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While Gollum and Sméagol are the same character in Lord of the Rings, in this game they are two entirely separate characters, representing Gollum's dualistic, treacherous nature. Cards that mention Gollum by name do not affect Sméagol, and vice versa. Likewise, effects on a copy of one character do not affect the other. If Gollum is wounded, that doesn't hurt Sméagol at all. If Sméagol is in the [[dead pile]], the Free Peoples player can't play any more copies of Sméagol, but the Shadow player can still play Gollum. | While Gollum and Sméagol are the same character in Lord of the Rings, in this game they are two entirely separate characters, representing Gollum's dualistic, treacherous nature. Cards that mention Gollum by name do not affect Sméagol, and vice versa. Likewise, effects on a copy of one character do not affect the other. If Gollum is wounded, that doesn't hurt Sméagol at all. If Sméagol is in the [[dead pile]], the Free Peoples player can't play any more copies of Sméagol, but the Shadow player can still play Gollum. | ||
While Gollum and Sméagol are separate characters, they are both the same {{C|Gollum}} culture. Often, {{C|Gollum}} cards affect cards on both sides. {{Card|Clever Hobbits}} can discard both players' {{CultureIcon|Gollum}} conditions, and indeed it is occasionally included in decks that don't use Sméagol to counter Shadow {{C|Gollum}} decks. {{Card|Not Easily Avoided}} can tutor both Free Peoples and Shadow cards. As long as a card doesn't specify Sméagol or Gollum by name, or require doing playing a {{CultureIcon|Gollum}} card in the [[Fellowship Phase|Fellowship]] or [[Shadow Phase]]s, it generally works on both sides' cards | While Gollum and Sméagol are separate characters, they are both the same {{C|Gollum}} culture. Often, {{C|Gollum}} cards affect cards on both sides. {{Card|Clever Hobbits}} can discard both players' {{CultureIcon|Gollum}} conditions, and indeed it is occasionally included in decks that don't use Sméagol to counter Shadow {{C|Gollum}} decks. {{Card|Not Easily Avoided}} can tutor both Free Peoples and Shadow cards. As long as a card doesn't specify Sméagol or Gollum by name, or require doing playing a {{CultureIcon|Gollum}} card in the [[Fellowship Phase|Fellowship]] or [[Shadow Phase]]s, it generally works on both sides' cards. | ||
Both sides are good at [[tutor]]ing cards from your deck and [[recur]]ring cards, with cards like {{Card|Evil-Smelling Fens}} and {{Card|Web}}. Early on, this is chiefly limited to Shadow cards and mostly focused on Gollum himself, like {{Card|We Must Have It}}. This becomes more and more of a culture staple in later sets, especially after the [[Shadows]] set, with cards like {{Card|Deagol, Fateful Finder}}, {{Card|Something Slimy}}, {{Card|Incited}}, and {{Card|Sudden Strike}}. Something Slimy, [[download]]ed with {{Card|Dammed Gate-Stream}}, is one of the two main reasons a Sméagol splash is popular in [[Expanded (Format)|Expanded]] Free Peoples decks. | Both sides are good at [[tutor]]ing cards from your deck and [[recur]]ring cards, with cards like {{Card|Evil-Smelling Fens}} and {{Card|Web}}. Early on, this is chiefly limited to Shadow cards and mostly focused on Gollum himself, like {{Card|We Must Have It}}. This becomes more and more of a culture staple in later sets, especially after the [[Shadows]] set, with cards like {{Card|Deagol, Fateful Finder}}, {{Card|Something Slimy}}, {{Card|Incited}}, and {{Card|Sudden Strike}}. Something Slimy, [[download]]ed with {{Card|Dammed Gate-Stream}}, is one of the two main reasons a Sméagol splash is popular in [[Expanded (Format)|Expanded]] Free Peoples decks. | ||
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* {{Card|Smeagol, Slinker}} is a very durable defender who can lose skirmishes over and over for you, albeit at a high cost in burdens. He's only usable in decks with uncommonly good burden removal, but can even be an asset in decks that use {{Card|The Shire Countryside}} to turn burden removal into healing. | * {{Card|Smeagol, Slinker}} is a very durable defender who can lose skirmishes over and over for you, albeit at a high cost in burdens. He's only usable in decks with uncommonly good burden removal, but can even be an asset in decks that use {{Card|The Shire Countryside}} to turn burden removal into healing. | ||
