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[Durin's Heir]

Added a thing about King's Mail: can be discarded by Charged Headlong or Unyielding to allow Théoden to absorb threats. Charged Headlong is especially useful, as it can bounce the Mail from one skirmish to the other (if in discard pile and not in play), protecting any Rohan guy in a perilous spot.

I wonder if Hearken to Me discards only the conditions borne by Théoden when played, or keeps discarding it while bearing it. The literal meaning says the latter, but I still don't know what's Decipher's rule here.

[Dictionary]

That's an interesting point about Hearken to Me, I've never thought of it that way. I suppose you could draw a similar parallel with cards like Flame of the West. On a technical level I tend to agree with you, but wouldn't it make the following line of both cards redundant?

[Durin's Heir]

The CRD says nothing about ... It would be mentioned in "Section Three: Individual Card Rulings", but there's nothing:
http://lotrtcgwiki.com/wiki/comprehensive_rules_4-0
http://lotrtcgwiki.com/wiki/current_rulings_document

To remove all double interpretations, they needed to write it in either of these ways:

"When you play this, discard all Shadow conditions on Théoden.", or
"While bearing this, discard all Shadow conditions on Théoden." (without needing the second part: "Shadow conditions cannot be played on Théoden")

But they did a strange middle point with that 2nd text . Now, damage adding weapons like Gimli's Battle Axe say "He is damage +1", not "While bearing this weapon, Gimli is damage +1", so I believe permanent effects don't need to specify their permanency. But that case is obvious, there is no possible second interpretation: that card is played at Fellowship phase, where damage is irrelevant. Common sense discards what lacks sense. The 2nd text of Hearken to Me opens a possible 2nd interpretation : "if the 2nd text says that, it might mean the 1st doesn't cover that possibility"...

If the effect is permanent as I believe, the only conscious intention I can see to specify "Shadow conditions may not be played on Théoden" is to prevent unaware Shadow players from wasting their conditions on Théoden (and thus prevent some NPE). That, in case they were fully conscious of each possible implication, AND used "logical economy"(not saying anything unnecessary, in an irreductible number of statements), which I don't believe.


I thought about Flame of the West too, but I believe that's a clarification of a previous double interpretation (it's from 3 Sets later). Just like Set 5 berserkers and the only one of Set 6 (both mean the same, but the latter doesn't have double interpretations):

(5U45): "Berserk Rager is strength +1 for each wound on a character in its skirmish."
(6R60): "Berserk Butcher is strength +1 for each wound on each character in its skirmish."


Again, the CRD doesn't even mention the existance of Hearken to Me.

[Air Power]

They may also have intended to preserve design-space for future shadow conditions that did something when they came into and/or left play

(hypothetically:
1 •Lesser Son of Greater Sires
Condition
Resistance: -2
Plays on a companion.  When you play Lesser Son of Greater Sires, exert bearer
"What is the house of Rohan, but a thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek and their brats roll on the floor with the dogs?! The victory at Helm's Deep does not belong to you, Théoden Horsemaster. You are a lesser son of greater sires.")

The last line of HtM will save Théoden from being exerted, where just a constant "Discard all shadow conditions borne by Théoden" would only save him from the Resistance -2

[Durin's Heir]

The last line of Hearken to Me isn't necessary to prevent the exertion, due to the existance of a discard rule that makes effects like Goblin Runner adding don't apply when the Runner is immediatly discarded (by Durin's Bane or Watcher in the Water). So Lesser Son of Greater Sires is discarded before any exertion can happen:

"If a card is discarded when it comes into play, ignore any effects triggered when it comes into play. This includes effects from a minion's own game text (such as "When you play this minion…") and effects from other cards in play (such as "Each time you play…")."

If that specific rule didn't exist, yes, the last line would cover a gap. Perhaps that rule didn't exist at the time Hearken to Me was released.


Now, there is at least one condition that does a thing only when played/transferred to a companion: Feel His Blade. Following your thought, Feel His Blade can still be transferred to Théoden but is then immediatly discarded; the Shadow still gains initiative for the whole turn, but other effects like Lemenya LoM and Mind and Body are blocked by Hearken to Me.

Air Power, thanks for your addition. And your dream card is cool, you might develop it more and post it in Dictionary's Isengard Men.

[Dictionary]

I suppose part of the issue with Hearken to Me is because the second line doesn't completely prevent Theoden from getting shadow conditions in the first place, as Blade Tip and other transferable conditions ignore it.

However, if the first line applies all the time, then conditions like Blade Tip are useless against Theoden, whereas if it only works when played, they would still be effective (Which is what I put in the article).

Perhaps the question should be brought up in the Archives? I'm pretty sure Blade Tip and similar are effective against Theoden with Hearken to Me on Gemp, although naturally that doesn't necessarily mean it's the correct interpretation.

