Against the Shadow
Strategy Guide - Part 2
Hero and Minion Specific Cards

Copyright Nigel Buckle ©2001

Edited by Nicholas HM Caldwell for The Guild Companion

In this series of articles I am looking at each card in the Against the Shadow expansion for MECCG. In part 1 I considered the hazards, in part 2 (this article) I am looking at the hero specific cards and the minion characters, finally in part 3 I will cover the minion resources and sites.

I will also include the card text and rarity for each of the cards.

A brief explanation of rarity, with Against the Shadow you get 2 Rares, 4 Uncommons and 6 Commons in each pack. Each level of rarity has a number, this is the number of times the card appears on the sheet, so the higher the number the more 'common' the card (e.g. an R1 is roughly twice as rare as an R2).

Also in this article (at the end) I have given a sample hero resource deck (30 cards), suitable for playing against both Hero and Minion. You would probably want to modify this deck, depending on the cards you own, your hazard strategy and the type of decks you expect to face.

Please note the original entry for this card was misleading, as an agent can attack a company if it is declared that it is entering the site where the agent is currently located (in the Dark Minions rule insert), the entry for this card should be:

Most of these cards are quite specialist, which means you'd only want to use them in specific decks, or maybe in the sideboard. Of the 14 cards in these categories I only really consider 2 to be essential for a player to own (and fortunately they are both common), another 4 are also generally useful:

Essential

Glamour of Surpassing Excellence (Common)

Safe From the Shadow (Common)

Useful

Alliance of Free Peoples (Rare)

Biter and Beater! (Common)

No Strangers at this Time (Common)

Tower Raided (Rare)

The other cards are more limited; if you don't have the card then there are a few types of deck you can't build but even if you have all the cards most of the time it's only these 6 you will use frequently.

An anti-Company vs. Company Combat card that is not terribly useful. You have to hold this card until your opponent attacks you and then only if you are at a Free-hold or Border-hold. Even if all these requirements are met it does not cancel the attack, all it does is force the minion company to face the automatic-attack again, and afterwards the company can still attack.

A nice theme card that is quite useful in the right deck. If you are intending to play Dwarf, Elf and Man factions then there is no reason not to use this card (in the sideboard at least). With this card in play all of your factions of the right type (Dwarf, Elf and Man) are worth an additional marshalling point. Dangers to consider are that it is discarded if a faction (of the right type) leaves play, and it may help your opponent.

A useful anti-Company vs. Company Combat card. Compare this card with All the Bells Ringing – this card is so much more useful. It can also be used against Orc Attacks (including automatic-attacks), and it works at any appropriate site, during both your turn and your opponents. The company needs to be carrying the right weapons (swords) but if you intend to use this card in your deck you should include the weapons as well. Not a card for every deck, but useful in the right situations.

A theme card that is much too specialist to consider playing. You have to predict when this card will be useful to play, and you have to have a ranger character that you do not plan to use in hand as well. To use this card you need a deck that visits Ruins & Lairs and travels through Wilderness, and include additional ranger characters (for the discard). It is the last requirement that really reduces this card's usefulness.

A hard card to get (being an R1 it is twice as rare as the other rares in the set). Fortunately this card is very specialist and unlikely to see much play. Even if you include it in your deck it is not going to be that useful - it can cancel an attack, but you have to move to an alternative site (not that useful if you needed to visit Bree to bring in the Rangers of the North for example). You might consider this card if your resource deck is based around the Shire, Arthedain, and Cardolan – such as decks using Tom Bombadil and Mistress Lobelia, or Fallen Gandalf - but for most of the time this card will stay in the binder.

A great utility card in the right deck, and a worthy sideboard card against corruption strategies in general. If you are playing a deck that predominately visits Border-holds and/or Free-holds you should really consider using 3 copies of this card in the deck. It's a great way to try to remove all those annoying permanent events your opponent plays on your characters (such as corruption cards, Foolish Words, Plague, Shut Yer Mouth, etc.). What is nice is it affects all the characters in the company, so you can remove a number of hazard cards (if you roll high enough), and you can remove permanent-events that you could not remove otherwise (such as So You've Come Back).

