Fill in the Blank Season 2: Lords #5

[menace64]

Welcome to Fill in the Blank Season 2: Lords!

Lords is a Movie-block set - meaning no 11+ cultures, and is Ringwraith, not Wraith. Shadows-era sites are acceptable.

Each week I'll post the collector's information for one of the cards in the set's cardlist. Contestants are free to create whatever card they see fit for that slot in the card-list, keeping in mind the card titles of previously-victorious cards. As the contest progresses, the cardlist will become more and more defined, guiding the contestants' choices. Not every card has to fit the theme, of course, but it's something to keep in mind when coming up with submissions.

To become a contestant, you gotta do three things: PM me your card submission for the active round; Vote on the last round's submissions; and leave a Comment in the current round describing your vote (yes you can vote for yourself), along with any card reviews you wish to provide. (Any unclaimed votes are subject to invalidation!)

By constraining card submissions to PMs, I hope to buff some of the excitement each week, as well as develop a private line of communication with each contestant in order to help eliminate 8-liners and other basic formatting errors that typically kill a submission before it even makes it to a vote. This should also make each newly-posted round more exciting!

In case of a tie: (and note that I've already forgotten to check for a tied-vote on Thursday, so this is yet to be properly tested. My bad!)

• At first light on the fifth day of each round (Thursday), if two or more submissions are tied for the win, I will reset the votes and remove all losing submissions from the voting pool. During this second round of votes, you will still need to announce your vote.
• On the last day of each round (Saturday), if we're somehow back into a tiebreaker situation, the winner of the previous round (The Tiecider) will step in to settle things once and for all.
• (And if that person isn't available, I'll roll for it.)

If you every have any questions about what to do or who to do it to, please don't hesitate to ask!


Last week's winner...
I managed to pluck out a win this week with Elven Rangers in the 7th Slot! That leaves a comfortable slot for a Big Elf or two, and a healthy ordering of numbers for our friends under the mountains.


Last week's entries to pick from for Card #13...

...Are to be found in the first reply in this thread! This will (hopefully) make it easier for those on mobile devices to participate!


This week's contest is...

Card #30!

This week's submission must be:

• A Site card (of any movie-block site path)
• A Flagship card (of Extreme Lordliness)

We went most of last season without having to put an endcap on the cardlist. Seems this season will be different, as that is our task this week. If you submit a Flagship card, try and first imagine your chosen character/card as appearing on pack art, social media branding, etc., and analyze your choice from that perspective.


Closing Date: December 5th!


LORDS Card List 
Number - Name - (Culture • Type) - Contestant - Week It Won
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Elven Rangers ( • Companion) - menace64 - 3
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. SUBJECT OF THIS WEEK'S VOTE
14.
15. •Saruman, Lord of Industry ( • Minion) - azogsbane - 1
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26. •Bilbo, Translator of Elvish Verse ( • Ally) - azogsbane - 2
27.
28.
29.
30. IN CREATION THIS WEEK

[menace64]

Last week's entries to pick from for Card #13...

•Golasgil, Lord of Anfalas
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: None
Valiant.
When you play Golasgil, you may exert X villagers to play X possessions on him from your draw deck.
"From Afalas... men of little villages, scantily equipped save for the household of Golasgil their lord."
Designer's note: In March of the year TA 3019, Golasgil marched to the defense of Minas Tirith with scantily equipped hunters, herdsmen, and villagers, except for the members of his household. https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Golasgil It's a different twist on my first submission. I turned it into a great card to go in Help in Doubt and Need decks as all villagers so far are . Can work well with Weland and Leod if you pull a horse out. Also gave him Valiant which is great with Rohan.

•Steward's Ring
Artifact • Ring
Vitality +1
Bearer must be a Man (except Anárion, Aragorn, Elendil, or Isildur).
While bearer isn't assigned to a skirmish, Free Peoples Men win skirmish ties.
Response: If bearer is killed, return this artifact to its owner's hand.
"‘...in peace or war, in living or dying...'"
Designer's notes: Those of the King's bloodline are unable to bear this Ring. Steward's Ring confers a specific bonus, enabling the Man-heavy Freeps player to win skirmishes with 1 less strength. Unlike other Rings, this one has a twilight cost - a balance against the Response ability all but guaranteeing the player keeps access to this artifact for most of the game, once they play it for the first time. It's a strategic ring - and a political one! A vote for this ring secures a big chunk of the cardlist for Gondor, paving the way for many more weeks of properly-lordly content. (Get bent, Isengard! )

Den Overseer
Minion • Orc
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Site Number: 4
Each Orc gains warg-rider.
Each mounted Orc that is not exhausted is fierce.
"Thousands could dwell there, workers, servants, slaves, and warriors with great store of arms; wolves were fed and stabled in deep dens beneath."

