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| Glamdring |
![]() Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 9:44 pm |
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--- description ---
A basic Overview on Followers, how they help you fellowship, and how they benefit your Free Peoples.
--- end description ---
Out of the shadows the hobbits peeped, gazing back down the slope: little furtive figures that in the dim light looked like elf-children in the deeps of time peering out of the Wild Wood in wonder at their first Dawn. In the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, there is slight hints that there were Followers following the Fellowship around, as some Followers being Orcs, Uruk-hai, while others being secret; Elves, Men, and even eagles circling above. Especially, in the LOTR TCG, Followers have a distinct impact on how they help your Fellowship survive until the end; like healing companions while transferring them over, or canceling skirmishes with no visitors for hobbit Follower decks. The Followers can be very helpful in many ways, so in this Strategy Article, I am going to explain all of the different and unique Followers, and I will explain there abilities as far as I can go, and their unique ability of aiding the fellowship through their run to site nine. The Followers are separated into two different classes: Shadow/Free Peoples. (All Followers are under the class “Follower” and are not considered companions, possessions, or allies, and because of this, there are few Shadow cards that discard them.) Now the question arises, how do Followers aid your Fellowship?
How do Followers aid in your Fellowship?
Each Follower has a distinct ability in which no other is like it; the Followers are also transferred over to a companion of your choice at the start of the Maneuver Phase, with the cost of Aid X (You may do X to transfer over to a companion). (Also, note that the Followers are a choice made by the player, they are not forced to transfer them over to a companion) Followers generally aid in the Fellowship by making companions stronger, and healing the companions as you transfer them over (or gaining strength from them). There are two steps on how Followers help your fellowship:
1. First of all, they are not companions, or possessions, which gives a bonus to the players who use them because there are few Shadow cards that discard them. (They also can be discarded when the companion bearing them is killed during a skirmish phase.)
2. They usually give a strength bonus, resistance bonus, or healing bonus to whatever companion they transfer over to. For example, Little golden flower helps tremendously with  companions bearing Followers, as it increases strength, vitality, and resistance.
Overview of Followers:
All right, here are all of the Followers I could find, and I will explain each one individually, while I go through and explain their special abilities, while commenting on how well they work with the Free peoples/Shadow. I will separate the Followers into the cultures they belong in. (For example,  Followers go in the section.)
Followers: Followers have helped in many LOTR games, as making minions strength minus whatever, and sometimes companions bonus from bearing Followers. Generally, Followers have been used in Ent, or Gandalf builds, but sometimes they can be splashed into other cultures (like Pallando, far-travelling one).
Alatar, final envoy: A very nice card which works well with token decks, and of course, makes minions strength -1 if you can spot a companion. This Follower works very well with Skirmishing decks; as it also works well with Ent builds. This particular Follower must be used with a companion, otherwise, it will not work for other cultures, unless Gandalf (or some other companion) is splashed in there with the build.
Pallando, far-travelling one: An awesome card! With its divine ability to splash in many decks, and its ability to discard conditions, this card can bring havoc to the Shadow Player. Of course, there is always a cost to transfer, which is aid  , and exerts that companion twice unless it is a [Gandalf companion. However, even with the dreadful cost of exerting a companion twice, exhausted companions (like  wraiths) can be very helpful since they do not have to exert twice. In addition, Rangers and Knights work well with Pallando, far-travelling one because of there healing ability.
Radagast, tender of beasts: Another Follower which needs to spot companions in order to use its game text efficiently. With the special ability, this card can ruin a Shadow Player’s idea of using Hand Weapons. Great when combined with Alatar, final envoy, to win most skirmishes.
Meneldor, misty mountain eagle: Weird, but still good when using lots of Followers; it can win most skirmishes while being a strength +1 bonus all the time (since Meneldor can spot himself). This particular card can be splashed in with Pallando, far-travelling one into some other builds.
gwaihir, the windlord: A very cool card when used with a wounding/exerting minions build! With its unique ability to exert a minion each time bearer wins a skirmish (or wound that minion instead if it is a Wizard minion). Pretty cool Huh? Of course, the Free Peoples player must have efficient threat removal in order to keep on transferring this over to a companion.
Overview on Followers:
Generally, Followers help by exerting and wounding minions, and winning skirmishes. There are a few cards that bonus from Followers, which makes them superior in Follower decks, and they are:
For a while less dark (makes a companion bearing a Follower strength +4)
Strange meeting (makes companions bearing a Follower gain muster, and if that companion is a companion, he is strength +1. One cool thing about strange meeting card is that you do not have to spot anything to activate the muster keyword, and also, it is non unique so if you have four copies out, your companion bearing a follower would be strength +4.
