uses Kahliel hero and The Storm Comes side quest to play many powerful unique allies.

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Faramir (The Land of Shadow)
Kahliel (The Mûmakil)
Théodred (Core Set)

Ally (28)
1x Beorn (Core Set)
1x Déorwine (Temple of the Deceived)
3x Dwarven Sellsword (The Drowned Ruins)
1x Elfhelm (The Dead Marshes)
2x Elrond (The Road Darkens)
3x Elven Jeweler (Escape from Mount Gram)
3x Errand-rider (Heirs of Númenor)
3x Firyal (The Mûmakil)
3x Gandalf (Core Set)
1x Gildor Inglorion (The Hills of Emyn Muil)
1x Glorfindel (Flight of the Stormcaller)
3x Jubayr (The Mûmakil)
3x Yazan (The Mûmakil)

Attachment (6)
2x Kahliel’s Headdress (The Mûmakil)
3x Lord of Morthond (Encounter at Amon Dîn)
1x Tome of Atanatar (The Blood of Gondor)

Event (13)
3x Captain’s Wisdom (The Thing in the Depths)
3x Dúnedain Message (Across the Ettenmoors)
2x Reinforcements (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
2x Sneak Attack (Core Set)
3x Strength of Arms (The Drúadan Forest)

Player Side Quest (3)
1x Prepare for Battle (The Mûmakil)
1x Send for Aid (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
1x The Storm Comes (The Sands of Harad)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards
Cards up to The Mûmakil

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Derndingle Warrior

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Cycle
    • Angmar Awakened
  • Set
    • Escape from Mount Gram
  • Player Card Categories
    • Defense Bonus

The Ent defender

Background

Ents are sentient humanoid trees. The valar, Yavanna, wanted protectors for her trees and they were created to be those protectors. They are often called Tree Shepards as a result.

Derndingle specifically refers to a clearing in Fangorn Forest where the Ents held their Entmoot in the Two Towers. They decided at that Entmoot to attack Isengard and Saruman leading to the Last March of the Ents.

Card Theme

The Ents are demonstrated to be very fierce once roused to anger. See their destruction of Saruman’s forces as Isengard. The damage for bonuses present in many Ent cards is a reasonable mechanical representation of this. Although it is a bit a stretch for it to give anything besides an attack bonus.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Other Ents

Foremost among the Ent cards offering synergy with the Derndingle Warrior’s ability is Booming Ent. It gets +1 attack for each damaged Ent and is only limited by the number of damaged Ents a player controls. Derndingle as a sentinel defender and can use its action while defending to become damaged can easily become damaged boosting Booming Ent’s attack.

Treebeard ally is the great Ent enabler. He gains resources that can pay for or ready Derndingle Warrior. Entmoot similarly accelerates Ents by drawing more of them including any Derndingle Warriors in the top 5 cards. The second ability allows the defense bonus to be activated twice in 1 round since it is only limit 1 per attack. Wellinghall Preserver can heal the damage taken

Healing

Healing is a two fold benefit for Derndingle Warrior. First, it allows the Derndingle to keep using it’s ability. Second, if it does take damage after defending still, the healing can keep it around to defend again later. There are many options for healing besides just Wellinghall Preserver. Warden of Healing and Ioreth are the leading two. Warden because he is cheap, can heal 2 characters, and can heal multiple times a round if there are Lore resources to spare. Ioreth is great to heal a lot of damage at once. Most of the other options are less efficient than these two due to higher resource costs, action inefficiency, or other non-resource costs. On top of all these, Elrond hero can boost the effectiveness of those that don’t heal all the damage on a character.

Damage Cancelation

Honour guard is the only damage cancelation option available for the Derndingle. It helps partly like healing in stopping extra combat damage. It is nonbo though with the Derndingle’s ability because it can’t cancel the cost (the one damage) of using it.

Bonus Hit Points

More hit points also help maximize its defensive capability by expanding its capacity to take more damage either from its ability or just combat. The Ent Draught can be played since Derndingle Warrior fulfills the play restriction. Vigilant Guard is an in sphere option. Hauberk of Mail also gives Derndingle an a bonus defense as well as a hit point. Spare Pipe doesn’t do as much for the Derndingle with it’s 1 hit point but the event it fetches might help the overall deck performance.

