Legacy Ruling 10

Status: Discussion (2025-05-09)

Playing Cards From Discard

Ford of Bruinen (1U338) reads:

 River. Sanctuary. The twilight cost of the first Nazgûl played at Ford of Bruinen each turn is -5.

On Gemp, as the Shadow player if you play a Nazgûl at your opponent's version of Ford, and then use a card replacement effect (such as Úlairë Nelya, Lieutenant of Morgul (1U233) ) to replace the site with a second copy of Ford, it will once again apply the discount if you play another Nazgûl at this second copy of Ford. It is unclear if this is a valid reading of the site or not.

It could be read as meaning:

• the first Nazgûl played at any card with the title of 'Ford of Bruinen'
• the first Nazgûl played while the fellowship is at this site (which may be replaced by a different site that happens to share the same title)

Similar Cards

Other cards which would be affected by this ruling include:

• Deep of Helm (4U347)

However because of the way they're worded, the following cards do not fall under the same ambiguity as they anchor to a different distinguisher than card title (site number or phase):

• Morannon (5R102)
• Dimrill Dale (1U350)
• Great Chasm (2U118)
• Breeding pit of Isengard (15S188)

(However, as these are coded similarly to Ford, it is possible that they are affected by the same behavior and may need addressed regardless.)

It is very likely that Ford was worded differently from these sites to avoid issues with handing your opponent discounted Nazgûl when copying the site's game text with Silinde, Elf of Mirkwood (1U60) .

The Question

For Ford of Bruinen and Deep of Helm:

• A: Replacing the current copy of the site with a new copy should make the new site "lose track" of the discount applied at the previous site, permitting for a new discount to be applied at the new site.

or

• B: Discounts applied to 1 copy of the site should disable the discount on any further copies of the site played or replaced during the same phase.

---