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AdultLink

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:04 am

Joined: 15 Dec 2005 Posts: 253 Location: Hyrule

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This article deals with the advantages of Frodo over the many alternate ringbearers, and breaks down all the versions of Frodo for display.
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Ever since the introduction of the Reflections set in LOTR TCG, alternate ringbearers have been all the rage. It isn’t altogether without reason: Galadriel does do one heck of a job when you’re building an Elf Archer deck, and Boromir and Isildur can be terribly hard to get kill if you don’t sport a corruption shadow. With Gimli, you can run wild with a dwarf starting fellowship that includes Durin III Twisted Evil

. Smeagol-solo decks are on the rise; having played against one, I can assure you that they are quite annoying! Gandalf gives possibly the most power in a ring-bearer. And don’t forget our hobbit alternates Bilbo and Sam! In all this commotion it’s not surprising that many players have tossed their Frodos into the corner to gather dust. Well, dust off the Frodos and listen up!

First, let’s check out the reasons that give the alternates the upper hand against our heroic halfling.
1. Culture: Probably the most common reason. The fact is, that many a Free People strategy can be improved by using a ringbearer of the culture they are playing. This allows culture cards to work with them (elven bow with Galadriel, fortifications with Isildur, etc.), and frees up some deck space by letting you ommit those hobbit swords and other Frodo protectors.

2. Strength: Yeah, ok, initially Frodo is pretty weak. He’s only got 3 strength. Galadriel is perhaps even more frail, and Smeagol’s got the same strength and can’t bear a hobbit sword (good gravy, can you imagine?), but most of the others have a base strength of 6 or higher. This makes them lot’s tougher to kill with beatdown shadows, or when you’re left heading to site 9 with only one or two companions left. It also makes them more swarm-proof. Isildur with a Coat of Mail can hold off 4 goblin runners without even needing any strength bonus from whichever version of The One Ring you are using.

3. Strategy: Solo-smeagol decks mean what they say. There’s also something called a "Gondor Royalty" deck that’s pretty hot. It usually means that you’re starting with Bormir and some of his kindred pals with which you plan to use Noble Leaders, or you start with Isildur and are going with the three Kings (that would be Isildur, Elendil, and Aragorn). Some multi-culture decks want to use two or more cultures and not have to waste companion space by using a Frodo. Think about the whole Gondor/Elf Last Alliance of elves and men thing.

But hah! We’ve got some reasons why Frodo is still kicking, and some advantages you can gain by using him.
1. Rohan: Rohan has no alternate ring-bearer, so you’re probably almost always going to use Frodo. ’Nuff said.

2. Resistance: Though it’s possible to boost the alternate ringbearers’ resistance to surprising heights, Frodo always starts off with a nice 10 (or more), and he’s got a lot more ways to remove burdens. This means the obvious - he’s a lot harder to corrupt.

3. Vitality: Frodo also has 4 vitality. Four of the other ringbearers have only 3: Galadriel, Isildur, Boromir, and Gimli. This allows Frodo to lose more skirmishes and, as always, to soak up the archery wounds. My friends have come to use the nickname "Frodo, Archery Pincushion".

4. Easy Move, Easy Skirmish: To try to balance the power of some of the alternates, Decipher gave many of them a negative game text when the fellowship moves or skirmishes. Gandalf, Smeagol, and Bilbo all have costly moving prices, while Isildur, Boromir, and Gimli add exertions, wounds, or threats (or worse yet burdens!) when you want them to skirmish a minion. Frodo suffers from none of this.

Which version of Frodo do you use? Well, here they are:
Frodo, Son of Drogo
3/4/F (F= Frodo Signet, G= Gandalf Signet, A= Aragorn Signet)
Ringbearer (resistance 10)
Fellowship: Exert another companion who has the Frodo signet to Heal Frodo
A powerful game text. If you’re playing Frodo signet companions, this is a great way to protect Frodo from wounding or exerting decks. It takes the bite out of Resistance Becomes Unbearable. Try this with Sam Resolute Halfling. A nice combo for healing!

Frodo, Old Bilbo’s Heir
3/4/G
Ringbearer (resistance 10)
At the start of each of your turns, you may heal a Hobbit ally.
This Frodo is great with the classic Bounder. He also is great with Bilbo, Farmer Maggot or any other hobbit allies.

Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer
3/4/A
Ringbearer (resistance 10)
The cost of each artifact, possession and Shire

tale played on Frodo is -1.
Reluctant Adventurer has long been considered the most solid Frodo ringbearer yet made. He saves you precious twilight when you play your cards on him, and each bit can be a serious advantage.

Frodo, Courteous Halfling
3/4/F
Ringbearer (resistance 10)
While you can spot 3 unbound companions, Shadow cards may not discard cards from your hand or from the top of your draw deck.
Another popular pick. If you’re planning on getting 3 unbound companions he is a great defense against any discard shadow, or lots of other small cards. Gorbag Filthy Rebel, Orc Inquisitor, Din of Arms... you get the picture.

Frodo, Tired Traveller
3/4/G
Ringbearer (resistance 10)
Fellowship: Play a Ringbound companion to remove a burden.
Ah, the great Ringbound Ranger decks. This Frodo is straightforward. He gets a good burden removal with the right companions, and allows you to bid higher if you plan on throwing some of them on the table.