Ally Readying

There are a couple Ent speicific options as seen earlier with ally Treebeard if he has 2 resources although often it is better to just ready Treebeard himself. Boom and Trumpted also works although there might be better targets for the +3 attack. Narya requires the play to use Gandalf or Cirdan, but offers the most synergy because not only will it ready Derndingle but boost its defense at the same time.

While he can’t have restricted attachments, there is Valiant Determination and Spare Hood and Cloak that can let him both quest and attack. Valiant Determination is the best of these as it will ensure he can do both every turn although probably not worth it for 1 willpower. Leadership Faramir hero is another way to potentially get the most use of him although it will be dependent on engaging an enemy every turn. Leadership introduced ally readying with Every Vigilant and Grim Resolve in the Core set. Ever Vigilant is a good way to ready the Warrior and get multiple defenses. Grim Resolve’s and The Free Peoples’ global readying is more aimed at turning the tide of a game to make a big quest push and then try to hold the line in combat.

Ring Rating

Card Talk uses the highly scientific yet arbitrary scale of 1 ring for the card to rule them all to 10 to be cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.

I rate Derndingle Warrior at 3 rings. It is a very affordable ally at 2 cost. The defense stat of 2 and 3 hit points make it a decent defending ally at that cost. It’s ability helps it rival the defensive staples Winged Guardian and Defender of Rammas. The drawback of it entering play exhausted combined with it needing to take damage for the defense bonus means sometimes it isn’t the best solution. That one turn delay can mean the difference in having to take an undefended attack or not. It can’t siege quest like Defender of Rammas and Winged Guardian since it has to defend for the defense bonus. Still it works well and can splash in many decks with Tactics.

  • Dave – 4
  • Grant – 5
  • Ted – TBR
  • Matt – 3
  • Average – 4

External Links

Sample Decks

Legolas Shoots Locations aka Mono Tactics v4 by kattattack22

Mono Tactics deck for Heirs of Numenor and Against the Shadow cycle. I tweaked the deck as I played through the cycle and through the various iterations it beat every quest. It definitely settled into a final form by Encounter at Amon Din.

Legolas Shoots Locations aka Mono Tactics v4

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Beregond (Heirs of Númenor)
Éowyn (The Flame of the West)
Legolas (Core Set)

Ally (24)
2x Beechbone (The Battle of Carn Dûm)
2x Bofur (Over Hill and Under Hill)
3x Defender of Rammas (Heirs of Númenor)
3x Derndingle Warrior (Escape from Mount Gram)
3x Dúnedain Hunter (The Lost Realm)
3x Eagles of the Misty Mountains (Return to Mirkwood)
2x Gandalf (Core Set)
3x Honour Guard (The Wastes of Eriador)
3x Knights of the Swan (The Steward’s Fear)

Attachment (17)
2x Arod (The Treason of Saruman)
3x Dagger of Westernesse (The Black Riders)
3x Favor of the Valar (The Battle of Carn Dûm)
3x Gondorian Shield (The Steward’s Fear)
3x Rivendell Blade (Road to Rivendell)
3x Secret Vigil (The Lost Realm)

Event (9)
3x Feint (Core Set)
3x Foe-hammer (Over Hill and Under Hill)
3x Hands Upon the Bow (Shadow and Flame)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards
Cards up to The Flame of the West

Sideboard

Hero (1)
Aragorn (The Lost Realm)

Ally (10)
1x Gandalf (Core Set)
3x Grimbold (The Flame of the West)
3x Legolas (The Treason of Saruman)
3x Vassal of the Windlord (The Dead Marshes)

Attachment (5)
3x Dwarven Axe (Core Set)
2x Horn of Gondor (Core Set)

Event (9)
3x Sterner than Steel (The Flame of the West)
3x The Eagles Are Coming! (The Hunt for Gollum)
3x Thicket of Spears (Core Set)

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Twin Council of the Wise Fellowship by kattattack22

Two player or two handed fellowship using Council of the Wise in both decks. A bit of experiment to build 2 identical decks so that pulling cards for Council of the Wise is a little more worthwhile.

