DECIPHER.com > The Lord of the Rings > Expansions > Battle of Helm's Deep

Nasty Orcses...

by Geoff Snider
Decipher Playtester

For those of you who enjoy playing decks based upon the devious, sneaky and altogether dastardly Orcs of Sauron, get ready for their massive return. They've got an impressive new array of minions to choose from, along with a whole host of support cards. They are, however, getting a bit of a late start compared to the other minion cultures from The Two Towers, so they've got a ton of catching up to do! New minions facilitate a new selection of strategies including 'swarm,' 'exert-to-hurt,' 'overwhelm' and even 'site control.'

At the top of the list of new strategies for Sauron is the 'swarm' deck. Grishnak, Orc Captain leads the swarm, hopefully drawing extra minions to drop on your opponent. When faced with Grishnak, does your opponent allow you to draw cards or add burdens? It's a tough choice, especially if you play him more than a couple times in a game. The first two times, more than likely, they'll just add the burdens; in the late game it's a real toss-up. Either way, Grishnak will benefit the swarm in the long run if you're running the Palantir Chamber, and your opponent will wish he never added those burdens. Not only does he do all this, but he also decreases the cost of your other trackers early in the game. It's not uncommon now for your opponent to stumble into six Sauron Orcs at site four!

Many minions from these new Orcs also help out the swarm in similar ways. Key components are minions like the Orc Runner and Orc Pursuer. They're trackers, reducing all Sauron Orcs' site numbers by one. Paying their roaming cost at site five allows all the rest of your swarm to play at regular cost. The Runner's added feature is his great ability to cycle cards... and hopefully help your swarm even more. Once you've played all the minions you can, play Forces of Mordor and Ulaire Nertea, Messenger of Dol Guldur to get out a few more.

So now it's the regroup phase, you've got a whole slew of minions in play, a bunch of extra pool... and what do you do with it? Use Teeth of Mordor to store a few of those important minions (like Grishnak, Gate Trooper or Gate Veteran) for the next time your opponent's fellowship moves. This card really shines in combination with the Orc Captain in a site control strategy, allowing you to repeatedly draw tons of cards and hopefully overwhelming the Ring-bearer in the late game.

January 22, 2003