Editing Watchers of Cirith Ungol (10U120)

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{{CardTabs|Site}}

[[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}]] is a [[King Block]] [[Site]] from the [[Mount Doom]] set.

{{CardInfobox|10U120}}

{{QueryCardCategories|10U120}}
= Strategy =
'''Watchers of Cirith Ungol''' is one of the weakest choices for [[site]] 8 in [[King Block]], paradoxically making it one of the best choices for many decks. Its gametext is fairly useless: [[Morgul Orcs]] would rather use [[threat]]s for cards like {{Card|Morgul Destroyer}} or {{Card|Morgul Ambusher}}. However, this isn't much of a downside for Shadow decks don't benefit from any site 8, and what's unfavorable to all Shadow decks is favorable to your Free Peoples deck. While you'd ideally want to use a site 8 that benefits your Shadow deck, since the opponent is about to win, this is often the best alternative.

Every option for site 8 in King Block consumes [[threat]]s to create some benefit for the Shadow player, ranging from relatively weak [[skirmish phase|skirmish]] [[pump]]s to very strong effects like playing minions from your discard pile. In a vacuum, Watchers of Cirith Ungol is already on the weaker end. That weak skirmish boost is very often not worth it, because decks with {{CultureIcon|Ringwraith}} [[orc]]s often have better uses for the threats. Moreover, these decks often play [[Gollum]] and/or [[Nazgul]] as well, and can instead use very strong sites like {{Card|Northern Ithilien}} or {{Card|Morgulduin}}. There's just no place for this site in Morgul Orc decks.

What makes this site popular is the fact that all of the site 8 cards in King Block are limited to one specific culture. If you're not playing Gollum or {{C|Sauron}}, {{C|Raider}}, or [[Nazgul]] minions, there's no site 8 that benefits your Shadow deck with its gametext at all. As a result, unless you've [[splash]]ed Gollum or a utility Nazgûl like {{Card|Ulaire Enquea, Lieutenant of Morgul}}, this is often your best bet in a {{C|Dunland}}, {{C|Isengard}}, or {{C|Moria}} deck. It's not helping you out any, but at least it's almost certain not to help out your opponent.

= Strengths and Weaknesses =
== Favorable to... ==
* Free Peoples decks. You chiefly use this site because there's no better alternative that benefits your Shadow deck. {{C|Dunland}}, {{C|Isengard}}, or {{C|Moria}} don't have any better options at site 8, unless you have a [[splash]] like [[Gollum]] or [[Nazgul]].
* This is very weakly favorable to [[Morgul Orc]] decks over a site 8 that does nothing for them, but almost all of those decks prefer {{Card|Northern Ithilien}} or {{Card|Morgulduin}}.

== Unfavorable to... ==
* Shadow decks using [[Gollum]] or {{C|Sauron}}, {{C|Raider}}, or [[Nazgul]] minions. They would all prefer some stronger site 8.