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

[Thranduil]

•I Have Done Better
Condition • Support Area
Each time a minion is killed or discarded in a skirmish involving an Elf, you may add an token here.
Archery: Exert an Elf, discard this condition, and add to make the Shadow player assign X wounds to minions (limit 4), where X is the number of tokens here.
"‘...I make my tale twenty at the least. But that is only a few leaves in a forest.'"

I think I'd prefer something which added tokens for minions being killed in the archery phase then removing tokens for a skirmishy action. As it's currently written though, why doesn't it just add X to the fellowship archery total? And you've got to account for multiple Shadow players.

Your Friends Are With You
Condition • Support Area
To play, spot Legolas, an follower, or 2 Elves.
When you play this condition, you may add an token here for each non-Elf companion you can spot.
Skirmish: Discard this condition or remove an token from here to make a minion skirmishing an unbound companion strength -1.
"‘Do we leave Middle-earth to its fate? Do we let them stand alone?'"

I think I'm with EL on this one.

Seek Some Arrows
Event • Archery
Spot X Elf archers and make the fellowship archery -X (to a minimum of 0) to reinforce an token X times.
"‘Two? I have done better, though now I must grope for spent arrows; all mine are gone.'"

I also agree with EL, I'd prefer it if it reinforced X tokens. Cool card though.

Thranduil

[DáinIronfoot]

Further tweaked. Thanks, Thran!

Not sure where SoP has vanished to (how used we get to each other's routines! ), but I think I'll move on all the same.

Today, we shift our gaze briefly back at an area where Elves already excel: archery. Yes, these guys may focus chiefly on skirmishing, but they haven't forgotten their roots. Enjoy!

•Líndal, Naith Archer
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 6
To play, spot an Elf.
Archery: Exert Líndal and remove an token to make the fellowship archery total +1.
He had spent many long years hunting and patrolling the forests of the Golden Wood and was one of the most renowned archers in a race already known for their skill with the bow.

Basically Fereveldir for a different phase. The archery total increase can certainly be useful for several cards in this set, like this one:

Dark For Archery
Event • Archery
Toil 2.
Spot X Elf archers and make the fellowship archery total -X (to a minimum of 0) to discard X Shadow possessions or machines.
"‘But we have taught them not to carry torches.'"

Technically a Rohirrim quote, but hey, with no Elven warriors at Helm's Deep in the novel, I have to glean little bits like this from SOMEWHERE now, don't I?

Anyway, too powerful? This would obviously wreak havoc with corsairs, among others. Perhaps limit it to possessions borne by minions?

His Bow Was Bent
Event • Archery
Exert an Elf archer to wound a minion and prevent that minion from using special abilities until the regroup phase. Any Shadow player may make the fellowship archery total +2 to prevent this.
"...he peered out now, ready to shoot the first Orc that should dare to approach the stair."

Not much to say about this one. Kind of like a "stun" arrow.

[menace64]

•Líndal, Naith Archer
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 6
To play, spot an Elf.
Archery: Exert Líndal and remove an token to exert a minion.
He had spent many long years hunting and patrolling the forests of the Golden Wood and was one of the most renowned archers in a race already known for their skill with the bow.

Yes it should just make the total +1. Specifically targeting characters should be reserved for special characters.

Dark For Archery
Event • Archery
Spot X Elf archers and make the fellowship archery total -X to discard X Shadow possessions.
"‘But we have taught them not to carry torches.'"

Blegh. Don't like the title. It just seems too abbreviated. I can't think of anything better presently.
You've got to be careful with reducing your own archery total since odd results can surface - see A Grey Ship. Use that card as a template to cap your card and it'll be good.

His Bow Was Bent
Event • Archery
Exert an Elf archer to wound a minion and prevent that minion from using special abilities until the regroup phase. Any Shadow player may make the fellowship archery total +2 to prevent this.
"...he peered out now, ready to shoot the first Orc that should dare to approach the stair."

