Gimli's Helm (1R15)
 Gimli's Battle Axe (1R14)
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Gimli's Helm (1R15) is a 
Dwarven Possession from the Fellowship of the Ring set.
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Strategy[edit]
Gimli's Helm is a potent possession that serves two purposes. First, it's a protection against Damage +X and minions that wound him with abilities in the skirmish phase. Secondly, in later formats, Gimli's Helm can deflect an entire stack of threats, as long as they're triggered by a character dying in the skirmish phase.
Uruk-hai and many large minions like Cave Troll, Scourge of the Black Pit
and the Balrog are often Damage +X. This reduces all of that to one wound per skirmish, making a sufficiently well-armed and -pumped Gimli a good option to stave off the Balrog or monsters like Uruk Vanguard (4R200)
. Even if they're playing Whip of Many Thongs (2R74)
, you can discard the Helm before the Shadow player gets a chance to discard it, preventing all of the wounds from the first skirmish.
The Helm also works against skirmish phase direct wounding, most notably from 
Sauron minions like Orc Soldier (1C271)
, 
Raider events like Whirling Strike (4C260)
, and Ninja Gollum staple cards like They Stole It (6R46)
. No matter how many different effects would wound Gimli in that skirmish, including abilities, cards, and the actual skirmish resolution, he only takes one wound total. That doesn't make these cards useless! If the Orc Soldier is going to lose the skirmish anyway, one wound is more than zero. But it does prevent Ninja Gollum decks from killing Gimli from full health.
Starting with King Block, this card takes on a whole new role. Previously, taking many wounds during a single skirmish was fairly rare. Threats changed that. Gimli can discard the Helm during the skirmish where a character is obviously about to die, then absorb all of the threat wounds harmlessly. Combine this with disposable characters like Sam, Son of Hamfast (1C311)
or Thrarin, Dwarven Smith (1U27)
, and it's one of the strongest ways to clear your threats. This effect is especially important against Ninja Gollum, because preventing all those threat wounds also prevents them from triggering Promise Keeping (8R24)
. Many Movie Block decks already use Gimli, Bearer of Grudges (9R+4)
for his higher strength and access to Shoulder to Shoulder (1C59)
, Blood Runs Chill (8R3)
, and Preparations (7R12)
/Slaked Thirsts (7U14)
, so Gimli's Helm is easy to include on top of that. Dwarven decks can run From the Armory (4U47)
instead, as it serves a similar role, but the two cards are about comparable.
While this card is unique, it's usually fine to run multiple copies. You can just discard the copy in play and play another one the next turn. You can do this even if Gimli isn't about to take any wounds, as long as there's a skirmish phase.
Strengths and Weaknesses[edit]
Strong Versus...[edit]
- Enemies with Damage bonuses. Particularly common with Uruk-hai and large Fellowship Block minions like the Balrog.
- Skirmish Phase direct wounding, common to Sauron (Orc Soldier (1C271)
), Raider (Whirling Strike (4C260)
), and
Gollum (They Stole It (6R46)
). - Whip of Many Thongs (2R74)
, as the helm can be discarded to prevent wounds before the whip discards it.
- Discarding the helm can absorb a whole stack of threat wounds.
- The combination of capping They Stole It (6R46)
and stopping threat/Promise Keeping (8R24)
combos makes this a good tech card against Ninja Gollum.
Weak Versus...[edit]
- This does nothing against exertion effects (besides Promise Keeping (8R24)
), or wounds that don't happen in the skirmish phase (particularly from archery or cards like Hate (1R250)
) - Fierce minions do two wounds in two separate skirmishes, so this doesn't help much.
- Possession Removal
- Beyond the Height of Men (2R39)
can discard this card in particular - Gríma, Wormtongue (4R154)
, unless this card is being played on a ring-bearing Gimli, Bearer of Grudges (9R+4)
Rulings[edit]
The passive text of this card will not "stack" with response action of Dwarven Bracers (2U3)
to prevent all wounds from a source dealing two or more wounds. Dwarven Bracers will prevent the first, meaning a wound was never taken for Gimli's Helm to prevent any subsequent wounds.
If something happens to prevent one effect which in turn would have prevented a second effect, the second effect is performed.
Example: Morgul Destroyer (7U190)
is played. ("When you play this minion, you may spot a Nazgûl to add 2 threats. The Free Peoples player may wound the Ring-bearer to prevent this.") The Free People player wounds the Ring-bearer to prevent the threats from being added. The Free Peoples player then discards Sapling of the White Tree (9R35)
. (Response: If a 
Gondor Man is about to take a wound, discard this artifact to prevent that.) Because Sapling has prevented the effect (a wound) that would have prevented Morgul Destroyer's effect, the threats are now added.
- preventing effects section
