Rule of 4 - Revision history

Teltura at 12:10, 12 May 2025

2025-05-12T12:10:52Z

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 {{SplashCard|Delving|Eat your heart out, Ancestral Recall.}}
 '''The Rule of 4''' was one of the few core rules that was not in the game when it first debuted with [[The Fellowship of the Ring]].  As shown in the rules excerpt above, it's a straightforward limitation: the Free Peoples player is not permitted to put more than 4 cards into their hand per Fellowship phase.  This includes drawing from the draw deck ({{Card|Saved from the Fire}}), recovering from the discard pile ({{Card|Birthday Present}}), or taking cards into hand from play ({{Card|The Shards of Narsil}}).
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 Thus, none of the tactics suggested by tedv were ever able to be used at a sanctioned tournament.
 == Further Reading ==

Teltura at 05:19, 6 July 2024

2024-07-06T05:19:00Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:19, 6 July 2024
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	{{SplashCard\|Delving\|Eat your heart out, Ancestral Recall.}}		{{SplashCard\|Delving\|Eat your heart out, Ancestral Recall.}}
	~~{{RulesQuote~~
	~~\|source=The Rule of 4~~
	~~\|text=Some card effects allow you to draw cards in the fellowship phase. You cannot draw (or take into hand) more than 4 cards during your fellowship phase.~~
	~~<br><br>This applies to cards taken into hand by any means. This does not apply to cards drawn “at the start of each of your turns.”).''~~
	}}

	'''The Rule of 4''' was one of the few core rules that was not in the game when it first debuted with [[The Fellowship of the Ring]]. As shown in the rules excerpt above, it's a straightforward limitation: the Free Peoples player is not permitted to put more than 4 cards into their hand per Fellowship phase. This includes drawing from the draw deck ({{Card\|Saved from the Fire}}), recovering from the discard pile ({{Card\|Birthday Present}}), or taking cards into hand from play ({{Card\|The Shards of Narsil}}).		'''The Rule of 4''' was one of the few core rules that was not in the game when it first debuted with [[The Fellowship of the Ring]]. As shown in the rules excerpt above, it's a straightforward limitation: the Free Peoples player is not permitted to put more than 4 cards into their hand per Fellowship phase. This includes drawing from the draw deck ({{Card\|Saved from the Fire}}), recovering from the discard pile ({{Card\|Birthday Present}}), or taking cards into hand from play ({{Card\|The Shards of Narsil}}).
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	[[#Cards Limited by the Rule of 4\|See below]] for a full list of all cards affected by the Rule of 4.		[[#Cards Limited by the Rule of 4\|See below]] for a full list of all cards affected by the Rule of 4.

			__TOC__

	== History ==		== History ==
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	Thus, none of the tactics suggested by tedv were ever able to be used at a sanctioned tournament.		Thus, none of the tactics suggested by tedv were ever able to be used at a sanctioned tournament.

			== Rules Entries ==
			{{RulesQuote
			\|source=The Rule of 4
			\|text=Some card effects allow you to draw cards in the fellowship phase. You cannot draw (or take into hand) more than 4 cards during your fellowship phase.
			<br><br>This applies to cards taken into hand by any means. This does not apply to cards drawn “at the start of each of your turns.”).''
			}}

	== Further Reading ==		== Further Reading ==

Teltura: Replacing more generic SplashImage template usage with dedicated SplashCard template.

2024-07-06T05:17:55Z

Replacing more generic SplashImage template usage with dedicated SplashCard template.

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:17, 6 July 2024
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	{{~~SplashImage~~\|~~LOTR-EN01S006.0_card.jpg~~\|Eat your heart out, Ancestral Recall.}}		{{SplashCard\|Delving\|Eat your heart out, Ancestral Recall.}}
	{{RulesQuote		{{RulesQuote
	\|source=The Rule of 4		\|source=The Rule of 4

Teltura at 22:27, 10 December 2023

2023-12-10T22:27:13Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:27, 10 December 2023
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	Cards that play directly from the draw deck or discard pile do not count towards this rule, only cards placed "into hand". This also does not affect cards drawn "at the start of your turn" ({{Card\|Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim}}), as this happens before the Fellowship phase. No limit is placed on any other phase, meaning that the Shadow player remains able to draw an unlimited number of cards.		Cards that play directly from the draw deck or discard pile do not count towards this rule, only cards placed "into hand". This also does not affect cards drawn "at the start of your turn" ({{Card\|Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim}}), as this happens before the Fellowship phase. No limit is placed on any other phase, meaning that the Shadow player remains able to draw an unlimited number of cards.

	[[#Limited by the Rule of 4\|See below]] for a full list of all cards affected by the Rule of 4.		[[#Cards Limited by the Rule of 4\|See below]] for a full list of all cards affected by the Rule of 4.