Wow. Hmm. Eh. It's fine.

[DáinIronfoot]

Dark For Archery
Event • Archery
Spot X Elf archers and make the fellowship archery total -X to discard X Shadow possessions.
"‘But we have taught them not to carry torches.'"

You've got to be careful with reducing your own archery total since odd results can surface - see A Grey Ship. Use that card as a template to cap your card and it'll be good.

Whoops. Silly mistake on my part. Fixed.

Made other tweaks as well, both here and in the thread. Thanks, man!

[sickofpalantirs]

Further tweaked. Thanks, Thran!

Not sure where SoP has vanished to (how used we get to each other's routines! ), but I think I'll move on all the same.
was busy yesterday, had to shovel snow this morning.

•Líndal, Naith Archer
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 6
To play, spot an Elf.
Archery: Exert Líndal and remove an token to make the fellowship archery total +1.
He had spent many long years hunting and patrolling the forests of the Golden Wood and was one of the most renowned archers in a race already known for their skill with the bow.
fine.  though possibly add a limit...never know.

Dark For Archery
Event • Archery
Spot X Elf archers and make the fellowship archery total -X (to a minimum of 0) to discard X Shadow possessions.
"‘But we have taught them not to carry torches.'"
I think its fine.

His Bow Was Bent
Event • Archery
Exert an Elf archer to wound a minion and prevent that minion from using special abilities until the regroup phase. Any Shadow player may make the fellowship archery total +2 to prevent this.
"...he peered out now, ready to shoot the first Orc that should dare to approach the stair."

fine.

[Elf_Lvr]

•Líndal, Naith Archer
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 6
To play, spot an Elf.
Archery: Exert Líndal and remove an token to make the fellowship archery total +1.
He had spent many long years hunting and patrolling the forests of the Golden Wood and was one of the most renowned archers in a race already known for their skill with the bow.

Nifty.

Dark For Archery
Event • Archery
Spot X Elf archers and make the fellowship archery total -X (to a minimum of 0) to discard X Shadow possessions.
"‘But we have taught them not to carry torches.'"

I don't think it needs to spot archers. Normally you'd only have 1 archery per archer anyways, and if you want to ramp up the total just to discard more possessions, well... I don't see a problem with it. Plus, most decks with few guys normally can't get the archery total too high anyway, so if you're worried about splashing too much...

Though I love corsairs, this is fine. The change would actually hurt corsairs more, since before they could just Marauder away all the bows....

Maybe you could let it discard machines, too (since they're usually conditions). Since 1) This card seems more Helm's Deep and thusly ought to be more anti- than anti- and 2) Elven archers that couldn't see individual guys could probably shoot up some ladders or something. It makes flavor sense.

His Bow Was Bent
Event • Archery
Exert an Elf archer to wound a minion and prevent that minion from using special abilities until the regroup phase. Any Shadow player may make the fellowship archery total +2 to prevent this.
"...he peered out now, ready to shoot the first Orc that should dare to approach the stair."

I don't know. Right now, it just seems so vastly superior to Nocked.

[DáinIronfoot]

Dark For Archery
Event • Archery
Spot X Elf archers and make the fellowship archery total -X (to a minimum of 0) to discard X Shadow possessions.
"‘But we have taught them not to carry torches.'"

Maybe you could let it discard machines, too (since they're usually conditions). Since 1) This card seems more Helm's Deep and thusly ought to be more anti- than anti- and 2) Elven archers that couldn't see individual guys could probably shoot up some ladders or something. It makes flavor sense.

Good thought! I'll do that.

His Bow Was Bent
Event • Archery
Exert an Elf archer to wound a minion and prevent that minion from using special abilities until the regroup phase. Any Shadow player may make the fellowship archery total +2 to prevent this.
"...he peered out now, ready to shoot the first Orc that should dare to approach the stair."

I don't know. Right now, it just seems so vastly superior to Nocked.

