Son of Thranduil, Better Than Greenleaf?

by Geoff Snider

Legolas, Greenleaf, or the Machine Gun as some call him, has made quite an impact on The Lord of the Rings™ TCG. Many players joke about how powerful he can be, and many others perceive him as a large headache to play against. Headache or not, he is (or else should be) one of the mainstays of nearly every deck. Legolas, Son of Thranduil, Legolas' new version from Realms of the Elf-lords, is not quite a lateral shift from Greenleaf, but admirably holds up his impeccable reputation. Is Son of Thranduil better than Greenleaf? I'm sure this will be a topic of debate for quite a while.

Looking at Greenleaf, you may think that with his 'exert to wound' gametext, he's the end-all of companions. A vitality of three and the ability to access other elven cards like The Tale of Gil-galad, Shoulder to Shoulder, and Double Shot may make him seem a bit overpowered. He's great at eliminating threats before they can get to your companions. A huge orc swarm can be whittled down, a stray Uruk Warrior can find himself riddled with arrows, and even an unwary Nazgûl might lurk too near a river and a couple versatile rangers. In truth, for every wound Greenleaf hands out, he also takes one. This leaves an exhausted companion that is vulnerable to so many minions, as well as their varying support cards. In short, if you can't heal him or prevent those exertions, he's dead meat. Legolas, Son of Thranduil may not have the glaringly obvious strengths of Greenleaf, but he is extremely less vulnerable and more resilient. Aragorn, King in Exile can heal Son of Thranduil each turn, allowing him to skirmish and take wounds that would otherwise be fatal. This is a gameplay luxury most players are unaccustomed to. In fact, what makes Son of Thranduil wholly different from Greenleaf, is that his vitality can be used for other purposes while still potentially dealing out the same number of archery wounds.

Son of Thranduil fills an interesting position in several existing deck archetypes, and even in a few new ones. In a deck based on rangers and A Ranger's Versatility, Thror's Map, and Power According to His Stature, he plays a critical role in the meta-game. Dealing that one extra archery wound (without exerting) can make the difference between a win and a loss, especially if your opponent is playing cards like Hate, Relentless Charge, or Bitter Hatred. With so many forests and rivers in the adventure path, Son of Thranduil can consistently achieve a huge archery total with The Splendor of Their Banners and Double Shot (of course with help from King in Exile, Aragorn's Bow, and Elven Bows). Free peoples decks that focus more on skirmishing get a big boost from Son of Thranduil by capitalizing on his two points of archery. By equipping him with the Long Knives of Legolas and Bow of the Galadhrim, and playing little-used events like Dismay Our Enemies, he can decimate several minions at once without a serious danger of being overpowered. In case he gets into a dangerous situation, Voice of Nimrodel can always get him out of a jam.

Essentially, the difference between Greenleaf and Son of Thranduil is you. What do you prefer to play? Do you like Aragorn, King in Exile's healing capabilities, or is Ranger of the North a better alternative? Do you prefer the durability and higher quantity of archery of the Son of Thranduil, or the quality of Greenleaf's directed archery and risky low resulting vitality? What do you think you'll play against most often? What's your style? In the new gaming environment that Realms of the Elf-lords will bring about, you'll be forced to choose your path. Stray but a little and you will fail, to the ruin of all.

May 22, 2002