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...ltures are often called "splash" cultures, as many decks run companions or minions from those cultures to supplement a different culture's weaknesses. ...almost entirely of splash minions, and has many of the most popular splash minions of [[Movie Block]]. ...

...ing [[Engine]]s, [[Site Control|controlling sites]], and stacking besieger minions on controlled sites. ...asis on [[site control]]. The deck generally plays few if any non-besieger minions. ...

...ng-bearer]] runs out of protectors, and has to deal with the same powerful minions all on their own. Victory may come through [[wound|wounding]] companions to ...

...minions who are already fierce, it saves having to waste twilight on such minions, which can be a boon. ...

...s are left over can be assigned by the Shadows player, who can stack extra minions wherever they like in the hopes of winning more [[skirmish]]es or [[overwhe The simplest swarm strategy is to play a bunch of minions, then stack all of the extras on the [[Ring-bearer]] in the hopes of overwh ...

...ording to His Stature is a powerful "last defense" against single-vitality minions or even the strongest, exhausted minion. ...s as possible, with the effective skirmish event cleaning up any remaining minions. Additionally, Power According to His Stature works with any ring-bearer, i ...

...e, generally does not play many Twilight Nazgûl, and has stronger swarming minions like {{Card|Morgul Whelp}}. * Pretty much everything. Very cheap, very weak minions like this are only useful in [[swarm]] decks, which generally cannot play t ...

...opponent. Convenient for finishing off weakened minions, or to damage the minions before future phase actions (such as the next turn's maneuver or archery ph ...High King or Aiglos more reliable, along with cards that outright discard minions during the regroup phase (such as Smeagol, Bearer of Great Secrets) or upon ...

...at modifies the order in which skirmishes must be resolved. All non-lurker minions must have their skirmishes resolved before skirmishes involving lurkers may ...t always, have some sort of special ability that can be used to pump other minions up; this keyword thus ensures that they cannot be easily sniped in the firs ...

...Numenor, Valiant Man of the West can potentially help him defeat multiple minions. ...1 wound, and Aragorn can tank multiple uruks, Moria Axe wielders, or even minions like the [[lotr01165|Cave Troll]] and Balrog with very little danger to the ...

...[[archer]] [[minion]]s to [[Grind|grind]] down the [[Fellowship]]. Popular minions include {{Card|Ranged Commander}}, {{Card|Uruk Crossbow Troop}}, {{Card|Uru ...deck first appears in [[Tower Block]] with the addition of the uruk archer minions in [[The Two Towers]], and is most common in [[Tower Block]], [[Towers Stan ...

...y, swarm decks are only called "bomb" decks if they somehow play many more minions in a single turn than is normally possible. ...

...ur assignment phase, you may assign companions to defend against attacking minions. ...ender +2 allows that companion to defend against two additional unassigned minions, and so on. A character with defender +2 (or greater) satisfies any require ...

...n before that minion's skirmish has resolved. It is also effective against minions that tend to exert (Like those in [sauron] wounding decks) since he can eit * Minions with abilities that require exertions ...

...rserkers in the {{C|Isengard}} army assaulting Helm's Deep. Each of these minions gets stronger based on the number of wounds they and their assigned [[Compa ...ss encoded as the [[Enduring]] keyword in later sets, and although various minions named "Berserk" or "Berserker" showed up again, they seldom followed this s ...

...ry of Legolas, Greenleaf and Aragorn's Bow, as these cards can kill archer minions before the archery total is calculated. * Potentially devastating archery effect when combined with archer minions ...

...{Card|Friend to Thorin}} and {{Card|Fror, Gimli's Kinsman}} to beat strong minions without much effort. * Low or middle strength minions ...

...]]s from the {{C|Isengard}} [[culture]]. The keyword only appeared on nine minions in two sets: [[Battle of Helm's Deep]] and [[Ents of Fangorn]]. ...

...ntil his fierce skirmish. Frenzied Dunlending becomes fierce, and valuable minions such as Stampeding Chief become very hard to kill. Be wary of possession di * Companions that can exhaust minions ...

...sts. With this in mind, Uruk Lieutenant is among the most popular Uruk-Hai minions in the Fellowship of the Ring base set. Uruk Lieutenant lacks the cultural enforcement of his mirror minions; Uruk Lieutenant can spot [Sauron] Uruk-Hai or [Uruk-hai] Uruk-Hai as well ...

