A Mines of Moria Preview

by Matt Clemans

When the first set for The Lord of the Rings™ Trading Card Game was released, there was one loud call that went up from the players. It rang clear and true over the mountains and echoed in the valleys. The call was heard high and low on the wind. All the players cried, "Where is my Balrog?!?" Everyone's prayers will be answered in the next release from Decipher, entitled Mines of Moria. Fans of the card game got a sneak peak of the common Balrog – The Balrog, Durin's Bane – in several magazines this February, but the full set will not hit store shelves until March. When it does, players will see not one, but two versions of the dreaded Balrog. However, Mines of Moria offers more than just the Balrog – every culture gets new cards. Let's look at some of the new enhancements that each culture receives in this set.

Dwarves

Dealing with Shadow conditions is something every Free Peoples deck must face. A Man for Athelas or Gandalf for Sleep, Caradhras was almost a necessity in a dedicated Dwarf deck. With the addition of Make Light of Burdens, the Dwarves gain an effective method of removing conditions from companions as well as taking care of the nasty Isengard weather conditions. Since the Dwarves rely so much on strength adders and enhancements from weapons – like the new Hand Axe – dedicating Man or Gandalf cards just to take care of Blade Tip and Black Breath can make your overall strategy weaker. Make Light of Burdens will also make sure you don't have to face an Uruk-hai deck that plays Saruman's Snows without the benefit of all those strength adders.

Another card that helps against the dreaded Black Breath/Blade Tip combo is Endurance of Dwarves. If you can't find ways to get rid of those Shadow conditions, you can keep adding vitality to the afflicted companion. Endurance also allows your Dwarves to exert more often for cards like Battle Fury and take more punishment from all those Damage +1 Uruk-hai. If you find that you don't need those extra vitality points you can always sack them in battle to add that crucial extra point of strength.

Elves + Gondor

Both the Elves and the Gondor culture get great anti-Nazgûl cards in the Mines of Moria. Release the Angry Flood will fit great in a Ranger/Archer strategy. While it works best at a river, you can make sure your fellowship has one available through a combination of Pathfinder and Thror's Map. Even if you don't have the ability to pick off the Nazgûl after you've wounded them, you can take away many of their awesome abilities which require them to exert. For the Men of Middle-earth, the Flaming Brand provides a little strength bonus and a big help against Nazgûl. When combined with Aragorn's Ranger Sword or The Last Alliance of Elves and Men, this Hand Weapon allows Aragorn to defeat (and kill!) all but the strongest of the Nazgûl. Throw it into the same deck as Release the Angry Flood, and you won't have to worry about Úlairë Cantëa exerting to discard it either!

Gandalf

One of the cards most expected to be in this set was Gandalf's Staff – in fact there are two! One is an artifact that provides Gandalf with many benefits including playing spells for reduced cost. The Gandalf culture has some of the most powerful events in the game. Mysterious Wizard; Servant of the Secret Fire; Sleep, Caradhras and others offer power at a price – high twilight cost. Now Gandalf players will not have to worry as much about giving up too much twilight to pull off their tricks. The vitality bonus also gives Gandalf the ability to cancel two skirmishes – getting your party safely past the Balrog.

The Wizard Staff performs a slightly different function. While it loses the vitality bonus, it gains a strength bonus and the ability to make a minion strength -3. Similar to Servant of the Secret Fire, this ability can be used in any skirmish. This is extremely useful as it can mean the difference between a character being overwhelmed and just being wounded.

It is important to note is that even though Gandalf's Staff is an artifact and the Wizard Staff is a possession they both have the subtype of Staff so only one can be borne by Gandalf at a time.

Isengard

The fighting Uruk-hai do a good job of tearing through your opponent's fellowship – at least until you face someone who uses a lot of Armor and Gimli's Helm. The Damage +1 is important to any Isengard strategy. However, with Beyond The Height of Men, you can rid your opponent of those Armor and Helms so your damage +1 will really mean something. The new Uruk Scout will also make sure you can get around things like A Ranger's Versatility in order to use Beyond The Height of Men or Bred for Battle. Combine these cards with Spies of Saruman and your opponent's fellowship will have no where to run to.

As if Lurtz wasn't strong enough – Lurtz's Sword makes an appearance in this set. Similar to the Uruk-hai Sword, when you win skirmishes (and strength 15 is hard to beat) you make the Free Peoples player discard cards from their deck. With the added Damage +1 Lurtz becomes a killing machine.

Moria

The Balrog is obviously a large part of the set with two versions of the big nasty himself, two weapons, and several other cards to support him. The Balrog will be a strategy unto himself! While The Balrog, Flame of Udun doesn't skip the archery phase like Durin's Bane does, Fill with Fear will skip it for you and rid you of nuisances like Aragorn's Bow so that your Orcs do not have to worry as much about archery on the rest of the Adventure Path. The Balrog is expensive but this can be overcome with Power in Terror. If you've built up a hand of Goblin Runners combined with Goblin Armory(s) and Scimitars, it's very possible to create a swarm around the Balrog.

There are several ways for the Free Peoples player to avoid a fight – including Hobbit Stealth and Gandalf's Staff. Final Cry will ensure that people relying on those cards to get them past the Balrog will suffer still.

Nazgûl

The Nazgûl also get one of the best minions in the game in the form of... wait for it... Bill Ferny. Bill is one of only two minions who has a home site of 2. He also removes roaming penalties from your Nazgûl. Since he is a Nazgûl minion, Úlairë Ostëa will even make him Fierce! His best quality (if Bill Ferny has a good quality) is that your opponent cannot assign anyone to skirmish him. However, you as the Shadow player are free to assign him wherever you want him to go – making him a walking +4 bonus to power! All fear the power of Bill Ferny.

Sauron

Perhaps the best new card for the Sauron Orcs is Southern Spies. This Response event forces the Free Peoples player to discard their entire hand when the Ringbearer puts on the ring. Making your opponent discard their entire hand makes it very difficult to move again. Also if you use a card that makes them put on the ring before the skirmish, you can remove stealth events or strength bonuses that they were counting on to survive! Also, since it removes all cards from their hand, any Shadow cards they had been saving for your next turn will not trouble you either.

Shire

All four Hobbit companions get new versions in this set. Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer (who now has the Aragorn Signet) allows your artifacts, possessions, and Shire tales to play on him at -1 twilight. This allows you to play Sting, Mithril Coat, and several conditions in Mines of Moria to this Hobbit for almost no cost! Combined with Deft in Their Movements, Bill the Pony, and A Talent For Not Being Seen, a band of well-armed Hobbits can move very fast and very quietly. With the addition of a Ranger and the right site choices, you could move all the way to site 5 in a two-player game! Pippin, Mr. Took also helps you reduce your twilight pool by allowing Aragorn (who is a Ranger) or Gandalf to play for -2 twilight from your hand. Then, if your opponent still manages to get too many minions down, Sam, Proper Poet can help ensure that Frodo will never face too many minions by being Defender +1. Throw in a Hobbit Sword and some Hobbit strength adders and Sam could be a one-Hobbit wrecking crew.

This next expansion takes The Lord of the Ring TCG to the next level. Players will be able to spend months delving in the depths of Moria for new strategies and counter-strategies.

February 8, 2002