Balance Between Powers - Questions and Uses

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CDavis7M
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Environment. No environment cards can be played. At the start of your organization phase, discard this card or keep it in play by discarding an environment card from your hand. Your opponent can then discard an environment card from his hand to discard this card, which you can counter by discarding two environment cards from your hand, which he can counter by discarding one, which you can counter with two, he with one, etc. Discard when any play deck is exhausted.
Does this mean that the opponent can ONLY discard an environment card to discard Balance Between Powers (i) at the start of my organization phase and (ii) after I have discarded an environment card to keep it in play? I am wondering whether my opponent could do so during the movement/hazard phase, or on his own turn, etc.

Any tips for using this card? It seems like you would use it when you REALLY want Gates of Morning or Doors of Night to stay in play. It also seems like you'd need non-Gates/Doors/Twilight environment cards to feed it.

Maybe Balance Between Powers is worth playing if you have a lot of uses for Will of Sauron? What other Gates/Doors cards are powerful enough to justify Balance Between Powers?

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Theo
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I see how the interpretation could be that the opponent could discard at any point thereafter (after you discard). But to me, the "then" implies that it should be right then. So I'd be on the side of your first interpretation.

I use this card in my Gates of Morning decks to give me an edge over Doors or Twilights during my turn (can be played in response to fizzle their resolution). It's not as useful for Doors strategies because you can't play it to counter Gates during your opponent's turn. I rarely bother to keep in in play, but maybe that would be a better option for Doors since there are so many more hazard environments to get out of your hand.
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the JabberwocK
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Theo responded while I was typing my answer below!

Theo recently used this card in a game I played against him. He had Gates of Morning in play. I declared Doors of Night. He responded with Balance Between Powers. Then Balance Between Powers resolved, and my Doors of Night fizzled because "No environment cards can be played."
CDavis7M wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2019 7:13 pm Does this mean that the opponent can ONLY discard an environment card to discard Balance Between Powers (i) at the start of my organization phase and (ii) after I have discarded an environment card to keep it in play? I am wondering whether my opponent could do so during the movement/hazard phase, or on his own turn, etc.
The way the card is worded, I would say only at the start of the organization phase.
CDavis7M wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2019 7:13 pm Any tips for using this card? It seems like you would use it when you REALLY want Gates of Morning or Doors of Night to stay in play. It also seems like you'd need non-Gates/Doors/Twilight environment cards to feed it.
Theo didn't attempt to feed it with anything. At the beginning of his next organization phase he just let it lapse. Thus, he just used it as a one time counterspell to my Doors of Night.
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CDavis7M
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Thanks for the responses! Sounds like a Gates-user could reactively prevent a Doors-war, also clogging their opponent's hand. But a Doors-user would need to be proactive, and feed Balance of Powers.

For Gates, Star of High Hope and and Sun can be powerful paired with Echo of All Joy (dependent on no-Doors). +4 Dunedain vs -1 to attacks seems ridiculous. I've also had a deck that tried to keep Moon in play permanently. Fog could be used the same way.

For Doors, the one thing that I think could be worth feeding the beast is an Underdeeps (minion?) resource + perma-snowstorm deck. You'd also need anti-marvels hazards (Adunapehl? Many Sorrows, A Lie in your Eyes). But, would be difficult to pull off and also anti-fun.

I think I'll try it in a Gates deck.

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