Hoarmurath of Dir

Unique. Nazgul (6th). May be played as a hazard creature (with one strike) or as a permanent-event. As a creature, may also be played keyed to Dagorlad, Ithilien, Gorgoroth, and Khand; and may also be played at sites in these regions. If played as a permanent-event, it will remain in play until tapped during the opponent's movement/hazard phase (tapping counts against the hazard limit). When tapped, Hoarmurath of Dir becomes a short-event and gives +1 strike to any one attack.

First his stats. 15/9. Standard level prowess, comparable to most of them (except Akhorahil, Witch-King and Khamul), but body one point lower. Though body isn't that significant with high prowess, it does make that little difference.

His regions are, like most Nazgul, moderate, though Ithilien is nice because it's only a Wilderness otherwise. This drives him to 8th or 9th for just ability, but his skill makes him overall another middlish one.

Let's look at that skill. He gives an extra strike to any attack. The effectiveness of this, of course, entirely depends on the attack itself. Personally, I rate for the three creature abilities strikes first, then prowess, and finally body, so this is better than either of the other enhancers when dealing with one single attack. Instead of just making it a little more powerful, it gives it a whole extra chance to do harm. This is particularly deadly with "Attacker chooses defending characters" ones, because those count for more and you can get more of those fiddling little ones like un-enhanced Hobbits (though most people protect them with things like The One Ring). Like Smaug, any dragon for that matter, or better yet a Fell Beast enhanced Nazgul. 3 strikes, you choose defending characters, and IT'S A NAZGUL (bring out old Khamul for real fun, 16 prowess...).

And it only needs 2 cards to be played immediately, a third played previously that counts toward the hazard limit. One of the few Nazgul combos that you can reasonably get out without turning over your entire strategy to it. And also, this card has the nice feature of being recyclable with The Nazgul are Abroad, so you can use it again and again. This ability ranks around fourth, behind Khamul, Ren, and Uvatha.

So, overall, Hoarmurath of Dir is an okay Nazgul overall, but with a good special ability that makes him better.

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