Throughout the Dwarrowdelf cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, the heroes of Middle-earth have been tasked by Elrond to find the root of the increased Orc activity in the Misty Mountains. Through treacherous mountain passes, goblin ambushes, dark tunnels, and underground waterways, their journey leads them at last to the depths of Moria... and the terrible discovery that awaits them!

Shadow and Flame is the climactic final Adventure Pack in the Dwarrowdelf cycle. Its 60 cards introduce a new hero, three copies of each player card, and conclude the epic saga’s narrative arc with an all-new scenario that pits the heroes of Middle-earth against a demon from the times of Morgoth in the fight of their lives!

• The thrilling conclusion of the Dwarrowdelf cycle of Adventure Packs
• An all-new scenario pits the heroes of Middle-earth in combat against a Balrog
• Makes exciting new use of encounter cards from the Khazad-dûm Expansion
• A clever encounter deck strategy keeps the heroes under constant pressure
• Players gain new deck options from a powerful hero and new player cards

The third Adventure Pack in the Ered Mithrin cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

You thought you could rest. After roaming far across Wilderland and slaying two powerful Dragon spawn, you have arrived at the Woodman settlement of Hrogar’s Hill, where you hope to gain some much-needed respite from the dangers that have plagued you throughout your recent days. But it is not meant to be. Shortly after starting a meal, you are roused by the sound of alarm. Outside, a terrifying red-orange glow has cut a swath through the black night. The Dragons’ mother has arrived to exact her revenge.

The Dragon's Wrath
This Adventure Pack finds you joining the Woodmen in a spirited defense of their home. Your quest had pointed to Mount Gundabad and a hunt for the Dragon Dagnir the Terrible, but now she has found you. You can only imagine the destruction she will cause if she escapes into the night. This must end now.

Unlike most other adventures you’ve experienced in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, Fire in the Night plays out across a single Quest Card. Dagnir (Fire in the Night, 74) is a ferocious beast, and her fury has only been stoked by the death of her children. Rather than attack individual characters, then, she unleashes her wrath on the entire settlement of Hrogar’s Hill. It’s up to you to defeat her before she leaves the Woodmen’s stronghold a smoldering ruin.

This is no easy task. Not only is Dagnir a formidable opponent, she has not come to Hrogar’s Hill alone. A host of Orcs has followed her from Gundabad and many force you to choose between damage to your party or damage to Hrogar’s Hill. If The Dragon's Thrall (Fire in the Night, 75) engages you, for example, it will either deal three damage to Hrogar’s Hill or you will face an immediate attack from the Orc itself. The city’s walls are strong, but who can say how long they will hold out against such persistent—and numerous—foes?

Mount Your Defense
As you begin your defense of Hrogar’s Hill, your attention will immediately be split in many different directions. Your main goal may be to defeat Dagnir, but other tasks may appear out of the set aside side quest deck. The top card of this deck is revealed and added to the staging area at the end of the planning phase and each of the eight cards in it represent different tasks you can perform to aid the Woodmen in protecting Hrogar's Hill. You may be asked to Draw Her Fire (Fire in the Night, 66) to give the people of Hrogar’s Hill more time to regroup before Dagnir's next attack, or Defend the Town (Fire in the Night, 71) from the relentless assault of the Orcs.

No matter what problems arise, these cards are considered both quest cards and encounter cards, and you can only focus your attention on one of them at a time. It is easy to lose hope as the flames spread and Dagnir batters the gate, splitting the mighty oaken gate of Hrogar’s Hill, but not all is lost. While all of the encounter side quests hinder you in some way, defeating them can also give you a lift just when you need it. If you’re able to Hold the Door (Fire in the Night, 70), for example, each player’s threat is reduced by five, granting you a temporary reprieve from the constant onslaught of enemies.

Aid From Mirkwood
To help you repel Dagnir and her host of Orcs, Fire in the Night provides you with powerful new player cards to strengthen your heroes and fight back against the Dragon. Leading the way is Thranduil (Fire in the Night, 56). No stranger to defending his realm, the ruler of Mirkwood can lend his high defense to fending off Dagnir’s attacks. Even better, Thranduil can quickly summon his allies, playing a Silvan ally in the midst of combat without needing the normal resource match.

As a Noble, Thranduil is also afforded more power than your average hero, and you can make this a reality by naming him or any other Silvan hero The Elvenking (Fire in the Night, 57). As you might expect, this Title grants its bearer a good deal more freedom to contribute throughout the round. Exhausting The Elvenking and returning a Silvan ally to your hand gives the attached hero the opportunity to ready and continue the fight. Every ally is valuable in a battle against a threat like Dagnir, of course, but an ally like Galion (Fire in the Night, 63) is ideally suited to this task. He cannot attack or defend and only has a single willpower for a round, making him perfect for use by The Elvenking.

While the defense provided by a hero like Thranduil is certainly welcome, you’ll also need some warriors you can deal some damage if you hope to bring down a mighty Dragon like Dagnir. A legendary blade such as Orcrist (Fire in the Night, 58) can give any hero a boost, increasing their attack. What’s more, whoever wields Orcrist is also rewarded with a resource for cutting down an enemy, giving them all the motivation they need to face the Orcs head-on.

Slay the Dragon
The longer the battle rages, the higher the flames will grow, threatening to consume the entirety of Hrogar’s Hill. Yet, despite the destruction that surrounds you, this is also an opportunity to destroy the Dragon you have hunted for. Take up your arms and begin your defense!

Middle-earth is a vast land full of mystery, but equally vast and perhaps even more mysterious than its quiet fields and lush forests are the great caverns and tunnels that lie below its surface. These ancient halls are the domain of Dwarves and can hold great riches for those who know where to look. But who knows what untold dangers lurk in the darkness below the ancient mansions of the Dwarves?

Your adventures continue in Escape from Khazad-dûm, the event kit for the upcoming Fellowship 2020. In this scenario, you have become lost underground after entering Moria with the hope of finding mithril. Surrounded by utter black and running low on supplies, you must find your way out of Khazad-dûm before it’s too late. In these vast caverns, one wrong turn could mean disaster.

Unknown Terrors
Whether you decide to tackle The Mines of Moria or Escape from Khazad-dûm, these custom scenario kits offer you a different type of quest than those found in a standard Adventure Pack. Instead, they give you everything you need to build and play out your own adventures. Each of these kits contains seven quest cards: one Stage 1 card, three Stage 2 cards, and three Stage 3 cards that can be mixed and matched to create a unique adventure.

There’s no telling what hazards you could encounter in the deeps of Moria and each quest card slightly alters your journeys in the mines. As you draw closer to discovering The Fate of Balin (The Mines of Moria, 8), for instance, the first player could be presented with a terrible choice. Similarly, your search for a way out of Khazad-dûm could take A Wrong Turn (Escape from Khazad-dûm, 4), putting a severe strain on your resources.

Whatever your goal, you won’t be navigating the mines alone. All manner of vile beasts live in the deep places of the world and will not take your intrusion into their domain lightly. Both The Mines of Moria and Escape from Khazad-dûm also include 70 encounter cards (14 encounter sets of 5 cards each) and, while you cannot mix quest cards from both sets, you’re free to choose encounter cards from both when building a custom scenario.

Like the quest cards, each encounter set lends its own flavor to your adventure, helping you tailor the experience to the mode you’re playing. If you’re playing a standard 1–4 player cooperative game, you could choose to test yourself by facing a Cave Spider (Escape from Khazad-dûm, 15). Alternatively, if you’re engaging in a thrilling race to see who can complete each other’s custom scenario first in a competitive game, you can directly sabotage your opponents with a Sudden Pitfall (The Mines of Moria, 29). Either way, the adventure will be uniquely your own.

Forge Your Path
There are many unknown roads through Moria. Build your own path through them as you recreate your adventures from Gen Con 2019 and Fellowship 2020 with these Custom Scenario Kits!

Now, you can step more fully into the realm of Middle-earth with a new 26" x 26" gamemat!

When facing the agents of Sauron or the Dark Lord himself, you will need all the help you can gather. The Fellowship 1-4 Player Gamemat provides an expansive 26" x 26" play surface to accommodate up to four players banding together and preparing for battle against the forces of darkness.

This mat immerses you in the world of The Lord of the Rings with its beautifully illustrated map of Middle-earth, covering all the way from Rhûn to the Sundering Seas. Above this section stands a second illustration of the Fellowship themselves beside clearly designated deck areas to organize your own adventures, complete with sections for your Quest, Active Location, Encounter Deck, and Discard Pile.

The fifth The Lord of the Rings Saga Expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

Brave the Paths of the Dead, battle the Corsairs at Pelargir, and stand fast against the Witch-King and the armies of Mordor during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields! Drawn directly from the key events of the first half of The Return of the King, The Flame of the West returns our attention to Aragorn, the Grey Company, and the plight of Gondor, even while the fates of Frodo Baggins and the One Ring remain uncertain.

With its 165 new cards, The Flame of the West introduces three new scenarios with a decidedly epic bent. War is kindled, and your actions will determine whether or not Gondor stands. Fortunately, you will not ride alone. The Flame of the West introduces a new version of Aragorn (The Flame of the West, 1) to lead you, as well as two new heroes, two boons, and thirty player cards (three copies each of ten different cards) divided between the four spheres of influence.

Whether you dive into The Flame of the West with only the Core Set, or you play through it as the fifth movement in your The Lord of the Rings campaign, you'll be thrilled and challenged as you race across Gondor to defend the city of Minas Tirith in its moment of greatest peril!