* {{Card|Smeagol, Poor Creature}} can be used to help [[cycle]] by discarding unwanted cards that are [[Hand Clog|clogging]] up your hand. You can even use | * {{Card|Smeagol, Poor Creature}} can be used to help [[cycle]] by discarding unwanted cards that are [[Hand Clog|clogging]] up your hand. You can even use if Smeagol isn't assigned to a skirmish, as long as someone is. | ||
* {{Card|Smeagol, Always Helps}} and {{Card|Don't Look at Them}} are very powerful [[direct wounding]] tools. They're both strong on their own or in combination with other direct wounding, and as a [[combo]] they can kill any minion in the game at the cost of two [[Threat|threat]]s and three cards in hand. Often used in [[Rainbow Wounding]]. | * {{Card|Smeagol, Always Helps}} and {{Card|Don't Look at Them}} are very powerful [[direct wounding]] tools. They're both strong on their own or in combination with other direct wounding, and as a [[combo]] they can kill any minion in the game at the cost of two [[Threat|threat]]s and three cards in hand. Often used in [[Rainbow Wounding]]. | ||
* {{Card|Smeagol, Bearer of Great Secrets}} is an odd duck, generally only played in [[Solo Smeagol]] decks as the [[Ring-bearer]]. Sméagol isn't a strong skirmisher, but his Regroup ability makes double moves very safe. The challenge is figuring out how to [[Run|run]] despite the fact that Sméagol kills a companion a turn, or figure out how to run while his only helpers are [[Bilbo]], [[Sam]], {{Card|Frodo, Frenzied Fighter}}, and/or [[Ring-bound]] [[Ranger]]s. | * {{Card|Smeagol, Bearer of Great Secrets}} is an odd duck, generally only played in [[Solo Smeagol]] decks as the [[Ring-bearer]]. Sméagol isn't a strong skirmisher, but his Regroup ability makes double moves very safe. The challenge is figuring out how to [[Run|run]] despite the fact that Sméagol kills a companion a turn, or figure out how to run while his only helpers are [[Bilbo]], [[Sam]], {{Card|Frodo, Frenzied Fighter}}, and/or [[Ring-bound]] [[Ranger]]s. | ||
* {{Card|Smeagol, Simple Stoor}} is another odd duck. He's chiefly useful in {{C|Dwarven}} self-[[mill]] decks that run a huge deck and use cards like {{Card|Ever My Heart Rises}} (helpfully downloaded using {{Card|Dammed Gate-Stream}} and {{Card|Something Slimy}}) to mill most of your cards into the discard pile. If most of your deck is in the discard, then any [[recur]]sion effects basically turn into [[tutor]]s, plus any cards that spot cards in your discard are empowered. Simple Stoor isn't very strong without some way to mill a bunch of copies of Déagol into discard, but once you do, he's a passable skirmisher who helps [[thin]] unneeded {{C|Gollum}} cards out of your deck, as well as empowering himself by milling out {{Card|Softly Up Behind}} or any remaining copies of {{Card|Deagol, Fateful Finder}}. (There's a Shadow equivalent of Simple Stoor, {{Card|Gollum, Her Sneak}}, but it isn't as good because its strength is capped.) | * {{Card|Smeagol, Simple Stoor}} is another odd duck. He's chiefly useful in {{C|Dwarven}} self-[[mill]] decks that run a huge deck and use cards like {{Card|Ever My Heart Rises}} (helpfully downloaded using {{Card|Dammed Gate-Stream}} and {{Card|Something Slimy}}) to mill most of your cards into the discard pile. If most of your deck is in the discard, then any [[recur]]sion effects basically turn into [[tutor]]s, plus any cards that spot cards in your discard are empowered. Simple Stoor isn't very strong without some way to mill a bunch of copies of Déagol into discard, but once you do, he's a passable skirmisher who helps [[thin]] unneeded {{C|Gollum}} cards out of your deck, as well as empowering himself by milling out {{Card|Softly Up Behind}} or any remaining copies of {{Card|Deagol, Fateful Finder}}. (There's a Shadow equivalent of Simple Stoor, {{Card|Gollum, Her Sneak}}, but it isn't as good because its strength is capped.) | ||
