What is the Strategic Advantage of Having an Alternate Ring-Bearer?

[ANGRY]

I haven't really ever played with one, I'm just curious. Also, does the ring-bearers twilight cost get ignored because he is placed, not played?

[bibfortuna25]

Each of them has their own advantages and disadvantages. It really depends on the type of deck you're using.

Just going with the Movie Block ARBs here:

Any mono Dwarf deck should use Gimli as the Ring-bearer, since you can start Linnar (or Dain) with Durin III. Gimli is probably the least risky ARB, since the threats he adds can be erased by throwing a companion under a big minion.

Isildur is another strong ARB. If you're using a lot of companions with a lot of spare vitality, his skirmish penalty won't matter as much. You will likely need to use Scroll of Isildur in order to keep his resistance up, however. And he is pretty much an auto-include in a knight deck.

Boromir is very risky to use, since his skirmish penalty is severe. You should only use him in a Noble Leaders deck.

Galadriel is also risky in Movie Block purely because of how prevalent Lady Redeemed is, meaning that most players will pack Terrible as the Dawn.

Bilbo is mostly useless, but he could be fun in a choke deck.

Smeagol is fun to use, but you'll need to pair him with Ring-bound Hobbits or Faramir to be any good. I've also seen some solo Smeagol decks that can be quite effective.

[sgtdraino]

Going with Expanded Format ARBs:

Bilbo, Bearer of Things Burgled is the centerpiece of his own deck strategy, which normally chokes and takes advantage of Consorting with Wizards.

Boromir, Bearer of Council is still probably the weakest of the lot, having a pretty severe disadvantage... although I have seen some players use him effectively in Gondor tank decks with The One Ring, The Ring of Rings to mitigate his skirmish penalty a bit. I've also seen him used with Denethor, Last Ruling Steward decks which play a lot of Athelas and Kingsfoil that can heal him.

Faramir, Bearer of Quality is sometimes used in Madril decks, or in combination with Pippin, Wearer of Black and Silver.  His skirmish penalty can actually help out Madril decks. if you put The One Ring, The Binding Ring on him and play Stewards' Legacy, you can also cancel minion special abilities in Maneuver.

Galadriel, Bearer of Wisdom is a staple in Expanded Format Elf decks. She has no skirmish penalty, you can get her power up pretty decently, and she's good at holding a bow and using The Splendor of Their Banners or The White Arrows of Lorien.

Gandalf, Bearer of Obligation is one of the most powerful Expanded decks out there, in spite of his rather severe movement penalty. Clever players have found ways of dealing with that, and as long as you can keep his resistance up, he becomes a very powerful character with no skirmish penalty.

Gimli, Bearer of Grudges is most often used in Expanded Dwarf decks, especially Dwarf Choke, for the reasons Bib already mentioned.

Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms is often used in Knight decks (for obvious reasons) and in Wraith decks, because his skirmish penalty can actually help power up your Wraiths.

Sam, Bearer of Great Need, is also the centerpiece of his own deck strategy which tends to choke and use lots of Hobbit Allies, Followers, and No Visitors.

Smeagol, Bearer of Great Secrets is the centerpiece of his own strategy as well, which often runs Smeagol solo, or with just one other guy (usually Faramir, Son of Denethor). It's often paired with a Ninja Gollum Shadow, and takes full advantage of Naked Waste.

And yes, when you start with them as Ring-bearers, you ignore their twilight cost.

[ANGRY]

On a side note, can a ARB carry, say, Ring of Fury in addition to the One Ring? I would say yes, because they are different card types, but I'm not sure.

[dmaz]

On a side note, can a ARB carry, say, Ring of Fury in addition to the One Ring? I would say yes, because they are different card types, but I'm not sure.

Yes they can still use a Ring artifact. The one ring isn't considered a possession or artifact, just a festering malignancy

bib and draino have given great points on alternate ringbearers. I wasn't keen on them, myself, for the longest time, but was surprised when my Elf deck with Galadriel RB dominated the Movie portion of the DGMA worlds league, even when getting hit with Terrible as the Dawn three or four times. I've recently been experimenting with Isildur, who, like Gimli, can be great just because he's harder to overwhelm then Frodo, especially when you throw Narsil on him.

Their drawbacks are certainly something to overcome, but there are cards that really help. Two being Hosts of the Last Alliance and Sapling of the White Tree for their respective decks. Very great cards.

[ANGRY]

Totally hypothetical situation:

What happens if Sam, Son of Hamfast is in play while you have Frodo, Frenzied Fighter with an ARB who dies? Does Sam get the ring?

[bibfortuna25]

Sam can only take the Ring if Frodo was the Ring-bearer when he died.

[ANGRY]

An errata somewhere I don't know about, eh? Thanks!