Ottar, Man of Laketown (1R80)

The Nine Walkers (1R79)

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Questions That Need Answering (1R81)

	Set:		Fellowship of the Ring
	Kind:		Free Peoples
	Culture:		Gandalf
	Twilight:		1
	Card Type:		Ally • Home 3 • Man
	Strength:		2
	Vitality:		2
	Game Text:		To play, spot Gandalf. Fellowship: Exert Ottar to discard up to 3 cards from hand and draw an equal number of cards.
	Lore:		The Men of Laketown come from the North, where they trade with the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain.
	Rarity:		R
	Notes:		Lists: ERL, MXL
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General Strategy

One of the predominant card drawing and cycling tools of the Fellowship of the Ring block, Ottar, Man of Laketown helps the Free Peoples player build a hand better than almost any other card in the format.

The strength of Ottar lies in his ability to build a perfect hand. If the Free Peoples player faces a twilight-choking opponent, he or she may want to discard superfluous Shadow cards. If the Free Peoples player draws multiple copies of a unique character or condition, Ottar can discard them. With the ability to choose up to three cards, Ottar provides a lot of flexibility.

Ottar, Man of Laketown is an invaluable tool and not often used as a fighter in Horn of Boromir decks. Similar decks, with multiple copies of the Horn or Elrond, may rely on Ottar's cycling ability to heavily.

The [Isengard] culture was gifted a similar card in the form of Shadow event Abandoning Reason for Madness in the Realms of the Elf Lords expansion.

The universal benefit of Ottar, Man of Laketown was short-lived, as the ally was added to the X-List with the introduction of the Two Towers base set. Eventually he was re-introduced for Expanded format, although only on the R-List.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strong Versus...

• Best when paired with Elrond, Lord of Rivendell or other card drawing engines
• Cycling extra copies of unique cards

Weak Versus...

• Ally targeting cards, such as Tower Assassin or Fear
• Be wary of The Rule of Four, which prevents you from drawing or taking into hand more than 4 cards in a given fellowship phase

Example Decks

Fellowship Block Horn of Boromir deck, by Dominic Gaudreault

Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer The One Ring, Isildur's Bane

Free Peoples: 36 Gandalf, The Grey Pilgrim Ottar, Man of Laketown x3 Aragorn, Ranger of the North Sleep, Caradhras x2 Albert Dreary, Entertainer from Bree Celeborn, Lord of Lorien Boromir, Defender of Minas Tirith x3 Hobbit Intuition x2 Rumil, Elven Protector Orophin, Lorien Bowman Merry, Friend to Sam Elrond, Lord of Rivendell x4 Hobbit Stealth x4 Arwen, Daughter of Elrond Filibert Bolger, Wily Rascal Horn of Boromir x2 Sting Legolas, Greenleaf Glamdring Calaglin, Elf of Lorien Thrarin, Dwarven Smith Gimli, Son of Gloin Sam, Proper Poet