Yes, I had considered that, but on the other hand, this requires an archer, not just any old Elf. I dunno...it's close to overshadowing Nocked, but I think it manages to avoid negating the others' usefulness. We'll see what other reviewers have to say, though....

[menace64]

Let me say that EL's suggestion for Dark For Archery is wicked cool, and that I don't see Nocked being overshadowed here at all since it can't be prevented (which *does* make a substantial difference).

[Pepin The Breve]

•Líndal, Naith Archer
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 6
To play, spot an Elf.
Archery: Exert Líndal and remove an token to make the fellowship archery total +1.
He had spent many long years hunting and patrolling the forests of the Golden Wood and was one of the most renowned archers in a race already known for their skill with the bow.

   Nice! I like it!

Dark For Archery
Event • Archery
Spot X Elf archers and make the fellowship archery total -X (to a minimum of 0) to discard X Shadow possessions or machines.
"‘But we have taught them not to carry torches.'"

   This would kill Dunland decks and be very painful to raider decks. I think your suggestion ("born by a minion") would be a good one. If you discard Hides in a archery deck against dunland your opponent probably will just watch you walk around the sitepath. Corsairs would be dead too, since you can make the archery -3 or -4 and discard a lot of boats along with some halberd on Castamir while you prevent him from taking arrows and puting his enduring keyword to a good use... Southrons with mumaks and bows and Warg riders would still have problems, but at leats it limits the effectivenes of the card.

His Bow Was Bent
Event • Archery
Exert an Elf archer to wound a minion and prevent that minion from using special abilities until the regroup phase. Any Shadow player may make the fellowship archery total +2 to prevent this.
"...he peered out now, ready to shoot the first Orc that should dare to approach the stair."

   I like the idea very much, it´s a little too powerful but i think it can work just fine 

[Thranduil]

•Líndal, Naith Archer
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 6
To play, spot an Elf.
Archery: Exert Líndal and remove an token to make the fellowship archery total +1.
He had spent many long years hunting and patrolling the forests of the Golden Wood and was one of the most renowned archers in a race already known for their skill with the bow.

This guy is fine.

Dark For Archery
Event • Archery
Spot X Elf archers and make the fellowship archery total -X (to a minimum of 0) to discard X Shadow possessions or machines.
"‘But we have taught them not to carry torches.'"

This huge amount of possession discard is not something which I think should appear in the culture. or fine, but Elves do not discard Shadow possessions (they just increase their twilight cost). Make it "discard X conditions or machines" and I would say it was a much more balanced and card. Or increase the cost to represent the fact that it is not an strength.

His Bow Was Bent
Event • Archery
Exert an Elf archer to wound a minion and prevent that minion from using special abilities until the regroup phase. Any Shadow player may make the fellowship archery total +2 to prevent this.
"...he peered out now, ready to shoot the first Orc that should dare to approach the stair."

This is an interesting card. Might be a bit too complex, not sure if a simpler card more like Nocked does the same job.

Thranduil

[lem0nhead]

•Líndal, Naith Archer
Companion • Elf
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Resistance: 6
To play, spot an Elf.
Archery: Exert Líndal and remove an token to make the fellowship archery total +1.
He had spent many long years hunting and patrolling the forests of the Golden Wood and was one of the most renowned archers in a race already known for their skill with the bow.

Coolio.

Dark For Archery
Event • Archery
Spot X Elf archers and make the fellowship archery total -X (to a minimum of 0) to discard X Shadow possessions or machines.
"‘But we have taught them not to carry torches.'"

Too good really, archery would not destroy machines so the flavour is wrong too. Maybe make the archery total -2 to discard a possession or machine.

His Bow Was Bent
Event • Archery
Exert an Elf archer to wound a minion and prevent that minion from using special abilities until the regroup phase. Any Shadow player may make the fellowship archery total +2 to prevent this.
"...he peered out now, ready to shoot the first Orc that should dare to approach the stair."