	== History ==		== History ==

Teltura at 22:26, 10 December 2023

2023-12-10T22:26:56Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:26, 10 December 2023
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	Cards that play directly from the draw deck or discard pile do not count towards this rule, only cards placed "into hand". This also does not affect cards drawn "at the start of your turn" ({{Card\|Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim}}), as this happens before the Fellowship phase. No limit is placed on any other phase, meaning that the Shadow player remains able to draw an unlimited number of cards.		Cards that play directly from the draw deck or discard pile do not count towards this rule, only cards placed "into hand". This also does not affect cards drawn "at the start of your turn" ({{Card\|Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim}}), as this happens before the Fellowship phase. No limit is placed on any other phase, meaning that the Shadow player remains able to draw an unlimited number of cards.

	See below for a full list of all cards affected by the Rule of 4.		[[#Limited by the Rule of 4\|See below]] for a full list of all cards affected by the Rule of 4.

	== History ==		== History ==

Teltura: Revamped with more accurate information regarding the rule's origin

2023-12-10T22:24:42Z

Revamped with more accurate information regarding the rule's origin

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{RulesQuote
 |source=The Rule of 4
@@ Line 5: / Line 6: @@
 }}
-'''The Rule of 4''' was one of the few core rules that was not in the game when it first debuted with [[The Fellowship of the Ring]].  In [[Fellowship Block]], [[Allies]] were a much bigger aspect of the game than they were in later sets, meant to represent the aid given to the Fellowship by Elrond and Galadriel in the first movie, which resulted in players using allies almost universally.  After all, why not pack your deck full of allies?  There is no limit to the number that you can have in play at once (whereas the Fellowship is restricted by the [[Rule of 9]]) and their special abilities can often be used to great effect.
+'''The Rule of 4''' was one of the few core rules that was not in the game when it first debuted with [[The Fellowship of the Ring]].  As shown in the rules excerpt above, it's a straightforward limitation: the Free Peoples player is not permitted to put more than 4 cards into their hand per Fellowship phase.  This includes drawing from the draw deck ({{Card|Saved from the Fire}}), recovering from the discard pile ({{Card|Birthday Present}}), or taking cards into hand from play ({{Card|The Shards of Narsil}}).
-There was one card that was particularly useful because of a combination of reasons, and that was {{Card|Elrond, Lord of Rivendell}}.  Any deck packing Elves or [[Gandalf]] could use him, and due to the prevalence of {{Card|Legolas, Greenleaf}}, that meant practically everyone could use him.  On the turn that you dropped Elrond, you could draw 3 cards, and if any of those were other copies of Elrond, you could discard to heal and draw more.  Put this in combination with any other drawing mechanism and you could easily play the turn with double the normal hand limit.  There are hardly any strategies where this did not work in the player's favor, and so Agent Smith rose to huge popularity.
+Cards that play directly from the draw deck or discard pile do not count towards this rule, only cards placed "into hand".  This also does not affect cards drawn "at the start of your turn" ({{Card|Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim}}), as this happens before the Fellowship phase.  No limit is placed on any other phase, meaning that the Shadow player remains able to draw an unlimited number of cards.
-To combat this, Decipher ruled sometime before the release of Realms of the Elf-Lords to instigate a new rule, known as the '''Rule of 4''': no more than 4 cards can be put into your hand during the Fellowship phase.  This includes drawing from the draw deck, recovering from the discard pile, or taking cards into hand from play.  Cards that play directly from the draw deck or discard pile do not count towards this rule, only cards placed "into hand".  This also does not affect cards drawn "at the start of your turn" (such as {{Card|Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim}}) , as this happens before the Fellowship phase.
+See below for a full list of all cards affected by the Rule of 4.
-For this reason, card cycling is usually (but not always) done on the Shadow side of play, since there is no limit to the number of cards that can be put into hand while acting as Shadow player.  A list of cards that are affected by the Rule of 4 are shown below.
+== History ==
-See also [[Draw Deck]], [[Draw]], [[Discard Pile]], [[Hand]], [[Fellowship Phase]].
+Initially, there were some very potent card draw options available from the first set, most notably 4x {{Card|Ottar, Man of Laketown}} with 4x {{Card|Elrond, Lord of Rivendell}}, which permits 18 cards to be cycled by themselves, +4 per Fellowship phase that both cards are in play.  Combine this with {{Card|Delving}}, {{Card|Wealth of Moria}}, or {{Card|Questions That Need Answering}} / {{Card|Risk a Little Light}}, and there is some very solid, yet bounded, card draw that can easily over the course of the game cause you to draw most or all of your draw deck just from card effects (ignoring reconciles).