[Dictionary]

Occured to me recently that Shadowfax, GotM would have the same problem as Hearken to me, as it discards possessions but only prevents the bearing of hand weapons. Found the following thread on the subject in the Archives: http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,2872.0.html which would seem to cover Hearken to Me as well.

[Durin's Heir]

Alright then! Decipher had a really poor wording with both, but is now clear that conditions on Théoden are discarded only when HtM is played.

Since GotM is a card of set 17, they had a lot of time to enhance the wording or to clarificate Hearken to Me. But at least is now clear to us .

[Dictionary]

I wonder if I should add a note about that to the card, or whether it would just clutter up the article? I feel like it would take quite a bit of explaining if I added that...

Did a short article for Get Back. I'm still on and off on the article posting, but I'm aiming to do some more cards from sets 4-19 for the future, as a lot of the remaining Fellowship cards are a bit lacklustre.

[Durin's Heir]

If the note is short and goes at "Rules and Clarifications", that won't cause any problem I believe. Something around "The line 'Discard all Shadow conditions on Théoden' works only when playing this card; hence, Shadow conditions transfered to Théoden won't be discarded by it".

There's also many uninspired cards in sets 4 to 19 . But I get you, and agree that staying almost exclusively on the first block will delay unnecessarily the development of guides to other formats.

But dull cards have sometimes useful combos. Get Back can save weak trackers that are there for Ugluk to spot, and those who survive can prevent double moves or feed Attack on Helm's Deep. That's especially true for set 2 Uruk Scout (another dull card), who isn't fierce. Of course is much better for Uruk Plains Runner, but if you also pack the Scout for its penalty reduction or damage bonus (a surprise with Vengeance), Get Back will have a different usefulness with it.

[Dictionary]

Added that line, with a bit of extra detail to explain why I was linking to a Shadowfax article. Hopefully it looks okay. Also put something similar on GotM's page.

Those Get Back ideas are brilliant Despite appearing to be a pretty weak card at first glance, I feel like it has a lot of hidden versatility. I especially like the point with Ugluk, I rarely see that minion with a damage bonus, but Get Back would help a lot in that regard.

Wrote article for Toss Me.

[Durin's Heir]

Your explanation seems good to me.

Yes, Get Back seems counterproductive at first sight! But is really useful if you are facing tanks or direct skirmish wounding (Cliffs of Emyn Muil, Ranger's Bow), and is cost free (if Dauntless Hunter isn't present; add it to the Weak vs list). You can use a cost 5 or 6 tracker with a cheap one, and use Get Back on the cheap to mantain Ugluk as a str 12 dmg+1 beast! Mauhur Patrol Leader can also prevent FP tanks from sweeping the board, but is too slow against mid-skirmish wounding, or often too costly (you need to save him AND the cheap tracker = ; that's the same cost of Uruk Hunter + another Uruk Plains Runner).

Good article for Toss Me! Another cool synergy is with Courtesy of My Hall to stack it from discard (and have emergency healing), and Axe of Erebor + Defending the Keep to discard it and get it back again. There's also Suspended Palaces to stack Toss Me from hand on your condition, preferably on Courtesy if you think you may need the healing... On Your Doorstep can also set it right for Suspended Palaces or More to My Liking to grab.

On Your Doorstep is cool with Strands of Elven Hair or Elrond, Keeper of Vilya! Even better with also Must Be A Dream, as you already mentioned.

[Dictionary]

I'm tempted to try a Get Back deck now, but Dauntless Hunter really hurts that card. I usually favour possessions over events in TTT for that very reason.

I'm glad you like the Toss Me article, I am quite fond of that card, although I've never found it much use after Towers Standard.

Updated the articles, and wrote article for The White Wizard. I feel there's a tonne of stuff that can be said for that Gandalf, but I'm out of ideas for now.

[Durin's Heir]

Goblin Scrabbler is surprisingly good against DH decks: discards key cards like the Tale of Gil-Galad, the Splendor of Their Banners or a TLAOEAM on Aragorn by a mere cost of 1, while taking an arrow or joining a swarm force. 2x or maybe 3x Scrabbler will be a good backup against DH.

Saruman SotE (another cool assignment card) can assign Legolas to a strong Uruk (preferably with a dmg bonus), or to himself if you pack 1 or 2 copies of his staff. Some Towers Block sites like White Mountains can help to get wounds on companions, as Saruman's skill is much better targeting companions with less than 4 vitality.


The White Wizard is also extremely good with TMAYOD. Other cards that synergize with him are Focus of Power, Undaunted and Fury of the White Rider. And don't forget Down From the Hills (str 15 def+1 dmg+2 + weapon/mount)!

EDIT: Expanded the narration and tips in The White Wizard's article. The previous version explained lots of ways to trigger his skill, but nothing about the potential of that skill.

[Dictionary]

Thanks for the improvements, that article looks a lot more comprehensive now

A short article for Steward's Tomb is up. Might add some more detail later, although I'm not sure what things I should add that aren't a bit obvious.