...|wound characters]] in the [[Regroup Phase]] if they survive. {{C|Sauron}} minions and [[Uruk-hai]] from any faction are rare due to their higher site numbers ...nd plays no minions until the [[bomb]] on site 4, aiming to swarm with 7-8 minions and leaving the Free Peoples player unable to use Archery or Skirmish abili ...

...minions but with the advantage of a low site number. While other [Dunland] minions which cost 4 twilight typically have 10 strength (the exceptions are Saruma * Objectively worse than most other [Dunland] minions, including many which cost less twilight ...

...k because you still need to seize [[initiative]] somehow to activate these minions' gametext. The most popular ways to do so are {{Card|Mordor Fighter}} (alth ...or {{Card|Mordor Fighter}} might naturally lead you into using some of the minions from [[Sauron Threats]]. Like many {{C|Sauron}} strategies in [[King Block] ...

...h {{Card|Goblin Scimitar}}, which also draws cards while helping swarms of minions pose a threat to middling-strength [[companion]]s. Plus, most {{C|Moria}} d ...eful in [[Moria Archery]] and [[Moria Beatdown]], as those decks have more minions with 2+ vitality, but those decks rarely have enough room for this card. ...

...the reduced twilight helps protect from high strength minions or too many minions. Helps keep Pippin relevant, as he is usually the weakest Hobbit in the fir ...

* [[Defender]] bonuses, since his gametext counts wounds on all of the minions in his skirmish. * Any and all {{C|Rohan}} [[Mount]]s that exert minions in a skirmish, especially {{Card|Firefoot}} ...

...couting Band}}. Trackers are also key to [[Sauron Initiative]], which uses minions like {{Card|Orc Chaser}}, <!--Orc Pursuer-->{{Card|7C303}}, and {{Card|Orc ...nters]]. Many of the Tracker minions later appeared on new cards as Hunter minions, but the Hunter keyword is a [[loaded keyword]] that also appears on [[Free ...

...wship]], only slightly worse for wear. Even this is not without risk: many minions, like {{Card|Ulaire Attea, Keeper of Dol Guldur}}, can make use of excess T ...

...Numenor, Elendil's Valor can potentially help a companion defeat multiple minions. ...n, making the companion more likely to survive a skirmish against multiple minions. Of course, Aragorn, Ranger of the North and Aragorn, Heir of Elendil have ...

...able to contribute to the archery total with an Elven Bow, and finish off minions whose vitality allows them to survive the Archery Phase. ...ducing abilities which, combined with his passive text, can overwhelm some minions outright. Blades Drawn in particular is a natural fit for decks which rely ...

...ty to exhaust a minion is very powerful, as it can make otherwise powerful minions such as The Cave Troll of Moria, Scourge of the Black Pit very easy to kill * High vitality minions ...

...ly when it is needed. Most minions have stopped roaming by site 4, and the minions this card would be most effective against (Nazgul, The Balrog etc.) all sto ...Return of the king came Second Level, a card that made it possible to make minions roaming during the maneuver phase, so that you could subsequently discard t ...

...moves, with Gondor's Vengeance being particularly effective against large minions that are otherwise difficult to get off the table (Lurtz, Servant of Isenga * Large minions (The Witch King, Lord of the Nazgul; Hill Clan; Uruk Vanguard) ...

* Huge minions (Can be sacrificed to protect somebody else) * Cheap minions ...

...{{C|Sauron}} and {{C|Wraith}} cultures. The keyword only appeared on eight minions in three sets: [[Mines of Moria]], [[Realms of the Elf-lords]], and [[Ents ...

...r, Gimli's Kinsman Damage bonuses. Usually one of these is enough, as most minions only have 2 vitality (Gimli's innate Damage bonuses can take care of bigger * High Vitality minions, such as Nazgul and [Isengard] Warg-Riders. ...

...o overwhelm a companion unlucky enough to run into Enduring Evil. [Sauron] minions did not get damage bonuses until set 8 [Olog-Hai of Mordor] and received be * Hand Clog, particularly when losing skirmishes or having minions killed/discarded pre-skirmish ...

...tandard meta. Fearing the Worst dropped off after that format. Few tracker minions and no search cards were ever printed after [[Towers Block]], and none of t ...Watching Eye}}, which is itself a [[search]] card and requires [[tracker]] minions to be played. ...