Followers:
Followers have little to do with exerting minions, or making minions strength lower, but in fact, most of them have to do with making the bearer stronger. Some of the Followers have to do with wound prevention, and taking events into hand, but that all helps the culture even better for its unique strategies. Most of the Followers have the aid action with burdens, because of the Hobbits ability to remove burdens, and plus, most of the Hobbits have high resistance in case you are playing against a resistance beat-down build.
daddy Twofoot, next-door neighbor: Ahh! The perfect card used in the Pippin Engine/Solo builds to cream the Shadow Player by choke. Inevitably, this card is perfect for recycling your strength events, or any other cards like make haste, and power according to his stature, to help a ton against swarm, etc. Because of its aid action of adding a burden to transfer over to a companion, the Fellowship Side must have good burden removal to keep on transferring (unless your Ringbearer has a high resistance, and you don’t have many corruption builds in your area) over to companions, but that threat is easily resolved seeing as the culture has many cards which remove burdens (like the more, the merrier etc.).
Frodo Gamgee, son of Samwise: Kind of like Meneldor, misty mountain eagle as it boosts strength while spotting Ring-bound hobbits instead of spotting Followers. A very cool card when it comes to Ring-bound hobbit decks; it also gives a +1 vitality boost for bearer, and when combined with unharmed, it can be efficient. The aid adds 2 burdens, which is kinda hard to get along with, unless you have burden removal such as sting, weapon of heritage, or the more, the merrier combined with daddy Twofoot, next-door neighbor to recycle them.
the gaffer, master gardener: The perfect card for healing your hobbits! It even gets better when at a dwelling site, with fates entwined; your hobbits will be very hard to beat when you opponent is using beat-down strategies. The aid again is one burden, which isn’t too bad, and the Gaffer, master gardener also gives a +1 strength boost for bearer.
Hobbiton brewer, maker of fine ales: Even though this card’s aid action is two burdens, it can still pack a punch! Preventing a wound is very important if you exhausted companion is about to take a wound. A must for most Follower builds!
Hobbiton farmer, lover of Pipeweed: A bane against fierce minions, this Hobbiton Farmer, lover of Pipeweed, works wonders against Forest Nazgul as well as builds relying around fierce minions. For one easygoing burden, this Hobbit can be a torment to Shadow Players who use fierce minions.
Overview on Followers:
Shire Followers generally work well with the culture, and all of them (so far) have the aid action by using burdens. When building a Follower deck, do make sure have plenty of burden removal to remove those burdens that you keep on adding with the Followers. There are certain cards which work very well with Followers. They are:
Sam, bearer of great need (great for discarding minions during the Regroup phase)
Sam, innocent traveler (heals your hobbits)
merry, the tall one (Merry gets stronger, which helps against possession stripping builds, and you may add a threat to make him stronger)
pippin, the short one (chokes a little more, and also you can exert the ringbearer to make him stronger)
no visitors (cancels skirmishes involving your hobbits bearing Followers)
relaxation (worried about corruption? This card helps a bit with Followers)
new chapter (used for healing your hobbits)
little golden flower (makes your hobbits stronger, have more vitality, and resistance)
 Followers:
There are only two[elven] Followers, yet they help in many ways; by making companions archers, and making the current site gain Forest, which helps in many ways. The Followers really help the culture as the Culture revolves around Forests and Archers.
Dinendal, Mirkwood archer: A must have for most archery decks. Dinendal’s unique ability to make a companion (any companion) an archer until the regroup phase. Very cool card if you ask me, and exerting a companion (unless it is an companion] doesn’t require too much to transfer him over. I know many people who make Frodo an archer, and use the one ring, answer to all riddles to absorb the exertions.
Uruviel, woodland maid: A very clever Follower is you ask me; it does many things that help. For instance: Making the current site a Forest helps the culture with many cards like:
Voice of numrodel (cancels skirmishes involving elves)
Legolas, son of Thranduil (increases the archery total)
Arwen, staunch defender (makes minions skirmishing her strength minus whatever)
Blade of lindon (makes minions strength -1)
Legolas, companion of the ring (makes his strength and resistance higher)
Woodland sentinel (this companion gets stronger)
Orophin, brother of Haldir (automatically becomes an archer)
Arwen, reflection of luthien ( companions get higher resistance)
Celeborn, the wise (each elf gains muster)
Galadriel, sorceress of the hidden land (heals companions)
Kindreds estranged (makes minions skirmishing elves strength -3 if at a forest or river site)
Secluded homestead (use the tokens to reconcile your hand)
Standing tall (when combined with Arwen, reflection of luthien, you can make a minion strength -3 to -4 usually)
Haldir, sentry of the golden wood (automatically gains archer)
Galadriel, lady of the golden wood (plays fellowship’s next site. Note: She is also R-listed or X-listed in some formats)
Uruviel, woodland maid also increases bearer’s resistance too, which helps with fighting against resistance beatdown builds, and helps with Celeborn, the wise.
 Followers:
Followers have many unique ideas, as far as, liberating sites, mounts and possessions. Although there are only three Followers, they still pack a punch! Since the culture doesn’t have any burden removal, the aid X is generally twilight, and the Followers generally are in the area of liberating sites, mounts, and possessions.
Rohan stable master: With the cost of Aid , this Follower can be very helpful when you need an extra companion mounted, if you have many cards which bonus off of mounted companions. The Rohan stable master works pretty well generally with the culture.
Rohan worker: Another interesting card, but the cool thing is that it can be splashed into all Free Peoples decks. Liberating a Site is very helpful for the culture because of the cards that bonus off of that. Plus, in can wreck havoc to the Site Control Strategies by the Shadow player.
