Category: Spirit

The Galadhrim’s Greeting

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Card Talk Season 7 Episode 11
    • Video episode
    • Audio episode
  • Cycle
    • Shadows of Mirkwood
  • Set
    • Core and Revised Core Sets
  • Player Card Categories
    • Threat Reduction

The Galadhrim’s Greeting was gracious, generous, and grand.

Background

The Fellowship after escaping Moria proceeded to Lorien. They’re soon found by a patrol by Haldir. He ends up taking them to their city. The Fellowship then is lead to the court of Celeborn and Galadriel where they each enter one by one. Celeborn greets them while and asked to sit while Galadriel remains quiet.

The flavor text is actually Haldir speaking to the Fellowship pointing out their city. All to tell them they have go around to the South side because there’s no North gate.

Card Theme

I tend to think about this as more about how Lorien is safe space for the Fellowship for awhile. Sauron’s forces and his gaze are blocked because of the Galdriel with Nenya and all the elves there.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Resource Acceleration / Cost Reduction

These cards help make sure can play Galahdrim’s Greeting especially outside mono-Spirit decks.

In Sphere or Neutral

  • Arwen Hero
  • Zigil Miner
  • Hidden Cache
  • A Good Meal
  • Resourceful
  • Necklace of Girion
  • Leaf Brooch

Out of Sphere

  • Steward of Gondor
  • Captains Wisdom
  • Wealth of Gondor
  • Legacy of Numenor
  • Tighten Our Belts
Legacy of Numenor - Leadership Event - 0 Cost - Doomed 4. Action: Add 1 resource to each hero's resource pool.

Event Recursion

Playing The Galahdhrim’s Greeting multiple times can help players keep their threat low to avoid automatic engagements, stay in secrecy, or allow Hobbits to get their bonuses more consistently.

Cards that play or bring it back directly from the discard pile

  • Map of Earndil
  • Dwarven Tomb

Cards that put it back into your deck

  • Galadhrim Weaver
  • Will of the West
  • The White Council
  • Tactics Nori ally

Hobbits

Hobbits in general have many abilities that trigger while engaged with an enemy that have a higher engagement cost than the player’s threat.

Hobbit Pipe

The Galadhrim’s Greeting is one of the many threat reduction events that can trigger this card to draw a card.

Secrecy

Secrecy introduced in the Khazad-Dum cycle discounts the cost of many cards as long as a player’s threat is less than 20. Few hero line ups can start below or at 20. Even those that do, can’t get far below giving players only a few turns to take advantage without lowering their threat back to 20 again.

Player Doomed

Player Doomed cards gave powerful effects that essentially cost threat rather resources. There were also some allies that gave additional effects when played if the player elected to take Doomed X instead. The Galadhrim’s Greeting can offset those Doomed costs.

Quest Specific

There are some quests that have a considerable amount of Doomed or additional threat raises per turn where it is a good idea to pack in as much threat reduction as possible.

  • Murder at the Prancing Pony
    • Many of the enemies have effects that raise a player’s threat.
  • The Steward’s Fear
    • One of the Plot cards raises each player’s threat by 2 at the end of each round.
  • Wastes of Eriador
    • Each time is is Night the players will have to raise their threat by an additional 1. Not to mention the encounter cards feature Doomed or have shadow effects that raise threat if it is Night.
  • The Crossing of Poros
    • One of the possible Stage 2’s raises a players threat when playing allies unless they exhaust them. The associated encounter set for this Stage 2 also have a number of threat raising effects.
  • The Passing of the Grey Company
    • Enemy attacks raise threat rather than deal damage.

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 The Galadhrim’s Greeting at 2 rings. Not every scenario requires a deck have threat reduction but it is usually good to have. Players will still benefit from possibly avoiding automatic encounters even if they never comes close to threating out. The ability to choose a player or give all players 2 less threat makes it incredibly useful in multiplayer. The only drawback is that is fairly expensive at 3 cost but very much worth it. My experience with it is that sometimes it sits in my hand all game waiting for resources or when I really need it, and other times it is a clutch play that saves the game.

  • Dave – 3
  • Grant – 2
  • Ted – 2
  • Matt – 2
  • Average – 2.25

External Links

Sample Decks

Ride them Down (with Hobbit Ponies) by Aurion

This deck uses threat reduction and Hobbit Pipe as a card draw engine while turtling to build up a large board of allies. Spirit Pippin can send enemies back to staging so Ride Them Down can use quest progress to destroy the enemy.

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Frodo Baggins (Conflict at the Carrock)
Merry (The Wastes of Eriador)
Pippin (Encounter at Amon Dîn)

Ally (17)
1x Arwen Undómiel (The Watcher in the Water)
3x Bilbo Baggins (The Road Darkens)
1x Bofur (The Redhorn Gate)
2x Curious Brandybuck (The Wastes of Eriador)
3x Gandalf (Over Hill and Under Hill)
2x Northern Tracker (Core Set)
2x Sam Gamgee (The Thing in the Depths)
3x Westfold Horse-breeder (The Voice of Isengard)

Attachment (18)
3x Ancient Mathom (A Journey to Rhosgobel)
3x Good Meal (The Redhorn Gate)
3x Hobbit Pipe (The Black Riders)
3x Hobbit Pony (The Wastes of Eriador)
1x Shadowfax (The Treason of Saruman)
3x Spare Pipe (The Land of Sorrow)
1x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)
1x Wizard Pipe (The Road Darkens)

Event (17)
2x A Test of Will (Core Set)
2x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)
3x Ride Them Down (The Antlered Crown)
3x Smoke and Think (The Land of Sorrow)
3x Smoke Rings (The Black Riders)
3x The Shirefolk (Mount Gundabad)
1x Will of the West (Core Set)

3 Heroes, 52 Cards
Cards up to The Land of Sorrow

Sideboard

Event (4)
3x The Galadhrim’s Greeting (Core Set)
1x Will of the West (Core Set)

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

The One-Ring Bearers by Dave Walsh

More of a theme deck featuring all the bearers of The One Ring. It uses Ents and Guarded X cards to bolster the hero line up.