Ride Against the Shadow
With their different scenarios, all the various expansions to The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game introduce new stories and challenges. Many of these scenarios go even further, introducing new rules that lend them subtle—but meaningful—twists that defy expectations and keep your gaming experiences fresh with each new journey into Middle Earth.

The Flame of the West is no exception to this model. In fact, while its three new scenarios recall some of the most memorable action from the first half of The Return of the King, they continue to lend additional vigor to the game and your enjoyment of it. More specifically, while all three share the grandiose and desperate tones befitting their source material, each plays in an entirely different fashion.

The Passing of the Grey Company
In the novels, The Passing of the Grey Company is a chapter marked prominently by the heavy dread that fell over the Grey Company as they approached the shadows of black Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain, and the Dark Door that led into the Paths of the Dead.

In The Flame of the West, The Passing of the Grey Company gives us the Paths of the Dead, its darkened network of caverns, and the Undead spirits that inhabited them. Despite the terror these spirits prompted in the members of the Grey Company, they never assailed them. Still, were it not for Aragorn, the Company may have panicked and failed to complete its passage. Accordingly, these spirits come with the Phantom keyword, which assigns any damage they would deal as threat increase, rather than as wounds to your heroes or allies.

Additionally, to more fully represent the terror the Company experienced while traveling through the Paths of the Dead, The Passing of the Grey Company introduces Overcome by Fear (The Flame of the West, 16). Working hand-in-hand with the scenario's Phantom Undead to add urgency and a measure of fear to your passage, this objective attaches to your threat dial during setup and raises your threat an extra point each round until you spend one of Aragorn's resources to remove it.

The Siege of Gondor
While The Siege of Gondor draws its inspiration directly from the novels, it carries players through a series of events that never played out on the foreground of The Return of the King. After Aragorn and the Grey Company traversed the Paths of the Dead, they seized the fleet of ships that had belonged to the Haradrim and Corsairs of Umbar, and they sailed the fleet to Minas Tirith and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields

In The Siege of Gondor, these events are brought to the fore, as you and your friends join Aragorn and the Grey Company to battle the Corsairs and seize their ships. Moreover, time is of the essence, and The Siege of Gondor introduces a unique, double-sided objective, The Corsair Fleet (The Flame of the West, 71), which helps tie your progress through this quest directly into your efforts in the expansion's final quest.

The Battle of the Pelennor Fields
The Battle of the Pelennor Fields goes above and beyond nearly every scenario in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game in its efforts to serve as the capstone for multiple quests and scenarios. In the novels, the Free Peoples only barely won the Battle of the Pelennor Fields because the Men of Gondor stood fast long enough to receive reinforcements from the Rohirrim and then the aid of Aragorn and the Grey Company.

Accordingly, The Battle of the Pelennor Fields is a uniquely sophisticated scenario that related directly to the results of other scenarios in both standard play and Campaign Mode. In The Battle of the Pelennor Fields, your victory in hinges upon the results of your previous quests, and you'll want to ensure that Aragorn arrives as early as possible. However, in Campaign Mode, Aragorn's arrival in The Battle of the Pelennor Fields is timed according to the number of tokens on The Corsair Fleet , and the number of enemies he'll face at the battle's peak is tied to the results of your progress through the scenarios of The Land of Shadow.

Stand with the Men of Gondor
As much of the action in The Flame of the West and the first half of The Return of the King culminates in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, it is only appropriate that the expansion's new heroes and player cards represent the strength of the alliance between the Men of Gondor, the Riders of Rohan, and the Elves and Dúnedain of the Grey Company. Nearly all the new player cards bear either the Gondor, Rohan, or Dúnedain traits, and those that don't are designed to fit in any deck that must survive a brutal combat waged at a feverish pitch.

Moreover, as the player cards, like the scenarios, are inspired by the first half of The Return of the King, you'll find new boons that allow you to swear your fealty to either Gondor or Rohan, and you'll find a new Tactics version of Éowyn (The Flame of the West, 2).

The woman who slew the Witch-king, Éowyn still comes with the same four Willpower as her Core Set version, but she gains an uncanny ability—once per game—to do things it was said that no man could do. She can ready herself and gain a nine-point bonus to her Attack Strength, raising it to ten, which is enough to take down even the mightiest of foes.

The Beacons Are Alight
The beacons of Gondor are alight. War is kindled, and The Flame of the West is bringing all the desperate action of the first half of The Return of the King straight to your table.

• Relive the adventures of Aragorn and the Grey Company
• Three new scenarios draw directly from key events from the first half of The Return of the King
• Introduces a new version of Aragorn, as well as two other heroes and thirty new player cards
• Campaign Mode allows you to tie your adventures into the epic sweep of The Lord of the Rings

The fifth deluxe expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

The Grey Havens and its 165 new cards allow you to adventure along the westernmost edges of Middle-earth, and then travel even further west… across the uncharted waters where the proud hosts of Númenor met their doom many long generations back. Three new scenarios feature mechanics for ships and sailing, as well as a heavy emphasis on exploration. Then, even as the troubled dreams of one Gondorian nobleman spur you to undertake an epic journey to the ruins of Númenor, The Grey Havens casts you deep into turbulent waters where Corsairs, Raiders, Undead, and the seas themselves pose constant threats.

Additionally, two new heroes appear in The Grey Havens, as well as new allies, events, and attachments for each sphere of influence. These support the expansion's nautical themes and continue to develop the different themes first associated with the Noldor trait in the Angmar Awakened cycle, adding more cards that grow in strength as other cards are added to your discard pile.

Finally, the twelve encounter sets in The Grey Havens establish a new tone for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, as its new enemies, locations, and treachery cards transport you to a new region of Middle-earth. As you adventure on the high seas, you'll experience ship-to-ship combat, fight back boarding parties, explore uncharted isles, and struggle to guide your ship through dark storms and massive waves. More than that, these new encounter sets lay the foundation for the upcoming Dream-chaser cycle of Adventure Packs.

Lead Developer Matthew Newman on The Grey Havens
Ever since I first read The Lord of the Rings, I have been fascinated by the Elves of the Grey Havens and the oceans of Middle-earth. I love the beautiful and sorrowful imagery that accompanies those Elves who sail to Valinor, never to return. These ideas prompted me to wonder what would happen if our heroes went on a sea voyage of their own, across the seas of Middle-earth. What adventures would they share? What challenges would they face? As I pondered these questions, they led, ultimately, to the development of The Grey Havens and the accompanying Dream-chaser cycle.

Very early in development, the team recognized that sailing needed to feel different from walking overland. To that end, The Grey Havens features new rules for Ships and Sailing that help drive the feeling of navigating the high seas. Ships are a new card type in The Grey Havens, appearing as both objectives and enemies. At the beginning of each scenario in which the players are sailing, each player chooses and takes control of one of the four Ship-Objectives included in this expansion. (In a game with only one player, that player takes control of two Ship-Objectives, instead.) These Ships represents the vessels on which all of your characters are sailing, and each Ship boasts stellar stats along with a powerful ability. However, each Ship is immune to player card effects, and if any player's Ship sinks, that player is eliminated from the game.

As an example of what these Ships offer, the Dawn Star (The Grey Havens, 81) has good Willpower and Attack, excels at Defense, and gives its controller an additional card every turn. The Silver Wing (The Grey Havens, 83), on the other hand, has poor Willpower and Defense, but great Attack, and is the only Ship that features the Ranged keyword. It also boosts the Attack Strength of each of its controller's heroes, and lowers that player's starting threat. The choice of which Ship you sail will have a huge impact on your experience, and adds to the replayability of these scenarios.

Even though your Ship has fantastic stats, it will only ever act once each turn – to quest, attack, or defend – so how you decide to use your Ship is extremely important. Making this choice even more difficult is the existence of Corsair Ship-Enemies, like the Light Cruiser (The Grey Havens, 57). Not only is this Ship enemy a massive threat, but it always comes with additional enemies thanks to its “Boarding” keyword. This keyword represents the individual Corsairs battling your heroes and allies on board the two grappled ships. Your Ship can only defend against enemy Ships (and is, in fact, the only thing that can defend against enemy Ships), so if you are engaged with a Ship-Enemy and use your Ship to quest or attack, you’ll find your Ship taking tons of damage! Carefully managing your Ship’s actions and learning when you can afford to risk a little damage to your Ship are the keys to defeating these powerful enemies.

Of course, the most important thing is that these new Ship cards help immerse you in your quest and its narrative as you sail across the seas of Middle-earth. But Sailing isn’t the only thing players can look forward to in The Grey Havens. The overarching themes of this cycle are exploration and discovery, and you'll find that its scenarios also drive these themes home with new “Uncharted” locations. Finally, The Grey Havens also gives you your first opportunity to take control of Círdan the Shipwright (The Grey Havens, 1) and the Elves of Mithlond, who take the Noldor themes introduced in the Angmar Awakened cycle to the next level, introducing cards that increase in power with each copy of that card in the discard pile, and cards that grow more powerful depending on the card that's on the top of your discard pile!

Beyond all this, there’s still a lot more to discover in The Grey Havens, and I can’t wait for players to learn more from upcoming previews and then sail the high seas in search of adventure!

Hoist the Mainsail
The call has come from the Grey Havens. Círdan the Shipwright seeks your aid in a matter that he senses is of the utmost importance. Will you answer the call? Where will one Gondorian nobleman's ominous dreams take you? Soon, the time will come to raise anchor and hoist the mainsail.