Twin Council of the Wise – Beregond, Eowyn, and Legolas

Hero (3)
Beregond (The Flame of the West)
Éowyn (Core Set)
Legolas (Core Set)

Contract (0)
1x Council of the Wise (Under the Ash Mountains)

Ally (17)
1x Defender of Rammas (Heirs of Númenor)
1x Derndingle Warrior (Escape from Mount Gram)
1x Elven Jeweler (Escape from Mount Gram)
1x Galadhon Archer (The Nîn-in-Eilph)
1x Galadhrim Weaver (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
1x Galadriel’s Handmaiden (Celebrimbor’s Secret)
1x Gandalf (Core Set)
1x Gondorian Spearman (Core Set)
1x Honour Guard (The Wastes of Eriador)
1x Long Lake Fisherman (The Withered Heath)
1x Northern Tracker (Core Set)
1x Rhovanion Outrider (Temple of the Deceived)
1x Rider of Rohan (Beneath the Sands)
1x Rider of the Mark (Road to Rivendell)
1x West Road Traveller (Return to Mirkwood)
1x Westfold Horse-breeder (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Zigil Miner (Khazad-dûm)

Attachment (13)
1x Ancient Mathom (A Journey to Rhosgobel)
1x Bow of Yew (The Wilds of Rhovanion)
1x Dagger of Westernesse (The Black Riders)
1x Gondorian Shield (The Steward’s Fear)
1x Magic Ring (The Crossings of Poros)
1x Raiment of War (The Thing in the Depths)
1x Rohan Warhorse (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Round Shield (Mount Gundabad)
1x Secret Vigil (The Lost Realm)
1x Silver Circlet (Wrath and Ruin)
1x Silver Lamp (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)
1x War Axe (The City of Ulfast)

Event (19)
1x A Test of Will (Core Set)
1x Defiant Challenge (Under the Ash Mountains)
1x Desperate Defense (The Flame of the West)
1x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)
1x Elrond’s Counsel (The Watcher in the Water)
1x Elven-light (The Dread Realm)
1x Feint (Core Set)
1x Foe-hammer (Over Hill and Under Hill)
1x Hands Upon the Bow (Shadow and Flame)
1x Hasty Stroke (Core Set)
1x Horn’s Cry (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
1x Open the Armory (The Dungeons of Cirith Gurat)
1x Quick Strike (Core Set)
1x Stand and Fight (Core Set)
1x Sterner than Steel (The Flame of the West)
1x The Galadhrim’s Greeting (Core Set)
1x The White Council (The Dunland Trap)
1x The Wizards’s Voice (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Will of the West (Core Set)

Player Side Quest (1)
1x Gather Information (The Lost Realm)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards

Sideboard

Hero (2)
Brand son of Bain (The Hills of Emyn Muil)
Glorfindel (Foundations of Stone)

Ally (1)
1x Celduin Traveler (The Nîn-in-Eilph)

Attachment (4)
1x Miruvor (Shadow and Flame)
1x Steed of Imladris (Across the Ettenmoors)
1x Thorongil (The Fortress of Nurn)
1x Thrór’s Key (On the Doorstep)

Event (5)
1x Helm of Secrecy (Under the Ash Mountains)
1x Hold Your Ground! (The Battle of Carn Dûm)
1x Power of Orthanc (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Reforged (The Fate of Wilderland)
1x Shadow of the Past (Return to Mirkwood)

Twin Council of the Wise – Arwen, Grimbeorn, and Lanwyn

Hero (3)
Arwen Undómiel (The Dread Realm)
Grimbeorn the Old (The Withered Heath)
Lanwyn (The Thing in the Depths)

Contract (0)
1x Council of the Wise (Under the Ash Mountains)

Ally (17)
1x Defender of Rammas (Heirs of Númenor)
1x Derndingle Warrior (Escape from Mount Gram)
1x Elven Jeweler (Escape from Mount Gram)
1x Galadhon Archer (The Nîn-in-Eilph)
1x Galadhrim Weaver (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
1x Galadriel’s Handmaiden (Celebrimbor’s Secret)
1x Gandalf (Core Set)
1x Gondorian Spearman (Core Set)
1x Honour Guard (The Wastes of Eriador)
1x Long Lake Fisherman (The Withered Heath)
1x Northern Tracker (Core Set)
1x Rhovanion Outrider (Temple of the Deceived)
1x Rider of Rohan (Beneath the Sands)
1x Rider of the Mark (Road to Rivendell)
1x West Road Traveller (Return to Mirkwood)
1x Westfold Horse-breeder (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Zigil Miner (Khazad-dûm)

