Eowyn, Fearless Knight – LOTR: TALES OF MIDDLE-EARTH
Date Reviewed: July 10, 2023
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.50
Casual: 4.50
Limited: 4.63
Multiplayer: 3.63
Commander [EDH]: 3.75
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
It took me a couple of times reading her flavor text to realize that Éowyn isn’t a conventional Banisher Priest variant – the creature she exiles never comes back. That’s quite fitting for someone who killed an immortal sorcerer king (and was really modest about it in the rest of the book, come to think of it). The second part of that trigger reads deceptively innocuously: it breaks stalemates surprisingly easily, since the minimum result is Éowyn herself gaining protection, which will often result in her attacking through the rest of the opponent’s table. The maximum result is a lot like Overrun, and I think there’s at least two ways to build a deck that uses her to win on the spot – in casual, maybe in Modern, and even in Tales of Middle-earth draft. Again, very fitting for a noble of the Rohirrim, given their propensity to sweep across the steppe and upend battles out of nowhere.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
In terms of flavor, this is a really neat reference; Éowyn, Fearless Knight references the role that Éowyn had in the story. During the battle of Pelennor Fields, one of the climactic setpieces of The Return of the King, she, disguised as a knight, is ultimately the one responsible for killing the Witch-King of Angmar, who famously boasted that no man could best him. It took a woman and a hobbit, it turns out; Merry also helped.
Anyway, back to the card, and Éowyn, Fearless Knight is indeed capable of defeating the Witch-king of Angmar by exiling a creature with greater power. She’s also able to capitalize on this opening; as a 3/4 with haste, she also extends protection from the exiled creature’s colors to your legendary board on that turn. On her own, she’s probably a three-power creature unblockable attacker on that first turn, but if you have an already established board, she can force a lot of progress out of nowhere.
I think she has fringe Modern prospects; she’s not phenomenal, but she can exile most of the problematic creatures that she might be played into and potentially break a stalled board state. Add to it a pretty decent creature typeline, and I could see Humans making room for her in the sideboard. If nothing else, removal with a threat stapled to it is very much a good place to be, and I think there’s room for Éowyn in a fair few decks. There are also possibly ways to cheat her in during other players’ turns to wreck some plans, and I do like a good bit of disruption that way.
Constructed: 3.5 (probably a sideboard card, but she does her job surprisingly well)
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.75 (she’s removal and a threat)
Multiplayer: 3.75 (shines best if you hit something that forfends your entire board against most of your opponents)
Commander [EDH]: 4 (the protection can be a surprising wrench in plans)
We would love more volunteers to help us with our Magic the Gathering Card of the Day reviews. If you want to share your ideas on cards with other fans, feel free to drop us an email. We would be happy to link back to your blog / YouTube Channel / etc. 😉