* {{Card|Follow Smeagol}} and {{Card|One Good Turn Deserves Another}} are staples in post-[[Shadows]] [[format]]s. [[Site Manipulation|site manipulation]] is a powerful offensive and defensive tool in those formats, and Sméagol is relatively easy to add to your deck to control the site path. ({{Card|Still Far Ahead}} is a cheaper, one-time alternative along these lines, occasionally played in unofficial formats where those two are banned.) | * {{Card|Follow Smeagol}} and {{Card|One Good Turn Deserves Another}} are staples in post-[[Shadows]] [[format]]s. [[Site Manipulation|site manipulation]] is a powerful offensive and defensive tool in those formats, and Sméagol is relatively easy to add to your deck to control the site path. ({{Card|Still Far Ahead}} is a cheaper, one-time alternative along these lines, occasionally played in unofficial formats where those two are banned.) | ||
* {{Card|Clever Hobbits}} is a card with two functions. The first, and most obvious, is a middling-quality [[pump]] for Sméagol himself. It's nice that it's uncapped, but it comes at a high price when you're discarding your own conditions. However, it can also discard your opponent's {{CultureIcon|Gollum}} conditions, even if you don't have Sméagol in play. It's even occasionally played in decks that don't use him at all, as [[tech]] against [[Ninja Gollum]] Shadow decks. | * {{Card|Clever Hobbits}} is a card with two functions. The first, and most obvious, is a middling-quality [[pump]] for Sméagol himself. It's nice that it's uncapped, but it comes at a high price when you're discarding your own conditions. However, it can also discard your opponent's {{CultureIcon|Gollum}} conditions, even if you don't have Sméagol in play. It's even occasionally played in decks that don't use him at all, as [[tech]] against [[Ninja Gollum]] Shadow decks. | ||
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{{Card|Secret Paths}} is a strong [[Move Limit]] card, similar to {{Card|Final Throw}}. It's only useful in decks that are running Sméagol already or [[Format|formats]] that don't include [[Reflections]], because if you want to splash a single out-of-culture minion to get +1 move limit, you can play {{Card|Radagast, The Brown}}. | {{Card|Secret Paths}} is a strong [[Move Limit]] card, similar to {{Card|Final Throw}}. It's only useful in decks that are running Sméagol already or [[Format|formats]] that don't include [[Reflections]], because if you want to splash a single out-of-culture minion to get +1 move limit, you can play {{Card|Radagast, The Brown}}. | ||
{{Card|Deagol, Fateful Finder}} is a powerful tool to [[download]] artifacts or possessions onto your characters, and it can in turn be downloaded by {{Card|Erkenbrand's Horn}}. This is a common combo in [[Horn Filter]], helping to set up your other characters more quickly. The chief weakness of this strategy is that having so many different cultures in your deck will make you vulnerable to [[Rainbow]] [[hate]] like {{Card|Grima, Chief Counselor}}, although this can be alleviated somewhat by discarding Déagol using his game text and killing off Sméagol. | {{Card|Deagol, Fateful Finder}} is a powerful tool to [[download]] artifacts or possessions onto your characters, and it can in turn be downloaded by {{Card|Erkenbrand's Horn}}. This is a common combo in [[Horn Filter]], helping to set up your other characters more quickly. The chief weakness of this strategy is that having so many different cultures in your deck will make you vulnerable to [[Rainbow]] [[hate]] like {{Card|Grima, Chief Counselor}}, although this can be alleviated somewhat by discarding Déagol using his game text and killing off Sméagol. | ||
