Minas Tirith First Circle eschews the site six strategy from The Return of the King/Movie Block and, instead of healing each companion of a particular culture, wounds each companion in play. With most Free Peoples strategies, Minas Tirith First Circle is enough to “force” a companion to stop at the sanctuary. In decks that focus on Ring-Bearer wounding or archery, Minas Tirith is a guaranteed stop against an exhausted ring-bearer unless bearing a response action version of The One Ring.

Minas Tirith First Circle is almost exclusively seen in Dunland site control strategies employing No Retreat, but also has a place in swarm or bomb Shadow strategies, where an extra turn to build a hand of minions would be beneficial moving into the late game. Additionally, it is worth noting that the site 7 theme of The Return of the King/Movie block punishes large fellowships of six or more companions; forcing a move to Osgiliath Crossing or Osgiliath Channel (with additional move limit modifiers) can result in brutal Shadow strikes.

• Forced movement from cards such as No Retreat or Forced March (in an unofficial format) devastate many free peoples strategies
• Even when hampered by a weak shadow hand, Minas Tirith First Circle often is enough to stop a double move
• Exhausted Ring-Bearer with any copy of the One Ring besides the One Ring, Isildur's Bane or The One Ring, Ring of Rings (unofficial format)
• Best played in swarm or bomb Shadow strategies, where an extra turn to sculpt a hand of minions is beneficial
• Devastating in concordance with Wizard Storm, Under the Watching Eye, and other exert-when-moving cards

• Unwounded companions, or fellowships with large vitality characters (such as Ents)
• The Shire Countryside healing engines, or with cards that heal companions between the following maneuver and regroup phase (such as Might of Numenor or A Grey Ship)