Rohirrim Shield

When Theoden, King of Rohan, was preparing for battle with Saruman's Uruk-hai at the Fortress of Helm's Deep, he ordered every man and strong lad be sent to the armory, to gear up for war. The armory was full of spears, swords, axes, bows, helms and shields with which the men armed themselves, and we've seen more and more of these possessions for the Rohirrim in each set.

The shield is one possession that has been widely overlooked of late, most likely due to a perception that there is usually a better way to fill the card slot that it would take up. There are currently 3 Free peoples Shields; The Great Shield, The Shield of Boromir, and the Rohirrim Shield. All three shields have one thing in common, in that they all reduce the minion archery total by one; however, that is the extent of the Great Shields text, and the special text for the Shield of Boromir is reserved solely for his use. At first look the Rohirrim Shield seems a bit un-inspiring as well, but if you take a moment to examine it closer and more in depth, I think you'll agree it is worth a second look.

The Rohirrim shield can be discarded during the regroup phase to heal its bearer. In combination, this can be extremely useful, particularly with the new Battle of Helm's Deep versions of Theoden and Eowyn. With the right combination of cards you can really start a healing train. For example, during your fellowship phase exert Guma to heal a Rohan companion, play the shield to Theoden, King of the Golden Hall, during the maneuver phase to heal Guma, leaving him able to heal again next fellowship phase, let the shield soak up an archery wound, then discard it in regroup to heal Theoden. With the common theme of exerting Rohan allies for effect, I'm sure there are several other chains you can think of as well.

With the introduction of the standard format players are looking for new combinations. Direct wounding with Uruk archery and Sauron Orcs is becoming more and more popular, as are the Nazgul; now that the Flaming Brands are unable to be used in Standard, its going to be hard to prevent those pesky Black Riders from winning skirmishes. Against these types of shadow strategies preventing wounds and healing are key, and the Rohirrim Shield provides you with an avenue to do both.

The game is changing every day. New strategies are emerging, and old ones are becoming obsolete. You never know for sure what you'll face on the battlefield (or on the tabletop); ask yourself, would you really want to go into battle without a Shield?