Elven Sword takes me down at the TOC

My comeback came to an abrupt halt this weekend as I went a lousy 2-2 at the TOC (with one win a BYE in the first round!). I played my Unheeded/Forest Nazgul deck.

My first real match was against Steve, a guy that has played cards with me for quite some time. We knew each others' styles well so it was a fun matchup. He was playing Archery Elves with Evil Men Archery. I was able to fend off the Evil Men archery thanks to Pippin and Merry bouncing back to my hand, but I made a few key mistakes (Farmer Maggot only has 3 viatlity!) that resulted in me having to stop at Site 7, and my opponent was able to out-run me to Site 9. (1-1)

My next match was against Jonathan, a relatively inexperienced player playing Gondor Wraiths Fellowship and a Sauron Shadow. The Gondor Wraiths were quickly overwhelmed by my RingWraiths. (2-1)

My last match was against Andrew, the only undefeated player, whom I feared for numerous reasons, first and foremost: he had helped me build my deck! Andrew was playing Elven Telepathy with Besiegers. I knew it was going to be a tough match, so I played very cautiously and made very few mistakes. The match came down to the wire as we were both at Site 7. I moved to Site 8 when the Tournament Director told us there was only 3 minutes left in the round. I knew that if I took my time I would have a shot at making it to Site 9, but it would be risky. I chose to hurry through my turn and take a shot at Andrew's weakened Fellowship with my Nazgul.

I was able to destroy Andrew's Fellowship, and had Ulaire Nelya on Andrew's ring-bearer, Galadriel, for the win, when I realized why Andrew had put in this card:



With 7 cards in hand, Andrew was able to discard cards to make Nelya strength 7. With the sword, Galadirel was strength 4, and I only dealt 1 wound instead of the overwhelm. I was crushed, but it was a great match to a worthy opponent. (2-2)

Andrew went on to win the final confrontation, and the TOC. Congrats Andrew!