Newbie Questions from Rule-Study Game

[IronJaw]

Hi all!

I have a friend who's gotten me interested in LotR TCG for a number of years now, but it wasn't till I saw some started decks for sale at a local 5-Below for $1 that I actually started collecting. (Yeah, I bought all the decks. Went back a few months later, and they had a whole other box of starter decks! Bought most of them...)

I was amazed at the Providence of seeing them there, but can't complain! I've also just bought another 4-6 decks off Ebay to round out the collection. Now I should have close to the number of my friend.

Anyway, even though I've played 4-5 games over several years, I found the deluxe rules and have been playing through a game or two. I've made a small lists so far which is listed below. Reading through the FAQ and a few other threads have answered a few, but here are the rest!:

 - If two minions are assigned to a single companion are the strengths of the minions added, then compared to the companion? - Example: 2 strength 2 orcs vs 1 strength 4 man. Does the man do one damage to each orc, or does the man take a wound? (Shadow wins ties)

 - If I "Spot to Heal" this doesn't count as "playing" the card when it is discarded? If a card has a "When Gimli is played" I can't spot Gimli to heal, discard, and use the "When Gimli is played..." ability?

 - Are threats used only if a card calles for them? So if my opponent and I use decks that have nothing to do with Threats I don't have to worry about keeping up with them?

 - When it comes to playing Shadow cards can multiple Shadow players have minions in play at the same time? Example:

10 twilight in the pool. Shadow player "1" plays 2 orcs. Shadow player "2" then plays a Nazgul. "3" plays a Balrog.

Are all "out" at the same time and then there is only one Skirmish phase? Or is each Shadow player separate. "1" would play, skirmish, etc. then have "2" do the same if there are still twilight tokens in the pool?

 - In the archery phase it says to choose "one shadow player" and then he is to "assign archery wounds to his minions." This seems to imply that there can be more than one Shadow players who have minions in play, and that this limits the archery phase to only the minions of that one Shadow player.

 - I read the rule on "controlling sights." How is this significant? Does this only have to do with specific decks? Is this similar to the "threats" of earlier? Not something to worry about unless the cards call for it?

 - The "Rule of 9" says you can't have more than 9 unique companions in play/your dead pile. Does that really mean you can't build your deck with more than 9 unique companions?

*NOTE: All Examples are hypothetical and/or allegorical*

That really covers the questions I have of now. (I'm still in the middle of my "Rule Study-Game")

The other ones where about Ring-Bound vs. "unbound" and whether twilight "rolls-over" into the next sight if you move more than once. I found answers to both of those online already!

Thanks for y'alls time and dedication to the forums!

-IronJaw

[gordie124]

Hey, congrats on finding decks! Hope you & your friend have fun playing the game. I'll try to answer your questions as best as I can, maybe some forum regulars can pop in and help out too.

My main resource is the comprehensive rules 4.0, found at http://lotrtcgwiki.com/wiki/_media/comprehensive.pdf. I recommend you take a look if you haven't found it already — it contains an overview of gameplay, plus an extensive glossary with rules clarifications and examples.

If two minions are assigned to a single companion are the strengths of the minions added, then compared to the companion? - Example: 2 strength 2 orcs vs 1 strength 4 man. Does the man do one damage to each orc, or does the man take a wound? (Shadow wins ties)

Yes, you add the minions' strength and compare that to the companion's. In your example, the Shadow side wins the tie & the Man takes one wound. If that Man was strength 5, each minion would take a wound (so, give a wound to each member of the losing side). Also, don't forget to check for overwhelming!

- If I "Spot to Heal" this doesn't count as "playing" the card when it is discarded? If a card has a "When Gimli is played" I can't spot Gimli to heal, discard, and use the "When Gimli is played..." ability?

Not sure I understand this question. Is there a particular card combo that you have in mind? In any case, I'm pretty sure the answer to your question is "no". "Spotting" a card is not the same as "playing" it, and additionally, "spotting" a card doesn't require you to discard the spotted card.

- Are threats used only if a card calles for them? So if my opponent and I use decks that have nothing to do with Threats I don't have to worry about keeping up with them?

That's correct. Threats weren't introduced until the 4th set (or later...I'm not sure). You should still read up on how they work after you're familiar with the basic way the game works, as they are an essential part of some decks' strategies.

- When it comes to playing Shadow cards can multiple Shadow players have minions in play at the same time? Example:

10 twilight in the pool. Shadow player "1" plays 2 orcs. Shadow player "2" then plays a Nazgul. "3" plays a Balrog.

