Sudden Strike (15U51)

Something Slimy (15U50)

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Swear By the Precious (15U52)

Strategy

Collection

History

Data

Sudden Strike (15U51) is a Gollum Event from the The Hunters set.

EN Nonfoil First Edition

Collection Info Title Sudden Strike Unique No Collectible Yes Set 15 - The Hunters Rarity U - Uncommon Card Number 51 Language EN - English Revision 0

Gameplay Info Playable Yes Culture Gollum Side Shadow Card Type Event Phase Shadow Twilight Cost 2 Game Text Spot Gollum or Sméagol to play a minion from your draw deck. If that minion is a minion, you may also play a Shadow possession or Shadow condition from your draw deck. Lore “...she drove her huge bulk down on him again.”

Technical Info Wiki Base Card ID LOTR-EN15S051.0 TLHH ID LOTR15051 GEMP ID 15_51 LOTRO Hex ID 63 1F 4E 0E LOTRO Image ID 15_051

Strategy

Sudden Strike is one of the strongest searching tools in the game. Adding to the Gollum culture's already popular and splashable recursion kit of Evil-smelling Fens (5U22) , Web (8C30) , Captured by the Ring (7C53) , and any version or versions of Gollum, Sudden Strike gives a new dimension to splashing Gollum.

In the popular Ninja Gollum strategy in Expanded and Standard, Sudden Strike can be used very effectively. It can be used to play Gollum (if your opponent plays Smeagol) then fetch Web (8C30) to play Gollum consistently, or it can play Shelob and grab Web (8C30) . Alternatively, you can fetch a splashed hate minion, such as Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul (1U231) , Gríma, Wormtongue (4R154) , or Southron Leader (7R166) to counter whatever your opponent is doing.

Sudden Strike is also used in several other strategies such as Corsairs and Expanded Threat Nazgul. In Corsairs, Gollum, Plotting Deciever is used alongside Corsair War Galley (8U59) and is played continously to use cards like Evil-smelling Fens (5U22) and Sudden Strike to recur or fetch either a choice Corsair or a hate minion, much like its use in Ninja Gollum. In Threat Nazgul, Sudden Strike is used with Gollum, Threatening Guide (19P10) to fetch key Nazgûl and hate minions, all the while providing threats to fuel the strategy.

The quirkiest (and one of the strongest) Shadow sides in Expanded is designed around Sudden Strike and Gollum. It utilizes cards like Gollum, Her Sneak (13U50) , Captured by the Ring (7C53) , and Web (8C30) to replay Gollum, then searches with Sudden Strike and recurs with Evil-smelling Fens (5U22) to grab the best minions for the occasion. A full rundown by the creator can be found here.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Synergizes With...

• Web (8C30) and other cards that allow you to routinely play Gollum
• Hate minions such as Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul (1U231) or Gríma, Wormtongue (4R154)
• Ships of Great Draught (8R65) and the other Corsair boats, when fetching a Gollum minion

Strong Versus...

• Most everything, as you can use it to pull any minion as suits the occasion
• Hand discard, as it can pull duplicate copies of a discarded minion
• Decks running Smeagol, as you do not need to play Gollum first

Weak Versus...

• Gandalf, Wise Guide (19P8)
• Dwarf Discard

See Also

Several decks using this card extensively:

• The Ultimate Madril by Sgtdraino
• Realm of Dwarrowdelf EXPANDED, also by Sgtdranio
• Rohan search and Shadowplay by ilazul