Page values for "Data:Saruman's Snows (1C138)/Data"

Snows is a card that sits at the center of a small cluster of instant-kill strategies: put down Isengard Warrior (3U61)START_WIDGET"'-c84d4e23805f4dcdEND_WIDGET and another Isenorc, play Snows, and then 4-5 other minions: boom, instant overwhelmed Frodo. No archery abilities can be used to thin the herd of minions, and all the ways you might keep Frodo alive (Power According to His Stature (1R308)START_WIDGET"'-a527cbf2f153389fEND_WIDGET, Hobbit Stealth (1C298)START_WIDGET"'-6e8a19d5a05e8266END_WIDGET, Boromir, Son of Denethor (1U97)START_WIDGET"'-ecab72cacd41ff87END_WIDGET, Merry, Friend to Sam (1R302)START_WIDGET"'-a9818b135641c004END_WIDGET) can’t be used. The only defenses available are cards that trigger during the Maneuver phase, because all other phases have been systematically denied you.

Snows is also powerful within more general strategies that aren’t attempting a Stupid Swarm insta-kill, but it’s the straightforward power of the insta-kill that really needs addressed.

Thus, our errata addresses that specific use case without touching any others. Stupid Swarm relies on having a variety of cheap minions (mostly Moria), with a limited number of Isengard Orcs in the mix. By making Snows only apply to those Isenorcs, it should be possible for the Free Peoples player to assign those few that remain away from the Ring-bearer, leaving Frodo available to use any of the tools in his toolbox to avoid a gristly death.

Decipher Notes:

This card had perhaps a slower rise to power than some, but before long players knew this was one of the most effective conditions in the game. Its impact was so deep, more than one top-level tournament deck has been seen stocking multiple copies of Boromir's Cloak (1U98)START_WIDGET"'-3f6bc3533487a657END_WIDGET exclusively to deal with it. For a “swarm” style of Shadow strategy, quite potent enough on its own, Saruman's Snows ensures the Ring-bearer will be overwhelmed.

Saruman's Snows does not necessarily interact directly with any of the new rules in Shadows. We have witnessed over the years, however, that it is a figurative mallet where a scalpel is called for. Denying an opponent a resource or opportunity he was counting on is of course what the game is all about. A missed chance to heal here, a lost special ability there; in the right quantities, these are the things meant to decide games. But Saruman's Snows is a card able to cut off an entire phase of the game – neither skirmish special abilities nor events can slip by it. Consequently, it’s a constant impediment to new card design. In a way, it doesn’t matter how interesting or impactful a new card we release is – if it happens in the skirmish phase, there’s a frequently used card out there that can shut it off. You may well see aspects of this card reappearing in the future, but not all together in a gift-wrapped single package like this.