| Author |
Message |
How playable is Saruman, Servant of Sauron?
| 5 (best) |
| [ 10 ] 66% |
| |
| 4 |
| [ 3 ] 20% |
| |
| 3 |
| [ 1 ] 6% |
| |
| 2 |
| [ 0 ] 0% |
| |
| 1 (worst) |
| [ 1 ] 6% |
| |
Total Votes : 15 |
|
| AnxiousChieftain |
![]() Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:09 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 15 Jul 2005
Posts: 3947
Location: Maryland
|
Yay!!! Minion follower!
My first thought was to combo him with Orkish Assassin, but then I realized that the Assassin only works if the follower is on a companion. Oh well - I suppose he’d be too good that way.
But after that, I realized that this Saruman can fit into virtually any deck. For the  aid cost, you get a +2 strength boost and the ability to exert any companion when you win a skirmish. Any companion!!! Morcs is where this guy would shine, and he wouldn’t be bad in a Twilight Nazgul deck.
This Saruman opens up a world of possibilities. I give him a 5!
- AC |
| MODS RULE. - lem0nhead |
|
| Back to top |
|
| Cobra |
![]() Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:14 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 1202
Location: Austin, TX, USA
|
Beat me to it by three minutes, AC.  Moving my review to this thread...
Here we have LOTR TCG’s first Shadow follower, and I’d say it looks like a pretty solid card -- strength +2 and a likely companion exertion for twilight. The maneuver-phase timing isn’t so great for Shadow followers as it removes the possibility of surprise. On the other hand, a recurring pump is nothing to sneeze at.
I expect Saruman, Servant of Sauron will find his way into a lot of Shadow decks as a one- or two-card splash. Nazgul decks, unlikely as it may seem, benefit a lot from this new card since they’ve got fierce to take full advantage of him, and no other version of Saruman to compete with him. |
| http://cobracards.com -- Web's best deals on Trading Card Games. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| DáinIronfoot |
![]() Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:06 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 12 Jan 2007
Posts: 4594
Location: Beltsville, MD, USA
|
I was wondering if minion followers would come into play. My dislike of followers just went down a peg.
I echo what the others have said. He looks easily splashable since he doesn’t require any spotting or anything to enter play. Pretty easy way to get a quick +2 pump, though like Cobra said, it kinda lacks the element of surprise that FP followers have a little more of.
All in all, though, it’s a very nice card, one of the better ones in the set so far, and I dare say one of the better ones Decipher has made for a while. It’s tough to decide whether to use a powerful minion version of Saruman or "settle" for this flexible follower. I give it a 5. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| NBarden |
![]() Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:15 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 5468
Location: I don't know...
|
Shadow followers have one major problem. If the minion dies, doesn’t the follower get discarded?
Also, a easily splashable follower, it gives no requirements for culture or anything. You can stick Saruman on the Balrog for Pete’s sake!
I think this card is definitely broken. Run it in any tank deck, and for one twilight, you have a reusable strength +2 pump for ANY culture AND you get to exert a companion!
Definitely overpowered. I give it a 5 ’cause though I hate the card, it is definitely playable. |
 -Trade With Me
 Add the popcorn smiley to your sig, help it achieve world domination.
What if the hokey pokey really IS what its all about? 
As I lay in bed staring at the stars last night, I thought to myself, "where the heck is the ceiling?"
 Spotlight on....Sense of Obligation. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| thonnas7 |
![]() Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:20 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 07 May 2006
Posts: 397
Location: Springfield, OR
|
He’s extremely overpowered, but I think since he’s a minion follower, it’s worth a 5.
 |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| corvus |
![]() Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:51 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 1696
Location: Roaming, but dangerous!!!
|
This card makes me rather skeptical. On the one hand, it is overpowered and all for the reasons you guys mentioned. I mean, it IS a dream for any shadow with minimum costs and excellent effects.
On the other side, it makes me think whether certain follower rules have to be reconsidered. For instance, does this guy get discarded when a freeps player reconciles, along with the minion that bears him? That underpowers it way too much, since it’s a one use thing. As does the minion’s death anyway.
EDIT ---- Great twilight cost color!!! |
Last edited by corvus on Fri Jan 26, 2007 6:04 pm; edited 1 time in totalClick here if you want to trade some foils away 
Far, Far beyond the island we dwelt in shapes of twilight
Through draught and weary days
Through grief and endless pain |
|
| Back to top |
|
| sickofpalantirs |
![]() Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 3:42 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 7750
Location: somwhere, over the rainbow way up high. There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.
|
hah I was right. there was a minion follower.(of course I followed logic of D members, but still no one else even mentioned them!)
it seems incredibly overpowered, no spotting costs, and for 2 twilight you can possible get +2, and an extra wound(or 2) |
Sop's haves/ top wants
(mm)"SoP: you will always be the Official CC Spammer in my heart"
"DáinIronfoot"
Spammers really are amazing creatures. You can learn all there is to know about their ways in a month. And yet, after a hundred years, they can still surprise you.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
| LeeRoy Jenkins |
![]() Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 4:58 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Posts: 19
Location:
|
| And with Isengard Ruined and a defeated companion you can exert three! times. That’s enough to kill even Aragorn or Gandalf with that many exertions + a wound from winning the skirmish. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| CarpeGuitarrem |
![]() Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 7:56 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 3361
Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
|
Wow, you ain’t kidding about Isengard Ruined. I wonder if D had that in mind, or if it was just unintentional. I love this concept of minion followers, especially that twilight cost!
This is going to also be extremely potent in the Vicious WaNOLINKrg + Scouting Orc combo, especially with Isengard Ruined!! OUCH!
And yet another card to pump Ferny, and this one can’t be discarded. And now you can send this one into a  Wraith corruption deck...get a wound on Frodo easy!
I sense some uber-grinding going on with this guy and Uruk Slayer... |
| "ok, change of plans. the Cobracards christmas party is coming to my house, and we’re gunna teach FM how to hunt." (mm) |
|
| Back to top |
|
| bibfortuna25 |
![]() Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 12:31 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 05 Apr 2006
Posts: 615
Location: Springfield, OR
|
| Uruk Slayer? He doesn’t do anything special with Saruman. All Uruk Slayer does is remove (1) to become strength +1 with a limit of +3. |
| All cards do what they say. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
Forum index » Lord of the Rings TCG » Open Lord of the Rings Discussion