Frodo, Master of the Precious
Ringbearer (resistance 10)
3/4/A
Fellowship: Add a burden to play Smeagol from your discard pile.
Very seldom used, but an interesting game text for a Frodo. There are lots of cards that can discard smeagol so there are a lot of combinations with Master of the Precious.

Frodo, Hope of the Free Peoples
3/4/A
Ringbearer (resistance 10) Ringbound.
Each time the fellowship moves, you may add (3) to remove a threat
Good threat protection, and a must-have for Gondor Wraiths. He also uses Sting, Bane of the Eight Legs best, because you don’t have to worry about having too many threats.

Frodo, Wicked Masster!
3/4/G
Ringbearer (resistance 10) Ringbound.
Shirmish: At sites 6 (King symbol) to 8 (King symbol), add 4 burdens to wound a minion skirmishing Frodo.
Before Shadows sites came out this was one of my favorites. His text is VERY costly, but can also provide the boost needed for a late game run. Now he’s really only good in King block. Crying or Very sad

Frodo, Resolute Hobbit
3/4/F
Ringbearer (resistance 12)
(Game text is blank)
If you need nothing else for your strategy, why not throw in a whopping 12 resistence!?! Corruption decks hate to see this guy out.

Frodo, Protected by Many
3/4/10 (Ringed Resistance of 10 symbol. No signet) Ringbearer. Ringbound.
At the start of the regroup phase, you may exert Frodo to make him gain muster until the end of the regroup phase.
Muster is really nice to have, and this Frodo will help prevent your hand from being clogged. I used to use a Rohan deck with Merry Swordthain, and I returned him to hand to play the two Rohan posessions. During the Regroup phase, I would give Frodo muster, discard Merry with it, and then use Knocked on the Head to play him back and move on again. Sneaky, huh?

Frodo, Weary From the Journey
3/4/10 Ringbearer.Ringbound.
While skirmishing a minion of strength 8 or less, Frodo is strength +2.
Wow, a Frodo with built in swarm protection! Shocked

Armed with a hobbit sword, you can actully beat a 7 strength minion with ease.

As you can see, I have omitted Frodo, Frenzied Fighter, because he isn’t a ringbearer. That still leaves us with 11 different Frodos to choose from. An extra note on signets. Signets can be an important element in choosing the Frodo you want, because there are some great strategies to go along with them. Try these:
Aragorn Signet: Aragorn, King in Exile can heal Frodo every turn. Also, No Mere Ranger, Voice of Rauros, etc.
Frodo Signet: Dear Friends, Straining Toward Us.
Gandalf Signet: Gandalf’s Wisdom, Trust Me as you Once Did.

What is the best Frodo? Well, that is hard to say. Overall, I’m going to say that my favorite is still Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer. He’s cheap and good. However, if you plan on playing Standard format, I would say your best bet is Frodo, Weary From the Journey, with Frodo, Protected By Many as the runner up. The thing to remember, is that Frodo can be a powerful, and tough companion to kill, and since he bears the ring, he is also most important. So be sure that you consider carefully whether or not Frodo is right for your deck, before you grab an alternate ringbearer.

If you vote and had any thoughts on my article, please send a reply, especially if you didn’t like it for some reason. Your feedback is helpful. Thank you!

Last edited by AdultLink on Thu Jan 12, 2006 1:43 pm; edited 1 time in totalHaves/Wants

Beyo

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 1:02 pm

Joined: 22 Nov 2005 Posts: 60 Location: Poland

Great article..I really like it.

Time in the universe may be eternal..our patience is not

AdultLink

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 1:13 pm

Joined: 15 Dec 2005 Posts: 253 Location: Hyrule

Thanks Beyo. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

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ingold55

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 4:46 pm

Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 1199 Location: Out on the front line

Nice article! i really liked it. you made it long but it held my attention! Very Happy

AdultLink

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 5:57 pm

Joined: 15 Dec 2005 Posts: 253 Location: Hyrule

Good! I'm really glad, Ingold, because I knew it was a decently large article. I didn't see a good way to trim it down, though, because I wanted to show all the different Frodos. Thank you for reading and voting.

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Cobra

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 9:33 pm

Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 1202 Location: Austin, TX, USA

I think this could benefit from a bit more formatting (bold/italics/paragraph breaks), especially in the list of Frodos where things sort of run together.

Nice article. Cool

http://cobracards.com -- Web's best deals on Trading Card Games.

Guest

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 11:04 pm

Joined: Posts: Location:

Good article. I really felt the tingling of my intellect ever growing after peering at the text for a good 5 minutes or so. Gave me some good ideas about some Frodos I havent even really heard of... (I never knew about Wicked Masster! before.

I tip my hat to you. (tips hat)

AdultLink

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:17 am

Joined: 15 Dec 2005 Posts: 253 Location: Hyrule

Thanks OmnipotentOne *tips hat back*. And yes, Cobra, you are right, I should have done that first. I will work on that very soon. Want it to be easier to read and 'cleaner' in that regard.

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AdultLink

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 1:45 pm

Joined: 15 Dec 2005 Posts: 253 Location: Hyrule

There, I think I fixed that up a bit.

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AnxiousChieftain

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 10:57 pm

Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Posts: 3947 Location: Maryland

Once again, great article AdultLink. I liked the title; it'd be great if Decipher made a Frodo with that title Wink

. Lately they haven't released many new Frodo RBs, which didn't make me happy because I enjoy using Frodo.