All Shadow players count the number of all their minions with the keyword '''archer''' to determine the “minion archery total.” No m ...ust assign a number of wounds equal to the fellowship archery total to his minions, in any way he wishes. ...

...part of a strategy of [[Site Control|controlling site]]s and [[stack]]ing minions on those sites. ...

...he {{Nazgul}} in exchange for an effect. The keyword was not exclusive to minions, however: {{C|Gondor}} [[Wraith]]s in particular utilize it. ...lm ({{Card|Cirdan}}). As these effects worked equally well on non-enduring minions, the [[Power Creep]] of the ecosystem thus began to rachet up. ...

...to set up your [[Fellowship]] on the [[Free Peoples]] side and draw fewer minions to play for your [[Shadow Alignment|Shadow]] side. ...

...oblins (Especially Goblin Runner) stacked essentially means that many more minions on a subsequent turn. Goblin Swarms is usually complemented by other well-k ...ger goblins such as Goblin Patrol Troop and Goblin Flankers. These larger minions can usually win skirmishes on their own and then use Goblin Swarms to reapp ...

A fringe strategy against [Sauron] or [Isengard] Uruk-Hai minions in the Fellowship of the Ring block, Eregion's Trails has some use early in * Minions with high site numbers, like [Sauron] minions or Shelob ...

...weak minion in order to force less powerful companions to skirmish strong minions. If the bearer is weak, the shadow may assign a minion strong enough to ov ...nt actions in the same assignment phase. If there are leftover unassigned minions after the free people's player has finished assigning characters, then the ...

...weak minion in order to force less powerful companions to skirmish strong minions. If the bearer is weak, the shadow may assign a minion strong enough to ov ...nt actions in the same assignment phase. If there are leftover unassigned minions after the free people's player has finished assigning characters, then the ...

* Large minions benefit most from Emyn Muil * Low-vitality minions ...

...} decks in [[Expanded]] and [[Standard]] decks. He is ten strength against minions lacking [[Hunter]], and with {{Card|Anduril, Sword that was Broken}} and ot ...horongil is used merely as a strong skirmisher and a counter to [[hunter]] minions. He is only eclipsed in a {{C|Gondor}} [[token]] strategy by {{Card|Aragorn ...

...weak minion in order to force less powerful companions to skirmish strong minions. If the bearer is weak, the shadow may assign a minion strong enough to ov ...nt actions in the same assignment phase. If there are leftover unassigned minions after the free people's player has finished assigning characters, then the ...

...avengers or Goblin Runner from discard. Because of the potential number of minions generated from Fool of a Took!, typical swarm protection such as Bounder or Since any [Moria] minion will be taken into hand, the event is free, and non-minions are not discarded, you can use Fool of a Took! to aim for a lucky draw at a ...

...weak minion in order to force less powerful companions to skirmish strong minions. If the bearer is weak, the shadow may assign a minion strong enough to ov ...nt actions in the same assignment phase. If there are leftover unassigned minions after the free people's player has finished assigning characters, then the ...

* Medium strength minions, but only if you’re lucky * High strength minions ...

...weak minion in order to force less powerful companions to skirmish strong minions. If the bearer is weak, the shadow may assign a minion strong enough to ov ...nt actions in the same assignment phase. If there are leftover unassigned minions after the free people's player has finished assigning characters, then the ...

...d Dark Lord of Mordor. With more minions than companions and each of those minions being Damage + 1, the swarm can be a lot stronger than usual. ...

...dor. In Towers, Ancient Roads and Gondorian Ranger can be used to make the minions roam, but later sets add other options, such as Man the Walls, Gondorian Me ...'s early strength boost can still be useful. Faramir's Sword can also make minions roaming regardless of site number. ...

...weak minion in order to force less powerful companions to skirmish strong minions. If the bearer is weak, the shadow may assign a minion strong enough to ov ...nt actions in the same assignment phase. If there are leftover unassigned minions after the free people's player has finished assigning characters, then the ...

...d a +4 strength boost only against certain types of minions, a majority of minions can be wounded which makes Valor's +3 easier to attain and more universally * Wounded minions ...

