LotR TCG Card Strategies - #18

Uruk Savage

This guy's weak. He only has 5 Strength. OK, 5 is going to beat most of the Companions, but he's still weak compared to other Uruk-hai. So why am I writing about him?

He's cheap. Sometimes that one extra minion makes all the difference, forcing those weaker companions into a fight. That's assuming you don't care about quality, only quantity.

Sure, there's 3 other 2-cost Uruks, but I like the Savage because of his high Vitality. The Soldier and the Messenger only have 1 Vit, the Spy is marginally better with his 2 Vit. The Savage, however, gives you plenty of Vitality to soak up opposing archery fire without losing anyone. (I usually talk about damage control strategies from the Fellowship point of view, but that all applies here for the Shadow side.) To repeat the quantity vs quality arguement - if you're left with a 5-strength minion with 2 wounds, would you rather have played a Shaman only to have him killed before skirmishing?

Even if you're not facing THAT much archery, the Savage helps keep wounds off your 2-Vitality Uruks. This helps the Fighter and Warrior survive to the Fierce skirmishes even if they lose the normal skirmish. It also allows them to use that Vit to play Bred for Battle. or, at the very least, this can make your opponent *suspicious* of Bred for Battle. ;-) There's plenty of other effects that require you to exert an Uruk-hai. Saruman's Snows, Cruel Caradhras, Saruman's Reach, Worry, etc, etc. With limited resources, especially from playing roaming Minions until site 5, having that one extra exertion can make a big difference in what you can play.