This is a specialist card that can be quite useful in the right deck if you regularly face Nazgûl creatures or are attacked by Ringwraiths. It is also a way to get MPs from your own Nazgûl permanent-events – just play the right Nazgûl (e.g., The Witch-king), go to the right Under-deeps site (e.g., The Iron-deeps), and face the strike from the Nazgûl. If you beat the strike and fail the body roll, play this card for 2 marshalling points.

Another generally useful card for decks that play factions at Free-holds or Border-holds. In effect you get another marshalling point (a miscellaneous marshalling point at that) out of the faction. The problem is the site never untaps or is discarded, so you can't reuse the site in the following deck cycle. Despite this minor drawback this card is superior to the minion equivalent, Tribute Garnered, as it gives a miscellaneous marshalling point (rather than a faction marshalling point), it is not discarded if the faction is discarded, and it is not discarded if any play deck exhausts.

A Hobbit/Dwarf theme card (which is especially effective if combined with An Unexpected Party) that you might consider for the sideboard if you are worried about attacks from overt minion companies, or even straight in the deck if you are building an aggressive "hunt the minions" deck, since you can attack with no fear of counter-attacks on the following turn. It has two nice effects, cancelling Company vs. Company Combat and also allowing your company to follow a minion company as it moves from site to site. Be careful about moving to a site with a large number of minions - if this card gets removed your company is likely to be slaughtered in the ensuing combat. All in all, another specialist card that probably won't see much play, except in casual/theme decks or specialist Dwarf decks.

Another of the not so useful anti-Company vs. Company Combat cards. As with most of the others, you are reliant on your opponent to make this card playable.

A useful card in any deck planning to store resources, since this card allows you to store them during the end-of-turn phase. This allows you to untap characters bearing resources that otherwise you would not have been able (i.e., Rescue Prisoners, Dreams of Lore, etc.) and also store items/events before calling the Council, rather than have to wait an additional turn. Just be wary of your opponent gaining more benefit from this card than you. A good example of a deck using this card is the Alatar Challenge Deck.

A specialist card that makes sites more dangerous for all companies (especially minions). You might consider using this card if a particular site was critical to your strategy – but in general this card will see little use.

Only useful in decks that use Gates of Morning (or Crown of Flowers) and intend to visit Free-holds. For most decks, Glamour of Surpassing Excellence will be a much more useful card, but in the right deck this card can be used to good effect. The Sun Unveiled is probably too specialist to see much active play.

A cool thematic card that is surprisingly easy to include in your deck. This is a mission card like those in Dark Minions (such as Pass the Doors of Dol Guldur and Fate of the Ithil-stone) that gives a big marshalling point bonus. The downside to playing this card is you have to discard a major item and a Stolen Knowledge card. This is not to difficult to achieve – use Dark Numbers for the stolen knowledge requirement and if you use a leaf brooch you don't even have to discard a major item! The easiest sites to raid are Sarn Gorwin (Orcs 3 at 5) or Goblin Gate (Orcs 3 at 6) but there's also the Dead Marshes (Undead 2 at 8), all within easy reach of Lórien. Not an essential card, but definitely fun to play, and very viable in a tournament.

Many of these cards are quite specialist, which means you'd only want to use them in specific decks, or maybe in the sideboard. Of the 9 cards in these categories I do not consider any to be essential to own and only really consider 4 to be generally useful:

Useful

Angmarim (Rare)

Bow of the Galadhrim (Uncommon)

Haradrim (Rare)

Wain-easterlings (Uncommon)

The other cards are more limited; if you don't have the card then there are a few types of deck you can't build but even if you have all the cards most of the time it's only the above 4 you will use frequently.

Another of the 'ultra' rares (R1s) of this set - unfortunately this card is quite useful in the right deck. This is an unusual faction in that it is playable at a Dark-hold, rather than the standard Border-hold or Free-hold. This means you can avoid the usual hazards like Assassin. The problem with this faction is the high number required to influence, the fact you can't use Muster, and the penalty Wizards get to their attempt. This is a faction you can combine with Rescue Prisoners or even Lucky Search, or Thorough Search for a major item. However, you may decide a visit to Carn Dûm isn't worth the risk of Company vs. Company Combat against a minion opponent (as Carn Dûm is a Darkhaven). All in all, very playable in the right deck.

