There are three reasons players should look to reduce the twilight costs of their minions in the LOTR TCG, and the Nazgul card Morgul Gates is an extremely powerful means to achieve all of them. First, there is the goal of being able to simply play a few minions at a reasonable cost early on in the site path. At early site numbers, minions are usually roaming and those extra two twilight can prevent you from mounting a reasonable offence in the beginning of the game. This is certainly not ideal since the fellowship is weakest early on and the shadow side thrives on exploitation. Nazgul are particularly well suited for early site exploitation due to their low site numbers and Fierce keyword ability. So, by using Morgul Gates to reduce a Nazgul’s twilight cost by 2 (effectively canceling the roaming penalty), you make it possible for you to play some extra Nazgul at early sites or a slightly larger Nazgul than you would normally be able to play at a given site.

The second cost reduction incentive is to permit the playing of support cards. There are many support cards, some of which have been reviewed in prior articles of this section, and their possible benefits are vast. An extra two twilight left in the pool means that you can play two Threshold of Shadow (to give your Nazgul a total of +4 strength), two Nazgul Swords (to make your Nazgul strength +2 and damage +1), two Black Steeds (to make your Nazgul strength +2 or +4 at a plains), two Blade Tips (wounds bearer at the start of each turn), or any combination of these. Indeed the possibilities are endless and those extra few levels of strength, or extra wounds on your opponent’s companion, can often mean the difference between winning and losing the game.

Finally, there is cost reduction with the aim of being able to play a larger number of minions for a late game swarming/overwhelming effect. Now, this is something that Nazgul have some trouble accomplishing as they’re relatively expensive minions (compare them to the twilight cost of Moria orcs). In addition, Nazgul are all unique, which limits the total number of minions you can play. Nevertheless, most Nazgul are Fierce which makes them count as two minions each, if they survive. In this respect, Morgul Gates (with its 0 twilight cost) can assist you in playing one or two more Nazgul at later sites when the pool is rather plentiful. That extra pool generated by the Morgul Gates can also come in handy if your opponent is at the Palantir Chamber (Site 9) with at least 2 burdens on the Ringbearer. In this situation you can remove two burdens to play a minion from your discard pile - I’d much rather put my Witch-King into play for 6 twilight (plus a Morgul Gates) than an Ulaire Toldea, wouldn’t you?

by Hayden-William Courtland

• Choke decks

• Decks that flood the twilight pool

• Frodo/Sam/Gimli Choke with Nazgul - http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,9366.0.html