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{{Card|Something Slimy}} can tutor one [[condition]] of any culture, and can downloaded with {{Card|Dammed Gate-Stream}}. It's great for setting up any deck that relies heavily on one particular condition, as with {{Card|Stewards' Legacy}} or {{C|Dwarven}} self-[[mill]] decks using {{Card|Ever My Heart Rises}}, or for any deck with many powerful conditions. Note that this cannot be used on Shadow cards, as it requires playing the card in the Fellowship Phase. | {{Card|Something Slimy}} can tutor one [[condition]] of any culture, and can downloaded with {{Card|Dammed Gate-Stream}}. It's great for setting up any deck that relies heavily on one particular condition, as with {{Card|Stewards' Legacy}} or {{C|Dwarven}} self-[[mill]] decks using {{Card|Ever My Heart Rises}}, or for any deck with many powerful conditions. Note that this cannot be used on Shadow cards, as it requires playing the card in the Fellowship Phase. | ||
= Shadow = | = Shadow = | ||
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tutoring, recursion: {{Card|Incited}} | tutoring, recursion: {{Card|Incited}} | ||
Standout Cards: | |||
{{Card|Gollum, Stinker}} is usually the highest-strength Gollum, and fits well into any deck that places burdens, like [[Corruption]] decks or [[Beasterlings]]. Most versions of Gollum aren't going to win many skirmishes, but this is one of the exceptions. | |||
{{Card|Gollum, Old Villain}} is a very consistent card, even if its power ceiling isn't all that high. It poses a dilemma for the Free Peoples player: even if you don't have any other [[Pump|pumps]] for Gollum, his strength could be as much 5 plus your current hand size. It probably won't be, but who wants to take that chance? Even if you're not concerned with winning a skirmish with Gollum at the moment, Old Villain can [[cycle]] unwanted cards to clear up a [[Hand Clog|clogged hand]], making your whole deck more consistent. | |||
{{Card|Gollum, Plotting Deceiver}} is not a strong minion. However, in decks with Shadow cards that seize [[Initiative]] like {{Card|Corsair War Galley}}, it means you can play Gollum over and over without any other support. He can just be another [[swarm]]ing minion (a part of the [[Stupid Swarm]] strategy), a consistent source of threats from {{Card|Fat One Wants It}}, or you can just be sure Gollum is play for cards that spot or exert him. | |||
{{Card|Gollum, Vile Deceiver}} eats [[threat]]s to win skirmishes. {{Card|Captured By The Ring}} and {{Card|Fat One Wants It}} can generate the threats, and with a decent pool of threats, this is one of the few Gollums that can be counted on to win skirmishes. | |||
{{Card|Gollum, Dark as Darkness}} is a utility knife. You'll never feel bad playing Dark as Darkness, since he can come down and exert the [[Ring-bearer]] right away. | |||
{{Card|Gollum, Mad Thing}} is occasionally useful, but mostly relies on your opponent to make a misplay. Your opponent gets to choose: allow Gollum to skirmish whoever he wants at strength 5 (which is almost always a bad choice), Gollum skirmishes as a normal strength 8 minion, or your opponent places a burden. This is okay in the early game if you have some way to take advantage of your opponent just eating the burden, but a strength 8 minion is rarely a big deal. Think of him as a strength 8 minion that your opponent can weaken for a burden. | |||
{{Card|Gollum, Hopeless}} is occasionally useful against alternate [[Ring-bearer]]s with higher base strength, decks that stack strength-boosters on the Ring-bearer, and {{Card|The One Ring, Such A Weight to Carry}}, but it's not very reliable. It's mainly played as a one-of, because it's so easy to search your deck or discard for a Gollum of your choice. | |||
{{Card|Shelob, Eater of Light}} isn't the strongest version of Shelob, but she can [[download]] {{Card|Web}} for later use. (She can also download {{Card|Larder}}, which is rarely played.) | |||
{{Card|Shelob, Her Ladyship}} is the strongest version of Shelob. She shuts down your opponent's strongest skirmisher, hard counters [[archery]], and, like all [[Enduring]] minions, gets a strength boost from any random cards that exert her or wound her to generate a benefit. (She's best buds with {{Card|Gothmog, Morgul Leader}}, and she loves to vacation in {{Card|Pelennor Prairie}}, {{Card|Osgiliath Crossing}}, or {{Card|Dol Guldur}}.) Along with Gollum himself, she's the star of [[Ninja Gollum]]. | |||
