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AnxiousChieftain

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 9:48 pm

Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Posts: 3947 Location: Maryland

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This article takes a look at each card in the newest set, Expanded Middle-earth, commenting on the strengths, weaknesses, and strategies.
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The Expanded Middle-earth Deluxe Draft Boxes are a great way to get some packs and some neat companions and minions that aren’t found anywhere else. Many of the pictures for the characters were created by Weta Workshops, just for this set. Fans can finally get Elrond’s sons, Halbarad and his rangers, Grimbeorn, Brand, and more.

Some of these cards aren’t so great at first look, while others are simple yet powerful. Here is each card, with my comments and strategies:

(click on the links to figure out what each card does)

Dain Ironfoot, King Under the Mountain
Dain has fairly good stats for a Dwarf. His twilight reduction can be handy, since you can start with him and almost any other Dwarf. In addition, you can start out with the Gimli ring-bearer, Dain, and Durin, since Dain would cost 3 and Durin would cost 1.

His other ability can be especially nice to set up the double move, or get rid of minions who have regroup abilities. It can be a pain in the neck to try and double move against Sauron or a big troll, but by simply discarding a condition you can bypass those big minions.

I predict Dain making his way to the top Dwarf decks.

Elrohir, Son of Elrond
Elrohir is without a doubt my favorite character from this set. I’ve always liked making decks with lots of events, and Elrohir makes this type of deck work even better. Making a minion strength -2 in addition to the normal effect of the event is just amazing. That means that playing a card like Still Needed will, in effect, reduce the difference in strength by 4, since you will be strength +2 while the minion is strength -2. His ability also makes it easy to overwhelm minions, which can come in handy since Elves don’t have many damage bonuses.

A great strategy is to play Still Needed, stack it on top of your deck, win the skirmish, and then use Phial of Galadriel, The Light of Earendil to get the event back into your hand if you double move. You can also do the same thing, but use City of the Trees to get it back the same turn. Or, play a Banner of Elbereth on both of them, and retrieve Still Needed as soon as you win the skirmish.

Elladan, Son of Elrond
Elladan is like his brother, but he makes your events cheap. This helps against mean minions like Easterling Captain, and also chokes the pool in case you double move.

He works extremely well with his brother Elrohir, because they can both start off in your starting fellowship, in addition to your Ring-bearer.

Keep in mind that you can’t start off with Elrohir, Elladan, and another 2-cost companion, because first you play one of them for 3 twilight, and then the other brother only costs 1.

These two Sons of Elrond are probably among the best cards in this set.

Gildor Inglorion, Of the House of Finrod
Gildor has mediocre stats, but his ability can help out in a pinch. You can also splash him into any deck to give some anti-swarm protection. One thing to note, however, is that he doesn’t work especially well against a swarm of 2 vitality minions, unless you have extra archery cards. He works great though against Moria swarms.

Brand, King of Dale
Brand is an interesting card. He helps out with Dwarves and Gandalf culture Men, but his abilities are not very strong. But, if combined with Gildor, you can have even better protection against swarms.

Grimbeorn, Beorning Chieftain
Grimbeorn works amazingly well in any deck that includes strong minions, such as Besiegers, Orc Trolls, Nazgul, or Uruk-hai.

His healing ability makes him a nice archery target, or a pincushion for threat wounds. Or, use the healing to capitalize on his great strength boost.

Duilin, Ranger From Blackroot Vale
Possibly the weakest of all the companions in this set, Duilin has poor stats. His strength boost is decent, but not good enough to make Duilin a card that top-level players will use.

Duilin is a fairly good companion for those who can’t get their hands on anything better.

Duinhir, Tall Man of Blackroot Vale
Duinhir is a neat companion who can save your Ring-bearer. Unfortunately, most of the time Duinhir will not be very helpful, because unless playing against a swarm deck his ability will not trigger often.

His damage bonus is rather strange, since Gondor doesn’t usually use mounts much, but it can be nice if facing wargs or mumaks or fell beasts.

Halbarad, Ranger of the North
Halbarad is a great addition to most Gondor decks. He has competent stats, and he is cheaper if your Ring-bearer has 9 or more resistance.

His healing ability is great, because it can also provide a chance to cycle out extra copies of unique companions or possessions.

Furious Hillman
This minion, to put it bluntly, is awful. If he was a lurker, he might work better, but currently I can’t really see many (if any) uses for him.