Are all "out" at the same time and then there is only one Skirmish phase? Or is each Shadow player separate. "1" would play, skirmish, etc. then have "2" do the same if there are still twilight tokens in the pool?

All are "out" at the same time. Technically, there are 4 skirmish phases as each individual skirmish between a minion and a companion (assuming the free people's player has at least 4 companions in play) counts as its own phase. But all four of those phases happen back-to-back.

- In the archery phase it says to choose "one shadow player" and then he is to "assign archery wounds to his minions." This seems to imply that there can be more than one Shadow players who have minions in play, and that this limits the archery phase to only the minions of that one Shadow player.

See answer to the above question. All the shadow players' minions will be in play after each player has his or her shadow phase, back-to-back, and they all contribute to the shadow archery total. The Free Peoples player chooses which Shadow player to aim the free peoples archers at, and that shadow player's minions take all of the free peoples' archery wounds.

- I read the rule on "controlling sights." How is this significant? Does this only have to do with specific decks? Is this similar to the "threats" of earlier? Not something to worry about unless the cards call for it?

Pretty much. Similarly to threats, controlling sites was a mechanic introduced in set #4. It's an important part of some decks' strategies, but if no player uses cards that control sites, knowing the mechanics isn't important.

- The "Rule of 9" says you can't have more than 9 unique companions in play/your dead pile. Does that really mean you can't build your deck with more than 9 unique companions?

Sort of. The Rule of 9 actually applies to all companions, unique or non-unique. It is also a gameplay rule, not a deckbuilding rule. You can certainly have more than 9 companions in your deck, you just won't be able to play all of them. Technically a deck with four copies each of Lorien Guardian, Lorien Swordsman and Gondorian Ranger is legal ... however it's not a very good deck as there will undoubtably come a point during gameplay where more companion cards become illegal to play because of the Rule of 9.

I hope my answers are clear. Check out that comprehensive rules document I linked above! It's a great reference for rules questions and the examples in it are very helpful.

[IronJaw]

Thanks for the answers! I am playing from the 4.0 Rules.

So, like most of the game, the Archery phase favors the Shadow players. Makes sense.

The rule to heal, I did another search through the document, is called "discard to heal." The combo came up mores as a "can  bend the rules like this" type situation. The Cards:

Ranger of Ithilien had a "wound." I had a copy of him in my hand.

Faramir Ithilien Ranger says: "Play a Ranger to Heal a Ring-bound Companion"

I wanted to know if healing the Ithilean Ranger would activate Faramir's ability. It obviously doesn't. The question was more a "maybe discarding counts as 'Playing the card.'" In all the other games I've played (Yu-gi-oh, etc.) discardinng doesn't count as playing the card, but I didn't know how LotR TCG saw this.

Ok, so I wouldn't want to take 13 different "companion" cards when I'm building my deck. I would use up 9, then have 4 dead cards floating around. They would all go into my discard pile, which would mean they aren't in "play." (Which would answer my previous question about the "Discard to heal")

*BTW I /love/ the way the forums auto-links cards... That is just too cool.*

[bibfortuna25]

You can only activate one ability at a time. If you want to use Faramir, IR 's ability, you have to put the ranger from your hand into play.

The "discard to heal" rule only applies when you have a unique wounded companion/ally. Ranger of Ithilien is a non-unique companion. But that also means you can have two or more of him in play.

[IronJaw]

The "discard to heal" rule only applies when you have a unique wounded companion/ally. Ranger of Ithilien is a non-unique companion. But that also means you can have two or more of him in play.

I'll have to watch for those non-unique companions... If one Ranger of Ithilien is in play and one is in the dead pile, does that count as 2 companions against the Rule of 9?

[gordie124]

If one Ranger of Ithilien is in play and one is in the dead pile, does that count as 2 companions against the Rule of 9?

Yes.

[bibfortuna25]

The "discard to heal" rule only applies when you have a unique wounded companion/ally. Ranger of Ithilien is a non-unique companion. But that also means you can have two or more of him in play.

I'll have to watch for those non-unique companions... If one Ranger of Ithilien is in play and one is in the dead pile, does that count as 2 companions against the Rule of 9?

Yes it does. The Rule of 9 says there can be no more than 9 total companions in play and in the dead pile.

Also keep in mind that phase actions can never be combined. A good example of this is Frodo, Tired Traveller and Faramir, Ithilien Ranger.

Frodo says "Fellowship: Play a Ring-bound companion to remove a burden."
Faramir says "Fellowship: Play a ranger to heal a Ring-bound companion."

If you have a Ring-bound ranger in your hand, you can only pick one of these phase actions to use, not both. Of course, you could always choose to use neither if that's your preference.