Main Deck

Hero (4)
Bilbo Baggins (Mount Gundabad)
Frodo Baggins (Conflict at the Carrock)
Sam Gamgee (The Black Riders)
Sméagol (A Shadow in the East)

Contract (0)
1x Bond of Friendship (The Fortress of Nurn)

Ally (16)
1x Angbor the Fearless (The City of Ulfast)
2x Bill the Pony (The Black Riders)
2x Booming Ent (The Antlered Crown)
2x Derndingle Warrior (Escape from Mount Gram)
2x Galadriel’s Handmaiden (Celebrimbor’s Secret)
2x Quickbeam (The Treason of Saruman)
2x Rosie Cotton (The Mountain of Fire)
1x Treebeard (The Antlered Crown)
2x Warden of Healing (The Long Dark)

Attachment (22)
2x Ancient Mathom (A Journey to Rhosgobel)
1x Ent Draught (The Treason of Saruman)
2x Fast Hitch (The Dead Marshes)
1x Favor of the Valar (The Battle of Carn Dûm)
1x Inner Strength (Wrath and Ruin)
1x Mithril Shirt (The Fate of Wilderland)
1x Necklace of Girion (The Wilds of Rhovanion)
1x Orcrist (Fire in the Night)
1x Power of Command (Challenge of the Wainriders)
2x Secret Vigil (The Lost Realm)
1x Song of Hope (The Black Serpent)
1x Sting (Mount Gundabad)
1x Stone of Elostirion (Under the Ash Mountains)
1x Strength and Courage (The City of Ulfast)
1x The One Ring (A Shadow in the East)
2x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)
2x Woodmen’s Clearing (The Withered Heath)

Event (12)
1x A Good Harvest (The Steward’s Fear)
2x Bilbo’s Plan (The Land of Sorrow)
2x The Galadhrim’s Greeting (Core Set)
2x The King’s Return (The Fate of Wilderland)
2x The Master Ring (A Shadow in the East)
1x The Ring of Power (A Shadow in the East)
2x The Ruling Ring (A Shadow in the East)

4 Heroes, 50 Cards
Cards up to The Fortress of Nurn

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Strength of Will

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Player Card Categories
    • Location Control

Niche card even in a Core Set only situation.

Background

The card art looks like a few people climbing a snowy mountain. It is possible that it is the Fellowship trying to get through The Redhorn Gate and cross the Misty Mountains. The flavor text refers to Aragorn leading the Grey Company, Gimli, and Legolas into The Paths of the Dead to seek the Oathbreakers’ aid.

Card Theme

I don’t think of this as a thematic card. The art and quote not matching sends mixed signals. Location control cards usually have ties to travel, exploration, or those with knowledge of the wilderness. The game has many of those cards featuring the rangers, scouts, steeds, and exploration tools (including a star).

Additionally, the game has one of the main stats named Willpower. Boosting that stat or using it for combat would better show the strength of will in my opinion.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Action Advantage

The real cost of this card is exhausting a Spirit character. This is can be a steep cost if a player’s deck uses the many 2 cost 2 willpower efficient questing allies available in Spirit. There may not be any ready Spirit characters to exhaust. There are many ways to ready Spirit heroes. Spirit allies there are fewer options but some still exist like Ever Vigilant and Spare Hood and Cloak. Valiant Determination is the best one to let a Spirit character use their good willpower and still be available to exhaust. Then there are characters like Lanwyn, Rider of Rohan, and Spirit Legolas that have built in action advantage.

Arwen Ally

Arwen’s response triggers anytime a player exhausts her. Generally the player will do this via questing. If readied with any the cards previously mentioned that target allies then can get the effect to trigger twice in a single round and place 2 progress on the newly active location.

Guarded X and Burglar’s Turn

Quest Specific

There are few locations with 2 quest points that also have negative effects when they’re the active location. Strength of Will can explore them as the players travel to them and keep from having the negative effects. These are primarily in the first cycle considering the Asfaloth effect on location design that is nearly all locations have more quests points than 2. Enchanted Stream prevents the players from drawing cards in the Core Set encounter Dol Guldur Orcs set. The Eaves of Mirkwood appears in The Hunt for Gollum and The Oath stopped encounter effects from being canceled. The Hills of Emyn Muil have a couple locations that increase ally costs or increase staging area threat while they’re the active location. Then there is one way later in Dream-Chaser’s The Thing in the Depths that boosts enemy defense when it is the active.

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 Strength of Will at 9 rings. It has a useful effect that can be effective in a few niche situations. Those situations are mostly in the first cycle. After the Core Set, there are so many better options. It only triggers when a player travels to a location so the player can’t even get more threat out of the staging area. Evening Star a Lore event can put 2 progress on any location and will place more when the 2nd and 3rd copies are played. Heirs of Earendil a Spirit event can just discard a location as an action. Then there are all the allies and attachments that can place progress each turn like Asfaloth, Arod, Rhovanion Outrider, Map of Rhovanion, or Mirkwood Explorer. If the reason to use Strength of Will is to get rid of bad active location effect, then there are cards that replace locations with different ones or enemies like Short Cut, Mariner’s Compass, and Bilbo’s Plan. This is just another card that really is only playable when the player only has access to the Core Set.

  • Dave – 8
  • Grant – TBR
  • Ted – 9
  • Matt – 9
  • Average – 8.67

External Links

Sample Decks

Three Trails Minimum Purchase Fellowship by kattattack22

Minimum Purchase Fellowship for The Three Trials. One quest deck with location control and one battle deck.

Quest and Location Control for Three Trials Minimum Purchase

Hero (3)
Beravor (Core Set)
Éowyn (Core Set)
Idraen (The Three Trials)

Ally (27)
3x Daughter of the Nimrodel (Core Set)
2x Erebor Hammersmith (Core Set)
1x Gandalf (Core Set)
2x Gléowine (Core Set)
3x Greyflood Wanderer (The Three Trials)
1x Henamarth Riversong (Core Set)
3x Isengard Messenger (The Voice of Isengard)
3x Lórien Guide (Core Set)
2x Miner of the Iron Hills (Core Set)
2x Northern Tracker (Core Set)
2x Wandering Took (Core Set)
3x Westfold Horse-breeder (The Voice of Isengard)

Attachment (6)
1x Keys of Orthanc (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Silver Lamp (The Voice of Isengard)
2x The Favor of the Lady (Core Set)
1x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)
1x Warden of Arnor (The Three Trials)

Event (17)
2x A Test of Will (Core Set)
3x Deep Knowledge (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)
2x Hasty Stroke (Core Set)
2x Lórien’s Wealth (Core Set)
3x Stand and Fight (Core Set)
2x Strength of Will (Core Set)
2x The Galadhrim’s Greeting (Core Set)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards

Deck built on RingsDB.

Battle deck for Three Trials Minimum Purchase

Hero (3)
Aragorn (Core Set)
Legolas (Core Set)
Théodred (Core Set)

Ally (33)
1x Beorn (Core Set)
1x Faramir (Core Set)
3x Gandalf (Core Set)
3x Gondorian Spearman (Core Set)
3x Guard of the Citadel (Core Set)
2x Horseback Archer (Core Set)
3x Orthanc Guard (The Voice of Isengard)
3x Rivendell Scout (The Three Trials)
1x Rúmil (The Three Trials)
2x Silverlode Archer (Core Set)
3x Snowbourn Scout (Core Set)
2x Son of Arnor (Core Set)
3x Veteran Axehand (Core Set)
3x Westfold Outrider (The Voice of Isengard)

Attachment (6)
1x Celebrían’s Stone (Core Set)
2x Dwarven Axe (Core Set)
1x Horn of Gondor (Core Set)
2x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)

Event (11)
2x Feint (Core Set)
2x Legacy of Númenor (The Voice of Isengard)
2x Sneak Attack (Core Set)
3x The Wizards’s Voice (The Voice of Isengard)
2x Valiant Sacrifice (Core Set)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards

The Favor of the Lady

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Player Card Categories
    • Willpower Bonus

The basic yet over costed willpower boosting attachment

Background

The flavor text comes from when the Fellowship is getting ready to leave Lorien. The elves give them Lembas and cloaks. The elf explaining what aid the cloaks can give them exclaims this after telling them how helpful the cloaks will be. This is because they’re made by Galadriel and her handmaidens and never been given to outsiders.