Teltura: Cleaned up comp rules reference, overhauled the list of cards to use a table query

2022-04-15T22:38:35Z

Cleaned up comp rules reference, overhauled the list of cards to use a table query

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-=The Rule of 4=
+{{RulesQuote
-'''The Rule of 4''' was one of the few core rules that was not in the game when it first debuted with [[Fellowship of the Ring]].  In [[Fellowship Block]], [[Allies]] were a much bigger aspect of the game than they were in later sets, meant to represent the aid given to the Fellowship by Elrond and Galadriel in the first movie, which resulted in players using allies almost universally.  After all, why not pack your deck full of allies?  There is no limit to the number that you can have in play at once (whereas the Fellowship is restricted by the [[Rule of Nine]]) and their special abilities can often be used to great effect.
+'''The Rule of 4''' was one of the few core rules that was not in the game when it first debuted with [[The Fellowship of the Ring]].  In [[Fellowship Block]], [[Allies]] were a much bigger aspect of the game than they were in later sets, meant to represent the aid given to the Fellowship by Elrond and Galadriel in the first movie, which resulted in players using allies almost universally.  After all, why not pack your deck full of allies?  There is no limit to the number that you can have in play at once (whereas the Fellowship is restricted by the [[Rule of 9]]) and their special abilities can often be used to great effect.
 There was one card that was particularly useful because of a combination of reasons, and that was {{Card|Elrond, Lord of Rivendell}}.  Any deck packing Elves or [[Gandalf]] could use him, and due to the prevalence of {{Card|Legolas, Greenleaf}}, that meant practically everyone could use him.  On the turn that you dropped Elrond, you could draw 3 cards, and if any of those were other copies of Elrond, you could discard to heal and draw more.  Put this in combination with any other drawing mechanism and you could easily play the turn with double the normal hand limit.  There are hardly any strategies where this did not work in the player's favor, and so Agent Smith rose to huge popularity.
-To combat this, Decipher ruled sometime before the release of Realms of the Elf-Lords to instigate a new rule, known as the '''Rule of Four''': no more than 4 cards can be put into your hand during the Fellowship phase.  This includes drawing from the draw deck, recovering from the discard pile, or taking cards into hand from play.  Cards that play directly from the draw deck or discard pile do not count towards this rule, only cards placed "into hand".  This also does not affect cards drawn "at the start of your turn" (such as {{Card|Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim}}) , as this happens before the Fellowship phase.
+To combat this, Decipher ruled sometime before the release of Realms of the Elf-Lords to instigate a new rule, known as the '''Rule of 4''': no more than 4 cards can be put into your hand during the Fellowship phase.  This includes drawing from the draw deck, recovering from the discard pile, or taking cards into hand from play.  Cards that play directly from the draw deck or discard pile do not count towards this rule, only cards placed "into hand".  This also does not affect cards drawn "at the start of your turn" (such as {{Card|Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim}}) , as this happens before the Fellowship phase.
-For this reason, card cycling is usually done on the Shadow side of play, since there is no limit to the number of cards that can be put into hand while acting as Shadow player.  A list of cards that are affected by the Rule of 4 are shown below.
+For this reason, card cycling is usually (but not always) done on the Shadow side of play, since there is no limit to the number of cards that can be put into hand while acting as Shadow player.  A list of cards that are affected by the Rule of 4 are shown below.
-See also draw deck, [[draw]], discard pile, [[hand]], Fellowship phase.
+See also [[Draw Deck]], [[Draw]], [[Discard Pile]], [[Hand]], [[Fellowship Phase]].
 ==Cards Limited by the Rule of 4==
-===Dwarven===
+{{ThumbnailTable
+|filter= C.Side = 'Free Peoples' AND CR.Subset = 'S' AND C.CardType NOT LIKE 'Follower' AND (CR.GameText RLIKE '(Fellowship:{{!}}Fellowship or {{!}}At the start of (your{{!}}the{{!}}each) Fellowship{{!}}Each time you{{!}}When you play)' OR CR.Subtypes HOLDS 'Fellowship') AND CR.GameText RLIKE '(?<!opponent )(?<!Shadow player )(draw a{{!}}draw \\d{{!}}draw X{{!}}into hand)' AND C.CollInfo NOT IN ('15R29') AND {{FilterNonDecipher}} AND {{FilterReprints}}
-* [[LOTR01006|Delving]]
+|sort= {{CultureSort}}
-* [[LOTR01028|Wealth of Moria]]
+}}
 {{:Game Concepts Table}}
 &nbsp;

Tunadan: Fixed the links in the article.

2022-01-15T22:03:38Z

Fixed the links in the article.