Attachment (13)
1x Ancient Mathom (A Journey to Rhosgobel)
1x Bow of Yew (The Wilds of Rhovanion)
1x Dagger of Westernesse (The Black Riders)
1x Gondorian Shield (The Steward’s Fear)
1x Magic Ring (The Crossings of Poros)
1x Raiment of War (The Thing in the Depths)
1x Rohan Warhorse (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Round Shield (Mount Gundabad)
1x Secret Vigil (The Lost Realm)
1x Silver Circlet (Wrath and Ruin)
1x Silver Lamp (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)
1x War Axe (The City of Ulfast)

Event (19)
1x A Test of Will (Core Set)
1x Defiant Challenge (Under the Ash Mountains)
1x Desperate Defense (The Flame of the West)
1x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)
1x Elrond’s Counsel (The Watcher in the Water)
1x Elven-light (The Dread Realm)
1x Feint (Core Set)
1x Foe-hammer (Over Hill and Under Hill)
1x Hands Upon the Bow (Shadow and Flame)
1x Hasty Stroke (Core Set)
1x Horn’s Cry (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
1x Open the Armory (The Dungeons of Cirith Gurat)
1x Quick Strike (Core Set)
1x Stand and Fight (Core Set)
1x Sterner than Steel (The Flame of the West)
1x The Galadhrim’s Greeting (Core Set)
1x The White Council (The Dunland Trap)
1x The Wizards’s Voice (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Will of the West (Core Set)

Player Side Quest (1)
1x Gather Information (The Lost Realm)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards

Sideboard

Hero (2)
Brand son of Bain (The Hills of Emyn Muil)
Glorfindel (Foundations of Stone)

Ally (1)
1x Celduin Traveler (The Nîn-in-Eilph)

Attachment (4)
1x Miruvor (Shadow and Flame)
1x Steed of Imladris (Across the Ettenmoors)
1x Thorongil (The Fortress of Nurn)
1x Thrór’s Key (On the Doorstep)

Event (5)
1x Helm of Secrecy (Under the Ash Mountains)
1x Hold Your Ground! (The Battle of Carn Dûm)
1x Power of Orthanc (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Reforged (The Fate of Wilderland)
1x Shadow of the Past (Return to Mirkwood)

Fellowship built and published on RingsDB.

Double Back

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Player Card Categories
    • Threat Reduction

The threat reduction side quest of getting lost intentionally.

Background

The flavor text comes from right after Strider, Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry, and Bill leave Bree. Strider is concerned Bill Ferny may tell people which way they left. He leaves the road in the direction of Archet. Then later he took them east in a zig zag path towards Weathertop Hill.

Card Theme

Threat is meant to represent Sauron’s attention on the characters in the game. The act of trying to throw off any pursuit by doubling back out in the wilderness fits really well with this idea. The whole idea is to lose any pursuers and maintain the secrecy of their movements.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Card Search

Ted often says that a drawback to every card, is that it is only good if you draw it. When a card like Double back is limit 1 per deck, a player can’t expect to draw it in every game without some help. Fortunately, there are a quite a few ways to search the player deck or even the top few cards for it. In the Angmar Awakened cycle or hero expansion there are a couple options, Dunedain Message or Gather Information. Dunedain Message can only find a side quest card but can easily act like 2nd, 3rd, or 4th copies of the card in terms improving the odds for getting Double Back. It also searches the player’s entire deck which is not common for search effects in the game.

Gather Information can only have 1 copy per deck but it can find any card and not just a side quest. That can make it a really tough choice to get Double Back over a more key card like Steward of Gondor, but it is still an option. Word of Command also can search the entire deck for any card, but required the player to control and Istari character.

There are also more limited search options that only look at the top 5 cards. Long Lake Fisherman is an in sphere option that can work as long as a player names the 0 cost. Heed the Dream actually spans both searching the top 5, but then can search the entire deck if the player(s) have 3 leadership resources. The best search card for Double Back, however, overlaps with another set of effects that synergize well with it.