• The fifth deluxe expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
• Focuses on exploration and discovery with new rules for Ships and Sailing
• Three new scenarios carry you across the uncharted waters where the hosts of Númenor met their doom many generations back
• Two new heroes and a host of new player cards expand your deck-building options
• Twelve encounter sets portray an all-new region of Middle-earth, even while laying the foundation for the upcoming Dream-chaser cycle of Adventure Packs

The second Adventure Pack in the Haradrim cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

Freshly seated atop the oliphaunts they captured and tamed, a small band of Middle-earth's greatest heroes begin their journey through the deserts and dangers of Harad. However, they don't get far before they hear the distant howling of wargs. And where the warg howls, there also the orc prowls.

The new scenario in Race Across Harad pits the heroes against these wargs and their riders, all within the treacherous wilds of Harad. Their towering oliphaunts may give the heroes an advantage, however, even their oliphaunts cannot keep the heroes safe for long from the warg-riders and their barbed arrows. Instead, their only choice is to quicken their pace and race toward the Ford of Harnen. There, the heroes' massive oliphaunts might be able to crash through waters too deep for the wargs to cross…

Featuring scenario-specific rules that allow the Orcs and wargs to pursue the heroes from their own staging area, Race Across Harad brings this frantic chase to life in dramatic fashion, as you and your friends need to progress through your quest stages more quickly than the Orcs progress through their own.

Simultaneously, the Adventure Pack introduces a new Dúnedain hero in the Lore sphere, as well as three copies each of nine different player cards that enhance a wide range of the game's existing keywords, Traits, and mechanics. You'll find support for everything from Mounts to side quests and from the Doomed keyword to the cycle's new focus on events that offer powerful rewards when you can target specific pairs of Traits.

The Wandering Folk
Since the Angmar Awakened cycle of Adventure Packs more or less took place in their backyard, it offered a great deal of support to the Dúnedain of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, many of whom secretly lived as Rangers, tirelessly hunting the Enemy's minions across the North in order to safeguard the realms of Men.

While the Haradrim cycle doesn't focus on the Dúnedain, it does, nonetheless, deal extensively with your heroes' travels through the wilderness. No doubt, the sands of Harad offer a very different wilderness than they might find in the chilly North, but wherever you may need a guide or a scout, the Dúnedain remain among the game's most talented trackers. And as you look to find your way through the early stages of your journey, Race Across Harad offers some promising new support for these Scouts and Rangers.

For starters, it introduces the new Ranger hero, Thurindir (Race Across Harad, 28) who comes with two Willpower but gains an additional point for each side quest you complete. More than that, he has a unique Setup ability that allows him to fetch a side quest out of your deck after you draw your opening hand. That means that Thurindir doesn't just introduce new options to your Dúnedain Rangers, but he also increases the utility of victory display manipulation decks using Rossiel (Escape from Mount Gram, 28) and Scout Ahead (The Wastes of Eriador, 9).

Of course, Race Across Harad also introduces the new side quest, Explore Secret Ways (Race Across Harad, 36), and Thurindil guarantees you the chance to get it into play as early as possible, meaning you'll derive more benefit from its lasting effect. Especially in the course of a four-player game, this can make a tremendous difference as you look to cross Harad and its arid expanses.

But even if you're not using side quests, Thurindir's two Willpower and two Attack Strength are solid additions to your fellowship, and if you give him a Steed of the North (Race Across Harad, 30), you can make use of both every time you quest and then engage an enemy. The result is that Thurindir and his ability to guide your company along alternate paths may help you more swiftly travel through Harad and defeat all the enemies you face along your way.

Ride an Oliphaunt
Whether you play with Thurindir or attempt to make your way through Harad with another band of heroes, Race Across Harad is your chance to ride a Tamed Mûmak (Race Across Harad, 38) and test its might against the packs of wargs and warg-riders that will be hard upon your heels.

• The second Adventure Pack in the Haradrim cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
• A new scenario pits Middle-earth’s heroes against warg-riders in a frantic race
• Promotes new deck designs with a Dúnedain hero and twenty-nine player cards
• Offers support for a range of existing mechanics, including side quests and the Doomed keyword
• Continues to develop the cycle’s focus on alliances and decks built around paired Traits

The sixth and final Adventure Pack in the Haradrim cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

For several of Middle-earth's heroes, the end to a long and difficult journey through Harad is nearly within sight. These heroes have survived a shipwreck and a desert crossing. They have tamed Mûmakil and allied themselves to a tribe of good-willed Haradrim. They have battled Orcs and Wargs. They have confronted Giant Spiders and wicked Southrons. And they have freed their friends from one of the Dark Lord's dungeons.

But now the friends they have freed are slowing them down. The heroes know the Orcs and Wargs will soon return—and in greater numbers. The Southrons will want their revenge. And there are still many miles to cross before they reach the safety of Gondor.

With its sixty cards (including a new hero and three copies of each new player card), The Crossings of Poros challenges you and your heroes to find your way through the final stretches of Harad. Will you lead your company through the desert? Or will you ask them to weave their way through the rocky hills of the Ephel Dúath? Both paths bring their own dangers, and it falls to you to safeguard your heroes, their allies, and their hope for freedom.

A Respite from Your Travels
Even as The Crossings of Poros leads you through the tense final legs of your journey from Harad to Ithilien, it celebrates some of the more unusual partnerships you'll find in The Lord of the Rings. An Ent hero is accompanied by a Hobbit ally. You'll find cards representing the vigilance of Gondor as well as that of the Beornings. And you'll find new ways to use your Traps among the spheres of both Lore and Tactics.

Rather than focusing too narrowly on a single theme, the hero and player cards from The Crossings of Poros conclude the Haradrim cycle by returning to the diverse range of different Traits and mechanics that were introduced in previous cycles giving them new support. These include the return of the Encounter keyword. Embodying one of the rarest and most powerful of all player mechanics, cards with Encounter keyword allow you to dilute the encounter deck, interrupting the tide of evil with beneficial effects.

There are three copies of the card, Wind from the Sea (The Crossings of Poros, 144), in the Adventure Pack, and each bears the Encounter keyword and an encounter card back. This card cannot be placed into your deck, but instead must be set aside at the beginning of the game. Then, if you draw and play a copy of Flight to the Sea (The Crossings of Poros, 140), you can shuffle a copy of Wind from the Sea into the encounter deck.

Of course, there's no telling when (or if!) you might reveal Wind from the Sea from the encounter deck, but if you do, it will turn the tide of the game in your favor. Not only will it refresh each hero committed to the quest, but it also negates one of the encounter deck’s reveals. And this is especially welcome in a scenario that's all about accumulating a mass of other, deadlier encounter cards.

The Hazards of Harad
The encounter deck in The Crossings of Poros is something like a puzzle that comes together differently each time you play. First of all, there are two encounter sets represented in the Adventure Pack, The Crossings of Poros and Mountains of Shadow, but at the beginning of your game, you'll build your encounter deck from just one of these, The Crossings of Poros. Then, you'll set aside a variety of other encounter sets, each of which may bleed into your adventure—based upon the paths you tread and the locations you visit.

As you play through The Crossings of Poros, your heroes will struggle to keep ahead of the villains and creatures on their heels. They must cross the Desolate Lands (The Crossings of Poros, 150) of the Harondor Waste (The Crossings of Poros, 151), and as they do, you'll find yourself moving cards from the set aside encounter sets into your encounter discard pile, repesenting the different forces catching up to you!

In this way, the encounter deck for The Crossings of Poros is always shifting from round to round and game to game, chasing after you and your heroes like Orc snifflers on a scent. It changes, too, when you set your course for one of the two different Stage 2 cards, shuffling its associated encounter set into the encounter deck and removing another from play. And then it solidifies its shape even more when you travel to one of the two different Stage 3 cards, again adding one encounter set and removing the other.

The result is that even though your heroes will want to complete The Crossings of Poros as quickly as possible and put Harad far behind them, the scenario is one that will reward you time and again with fresh challenges, decisions, and encounters.

New Strength for Gondor
Although Middle-earth's heroes could move faster on their own, they wouldn't be true heroes if they left their friends behind. It is because these heroes of Middle-earth commit themselves to the safety of their newfound allies that the final stages of their journey are so fraught with peril.

The question is whether the heroes' decision will bring new strength to Gondor—and new insight into the Dark Lord's methods—or if it will lead to their downfall along the road.

• The climactic final Adventure Pack in the Haradrim cycle for the cooperative The Lord of the Rings LCG
• Middle-earth’s heroes must elude the enemies of Harad as they race to the border with Gondor
• New player cards reinforce many of the game’s existing traits and mechanics, including the powerful ability to shuffler player cards into the encounter deck
• A new Ent hero arrives ready for battle in the Tactics sphere
• Your choices and actions build a new encounter deck each game, engendering fantastic replayability

Heirs of Númenor is the second deluxe expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, transporting your games to the realm of Gondor with 165 new cards (including three copies of each player card).

Two new heroes and a host of new allies arrive to join an escalating war against the forces of evil, and three new scenarios lead you from the relative safety of the streets of Pelargir to the heat of an epic battle with an army of Orcs and Southrons.

Bulwark of the West
Evil stirs in the lands of Mordor. Smoke rises from the mouth of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord’s power grows, and his armies push outward. Against this shadow growing in the East, the Men of Gondor form the first solid line of defense. Can they stand fast against the onslaught from the East?