...ounds in lethal situations, or for canceling out [[Damage]] bonuses of any minions skirmishing him, while also limiting direct-wound strategies. {{Card|Rohirrim Helm}} can be used to cancel skirmishes against exhausted minions, or can bait your opponent into exerting, then slamming them with more woun ...

...one. Curunir is weak vs decks without Hunters but he can still heal other minions such as {{Card|White Hand Guard}}. ...

...can keep Mithrandir's vitality in check, he has the potential to decimate minions. With a strength of 12 with Shadowfax (Or Glamdring), and no way for the Sh * Powerful minions, such as Nazgul and Uruk-hai. ...

| GameText=Damage +1. Skirmish: If no other minions are assigned to a skirmish, exert this minion twice to make it Fierce and s | Lore=Some minions prefer to fight alone. ...

...with that of Ranger's Bow or Faramir's Bow, making it much easier to kill minions via wounding. * Minions with exertion-related abilities (Orc Soldier; Ulaire Cantea, LoDG) ...

...strategy where the goal is to kill the opponent early, but means that the minions will be weak at the end of the game. Additionally, since these minions rely on pure strength alone (Unlike the "[[lotr10075|Advance]]" [sauron] Or ...

...l as both versions of the Watcher in the Water, are also the only official minions with the race of [[Creature]]. ...

|text=All Shadow players count the number of all their minions with the keyword archer to determine the "minion archery total." No matter ...ust assign a number of wounds equal to the fellowship archery total to his minions, in any way he wishes.}} ...

* Minions with two or less vitality * Minions that cannot take wounds ...

...strategy where the goal is to kill the opponent early, but means that the minions will be weak at the end of the game. Additionally, since these minions rely on pure strength alone (Unlike the "[[lotr10075|Advance]]" [sauron] Or ...

...ons at a reasonable cost early on in the site path. At early site numbers, minions are usually roaming and those extra two twilight can prevent you from mount ...n play. Nevertheless, most Nazgul are Fierce which makes them count as two minions each, if they survive. In this respect, Morgul Gates (with its 0 twilight c ...

...ks and Nazgul can benefit a lot from this, as these are the more expensive minions that generally do more damage in skirmishes (Note that uruks can also use W ...

...you control]] then replay himself in a later turn. Sometimes you can play minions directly from your [[discard pile]], with cards like {{Card|Uruk Captain}} ...

* Large minions * Minions with damage bonuses ...

...r {{C|Dunland}}). With {{Card|The Sage of Elendil}}, it's possible to kill minions with 4 vitality, potentially making a double move viable. * Minions with only 1 vitality (such as {{Card|Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow}} ...

...at all (potentially opening the door for an easy double move if few or no minions survive) or wait for Blades Drawn to expire, leaving no room for new Free P ...ess in skirmishes or must give up part of their deck's functionality. Some minions whose high vitality once protected them, such as [Isengard] Orcs (especiall ...

...strategy where the goal is to kill the opponent early, but means that the minions will be weak at the end of the game. Additionally, since these minions rely on pure strength alone (Unlike the "[[lotr10075|Advance]]" [sauron] Or ...

...ery it may have little effect, since the Shadow player still chooses which minions to wound. Cards that work well with this card are Gondor Bowmen, [[lotr0104 * [Moria] and [Dunland] whose minions typically have low vitality ...

...decks: if a Shadow player can spread wounds evenly without sacrificing any minions, the wounds are largely inconsequential. Perhaps as a way for Elven Archery ...d can lead to a swift death. By forcing a Shadow player to either kill off minions or sacrifice minion potency, Killing Field aims to help weak companions arm ...

...{{C|Dunland}}). With {{Card|The Tale of Gil-Galad}}, it's possible to kill minions with 3 vitality, potentially making a double move viable. * Minions with only 1 vitality (such as Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow or Goblin ...

...more-useful secondary effect. As a [[direct wounding]] card, it can't kill minions and comes so late in the turn that it's unlikely to help kill any minion th ...Worker}}. It can also set up various {{C|Elven}} effects that spot wounded minions, like {{Card|Lorien Swordsman}}, {{Card|Blades Drawn}}, {{Card|Feathered}}, ...

...Bowmen to lower the vitality of Uruk-hai, Nazgul, and other high vitality minions. The exert cost may be offset with Banner of Westernesse and Citadel of Min ...ealing such as Scaling Ladder and Not Easily Destroyed can be used to heal minions between wounds, which can also catch a player unaware. Further, wound preve ...