Isengard Grunt
Minion • Orc
Strength: 5
Vitality: 2
Site Number: 4
Regroup: Spot 2 other unwounded Orcs and remove to make the Free Peoples player exert a companion.
Saruman's minions are constantly slaving away in the pits of Isengard.

[JamesCB]

•Golasgil, Lord of Anfalas
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: None
Valiant.
When you play Golasgil, you may exert X villagers to play X possessions on him from your draw deck.

While I like the idea of a Gondor card working with Rohan, especially in a way that doesn't alienate the culture. (Ahem, Defender of Rohan, ahem.) And I really like this card. But I'm not sure that this is the right way to do it. With 9 different villagers existing (and one of them not being unique) this guy represents a huge opportunity to not only have a tank the moment you play him, but, to set up other tanks. He can hold Shield of Boromir, Armor of the White City, Boromir's Gauntlets, most hand weapons, Flaming Brand, and more, all in one go.

•Steward's Ring
Artifact • Ring
Vitality +1
Bearer must be a Man (except Anárion, Aragorn, Elendil, or Isildur).
While bearer isn't assigned to a skirmish, Free Peoples Men win skirmish ties.
Response: If bearer is killed, return this artifact to its owner's hand.
"‘...in peace or war, in living or dying...'"

This one I like as well, and it earned my vote. I love the idea of a royalty-exclusion, quite the opposite of what you usually see, and think it overall has a ton of potential, especially with the response action being to pass the stewardship from man to man.

Den Overseer
Minion • Orc
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Site Number: 4
Each Orc gains warg-rider.
Each mounted Orc that is not exhausted is fierce.
"Thousands could dwell there, workers, servants, slaves, and warriors with great store of arms; wolves were fed and stabled in deep dens beneath."

This one is tough. To be honest, I'm not sure what I think of it. If the fellowship moves more than once, it can work against you, as the main Orc strategy revolves around, well, exhausting your Orcs. MoFF, however, certainly work with this, as you could exhaust your minions, then un-exhaust 'em as soon as they move.

Isengard Grunt
Minion • Orc
Strength: 5
Vitality: 2
Site Number: 4
Regroup: Spot 2 other unwounded Orcs and remove to make the Free Peoples player exert a companion.
Saruman's minions are constantly slaving away in the pits of Isengard.

This one I'm also a little unsure about. If the free peoples player is using a massive fellowship that floods the twilight anyway, and if you manage to get the three orcs unwounded into the regroup phase, it could do damage, as there would be tons of twilight. It definitely synergizes with Isengard Shaman, except not, because you need the twilight later on. One bonus is the grunt doesn't need to be unwounded for the ability, so he can soak up one archery, which also helps with the strategy.

[Wyrden333]

I decided for Stewards Ring in the end. A great composition that represents the role of the stewards and their heirloom very well.

[Cw0rk]

My vote goes to Den Overseer. Wargs need a boost and I'm happy it gives them one. I guess that a Den Overseer could technically be considered to be a Lord? No?

[menace64]

A vote for Golasgil this week is just shooting in the foot.

Steward's Ring is my card and I really like it - especially for its positioning on the list - but that'd be two votes for myself in consecutive weeks and that may come off as a bit stinky.

Den Overseer probably breaks wargs - there's a very specific reason why Decipher chose to use a new unloaded keyword to attach those mounts to, after all - but this card has pretty good positioning.

Isengard Grunt gives even more ground to on the list, all for a generic-y Uruk grunt. Eh.

Well I was about to call my vote for Steward's Ring, but I had a different opinion when I popped into this thread and I already voted for Den Overseer. Bwahaha.

[Inspire]

Isengard Grunt received my vote. The Shadow player will rarely be able to use the powerful (but easily avoidable) regroup action, but the additional attention required from the Free Peoples player to prevent it (either by killing Isengard Grunt or ensuring the requisite wounds on other Orcs) might create opportunities for other Orcs to wreak havoc in the regroup phase. It's a seemingly nondescript minion that allows other, more prominent minions to shine - a role well-befitting a "grunt".