The bow is quite useful, as it is a 2 marshalling point item giving only one corruption point, and being a non-hoard item it is playable at all the major item sites. The special effect is quite specialist, however, and requires an Elf Warrior. Unless you are actively hunting minion companies this item is best stored after it has been played.

Another big faction playable at the Southron Oasis, but inferior to the Southrons being worth less marshalling points and harder to recruit –Haradrim is perhaps best used in southern decks as a backup for the Southrons (giving you a second faction to try if you fail influencing Southrons), or even in the sideboard for the second deck cycle. With all the negative modifiers your best attempt at influencing this faction is a Man.

If this item was not a hoard item it would be awesome and probably most hero companies would start with two! It is a hoard item, however, and it is unlikely to be included in decks, since most players using hoard sites consider Thror's Map the only hoard minor item worthy of including in the deck. The effect of often untapping a character is nice, but not powerful enough to warrant a slot in most tournament quality decks, especially as you have to go to a hoard site to play it.

Another of the 'ultra' rares (R1s) of this set, but unlike Angmarim, not generally useful. So, if you haven't managed to track down a copy you are not missing much - the influence number is excessively high and there is little chance a Wizard will be successful. Combine this with the fact that Nûrniag Camp has an automatic attack (Men 4 at 7), you are better off playing one of the other Southern factions. Nûrniags is really a card for the collectors.

A slightly specialist faction that is useful in the right deck - Dwarves have a reasonable chance of influencing them (especially Dwarves like Balin, Gloin, etc.), and the Worthy Hills can be reused (if you have an untapped Sage and an untapped Scout). Consider this faction (along with the Woses of the Eryn Vorn) in a deck based around Rivendell. The main problem with influencing this faction is the automatic-attack at the site, but at least it is only detainment.

Another 'ultra' rare (R1). Again, it is fortunate for most players that it is highly unlikely you'd want to use it in a deck. Barad-dûr has one of the nastiest automatic attacks in the game (Orcs 4 at 7, Trolls 3 at 9), it is situated in Gorgoroth, and the play of the item is not guaranteed (unless you have a company with a large number of scouts). A theme card that most players can happily live without.

Another faction that is not quite as good as its counterpart in Middle-earth: The Wizards (Easterlings in this case) - the roll required is one lower, but they are worth one less marshalling point and Wizards get a big negative modifier. This faction is worth considering in a deck that uses Easterlings (as a faction for the second deck cycle) or even as a replacement if you own Easterling Camp but not Easterlings.

Similar to the Petty Dwarves, but not as useful – there are no race bonuses or penalties for this faction and the roll is rather high. Unless you have a deck built around Elves, Petty Dwarves would be a better option (and they can be boosted by Alliance of Free Peoples). You are probably only going to use this faction in a tight location deck based around Rivendell, or if you really want to avoid Border-holds and Free-holds.

There is no real reason not to include all the sites in your site deck, but if you have to trade for cards then it may be useful to know which sites I feel are the most useful, and which are only needed for very specialist decks (or to complete your collection of sites).

Useful

Geann a-Lisch (Uncommon)

Gobel Mírlond (Uncommon)

Raider-Hold (Uncommon)

The Worthy Hills (Uncommon)

Another Dark-hold in Mordor, this time in Udûn, which could be useful for getting to/from the Under-galleries (rather than try to use Morranon). It is also a site you can use for agents (such as agent roadblock using Seek Without Success. You can use it as a place to stack your ranger agents up to cover the approaches to Mount Doom). However, as a site to visit to play items, there are better places to go rather than the heart of Mordor!

This is a reasonable major/information item site most suitable for decks operating out of Edhellond, or concentrating on Coastal Seas. There are significant drawbacks to using this site - it is a minion Darkhaven (of sorts) so you should be wary of using it when your opponent is a minion player, and more importantly any Man Hazard Creature can be played at the site, which means you can get pounded by Assassins and Sellswords between Charters. Certainly avoid this site if you know your opponent is playing a Man hazard strategy. As information is playable at this site you can use Look More Closely Later to untap it.