* Low to mid vitality minions *High vitality minions ...

...p the [[Wound|wound token]]s from those exertions, as long as no dangerous minions survive to win a skirmish. Additionally, since a [[Skirmish Cancellation|ca ...gon, Man of Belfalas}} or {{Card|Gondor Bow}}) can kill the most dangerous minions, or enfeeble the ones that can't be killed. Those Fortifications get used u ...

...can also work well with Fourth Level since Fourth Level can reliably stop minions from winning skirmishes. ...

...fodder: Play him, make him Defender + 1 when needed and then put two large minions on him. In this way, he can actually be more useful than Dwarf Guard or Lor * Expensive minions ...

...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 copi ...me 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 fig ...

...uch as Uruk Defender or Uruk Rear Guard) and Battle of Helms Deep (Berserk minions) may give this condition new purpose; however, as the minion needs to win t ...

...ng only to [[Minion]]s. After all normal skirmishes have resolved, fierce minions must be skirmished again, doubling the resources that must be spent keeping |text=During a turn, after all normal skirmishes are resolved, surviving minions with the keyword fierce must be defended against a second time. ...

...ies of this or similar minions to negate the roaming penalty for remaining minions, and thus get a large force out. Finally, this minion is sometimes seen in ...

...sed Free Peoples strategies have the wounding capability to kill exhausted minions before even reaching the skirmish phase. Better twilight generation, such a * Synergy with Sauron, The Lord of the Rings and other Enduring [Sauron] minions like Orc Slaughterer ...

...stalwart with access to [Shire] stealth events that can dodge the largest minions. Merry's Armor and Everyone Knows provide further strength bonuses. ...g companion option in sealed play, particularly against Uruk-Hai and other minions with damage bonuses. Merry is a much more common starting companion combina ...

...h those things is the roaming orcs deck, that uses Advance Regular to make minions fierce and Advance Marauder, Rank and File or Flames Within to pump during ...

...oples player to deal with a minion twice. As you must spot 3 {{C|Dunland}} minions rather than Men, {{Card|Saruman, Rabble-rouser}} will count towards this to ...ibe}} or {{Card|Dunlending Pillager}}. Coupled with {{Card|Hides}} to keep minions alive, Anger can make a defeated (or soon to be defeated) minion fierce and ...

...strategy where the goal is to kill the opponent early, but means that the minions will be weak at the end of the game. Additionally, since these minions rely on pure strength alone (Unlike the "[[lotr10075|Advance]]" [sauron] Or ...

* High vitality minions * Strong minions ...

...by wounding actions before the Shadow player's first action. Additionally, minions such as Orc Soldier, Orc Scouting Band, Orc Hunters, and Orc War Band effec * Powerful with enduring minions ...

...the minions on your own? Stay This Madness is useless. If one wound on two minions isn't enough to enable a double move? Useless. If your Fellowship is too be * Effects that prevent minions from being wounded, such as {{Card|Broad-Bladed Sword}} or {{Card|Easterlin ...

...s: cards like {{Card|Uruk Warrior}} or {{Card|Mordor Pillager}} are better minions at a lower price. ...ossessions. However, this is unreliable with possessions [[Bear|borne]] by minions, and the worthwhile [[support area]] possessions are not in {{C|Ringwraith} ...

...r According to His Stature, Hobbits may become formidable fighters against minions with low vitality. Cross-culture, it is especially popular in Towers format Cliffs of Emyn Muil only wounds minions skirmishing a Hobbit, so it is not uncommon for the Ring-bearer to be the o ...

...card. Ulaire Nertea's game text is not specific to Nazgul or even [Wraith] minions; Ulaire Nertea's lack of cultural enforcement makes him a powerful addition ...

...have stronger and more-versatile tools to do something about the card the minions are stacked on. Why play Thandronen when you can play {{Card|Haldir, Emissa * He's only useful against cards that stack minions on themselves or on sites, like {{Card|Goblin Swarms}}, {{Card|Gnawing, Bit ...

...of the time since minions bearing War Club are as strong or stronger than minions costing 1 less bearing Iron Axe. ...being able to afford another minion / giving up a copy of Hides to protect minions from archery, or the single point of strength doesn't change the outcome of ...