Dwarven Ring of Durin's Tribe

Marshalling Points: 4(6)
Direct Influence: +2(7)
Prowess/Body: +2(4)/+1
Corruption: 3(5)

Unique. Dwarven Ring. Playable only with a Gold Ring and after a test indicates a Dwarven ring. Values in parentheses apply to a Dwarf bearer. Tap a Dwarf bearer to untap the site he is currently at. Bearer makes a corruption check modified by +2.

It has 2 good uses. The first is it's as good or better than The One Ring for some bonuses, as the previous one I reviewed is (well, their bonuses are all the same, after all). It gives you incredible increases in Direct Influence and Marshalling Points. But on to the main feature, the one it's uniquely good for, the one that by itself makes it the second best Ring. It can untap sites. I carefully searched through my cards, to make absolutely sure it's the only one, and it is.

Imagine the potential of this. Go to some difficult but useful site, like Moria or The Lonely Mountain. Send in a few extra powerful characters, maybe a Short-Event enhancer or two just to add to the fun. Defeat the automatic-attack, then leave a dwarf and maybe Saruman (for Wizard's Test) behind. You can now keep bringing out items, Rings galore, at that site without worrying about it tapping. No more worries about using up sites - just put a couple of good ring ones to get this out (and maybe an Information for Ringlore - it's really useful for this) and once it's there, choose a nice central site and re-use it again and again as your "item depot".

This card almost entirely changes some of the strategies in a game. And all only at the cost of a +2 corruption check, easy to avoid if this is the dwarf's only item (and it's powerful enough so it can easily be that). This card doesn't need any neat combos to work - it's good enough by itself. Of course, it'd be even better if it didn't need a Dwarf, but that's only a minor blemish on an otherwise great card. Overall, a wonderful card, belonging in everyone's deck (it's almost a reason to include ring cards in your deck by itself).

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