Realms of the Elf-lords
Mines of Moria | Back to Main Page |
The Two Towers |
Realms of the Elf-lords | |
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ID | 3 |
Name | Realms of the Elf-lords |
Creator | Decipher |
Release Date | 2002-06-19 |
Is Official | yes |
Platforms | Paper • LotR-O • GEMP • mLOTRO • Tabletop Simulator • Lackey • gccg |
Notes |
Set 3, Realms of the Elf-lords (or ROTEL), the second expansion to The Lord of the Rings TCG took strategy to a whole new level. Largely focusing on the Elven allies of Rivendell and Lothlorien, ROTEL created an entirely new subset of minions with Isengard Orcs, largely expanded the Sauron discard strategy, and introduced several cards to keep the Fellowship healed. Realms of the Elf-lords also introduced a new Aragorn, two new Arwen companions, and the two starter deck companions, Legolas, Son of Thranduil (3P121) and Boromir, Defender of Minas Tirith (3P122) . Finally, ROTEL introduced Saruman as a playable character and introduced the three Elven rings of power, Narya (3R34) , Nenya (3R23) , and Vilya (3R27) .
Notable Cards
- Elrond, Herald to Gil-galad (3R13)
- Aragorn, Heir to the White City (3R38)
- Gondor Bowmen (3R41)
- Horn of Boromir (3R42)
- Saruman, Keeper of Isengard (3R68)
- The Shire Countryside (3R113)
Other honorable mentions include Frying Pan (3C108) , Might of Númenor (3C43) , and Bill the Pony (3U106) .
Realms of the Elf Lords featured several cards that were subsequently X-Listed in future formats, including:
- Bill the Pony (3U106)
- Horn of Boromir (3R42)
- Aragorn, Heir to the White City (3R38)
- Saruman, Keeper of Isengard (3R68)
- The Palantír of Orthanc (3R67)
Sharp-eyed readers will notice the overlap between this list and the Notable Cards from above.
Print Runs
Realms of the Elf-lords is one of the most difficult sets to find sealed product for; presumably in response to the over-printed Mines of Moria, Decipher cut down on the print runs for ROTEL and ran into the opposite problem: rather than overflowing warehouses, players literally could not get enough. Even in the later overprint distribution in Reflections, ROTEL remained underrepresented.