Saruman's Frost (1U135)

Saruman's Chill (1C134)

Back to Fellowship of the Ring Index

Saruman's Power (1U136)

	Set:		Fellowship of the Ring
	Kind:		Shadow
	Culture:		Isengard
	Twilight:		2
	Card Type:		Condition
	Game Text:		Spell. Weather. To play, exert a [ISENGARD] minion. Plays on a site. Limit 1 per site. Each Hobbit at this site is strength -2. Discard this condition at the end of the turn.
	Lore:		The small and weak suffer first from the The White Wizard's powerful sorcery.
	Rarity:		U
The information presented above about LoTR TCG, both literal and graphical, is copyrighted by Decipher Inc. This website is not produced, endorsed, supported, or affiliated with Decipher.

General Strategy

Saruman's Frost is a weather condition that plays on a site for a single turn. Representing the difficulty faced by the Fellowship while climbing Caradhras, Saruman's Frost specifically reduces the strength of the Hobbit companions and allies at the site. With Frodo a constant across any Fellowship until the Reflections expansion and the introduction of alternate ring-bearers, Saruman's Frost reduced the strength of at least one companion.

Weather, a relatively underused keyword (besides the infamous Saruman's Snows), offers a distinct advantage with Shadow assignment actions, such as Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow, Saruman, Servant of the Eye, or Orc Assassin. Each weather condition can be tutored from the draw deck at Pass of Caradhras or from the discard pile via A Fell Voice on the Air.

Strong counters to weather conditions are the condition discarding events that are playable after the Shadow phase, such as Secret Sentinels, Deep in Thought, or Company of Archers. Two cards that specifically target weather conditions are Boromir's Cloak and Make Light of Burdens.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strong Versus...

• Hobbits
• Great in concert with Saruman, Servant of the Eye and other self-assigning minions
• Replayable from discard with A Fell Voice On the Air
• Uruk Messenger becomes somewhat swarmable
• Saruman's Frost makes Merry, Friend to Sam's strength bonus negligible

Weak Versus...

• Alternate Ring-bearers
• Decks without Hobbits
• Secret Sentinels, Deep in Thought, and maneuver phase condition discard

Example Decks

Fellowship Block “Ferny's Frost” by Hsaile

Shadow Draw Deck: 3x Isengard Smith 3x Isengard Warrior 3x Saruman, Servant of the Eye 3x Uruk Savage 3x Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow 1x Parry 2x Saruman's Power 3x A Fell Voice on the Air 1x Hollowing of Isengard 1x No Business of Ours 2x Saruman's Frost 2x Saruman's Snows 2x Spies of Saruman 1x Trapped and Alone