Editing Boromir, Bearer of Council (9R+31)

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{{CardTabs|Gondor}}

[[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}]] is a {{C|Gondor}} [[Companion]] from the [[Reflections]] set.
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= Strategy =

'''Boromir, Bearer of Council''' is one of the original alternate [[Ring-bearer]]s from [[Reflections]], allowing you to replace [[Frodo]] with one of the other [[companion]]s that might've [[Bear|borne]] [[the One Ring]]. Like most of these alternate ring-bearers, he's usually only used if you're going to have him bear the One Ring. This version of Boromir fits well in a {{C|Gondor}}-focused deck, in both theme and function, especially if that deck uses cards like {{Card|Noble Leaders}} and {{Card|Stewards' Legacy}} that benefit from spotting [[Boromir]].

Bearer of Council has the significant advantage of 7 base strength. Unlike Frodo, he doesn't need a strength boost to avoid being [[overwhelm]] by any but the strongest [[minion]]s. He can even win an occasional skirmish, both with his higher base strength and access to cards that apply to {{C|Gondor}} or [[Man]] companions. This comes at a high cost: every time he skirmishes, you need to expend more than half his base capacity for [[burden]]s or [[wound]]s. You're trading Frodo's weakness to instant death for Boromir's lingering weakness to repeated skirmishes, and [[swarm]] decks or cards like {{Card|Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow}} or {{Card|Ulaire Nertea, Dark Horseman}} can often keep pushing him into skirmishes. This drawback can be mitigated by increasing his [[vitality]], boosting his [[resistance]], or via wound and burden removal. {{Card|The One Ring, Answer To All Riddles}}, {{Card|The One Ring, The Ring of Doom}}, or {{Card|The One Ring, The Ring of Rings}} can help with his wound or burden pool. A {{C|Gondor}} artifact strategy, with cards like {{Card|Scroll of Isildur}} and {{Card|Sapling of the White Tree}}, can also help offset the cost of occasionally skirmishing with him. You can also supplement his vitality with {{Card|Narsil, Blade of the Faithful}} or {{Card|The Saga of Elendil}}, although this can be risky: if one of these cards is [[Removal|removed]] when he has only one wound left, he'll die and you'll lose the game!

He's also immune to cards that target [[Hobbit]]s or {{C|Shire}} companions. Most of these cards are not popular in formats that include Reflections, but it's also one less culture to spot, making you less vulnerable to cards like {{Card|Grima, Chief Counselor}}. Remember that if he is the ring-bearer, he is also [[Ring-bound]], and immune to cards that target [[unbound]] companions. In particular, it's safer to stack [[condition]]s or [[possession]]s on him while he's the ring-bearer, without fear of {{Card|Grima, Wormtongue}}.

Boromir, Bearer of Council doesn't just compete with Frodo, however. He also competes with the other two {{C|Gondor}} alt ring-bearers: {{Card|Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms}} and, in formats that include [[Rise of Saruman]], {{Card|Faramir, Bearer of Quality}}. Of the three {{C|Gondor}} ring-bearers, as he has the harshest penalty for getting into a skirmish. Boromir always ends up pressuring his own vitality and resistance if he ends up in his ring-bearer, while the other two can offload that risk to the other companions or the threat pool. If all you want is a {{C|Gondor}} ring-bearer and none of their abilities are important to your deck, the skirmish penalty makes Boromir the riskiest choice of the three. Boromir's inherent ability to discard minions is strong and useful in every deck, but you're paying for it with significant risk.

Boromir's main advantage over the other {{C|Gondor}} ring-bearers is his name: you can spot Boromir for cards like {{Card|Noble Leaders}} and {{Card|Stewards' Legacy}}, both of which are often used as the core of a deck. While Faramir, Bearer of Quality can also be spotted by those cards, it's easier to fit a starting slate of Boromir, Bearer of Council and a cost-reducing Faramir than vice versa. Decks like {{Card|Noble Leaders}} decks or [[Token Tanks]] often start with Boromir, Bearer of Council, a discounted version of [[Faramir]] like {{Card|Faramir, Captain of Gondor}} or {{Card|Faramir, Captain of Ithilien}}, and {{Card|Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith}}, with a plan to use Denethor to search your deck for several {{C|Gondor}} cards at site 3. If you switch to {{Card|Faramir, Prince of Ithilien}}, you can also fit in {{Card|Aragorn, Strider}} to start, although you may prefer to use Denethor to search for a stronger version of Aragorn like {{Card|Aragorn, King in Exile}}, {{Card|Aragorn, Captain of Gondor}}, or {{Card|Aragorn, Thorongil}} at site 3 instead.