Heirs of Númenor gives you the opportunity to command some of Middle-earth’s greatest heroes in a region at war against the forces of evil. Three new scenarios lead you from the relative safety of the streets of Pelargir to the heat of an epic battle with an army of Orcs and Southrons.

True-hearted Men
Descended from the Dúnedain of ages past, the Men of Gondor are the heirs to traditions of noble wisdom and wealth, but also of fantastic ambition and a bitter enmity with the Dark Lord of Mordor, who was once overthrown by the Dúnedan, Elendil, and the Elf, Gil-galad, during the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.

Heirs of Númenor introduces players to the great cities of Gondor and its people. Two new Gondor heroes, a cast of Gondor allies, and several new events like Behind Strong Walls (Heirs of Númenor, 8) reinforce the Gondor trait, so that for the first time in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game it can serve as the thematic focus of whole new deck designs.

Stand Fast Against the Shadow
The realm of Gondor is the shield wall that stands between the hosts of Mordor and the free lands to the West. The massive walls of its fortresses are for defense, not for show, and its merchants’ prosperity is won by the sweat and skill of its Rangers, who search the outlying lands for bands of Orcs and dispatch the threats. Even so, the strength of its walls and the skill of its Rangers may not be enough to keep Gondor safe from the nearby forces of evil.

Through the years, Gondor has known many battles and sieges, and Heirs of Númenor represents these momentous confrontations through new keywords that will change the way players approach the quest phase by forcing characters to use attributes other than Willpower to make progress on their quest. After all, a battle cannot be won by the power of will alone, but needs hearty soldiers, great commanders, and the strength of steel.

Moreover, the battles of Heirs of Númenor will spill over into Against the Shadow, the following cycle of Adventure Packs.

As with the game’s first deluxe expansion, Khazad-dûm, Heirs of Númenor transports The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game to a new region, filled with enemies, locations, and treacheries that differ greatly from those in the game’s Core Set. Accordingly, Heirs of Númenor introduces ten new encounter sets that give life (and teeth) to the region’s foes. These encounter sets build the encounter decks for the expansion’s scenarios and lay the foundation for the upcoming scenarios from Against the Shadow.

This means that while Heirs of Númenor is an epic narrative experience in its own right, it’s also the introduction to a full cycle of adventures set in a realm bordering the land of shadow!

A Gathering Storm
Dark clouds hang over the lands of Mordor and pose an ever-present threat to the lands of Gondor. Amidst this setting, your heroes will embark upon a journey that takes them from the streets of Pelargir to the heart of a desperate defense against waves upon waves of Orcs and other foes.

"You must either go through or give up your quest. And I am not going to allow you to back out now, Mr Baggins.”
–J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

The Hobbit: On the Doorstep is the second Saga Expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, continuing the story begun in The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill. Players directly relive the exciting events of the beloved classic, The Hobbit. Encounter giant spiders, burgle treasures from the mighty Smaug, and fight the Battle of Five Armies. The Hobbit: On the Doorstep introduces three new scenarios, five new heroes, and player cards all pulled from the pages of the second half of The Hobbit!

• The second Saga Expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
• Continues the story begun in The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill
• Players relive Bilbo Baggins’ adventures from the second half of The Hobbit
• Introduces three new scenarios with unique enemies, locations, and treachery cards
• Features 165 new cards, including 3 copies of each player card

As a Saga Expansion, The Hobbit: On the Doorstep faithfully retraces the half-sized footsteps of Bilbo Baggins, Middle-earth’s most famous burglar. Three new scenarios invite you to relive the thrilling adventures that lead Bilbo, Thorin, and Company to the end of their amazing journey. Equipped with his magic ring, Bilbo helps the Dwarves through the perilous forests of Mirkwood, burgles treasures from under a dragon’s nose, and struggles to restore peace during the Battle of Five Armies.

The Lucky Number
The Hobbit: On the Doorstep picks up immediately after the events of The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill, and players will find a new version of Bilbo Baggins (On the Doorstep, 1) that arrives more experienced, having gotten a few adventures under his belt. Four additional heroes allow players greater deck-building options, as do six new treasure cards and thirty-six new player cards (three copies each of thirteen different cards).

The Bilbo Baggins included in The Hobbit: On the Doorstep comes with a special set of rules and belongs to a unique sphere of influence, the Baggins sphere, denoted by the symbol. Just as Thorin and his companions came to rely on the wit and courage of the unlikely hero, players will need Bilbo’s help to defeat each the expansion’s new scenarios. Bilbo falls under the control of the first player each turn, and his resources not only allow him to play cards from the Baggins sphere (as well as neutral cards), but they can prove helpful throughout the scenarios in the numerous situations where they can be spent for unique, beneficial effects.

Known to an Ounce
Treasures are a new type of card for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game specific to the Saga Expansion format and that first appeared in The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill. Now, The Hobbit: On the Doorstep introduces six new treasures for Bilbo to burgle.

These unique player cards are extremely powerful, but in order to include them in your deck, you must first discover them during a scenario. Thus, they help tie together the scenarios from The Hobbit: On the Doorstep, turning them into a full-fledged campaign that is greater than the sum of its parts.

To the Mountain
After The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill took Bilbo far from his home in the Shire, The Hobbit: On the Doorstep follows the rest of his path to the Lonely Mountain, through the spider-infested forests of Mirkwood and under the nose of Smaug the Golden (On the Doorstep, 40). There, however, Bilbo’s journey doesn’t end but leads him into even deadlier situations.

The three scenarios from The Hobbit: On the Doorstep recount three classic encounters from The Hobbit. In the middle of the dark Mirkwood forests, Bilbo and the Dwarves battle a horde of giant spiders. After arriving at the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo must prove his worth as a burglar before discovering Smaug’s sole weakness. Finally, The Hobbit: On the Doorstep concludes with the fearsome Battle of Five Armies that followed upon the Dwarves’ single-minded greed.

Throughout the expansion’s scenarios, new quest and encounter mechanics greatly add to the game’s replay value as the players face outcomes more varied than just success or failure, and the strategic decisions they make may have far-reaching repercussions.

"This is the story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected."
–J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill is the first Saga Expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game and it gives players the chance to participate directly in the thrilling narrative laid out by J.R.R. Tolkien in his beloved classic. Its characters, enemies, and scenarios are drawn directly from the first half of the novel. The three new scenarios in The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill can be played one at a time, or they can be linked to form a campaign that allows players to relive Bilbo's dramatic story arc.

The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill also introduces five famous heroes, three copies of each player card, and an exciting new card type – treasures!

• Allows players to recapture the magic of the first half of The Hobbit
• Players gain the services of Middle-earth’s most famous burglar, Bilbo Baggins
• Three new scenarios play separately or combine for an epic campaign
• Features five new heroes and three copies of each player card
• New treasure cards reward exploration and foster cohesion between scenarios

A unique scenario pack for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game.

Vicious Corsairs have pillaged the Gondorian coastline for months, but now, rumors whisper that the shipyards of Umbar have constructed the most devastatingly gigantic ship ever known: the Dreadnaught. Many are suspicious of such extraordinary reports, but if true, this massive warship is an enemy unlike any you’ve faced before. It will take an equally colossal effort to take down such a potent foe. It’s up to the greatest heroes of Middle-earth to assemble a formidable fleet and scour the seas for this mighty threat!

You and your fellow heroes of Middle-earth take to the high seas and battle the Dreadnaught in this newest scenario pack. Whether you’re playing with a single group of one to four players, or with any number of groups in Epic Multiplayer Mode, The Hunt for the Dreadnaught is a thrilling race to find and sink a powerful warship. You’ll even find a brand-new contract that can be added to your deck in any game of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, challenging you to make a perilous voyage with a super-sized deck!

Fastest in the Fleet
Taking down the Dreadnaught will be a titanic undertaking, but before you can send that monstrous warship to the bottom of the ocean, you’ll need to gather your own ships and hunt down the Corsairs. Even if you have some experience with ships in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, you’ve never led a fleet like this into battle.

At the start of the game, you and your fellow players will prepare your fleet by each selecting one of the six unique Ships setting sail from the Grey Havens or from Gondor. Each of these ships offers unique benefits for your heroes, whether that’s the higher willpower offered by Eithiliant (The Hunt for the Dreadnaught, 6a), the defensive strength of Pride of Lebennin (The Hunt for the Dreadnaught, 8a), the heavy focus on events from Silent Mist (The Hunt for the Dreadnaught, 9a), or one of the other three ships that you can use to build your fleet!

What’s more, each of these heroic ships are double-sided, featuring a stronger, Upgraded version on the reverse side. If you’re fortunate enough to find your way to a Belfalas Shipyard (The Hunt for the Dreadnaught, 34), you can upgrade one of your Ships—and you’ll need every advantage if you’re going to take down the Dreadnaught.

Prepare to be Boarded
Your adventure begins as you scour the high seas for the Dreadnaught, battling Corsairs that you find along the way and searching for the Corsairs’ flagship. Once your groups have advanced to the second stage, however, you’re launched into a fleet battle unlike any you’ve seen before—and at its centerpoint, the monstrous Dreadnaught (The Hunt for the Dreadnaught, 13a), towering above the rest of your fleet on an appropriately-sized giant card. You and the other heroes of Middle-earth will have to work together to destroy this massive warship—but it’s far from the only enemy Ship you’ll have to contend with.

