Greetings fellow Lord of the Rings TCG gaming fans! Welcome to the Third and Final installment of my intensive study of the culture ISENGARD.
As I have mentioned earlier in my previous articles WINDS OF CHANGE and FUEL ON THE FIRE: Many playing communities believe that the Realms of the Elf-Lords expansion has made Isengard “too powerful, broken and unbeatable”. Armed with two versions of Saruman, a dangerously versatile army of Uruk-Hai and a unique subculture of Orcs, there is no doubt that Isengard is definitely the most powerful and diverse culture in the game. But is it unbeatable?
No. Isengard is not unbeatable – no culture is. However, Isengard is the only Shadow culture that truly maintains the “perception” of invulnerability. This perception is further supported by incredibly diverse and unique deck designs and playing strategies; none of which are infallable. Anticipating the strategic capabilities of the Isengard culture is the key to penetrating this perception. In other words, when you playtest a certain deck strategy, you become familiar with its capabilities and limitations; its strengths and its weaknesses. Apply this philosohpy to Isengard, and you will learn that while it is the most powerful of the Shadow cultures, it is neither broken or unbeatable. Let us explore these issues even further in this final article I have appropriately called:
THE DECONSTRUCTION OF ISENGARD
Originally, I was going to entitle this article “The Melting Pot of Isengard” because Isengard is, for all intents and purposes: an alliance of Shadow forces, rich with a multitude of creatures and resources. Strong as a homogenous culture, Isengard becomes exponentially stronger when infused with the resources drawn from the rest of the Shadow forces.
Isengard strategies are most successful when they are NOT solely dependant upon the resources of their own culture. However, Isengard has several very unique characteristics, which makes it the strongest cultural choice upon which to build a sound and powerful strategic foundation.
ISENGARD’S STRENGTHS: 1. DAMAGE +1: Most Uruk-Hai are damage +1, which gives them very strong stopping power even without the support of strength modifiers. 2. VERSATILITY: Isengard has the best range of effective special cards in the game ranging from strength enhancement to possession destruction. 3. ISENGARD ORCS: A class of minions with a range of native effects such as canceling special archery ability to exhausting the Fellowship’s companions.
However powerful these characteristics may seem, Isengard suffers from several basic strategic weaknesses that can only be reinforced by elements from the remaining Shadow cultures. This is when the Isengard melting pot fully realized.
ISENGARD’S SUPPORT: 1. SAURON: Tower Assassin – Isengard does not have the native capability to remove allied support. Albert Dreary (who can exert to remove Isengard and Moria conditions), Orophin (special directed archery against Uruk-Hai) and Rumil (special directed archery against Orcs) are strong examples of such allies. The Tower Assassin, with his 11 strength and 3 vitality, can eliminate such allied support which makes him a perfect choice when used in concert with the Uruk Ravager. 2. NAZGUL: Ulaire Enquea – During the maneuver phase, spot 6 companions (or 5 burdens) and exert this minion to wound any companion except the ring-bearer. Ulaire Enquea is a strong addition to any shadow strategy. Coupled with Isengard’s newly enhanced abilities to inflict both heavy damage (with the Orcs) and burdens (Worry, Can You Protect Me From Yourself); sooner or later, members of the Fellowship will fall to the dark power of this devastating black rider. 3. MORIA: Goblin Runner – When you play this minion, you may add 2 to the twilight pool. Perfect for any situation where additional twilight, and an extra attacking minion, is necessary. Twilight depravation is a key strategy against Isengard so if it is possible, make sure to include the Goblin Runner (several if possible) to your deck.
Of course there are various other excellent candidates that you can also stir into the Isengard “melting pot”. Look through your collections and discover which minions can best enhance your Isengard strategy. Choosing the right support will transform your deck dramatically and will give you a better understanding of how this culture truly works.
Now you are probably asking yourself, “If these combinations make Isengard even stronger, how can it possibly be defeated?” As I mentioned earlier, understanding Isengard will give you greater insight into its strengths – and its weaknesses. After playtesting several different Isengard strategies, you will realize that it is vulnerable to a great many things. Here are a few key examples, which routinely plague Isengard strategies:
ISENGARD’S WEAKNESSES: 1. ARCHERY: First and foremost, Uruk-Hai and Orcs are extremely vulnerable to archery fire. Uruk-Hai support cards are heavily exertion based, as are the special abilities of Isengard Orcs. Archery fire can either eliminate an Isengard minion (or minions) outright, or strip it of its ability to execute a potentially dangerous secondary action. Aside from Spies of Saruman, there is no other Isengard resource that can cancel the archery phase. And with the addition of Gondor Bowmen to compliment Legolas, Elven Bows, The Splendor of Their Banners, Double Shot and Aragorn’s Bow – Isengard minions can be easily kept at bay or eliminated, increasing the potential for that critical second site move. 2. ALLIES: As mentioned previously, the right allies can cripple Isengard decks. Without the Tower Assassin, Isengard has no counter to the versatile support which Fellowship Allies – especially Elven allies – can provide. 3. TWILIGHT DENIAL: As with all minions, managing the twilight pool is the key to the success of your game. However, the Isengard Orc class is extremely vulnerable to the game text of both Sting and Glamdring and can severely hurt your chances of generating an attack force of significant stopping power. 4. DIRECT DAMAGE: Properly executed, there are several key combinations that can severely reduce the attacking numbers of both Uruk-Hai and Orc based decks. For example, the direct damage inflicted by Orc-Bane (used in concert with Sting and Glamdring) is deadly to both classes of minions. Complimented by archery fire, Orc-Bane has the potential to eliminate an Isengard attack force even before the Skirmish phase begins. 5. ARMOR: Armor is perhaps the single greatest and most effective possession against the Uruk-Hai. It is effective not only against their Damage +1 ability, but it also negates the power of damage modifiers like Lurtz’s Battle Cry.