{{Card|We Must Have It}} and {{Card|Captured By The Ring}} {{Card|So Polite}} is similar but rarely played, since it [[Hand Clog|clogs up your hand]] if Gollum isn't in your discard pile, and only works in threat decks, which are generally already playing Captured By The Ring and {{Card|Fat One Wants It}}. | |||
{{Card|Evil-Smelling Fens}} can [[recur]] any minion of any culture. It's strong in any deck that plans to play Gollum over and over, but especially strong in decks that [[mill]] themselves, but does not work really well with {{Card|Gollum, Dark as Darkness}}, who wants to exert himself for a different effect. With a large discard pile, this lets you [[tutor]] out any [[Magic Bullet|magic bullet]] minion against your opponents' deck, making narrowly situational [[hate]] cards much more useful. This also makes every site into a [[Marsh]] with no [[Cultural Enforcement|cultural enforcement]], so it's a key card in making the [[Moria Tentacles]] deck work, even if that deck isn't running Gollum himself. | |||
{{Card|They Stole It}} {{Card|You're a Liar and a Thief}} | |||
{{Card|Fat One Wants It}} is another card to recur Gollum. You're usually going to use it for its first effect, however, as part of a deck that uses Gollum to generate [[threat]]s. The recursion effect is occasionally useful, but if that's all you want, the events are cheaper. | |||
{{Card|Hobbitses Are Dead}} is not a strong [[pump]], although it is a versatile one! Not only does it work on two other cultures, but it also benefits from cards that guarantee Shadow has [[Initiative]], played in {{C|Sauron}} or {{C|Raider}} decks. | |||
{{Card|Plotting}} is a very expensive [[combo]] tool, used to enable some very strong [[threat]]-based combo. (Simply consuming the threats with {{Card|Vile Creature}} generally won't cut it, at this cost.) It can be useful to set up a {{Card|Promise Keeping}} kill, or a {{Card|Northern Ithilien}}/{{Card|Watcher in the Water, Keeper of Westgate}} [[corruption]] [[bomb]]. | |||
{{Card|Hidden Even From Her}} is useful as a backup tool to [[recur]] Gollum, and gets some extra use out of versions of him that skirmish well, like {{Card|Gollum, Stinker}}. Note that it has ''anti''-synergy with versions of Gollum that don't skirmish well and just want to survive to the Regroup phase, like {{Card|Gollum, Dark as Darkness}} and {{Card|Gollum, Nasty Treacherous Creature}}. | |||
{{Card|Promise Keeping}} is an incredibly strong card, and a key part of the [[Ninja Gollum]] strategy. It basically doubles all of the wounds caused during one of Gollum's skirmishes. That's fairly strong on base rate. However, it also duplicates wounds caused by other cards that wound during the Skirmish Phase as long as they do it during Gollum's skirmish. If {{Card|They Stole It}} wounds a companion, a companion gets exerted. If a companion is killed by wounds during Gollum's skirmish, all of the wounds caused by [[threat]]s get duplicated too! Promise Keeping applies an exertion after each threat, so it often helps a large threat stack to cause kills. [[Ninja Gollum]] decks, if they set up perfectly, often see Gollum strangling one companion to death, and the whole rest of the [[Fellowship]] falling over dead. | |||
{{Card|Web}} is another tool to [[recur]] Gollum and Shelob, and can be downloaded by {{Card|Shelob, Eater of Light}}. This is the main card to [[recur]] Shelob in most decks. The only reason to stack orcs on it is to buff {{Card|Shelob, Eater of Light}}. ({{C|Isengard}} orcs like {{Card|Isengard Tender}} don't have any particular synergy with Web.) | |||
{{Card|Slippery as Fishes}} is a meta-dependent, format-dependent strength boost for Gollum. It will depend largely on what sites you want to fit into your deck, and what sites you think your opponents are likely to play. It's also occasionally useful for setting up a Shadow combo late in the game, although most Free Peoples opponents will take it as a sign that it's safe to double move. | |||
