Lorien Is Most Welcome (4U77)
 Lorien Guardian (4C76)
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Lorien Swordsman (4C78) 
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Lorien Is Most Welcome (4U77) is a 
Elven Condition from the The Two Towers set.
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Strategy[edit]
!Lorien Is Most Welcome is part of a suite of Elven conditions affecting wounded minions, along with Blades Drawn and Killing Field. Each of these cards seek to remedy a simple problem with archery decks: if a Shadow player can spread wounds evenly without sacrificing any minions, the wounds are largely inconsequential. Perhaps as a way for Elven Archery decks to remain competitive, Lorien Is Most Welcome allows a player to manage the severity of skirmish losses for a culture with little wound protection and often low skirmish potential, but solid healing.
Understandably, Uruk-hai got a large focus in The Two Towers and one of Fellowship Block's strongest strategies became even more potent. Their high vitality makes actually killing one in the archery phase very difficult, and traditional Elven fellowships are no match for their strength and brutal damage bonuses. While many Elves will be incapable of actually winning the skirmish without tons of skirmish support (detracting from an archery-driven deck), Lorien Is Most Welcome hopes that the Elves will at least survive by cutting the potential wounding in half.
Because many decks have no damage bonuses at all, this card is highly situational. The low strength of many companions in an archery deck still leaves them vulnerable to being overwhelmed outright by Uruk-hai. Further, since it is played before the Shadow phase there's little way of knowing when the best time to play it is without first using cards such as Foul Creation, a better counter to Uruk-hai decks by itself. Even when successful, against top-tier decks simply managing losses may not be enough to stay competitive. For these reasons, Lorien Is Most Welcome rarely sees play.
Strengths and Weaknesses[edit]
Strong Versus...[edit]
- Uruk-hai
- The occasional power minion with fierce and damage +1
Weak Versus...[edit]
- Most non-Uruk-hai decks, which have no focus on damage bonuses
- Minions with strength capable of overwhelming (common in some Uruk-hai decks)
Rulings[edit]
- Since Lorien Is Most Welcome (and the other [Elven] conditions affecting wounded minions) is discarded during the regroup phase rather than at the start of the regroup phase, it will be discarded if brought back using Gil-Galad, High King of the Noldor.
See Also[edit]
- Add links to the wayback machine (or wiki archival links) for official Decipher articles regarding the card
- Link to decks that use this card
