Elendil, The Tall (9R+32): Difference between revisions
(writeup) |
m (→Strategy: whoops) |
||
| Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
= Strategy = | = Strategy = | ||
An absolute slab of beef, just a man-mountain. In formats where [[Reflections]] is allowed like [[Movie Block]] and [[ | An absolute slab of beef, just a man-mountain. In formats where [[Reflections]] is allowed like [[Movie Block]] and [[Expanded (Format)|Expanded]], Elendil, the Tall is a reliable staple tank, there to cheerfully soak skirmishes, archery wounds, or random exertion costs. He works well with {{Card|Narsil, Blade of the Faithful}} and the {{C|Gondor}} [[Artifact]] strategy of a support area full of cards like {{Card|Sapling of the White Tree}}, {{Card|Scroll of Isildur}}, and {{Card|Seeing Stone of Orthanc}}. In [[Expanded (Format)|Expanded]], {{Card|Kings' Legacy}} means he can even help another companion get through the skirmish phase. It's just nice to have a big fat dude to tank for you, and if he dies, he probably wasn't a big part of your core strategy to begin with. | ||
Elendil is probably not a core part of your strategy, though. Few cards spot Elendil in particular, and he doesn't have any strategy-enabling unloaded keywords like [[Knight]], [[Ring-bound]], or [[Ranger]]. ([[Knight]] decks in [[Expanded (Format)|Expanded]] that need a big dumb blocker companion can run {{Card|Elendil, High King of Gondor}} instead, although they generally do not.) He's also too expensive to go in your opening Fellowship and thus can't protect from very early skirmishes unless he's in your opening hand. If you're really relying on him to tank for you, the best ways to fish him out of your deck are {{Card|Denethor, Last Ruling Steward}} and {{Card|Saved from the Fire}}, and both of those can grab his sword at the same time. | Elendil is probably not a core part of your strategy, though. Few cards spot Elendil in particular, and he doesn't have any strategy-enabling unloaded keywords like [[Knight]], [[Ring-bound]], or [[Ranger]]. ([[Knight]] decks in [[Expanded (Format)|Expanded]] that need a big dumb blocker companion can run {{Card|Elendil, High King of Gondor}} instead, although they generally do not.) He's also too expensive to go in your opening Fellowship and thus can't protect from very early skirmishes unless he's in your opening hand. If you're really relying on him to tank for you, the best ways to fish him out of your deck are {{Card|Denethor, Last Ruling Steward}} and {{Card|Saved from the Fire}}, and both of those can grab his sword at the same time. | ||
Revision as of 18:21, 18 December 2021
 Boromir, Bearer of Council (9R+31)
|
 Back to Reflections Index |
Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms (9R+33) 
|
Elendil, The Tall (9R+32) is a 
Gondor Companion from the Reflections set.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Strategy
An absolute slab of beef, just a man-mountain. In formats where Reflections is allowed like Movie Block and Expanded, Elendil, the Tall is a reliable staple tank, there to cheerfully soak skirmishes, archery wounds, or random exertion costs. He works well with Narsil, Blade of the Faithful (9R+34)
and the Gondor Artifact strategy of a support area full of cards like Sapling of the White Tree (9R35)
, Scroll of Isildur (9R36)
, and Seeing Stone of Orthanc (9R38)
. In Expanded, Kings’ Legacy (13U72)
means he can even help another companion get through the skirmish phase. It's just nice to have a big fat dude to tank for you, and if he dies, he probably wasn't a big part of your core strategy to begin with.
Elendil is probably not a core part of your strategy, though. Few cards spot Elendil in particular, and he doesn't have any strategy-enabling unloaded keywords like Knight, Ring-bound, or Ranger. (Knight decks in Expanded that need a big dumb blocker companion can run Elendil, High King of Gondor
instead, although they generally do not.) He's also too expensive to go in your opening Fellowship and thus can't protect from very early skirmishes unless he's in your opening hand. If you're really relying on him to tank for you, the best ways to fish him out of your deck are Denethor, Last Ruling Steward (13R64)
and Saved From the Fire (8R20)
, and both of those can grab his sword at the same time.
He can counter Shadow sides that capture sites, like 
Sauron Besieger decks or the occasional 
Dunland deck, but there's no good way to leverage his ability to liberate sites except to prevent your Shadow opponent from reaping the benefits of capturing them.
Don't expect to get a lot of mileage out of his +1 move ability. It sounds attractive, but the only artifacts you can play on him are the two versions of Narsil, and generally you'll want to get those on him ASAP so he can skirmish more effectively. Occasionally you'll be able to pull off that clutch triple move (possibly with a Saved From the Fire (8R20)
setup), but cards like Last Throw (10C34)
and Radagast, The Brown (9R+26)
are much more flexible. Just think of it as an occasional bonus.
Narsil, Blade of the Faithful (9R+34)
isn't your only option for a decent weapon for him. You can also use Narsil, Forged by Telchar (17R31)
to stymie Shadow support area possessions, like Web (8C30)
, Hides (4R19)
, Sauron Engines like Grond, Hammer of the Underworld (8R103)
, and Corsair possessions like Black Sails of Umbar (8C50)
and Ships of Great Draught (8R65)
. However, unless you're also using Isildur, you run the risk of that card clogging up your hand a little bit until you can get Elendil out.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Synergizes With...
- Narsil, Blade of the Faithful (9R+34)
and a pile of Gondor Artifacts like Sapling of the White Tree (9R35)
, Scroll of Isildur (9R36)
, and Seeing Stone of Orthanc (9R38)
- Denethor, Last Ruling Steward (13R64)
or Saved From the Fire (8R20)
to set him up with Narsil right away
- Any Gondor strategy that needs a character to spend exertions. This includes Fortifications, and too many others to list.
Strong Versus...
- Shadow strategies that capture sites, like Sauron Besiegers and Dunland
- High strength and vitality make him a well-balanced tank regardless of what Shadow side he's facing
- Possession removal. With just Blade of the Faithful, he'll usually hover around 10-12 strength, even against Shadow sides that are normally very aggressive about removing weapons.
Weak Versus...
- If he's down to his last wound, removing Narsil, Blade of the Faithful (9R+34)
with Grond, Hammer of the Underworld (8R103)
will kill him
Alternate Personas
| Portrait | Name | Game Text |
|---|---|---|
 |
Elendil, High-king of Gondor (13R65)
|
Knight. To play, spot 2 knights or exert 2 Men.
Each of your Maneuver: Remove a |
See Also
- The only cards that mention Elendil by name are the two versions of Narsil, Crown of Gondor (18R41)
, and Kings’ Legacy (13U72)
.