Card Theme

I think the theme is more about Galadriel talking with the Fellowship and giving them gifts to rebuild their resolve after losing Gandalf. It’s showing her favor through those actions that improves their willpower.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Heroes with Built-in Action Advantage

Heroes that can ready themselves can make use of the boosted willpower and still be available for combat. Aragorn from the Core Set is the prime example as the player could quest and immediately spend a resource to ready him. Boromir doesn’t have much base willpower but he can ready once per phase and using the ready to its fullest potential includes sending him to the quest. Others like Prince Imrahil, Haldan, Lanwyn, Halbarad, Gwaihir are conditional. Although all but Lanwyn can be pretty consistent in the right decks.

Heroes with Quest Abilities

Favor can just make these heroes more effective questers in addition to triggering their abilities.

Spirit Aragorn

Spirit Aragorn’s ability requires enough willpower to reduce a target location’s threat to 0 to place a progress on it. Any willpower boost makes this ability more effective.

Convert Willpower to Another Stat

There are some cards that help make more use of the willpower stat than just questing. Tale of Tinuviel, Fair and Perilous, and Herugrim can add willpower to the character’s attack. Golden Shield will do the same for defense. Against the Shadow will substitute the hero’s bolstered willpower for defense.

Quest Specific

Escape from Dol Guldur limits the players to playing only 1 ally per round. Willpower bonus attachments like Favor of the Lady, Celebrian’s Stone, Silver Circlet help the player ramp up to quest successfully.

Stage 3 of Foundations of Stone forces the player(s) to discard all Weapon, Armor, Item, and Light attachments. It is only a Condition attachment and won’t be discarded.

The Three Trials has 3 different Barrow locations that are randomly revealed with each trial. The Cave Barrow limits the players to 5 allies in total between all of them. Willpower boosting attachments can help ramp up much like in Escape from Dol Guldur.

In the Treachery of Rhudaur one of the starting side quests gives all allies -2 willpower when it is the active quest. A voltron or tower of attachments approach is much more effective to complete the side quest and claim the Clue objective on the other side.

Mount Doom, similar to Treachery of Rhudaur, punishes players that use a large number of allies. Although it does so via The Tower of Barad-dur raising their threat each round by the number of non-Fellowship characters they control. A Voltron strategy minimizing the number of characters can work well.

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 Favor of the Lady at 8 rings. Spirit has so many better uses for 2 resources. The sheer number of allies with 2 willpower for 2 cost means this will sit in storage once a player moves beyond the Core Set. The release of Silver Circlet was pretty much the nail in the coffin for this card. Granted, it is not restricted and will see some play in a few scenarios. Particularly if a player doesn’t have a large collection. This is just another Core Set card that later releases just replaced it for the most part.

  • Dave – 9
  • Grant – 9
  • Ted – 7
  • Matt – 8
  • Average – 8.25

External Links

Sample Decks

Make Safe the City by Seastan

A quick setup Voltron style deck that can have Tactics Theoden questing for 4 and attacking for 6 with a just a couple of attachments.

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Beregond (The Flame of the West)
Éowyn (Core Set)
Théoden (The Morgul Vale)

Ally (12)
3x Envoy of Pelargir (Heirs of Númenor)
3x Silvan Refugee (The Drúadan Forest)
3x West Road Traveller (Return to Mirkwood)
3x Westfold Horse-breeder (The Voice of Isengard)

Attachment (26)
3x Ancient Mathom (A Journey to Rhosgobel)
3x Firefoot (The Dunland Trap)
3x Gondorian Shield (The Steward’s Fear)
3x Herugrim (The Treason of Saruman)
3x Necklace of Girion (The Wilds of Rhovanion)
2x Raven-winged Helm (The Wastes of Eriador)
3x Snowmane (The Land of Shadow)
3x The Favor of the Lady (Core Set)
3x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)

Event (12)
3x A Test of Will (Core Set)
3x Elven-light (The Dread Realm)
3x Open the Armory (The Dungeons of Cirith Gurat)
3x Sterner than Steel (The Flame of the West)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards
Cards up to The Wilds of Rhovanion

Sideboard

Ally (3)
3x Steward of Orthanc (Race Across Harad)

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Northern Tracker

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Card Talk Season 6 Episode 27
    • Video episode
    • Audio episode
  • Cycle
    • Shadows of Mirkwood
  • Set
    • Core and Revised Core Sets
  • Player Card Categories
    • Location Control

One of the best ways to avoid location lock.

Background

The Northern Tracker is one of the Dunedain. The Dunedain are descendants of Gondor’s sister kingdom, Arnor. Arnor was the northern one of the two Numenorian kingdoms. It was the official seat of their High King. After Isildur’s death it split into three smaller kingdoms, Cardolan, Arthedain, and Rhudar. The people of these successor kingdoms dwindled after wars with Angmar and a plague until only scattered settlements and wandering bands remained. Still the blood of Numenor was not diluted like Gondor and the northern Dunedain retained the longer lifespans and some of the physical and mental gifts bestowed on their ancestors.

Card Theme

The theme is pretty on point. A tracker would need to go many locations on the trail of their target. Progress is supposed to represent how much the characters have explored a location. A little progress in several locations fits as a tracker would explore all the parts of a location relevant to the trail until it leads them to the next location and so on.

Card Synergies and Interactions

More Staging Area Progress

There are not many locations with 1 or 2 quest points that a Northern Tracker or two can clear in a single turn. More cards that can also add progress can speed up the process. Spirit has the most options with Spirit Aragorn, Rhovanion Outrider, The Riddermark’s Finest, Ride to Ruin, Woodland Courier, Warden or Arnor, Backtrack, Greyflood Wanderer. Lore actually has the best repeatable staging area progress card, Asfaloth. All the player needs to do is exhaust for 1 progress or 2 if attached to Glorfindel. Mirkwood Explorer can build up lots of progress but requires questing successfully. Tactics even has a couple options with Meneldor and Arod to help the Northern Tracker.

Location Attachments

There is one location attachment in particular that makes the tracker’s ability much, much more efficient. Woodman’s Path reduces a location quest points to 1 eliminating several turns of questing or any need for others with similar ability to place progress directly.

This can be pretty important especially when paired with the series of attachments that have an effect when a location is explored. Ancient Mathom draws 3 cards, Elf-Stone musters an ally, Ranger Provisions accelerates resources, Woodmen’s Clearing reduces threat, and Put Off Pursuit trades an enemy for a location.

Put Ally Into Play

The tracker is fairly expensive at 4 costs. Getting to put a copy into play for free greatly accelerates a player’s board state. Caldara is the best in sphere option for this although the player will need to get the tracker into their discard pile. This is also easily accomplished in sphere with cards like Zigil Miner and Spirit Eowyn. Vilya is the more straightforward on since the tracker only needs to be on top of the deck. This can be set up via Imladris Stargazer or Wizard Pipe. Elf-stone and Send for Aid are out of sphere options that also require the player to quest well to trigger the ability to put an ally from hand or top 10 of their deck into play.