As you can see, there are many different ways that you can combat the seemingly “unstoppable” power of Isengard. The examples provided above are only a glimpse of various strategies, which can soundly defeat this seemingly “broken and unbeatable” enemy. The KEY to successfully defeating Isengard is the ability to anticipate your opponent’s strategies. And the only way to do that is to study Isengard and learn its strengths, weaknesses, timing and countermeasures.
So, after reading this in-depth study of Isengard, do you still believe that it is unbeatable? Do you still think the overall culture is broken? Remember, every player has a weakness, every strategy has a weakness and every enemy has a weakness. The best part about playing this game is trying to discover those weakness is and exploit them!
Thanks for being a great audience. You’ve heard all my thoughts on this subject – now I would like to hear yours.
Feedback is always more than welcome, so drop me a line here and let me know if this information was helpful to you – or if you have your own ideas on this subject.
Since LOTR is about to appear on PPV, we’re all gonna have to deal with some weird movie descriptions… Tolkien help us, but here’s what this month’s Cable Guide says:
“Fans of the fantasy genre rejoiced and those who weren’t fans were quickly converted after witnessing the epic tale of Frodo and his turbulent quest to return a ring to its rightful place before it’s slipped onto the wrong finger.”
…Kinda vague, but I’m sure we’ll see worse. 🙂 Just one of the things we geeks have to put up with…
There’s nothing more infuriating than buying a DVD of a movie you like and then discovering weeks later that a special edition will be coming out, forcing you to buy a second version of the same film. That’s just bad business, but it happens a lot, and it really ticks off consumers.
Several months ago when New Line announced the DVD release date for “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (New Line, 2001; rated PG-13; 2 hours, 58 minutes plus supplemental material; Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound; Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo; $29.95), it was very up-front and also announced that a second DVD, with a half-hour of restored footage, would follow a few months later (Nov. 12). That was a smart business decision. Letting consumers know where they stand is always good business.
But which DVD version of “The Lord or the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” should you buy, the one in stores or the one coming in November? Or should you get both?
The answer depends on what you want out of your DVD. If you’ve never read the classic J.R.R. Tolkien books on which the film is based and are familiar with the story only through the first of the three films made from the acclaimed trilogy, you might want to opt for the version now in release.
The movie looks and sounds great, and a second disc contains more than hours of supplemental material.
But if you love the books, as I do, you might want to wait for the version that’s due in less than three months.
I say that after having seen the three-minute-plus preview of the extended version that’s on the supplemental disc of the current version.
On that preview it’s clear that much of the footage restored by co-writer and director Peter Jackson, a true Tolkien fan, are scenes taken directly from the book that were trimmed for time.
In any case, if you opt to buy both versions you won’t be getting any duplicated extra material.
New Line promises that the extras that will show up on the four discs in the coming extended version are different from the extras on the current version. And the extended version will have a commentary track, something the current version does not have.
So what kind of extras will you find on the current version?
To begin, there are two behind-the-scenes documentaries, “Quest for the Ring,” a 21-minute-plus film that aired on Fox, and “A Passage to Middle-earth,” a 41-minute-plus film that aired on cable’s Sci-Fi Channel. My only complaint is that much of the material in the two programs is the same.
Actually, one of my favorite extras is “Welcome to Middle-earth,” a 16- minute-plus promotional film put together by Houghton Mifflin, the American publishers of all Tolkien’s work. Part of the film is an interview with Rayner Unwin, who, when he was a child in the 1930s, was asked by his publisher father to read a manuscript of “The Hobbit” and write a book review. Unwin’s favorable review led to his father publishing Tolkien’s “Hobbit,” and that led to the publishing of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy in the `50s.
Other extras include all 15 short films on the production that were placed on the film’s official Web site, lord oftherings.net, three theatrical trailers, six TV spots, a music video and a sneak peak at a coming video game tied to the films. My only complaint is that there’s a good bit of duplicated material here.
