Black Rider

Shadows

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Black Rider
ID	12
Name	Black Rider
Creator	Decipher
Release Date	2005-03-18
Is Official	yes
Platforms	Paper • LotR-O • GEMP • mLOTRO • Tabletop Simulator • Lackey • gccg
Notes

Black Rider is the first expansion set in the War of the Ring Block and the twelfth set overall. It was released on March 18, 2005. The set contained 194 cards (60 commons, 60 uncommons, 60 rares, and 14 starter deck-only cards); five rares and one starter deck-only card from the set had Tengwar versions produced.

As with the previous set, Shadows, only a small number of cards had a foil version printed. Eighteen rares had a foil Legends version with rarity symbol RF; these cards replaced the non-foil rare in one out of every nine packs. New in Black Rider, nine rares had an alternate-frame foil Legends Masterworks version printed with a ring used as the rarity symbol (usually represented by an O in text). Legends Masterworks cards replaced the non-foil rare in one out of every 35 packs, meaning that some type of foil appeared at the same rate as in Shadows (approximately 1 in 7 packs).

With the release of Black Rider, sets rotated out of the Standard format for the first time. In order to keep Standard to a manageable card pool, all three Fellowship Block sets were removed from standard. For this reason, Black Rider contained reprints of a number of Fellowship Block cards that Decipher wanted to remain available in the format.

Themes and Mechanics

Black Rider did not introduce any new themes or mechanics, but built on the material introduced in Shadows. That included the loaded keywords (Lurker, Muster, and Toil), the new companion attribute of resistance, and the increased focus on site keywords and site manipulation.

Cultures

Black Rider continued the same cultures as Shadows, although it included four cameo cards from the Movie-era shadow cultures: one card from Isengard, two from Moria, and one from Sauron.

Black Rider marked the second time that a character appeared in a different culture than its original printing (the first was Saruman, Rabble-rouser (4R33) in The Two Towers). Five unique minions appeared in new cultures:

• Castamir of Umbar, Corsair Vandal (12R56) originally appeared in Raider
• Gríma, Betrayer of Rohan (12R68) originally appeared in Isengard
• Cave Troll of Moria, Savage Menace (12R85) originally appeared in Moria
• Troll’s Keyward, Keeper of the Beast (12R105) originally appeared in Moria
• Saruman, Agent of the Dark Lord (12S144) originally appeared in Isengard

Adding to the flexibility of cultures, two characters appeared in multiple cultures within Black Rider itself: Saruman appeared in both Isengard and Uruk-hai, while the Mouth of Sauron appeared in both Men and Sauron. Interestingly, these characters were also the face cards of the two starter decks.

As the set name suggests, Black Rider had a slight focus on the Wraith culture, with all nine Nazgul getting a version. In addition, the first non-unique Nazgul minion was printed, Black Rider (12U161) . This is the only card in the game to share a name with a set.

Starter Decks

Black Rider was the only set where the face card for both starter decks were minions: The Mouth of Sauron, Messenger of Mordor (12S73) and Saruman, Agent of the Dark Lord (12S144) . Only one previous starter deck had a shadow card as a face card (The Witch-king, Deathless Lord (6P122) in Ents of Fangorn), and it would only happen once more in a future set (Mauhúr, Relentless Hunter (15S164) in The Hunters). The starter decks in Rise of Saruman were both named after their shadow side, but were not named after a particular face card.

Continuing the pattern from Shadows, many of the cards in starter packs did not appear in boosters and could only be obtained by buying a starter pack; these cards were all given the rarity symbol S.

• The Mouth of Sauron Starter Deck: Rohan / Men
• Saruman Starter Deck: Shire / Uruk-hai

Cycles

Free Peoples Cycles
Cycle Name	Dwarven	Elven	Gandalf	Gondor	Rohan	Shire
"Each of the following" conditions	His Father’s Charge (12C8)	N/A	N/A	Tireless (12C52)	Cleaving a Path (12C110)	N/A
	Conditions that discard to increase a characters strength by "+1 for each of the following that is true:"
Location-punishing cards	Stalwart Support (12U14)	Taking the High Ground (12U24)	Gandalf’s Hat (12R28)	Gondorian Steed (12U49)	Coif (12R111)	N/A
	Conditions and possessions that have a penalty if the followship moves from a site with a keyword that is not aligned with the culture.

Shadow Cycles
Cycle Name	Men	Orc	Uruk-hai	Wraith
6-companion conditions	Hemmed In (12C70)	Great Cost (12C88)	Shingle in a Storm (12C145)	Unending Life (12C181)
	Conditions with one ability that spots 6 companions, and a second ability with "discard this condition" as a cost.
Common hand weapon	War Trident (12C77)	Orc Spear (12C96)	Weapon of Opportunity (12C159)	Nazgûl Blade (12C168)
	Common hand weapons with a cost of 1 twilight.
Location-locked minions	Wrathful Hillman (12C78)	Orc Dreg (12C92)	Uruk Common (12C149)	N/A
	Minions that are discarded when assigned to skirmish unless they are at a site with a keyword their culture likes, or unless the shadow player pays 2.
Uncommon toil event	Gathering Strength (12U66)	Storming the Ramparts (12U103)	Broken Heirloom (12U138)	Minas Morgul Answers (12U167)
	Uncommons event with the toil keyword.

Reprinted Cards

• Dwarven Bracers (12U5) (previously 2U3)
• Nobody Tosses a Dwarf (12U11) (previously 1R23)
• Long-knives of Legolas (12R19) (previously 3R21)
• Betrayal of Isengard (12U25) (previously 3R29)
• Mysterious Wizard (12C31) (previously 1C78)
• Boromir, Defender of Minas Tirith (12U43) (previously 3P122)
• Elendil’s Valor (12C46) (previously 1C103)
• Pippin, Hobbit of Some Intelligence (12R127) (previously 1R307)
• A Promise (12R128) (previously 2R112)
• In the Ringwraith’s Wake (12U165) (previously 1R214)

Similar Sites

With the introduction of the redesigned site path in Shadows, Decipher began reprinting a number of sites from previous sets with modifications to fit the new site path. They generally kept their original name and abilities, but no longer had a site number, and had a lower twilight cost to account for the twilight added by the region. If the site had been a sanctuary, that keyword was removed, since the sanctuary keyword was now granted automatically to any site played in position 3 or 6. Some sites had additional changes, which are noted below.

• The Bridge of Khazad-dûm (12U186) (previously 1C349) - Added the battleground keyword, removed the search ability, and adjusted the cost reduction to -3 instead of -6.
• Emyn Muil (12S187) (previously 1U360) - Added the mountain keyword, and gave the maneuver ability a cost of 2 and a restriction to only affect minions that are not already fierce (presumably to prevent players from repeatedly exerting an Enduring minion).
• Shores of Nen Hithoel (12U191) (previously 1U359) - Restricted the ability to only spot Orc Orcs instead of Orcs from any culture.

Notable Cards

• Saruman, Of Many Colours (12R54)
• The Mouth of Sauron, Messenger of Mordor (12S73)
• The Balrog, The Terror of Khazad-dum (12R79)
• Whip of Many Thongs, Weapon of Flame and Shadow (12R80)
• The Mouth of Sauron, Lieutenant of Barad-dur (12R118)
• Saruman, Agent of the Dark Lord (12S144)
• Black Rider (12U161)
• The Witch-king, Black Lord (12R183)
• The Witch-king’s Beast, Fell Creature (12U184)

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