Side Quest Bonus

Thurindir is amazing to run in any deck with a side quest in it. He gets to search for that quest during setup and add it to the player’s starting hand. On top of that he gets a bonus willpower once the side quest is completed. One thing to keep in mind is, per a designer’s ruling, player setup effects happen after scenario setup and well after players draw their starting hand and potential mulligan on step 5. If a player has already drawn Double Back, then Thurindir will have to search for another side quest. If that is the only one in the deck then the effect is wasted and the player is down a different player card they could have had. This said, players will often ignore the designer ruling preferring to just get their starting side quest first then draw their hand and mulligan always keeping the chosen side quest. Many find this easier than having to remember to wait and do it later.

Thurindir is not the only player card to get better as players complete or attempt to complete side quests. East Road Ranger in particular is helpful because they can quest for 3 when the active quest is a side quest. The others like Thalion, Vigilant Dunadan, Rider of Rohan, Halfast Gamgee, and Legacy Blade require the quest to be completed.

Hobbits

Hobbits have many ways to benefit from Double Back’s threat reduction. In general, most Hobbit decks rely on their low threat to avoid enemy engagement until they’re built up. It also can help ensure they get many of the bonuses by staying below most enemies’ engagement cost. It can also trigger effects directly like the card draw on Hobbit Pipe. It can help fuel further uses of abilities like Spirit Frodo‘s damage cancelation or Fatty Bolger‘s staging area threat reduction.

Staging area attack

Staging area attack akin to the Hobbits wants threat reduction to stay below enemy threats. Then enemies stay in the staging area to give them targets for their attacks. Heroes like Leadership Eomer, Dunhere, and Haldir with this ability built in can leverage this the most easily. Ranged heroes like Legolas and Bard the Bowman can attack the staging area through cards like Hands Upon the Bow and Great Yew Bow.

Secrecy

Secrecy’s cost discount an provide many powerful effects for a low cost. The downside for many hero line ups is that time to do so is limited to a couple turns before threat gets above 20. Double Back adds another way to help keep threat low and build up a strong board state.

Quest Specific

Running player side quests is very scenario dependent. Some scenarios purposely get harder the longer players take to complete them.

  • The Ringmaker cycle with the Time mechanism is the prime example. Every few turns, an encounter card will trigger a nasty effect the player(s) will have to deal with or survive.
  • Journey in the Dark from the LOTR Saga players gives players only so many turns before the Balrog arrives.
  • The first stage in the Over the Misty Mountains Grim, has very strong and tough Giant enemies and bouncing boulders that are are hero killers. It is best in that quest to hurry to the second stage.
  • Flight of the Stormcaller and Race Across Harad, the players are chasing the enemies and being chased, respectively. Delays in questing means letting the enemies escape or catch up and it is game over.
  • Deadman’s Dike and Under the Ash Mountains the scenario is trying to mine the player(s) deck(s). Each turn whittles away a little more at the deck. If deck(s) run out, it is game over.

On the flip side, there are quests where it is helpful to not advance too quickly or even stay on a particular stage for awhile.

  • Journey Along the Anduin in the Core Set, staying on stage 1 even after defeating the Hill Troll is a good idea. Stage 2 forces the players to reveal an additional encounter card so questing through it quickly to avoid location lock or having too many enemies is ideal. Then the last stage could introduce up to 4 enemies in true solo for a player to fight. Both of these stages are much easier with a large board of allies.
  • Conflict at the Carrock and We Must Away ‘Ere Break of Day it helps to stall on Stage 1. Once the player(s) have a strong board state, then advance to Stage 2 to take on the strong trolls that ambush them.
  • There are quests with no quest points like The Steward’s Fear or The Morgul Vale because advancing the quest is dependent some other trigger. In those scenarios a player might as well quest against a side quest and get a benefit beside not just raising their threat.

These are by no means exhaustive lists. The Vision of the Palantir’s scenario analyses, however, indicate at the start of each if a quest is good to use side quests in or not.

Ring Rating

Card Talk uses the highly scientific yet arbitrary scale of 1 ring for the card to rule them all to 10 to be cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.

I rate Double Back at 3 rings. Threat reduction in general is a very useful effect. It buys the player(s) more turns to complete most quests, gives control over enemy engagements, and potentially bonuses when playing Hobbit and Secrecy decks. There is no resource costs and 4 quest points is not that difficult to complete in a single turn. Particularly for a deck running Spirit cards. It is even multiplayer friendly because it reduces all players’ threat and is not unique. Every player could run 1 copy in their deck increases the odds of seeing it in a game.

