Evil-smelling Fens (5U22)

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Data

Evil-smelling Fens (5U22) is a Gollum Condition from the Battle of Helm's Deep set.

EN Nonfoil First Edition EN Foil First Edition DE Nonfoil First Edition DE Foil First Edition FR Nonfoil First Edition FR Foil First Edition IT Nonfoil First Edition IT Foil First Edition ES Nonfoil First Edition ES Foil First Edition

Collection Info Title Evil-smelling Fens Unique No Collectible Yes Set 5 - Battle of Helm's Deep Rarity U - Uncommon Card Number 22 Language EN - English Revision 0

Gameplay Info Playable Yes Culture Gollum Side Shadow Card Type Condition Twilight Cost 1 Game Text Plays to your support area. Each site on the adventure path is a marsh. Shadow: Exert Gollum twice and discard this condition to play a minion from your discard pile. Lore “‘No birds here. There are snakeses, wormses, things in the pools. Lots of things, lots of nasty things.'”

Translations DE - German Card Name Übelriechende Fenne Game Text Spiele diese Karte in deinen Unterstützungs-bereich. Alle Orte des Abenteuerpfades sind Sümpfe. Schatten: Strenge Gollum zweimal an und lege diesen Effekt ab, um einen Diener aus deinem Ablagestapel zu spielen. Lore "Keine Vögel hier. Es gibt Schlangen, Würmer, Tiere in den Tümpeln. Haufenweise Tiere, haufenweis hässliche Tiere.“ ES - Spanish Card Name Marismas pestilentes Game Text Cada sitio en el camino de aventura es un Pantano. 'Sombra:' Esfuerza dos veces a Gollum y descarta esta condición para jugar un siervo de tu pila de descartes. Lore “Nada de pájaros aquí. Hay serpientes, gusanos, cosas de las ciénagas. Muchas cosas, montones de cosas inmundas.” FR - French Card Name Marécages Puants Game Text Chaque site dans le chemin de l’aventure est un marais. Ombre : Affaiblissez Gollum deux fois et défaussez cette situation pour jouer un séide de votre pile de défausse. Lore « Pas d'oiseaux ici. Il y a des serpents, des vers, des choses dans les mares. Des tas de choses, des tas de vilaines choses.” » IT - Italian Card Name Fetide Paludi Game Text Ogni sito sul cammino dell’avventura è una Palude. Ombra: Sforza due volte Gollum e scarta questa condizione per giocare un servitore dalla tua pila degli scarti. Lore “‘Niente uccelli qui. Ci sono serpenti, vermi, altre cose negli stagni. Tante cose, tante cose brutte.'”

Technical Info Wiki Base Card ID LOTR-EN05S022.0 TLHH ID LOTR05022 GEMP ID 5_22 LOTRO Hex ID 66 B5 C4 04 LOTRO Image ID 05_022

Strategy

Evil-smelling Fens is a staple in any deck using Gollum. It's a powerful and versatile tool to replay a minion of your choice from your discard pile. Plus, you don't need to spot Gollum to play it, so you can always get it out of your hand easily and cheaply to prevent it from clogging things up. If you leave it in play, it's an extra minion you can play later that doesn't have to come from your hand. However, if you use it on the turn you play it, there's almost nothing the Free Peoples player can do to stop you from using it.

You can use it to play a single powerful minion repeatedly over the course of the game. Shelob, Her Ladyship (10R23) (forming the core of Ninja Gollum), Witch-King, Morgul King , The Balrog, Demon of Might (19P18) , and Watcher in the Water, Many-tentacled Creature (19P21) are popular targets. But you can also use it to replay a minion that hurts your opponent's gameplan, like Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul (1U231) , Tower Assassin (2R93) , Gríma, Wormtongue (4R154) , Gríma, Chief Counselor (5R51) , Sauron, The Lord of the Rings (9R+48) , Mauhúr, Relentless Hunter (15S164) , or Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman (19P38) . While the minion you want needs to be in the discard pile, self-mill cards like Ever My Heart Rises (4R46) or Realm of Dwarrowdelf (2R12) can dump cards into discard for you to download.

It also makes every site a marsh, so it's a must in any deck using Watcher in the Water, Keeper of Westgate (2R73) and its tentacles. (It's no longer necessary with Watcher in the Water, Many-tentacled Creature (19P21) , but may be useful to replay that minion.) You don't even need to run Gollum in this deck, although many decks do.

The only real limitation on the card, other than deck space, is exerting Gollum. This is a minor cost in Movie Block and King Block: the only cards of note in these formats that exert Gollum for some useful effect are Gollum, Dark as Darkness (9R+28) and Final Strike (10U20) . Later sets have powerful cards that exert Gollum, like Incited (11R44) and Not This Time! (15R47) . However, there's also Sudden Strike (15U51) , which serves a similar role but grabs its target from the deck, allowing you to set up a utility minion for later re-use.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Synergizes With...

• Any deck that centers around a single powerful minion that it wants to play and replay repeatedly. In Ninja Gollum, this is Shelob, Her Ladyship (10R23) , but there are many other popular choices, like Desert Lord (4R219) , Witch-King, Morgul King , Mûmak Commander, Giant Among the Swertings (15R86) , The Balrog, Demon of Might (19P18) , and Watcher in the Water, Many-tentacled Creature (19P21) .
• Any obnoxious hate minion that your opponent's deck is particularly vulnerable to or unprepared for. Popular choices: Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow (2R75) , Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul (1U231) , Tower Assassin (2R93) , Gríma, Wormtongue (4R154) , Gríma, Chief Counselor (5R51) , Sauron, The Lord of the Rings (9R+48) , Mauhúr, Relentless Hunter (15S164) , or Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman (19P38)
• Watcher in the Water, Keeper of Westgate (2R73) . It's basically unplayable without this card. (It's also basically unplayable with this card, but less so.)

Strong Versus...

• Evil-smelling Fens doesn't do anything on its own. It's a combo piece you use to replay a strong minion.

Weak Versus...

• Shadowplay (10U114) can stop Gollum from being able to use Evil-smelling Fens at all. However, the Free Peoples player will need two copies, and if you play Gollum first and then Evil-smelling Fens second, it'll be too late to exert Gollum.
• The very rarely-played Foot of Mount Doom (18U135) can prevent minions from going into your discard pile.

Example decklists

• Pokemon Trainer Gollum, by dmaz on the Last Homely House forums. This Movie Block deck uses Gollum with Nazgul and Morgul Squealer (8R77) and a host of splash minions, all recurred with Evil-smelling Fens.
• Ever My Heart Rises/Greyhame, by Enduring on the Last Homely House forums. This Movie Block deck is a Corsair/Nazgul/Gollum Shadow side paired with a Free Peoples side that uses Ever My Heart Rises (4R46) to mill most of the (huge!) deck into the discard pile.
• Ultimate Madril, by sgtdraino on the Last Homely House forums. This Expanded deck works similarly to the decks above, but supplements it with Sudden Strike (15U51) .