Player Guarded X Cards

In a similar vein to the location attachments, the tracker’s ability can explore a location guarding a player Guarded X card. Stone of Elostirion and Mithril Shirt as the only Guarded (location) cards work best. Many of the others are Guarded (enemy or location). The tracker fortunately has pretty good combat stats should an enemy guarding those instead of a location.

Narya and Ally Attachments

Narya allows the player to make good use of both the tracker’s location control ability and good combat stats. They’ll even get +1 to attack and defense making their combat potential higher. Valiant Determination is another way to consistently make good use of the tracker’s questing and combat abilities. There are only a few other ally attachments that synergize with the tracker. Wild Stallion is nice because it boosts both their ability to quest and fight. Squire’s Helm and Round Shield could help make the tracker into a decent secondary defender.

Quest Specific

Journey Along the Anduin, Conflict at the Carrock, The Dead Marshes, and Return to Mirkwood

All of these quests include the Brown Lands location with 5 threat and 1 quest point. Tracker questing eliminates 5 threat from the staging area single-handedly.

Escape from Dol Guldur

The setup of this quest starts with 3 guarded objectives and it is entirely possible to end up with 3 locations in the staging area. The good news about this possiblity is that almost all the locations in the quest have 2 quest points. The tracker can clear out locations pretty quickly. This also avoid many of the negative travel or active location effects in the quest like exhausting heroes, discarding cards, or prohibiting draw cards. An early one thanks to a Spirit hero with Steward can make this quest significantly easier. The campaign mode boon Chosen by Fate’s extra resource can also help accelerate this game plan.

The Hills of Emyn Muil

The first quest to prominently feature locations. There are 10 more locations in the encounter deck than enemies. Northern Trackers are key to avoiding many of the negative effects and location lock in multiplayer.

The Antlered Crown

The Antlered Crown’s locations all have Time X with effects that trigger if they’re not explored in 2 or 3 turns.

Angmar Awakened

Intruders in Chetwood pushes players to quest quickly to complete the lone quest stage and catch the Orcs. This quest features Outlying Homesteads that have a 8 quest points that the trackers will not be able to explore in the staging area. This is one where the similarly costed Warden of Annuminas is better for the pure willpower potential.

Haradrim Cycle

The Haradhrim cycle is full of locations that players don’t want to travel to. Many have nasty forced effects when they become the active location. This circumvents many location control effects like Thror’s Map that avoid travel effects. Direct progress effects like the trackers can avoid these negative effects. Towering Dunes, however, limits Northern Tracker’s effectiveness since it prevents progress being placed on locations in the staging area other than itself.

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 Northern Tracker at 4 rings. It’s ability is powerful there is no doubt about that. Even more so in multiplayer considering that players can potentially reveal 4 locations but normally have a chance at exploring one per turn. That said, placing progress on multiple locations in the staging area isn’t necessary. The tracker has good combat stats if a player isn’t using the ability. The big hurdle to including the tracker in the deck is the cost. Spirit has Zigil Miner for resource acceleration but it does take a little set up to be consistent. Steward can always go on a Spirit hero to make the cost more manageable. Spirit though has a lot really good cards those resources can be spent on. I don’t know how many times I’ve held off on playing Northern Tracker to keep a resource open for A Test of Will and/or Hasty Stroke. Unexpected Courage for half of the tracker’s cost gets another use of a hero’s stats that in most cases will be equal to or greater than the trackers.

The tracker is a great ally and well worth the cost. The ability just can be situational and there are significant opportunity costs in using Spirit resources on such an expensive ally.

  • Dave –
  • Grant –
  • Ted –
  • Matt – 4
  • Average –

External Links

Sample Decks

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something by Dave Walsh

Mono Spirit good stuff deck featuring MotK Jubayr and Ride Them Down to kill bosses. Valiant Determination and Wild Stallion available to buff up Northern Trackers.

Main Deck

Hero (3)
(MotK) Jubayr (Messenger of the King Allies)
Arwen Undómiel (The Dread Realm)
Glorfindel (Foundations of Stone)

Ally (22)
3x Dunedain Pathfinder (Race Across Harad)
2x Emery (The Blood of Gondor)
3x Erebor Toymaker (Mount Gundabad)
3x Northern Tracker (Core Set)
3x Pelargir Shipwright (Assault on Osgiliath)
2x Prince Imrahil (The Flame of the West)
3x Rhovanion Outrider (Temple of the Deceived)
3x Wild Stallion (Roam Across Rhovanion)

Attachment (14)
3x Ancient Mathom (A Journey to Rhosgobel)
3x Light of Valinor (Foundations of Stone)
2x Necklace of Girion (The Wilds of Rhovanion)
3x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)
3x Valiant Determination (The Ghost of Framsburg)

Event (15)
3x A Test of Will (Core Set)
3x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)
3x Elrond’s Counsel (The Watcher in the Water)
3x Elven-light (The Dread Realm)
3x Ride Them Down (The Antlered Crown)

3 Heroes, 51 Cards
Cards up to Messenger of the King Allies

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Cirdan the Shipwright

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Player Card Categories
    • Card Draw
    • Discard from Hand

The deck filter and filler of discard piles.

Background

Cirdan despite his traits in the game, is one of the Teleri. He followed the stars west to shores of Middle Earth but his ship was not ready in time to travel to Valinor. He remained near the coast through the first and second ages supporting the Noldor that came in pursuit of Morgoth and later the elves and men of the last alliance against Sauron. He was the original wielder of Narya, the elven ring of fire. He gave it to Gandalf when he arrived in Middle-Earth. In books, the readers only know of him from his envoy, Galdor, to the council at Rivendell, and at the end when the ring-bearers depart at The Grey Havens in one of his ships.

Card Theme

Cards in hand are often associated with knowledge. Lore is the sphere with the most card draw effects. Even those cards are themed to represent 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. The Noldor discard from hand effects can represent their fading in Middle-Earth as they take their vast knowledge and experience away to Valinor.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Silver Harp

This card takes Cirdan’s ability of draw an additional card then discard one to just draw an additional card every turn.

Noldor Discard

Cirdan and Erestor heroes, at least with a Silver Harp for Cirdan, provide the extra card draw to fuel the Noldor Discard abilities. Arwen hero can provide resource acceleration. To the Sea, to the Sea! and Elven Jeweler can get cost discounts. Elven Spear and Protector of Lorien can offer stat boosts. Some Noldor allies require discarding cards either to play or keep in pay like Guardian of Rivendell, Lindon Navigator, Trollshaw Scout, and Watcher of Bruinen. Cirdan can also help set up the Noldor cards that can be or only be played from the discard pile like Elven-light, Lords of the Eldar, and Glorfindel ally.

Powerful Allies

This combo really comes to fruition once Narya and some action advantage is attached to Cirdan. In Spirit, Cirdan has a couple great options to make use of his 4 willpower and readying allies with Light of Valinor or Unexpected Courage. Readying 2 allies with already strong combat stats and then boost them can make for a great combat turn. Especially since there are a couple action windows during a player’s defense. This allows the player to exhaust the character to defend, ready in one of those action windows to use the defense boost. Then be ready for another defense with the boost or attack while still boosted. Similarly, the character can be readied after exhausting but before the attack fully resolves to use the attack bonus twice. As an added bonus, Narya giving the Leadership resource icon opens up using Sneak Attack or perhaps Reinforcements to put the ally into play temporarily and then get 2 uses out fo them.

