Winged and Ominous

"It scudded across the moon... outrunning the wind in its fell speed."

As a Nazgul player, twilight availability has always been a major concern. Nazgul are fairly costly and if you are unable to damage your opponent’s fellowship early in the game, it is unlikely that you will be able to do so at later sites. The Ents of Fangorn card Winged and Ominous offers an assist in the generation of pool. It is a condition that plays to your support area for only one twilight and with no requirement to spot any minions. This, and the fact that it is not unique, will insure that it never clogs up your hand. The condition’s function is to accumulate tokens for each exertion you can perform on your Nazgul during the Regroup phase. Then, during any shadow phase, you may remove 3 tokens to add two twilight.

Since this condition relies on your ability to exert your Nazgul, the best use of this card is with the non-Twilight Nazgul, such as the Fierce Nazgul from Fellowship block or Ulaire Nertea, Ulaire Toldea, and The Witch-King from Ents of Fangorn. These non-Twilight Nazgul have abilities that, for the most part, do not require exertions, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will be exhaustible in the Regroup phase.

And what of the uses for this condition? Even if you only get one use out of this card (two twilight), this is not without merit, for two twilight can allow you to play support cards such as Black Steeds, Nazgul Swords, Morgul Blades, and a whole host of strength boosting cards like Threshold of Shadow and All Veils Removed. In addition, this card can be used to add twilight which can then be removed to pay for successive uses of Not Easily Destroyed. This card (which can heal your Nazgul during the Maneuver or Skirmish phase) can be particularly devastating to your opponent’s large fellowship if Ulaire Enquea is on the table. Of course, the ideal of use of this card is to generate a large enough quantity of pool to play a large number of Nazgul. If you can keep the condition in play long enough, you should be able to accomplish this. To this end, consider playing Winged and Ominous in multiple copies and with other conditions (Black Breath or Pale Blade) that will be a more likely target for your opponent’s condition removal.