The Dreadnaught may be the flagship of a fleet, but it’s far from the only ship that you’ll have to contend with. Black Sails (The Hunt for the Dreadnaught, 26) are a potent foe, a Corsair Skirmisher (The Hunt for the Dreadnaught, 28) poses a dangerous opportunity to grow your own fleet, and a Ramming Ship (The Hunt for the Dreadnaught, 30) can make a deadly initial attack. And these are only a fraction of the ships that surround the Dreadnaught during your assault.

You’ll also notice that many of these ships feature the new Boarding keyword. At the beginning of this scenario, you’ll pull the thirteen non-Ship, non-unique Corsair enemies into their own separate Corsair Deck. Whenever a ship-enemy engages you from the staging area, it uses the Boarding keyword to bring that many additional enemies from the Corsair Deck! Even as you maneuver your ships into position to attack and sink the Dreadnaught, your heroes will be fighting a desperate battle on the rolling decks of your ships against the Corsair boarding parties, such as the Daring Buccaneer (The Hunt for the Dreadnaught, 22) or the Southron Sailor (The Hunt for the Dreadnaught, 24). It’s a war on the high seas unlike any other, and a match for the greatest battles you’ve faced throughout The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

Hoist the Mainsails
The next great adventure for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game has crested the horizon. Do you have what it takes to take down the Dreadnaught?

The fourth The Lord of the Rings Saga Expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, The Land of Shadow allows you to continue upon your epic journey from the Shire to Mount Doom with three new scenarios that recreate the adventures recorded in the second half of The Two Towers.

Join Frodo Baggins as he draws near to the land of Mordor on his quest for Mount Doom. Wrestle with Gollum at the edge of the Dead Marshes, join the Rangers of Gondor as they ambush the Haradrim in Ithilien, and brave the deadly dark of Shelob’s lair. While these scenarios each provide exciting and memorable challenges when played on their own, they can be combined with your other The Lord of the Rings Saga scenarios in Campaign Mode, where the consequences of your decisions continue to haunt you throughout your ongoing adventures. In addition to its new quest and encounter cards, The Land of Shadow also gives weight to your adventures with new boons and burdens. Finally, three new heroes and player cards for each sphere of influence permit new strategies and further increase your deck-building options.

• The fourth The Lord of the Rings Saga Expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
• Recreates adventures drawn straight from the second half of The Two Towers
• Three scenarios can be played as standalone experiences or combined with your other The Lord of the Rings Saga scenarios in Campaign Mode
• New boons and burdens lend further weight to your decisions
• Expands your customization options with three new heroes and thirty player cards

Middle-earth is a vast land full of mystery, but equally vast and perhaps even more mysterious than its quiet fields and lush forests are the great caverns and tunnels that lie below its surface. These ancient halls are the domain of Dwarves and can hold great riches for those who know where to look. But who knows what untold dangers lurk in the darkness below the ancient mansions of the Dwarves?

Into the Mines
Your adventures in Moria begin with The Mines of Moria, the scenario that was featured at Gen Con 2019. Here, you have been drawn to the West-door of Moria by rumors of growing darkness there. Upon reaching the Doors of Durin, you are surprised to find a foul-smelling pool at its feet, and a fell creature blocking your way. Once you fight your way inside the mines, it becomes obvious that the rumors were true: evil things move through the darkness all around you. With the way behind you blocked by that horrible creature, your only option is to press forward.

Unknown Terrors
Whether you decide to tackle The Mines of Moria or Escape from Khazad-dûm, these custom scenario kits offer you a different type of quest than those found in a standard Adventure Pack. Instead, they give you everything you need to build and play out your own adventures. Each of these kits contains seven quest cards: one Stage 1 card, three Stage 2 cards, and three Stage 3 cards that can be mixed and matched to create a unique adventure.

There’s no telling what hazards you could encounter in the deeps of Moria and each quest card slightly alters your journeys in the mines. As you draw closer to discovering The Fate of Balin (The Mines of Moria, 8), for instance, the first player could be presented with a terrible choice. Similarly, your search for a way out of Khazad-dûm could take A Wrong Turn (Escape from Khazad-dûm, 4), putting a severe strain on your resources.

Whatever your goal, you won’t be navigating the mines alone. All manner of vile beasts live in the deep places of the world and will not take your intrusion into their domain lightly. Both The Mines of Moria and Escape from Khazad-dûm also include 70 encounter cards (14 encounter sets of 5 cards each) and, while you cannot mix quest cards from both sets, you’re free to choose encounter cards from both when building a custom scenario.

Like the quest cards, each encounter set lends its own flavor to your adventure, helping you tailor the experience to the mode you’re playing. If you’re playing a standard 1–4 player cooperative game, you could choose to test yourself by facing a Cave Spider (Escape from Khazad-dûm, 15). Alternatively, if you’re engaging in a thrilling race to see who can complete each other’s custom scenario first in a competitive game, you can directly sabotage your opponents with a Sudden Pitfall (The Mines of Moria, 29). Either way, the adventure will be uniquely your own.

Forge Your Path
There are many unknown roads through Moria. Build your own path through them as you recreate your adventures from Gen Con 2019 and Fellowship 2020 with these Custom Scenario Kits!

The sixth and final The Lord of the Rings Saga Expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

Your desperate journey nears its end. While the Captains of the West march to the Black Gate, the fuming, barren, and ash-ridden land before you rises upward. Into air choked by smoke. Up toward the fires of Mount Doom—toward your fate and the fate of all Middle-earth...

Dire, world-shattering stakes. Epic Multiplayer Mode. The climactic conclusion to your The Lord of the Rings campaign. In The Mountain of Fire, you'll find three epic saga scenarios inspired directly by The Return of the King.

Two of these scenarios thrust you deep into the heart of Mordor, where you'll join Frodo Baggins for adventures in Cirith Ungol and along the road to Mount Doom. The third will give you the chance to ride beside Aragorn as he, Gandalf, Prince Imrahil, and Éomer lead a valiant army of seven-thousand into the teeth of a battle they cannot possibly hope to win. All they can hope is that they will buy enough time for Frodo to carry the One Ring back to the fires in which it was forged.

And it's not just the scenarios that are bigger and more fantastic than ever. The Mountain of Fire is loaded with new heroes, allies, events, and attachments that truly convey the awesome resolve of those noble and daring Men, Elves, Dwarves, and Hobbits that stood at the end against the forces of Mordor.

Dread and Danger
In The Mountain of Fire, the stakes are higher than ever before. Your efforts will contribute directly toward the end of the Third Age of Middle-earth; you'll either save it or see it plunged into an eternal darkness under the rule of Sauron, the Dark Lord.

Accordingly, The Mountain of Fire introduces a new keyword, "dire," that appears on several of its quest cards and that represents the world-changing endeavors that your heroes must undertake. Whenever the main quest has the dire keyword, your threat elimination level is increased to "99," but you cannot reduce your threat by more than one each round by non-boon player card effects. At the same time, the threat value for triggering Valour effects is changed from forty threat to eighty.

This means you'll find plenty of room for your battles to grow larger than ever. You'll spot enemies on the horizon that may not engage you for many turns. You'll find it harder to sneak quietly and secretly through the land of smoke and ash. And you'll feel the tension like never before as your threat level rises from forty to fifty and then beyond, forcing you to fight the inexorable tide of enemies or muster the strength to place one foot forward in front of the other along the climb to the fires of Mount Doom.

Not only does The Mountain of Fire force you to face greater threats than ever before, it allows you to confront them in any of four different modes. You can play the expansion's scenarios as standalone adventures in the game's standard play mode. You can play through them as the climactic culmination of all the choices and struggles you've faced in Campaign Mode since you first left the Shire in The Black Riders. Or you can play its last two adventures simultaneously in a dramatic Epic Multiplayer Mode, either in standard mode or as part of your campaign.

In this Epic Multiplayer Mode, you and your friends split into two groups and tackle the final two scenarios at the same time. While one group helps Frodo along the final stages of his journey to Mount Doom, the other marches to the Black Gate in order to draw away as many of the Orcs, Trolls, and Nazgûl as possible. Ultimately, Frodo's group must destroy the One Ring in order to save Middle-earth, but should the other group fall at the Gates, Sauron will be able to turn his full attention to the soft little feet padding up Mount Doom… and all will be lost.

Courage at the End of an Age
In the midst of such momentous events—and thrust into battle against the world's greatest evils—you'll find yourself more appreciative than ever of Frodo Baggins (The Mountain of Fire, 1) and Aragorn (The Mountain of Fire, 2) and their fateful heroics.

Both of these heroes gain new form in The Mountain of Fire, as they grow more fully into their roles.

Frodo is now no longer the innocent Hobbit who wondered whether or not he should use the One Ring to hide from Black Riders; his spirit is now woven more fully into his role as Ring-bearer, carrying both its terrible burden and much of its benefit. While he's not completely its Master, the Ring responds to him, and he can use it to give resources to the heroes accompanying him.

Aragorn remains fundamentally the same. After all, he had already traveled far and wide and endured many trials before he first met the Hobbits in Bree. But The Mountain of Fire finds him changed, nonetheless. He's no longer supporting the Ring-bearer as part of the Fellowship, nor is he trying to piece the Fellowship back together. His earlier quests are all complete, and only one remains. Aragorn heads to the Black Gate to meet the enemy in battle and buy the Ring as much time along the road to Mount Doom as possible. And, as a result, The Mountain of Fire finds Aragorn ready to stand and fight until the bitter end.