Caldara

Cirdan’s ability provides a nice way to fill the discard pile with 2 – 3 Spirit allies for Caldara to bring back. He of course also fits nicely being a hero with the Spirit icon to count for her ability. On top that, he can have Narya to leverage the allies brought out more fully.

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 Cirdan at 3 rings. He has the fantastic 4 willpower stat putting him in the upper echelons of questing heroes with both versions of Eowyn and technically Galadriel. His ability outside Noldor discard is still very useful to help filter through the deck faster and find key cards. I’ve found the 12 threat makes him more difficult to fit into a hero lineup. The 12 threat either requires some lower threat heroes to counterbalance or be ready for combat immediately. Once Cirdan is in a deck it is also hard to not include Light of Valinor, Narya, and Silver Harp taking up more deck space. His 2 attack and 2 defense are decent to use if he doesn’t have Narya but does have another action thanks to Light of Valinor or a similar card. He’s a good questing hero that isn’t as splashable as Spirit Eowyn but offers some other utility for the players that she does not. He really shines though in Noldor Discard or a Caldara deck.

  • Dave – 6
  • Grant – 4
  • Ted – TBR
  • Joeseph Forster – 3
  • Matt – 3
  • Average – 4

External Links

Sample Decks

Cirdan’s Solo Support Group by The Purple Wizard

Solo version of Purple Wizard’s Cirdan’s Support Group that was designed to recur Reinforcements in multiplayer games.

Cirdan’s Solo Support Group

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Balin (On the Doorstep)
Círdan the Shipwright (The Grey Havens)
Denethor (Flight of the Stormcaller)

Ally (18)
1x Arwen Undómiel (The Watcher in the Water)
1x Beorn (Core Set)
2x Elrond (The Road Darkens)
3x Envoy of Pelargir (Heirs of Númenor)
1x Erestor (The Long Dark)
3x Galadriel (The Road Darkens)
3x Gandalf (Core Set)
1x Gimli (The Treason of Saruman)
1x Glorfindel (Flight of the Stormcaller)
1x Orophin (Celebrimbor’s Secret)
1x Squire of the Citadel (The Blood of Gondor)

Attachment (20)
2x Armored Destrier (Temple of the Deceived)
3x Dúnedain Warning (Conflict at the Carrock)
3x King Under the Mountain (On the Doorstep)
3x Light of Valinor (Foundations of Stone)
3x Narya (The Grey Havens)
3x Silver Harp (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
3x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)

Event (12)
3x A Test of Will (Core Set)
1x Captain’s Wisdom (The Thing in the Depths)
3x Reinforcements (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
3x Sneak Attack (Core Set)
2x Will of the West (Core Set)

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

Sideboard

Ally (3)
1x Beorn (Core Set)
2x Squire of the Citadel (The Blood of Gondor)

Attachment (4)
1x Magic Ring (The Crossings of Poros)
2x Tome of Atanatar (The Blood of Gondor)
1x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)

Event (4)
2x Legacy of Númenor (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Second Breakfast (Conflict at the Carrock)
1x Will of the West (Core Set)

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

A Light in the Dark

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Player Card Categories
    • Staging Area Control

Another example of Core Set setting a card’s cost too high for the effect.

Background

The art and flavor text out of context makes a player think think this is when Thorin’s Company are in Goblintown. It is actually from afterwards at Beorn’s house. The flavor text is just a little set dressing as Bilbo, Gandalf, and the Dwarves eat with Beorn.

Card Theme

In the books, we learn that goblins, orcs, and their allies the Wargs and wolves don’t like the light. Aragorn also drives back the Nazghul with a burning brand in Fellowship of the Ring. It makes sense that in the game enemies can be driven way to the staging area.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Lore Traps

The Lore traps that came out in Against the Shadow, all get played into the staging area. Then they attach to the first enemy to enter it. A Light in the Dark because it is just an action can be used to push an engaged enemy into one of the traps right after one is played during the Planning phase. This is great to neutralize a though lower threat enemy with Ranger Spikes. Pushing an enemy into Entangling Nets is more a long term play. It can weaken a bigger enemy to make it easier to deal with, or keep a low attack enemy with surge in play indefinitely. Poisoned Stakes is similar in use to Entangling Nets since it will start damaging an enemy, but if you had the enemy engaged already you could have just attacked it. That same criticism can be leveled at Ithilien Pit and Ambush since they allow the player to attack the enemy outside the normal rules. Ithilien Pit would need threat reduction to happen at the same time to make it worthwhile with A Light in the Dark. Ambush at least when the enemy is engaged again, the play might kill it avoiding a second attack, but it would be more efficient to play Feint or Coney in a Trap.

Staging Area Direct Damage

Poisoned Stakes overlaps in this category of effects. Lore has more direct damage effects that target the staging area. Ranger Bow and Lore Lore Faramir ally continue the Ithilien ranger theme. Lore Faramir ally in particular it can be great to push the enemy back into a trap to maximize his damage. Argalad also has a repeatable way to deal direct damage to enemies. It also mitigates or negates the downside of putting the enemy back into the staging area.

Tactics is the other sphere to heavily feature direct damage targeting the staging area. Tactics was the first to do so with Descendant of Thorondor and Beorning Beekeeper from the first cycle. Hail of Stones provided potentially the biggest direct damage since it is only limited by the number of ready allies in play. Galadhon Archer from Ringmaker is more flexible since the enemy only needs to not be engaged with the player. Tactics Bilbo can benefit the most from A Light in the Dark since that lets the player put a high threat enemy back to boost his willpower, or potentially finish off an enemy guarding a Guarded X attachment like Sting.

Staging Area Attack

Adjacent to direct damage, is staging area attack. The difference here is a player can use a character to attack the enemy. Dunhere is the Core Set combo with A Light in the Dark since he gets more attack when attacking the staging area. Darrowdelf and The Hobbit gave Tactics the ability to attack the staging area with character or hero with Ranged keyword via Hands Upon the Bow and Great Yew Bow. Later cycles players could get repeatable staging area attack more easily with Haldir and Leadership Eomer heroes. These two benefitted greatly from Bow of the Galadhrim and Spear of the Mark that get additional bonuses to attack the staging area.

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 A Light in the Dark at 8 rings. There are 2 big problems with this card that keep it from seeing play in the full card pool, cost and alternatives. It costs 2 resources to avoid an attack and let another player engage it next round. The players then have to quest over the enemy’s threat. Feint in the Core Set costs 1 less, avoids an attack, and the players don’t have to quest over it. Besides Feint doing a similar effect for less, 2 Spirit resources have many better alternatives for those resources like Unexpected Courage also in the Core Set. It can go on a defensive hero so the players can deal with an extra attack on an ongoing basis.