If you can afford the wounds or burdens, Boromir can take advantage of the numerous strength-boosting cards that apply to {{C|Gondor}} companions or men (e.g. {{Card|Blade of Gondor}}, {{Card|Ithilien Blade}}, or {{Card|The Last Alliance of Elves and Men}}) to win skirmishes and discard the minions he is skirmishing, regardless of their remaining vitality. This can come in very handy to prevent Shadow cards like {{Card|Isengard Artisan}} or {{Card|Web}} from using their Regroup abilities, or simply to remove minions to set up a double move. Alternately, you can simply keep Boromir away from skirmishes as best you can and use his vitality pool for exertions. Many {{C|Gondor}} turn exertions into something useful, including {{CultureIcon|Gondor}} archery (particularly {{Card|Gondor Bowmen}}), [[Fortification]]s (e.g. {{Card|Stone Tower}} and {{Card|Citadel of the Stars}}), and roaming minion hate (e.g. {{Card|Ranger's Cloak}}, Ithilien Blade, and {{Card|Soldier's Cache}}). All of these strategies work very well with {{Card|Stewards' Legacy}}, as the extra exertions help make the minions more vulnerable to being wounded and killed.

This version of Boromir is one of the few alternate ring-bearers that is actually worth playing as a regular companion, although he is not a popular choice. His statistics are only middling for his twilight cost, and a twilight cost of 3 is awkward to fit into a starting Fellowship. However, if you can boost his strength high enough that he wins skirmishes (generally using [[possession]]s, {{Card|Noble Leaders}}, {{Card|The Last Alliance of Elves and Men}}, or {{Card|Merry, Friend to Sam}}), he can discard those minions for you, similar to the way he's used as ring-bearer. In decks that already have a ring-bearer, though, there's just no place for a ring-bearing man. He's bracketed on either side by stronger companions, like {{Card|Faramir, Son of Denethor}}, {{Card|Elendil, the Tall}}, or any version of [[Aragorn]], and by cheaper utility companions like {{Card|Dervorin}}. He's also generally reliant on [[Bear|bearing]] cards to get his strength up, so he's often vulnerable to {{Card|Grima, Wormtongue}}.

= Strengths and Weaknesses =
== Synergizes With... ==

* Conditions that spot Boromir in particular, especially {{Card|Noble Leaders}} and {{Card|Stewards' Legacy}}
* In conjunction with {{Card|Stewards' Legacy}}, any card that exerts him to produce a useful effect, as long as that exertion isn't in the [[Fellowship Phase|Fellowship]] or [[Regroup Phase]]s. This includes {{CultureIcon|Gondor}} archery (e.g. {{Card|Gondor Bowmen}} and {{Card|Bow of Minas Tirith}}), [[Fortification]]s (e.g. {{Card|Stone Tower}} and {{Card|Citadel of the Stars}}), and [[roaming]] minion hate (e.g. {{Card|Ranger's Cloak}}, {{Card|Ithilien Blade}}, and {{Card|Soldier's Cache}}).
* {{C|Gondor}} companions that need to spot relatively many {{CultureIcon|Gondor}} [[Man|Men]], like {{Card|Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith}} and {{Card|Elendil, The Tall}}
* Versions of [[the One Ring]] that help with his vitality or resistance, like {{Card|The One Ring, Answer To All Riddles}}, {{Card|The One Ring, The Ring of Doom}}, or {{Card|The One Ring, The Ring of Rings}}
* The {{C|Gondor}} [[artifact]] substrategy, with {{Card|Scroll of Isildur}} to boost his resistance and {{Card|Sapling of the White Tree}} to prevent wounds

== Strong Versus... ==

* Shadow strategies that rely on [[overwhelm]]ing the ring-bearer in a single skirmish, especially in the early-game
* Shadow cards that spot {{C|Shire}} companions or Hobbits, on the assumption that the ring-bearer is one
* Cards that spot many Free Peoples cultures, such as {{Card|Grima, Chief Counselor}}
* Shadow minions or conditions that rely on minions surviving to the Regroup phase, as long as you can afford to skirmish with Boromir. This includes {{Card|Web}} and {{C|Isengard}} orcs like {{Card|Isengard Artisan}}

== Weak Versus... ==

* Corruption. He's especially vulnerable to {{Card|Thin and Stretched}}, or corruption bomb strategies that apply many burdens at once, such as {{Card|Lost to the Goblins}}
* {{Card|Such a Little Thing}}
* Repeated skirmishes, particularly from minions that are difficult or impossible to assign to another companion, such as {{Card|Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow}}, {{Card|Gollum, Mad Thing}}, and {{Card|Ulaire Nertea, Dark Horseman}}
* {{Card|Gollum, Hopeless}} if you have strength-boosting cards stacked on him

= Rulings =

* The player cannot elect to wound Boromir twice if Boromir cannot take wounds or cannot take more than one wound, such as when he is bearing <!--Armor-->{{Card|1C92}}.

= Alternate Personas =
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