My favorite extra is a tantalizing behind-the-scenes preview of the second film in the trilogy, “The Two Towers,” which arrives in theaters in December. I’ve watched that preview a half-dozen times in anticipation of the second film.
To get more information, use the sites I use like the ones below. Simply find a movie or actor you want to see, go to one of the sites below and see if the film is playing in your area. mydigiguide.com, tv-now.com and IMDB.com
28 Days (2000) Albino Alligator (1996) Prophecy, The (1995) Crimson Tide (1995) American Yakuza (1994) Carlito’s Way (1993) Boiling Point (1993) Young Guns II (1990) Witness (1985) Purple Rose of Cairo, The (1985) Swing Shift (1984)
Shipping News, The (2001) Charlotte Gray (2001) Man Who Cried, The (2000) Gift, The (2000) Talented Mr. Ripley, The (1999) Thank God He Met Lizzie (1997) Oscar and Lucinda (1997)
X-Men (2000) Apt Pupil (1998) Restoration (1995) Cold Comfort Farm (1995) (TV) Ballad of Little Jo, The (1993) Plenty (1985) Keep, The (1983) Alfred the Great (1969)
Au Pair (1999) (TV) Secret of the Andes (1998) Cats Don’t Dance (1997) Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996) (V) Great White Hype, The (1996) Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing (1992) (TV) Waxwork (1988) Victor/Victoria (1982)
Sky Is Falling, The (2000) Deterrence (1999) Icebreaker (1999) Dish Dogs (1998) (V) Encino Man (1992) Memphis Belle (1990) War of the Roses, The (1989) Like Father, Like Son (1987)
Sleepy Hollow (1999) Jinnah (1998) Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (1994) Arabian Adventure (1979) Three Musketeers, The (1973) Death Line (1972) Hannie Caulder (1971) Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968)
Shadow Hours (2000) Storytellers, The (1999) Interceptors (1999) If Looks Could Kill (1996) (TV) Sworn to Justice (1996) Step Toward Tomorrow, A (1996) Murder in the First (1995) Death Machine (1995) Amos & Andrew (1993) Child’s Play 3 (1991) Child’s Play 2 (1990) Mississippi Burning (1988) Child’s Play (1988) Fatal Beauty (1987) Dune (1984)
Cell, The (2000) High Fidelity (2000) Yards, The (2000) Dogma (1999) Analyze This (1999) Truth About Cats & Dogs, The (1996) Se7en (1995) White Man’s Burden (1995) Ed Wood (1994) Client, The (1994) Prelude to a Kiss (1992) Kiss Before Dying, A (1991) Innocent Man, An (1989) Moving (1988) Nadine (1987) Fly, The (1986) Fire with Fire (1986) After Hours (1985)
Missed all the DCON news from this weekend? Calisuri, Corvar, Tehanu, Jincey and all TORN staffers have been posting daily reports on all the goodies a day before the con opened to late after it closed…take a look at all the info below!
Friday August 30th: Somewhere behind the fog, the sun rose in Atlanta. The TORN staff rose considerably later…Today DragonCon started to fill up with guests, though we ain’t seen nothing yet. [More]
Saturday August 31st: After a succesful presentation, the TORn staff went out on the town. So Mhuirrich, a great friend and helper for the site, offered to write today’s report. Hope you enjoy! [More]
Sunday September 1st: Day three of the Con was the biggest yet. I pity any unsuspecting hotel guest who chose this weekend to stay at either of these hotels, unless they happened to be broad-minded and loved science fiction and fantasy. For us, we loved the endless parade of mind-boggling costumes that passed our table. [More]
PHOTOS
Day 2 Photo Gallery (taken by Asfaloth) – General DragonCon, Atlanta and other photos
Day 2 Photo Gallery (taken by Calisuri, Saulone, Bill) – Pictures of general DCon crowd, TORnado Bowling Shirts and the contestents in the ‘Evening in Bree’ Costume Contest.
Day 3 Photo Gallery (taken by Calisuri, Saulone, Andy, others…l) – Pictures of general Fan Table crowd, prize winners, TORn presentaiton crowd and activity and much more!
Press Release: The Topanga Canyon performance of The Hobbit won’t be the only production in California this September. The Chico Cabaret, located in the northern California “City of Trees” Chico will begin our version of Tolkien’s timeless tale on September 12th! Starring 30 children and three adults, this performance will be amusing and thrilling for the entire family. Enclosed is a copy of our poster ( which is a Photoshopped rendition of Mark Lawrence, who is playing Gandalf). During the next week I’ll try to send more photos, and hopefully, newspaper clippings,as the sets go up, the costumes and makeup are tried on, and the rehearsals become increasingly grueling and stressful! This will be a lighthearted and humorous production, and if you live anywhere in northern California it will be worth the journey. Think of it as your own personal Ring Quest!
