The Balance of Things

Hazard: Long-event

Unique. Each character has the corruption points doubled for one of his sources of corruption (the player controlling the character chooses).

A very simple card in its effects, but extremely good. It does one thing, and has two minor problems and one major one. The thing it does, of course, is double the points from one corruption source. This can range from adding 1 extra point with a low-corruption card to making it almost impossible to win a corruption check with The One Ring (and then just play Weariness of the Heart (that's one of its few uses) or Ren the Unclean (forces checks for everyone in play) to make the corruption take effect).

Of course, the best time to play it is when your opponent has a character with a high corruption source like a ring, and no other sources (otherwise he'll just use that Dagger of Westernesse and get 1 extra point, big deal) or better yet, a wizard with a high corruption source. Like if he's being foolhardy and has given Saruman Palantir of Osgilath, give him 3 extra corruption points and make him suffer. Or here's a combo strategy that might work (I haven't seen a ruling on this yet): play Wizard's Flame or something with a -3 or so check on HIS WIZARD (I'm not sure if this is okay, but it doesn't say otherwise anywhere I've seen). That would give Saruman a total of 6 points with a -3 check, meaning that he must beat NINE in order to avoid being discarded and losing the game. In general, this is the ultimate corruption card. You could also try this with Traitor for a little added flair. Or even better, with The Will of Sauron to make it permanent and give your opponent one major headache.

Along with this great ability, however, come a few disadvantages. First and foremost, it works on you too. This could be avoided if you distributed around a few non-unique minor 1-point items to your characters in advance (it's often devastating enough to be worth the trouble) and then used them as the extra source, especially if you have a few Old Friendships around just in case they're needed.

There's also the matter of its uniqueness, though after one shot with this most opponents will be careful in the future. Finally, the minor problem of the character's controller choosing the item, though this was already discussed. Overall, a cool card, useful in almost any deck (particularly if you're willing to devote a few cards to its strategy).

Ratings for: THE BALANCE OF THINGS

Rater	Rating
Gandalf	9.0
Lobelia	10.0
Morgoth	7.5
Faramir	5.0
Shadowfax	4.0
Beren	9.5
Isildur	6.5
Gollum	7.9
Radagast	9.0
Cirdan	9.5
Eru	3.0
Average	7.355

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