Later expansions introduced repeatable return to staging area with Spirit Pippen and Fastred heroes. Then there is Terrible to Behold and Guardian of Ithilien for one time return to staging area. Fastred gets to return the enemy when he defends and get threat reduction which is huge two for one. Fastred of all 4 is the best for this effect especially when paired with staging area attack or direct damage. Guardian of Ithilien is the best one time effect replacement considering it can push enemies into traps and in the same sphere as many direct damage effects.

I don’t rate A Light in the Dark as 9 or 10 considering a player can still get some use out of it. I could see players running it with any of the 4 above to make a deck more consistent in pushing enemies to the staging area. It is also just an action that offers more flexibility on timing. It could be played during the Encounter or Planning phases depending on what the player is trying to do.

  • Dave – 9
  • Grant – 8
  • Ted – TBR
  • Matt – 8
  • Average – 8.33

External Links

Sample Decks

Caught Between Morning and Evening by Onidsen

From the Ringsdb deck description, “This is a solo deck built around exploiting staging area attack using Éomer’s ability. Fully upgraded with Herugrim and Gúthwinë, he can reach 12 attack, enough to single-handedly deal with most of your combat needs”

Caught Between Morning and Evening

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Arwen Undómiel (The Dread Realm)
Éomer (The Mountain of Fire)
Galadriel (Celebrimbor’s Secret)

Ally (16)
2x Errand-rider (Heirs of Númenor)
3x Ethir Swordsman (The Steward’s Fear)
3x Galadriel’s Handmaiden (Celebrimbor’s Secret)
2x Háma (The Treason of Saruman)
2x Northern Tracker (Core Set)
3x Snowbourn Scout (Core Set)
1x Warden of Healing (The Long Dark)

Attachment (14)
1x Celebrían’s Stone (Core Set)
1x Gúthwinë (The Mountain of Fire)
3x Herugrim (The Treason of Saruman)
2x Mirror of Galadriel (Celebrimbor’s Secret)
3x Nenya (Celebrimbor’s Secret)
2x Silver Harp (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
2x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)

Event (20)
3x A Light in the Dark (Core Set)
3x A Test of Will (Core Set)
2x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)
3x Elrond’s Counsel (The Watcher in the Water)
2x Elven-light (The Dread Realm)
2x Late Adventurer (Over Hill and Under Hill)
2x Ride Them Down (The Antlered Crown)
3x Terrible to Behold (A Storm on Cobas Haven)

Player Side Quest (2)
1x Double Back (Escape from Mount Gram)
1x Gather Information (The Lost Realm)

3 Heroes, 52 Cards
Cards up to The Mountain of Fire

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Will of the West

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Player Card Categories
    • Recursion
    • Discard Pile

The deck refresher!

Background

The flavor text comes from when Legolas and Gimli inquired with Prince Imrahil about Merry and Pippin after the Battle of Pelennor Fields. Prince Imrahil told them they were at the Houses of Healing and even offered to guide them there. Legolas from the short encounter deems him to be “a fair lord and a great captain of men”. It is from this example that he wonders what the people of Gondor were like at their height if they have people like Imrahil now.

Card Theme

I’ve always considered this card to represent the determination of the Western people to keep fighting on. Even when they are down and out, they find the way to continue on. The allies can get back up. More weapons and armor made. In that way, recycling the discard to bring back the cards that have been discarded or destroyed make sense.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Dwarven Mining

The Dwarven Mining cards discard cards from the top of the player deck for an effect. Spirit Dain, Thorin Stonehelm, and Longbeard Sentry can mine for combat boosts. Soldier of Erebor can ready by mining. Zigil Miner is even more like mining getting resources for discarded cards. Erebor Guard is similar getting a discounted cost. When running multiple of the mining dwarves, a player’s deck can be run out quickly unless playing a Perilous Voyage deck. Will of the West helps the player using these abilities as well as putting a key card that was accidently mined back into the deck.

Discard from Hand and Noldor Discard

The Core Set’s Spirit Eowyn hero and Protector of Lorien discarding cards for willpower and defense started the initial synergy with Will of the West. A few general purpose discard a card for an effect were introduced in later cycles. Darrowdelf cycle introduced a few Noldor allies Watcher of the Bruinen, Leadership Erestor, and Trollshaw Scout with this mechanism as well. It wasn’t until the Angmar Awakened and Dreamchaser cycles that it became central to the trait with Erestor hero, Arwen hero, and To the Sea, to the Sea! Erestor provides the means with 3 extra cards every turn. To the Sea, to the Sea turns every card in hand into resources for Noldor allies.

Rohan Discard from Play

Rohan has many cards that discard allies from play or trigger when they do for bonuses and other effects. Will of the West can be used to get them back. It is generally less efficient than other options available from the full card poll like Gamling or Guthwine.

Quest Specific

There are a few quests that will force players to discard cards from their deck. Deadman’s Dike from The Lost Realm, Dungeons of Cirth Gurat in the Haradrim cycle, and Under the Ash Mountains. Deadman’s Dike and Under the Ash Mountains additionally both have a player lose if they run out of cards in their deck. Will of the West can prevent a loss in Deadman’s Dike if the player deck gets too low. Under the Ash Mountains unfortunately prevents event cards from shuffling the player discard back into the deck.

The Angmar cycle also have effects that trigger based on if there is a copy of a card in play and in the discard pile. There are also many cards scattered across various quests that force players to discard cards from their hand or their entire hand. Will of the West can help get key cards back eventually.

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 Will of the West at 6 rings. It certainly is a role playing card. Most decks will not draw every card in a single scenario. Dwarf Mining and Noldor Discard can make good use of it. There are a couple scenarios it is good to run in. Reshuffling the discard back into the deck can allow a player to use powerful cards again but often have to shift their deck again to find them. It has a good niche in the game, but it isn’t a universally good card.

  • Dave – 8
  • Grant – TBR
  • Ted – 7
  • Matt – 6
  • Average – 7

External Links

Sample Decks

The Dain and the Discard by Card Talk

Dave’s take on the Dwarven Mining archetype.

The Dain and the Discard

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Dáin Ironfoot (The Ghost of Framsburg)
Gandalf (The Road Darkens)
Glóin (Core Set)

Ally (17)
2x Erebor Guard (The Sands of Harad)
3x Erebor Toymaker (Mount Gundabad)
3x Ered Luin Miner (Temple of the Deceived)
3x Ethir Swordsman (The Steward’s Fear)
2x Gimli (The Treason of Saruman)
1x Glorfindel (Flight of the Stormcaller)
3x Warden of Healing (The Long Dark)

Attachment (24)
1x Ancestral Armor (Roam Across Rhovanion)
2x Gandalf’s Staff (The Road Darkens)
1x Hardy Leadership (Shadow and Flame)
2x King Under the Mountain (On the Doorstep)
2x Narya (The Grey Havens)
1x Ring of Barahir (The Steward’s Fear)
2x Ring of Thrór (The Ghost of Framsburg)
2x Shadowfax (The Treason of Saruman)
1x Silver Lamp (The Voice of Isengard)
3x Squire’s Helm (The Withered Heath)
2x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)
3x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)
2x Wizard Pipe (The Road Darkens)

Event (15)
3x Durin’s Song (Khazad-dûm)
3x Hidden Cache (The Morgul Vale)
3x The Galadhrim’s Greeting (Core Set)
3x Well-Equipped (The Blood of Gondor)
3x Will of the West (Core Set)

3 Heroes, 56 Cards
Cards up to Mount Gundabad

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Wandering Took

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment

Pre-Errata

  • Card Talk Season 6 Episode 14
  • Cycle
    • Shadows of Mirkwood
  • Set
    • Core and Revised Core Sets
  • Player Card Categories
    • Threat Reduction

Once upon a time enabled very Tookish shennigans but no longer

Background

The flavor text is from the brief overview of Bilbo’s parentage in The Hobbit. He was related to the Tooks from his mother’s side. The Took family was known for having adventures. An ancestor Bullroar Took was famous for being tall enough to ride a horse and defeating a band of orcs in Northfarthing.