{{Card|A Dark Shape Sprang}} lets you ambush a companion out of phase, which is a unique and very powerful effect. However, most possessions make that companion better able to handle a low-strength skirmisher like Gollum. If you're lucky, this can combo well with cards like {{Card|They Stole It}}, but you're relying on your opponent to play a possession on a key target when you have all of the key pieces in the right place. This is an obnoxious and occasionally-powerful card, but not a reliable one. | |||
{{Card|Final Strike}} is a powerful tool to shut down a variety of obnoxious Free Peoples abilities. The effects at site 9 are rarely relevant. | |||
{{Card|Unabated In Malice}} boosts Shelob and any Gollum that can win skirmishes. It's also a (predictable) [[pump]] for either of them, well-suited to a deck that is just splashing {{C|Gollum}} culture cards because it looks at both sides of the table. It's almost certainly at least +2, but could turn out to be much more in or against a [[Rainbow|rainbow]] deck. | |||
{{Card|Horribly Strong}} is a direct wounding card that usually works against most characters, especially if your deck stacks a few burdens, and fairly common in [[Ninja Gollum]]. {{Card|Frenzied Attack}} is a similar card, but rarely played because it will clog your hand until you stack four or five burdens. | |||
{{Card|Led Astray}} is a powerful site-manipulation tool. It can be used to switch the current site or the next site, but unlike most [[Site Manipulation|site manipulation]] cards, it can also be used to switch out an older site so you can replay it later. The fact that it also adds 3 [[Twilight]] means it's never a [[dead draw]], even when the site path is perfectly arranged to your liking. | |||
{{Card|Treacherous Little Toad}} is a stronger version of cards like {{Card|Black Breath}} or {{Card|You Bring Great Evil}}. It can be played on the [[Ring-bearer]], locking in wound tokens from {{Card|Gollum, Dark as Darkness}}. | |||
{{Card|Cunningly Hidden}} is part of a [[cycle]] of similar [[pump]] events, but notable in that, like {{Card|Naked Waste}}, it can remove both Free Peoples and Shadow {{C|Gollum}} culture cards to pay for [[recur]]ring it. | |||
{{Card|Little Snuffler}} is a [[direct wounding]] card that can kill the [[Ring-bearer]] stone dead in the early game. If you draw enough copies. And assuming you draw Gollum (admittedly, a safe assumption). And they don't have any cards that prevent wounds or add vitality. And they don't have one of the versions of [[The One Ring]] that allows them to put it on as a Response ability. Decks that rely on Little Snuffler are a hilarious but weak gimmick, but it's also sometimes used in regular [[Ninja Gollum]] decks. | |||
{{Card|Not This Time!}} is another source of [[direct wounding]] for [[Ninja Gollum]] decks. | |||
{{Card|Sudden Strike}} is expensive, but very powerful, especially with a deck full of [[Magic Bullet]] minions to counter specific Free Peoples strategies. The latter half of the card is only occasionally useful. | |||
{{Card|Unseen Foe}} is usually good for two or three [[direct wounds]], and can be a bit of a blowout against {{C|Dwarven}} possession decks and [[Ent]]s. | |||
{{Card|Deceit}} protects your other Shadow {{CultureIcon|Gollum}} conditions from being discarded. It can't protect itself, although with two copies in play, they can protect each other. (Note that the [[PC Errata]] makes Deceit unique, as well as more expensive to use.) Any card that generates at least one Twilight and discards one condition, like {{Card|Secret Sentinels}}, is helpless against it. {{C|Gandalf}} culture sweepers like {{Card|Sleep, Caradhras}}, {{Card|Grown Suddenly Tall}}, and especially {{Card|Deep In Thought}} only discard a few of your least-useful conditions at best. Cards that persist in play, like {{Card|Galadriel, Lady Redeemed}}, {{Card|Namarie}}, and {{Card|Bilbo, Well-Spoken Gentlehobbit}} can sometimes work against Deceit, depending on how you manage your Twilight. Deceit also can't protect against sites that discard conditions or cards that remove conditions from play without discarding them, like {{Card|Gladden Homestead}} and {{Card|Vilya}}. | |||
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{{Culture Table}} | {{Culture Table}} |