The big drawbacks are that players are limited to 1 copy in their deck and not every scenario players will have time to complete a side quest. The limit 1 copy per deck is not that bad with all the card draw and search available. It really comes down to the scenario and can the players afford to divert quest progress for a turn. Not every scenario will allow that knocking down from a universally good card to usually a good card.

  • Dave – 4
  • Grant – TBR
  • Ted – 4
  • Matt – 3
  • Average – Average 3.67

External Links

Sample Decks

Burglar’s Turn to Side Quest by kattattack22

Questing and location control deck built for multiplayer. It’s pretty straightforward deck. Play lots of allies and quest hard to explore locations for loot from the contract and complete side quests to boost Thurindir. Maybe get Thalion turned into a hero.

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Arwen Undómiel (The Dread Realm)
Círdan the Shipwright (The Grey Havens)
Thurindir (Race Across Harad)

Contract (0)
1x The Burglar’s Turn (Wrath and Ruin)

Ally (25)
1x Bilbo Baggins (The Road Darkens)
3x East Road Ranger (The Wastes of Eriador)
1x Faramir (Core Set)
1x Firyal (The Mûmakil)
1x Glorfindel (Flight of the Stormcaller)
3x Lórien Guide (Core Set)
3x Mirkwood Explorer (The Thing in the Depths)
3x Northern Tracker (Core Set)
3x Rider of Rohan (Beneath the Sands)
1x Súlien (The City of Corsairs)
2x Thalion (Fire in the Night)
3x Zigil Miner (Khazad-dûm)

Event (20)
3x A Test of Will (Core Set)
3x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)
3x Elven-light (The Dread Realm)
3x Hidden Cache (The Morgul Vale)
3x Stand and Fight (Core Set)
3x The Galadhrim’s Greeting (Core Set)
2x Will of the West (Core Set)

Player Side Quest (6)
1x Double Back (Escape from Mount Gram)
1x Explore Secret Ways (Race Across Harad)
1x Gather Information (The Lost Realm)
1x Rally the West (The Black Serpent)
1x Scout Ahead (The Wastes of Eriador)
1x The Storm Comes (The Sands of Harad)

3 Heroes, 51 Cards
Cards up to Wrath and Ruin

Sideboard

Attachment (14)
1x Ancestral Armor (Roam Across Rhovanion)
1x Celebrían’s Stone (Core Set)
1x Citadel Plate (Core Set)
1x Durin’s Axe (Wrath and Ruin)
1x Glamdring (Roam Across Rhovanion)
1x Gondorian Shield (The Steward’s Fear)
1x Legacy Blade (The Dungeons of Cirith Gurat)
1x Magic Ring (The Crossings of Poros)
1x Mithril Shirt (The Fate of Wilderland)
1x Narya (The Grey Havens)
1x Necklace of Girion (The Wilds of Rhovanion)
1x Orcrist (Fire in the Night)
1x Stone of Elostirion (Under the Ash Mountains)
1x The Arkenstone (The Withered Heath)

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Dunhere duckshoot by Grant Thompson

Pop enemies into the staging area with Fastred for Dunhere to shoot down.

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Dúnhere (Core Set)
Éowyn (The Flame of the West)
Fastred (The Black Serpent)

Ally (15)
1x Elfhelm (The Dead Marshes)
3x Gandalf (Core Set)
1x Jubayr (The Mûmakil)
3x Pelargir Shipwright (Assault on Osgiliath)
2x Prince Imrahil (The Flame of the West)
2x Rider of Rohan (Beneath the Sands)
3x West Road Traveller (Return to Mirkwood)

Attachment (22)
2x Ancient Mathom (A Journey to Rhosgobel)
3x Dúnedain Mark (The Hunt for Gollum)
3x Dúnedain Warning (Conflict at the Carrock)
1x Gondorian Shield (The Steward’s Fear)
2x In Service of the Steward (Flight of the Stormcaller)
1x Secret Vigil (The Lost Realm)
2x Song of Kings (The Hunt for Gollum)
1x Song of Travel (The Hills of Emyn Muil)
3x Spear of the Mark (The Morgul Vale)
1x The Red Arrow (Beneath the Sands)
3x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)

Event (10)
3x A Good Harvest (The Steward’s Fear)
2x A Test of Will (Core Set)
2x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)
3x The Galadhrim’s Greeting (Core Set)

Player Side Quest (3)
1x Double Back (Escape from Mount Gram)
1x Gather Information (The Lost Realm)
1x Rally the West (The Black Serpent)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards
Cards up to The Black Serpent

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Raven-winged Helm

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Player Card Categories
    • Damage Cancelation
    • Burglar Treasure

It’s not a Honour Guard but great for turning a hero into a super defender.

