Perhaps one of the most confusing cards in the game can actually have a pretty cool effect, if you can understand how to use it. It took me three tries...
Legendary Hoard # Resource # Permanent-event
Playable on an at home Dragon manifestation. Target Dragon's automatic-attack
cannot be cancelled. Rotate this card 90° each time a manifestation of target
Dragon is Played. If the site receiving the Dragon's automatic-attack is
untapped, a number of items played there do not tap the site: not rotated: 1
item; rotated once: 2 items; rotated twice or more: 3 items. If target Dragon
is required to be discarded or removed from play, invert Dragon on table until
this card is discarded. Discard this card when any item is played at target
Dragon's lair that taps the site. Cannot be duplicated on a given Dragon.
First of all, how does this card work? First, there must be an At Home dragon manifestation in play. If you include this card, you should probably also add a dragon you want, or at least put it in your sideboard in case your opponent isn't playing with dragons. This card comes into play unrotated, as if it was "untapped" as all normal cards do. Now, you wait for a manifestation of this dragon to be played. Ahunts or basics is the only way to go, and again, if your opponent isn't playing with lots of dragons, you should include your own Ahunts (and maybe From the Pits of Angbad so you can play it several times). Now, according to the number of times you play manifestations of that dragon, this card gets rotated. Now you can go in and snag several items from the site all at once. Remember that since the site is untapped you can play items until the site becomes tapped or you run out of character or items in your hand. And then you can wait until next turn or come back when you're ready.
There are a couple problems with this. First, your opponent can also use the Legendary Hoard. Thus, you can end up doing all the work and then as you make your way towards the site, and your opponet shows up with a hand full of items to play, you're out of luck. Another problem is, if I play one less item than is allowed, can I come back and play more than one? If not, how do I keep track of it... I'm sure someone at ICE will yell at me... There exists one other major drawback of this card: the attacks can't be cancelled. You can get the At Home manifestation out of the way by using Marvels Told &c., but you will probably need to tap a buff warior for the auto-attack. Or, to be sneaky, have Bilbo take it and then have him slip on that Stealthy ring to canncel that strike (you can cancel the strike without cancelling the attack). And if you get some ambitious Dwarves, why not head up there and kill the dragon yourself so you can get King Under the Mountain, several items, and Returned Exiles (make sure to play that after the items as it will tap the site no matter what...
This is one of several cards that is not useful in one or often two deck games, but can be a fun "quest" in a three or four deck game. And hey, if you can pull it off twice (maybe with different dragons), it can be real fun. And pulling off a combo like Anduril or Legendary Hoard or Fate of the Ithi Stone is somehow more gratifying than going to Moria and cranking out 9 MPs...
| Ratings for Legendary Hoard: | |
|---|---|
| Isildur: | 7.0 |
| Samwise: | 8.0 |
| Bandobras Took: | 9.8 |
| Farmer Maggot: | 6.5 |
| Frodo: | 7.0 |
| Fingolfin: | 7.5 |
| Beorn: | 7.4 |
| Strider: | 5.0 |
| Legolas: | 5.3 |
| Cirdan: | 8.5 |
| Wormtongue: | 7.2 |
| Average: | 7.2 |
Card names and text copyright 1996 by Iron Crown Enterprises, all rights reserved. This document copyright 1997 by Trevor Stone. Permission given to duplicate so long as no profit is made and the copyright notice is kept in tact, blah, blah, blah.