Of course, while these may be the two most important characters to play a part in your Saga, they're not the only ones you'll find in The Mountain of Fire. You'll also find two more heroes and unique allies for all four spheres, including the sons of Elrond, Elladan (The Mountain of Fire, 7) and Elrohir (The Mountain of Fire, 8).

Driven by a thirst for revenge against the Orcs that imprisoned and tortured their mother, these Noldor Rangers rode from Rivendell to Gondor to join Aragorn in the war against Mordor. And you'll find their blades tremendously useful in the battles to come. When he's with his brother, Elrohir defends at a Defense Strength of three; just as Elladan fights at an Attack Strength of three beside his twin. And whenever you optionally engage an Orc enemy, both of these Elves ready, no matter how tired they become, nor how grim the tide of war.

These are but two of the nine different player cards (three copies of each) that you'll find in The Mountain of Fire, and while these Elves may help you carve you way through your enemies, you'll find other cards to help you raise your spirits and evade the evils around you.

Behold the Eye of Sauron
All your trials have led you here. The battles you've fought. The mountains you've climbed. The pain you've suffered. The choices you've made. At the end of your road, the fate of the world is at stake, and the Eye of Sauron is upon you.

Gather your strength, and see your journey to its end.

• An epic Saga Expansion for the cooperative LCG®, The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game • Three scenarios follow Aragorn and Frodo Baggins through the epic events of the second half of The Return of the King • The last scenarios can support up to eight players simultaneously in Epic Multiplayer Mode • Introduces new copies of Aragorn and Frodo Baggins, along with two other heroes and twenty-seven player cards (three copies each of nine different cards) • Rules for Campaign Mode allow you to play through its scenarios as the epic finale to your The Lord of the Rings Saga campaign

Dunland Trap, the first chapter of The Ring-maker cycle of Adventure Packs for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

Could it be possible to turn the Dark Lord’s foul arts against him? In The Dunland Trap, some of Middle-earth’s greatest heroes continue to aid Saruman the White with the work that he began in The Voice of Isengard deluxe expansion. As they seek to win a rare victory for the forces of good and their struggle against the Shadow of Mordor, the heroes must face new perils, including the threat posed by angry bands of militant Dunlendings!

The Dunland Trap features a combat-heavy new scenario, in which your heroes must battle their way to freedom against waves of ferocious Dunlendings. Additionally, among its sixty cards, you’ll find a new Silvan hero and three copies of each player card, many of which introduce greater shape and surprises to the Silvan trait.

As it begins The Ring-maker cycle, The Dunland Trap also provides more support for the Mount trait, as well as the Time X and Doomed X mechanics featured in The Voice of Isengard, and players will also discover thematic ties to Saruman and the White Council.

That’s not all, though, as the Adventure Packs in The Ring-maker also return to some of the game’s previously developed traits and mechanics. For more about The Ring-maker and the themes at its core, we turn to lead developer Caleb Grace.

Lead Developer Caleb Grace on The Ring-maker:
The Ring-maker cycle continues the rich narrative tradition in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game by linking each adventure together into one continuous storyline, and the first pack of the cycle, The Dunland Trap, picks up immediately after the events in The Voice of Isengard deluxe expansion. The heroes are asked by Saruman to undertake a quest of grave importance, and the events of this scenario lead further into the overarching plot of The Ring-maker. I don’t want to give away too much of the story, however, so I’m going to talk instead about the cycle’s player cards.

One of the very first things that the design team wanted to do with the player cards in The Ring-maker was to develop the Silvan trait. By the time we started working on this set, we’d already bolstered the Dwarf, Gondor, Rohan, and Hobbit traits with heroes and allies to the point that each offered players the ability to build fun and thematic decks around them. It was high time to give Elves some more attention.

Before we started designing new cards around the Silvan trait, we needed to settle on the trait’s thematic core. We knew for certain that we wanted the Elves of Middle-earth to play differently from the other races we’d developed extensively. During the timeline of our game, one of the things that seemed to set the Elves apart from the other free peoples was their dwindling numbers and their standoffish attitude towards the problems of mortals. While they wielded great power, they reserved most of it to defend the shrinking borders of their ancient kingdoms. Whenever they did venture out or intervene on behalf of others, they would strike with great power and then quickly fade away.

That gave us a great starting point for developing the Silvan trait: Silvan allies have powerful abilities that trigger when they enter play but low hit point values so they don’t stick around for long. A good example is the Naith Guide (The Dunland Trap, 1), which reads: “Response: After Naith Guide enters play, choose a hero. That hero does not exhaust to quest this round.” That’s the kind of ability that you want to trigger again and again, and that’s precisely the way Silvan are meant to be played.

As opposed to other traits such as Dwarf and Outlands where players are encouraged to get as many allies into play as possible, Silvan allies encourage you to bounce them in and out of play to take constant advantage of their powerful effects. But in order to play an ally again and again, you need a way of returning that ally back to its owner’s hand, so we crafted some events that represent the expert woodcraft of the Elves which require you to return a Silvan you control to your hand in order to play them. A good example of such a card is The Tree People (The Dunland Trap, 9), which reads: “Action: Return a Silvan ally you control to your hand to search the top 5 cards of your deck for a Silvan ally. Put that ally into play and shuffle the other cards back into your deck.” With luck, this combo will not only return your Naith Guide to your hand so you can play it again next turn, but it will also allow you to trigger the Response effect on the Silvan you choose to put into play.

In playtesting, we found that bouncing Silvan allies in and out of play was a really fun game experience, but the Elves needed something more to unify them. That’s why we created Celeborn (The Dunland Trap, 1) to be a Leadership hero. The husband of Galadriel and Lord of the Galadhrim, Celeborn was a powerful ruler of a secretive people. His ability to rally and inspire the Elves of Lorien is represented in his ability: “Response: After a Silvan ally enters play, that ally gets +1 Willpower, +1 Attack, and +1 Defense until the end of the round.” This ability works for each player’s Silvan allies, so everyone in your group can take advantage of their mobility.

But the Silvan trait isn’t the only theme being developed in The Ring-maker; there’s so much more to look forward to in this cycle! Where previous cycles dedicated a larger portion of cards to their main themes, the player cards in The Ring-maker provide more of a smattering of Middle-earth in order to introduce several new strategies and revive a few older ones too (Secrecy, anyone?). There’s something for everyone in The Ring-maker!

Seeking Strength to Withstand the Shadow
In Mordor, the Dark Lord rallies his strength. Time is not on your side. Can you help the White Wizard discover the means to defeat the Shadow? If so, you’ll first need to survive the deadly Dunlending assaults of The Dunland Trap!

Requires The Lord of the Rings LCG Core Set and The Voice of Isengard.

The second Adventure Pack in The Ring-maker cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

After their efforts to help Saruman discover the means to forestall the forces of Mordor leads them deep into the heart of Dunland, several of Middle-earth’s greatest heroes must undertake a series of three deadly trials. In The Three Trials, Middle-earth’s heroes must defeat three ferocious Dunlending Guardian spirits, claim their Keys, and recover an ancient Dunlending artifact, the Antlered Crown.

The new scenario from The Three Trials places immediate pressure upon your heroes and their efforts. Like Raven’s Guardian (The Three Trials, 42), each of the scenario’s three Guardians shares the Time X keyword, forcing you to move swiftly along your quest… or suffer the consequences of failure. The scenario’s Guardians and other threats will offer your heroes no chance to catch their breath, so you’ll want to come prepared to fight your way to your goal through round after round of high-intensity combats.

In addition to challenging you to power your way quickly through its powerful enemies, The Three Trials permits a wide range of strategic considerations and possible quest combinations, making it an immensely replayable scenario.

Finally, The Three Trials introduces a new Spirit hero, as well as three copies of each player card. Fans of Middle-earth’s Elves will be pleased to find two new Elven allies, one Noldor and one Silvan, as well as events and attachments that promote the cycle’s new Silvan subthemes. You’ll also find a handful of cards that further support the game’s Secrecy keyword and decks that can keep their Threat at twenty or lower.

Smart and Secret
As part of The Ring-maker cycle, The Three Trials doesn’t focus too heavily on any one player theme. While it lends greater strength to the Silvan mechanics that lead developer Caleb Grace outlined in his introduction to the cycle, the Adventure Pack also supports a wide range of player themes and mechanics that include the Noldor, Dúnedain, and Scout traits; increased interaction for multiplayer games; and the popular Secrecy mechanic that rewards players who can keep their Threat at or below twenty.

Two of these cards, Noiseless Movement (The Three Trials, 33) and Leaf Brooch (The Three Trials, 34), may even provide enough of a boost to the Secrecy mechanic as to encourage players to hunt for the means to race quietly through the Hills of Dunland toward their confrontations with the scenario's Guardians.

While your Noiseless Movement won’t help you sneak past the scenario’s Guardians, it might still help you sneak past other enemies, like the Spirit of the Wild (The Three Trials, 50), and sneaking past such Undead foes as the Spirit might help to buy you the actions and time that you need to defeat the Guardians you can’t avoid.

Meanwhile, Leaf Brooch provides an immediate boon to any Secrecy deck. This neutral attachment plays for just one resource and then adds “Secrecy 1” to the first event you play each turn that matches its bearer’s printed sphere of influence.

Just how good is Leaf Brooch? Consider, first of all, that if your deck has enough events, Leaf Brooch is as good as gaining an extra resource each turn. Then, consider that it can add “Secrecy 1” to such popular cards as Sneak Attack (Core Set, 23) and A Test of Will (Core Set, 50), meaning not only that you can play them more cheaply, but you can play them even if you don’t have a resource on the appropriate hero. This gives you more freedom to move your resources around with cards like the Errand-rider (Heirs of Númenor, 3).

