The Way Into Mordor - Elves (1/16: "Fæste, stille nú." / "A red sun rises....")

[Thranduil]

I love the sword (though I think it should cost or have only +1 strength), but I do not love the Haldir.

I respectfully disagree with the sword. I think the additional cost of threats or an exertion makes up for the and strength +2 (yes, even with the rarity of weapons being anything greater than strength +1).

Except the fact that you're getting a potential +6 or more AND a damage bonus from a single weapon suggests that it should be more.

Thranduil

[DáinIronfoot]

True....

What if I changed it to requiring the 2 threats (and dropped the exertion option)?

[sickofpalantirs]

Okay, time to unveil a pair of cards I've been wanting to spoil for a LONG time. No sense stalling any further...enjoy!

•Haldir, Warrior of Lórien
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Aragorn
Archer. Hunter 1. To play, spot 2 companions.
Haldir is strength -1 for each site an opponent controls (limit -3).
Archery or Skirmish: Exert an Elf archer and discard 2 cards from hand (or one card if at a battleground) to wound an Orc or Uruk-hai.
Haldir rallied two hundred of the elves of Lothlórien to join him, and together they marched, bearing the banners of their Lady Galadriel and the blessing of Elrond of Imladris.
nah...he was a lorien elf. aragorn signet is better.  hmm...the ability is awful powerful.  I would prefer if he wasn't an archer and than have it, otherwise he's a one elf orc/uruk killer...


•Blade of the Golden Wood
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be an Elf. When you play this weapon, exert bearer or add 2 threats.
If bearer is exhausted, he or she is damage +1.
If bearer is Haldir, he is enduring.

I would make it plus 1 like other elven blades. than where fine IMSO.

[FM]

You could limit the time window for playing it, like "To play, spot exactly 2 threats" or whatever in this fashion. Then, it's ok to be a little overpowered, you might not even get to play it during a game!

[lem0nhead]

•Haldir, Warrior of Lórien
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Aragorn
Archer. Hunter 1. To play, spot 2 companions.
Haldir is strength -1 for each site an opponent controls (limit -3).
Archery or Skirmish: Exert an Elf archer and discard 2 cards from hand (or one card if at a battleground) to wound an Orc or Uruk-hai.
Haldir rallied two hundred of the elves of Lothlórien to join him, and together they marched, bearing the banners of their Lady Galadriel and the blessing of Elrond of Imladris.

Seems fine to me.

One question: do you think he should have my new Elrond signet instead? I was debating which to run with....

Nah hes fine with Gorn.

•Blade of the Golden Wood
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be an Elf. When you play this weapon, exert bearer or add 2 threats.
If bearer is exhausted, he or she is damage +1.
If bearer is Haldir, he is enduring.

Not sure i like this tbh DI. It relies on you being exhausted for a benefit and i dont wanna injure my companions let alone exert to play it. It might be useful and potentially powerful but id never use it.

[DáinIronfoot]

Okay, I changed Haldir's ability a bit and tweaked the costs of the sword. Better now?

[DáinIronfoot]

Well, please do look over those last two cards again, but to keep things moving....

•Belurion, Gallant Fighter
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 7
While Belurion bears a hand weapon, he gains hunter 2 and is damage +1.
Rare among his kind, Belurion was known more for his prowess with the sword than with the bow.

Most of the Elves from the original Towers Block had text that triggered when you slapped ranged weapons on them, negating their archery in exchange for boosted stats. I like the overall idea, but since Elves are all about archery (most definately including at Helm's Deep), I thought it was a shame they had to lose that in the process. So I decided to instead focus on an area often neglected in decks: hand weapons. Yes, you'll see the occasional deck that runs Aiglos or a few copies of Sword of the Fallen, but usually Elves are bereft of the swords and knives they are so proficient with when archery doesn't cut it. So I will be trying to strongly encourage their use with these Elves, and Belurion is a perfect example, looking very much like his Towers Block kin (and Erethon in particular) while still being completely different.

ALSO like the Towers Elves, Belurion's name and lore and completely fictional. Big D decided to go hog wild with titles and backgrounds for their Towers Elves--probably because they appear only in the film--so I figured, why not do the same? It was kinda fun coming up with Elvish names that sounded cool as I got the hang of it. Like with this guy:

•Melisilion, Naith Bowman
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 6
To play, spot an Elf.
Archery: If Melisilion bears an ranged weapon, exert him and discard a card from hand to wound an Orc or Uruk-hai; he does not add to the fellowship archery total.
Skirmish: If Melisilion bears an hand weapon, exert him and discard a card from hand to wound a minion he is skirmishing.
Melisilion was efficient with blade and bow.

