LotR TCG Card Strategies - #7

Orophin, Lorien Bowman
Rumil, Elven Protector

I'm going to cover these two together because they're almost identical.

The most basic strategic value of these elves is clear, you can shoot any Orc/Uruk of your choice at any site. This can get rid of an entire Minion and save Frodo from having to go into combat. Against stronger minions, this can help you kill them off in one combat, saving you the trouble of fighting them twice if they're Fierce or if you move again. 2 specific damage to Orcs/Uruks with a card that costs just 2 Twilight is a bargain by itself. But wait... it gets better...

Can you get them to deal more than 2 damage? Healing them is not that difficult. Just stack three or four copies of Orophin in a deck. You're bound to get one in play quickly, so you can use his ability at early sites while your fellowship is weak. The extra copies can then be discarded to heal him, giving you an additional shot each time.

Galadriel is useful for healing these Allies, and she can get them in play for free. The combination of Galadriel / Celeborn will give you a way to heal two wounds on one Ally every turn. Unfortunately that only gives you a way to heal a total of three wounds a turn between the two elves, but you're likely have a spare copy of one of them in hand each turn. I also find that only one of them is useful against a particular opponent. In multiplayer you may need both of them, but you can still tell which one is more important based on which opponent is playing more Minions against you. (Remember, the player to your right will have just Reconciled before your turn, so odds are they have the most Minions in hand to play on you.)

What if there's no one to shoot? What if Orophin is in play and the opponent isn't using Uruk-hai? or worse, what if you're facing Nazgul? Well, there's still plenty of uses for these allies. First off, they are still Elves. Spot them for cards like Durin's Secret, Council of Elrond, or Elf-Song. If they don't have a target to shoot, they're perfect to exert for Shoulder to Shoulder or Seen and Unseen. You may also compensate for one Elf being useless against certain opponents by using Orophin to play Curse Their Foul Feet or using Rumil to play Foul Creation. They will let you use Lorien Elves without needing Legolas, should something untoward happen to him. Or, more simply, you can start with Gandalf in a Wizard/Elf deck and can play Loriens after drawing either Legolas OR one of these Allies. That makes your deck flow a lot faster, and you might be able to use fewer copies of Legolas, making room for other cards.

The other use for these Allies is at their Home Site 6. No matter what Minions the opponent is using, these two add to your Archery total at Site 6. Combined with the low Twilight numbers on every Site 6, it will be very easy for you to move there, even if you just moved to Site 5 that same turn and took some wounds. The elves can also Skirmish at Site 6, letting you throw them in front of Minions and save your Fellowship, or at least keep down the number of Wounds you will have to heal at the Sanctuary. If the opponent isn't using Orcs, go ahead and sacrifice Rumil and save your Companions for the dangers at Sites 7-9.