Swarming Hillman
Swarming Hillman is a fun way to stop your opponent from double-moving to the end. He works very well against Rohan and Gondor, since those cultures are comprised of Men. Just keep in mind that this minion is rather weak, so you will probably need some strength boosts to keep him alive till the regroup phase.

Half-troll of Far Harad
This half-troll is fairly good to circumvent the limit of 4 cards per title. He doesn’t work that great in swarm decks, since you need to spot more companion than minions (which is not what you need for swarming).

Horror of Harad
Horror of Harad is, indeed, a horror. He has 6 loaded keywords, which I believe is a new record. This beast of a minion works well in any Orc deck, providing a vicious minion that has the ability to do a good deal of damage.

Uruk-hai Healer
Uruk-hai Healer is a nice way to polish up your wounded Uruks. This is perfect for Uruks that need to exert, such as Mauhur, Relentless Hunter, Uruk Distractor, Brawling Uruk, and more. When used with Mauhur, you can assign him twice; once during the normal assignment phase, and once again during the fierce assignment phase.

Uruk-hai Scout
Uruk-hai Scout is an awesome splash minion. All too often these days, you can find yourself not being able to choose the sites, either because you are in the lead or because your opponent has some crazy site manipulation. This minion allows you to stop relying on your sites, and just insert the keyword you need.

All in all, Expanded Middle-earth has some awesome cards and some not-so-good cards. Still, the set is great overall, helping certain existing strategies, and making some new strategies. In addition, there are no broken cards, which is a big plus these days. Smile

Thanks for reading this far, and please comment. Feedback helps me a lot. Thanks again!

Last edited by AnxiousChieftain on Sat Feb 18, 2006 11:39 am; edited 4 times in totalMODS RULE. - lem0nhead

ingold55

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 11:11 pm

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

Great article! Very Happy

one of your best ones yet! Very Happy

(IMO)

Ingold Cool

There is a power in this world beyond any of us, and Jesus is that power and The Savior.

Cool

this is my attempt to look cool.
Trade list (Want Balrogs and Aragorns)

AnxiousChieftain

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:13 am

Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Posts: 3947 Location: Maryland

Thanks, Ingold!

MODS RULE. - lem0nhead

Beyo

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:18 am

Joined: 22 Nov 2005 Posts: 60 Location: Poland

I am only afraid that adding such powerful characters in this set could change rapidly tournament scene and no one will play old cards anymore Sad

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

ingold55

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 11:11 pm

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

i think you under estimate brand. he is a great way of protection from swarm. say you have five companions out and ten minions against you. you automaticaly have an archery total of 5. not bad especially if you are playing against the one vitality goblins. Smile

There is a power in this world beyond any of us, and Jesus is that power and The Savior.

Cool

this is my attempt to look cool.
Trade list (Want Balrogs and Aragorns)

exarrkun

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 6:40 am

Joined: 25 Jan 2006 Posts: 93 Location: Belgium

great article

just want to make one addition with the still needed combo:
i wouldn’t use phial (depends on witch ringbearer you use). just play two banners of elbereth on elrohir and elladan and play still needed, place it on top on your draw deck, and if you win you may draw a card so you can do exactly the same with elladan/elrohir

a story that has a happy ending is a story that isn't over yet...

AnxiousChieftain

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 11:42 am

Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Posts: 3947 Location: Maryland

Beyo: I think that the same thing could be said about any set, and this set is more balanced than most.

Ingold: True, Brand works well against Goblins, especially if Gildor is in play as well.

Exarrkun: Awesome idea, I had totally forgotten about the Banners. I edited the article and added that strategy. Thanks!

MODS RULE. - lem0nhead

AdultLink

Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 3:51 pm

Joined: 15 Dec 2005 Posts: 253 Location: Hyrule

Very solid article Anxious. Thorough and solid. I could not decide between 4 and 5, I feel it better than a 4 yet possibly not a five, but I’ll give it a 5 because it was almost perfect in grammar and I LOVE that! Very Happy

Haves/Wants

AnxiousChieftain

Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 5:27 pm

Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Posts: 3947 Location: Maryland

Thanks for the vote, Link!

MODS RULE. - lem0nhead

AnxiousChieftain

Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 8:22 am

Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Posts: 3947 Location: Maryland

Could the person who voted 3 please comment? I’d like to know how to improve my articles. Thanks!

MODS RULE. - lem0nhead