The Sauron Culture | openCards

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Sauron iconThe Sauron Culture

    This Strategy-Note article was written by Cynthia Hart and was published first on "Lord of the Rings Online (lotrtcg.decipher.com)".

    Sauron. His name carries such evil that he is usually referred to as "the Dark Power" or "the Dark Lord." His is the eye in the Dark Tower that does not sleep. His is the hand that reaches across all lands to bring sorrow and misery to all that are good and kind.

    Yet for all this power, Sauron is almost never seen. He works behind the scenes; he manipulates others, gathers information from his many spies, and uses his endless supply of Orcs to enforce his will. Accordingly, the Sauron culture has many and varied ways to stop the Fellowship in their journey; not only Orcs to carry the fight to the Fellowship, but spies and behind the scenes manipulation, represented by conditions and events, to make their journey harder even when few minions appear.

    Nor is his power over the Ring forgotten. The Sauron culture has several different ways to add burdens and take advantage of them: Thin and Stretched, Desperate Defense of the Ring, Gleaming in the Snow, Enduring Evil . . . So great is the Fellowship's fear of what Sauron can achieve through the Ring that they will do anything necessary to prevent it from falling back into Sauron's control, yet at the same time they are vulnerable to its effects.

    As the Fellowship leaves Rivendell, Elrond (from the book) has some final words for them: "You should fear the many eyes of the servants of Sauron. I do not doubt that news of the discomfiture of the Riders has already reached him, and he will be filled with wrath. Soon now his spies on foot and wing will be abroad in the northern lands. Even of the sky above you must beware as you go on your way." This concern is aptly illustrated in the well known Under the Watching Eye/Orc Bowmen decks that wear away at the Fellowship with wounds and exertions as they work their way down the site path.

    But Sauron did not confine himself solely to the Fellowship. He also attacked their allies, doing his best to block those who would support any effort to thwart his plans. The Sauron cultures boasts a number of ally-targeting cards, from minions like the Tower Assassin, to cards that add twilight like Our List of Allies Grow Thin. In fact, it's so good at targeting allies that its cards are often splashed into decks of other cultures.

    The fact that Sauron controls the Ringwraiths is not forgotten and the Sauron culture often works well combined with Ringwraith cards. Both cultures add burdens, though Sauron has more and varied ways to go about it, and both make good use of them when added. There even work directly together, with the Sauron culture card Morgul Skirmisher allowing you to retrieve Ringwraith cards from the discard pile, representing Sauron's ability to retrieve the Ringwraiths after they are washed away by the flood at the Ford of Bruinen.

    One of the more unusual ways that the game represents Sauron's ability to undermine the efforts of the Free People fighting against him is in card discarding. Just as Sauron distracts and weakens those who stand against him through battle or via the influence of the Ring, so does the Sauron culture provide ways of discarding cards to weaken your opponent's deck through winning battles (Band of the Eye, Tower Lieutenant), adding burdens (Desperate Measures) or even simply struggling along the path (Tower of Barad-dur).

    Sauron does not limit himself to manipulation and indirect weakening of the various Free Peoples cultures, however - he also has an army of Orcs at his command. This army originates from Mordor, far from where the Fellowship begins its journey, and so the Sauron culture Orcs are roaming until site 6, currently the highest home site in the game. This distance is offset by their ability to track the Fellowship and, via Sauron's spies, know where they are and what they are doing. Orcs that are "Trackers" lower the site costs or even lower the home site number to reduce roaming costs and demonstrate their ability to follow the Fellowship throughout its journey.

    These Orcs have such a great hatred of all whom oppose them that they can wound companions without even fighting, via cards such as Hate and Orc Bowmen; some of them, such as Orc Hunters or Orc Scouting Band, can wound those they fight even when they loose, via their special "exert to wound text."

    Even as Sauron plots to submerge the world in evil, using every tool he can subvert to his service, so does the Sauron culture of the LOTR TCG give the player many ways to stop the Fellowship and defeat Frodo. Focused less on direct force, and more on manipulation, surprises, and a slow and steady weakening of its enemies, Sauron can be fun to play, and particularly in the Standard format, can be quite effective.