Rohirrim doorwarden: The perfect card for Rohan possessions! This amazing Follower makes a companion strength +1 for each possession borne by that character. Very amazing as the culture does a tremendous amount of possessions (at lease most decks do), and with merry Swordthain or Deagol, fateful finder, this can be one powerful card!
Overview on Followers:
The culture doesn’t have many cards that bonus off of Followers, or use Followers that much. They are generally used however the Free Peoples player wants them.
 Followers:
Even though there is only one Follower (Deagol, fateful finder), he is quite splashable in many decks, which is why he is pretty expensive now (about $6.00 at CC). Deagol also helps with Solo Smeagol builds combined with nasty, to make Smeagol stronger while spotting Deagol.
Deagol, fateful finder: A very wonderfully made card! Deagol is very splashable in many decks, and his unique ability to discard him to play any possession from you discard pile on bearer. Deagol works very well against Possession stripping strategies, and also works very well with the culture when needed. One burden is the cost of Aid, yet that wimpy burden can be handled easily.
 Followers:
Followers are very unique because of the Shadow Side’s ability to transfer Followers over to minions with the cost of Aid X (remove the cost of X. For instance: with the cost of aid  , the Shadow Player may remove at the start of the Maneuver Phase to transfer over to a companion)! This idea just recently was brought about with the Rise of Saruman set, and right now, the only Follower is Saruman, servant of Sauron.
Saruman, servant of Sauron: A very brilliant card! With just the cost of Aid , he can be transferred over to a minion, and each time that minion wins a skirmish, you may exert a companion. This card is very splashable; when combined with the  culture, or the  culture, this card can be very deadly to most Fellowships. (of course, Saruman, servant of Sauron can be discarded if bearer is killed in a skirmish phase)
(There is no overview on Followers since there are no cards that bonus from Shadow Followers.)
The Most Splashable Followers:
After reading the above, what are the most splashable Followers that can be splashed into your deck? Below is a list of the most splashable cards:
Pallando, far-travelling one (you don’t have to spot anything to play or transfer him. Plus, each time bearer wins a skirmish, you may discard a condition. Works very well with the culture since they hardly have any condition removal.)
daddy Twofoot, next-door neighbor (Very splashable in Solo builds, and taking back a event is an action to consider)
Hobbiton brewer, maker of fine ales: (As you probably noticed, many people use Frodo as the Ring-Bearer in their decks. That is why this Follower is so good! Just for the action of 2 burdens, it can be like the next salve; with its wound-prevention ability, it is quite a wonderful aid in your Fellowship.)
Rohan worker (splashable if you deck needs some Site Liberation, works generally well with Rangers and Knights which soak up the exertions)
Deagol, fateful finder (Just for a burden, you can transfer him over, and then discard him to play your important possessions back. In addition to, he is very splashable because you do not have to spot anything to play him.)
Saruman, servant of Sauron (Works well with most Shadow beatdowns. Plus, he gives a strength +2 boost)
Conclusion:
As you can see, Followers help tremendously in the idea that they are not Possessions or Companions; they also are quite compatible with most builds, like the most splashable Followers. Try to use them in your games; they may help more than you realize! Thank you for reading, reviewing, and your constructive criticism.
Thanks again,
-Glamdring- |
Great minds think alike.~CarpeGuitarrem
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| legoles3333 |
![]() Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 8:16 pm |
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Joined: 28 Nov 2006
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funny opening quote
nice article, but you should have mentioned other cards that help like Merry, The tall one, or Barlimin Butterber, Red-Faced Landlord
also a couple typos |
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| bobtheorc |
![]() Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 7:48 am |
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| sickofpalantirs |
![]() Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 1:21 pm |
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| meneldor doesn’t spot himself. it says OTHER gandalf follower. it looks definitly like a 4 article though. |
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| NBarden |
![]() Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:41 pm |
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Not enough time to review it completely, but a couple points.
1. Format it better.
2. Explain why the followers work with cards. For example, you say Haldir, Sentry of the Golden Wood works with followers, but not everyone would make the connection with Uruviel. Same with Legolas, Son of thranduil, Voice of Nimrodel, etc. |
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| Glamdring |
![]() Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:11 pm |
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bobtheorc wrote: Nice job glamdring.
I would recommend Capitalizing all card titles.
It just looks better that way
Were did I not capitalize the card titles? |
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| anonymous22 |
![]() Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:17 pm |
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| Do followers get transfered back to the support area after the regroup phase? |
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| TheJord |
![]() Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:30 pm |
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| I also noticed the part you said about Meneldor, he cannot spot himself. |
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| Glamdring |
![]() Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 1:47 pm |
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TheJord wrote: I also noticed the part you said about Meneldor, he cannot spot himself.
Oops..  Okay, I sorta forgot about him. |
Great minds think alike.~CarpeGuitarrem
Rangers will rule the World!! (CC's Official Ranger Lover)
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| Glamdring |
![]() Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 1:47 pm |
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anonymous22 wrote: Do followers get transfered back to the support area after the regroup phase?
They do. Did I mention that in my article? |
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