Hints & strategie notes for this Deck
Every now and then I like to sift through the sets of
Decipher's The Lord of the Rings TCG and look for a new deck archetype based on
a card that seldom sees play. Now, I don't pretend that these new creations will
be powerhouses in the tournament circuit, but hey, people still play for fun
right? Recently I ran across and old friend in the Nazgul culture, Ulaire
Lemenya. Lemenya has been a particular favorite of mine as most players viewed
him as the black sheep of the Nazgul. It's true, Lemenya has issues. For one, he
has only 9 strength and 2 vitality. Then, of course, there's the little fact
that he's not Fierce. But do not weep for him! For he is not without brothers
and possesses a few tricks of his own.
Ulaire Lemenya's ability is to make every companion and ally
who bears a Nazgul condition strength -2. Note that he does this as long as he's
in play and regardless of whether he's assigned to a skirmish or not. Currently
there are three Nazgul conditions that can be transferred to fellowship
characters. First, there is Black Breath which prevents wounds and burdens from
being removed from its bearer. Blade Tip is another powerful condition which
wounds its bearer at the start of each turn. Finally, there is Helpless, which
plays on Sam so long as you can spot Frodo and a Nazgul. All three of these
conditions are useful in their own right but become even more worthwhile when
Lemenya is in play.
Although one could make a deck with Lemenya, Nazgul conditions,
and a mix of other, stronger Nazgul with support cards, lets support Lemenya and
his conditions in combination with other shadow conditions first. For this, we
turn to the Isengard culture and enlist cards like Banished (exerts bearer every
time another companion or ally loses a skirmish), Leechcraft (special abilities
in bearer's game text may not be used), Rohan is Mine (exerts every ally when
bearer is assigned to a skirmish), and Wounded (exerts bearer when played and
prevents wounds from being removed while attached). Now, these conditions don't
count for Lemenya's strength -2 ability, but they do have solid abilities of
their own and count towards the total number of conditions in play on
companions. This is important for use with Grima, Wormtongue, who has the
potential to seriously debilitate your opponent's unbound fellowship with his
maneuver ability that sends free peoples cards back to your opponent's hand, but
allows your shadow conditions to remain. The rest of the minion side can be
filled out with your stronger Nazgul and, by adding several copies of Tower of
Orthanc, the hurt of the conditions will simultaneously build pool for your
Nazgul.
Companion (2):
Companion (4):
