Merry's Armor (7R241)	Back to Return of the King Index	Morning Came (7C243)

Collection

History

Data

Merry's Sword (7R242) is a Rohan Possession from the Return of the King set.

EN Nonfoil First Edition
EN Foil First Edition
DE Nonfoil First Edition
DE Foil First Edition
FR Nonfoil First Edition
FR Foil First Edition
IT Nonfoil First Edition
IT Foil First Edition

Collection Info
Title	Merry's Sword
Unique	Yes
Collectible	Yes
Set	7 - Return of the King
Rarity	R - Rare
Card Number	242
Language	EN - English
Revision	0

Gameplay Info
Playable	Yes
Culture	Rohan
Side	Free Peoples
Card Type	Possession
Item Class	Hand Weapon
Twilight Cost	1
Strength	+2
Game Text	Bearer must be Merry. Maneuver: Exert Merry twice to exert a minion once for each companion you spot.

Translations
DE - German
Card Name	Merrys Schwert
Game Text	Muss auf Merry gespielt werden. Manöver: Strenge Merry zweimal an, um einen Diener einmal für jeden Gefährten, den du entdeckst, anzustrengen.
FR - French
IT - Italian

Technical Info
Wiki Base Card ID	LOTR-EN07S242.0
TLHH ID	LOTR07242
GEMP ID	7_242
LOTRO Hex ID	62 0B AD 06
LOTRO Image ID	07_242

Strategy[edit]

Merry's Sword is a powerful direct wounding tool for dedicated Rohan decks. It isn't especially popular, however, because of two significant limitations. First, it can only be played on Merry, and doesn't work well with the gametext of any popular version of Merry. Second, the meta of King Block is very unfriendly to Rohan, both because of power creep and because of very common possession hate. The sword is a fairly common sight in King Standard, but is rarely seen in the more popular Movie Block.

Merry's Sword is a fine card in a vacuum. Under normal circumstances, you'll be able to toss out three or four exertions when you use it, spread however you like among opposing minions. As long as you use it as your first maneuver phase action, Merry's Sword can shut down obnoxious hate cards like Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul (1U231) and Gríma, Wormtongue (4R154) , enabling you to play fast and loose with the rule of six or stack more than two possessions on a key companion. Any minion with an obnoxious exertion ability is fair game, as long as it isn't a Shadow Phase ability.

Rohan has plenty of options to take advantage of these wounds, too. Éomer, Third Marshal of Riddermark (4R267) and Hrethel, Rider of Rohan (6C95) both want to see wounds on the minions they're skirmishing. Rohan archery cards like Rohirrim Javelin (7C248) , Rohirrim Bow (5C88) , and Aldor, Soldier of Edoras (4R262) can finish off heavily-wounded minions. Éowyn, Lady of Ithilien (10R72) does both, and can often finish off multiple minions with one exertion if you set things up perfectly.

The chief hurdle comes from finding ways to heal Merry, since you can't use any of Rohan's strong healing cards like Léowyn (7R239) on him. There are two basic approaches. You can use Farmer Maggot, Chaser of Rascals (1R288) and Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir (1R289) to get a trickle of healing on him. Merry, Horticulturalist (2C104) can help set this all up. (Occasionally you see people using some other version of Merry with strength-boosting gametext like Merry, From O'er the Brandywine (1C303) or Merry, Noble Warrior (8P121) , but he's always going to be a vulnerable support character even if you use those, so it's generally better to focus on making the sword more effective.) Alternately, you can use Merry, Swordthain (7R321) 's gametext to send Merry back to your hand and then replay him the next turn, replaying the sword with a card like Weapon Store (4R294) or Ecglaf, Courageous Farmer (5C81) .

Even if you do set him up nicely, you'll need to deal with the pervasive possession hate in King Block or Movie Block. Corsair Marauder (8R57) , Grond, Hammer of the Underworld (8R103) , and Úlairë Cantëa, Faster Than Winds (7R211) are all common sights. Rohan decks can deal with these cards, but one of their best tools to do so is Merry, Swordthain (7R321) . Swordthain can't retrieve his own sword, however, and if he's bouncing back and forth, it's hard to also re-equip him every time.

In some ways, Merry is his sword's worst enemy. The gametext of Merry, Swordthain (7R321) is so great that you might just be better off not giving him his sword at all. Being able to recycle single-use possessions or get back key cards after the Shadow player has discarded them is very valuable, so Merry will often be too busy hopping back and forth off the table to make it worthwhile to try to re-equip him every time. Sure, his sword can contribute wounds, but so can Rohirrim Helm (5R89) or Rohirrim Javelin (7C248) , and Merry can go back to your hand to retrieve those turn after turn.

The final problem is Merry's Sword's strict cultural enforcement, and the fact that the sort of deck it fits into doesn't fit the King Block meta. Merry's Sword is only useful in a nearly-pure Rohan deck: it's only middling compared to Shadowplay (10U114) and Unheeded (8R115) if you only have two Rohan companions, and subpar when you only have one. It doesn't fit into any other direct wounding decks, like Rainbow Wounding. And Rohan just doesn't keep up in King Block. Most of the latter sets push decks using Gondor, Elven, or Dwarven companions, and the Rohirrim just fall behind.