Editing Whip of Many Thongs (2R74)
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Even when Whip does work, it may not work in the way the Shadow player expects or desires since the Free Peoples player is (usually) in charge of all assignments. If an armor is important to the survival of the Fellowship, The Balrog can often simply be assigned to skirmish a different companion. As such, it is better to think of Whip first and foremost as a deterrent to assign The Balrog to companions bearing armors rather than as a particularly effective way to get rid of any armors. | Even when Whip does work, it may not work in the way the Shadow player expects or desires since the Free Peoples player is (usually) in charge of all assignments. If an armor is important to the survival of the Fellowship, The Balrog can often simply be assigned to skirmish a different companion. As such, it is better to think of Whip first and foremost as a deterrent to assign The Balrog to companions bearing armors rather than as a particularly effective way to get rid of any armors. | ||
Balrog Contingency Plans are made because The Balrog is '''always''' a possibility regardless of the broader goals a Shadow side may have. Free Peoples sides, meanwhile, may not have any type of armor at all. Even for decks with armor, the odds are slim that not only is the Free Peoples player able put it in play by the time the Fellowship has to step on Khazad-dum ''and'' that the Shadow player is able to | Balrog Contingency Plans are made because The Balrog is '''always''' a possibility regardless of the broader goals a Shadow side may have. Free Peoples sides, meanwhile, may not have any type of armor at all. Even for decks with armor, the odds are slim that not only is the Free Peoples player able put it in play by the time the Fellowship has to step on Khazad-dum ''and'' that the Shadow player is able to play Whip, but also that it makes a meaningful difference in how skirmishes are handled. This particular combination of facing the right deck where both players have the right cards at the right time far outweighs what Whip is actually able to do. In short, Whip of Many Thongs is exceedingly difficult to meaningfully use in Fellowship Block. When it does get played, it is seldom for its own merits and instead to enable the infamously tempting combo card {{Card|Final Cry}}. | ||
Starting in [[Towers Standard]], {{Card|The Balrog, Terror of Flame and Shadow}} can show up anywhere on the site path with a high enough damage bonus to kill most unprotected companions outright. The assignment restriction makes it difficult to assign to a Hobbit (the primary beneficiaries of skirmish cancellation), leaving most Fellowships with no choice but to confront The Balrog directly. If its damage bonus is nullified by an armor, however, instead of break a companion's back it will cause little more than a mild sprain. Men take a more prominent role in Towers as well, with easy access to {{Card|Armor}} to block wounds. Given fewer ways to avoid skirmishes and greater availability of armors, it would seem that the main problems discouraging its use in Fellowship Block are solved. Nevertheless, it often happens that a problem comes along in a later format that doesn't exist in earlier ones -- especially in a shift as drastic as the one between Fellowship and Towers blocks. Of all the changes, few cost Whip, its bearer, and a wide swath of tactics fundamental to Fellowship Block more than the two below. | Starting in [[Towers Standard]], {{Card|The Balrog, Terror of Flame and Shadow}} can show up anywhere on the site path with a high enough damage bonus to kill most unprotected companions outright. The assignment restriction makes it difficult to assign to a Hobbit (the primary beneficiaries of skirmish cancellation), leaving most Fellowships with no choice but to confront The Balrog directly. If its damage bonus is nullified by an armor, however, instead of break a companion's back it will cause little more than a mild sprain. Men take a more prominent role in Towers as well, with easy access to {{Card|Armor}} to block wounds. Given fewer ways to avoid skirmishes and greater availability of armors, it would seem that the main problems discouraging its use in Fellowship Block are solved. Nevertheless, it often happens that a problem comes along in a later format that doesn't exist in earlier ones -- especially in a shift as drastic as the one between Fellowship and Towers blocks. Of all the changes, few cost Whip, its bearer, and a wide swath of tactics fundamental to Fellowship Block more than the two below. | ||
First, while The Balrog ''can be played'' anywhere, it is no longer ''guaranteed'' anywhere and is expensive everywhere. This makes it a much less attractive prospect for a deck in the first place, as not only must The Balrog be drawn along with Whip but they both must be drawn at the right time. Drawing either of them too soon usually leaves players better off discarding them before the card sits out too long in hand and [[Hand Clog|hand clog]] saps the rest of the deck of much-needed card flow. This | First, while The Balrog ''can be played'' anywhere, it is no longer ''guaranteed'' anywhere and is expensive everywhere. This makes it a much less attractive prospect for a deck in the first place, as not only must The Balrog be drawn along with Whip but they both must be drawn at the right time. Drawing either of them too soon usually leaves players better off discarding them before the card sits out too long in hand and [[Hand Clog|hand clog]] saps the rest of the deck of much-needed card flow. This means players will require more copies to offset having to discard early ones, the same issue from Fellowship block with the timing reversed. Second, and perhaps even more importantly, is the impact the rare versions of Grima have on the game. | ||
For Whip, the relevant one is {{Card|Grima, Wormtongue}}. When something's going wrong with one side of the deck it doesn't necessarily impact the other, but when a stack of Free Peoples cards returns to a player's hand in the middle of the turn it means they lose both resources to keep their Free Peoples healthy and the ability to fill their hand with Shadow cards from the deck. This double whammy can end the game single-handedly by stopping the current player's move and enabling an easy double for the opponent, so the mere possibility of Wormtongue makes most players avoid putting more than two cards on a companion at all. Generally players prioritize offensive cards over defensive ones, causing armor of all sorts to be less popular than they were in Fellowship block. | For Whip, the relevant one is {{Card|Grima, Wormtongue}}. When something's going wrong with one side of the deck it doesn't necessarily impact the other, but when a stack of Free Peoples cards returns to a player's hand in the middle of the turn it means they lose both resources to keep their Free Peoples healthy and the ability to fill their hand with Shadow cards from the deck. This double whammy can end the game single-handedly by stopping the current player's move and enabling an easy double for the opponent, so the mere possibility of Wormtongue makes most players avoid putting more than two cards on a companion at all. Generally players prioritize offensive cards over defensive ones, causing armor of all sorts to be less popular than they were in Fellowship block. |