Yeah coolio i like it.

[DáinIronfoot]

Left the text of Dark For Archery alone--some people like it and some don't, it seems--but recognizing the controversy, I upped the cost and slapped some toil on it. How's that?

Moving on (especially since I missed yesterday entirely ), here are some cards that help out NON-Elves, since I want to encourage using Elves with other cultures (like and ) in this set. Enjoy!

Ú-moe Edaved
Event • Skirmish
Exert a non-Elf companion to make an Elf strength +3 and resistance +2.
"‘Forgive me. I was wrong to despair.'"

Title translation: "there is nothing to forgive".

•Mae Govannen
Condition • Support Area
Fellowship: Play an Elf or follower to heal a companion and remove a threat.
"‘You are most welcome.'"

A critical card in this set since others like Blade of the Golden Wood, Naith Sword, and Weapons of Lothlórien add threats.

Old Allegiance
Condition
Tale. Bearer must be a Man companion. Bearer may not bear another tale. Limit 1 per bearer.
Each minion skirmishing bearer is strength -1 for each companion you can spot (limit -3).
"‘We are proud to fight alongside men once more.'"

One of my all time favorites (The Last Alliance of Elves and Men) reimagined...and not limited to just Men anymore, either. Remember how I said I wanted to tie and together? You'll be seeing more on that soon.

Anyway, should I raise its cost to ?

[Elf_Lvr]

Ú-moe Edaved
Event • Skirmish
Exert a non-Elf companion to make an Elf strength +3.
"‘Forgive me. I was wrong to despair.'"

Often, Valor would be better. It needs something more.

Mae Govannen
Event • Fellowship
Play an Elf to heal a companion and remove a threat.
"‘You are most welcome.'"

Hmm. Less useful, I think. Perhaps make it a unique condition. Then maybe you'd have to remove the healing, but probably not.

Old Allegiance
Condition
Tale. Bearer must be a Man companion. Bearer may not bear another tale. Limit 1 per bearer.
Each minion skirmishing bearer is strength -1 for each companion you can spot (limit -3).
"‘We are proud to fight alongside men once more.'"

Interesting. But fine.

[lem0nhead]

Ú-moe Edaved
Event • Skirmish
Exert a non-Elf companion to make an Elf strength +3 and resistance +2.
"‘Forgive me. I was wrong to despair.'"

Resistance +2 extra isnt really worth making it cost 1 seeing as youre exerting. Still could cost 0.

Mae Govannen
Condition • Support Area
Fellowship: Play an Elf or follower to heal a companion and remove a threat. Discard this condition.
"‘You are most welcome.'"

Where have i seen this card title before? Its very one shot specific. I think if you make it unique and choose the threat or heal then you could remove the discard bit.

Old Allegiance
Condition
Tale. Bearer must be a Man companion. Bearer may not bear another tale. Limit 1 per bearer.
Each minion skirmishing bearer is strength -1 for each companion you can spot (limit -3).
"‘We are proud to fight alongside men once more.'"

Seems ok.

[Thranduil]

Ú-moe Edaved
Event • Skirmish
Exert a non-Elf companion to make an Elf strength +3 and resistance +2.
"‘Forgive me. I was wrong to despair.'"

I would leave it at without the +2 resistance bonus.

Mae Govannen
Condition • Support Area
Fellowship: Play an Elf or follower to heal a companion and remove a threat. Discard this condition.
"‘You are most welcome.'"

Yeah, fair enough. How about something that allows you to exert some Men to get this card back?

Old Allegiance
Condition
Tale. Bearer must be a Man companion. Bearer may not bear another tale. Limit 1 per bearer.
Each minion skirmishing bearer is strength -1 for each companion you can spot (limit -3).
"‘We are proud to fight alongside men once more.'"

You don't need the drawback - combining this with LAoEaM is awesome and doesn't need to be restricted. Could cost , but I don't think it needs to.

Thranduil