A southern major item site that has a detainment attack – which reduces the risks to your companies. Certainly a staple site for decks operating in Harondor, and regions nearby, it also makes it possible for you to build a resource deck that only visits Border-holds and Free-holds (never Ruins & Lairs, Shadow-holds or Dark-holds) without having to resort to playing the Palantír of Minas Tirith for your item. Very useful in the right deck.

A specialist site that most decks will not use at all – it is obviously essential if you want to recruit the Nûrniags, and possibly as a site for One Ring decks to attempt a Lucky Search, or as a stopping point before moving to Mount Doom. Other decks can find easier sites to play major items at in the South (unless you really wanted to visit a Shadow-hold).

This is a far eastern major item site that has a detainment attack, and a reasonably high card draw. It is certainly useful in Southern decks, in a similar way that Gobel Mírlond is, although the automatic-attack is quite hard to pass without characters getting tapped. You can also use this site as part of a card drawing engine – combine it with Master of Esgaroth, A Short Rest, and Easterling camp to draw up to 13 cards with one company (move to Easterling Camp from Raider Hold with A Short Rest in play, to draw 7 cards (4 for Easterling Camp, 3 from A Short Rest) then move back to Raider-hold (using Master of Esgaroth), and draw an additional 6 cards (3 for Raider-hold, 3 from A Short Rest). Your opponent can only draw a maximum of 7, which is ideal for a hero speed deck.)

Another information site for Rivendell decks. It is useful as Tom Bombadil can visit it, and providing you have untapped characters with the right skills, you can reuse this site. It is also necessary if you plan to play either the Woses of the Eryn Vorn or the Petty Dwarves. The automatic-attack is quite high, but as it is detainment there is no real risk to your company.

Minion players have fewer characters to choose from than heroes (although there are plenty of non-unique characters to make up the numbers), so any additional ones are welcome. Of the 6 characters in Against the Shadow I would consider 4 of them to be essential for a player to own (fortunately they are all uncommon) and one to be generally useful (Mauhúr), I rate him as useful rather than essential because you can make do with an Orc Captain if you don't own him.

Essential

Bûrat (Uncommon)

Mîonid (Uncommon)

Tûma (Uncommon)

Wûluag (Uncommon)

Useful

Mauhúr (Rare)

Bûrat, Tûma, and Wûluag are grouped together because they are so similar, and it is likely that you will use a combination of two or three of these Trolls in your deck if you use any at all, as they can be played on the same turn and if they are in the same company their mind stat is reduced. They cannot use any of them in your starting company, however. Their home site of any Ruins & Lairs is often useful. Assuming your Ringwraith is not in play, you can bring them out in the north to play the Ice-orcs, or avoiding Ahunt dragons, or in the west/southwest far from the usual range that your companies can easily move to. Do not overlook their bonuses against Dwarves, which is quite useful for Company vs. Company Combat, as hero Dwarves get bonuses against Orcs, not Trolls. The untapping ability is useful too – in effect doubling the skills of Scout or Ranger (For example, to cancel 2 Rivers played on a company containing Bûrat and Tûma - tap Bûrat to cancel one River, tap the Tûma to untap him, then tap Bûrat again to cancel the second River). A drawback to using Bûrat, Tûma, and/or Wûluag is they are all manifestations of unique hazards, so you would want to avoid using those particular Trolls as hazards in your deck. If Bert (Bûrat), Tom (Tûma), or William (Wûluag) is eliminated, then you cannot play the corresponding Bûrat, Tûma, or Wûluag at all. In summary a useful trio of Trolls, and expect to see them together if they appear at all.

Another unique Orc Leader with a body of 9, he is much superior to the 5 mind Orc Captain since he has a higher prowess too. The only reason not to use Mauhúr instead of an Orc Captain is fear of duplication (your opponent playing him first). A generally useful character in the right deck - certainly Fallen-wizards hankering after a bad company will consider using him.