Moreover, because the effects of Secrecy stack, you could play a Leaf Brooch on three different Spirit heroes to play The Galadhrim’s Greeting (Core Set, 46) for free, or you could play Fortune or Fate (Core Set, 54) and recover your teammate’s hero for just two resources.

Will You Pass the Test?
As the threat of Mordor looms ever larger in the East, Middle-earth needs its heroes to find some means of confronting the Dark Lord and his minions. Will you do your part? Can you help the White Wizard find some knowledge or art to forestall the forces of evil? Can you defeat the ancient Dunlending Guardians and succeed at The Three Trials?

Note: The Ring-maker cycle and all its Adventure Packs require both the Core Set and The Voice of Isengard.

The Three Trials is the second Adventure Pack in The Ring-maker cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game. In its new scenario, several of Middle-earth’s greatest heroes must undertake a series of three deadly trials. Can they defeat three ferocious Dunlending Guardian spirits, claim their Keys, and recover an ancient Dunlending artifact, the Antlered Crown? Additionally, players receive a new hero and three copies of each player card, including two new Elven allies and support for the game’s Secrecy keyword.

• The second Adventure Pack in The Ring-maker cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
• A new scenario challenges Middle-earth’s heroes to complete three deadly trials
• Players receive a new hero and three copies of each new player card
• An excellent expansion for fans of Elves and the game’s Secrecy keyword
• Continues the ongoing narrative of The Ring-maker cycle

The fourth Adventure Pack in The Ring-maker cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

After slipping out of the ancient, ruined city of Tharbad, past a host of Orcs and spies, several of Middle-earth’s greatest heroes begin a journey through the Nîn-in-Eilph and its treacherous marshlands. They seek a hidden site on the other side of the marsh, in Hollin, which is rumored to be full of powerful secrets that may provide the White Council some means to work against the Dark Lord.

However, your heroes have no time to lose because the Dark Lord’s servants have also learned of the hidden location within Hollin. As they seek to outrace the forces of evil, the heroes must also beware of those creatures that make their home in The Nîn-in-Eilph...

Through the Marsh
Among its sixty new cards, which also include a new hero and three copies of each new player card, The Nîn-in-Eilph introduces a deadly new scenario that challenges players to guide their heroes through the swamps of the Nîn-in-Eilph. Full of deadly Creatures, the swamps haven’t been travelled for an age, and no paths exist to lead your heroes through the shifting bogs.

The new scenario of The Nîn-in-Eilph is one of exploration and survival, and it challenges you to navigate your way through a series of random quest stages. Accordingly, it offers tremendous replayability, and the scenario’s strange collection of Creatures, along with its use of the new Time X keyword, ensure that you’ll enjoy a rewarding experience and a mounting tension each time you battle your way through the Nîn-in-Eilph and its fetid marshlands.

Find Your Bearings
With such a treacherous and important journey ahead of them, even Middle-earth’s greatest heroes may desire extra guidance. Fortunately, The Nîn-in-Eilph introduces a new Ranger hero as well as twenty-seven new player cards (three copies each of nine different cards) that focus on knowledgeable guidance and wise leadership.

Several of the Adventure Pack’s new player cards also promote interesting multi-player interactions, including Follow Me! (The Nîn-in-Eilph, 85), which allows a player to take control of the first player token, becoming the new first player. This is no small matter; enemies engage the first player first, numerous encounter cards target the first player, and in many scenarios the ability to become the first player may prove the difference between success and disaster.

Meanwhile, Wingfoot (The Nîn-in-Eilph, 92) adds to the game’s collection of powerful Aragorn-themed attachments, but it can work wonders on any Ranger. Wingfoot combines well with Henamarth Riversong (Core Set, 60) and Needful to Know (The Redhorn Gate, 9), but it also grows stronger for each player at the table in a multi-player game, as each player increases the number of encounter cards you draw and increases your odds of blindly revealing the correct type.

Outrace the Forces of Mordor
The trackless marshes of the Nîn-in-Eilph are full of dangers. Simply finding your way through the swamp and past its frightful Creatures would be challenge enough, but your task is further complicated by the fact that the Dark Lord’s servants are also racing toward Hollin.

Can you race through the Nîn-in-Eilph quickly enough to uncover the secrets of the hidden site you’ll find on the other side? Or will Mordor increase its strength? Middle-earth needs you to succeed.

The fifth Adventure Pack in The Ring-maker cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game.

Of the Rings of Power, only the Three crafted by Celebrimbor were never touched nor sullied by the Dark Lord of Mordor. Having suspected Sauron’s evil purposes, Celembrimbor gave them to three Elf-lords who hid them through the ages and used them to resist the Dark Lord’s influence.

Should he recover the One, Sauron will command all the Rings of Power, even the Three, and he will be able to undo all the good that the Elves had created with the Three. Fortunately, though, Sauron does not have the One, and he does not yet have the means to undo the works created from the Three.

In Celebrimbor’s Secret, you will, at last, lead several of Middle-earth’s heroes toward the end of the quest that was given to them by Saruman the White. Amid the ruins of Ost-in-Edhil lies the forge where Celebrimbor crafted the Three. For ages, its location and all within it were kept secret, but as the power of Mordor grows, Saruman desperately seeks any means to fight against the Shadow, including whatever secrets the heroes may discover in Celebrimbor’s forge.

The sixty new cards in Celebrimbor’s Secret introduce a new scenario, in which Middle-earth’s heroes must search through the ruins of Ost-in-Edhil, even as they are beset by a host of Mordor Orcs that have somehow made it to the ruins ahead of the heroes. But even as you stand against the Orcs, you’ll gain new strength from the Adventure Pack’s player cards, which lend greater strength to the Silvan and Noble traits, as well as the Doomed X mechanic. You’ll also be able to call upon a new hero, one who has closely guarded Celebrimbor’s secret for hundreds of years.

The Lady of the Wood
Celebrimbor’s Secret heralds the long-awaited arrival of both Galadriel and Nenya to The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game.

Though Galadriel (Celebrimbor’s Secret, 112), herself, is Noldor, she’s also the wife of Celeborn (The Dunland Trap, 1), the Silvan-traited Elf and Lord of Lothlórien who appears earlier in The Ring-maker cycle. Accordingly, her unique abilities perfectly complement and enhance those of Celeborn and a new Silvan strategy.

First of all, Galadriel’s abilities make her unique among all of the game’s heroes. She cannot quest, attack, or defend. Still, Galadriel serves magnificently in a supporting role. After all, she has made Lothlórien one of the greatest points of light amid all of Middle-earth. In the game, Galadriel serves as a tremendous inspiration to others, allowing allies to pull double duty whenever they enter play. She allows them to commit their Willpower to the quest, without exhausting, which means they can later exhaust to defend or attack, or even to help bring in more allies with A Very Good Tale (The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill, 11). Of course, Galadriel’s ability scales in power according to the power of the ally you bring into play, and when the ally in question is Gandalf (Core Set, 73) or Saruman (The Voice of Isengard, 3), Galadriel can help you quickly win early ground against the Shadow.

Meanwhile, a strategy built around the new Silvan Elves will likely not only want allies to bring into play, but events like The Tree People (The Dunland Trap, 9) to pull them back out of play. This is where Galadriel’s second ability comes in handy:

“Action: Exhaust Galadriel to choose a player. That player reduces his threat by 1 and draws 1 card. (Limit one per round.)”

Card draw is always useful, but when you rely upon a steady stream of events to power your deck, card draw is absolutely vital. In an event-based deck, Galadriel not only provides you early and consistent access to card draw, she provides you with consistent threat reduction, as well. Accordingly, Galadriel is certain to find a place not only in a number of Silvan decks, but also in a good number of Secrecy decks, especially given that her Noldor trait allows her owner to play Elrond’s Counsel (The Watcher in the Water, 59), which is arguably the most effective threat-reduction event in the game.

Despite her tremendous abilities, if Galadriel were unable to contribute her four Willpower to quests, in one fashion or another, one might wonder if the Lady of Lothlórien were really devoted to the struggle against the Dark Lord. Fortunately, Celebrimbor’s Secret provides access not only to the Lady, but also to her Ring, Nenya. After all, it was not Galadriel’s power, alone, that ensured Lothlórien remained a safe realm, even amid the growing evils of Middle-earth. Many of its defenses owed directly to the strength and influence of her Ring of Power.

In The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, Nenya (Celebrimbor’s Secret, 121) allows Galadriel to exhaust to add her Willpower to another character’s Willpower until the end of the phase.

Accordingly, with Nenya, Galadriel’s four Willpower are quite considerable. In fact, with Nenya, her four Willpower are worth more than just about any other source of four Willpower. This is because of timing. So long as you have even a single character committed to the quest, Galadriel can respond to the challenges confronting your party at action speed. Will she add her Willpower to the quest; will she participate in another test of Willpower, like the Hide and Escape tests triggered by other scenarios; or will she allow a player to draw a card and lower his threat? Along with Nenya, Galadriel provides you the flexibility to make your decision at the last possible moment, displaying all the foresight and wisdom appropriate to an Elf-lord of her stature.

Secrets of Power... for Good or for Ill?
Will Galadriel be able to help Middle-earth’s heroes recover the secrets of Celebrimbor’s forge? Or will the Dark Lord’s servants discover them first?