One other carry-over from the Towers Elves is some directed wounding. It's not too terribly easy to come by here, since you have to discard a lot of cards to really get it rolling, but Melisilion's versatility is what makes him so awesome. Perhaps TOO awesome...you tell me! That's what I'm (not) paying you for, after all!

[lem0nhead]

Well, please do look over those last two cards again, but to keep things moving....

•Belurion, Gallant Fighter
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 7
While Belurion bears a hand weapon, he is strength +2 and damage +1.
Rare among his kind, Belurion was known more for his prowess with the sword than with the bow.

Hand weapons are more common and more useful than ranged so this guy suddenly becomes much more than an average fighter. A 9 strength damage +1 elf is really rather good for some misc dude who probably died anonymously!

•Melisilion, Naith Bowman
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 6
To play, spot an Elf.
Archery: If Melisilion bears an ranged weapon, exert him and discard 2 cards from hand to wound an Orc or Uruk-hai; he does not add to the fellowship archery total.
Skirmish: If Melisilion bears an hand weapon, exert him and discard 2 cards from hand to wound a minion he is skirmishing.
Melisilion was efficient with blade and bow.

Maybe just 1 card MAX (not that you can have lower but if there was a "half a card" id say that) from hand as exerting him limits his ability anyway and he is only 5 strength.

[DáinIronfoot]

Really? And here I thought Melisilion was borderline OVERpowered.

I'll leave him alone for the moment, but I did tweak Belurion ever so slightly.

[Thranduil]

•Belurion, Gallant Fighter
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 7
While Belurion bears a hand weapon, he gains hunter 2 and is damage +1.
Rare among his kind, Belurion was known more for his prowess with the sword than with the bow.

You need random name generators - I have some great ones on my favourites! One of the important things with elvish names is that they often end up with having far too much "s", "l" and "n" sounds - there are important, but you can't go overboard, IMO. I think your Naith need to represent their proficiency with both ranged and hand weapons.

•Melisilion, Naith Bowman
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 6
To play, spot an Elf.
Archery: If Melisilion bears an ranged weapon, exert him and discard 2 cards from hand to wound an Orc or Uruk-hai; he does not add to the fellowship archery total.
Skirmish: If Melisilion bears an hand weapon, exert him and discard 2 cards from hand to wound a minion he is skirmishing.
Melisilion was efficient with blade and bow.

This guy is a great illustration of what I was suggesting above. I think I agree with lem0n.

Thranduil

[sickofpalantirs]

I still think haldirs sword should be a base strength of plus 1.

•Belurion, Gallant Fighter
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 7
While Belurion bears a hand weapon, he gains hunter 2 and is damage +1.
Rare among his kind, Belurion was known more for his prowess with the sword than with the bow.
fine. though lem0n it would probably be and 8 strength guy.  maybe cut the damage +1 and give him some sort of bow thing...maybe if he bears a ranged weapon damage +1?


•Melisilion, Naith Bowman
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 6
To play, spot an Elf.
Archery: If Melisilion bears an ranged weapon, exert him and discard a card from hand to wound an Orc or Uruk-hai; he does not add to the fellowship archery total.
Skirmish: If Melisilion bears an hand weapon, exert him and discard a card from hand to wound a minion he is skirmishing.
Melisilion was efficient with blade and bow.

i still think having initiative should be a requirement.

[Elf_Lvr]

•Belurion, Gallant Fighter
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 7
While Belurion bears a hand weapon, he gains hunter 2 and is damage +1.
Rare among his kind, Belurion was known more for his prowess with the sword than with the bow.

He's fine. A ramped-up unique version of that one guy from Hunters who I can never remember because he gathers dust in my extras. This one, I might use.

•Melisilion, Naith Bowman
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 6
To play, spot an Elf.
Archery: If Melisilion bears an ranged weapon, exert him and discard a card from hand to wound an Orc or Uruk-hai; he does not add to the fellowship archery total.
Skirmish: If Melisilion bears an hand weapon, exert him and discard a card from hand to wound a minion he is skirmishing.
Melisilion was efficient with blade and bow.

He's really good, but is well balanced. Glimpse of Fate, FTW.

•Haldir, Warrior of Lórien
Companion • Elf
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Aragorn
Archer. Hunter 1. To play, spot 2 companions.
Haldir is strength -1 for each site an opponent controls (limit -3).
Archery or Skirmish: Exert an Elf archer and add a threat to wound an Orc or Uruk-hai.
Haldir rallied two hundred of the elves of Lothlórien to join him, and together they marched, bearing the banners of their Lady Galadriel and the blessing of Elrond of Imladris.