Background

The flavor text comes from the description of Pippin’s gear after he entered Denethor’s service. It is is interesting to note this is not a Guard of the Citadel‘s mithril helm. Those had the wings of sea birds.

Card Theme

Armor preventing or mitigating damage is very true to the real world application of armor. The Raven-winged Helm card is not perfectly thematic to Lord of the Rings. Pippin can’t equip it as none of his hero versions have the sentinel keyword. Presumably Beregond as a fellow guard would also have the Raven-wing Helm, but it is not specified in the text.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Beregond

The hero the helm is made for considering it is free to play on his Tactics version. It also works great on the Spirit version considering it can help ensure the player can trigger the threat reduction.

Gwaihir Hero

Raven-winged helm is great for Gwaihir hero because it is not a restricted attachment. Gwaihir has a drawback that prevents players from using restricted attachments on him. This excludes many good defensive attachments like Gondorian Shield, Round Shield, and Ancestral Armor. Raven-winged helm basically acts another point of defense on him.

Gain Sentinel

There are many heroes with sentinel that the helm can equip to, but some strong defensive heroes like Spirit Dain don’t have it initially. Fortunately, there are some ways to give heroes sentinel. Dunedain Signal was the first one that can grant any hero sentinel. Arwen ally is the most flexible since she can grant any character sentinel. Although, to play helm using her ability will require something like Spare and Hood Cloak to exhaust her during planning. There are some trait related options like Elven Mail, Armor of Erebor, and Tireless Thoroughbred.

Erkenbrand

Erkenbrand is partly a nonbo with the helm. Canceling the damage caused by his ability stops the ability from working. This is due to a ruling that canceling the damage isn’t paying the cost so it no longer works. This would also be the case for Treebeard hero if equipped with the helm.

Allies Promoted to Heroes

Messenger of the King and Sword-thain opens up a couple good ally defenders to gaining the helm as well. In particular, Jubayr and Déorwine are great because they have built-in shadow control.

Ring Rating

Card Talk uses the highly scientific yet arbitrary scale of 1 ring for the card to rule them all to 10 to be cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.

I rate Raven-winged Helm at 6 rings. It is role player of a card. It is designed to help defensive heroes against high attack enemies and shadow effects with direct damage. It will also be helpful against archery. Cheating deal a damage costs have been neutered by an official ruling from former lead developer Caleb keeping its applications pretty narrow. It can go on the wider roster of heroes with the help of a few other cards. Allies promoted to heroes can even get it. This all said, it is still much more limited than Honour Guard that is also 2 Tactics resources.

  • Dave – 5
  • Grant – TBR
  • Ted – 4
  • Matt – 6
  • Average – 5

External Links

Sample Decks

Power grimbeorn the old nightmare by Grant

Grant’s go to Grimbeorn multiplayer battle deck. It’s survived Assault on Dol Guldur epic multiplayer.

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Grimbeorn the Old (The Withered Heath)
Hirgon (Beneath the Sands)
Théodred (Core Set)

Ally (21)
2x Beorn (Core Set)
3x Beorning Guardian (The Crossings of Poros)
3x Beorning Skin-changer (The Withered Heath)
1x Erestor (The Long Dark)
3x Giant Bear (Fire in the Night)
1x Grimbold (The Flame of the West)
2x Honour Guard (The Wastes of Eriador)
3x Legolas (The Treason of Saruman)
2x Warrior of Dale (The Wilds of Rhovanion)
1x Yazan (The Mûmakil)

Attachment (22)
2x Armored Destrier (Temple of the Deceived)
2x Bow of Yew (The Wilds of Rhovanion)
2x Cram (Over Hill and Under Hill)
3x Dúnedain Mark (The Hunt for Gollum)
3x Dúnedain Warning (Conflict at the Carrock)
2x Hauberk of Mail (The Wilds of Rhovanion)
2x Raven-winged Helm (The Wastes of Eriador)
2x Secret Vigil (The Lost Realm)
2x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)
2x Warrior Sword (The Ghost of Framsburg)