This is a fairly essential character – a 4-mind ranger with a prowess of 5 – he is similar to Gulla, but is a Man rather than a Dwarf. The ranger skill is essential if you want to avoid roadblock cards (like River), or if you wish to use the excellent canceller card Crept Along Cleverly from the Middle-earth: The White Hand. Being a man, Mîonid is more flexible than Gulla in that you can use him in companies with Orcs/Trolls as well as the other races. Fallen-wizard's can also make good use of Mîonid as he's an excellent bearer of Black Arrow and about the best non-agent Man ranger available to a Fallen-wizard.

I would not expect to see Perchen in many decks, although the combination of Scout/Diplomat is great to use Ruse. His nearest equivalent in Middle-earth: The Lidless Eye is Layos (although the skills are different). His main problem is the prowess of 3 and the lack of warrior skill. If you need these particular skills it is better to use two characters, a scout and a diplomat. If you want a character in your deck just to bring in the Dunlendings, use Shamas instead (for 2 less mind). All in all, a character you may find the occasional use for, but most of the time you will recruit an alternative minion for your deck.

This resource deck mainly utilises cards from the Wizards, but it has cards from Against the Shadow at its heart (specifically Tower Raided). However as this expansion has few hero specific cards the majority are taken from other sets. I've tried to use as few rares as possible. Against the Shadow cards are in bold. This deck is also proof it is possible to build a Southern faction deck that is not that rare heavy (of course you still need certain rare sites such as the Easterling Camp).

The idea of the deck is to move the Company to Lorien, then split into 2 small companies (for a low hazard limit), play the various resources at sites in the South, use the short rests to draw lots of cards, eventually bring Gandalf out at Lorien, collect some characters and a leaf brooch. In the meantime a scout should have a Dark Numbers, sideboard in the Tower Raided, combine the company – move to a Shadow-Hold (such as Goblin-Gate) and play Tower Raided for 6 MPs (discarding the Dark Numbers and the Leaf Brooch). Use the Glamour of Surpassing Excellence to remove corruption and Foolish Words, I've used Tempering Friendship rather than Muster as it works with all characters, not just those with a high prowess. Be warned, Alone & Unadvised (from Against the Shadow) is a killer corruption card against this type of deck, you may want to include some additional anti-corruption resources either straight in the deck or at least in the sideboard.

Beorn (Fixed – The Wizards)
With Black Arrow (Promo)
Controlling
Eowyn (Uncommon – The Wizards)

Thorin II (Rare – The Wizards)
With Horn of Anor (Common – The Wizards)
Controlling
Oin (Uncommon – The Wizards)

1x Durin's Axe (Uncommon – The Wizards)

1x Glamdring (Uncommon – The Wizards)

1x Hauberk of Bright Mail (Common – The Wizards)

1x Leaf Brooch (Common – Dark Minions)

1x Men of Dorwinion (Uncommon – The Wizards)

1x No Strangers at this time (Uncommon – Against the Shadow)

1x Orcrist (Uncommon – The Wizards)

1x Rangers of Ithilien (Fixed – The Wizards)

1x Wain Easterlings (Uncommon – Against the Shadow)

2x Dark Numbers (Common – Dark Minions)

2x Forewarned is Forearmed (Uncommon – Dark Minions)

2x Glamour of Surpassing Excellence (Common – Against the Shadow

2x Noble Hound (Common – Dark Minions)

2x Smoke Rings (Common – Dark Minions)

2x Tempering Friendship (Common – The Wizards)

3x A Short Rest (Common – The Dragons)

3x Master of Esgaroth (Common – The Dragons)

3x Risky Blow (Common – The Wizards)

2x Gandalf (Fixed – The Wizards)

1x Alatar (Fixed – The Wizards)

1x Boromir (Fixed – The Wizards)

1x Faramir (Fixed – The Wizards)

1x Gloin (Uncommon – The Wizards)

1x Tower Raided (Rare – Against the Shadow)

1x Haradrim (Rare – Against the Shadow)

Rarity: 22 Commons, 11 Uncommons, 7 Fixed, 3 Rares and 1 Promo