A Saga Expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

Join Frodo Baggins and his companions on an epic journey that sweeps you through the most memorable moments of the second half of The Fellowship of the Ring! The Road Darkens introduces three scenarios that allow players to participate in, or even recreate a handful of key events leading from the Council of Elrond to the breaking of the Fellowship.

On their own, these scenarios all present rewarding play experiences, but you can also enjoy them as individual chapters of a fantasy saga with a much greater scope. When you play in Campaign Mode, using the rules from The Black Riders, along with that expansion’s boons and burdens, the Ring weighs heavy upon you, your every decision carries greater import, and your every action has meaningful consequences…

With its 165 cards (including three copies of each player card), The Road Darkens immerses you deeply into the most critical events of Middle-earth’s Third Age. Included are three complete scenarios; two new heroes, including a new version of Frodo Baggins (The Road Darkens, 1); several powerful and unique allies; eight new boons; seven heavy burdens; and three campaign cards to guide you through the fourth, fifth, and sixth chapters of The Lord of the Rings saga.

The Ring Goes South
As in the game’s other Saga Expansions, each scenario in The Road Darkens follows the events of the classic story by J.R.R. Tolkien as faithfully as possible. You’ll receive gifts and guidance from the Council of Elrond before heading south. Then, your company will need to escape the wargs that hunt them through the snows of Hollin and navigate its way through the Mines of Moria. Should you succeed, you may find a brief respite among the Elves of Lórien before setting forth once more, to head further east, into the lands of Shadow…

In each of the expansion’s three scenarios, Frodo and his companions must make choices that will echo throughout their struggles. And these choices won’t be easy. You’ll be forced to grapple with sacrifices, betrayals, and dwindling supplies.

As you proceed, your choices will be given weight by the eight new boons and seven new burdens from The Road Darkens. Some of these you’ll gain, some you may lose, and others you may manage to avoid. These cards are specific to Campaign Mode and follow your heroes from scenario to scenario, even into future Saga Expansions, serving as tangible reminders of your past decisions as you play forward.

Strengthen Your Fellowship
In addition to its three scenarios, The Road Darkens provides a number of new player cards, including a new version of Frodo Baggins, an attachment that represents the unified efforts of the Fellowship of the Ring, and several powerful and unique allies to aid your heroes.

Throughout your adventures in The Road Darkens, Frodo Baggins serves a unique role as your company’s Ring-bearer. Around his neck, he carries The One Ring (The Road Darkens, 91) on a chain, and along with it, he carries the fate of Middle-earth. If Frodo is lost, so is the One Ring and all hope that Middle-earth can be kept from evil.

Throughout the scenarios in The Road Darkens, the first player gains control of Frodo Baggins, per the text on the One Ring. Because Frodo doesn’t count against the hero limit, the first player can control as many as four heroes, and he can make use of Frodo’s Fellowship sphere resources for a number of powerful effects.

The first of these effects is the Response that Frodo brings to the table:

“After Frodo Baggins exhausts to defend an attack, exhaust The One Ring and spend 1 [Fellowship sphere] resource to target the attacking enemy. That enemy cannot deal damage this attack. Then, raise each player’s threat by 2.”

However, you could also save Frodo’s resources for other uses, and much as it is Frodo’s task that brings the Fellowship together in the story by J.R.R. Tolkien, you can use Frodo’s resources to play the new attachment, Fellowship of the Ring (The Road Darkens, 10). For just two resources, this powerful attachment can add as much as thirteen Willpower to your quests each turn, but in order to make the best possible use of it, you’ll need to keep your fellowship strong. If any character leaves play, Fellowship of the Ring is discarded.

Forth into Darkness
In The Black Riders, Frodo Baggins and his companions carried The One Ring to Rivendell, but it cannot stay there. It must be destroyed.

Soon, Frodo must head out of Elrond’s halls and continue, once more, upon his perilous journey. Death and darkness lurk upon all sides, but he must not falter. All of Middle-earth depends upon his success.

Can you help Frodo and his companions safely navigate the trials that lie before them?

The Road Darkens is the second Lord of the Rings Saga Expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game. Its 165 cards introduce three new scenarios to the game, along with two heroes, twenty-seven player cards (three copies each of nine different player cards), eight boons, and seven burdens. Together, these cards allow you to immerse yourself in some of the most pivotal moments of Middle-earth’s Third Age as you join Frodo Baggins and his companions on their all-important quest!

• The second Lord of the Rings Saga Expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
• Three new scenarios allow you to relive Frodo’s journey through some of the most pivotal events of the second half of The Fellowship of the Ring
• Two new heroes and twenty-seven player cards encourage the exploration of all-new strategies
• Features eight new boons and seven new burdens that give weight to your decisions
• Continues the ongoing Campaign Mode narrative begun in The Black Riders Saga Expansion

The sixth deluxe expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

Set immediately after the events of The Grey Havens and the Dream-chaser cycle, The Sands of Harad gives you and your heroes a chance to explore the strange lands and cultures to the south of Middle-earth… provided you can first make your escape through the streets of Umbar.

Three new scenarios carry you from the coast, deep into the desert of Harad, and then back within the reach of Mordor and the Dark Lord's Orcs, although in such a fashion as you have never seen before. Along the way, you're bound to encounter countless ferocious Haradrim, grueling environmental effects, and deadly desert predators. You will also have to overcome the ancient animosities that have long festered between the Men of Gondor and those of Harad.

Meanwhile, your desperate journeys may also lead to desperate alliances, and you'll find a pair of heroes who make each other stronger, as well as a cluster of new player cards that require paired Traits to trigger, but that then offer tremendous rewards. You'll also find new allies for each sphere of influence and a game-changing side quest that allows you to ignore resource matching on the first ally you play each turn.

Journey Through the Desert
With its 156 new cards, The Sands of Harad presents three new scenarios that weave a compelling narrative of exploration and discovery. You'll start in a hurry, trying to escape the coastal city in which you start. This is the same city in which your heroes end up at the conclusion of the Dream-chaser cycle, but it is unnecessary to own or have played the Dream-chaser cycle in order to enjoy the ways that The Sands of Harad depict the cultures and dangers of the lands south of Gondor.

Once you find your way out of Umbar, however, your pursuers leave you for dead. Why? Because outside the coastal town, you wander into the endless, shifting dunes of the Harad desert. This is a realm of Giant Scorpions (The Sands of Harad, 55) and biting Sandstorms (The Sands of Harad, 51). It is even rumored to be home to the legendary Were-worms (The Sands of Harad, 23) that are said to grow stronger as the lands grow hotter.

In fact, you will be very concerned about the heat as you travel travels through the desert. With a new mechanic for tracking the temperature, The Sands of Harad offers a brutal reminder that your journeys aren't just about battling monsters. Even the sands and sun can become your foes.

Finally, if your weakened and wearied heroes can successfully traverse the desert, they will only find themselves confronted by a band of skilled Haradrim warriors. And this, of course, leads to a climactic confrontation with the Dark Lord's minions—but with a twist that may have your heroes questioning their long-held beliefs.

Desperate Alliances for Desperate Times
Stranded in the desert of Harad, your heroes are going to need every bit of help they can get, and they'll be happy for the assistance provided by the new allies and other player cards from The Sands of Harad.

One of the most exciting of these new player cards is the game-changing side quest, The Storm Comes (The Sands of Harad, 13). Like all the different player side quests previously released, The Storm Comes offers you a powerful incentive for including it in your deck and taking the time away from your main quest to complete it. Unlike previous side quests, however, The Storm Comes doesn't trigger a one-time effect. Instead, so long as it remains in your victory display, it allows you to play your first ally each turn without requiring a resource match.

It's even more powerful in a multiplayer game since it allows all your friends to play their first allies without resource matches, too.

Of course, you wouldn't necessarily want this to serve as the lynchpin to a deck that wants to play a bunch of allies outside its core sphere or spheres. Even if you include three copies of The Storm Comes and three copies of Dúnedain Message (Across the Ettenmoors, 56) to search for it, the side quest needs to be both found and completed before you gain its benefits. Accordingly, it is likely best used as support for a multi-sphere deck that occasionally wishes to play expensive allies, using resources from all three heroes, even though their spheres don't all match the allies'.

In this way, you could play a Tactics ally like the Vigilant Dúnadan (The Sands of Harad, 6) using only a single resource from your Tactics hero and pairing it with three resources from your other heroes. Or you could play a Spirit ally, but borrow some of the resources from your non-Spirit heroes, in order to keep a resource on your Spirit hero in case you need to play A Test of Will (Core Set, 50) during the Quest Phase… And, occasionally, you might use the side quest's ability to play a single, powerful ally that doesn't match any of your heroes' spheres of influence.

However you use it, though, The Storm Comes reinforces two of the themes from The Sands of Harad. It plays to the many difficult decisions the expansion's side quests will force you to make as you find your way through the desert of Harad. And it promotes the Unlikely Friendships (The Sands of Harad, 7) that make allies of characters from different spheres, Traits, and backgrounds.

Deep in Enemy Territory
Each of the deluxe expansions for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game have transported you and your heroes to new lands within Middle-earth. None of them, however, have deposited you so far in enemy territory as The Sands of Harad. Here, in the southern reaches, the climate is different, the cultures are different, and the challenges are different.

• A deluxe expansion for the cooperative The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
• Explores the strange lands and cultures in the south of Middle-earth
• Three new scenarios highlight the decisions your heroes make along a desperate journey
• Features two heroes that lend each other strength while working together
• New player cards emphasize unlikely pairings between heroes and allies