Card Theme

The mechanism to pass this ally around the table is a great way to represent the wandering in the title of this this card. It quite literally wanders.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Hobbit Character Boosts and Attachments

There are few ways to boost Wandering Took’s stats and get more value out of its cheap cost. Tom Cotton boosts its attack to 2 for the round it enters play. Redbook of Westmarch will boost its willpower by 1 each time it can quest. Bill the Pony provides an extra hit point that can help soak some damage, especially archery. Halfling Determination can offer +2 to all stats (except hit points) for a single phase. Ring Mail and Boots from Erebor boost the Took’s defensive stats. Fast hitch can ready the Took to maximize the utility of having at least 1 in every state and more if boosted. Hobbit Pipe doesn’t boost stats but provide a way to get card draw. Interestingly, putting it on Wandering Took can allow a player to pass that card draw to another player. Hopefully they are playing some threat reduction events!

Song of Earendil

This is a pre-errata combo. It used to be that Wandering Took didn’t have a limit on its ability. Players could transfer the Took to build up one player’s threat and reduce another’s. Here is an example with 2 players at 30 threat.

  1. Player 1 with Song of Earendil passes Wandering Took to Player 2. Player 1’s threat becomes 27 and Player 2’s is 33.
  2. Player 1 activates Song of Earendil to raise their threat to 28 and Player 2’s threat becomes 32.
  3. Player 2 passes Wandering Took to Player 1. Player 1’s threat becomes 31 and Player 2’s is 29.

Players could repeat this endlessly then then either reset the first player’s threat with Lore Aragorn or manage it with other threat reduction cards like The Galadhrim’s Greeting or Elrond’s Counsel.

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 Wandering Took at 7 rings. It is good value for cost considering many later 2 cost allies will only have 1 hit point and a 2 stat. The Wandering Took gets 2 hit points and 1 across the board for the cost. Unfortunately, power creep has passed by more versatile and value add allies like this. Players often need the more efficient and focused allies with at least a 2 in one stat for 2 cost. Additionally, this ally is in Spirit with allies like Emery and Elven jeweler that have similar stats but alternative costs that ensure they fit into particular decks.

The only advantage Wandering Took has is in multiplayer. It effectively has range and sentinel as long as players aren’t at 47 threat. The ability when it didn’t have a limit certainly enabled a game breaking combo, but I liked it much better when that was possible. The Song of Earendil combo can still work to transfer 1 threat per round since the once per round limit doesn’t specify for all the players. I wish it was once per phase or 3 times per round. Then it could still have a significant threat transfer effect, but it would still take a few turns to work. In its current state it just isn’t worth it when multiplayer games usually are completed in under 10 rounds.

  • Dave – 6
  • Grant – 6
  • Ted – 6
  • Matt – 7
  • Average – 6.25

External Links

Sample Decks

A Rohan Deck for Dunland Trap, Minimum Purchase by Dave Walsh

To see the video about constructing this deck, check out this link: https://youtu.be/XYH-Pee18vs

This deck is designed solely to take on The Dunland Trap and only uses cards from one Core Set, The Voice of Isengard Deluxe Box, and the Dunland Trap adventure pack, making this a “Minimum Purchase” deck.

A Rohan Deck for Dunland Trap, Minimum Purchase

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Éomer (The Voice of Isengard)
Éowyn (Core Set)
Théodred (Core Set)

Ally (25)
1x Beorn (Core Set)
3x Blue Mountain Trader (The Dunland Trap)
1x Faramir (Core Set)
3x Gandalf (Core Set)
3x Gondorian Spearman (Core Set)
3x Guard of the Citadel (Core Set)
3x Snowbourn Scout (Core Set)
3x Veteran Axehand (Core Set)
2x Wandering Took (Core Set)
3x Westfold Horse-breeder (The Voice of Isengard)

Attachment (10)
1x Celebrían’s Stone (Core Set)
2x Firefoot (The Dunland Trap)
1x Horn of Gondor (Core Set)
3x Rohan Warhorse (The Voice of Isengard)
2x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)
1x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)

Event (15)
2x A Test of Will (Core Set)
1x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)
2x Feint (Core Set)
2x Hasty Stroke (Core Set)
2x Sneak Attack (Core Set)
3x Stand and Fight (Core Set)
3x The White Council (The Dunland Trap)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards
Cards up to The Dunland Trap

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Stand and Fight

Matt Kell (kattattack22)Leave a comment
  • Card Talk Season 6 Episode 11
    • Video episode
    • Audio episode
  • Cycle
    • Shadows of Mirkwood
  • Set
    • Core and Revised Core Sets
  • Player Card Categories
    • Discard Pile
    • Mustering
    • Recursion

Commonly misplayed with Gandalf

Card Synergies and Interactions

High Value Allies

Stand and Fight is very flexible considering it can target an ally from any sphere including one that the player doesn’t have on a hero. The classic example is using Stand and Fight to put Beorn ally into play even when a player isn’t playing Tactics. His strong stats and useful ability make it very worthwhile to run as a splash card. The Harad allies and other unique allies like Legolas ally can similarly provide a lot of value. This can get extra mileage out of allies with enter play effects like Elrond ally. Elrond ally is an excellent example since he discards himself with a variety of useful enter play effects. Silvans also can be good targets since many have enter play effects. Although a player has to be careful to avoid cards that say when played from hand like Galadriel ally.

Many Rohan allies can discards themselves for effects or have leave play effects like Eomund. Stand and Fight offers a way to recur these. It can also target allies in other player’s discard pile. This can be used to gain control of more than the 3 non-unique allies that a player is limited to in a deck. The Outlands allies with their trait wide boosts can can get up +4 or more if consolidated to one player via Stand and Fight.

Lastly, players should note Stand and Fight says an ally can belong to any sphere, but the first FAQ clarified that the ally must belong to a sphere. This makes powerful neutral allies like Gandalf and Treebeard ineligible.

Discard Effects

In order to use Stand and Fight, there needs to be an ally in a player’s discard. Besides letting an ally be destroyed in combat, discarding an ally card from hand or the deck gives the player more control of what can be brought out. Eowyn’s discard from hand for 1 willpower is the classic way to put Beorn ally into the discard. Khazad-Dum introduced the Dwarven Mining ability to discard cards from the top of a player’s deck. Zigil Miner is an ideal enabler because not only will it possibly put an eligible ally into the discard but generate resources to play Stand and Fight. Noldor cards with many abilities centered around discarding cards also works well as an enabler for Stand and Fight.

