LotR TCG Card Strategies - #9

Cave Troll of Moria - Scourge of the Black Pit

He's big. He's not terribly subtle. He loves having Hobbits for dinner. He's... the Cave Troll of Moria

Ok, it's a big minion. What's the strategy? Well... yeah, it's a REALLY big minion. As big as they come. He's strong enough to overwhelm anyone but Aragorn or Boromir Lord of Gondor unless the opponent has a some way to increase their strength. On top of that, he's Fierce, so there's a good chance he kills two Companions whenever he shows up.

For his power, he's actually pretty cheap - only 7 Twilight underground. Four of the six Site 4's are underground, and you can always rely on the Bridge at Site 5. At later sites, Moria decks tend to have more Twilight then they need, so you can afford the extra 3 cost there. You need to spot a Moria Orc to play him, but those are pretty cheap, too. In fact, the easiest combo is to use the Cave Troll with a Goblin Runner.

A minion that big will likely discourage the Fellowship from moving again. For this reason, it's best to save the Troll for the first Site on the opponents turn and take advantage of having him attack twice or slow the opposing Fellowship. This can hurt players who plan to move to Sites 5 and 6 in one turn to end up at the Sanctuary.

The Troll has his own weapon, which is good beacause there's not much else for him. The majority of Moria culture cards that affect minions specify they play on Orcs. That means you can't use Host of Thousands, Drums in the Deep, Goblin Armory, etc. There's only a few things you CAN use with Cave Trolls. He will enable The End Comes and Relentless, if you can afford the other Minions; Fool of a Took can take the Troll to your hand.

The really interesting card for the Troll is the Goblin Spear. (and it's kinda funny to imagine that.) The Spear makes the Troll big enough to overwhelm Aragorn and probably overwhelm most other companions despite Skirmish Events. And with the Troll likely killing two companions a turn, the burdens will start to stack up.

How does one survive the Cave Troll? Usually you don't. OK, fine, I'll try to be a little more optimistic. Armor will make a difference, though you still take a lot of damage. Hobbit Stealth / Intuition is a smart idea. Or throw a Lorien Elf / Dwarf Guard to him to minimize your damage. Keep him from following you with Gondor's Vengeance. This illustrates why the Troll is so powerful, you really can't beat him, you can only resort to damage control. As we say around here, "you don't fight Cave Trolls, you feed them."