Hides (4R19)
 Dunlending Warrior (4C18)
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Hides (4R19T) 
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| Set: | The Two Towers | ||
| Kind: | Shadow | ||
| Culture: | Dunland | ||
| Twilight: | 1 | ||
| Card Type: | Possession | ||
| Game Text: | Plays to your support area. When you play this possession, you may draw a card. Response: If a [DUNLAND] Man is about to take a wound, remove (2) or discard this possession to prevent that wound. | ||
| Lore: | Only heavy animal skins armored the Dunlendings. | ||
| Rarity: | R | ||
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General Strategy
The most essential card in any [Dunland] deck, Hides enables the culture of almost entirely 1 vitality minions to survive all sorts of direct wounding. Since it is a support area possession, it is difficult for the Free Peoples player to get rid of and essentially gives the Shadow player the chance to decide whether a minion should die or not. The bonus card-drawing mechanic means that Hides will never really take up any space in a deck - when it is played, another card immediately replaces it. Because Hides is not unique and itself may also be discarded to block a wound, the Shadow player can discard a spare copy without putting future minions at risk. For all of these reasons, it is often advised to have as many copies of Hides as you have when playing Dunland, up to the maximum of 4.
The cost of blocking a wound with Hides and the [Dunland] culture's characteristically low vitality makes Dunland extremely reliant on balancing twilight properly against decks with direct wounding. If too much twilight is used playing minions, there's a good chance some or all of those minions won't make it to the skirmish phase. If too few minions are played, the Free People's player may be able to use only their best fighters and avoid Dunland's unique skirmish-won triggers such as the text of War Club and Wulf.
In some cases, especially when facing fellowships with lots of indirect wounding (mainly archery), the Shadow player will be wise to have an alternative to the hefty cost of using Hides every turn. Saruman, Rabble-rouser is innately able to take archery wounds (unlike the [Isengard] copies of Saruman), and can take up to 4 archery wounds for [4] rather than using Hides for [8]. Gollum costs a mere [2] and can take up to 4 wounds, and Gollum, Old Villain can be used to help cycle cards if need be. The handful of [Dunland] minions costing [1] or [2] may be sacrificed to protect bigger minions, and remain useful if they survive to complete the spot requirements of cards like Hillman Tribe or win skirmishes through skirmish events.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strong Versus...
- Direct wounding
- Fellowships which give the shadow player lots of twilight
Weak Versus...
- Galadriel, Lady Redeemed, Roll of Thunder, and other cards capable of discarding support-area possessions
- Choke decks (especially those with archery), which may give the Shadow player a harder choice when deciding whether or not to block a wound
Example Decks
- Decklists or links to decks that use this card.
Rules and Clarifications
- Clarify existing rules if needed.
- Link to rules discussions on TLHH.