A Good Meal

Resource acceleration and cost reduction in general helps Stand and Fight. A Good Meal is worth pointing out because it is event specific cost reduction. Also quite thematic to have a good meal bring in an ally.

Recursion

Spirit has the most ways to either bring a card back from the discard to hand, play, or into the deck. Map of Earendil is the best for Stand and Fight since it plays it and then shuffles it back into the deck. Dwarven Tomb gets it back to hand and ready to play for a good second option. Will of the West and Galahdrim Weaver only put it back into the deck which makes it difficult to play again without a lot of card draw.

Quest Specific

There are 2 quests in the game that focus on mining a player’s deck, Deadman’s Dike and Under the Ash Mountains. Both quests

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 Stand and Fight at 4 rings. It is a very solid card with the potential to act like the additional allies in a deck. It won’t go in every deck with Spirit because it is only as good as the allies it can target. It is great to target off-sphere allies to splash in someone powerful like Beorn. That it is an action makes it really useful in combat. If for no other reason than to get an emergency chump blocker.

  • Dave – 6
  • Grant – 6
  • Ted – TBR
  • Matt – 4
  • Average – 15.33

External Links

Sample Decks

Frodara and the Hobbit Necromancers by stokesbook

This is a heavy combo-centric deck that’s based around dumping a lot of high cost allies of any sphere into the discard pile and then ‘resurrecting’ through the auspices of Stand and Fight and maybe the sacrifice of a roast chicken dinner (Good Meal) to keep our overheads down.

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Frodo Baggins (Conflict at the Carrock)
Merry (The Wastes of Eriador)
Pippin (The Black Riders)

Ally (13)
1x Bilbo Baggins (The Road Darkens)
2x Elven Jeweler (Escape from Mount Gram)
2x Gandalf (Core Set)
1x Gildor Inglorion (The Hills of Emyn Muil)
1x Gimli (The Treason of Saruman)
1x Glorfindel (Flight of the Stormcaller)
1x Halbarad (The Flame of the West)
1x Legolas (The Treason of Saruman)
1x Robin Smallburrow (The Drowned Ruins)
1x Sam Gamgee (The Thing in the Depths)
1x Treebeard (The Antlered Crown)

Attachment (18)
3x Ancient Mathom (A Journey to Rhosgobel)
3x Expert Treasure-hunter (On the Doorstep)
3x Good Meal (The Redhorn Gate)
3x Hobbit Pipe (The Black Riders)
2x Map of Earnil (Assault on Osgiliath)
2x Protector of Lórien (Core Set)
2x Song of Travel (The Hills of Emyn Muil)

Event (19)
3x A Test of Will (Core Set)
3x Daeron’s Runes (Foundations of Stone)
3x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)
3x Hidden Cache (The Morgul Vale)
2x Smoke Rings (The Black Riders)
3x Stand and Fight (Core Set)
2x The Galadhrim’s Greeting (Core Set)

3 Heroes, 50 Cards
Cards up to The Drowned Ruins

Sideboard

Hero (1)
Gandalf (The Road Darkens)

Ally (4)
1x Beorn (Core Set)
2x Bilbo Baggins (The Road Darkens)
1x Boromir (The Road Darkens)

Attachment (9)
2x Gandalf’s Staff (The Road Darkens)
2x Hobbit Pony (The Wastes of Eriador)
1x Narya (The Grey Havens)
2x Shadowfax (The Treason of Saruman)
2x Wizard Pipe (The Road Darkens)

Event (3)
3x Elevenses (The Thing in the Depths)

Decklist built and published on RingsDB.

Wise Horse Lords by Card Talk Dave

This deck was inspired by an episode of Card Talk where we discussed how Théoden and Théodred work well together. You can see this episode here

The idea here is that contract only assists getting Rohan allies into play. With a just over 40% allies, and the same (roughly) amount of events, you are really using the events for card draw first, then resources, and if you are lucky, threat reduction lastly.

Wise Horse Lords of Rohan

Main Deck

Hero (3)
Éowyn (The Flame of the West)
Théoden (The Treason of Saruman)
Théodred (Core Set)

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

Ally (22)
1x Ceorl (Temple of the Deceived)
1x Déorwine (Temple of the Deceived)
1x Elfhelm (The Mountain of Fire)
1x Éomund (Conflict at the Carrock)
1x Éothain (The Dread Realm)
1x Escort from Edoras (A Journey to Rhosgobel)
1x Gamling (The Land of Shadow)
1x Grimbold (The Flame of the West)
1x Guthlaf (The Blood of Gondor)
1x Háma (The Treason of Saruman)
1x Horseback Archer (Core Set)
1x Riddermark Knight (The Dungeons of Cirith Gurat)
1x Rider of Rohan (Beneath the Sands)
1x Rider of the Mark (Road to Rivendell)
1x Rohirrim Scout (Challenge of the Wainriders)
1x Snowbourn Scout (Core Set)
1x The Riddermark’s Finest (The Hills of Emyn Muil)
1x Warden of Helm’s Deep (The Antlered Crown)
1x West Road Traveller (Return to Mirkwood)
1x Westfold Horse-breaker (The Hunt for Gollum)
1x Westfold Horse-breeder (The Voice of Isengard)
1x Westfold Outrider (The Voice of Isengard)

Attachment (8)
1x Armored Destrier (Temple of the Deceived)
1x Golden Shield (The Flame of the West)
1x Gúthwinë (The Mountain of Fire)
1x Herugrim (The Treason of Saruman)
1x Horn of the Mark (The City of Ulfast)
1x Snowmane (The Land of Shadow)
1x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)
1x Windfola (A Storm on Cobas Haven)

Event (23)
1x A Test of Will (Core Set)
1x A Very Good Tale (Over Hill and Under Hill)
1x Astonishing Speed (Return to Mirkwood)
1x Battle-fury (The Drowned Ruins)
1x Captain’s Wisdom (The Thing in the Depths)
1x Charge into Battle (Wrath and Ruin)
1x Charge of the Rohirrim (Celebrimbor’s Secret)
1x Desperate Defense (The Flame of the West)
1x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)
1x Feint (Core Set)
1x Forth Eorlingas! (The Morgul Vale)
1x Gaining Strength (The Steward’s Fear)
1x Helm! Helm! (The Treason of Saruman)
1x Last Stand (Flight of the Stormcaller)
1x Mustering the Rohirrim (The Hunt for Gollum)
1x Parting Gifts (A Journey to Rhosgobel)
1x Ride Them Down (The Antlered Crown)
1x Ride to Ruin (The Hills of Emyn Muil)
1x Sneak Attack (Core Set)
1x Stand and Fight (Core Set)
1x The Muster of Rohan (Challenge of the Wainriders)
1x Valiant Sacrifice (Core Set)
1x We Do Not Sleep (The Dead Marshes)

3 Heroes, 53 Cards
Cards up to Under the Ash Mountains

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

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