Event (5)
2x Feint (Core Set)
3x Sneak Attack (Core Set)

Player Side Quest (2)
1x Gather Information (The Lost Realm)
1x Send for Aid (The Treachery of Rhudaur)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards
Cards up to The Ghost of Framsburg

Sideboard

Ally (4)
1x Faramir (Core Set)
3x Gandalf (Core Set)

Attachment (10)
1x Celebrían’s Stone (Core Set)
2x Necklace of Girion (The Wilds of Rhovanion)
3x Song of Travel (The Hills of Emyn Muil)
1x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)
3x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)

Event (3)
3x The Galadhrim’s Greeting (Core Set)

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Now It’s Time For… Deorwine?

A solo deck focused on getting Sword-thain Deorwine to defend.

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Boromir (The Dead Marshes)
Denethor (Flight of the Stormcaller)
Sam Gamgee (The Black Riders)

Ally (22)
1x Bill the Pony (The Black Riders)
3x Déorwine (Temple of the Deceived)
3x Envoy of Pelargir (Heirs of Númenor)
2x Erestor (The Long Dark)
3x Errand-rider (Heirs of Númenor)
3x Gandalf (Core Set)
3x Honour Guard (The Wastes of Eriador)
2x Legolas (The Treason of Saruman)
2x Vassal of the Windlord (The Dead Marshes)

Attachment (19)
3x Armored Destrier (Temple of the Deceived)
2x Raven-winged Helm (The Wastes of Eriador)
3x Rod of the Steward (Flight of the Stormcaller)
2x Song of Kings (The Hunt for Gollum)
3x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)
3x Sword-thain (The Dread Realm)
3x The Day’s Rising (The Antlered Crown)

Event (9)
3x Captain’s Wisdom (The Thing in the Depths)
3x Sneak Attack (Core Set)
3x We Are Not Idle (Shadow and Flame)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards
Cards up to Temple of the Deceived

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Lake-town Spy / Darrylgorn

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Cycle
    • Darrylgorn Rising
  • Set
    • The Rise of Darrylgorn
  • Player Card Categories
    • Encounter
    • Voltron

He’s just like Aragorn but better.

Background

Not much is known about this mysterious figure. He briefly did a stint of spy work for the Master of Lake-town. His work lead Bard the Bowman to be imprisoned. Why he did this is completely unknown. Years later, he revealed himself to be Darrylgorn, twin brother to Aragorn.

Card Theme

The mechanisms are perfectly modeled after what is known of this character. He is a spy that is very difficult for the heroes to engage. It is only after his spy persona is shed that Darrlygorn can enter play under the players’ control. When he does, he not only gets one of the same abilities as his twin brother but 2 demonstrating his superiority.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Discard Enemy

Getting Darrylgorn to reveal himself requires the players to discard the Lake-town Spy. While this is difficult since discarding is not the same as destroying per the rules, it is not impossible. There are quite a few cards that can discard a non-unique enemy. Each usually some sort of prerequiste. Great Hunt needs 3 heroes with Lore resources or A Good Harvest naming Lore. Fierce Defense a player needs to be in Valour (40+ threat or 80+ in certain Saga quests). Hunting Party needs an unique Scout and a unique Warrior character. Eagle of the North requires 2 prerequisites. First, you need to play Flight of the Eagles. Second, it needs to be revealed from the encounter deck. Delay the Enemy requires players to Battle quest through it.

Aragorn’s Darrylgorn’s Toys

What is better than 2 resource icons? How about 3, 4, or even 5 resource icons! That’s right you can get 5 thanks to Darrylgorn being allowed to even pair up with Fellowship sphere Aragorn heroes. Then load up his toys to get the other regular spheres.

Quest Specific

He is great in all the quests! He can gain whichever abilities players need for a particular quest. Action advantage, threat reduction, defense reduction, location control, Darrylgorn can do it all!

Ring Rating

Card Talk uses the highly scientific yet arbitrary scale of 1 ring for the card to rule them all to 10 to be cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.

I have to rate Darrylgorn 0 rings. He’s so good that he broke our ring rating scale and sailed on to Valinor.

  • Matt – 0
  • Dave – Infinity
  • Grant – Proudfeet!
  • Ted – Gandalf

External Links