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:03, 15 January 2022
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	=The Rule of 4=		=The Rule of 4=

	'''The Rule of 4''' was one of the few core rules that was not in the game when it first debuted with ''Fellowship of the Ring''. In ~~''!~~Fellowship'', Allies were a much bigger aspect of the game than they were in later sets, meant to represent the aid given to the Fellowship by Elrond and Galadriel in the first movie, which resulted in players using allies almost universally. After all, why not pack your deck full of allies? There is no limit to the number that you can have in play at once (whereas the Fellowship is [[~~rule_of_9\|limited to 9 in play and in the dead pile~~]]) and their ~~[[special_ability\|~~special abilities]] can often be used to great effect.		'''The Rule of 4''' was one of the few core rules that was not in the game when it first debuted with [[Fellowship of the Ring]]. In [[Fellowship Block]], [[Allies]] were a much bigger aspect of the game than they were in later sets, meant to represent the aid given to the Fellowship by Elrond and Galadriel in the first movie, which resulted in players using allies almost universally. After all, why not pack your deck full of allies? There is no limit to the number that you can have in play at once (whereas the Fellowship is restricted by the [[Rule of Nine]]) and their special abilities can often be used to great effect.

	There was one card that was particularly useful because of a combination of reasons, and that was Elrond, Lord of Rivendell~~, shown to the right~~. Any deck packing Elves or Gandalf could use him, and due to the prevalence of Legolas, Greenleaf, that meant practically everyone could use him. On the turn that you dropped Elrond, you could draw 3 cards, and if any of those were other copies of Elrond, you could discard to heal and draw more. Put this in combination with any other drawing mechanism and you could easily play the turn with double the normal hand limit. There are hardly any strategies where this did not work in the player's favor, and so Agent Smith rose to huge popularity.		There was one card that was particularly useful because of a combination of reasons, and that was {{Card\|Elrond, Lord of Rivendell}}. Any deck packing Elves or [[Gandalf]] could use him, and due to the prevalence of {{Card\|Legolas, Greenleaf}}, that meant practically everyone could use him. On the turn that you dropped Elrond, you could draw 3 cards, and if any of those were other copies of Elrond, you could discard to heal and draw more. Put this in combination with any other drawing mechanism and you could easily play the turn with double the normal hand limit. There are hardly any strategies where this did not work in the player's favor, and so Agent Smith rose to huge popularity.

	To combat this, Decipher ruled sometime before the release of Realms of the Elf-Lords to instigate a new rule, known as the ''!Rule of 4'': no more than 4 cards can be put into your hand during the Fellowship phase. This includes drawing from the draw deck, recovering from the discard pile, or taking cards into hand from play. Cards that play directly from the draw deck or discard pile do not count towards this rule, only cards placed "into hand". This also does not affect cards drawn "at the start of your turn" (such as Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim) , as this happens before the Fellowship phase.		To combat this, Decipher ruled sometime before the release of Realms of the Elf-Lords to instigate a new rule, known as the '''Rule of Four''': no more than 4 cards can be put into your hand during the Fellowship phase. This includes drawing from the draw deck, recovering from the discard pile, or taking cards into hand from play. Cards that play directly from the draw deck or discard pile do not count towards this rule, only cards placed "into hand". This also does not affect cards drawn "at the start of your turn" (such as {{Card\|Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim}}) , as this happens before the Fellowship phase.

	For this reason, card cycling is usually done on the Shadow side of play, since there is no limit to the number of cards that can be put into hand while acting as Shadow player. A list of cards that are affected by the Rule of 4 are shown below.		For this reason, card cycling is usually done on the Shadow side of play, since there is no limit to the number of cards that can be put into hand while acting as Shadow player. A list of cards that are affected by the Rule of 4 are shown below.

	See also draw deck, [[draw]], discard pile, [[hand]], Fellowship phase.		See also draw deck, [[draw]], discard pile, [[hand]], Fellowship phase.

	* [[lotr01040\|{{ cards:lotr01040.jpg?300 \|How many cards do you know that were so broken they needed an entire rule drafted to combat it? }}]]

	[[Category: Comprehensive Rules References That Need Fixed]]'''From the [[comprehensive_rules_4-0#the_rule_of_4\|Comprehensive Rules 4.0]]:'''		[[Category: Comprehensive Rules References That Need Fixed]]'''From the [[comprehensive_rules_4-0#the_rule_of_4\|Comprehensive Rules 4.0]]:'''

imported>Teltura at 08:52, 7 September 2020

2020-09-07T08:52:43Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:52, 7 September 2020
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	* [[LOTR10104\|Birthday Present]]		* [[LOTR10104\|Birthday Present]]

	{{:~~game_setup_table~~}}		{{:Game Concepts Table}}

imported>Teltura at 08:51, 7 September 2020

2020-09-07T08:51:00Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:51, 7 September 2020
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	{{:game_setup_table}}		{{:game_setup_table}}