by Cynthia Hart

With the advent of Two Towers and Battle of Helm's Deep the weary feet of both companions and minions were given respite, in the form of mounts.

First the companions mounted up in Two Towers but now Battle of Helm's Deep has arrived and it's the shadow side's turn. Isengard gets Wargs, wolves as big as small horses, while the Raiders get Mumaks, the largest mounts yet seen in the movie. But not just anyone can jump on the nearest mount - each one has it's own subset of riders.

Although Mumaks are a Raider mount, only the Southrons can ride them. So the question becomes: What makes the Mumaks a good card for a Southron deck and what strategies do they enhance?

First we have the obvious - they give strength bonuses. For a cost of 2, a Mumak will raise a Southron's strength by 3 while a War Mumak costs 3 and raises it by 4. But we already had strength bonuses with Fearless, On the March, Men of Rhun, Southron Spear, etc. and most of them (except for Fearless and Southron Spear) work for all Raiders, not just Southrons. So what else makes Mumaks special?

Check out effect number 2 - both Mumaks make their riders fierce. Only one Southron has the ability to be fierce without a Mumak, Desert Legion, and he requires 5 burdens to key the fierce text. So for an additional cost of 2 or 3, you now have fierceness.

But that's not all - there's also effect number 3: Mumaks can add twilight. Which is better at doing this depends on your deck, but it will often be the Mumak ("Each time bearer wins a skirmish, you may add 2.") rather than the War Mumak ("Each time bearer overwhelms a character you may add 5."), as it's easier to simply win a skirmish than overwhelm a companion.

So Mumaks can increase their rider's strength, make them fierce and add extra twilight at the end of a skirmish, all for the measly cost of 2 or 3 twilight upfront. Now that we know their effects, how do we use them? Southrons have two major unique strategies: 1) archers with special text allowing the minion to be exerted to exert a companion and 2) direct wounding minions with "remove 3 to wound" special text.

Since Mumaks do not increase vitality, their best use with Archery is to allow a low cost, lower strength archer to win a skirmish after the archer phase. There are 5 Southron archers ranging from a twilight cost of 7, strength 14 to a twilight cost of 3, strength 6. With Mumaks, you can shoot the companions with archery and then wound the company twice by winning two skirmishes. Or add Regiment of Haradrim for site control and use the Southron Archer to add 1 to your archery total for each site you control. With this strategy the Mumaks can be used to ensure the Regiment wins its skirmishes, and remains able to exert.

But it is the second (direct wounding) strategy that uses all three of the Mumaks abilities: strength bonuses, fierceness and twilight addition. With a careful allocation of minions, Mumaks, and cards like Flanking Attack one mounted minion can deal 4 wounds a turn. Throw in a Whirling Strike or two and your opponent's Fellowship will be cowering in fear.

A Shadow side like this does not always move through your hand quickly, so your best bet is to team it up with a Fellowship side that can be played as soon as you draw it. The deck below is not really a competition winning deck but is a lot of fun to play.

Collection Manager Deck File

Starting Fellowship
Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir
The One Ring, Answer to All Riddles

Adventure Path
Eastermnet Gullies
Plains of Rohan Camp
Stables
Westemnet Hills
Helm's Gate
Great Hall
Hornburg Wall
Wizard's Vale
Fortress of Orthanc

Free Peoples (32)
Haldir, Emissary of the Galadhrim
Legolas, Greenleaf
3 x Lorien Swordsman
Balglin, Elven Warrior
Taurnil, Sharp-eyed Bowman
2 x Leod, Westfold Herdsman
The Tale of Gil-galad
3 x Elven bow
2 x Elven Sword
Legolas' Sword
Asfaloth
4 x Double Shot
2 x Company of Archers
Brego
Horse of Rohan
Aldor, Soldier of Edoras
Weland, Smith of the Riddermark
2 x Well Stored
Bounder
Sting, Old Baggins Heirloom
Power According to His Stature

Shadow (32)
4 x Desert Warrior
4 x Desert Soldier
4 x Desert Spearman
4 x Whirling Strike
4 x Flanking Attack
Army of Haradrim
3 x Desert Lord
4 x Mumak
Southron Runner
Southron Veterans
2 x War Mumak