Now the ability doesn't offset the downsides as much. He's a lot like Orophin and Rumil, but instead of Hunters he favors Archers and is limited to Orcs and Uruks.

Personally, I'd drop the first two parts of his text - the spotting requirement and the strength reduction. You don't need them with the ability as-is. I'd also change the ability to Hunter instead of Archer... to keep in line with Orophin and Rumil as an overall theme. But I guess you could leave that as-is.

He wouldn't be OP even then, compared to Orophin (A pretty much 10 strength guy for 2) or Rumil (8 strength archer) with their own similar wounding abilities... My point is, he doesn't need the "downside" text at all.

Oh, and by the way, in the movies, Haldir is my favorite elf EVER. I'm glad to see a good DC of him.

•Blade of the Golden Wood
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be an Elf. When you play this weapon, exert bearer or add a threat.
If bearer is exhausted, he or she is damage +1.
If bearer is Haldir, he is enduring.

Might be better if you dropped cost and strength to 1, and removed the "when you play." Although I guess I like the idea of the enduring-maker exerting the guy it's played on.

By the way, I LOVE the enduring on Haldir. It fits his movie-epic flavor perfectly.

You get some  for these two. I can't believe I didn't see 'em sooner.

[Thranduil]

To be honest, you should never compare any companion to Orophin or Rumil - those two are ridiculously OP.

Thranduil

[DáinIronfoot]

I think that (aside from having archer by default), he's weaker than the Silvan brothers because he's limited to Orcs and Uruks. Granted, that still means that most cultures (, , , , , etc.) are vulnerable, but many others (, , {for the most part}, ) are not affected at all. Still, even without his ability, I'll take a 6/3 archer hunter any day.

That all being said, I have cut Haldir's spotting requirement in half and, as EL suggested, dropped his drawback text. Hopefully that doesn't cause too much of an uproar....

Now, since we're emphasizing weapons, let's take a look at what they have to play with in this set, eh?

Naith Sword
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Bearer must be an Elf.
Skirmish: Exert bearer or add a threat to make a minion skirmishing bearer strength -1.
Their long, curved blades gave the Galadhrim warriors a devastating advantage in close combat.

I contemplated just "reprinting" Elven Sword, especially since I tend to play around a bit with discarding from hand. But I ALSO want to play around with threats, so I opted to go with something a little different.

Fighting Knife
Possession • Hand Weapon
Bearer must be an Elf. This weapon may be borne in addition to 1 other hand weapon.
Each wounded minion skirmishing bearer is strength -1 (or -2 if exhausted).
"Then Legolas gave into his hand his silver-hafted knife...."

Perhaps a little too good for ?

Elven Bow (reprint)
Possession • Ranged Weapon
Bearer must be an Elf.
Bearer is an archer.
"‘Hado i philinn!'"

This might be the most overpowered DC I've ever made. Oh, wait....

Bow of Lórien
Possession • Ranged Weapon
Strength +1
Bearer must be an unbound Elf.
At the end of each archery phase, if bearer has resistance 4 or more, you may exert bearer to exert an unwounded minion (or exert any minion if bearer is an archer).
"‘Hado ribed!'"

Following the tradition of Naith Longbow, even though most of these guys don't have the archery-negation of the old Towers Elves (which is what made Naith Longbow so viable in comparison to Elven Bow in that block). This is obviously best on an otherwise-archer-capable Elf like Legolas or my own Haldir.

[lem0nhead]

Naith Sword
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Bearer must be an Elf.
Skirmish: Exert bearer or add a threat to make a minion skirmishing bearer strength -1.
Their long, curved blades gave the Galadhrim warriors a devestating advantage in close combat.

Fine, but always found this type of weapon really poo.

Fighting Knife
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Bearer must be an Elf. This weapon may be borne in addition to 1 other hand weapon.
Each wounded minion skirmishing bearer is strength -1 (or -2 if exhausted).
"Then Legolas gave into his hand his silver-hafted knife...."

Yeah probably too good for 0. Cut the parenthesis and maybe just maybe its ok.

Bow of Lórien
Possession • Ranged Weapon
Strength +1
Bearer must be an unbound Elf.
At the end of each archery phase, if bearer has resistance 4 or more, you may exert bearer to exert an unwounded minion (or exert any minion if bearer is an archer).
"‘Hado ribed!'"

Interesting, unconventional and although i dislike the timing it actually feels pretty cool.