I feel like I've blinked and the Angmar Awakened cycle is almost complete. The second to last adventure pack has come out and we are seeing the promises made in the preview articles really flesh out.
Heroes
We've seen him as an objective ally in three of the quests of this cycle, and now Amarthiúl is getting the hero treatment. Sporting the same stats as his objective version, we see him as a Leadership hero, but with a very strong Tactics feel. This becomes even clearer in his abilities. As with other Dúnedain, he benefits from engaging enemies. In this case, he gains the Tactics sphere when engaged with one enemy, and gains extra resources. Armarthiúl combines Song of Battle and Resourceful into his hero ability. Leadership is rich, forgive the pun, with resource acceleration, and being able to smooth resources between both Leadership and Tactics is beneficial. Unfortunately, there aren't any Dúnedain cards in the Tactics sphere which truly need the resources. Dúnedain Hunter is a zero cost card which, while you need the resource match, you don't need any of the additional resources. Gondorian Fire, on the other hand, benefits strongly from Armarthiúl being able to gain extra resources. If you access to Spirit, then Blood of Numenor is another benefit to Armarthiúl's resources. Many times, I find putting these attachments on Boromir, since he can use his readying effect to take advantage of the combat boosts multiple times, but with readying effects such as Athelas or Unexpected Courage you can get similar utility.
Allies
Beechbone joins the Ent army as another Tactics ally. His ability allows you to declare him as a defender, and immediately take damage to then deal damage to the attacking enemy. Just like core set classic, Gondorian Spearman, direct damage becomes more and more important as we see the game evolve. To counter the larger player card pool, we have seen nastier enemies come out with higher hit points, and higher defense. Being able to throw some direct damage on enemies, especially if Beechbone is going to die from the attack, is an excellent form of action advantage. If he survives, Boomed and Trumpeted gives him the chance to ready and attack strongly. Damage effects boost Booming Ent's attack, and at the end of the round, Wellinghall Preserver can heal him up.
Guardian of Arnor is yet another card to add to the strong Dúnedain archetype. In this case, this sentinel defender gains additional defense for every enemy engaged with the player. A solid ally for sure, especially at three cost. My immediate comparison is to Warden of Annuminas, which gives additional willpower for every enemy engaged, but at a cheaper cost. With the higher cost, you do get slightly better stats, but considering that the Guardian is in Leadership vs Warden's Spirit sphere, the cost difference is even rougher. If you're using Dúnedain with access to Leadership, this is definitely an inclusion. Be careful, however, when using his sentinel ability, since the defense boost only works based on how many enemies you have engaged.
In the books, Lindir role is as the smug Elf Lord who listened to Bilbo's poetry. That smugness is definitely clear in the art for this card. For three cost, you get an ally with decent stats, as well as the possibility to draw cards, up to a hand size of three. This plays right into the Noldor trait that has been in development this cycle. Obviously, if you're using Erestor, card draw is not typically an issue. With other builds, however, especially in Lindir's Spirit sphere, some form of card draw is needed. This could be a more reliable form of Ancient Mathom, with card draw in the planning phase rather than questing. Paired with Leadership, I could see Lindir as a good candidate for Sneak Attack, with him popping in for cheap, drawing some cards, and then returning to hand. Alternatively, he could be a target for Children of the Sea, where he quests for four, then gets shuffled back into the deck, to be used later.
Attachments
Favor of the Valar is the first attachment to attach to a player's threat dial. Tying right into the valour trait, this card, in a fairly clumsily written fashion, triggers when a player would otherwise be eliminated by threat. Instead, the player's threat is dropped by five, and player sticks around. When running valour, it behooves you to stay at 40 threat for as much of the game as possible. Typically, threat management has been seen in Spirit, but this is not what you would expect to see in a valour deck. Tactics did get some threat management with Secret Vigil, but it is not as reliable as other forms of threat reduction. This allows you to get some threat reduction, but only at the last moment. It could be very difficult if RNG keeps you from drawing this card, but such is the ever present concern in this game of ours. In addition to valour, playing doomed cards introduced in the previous cycle could also take advantage of this card.
The Long Defeat thematically captures the feeling of the Elves, as they slowly are losing the battle against darkness over their immortal lives. As we saw the first time an attachment attached to a threat dial, this is the first time we see a player attachment that attaches to the quest. For one lore resource, after the attached quest is defeated, each player gets to either heal 5 damage among the characters he controls, or draw two cards. Obviously, card draw is great, but with Elrond, the healing could be bonkers. Elrond's text reads that whenever a character is healed by card effects, heal one additional hit point. Based on card text, as written, if you heal one hit point, Elrond heals another. Therefore, if you heal five separate characters, this could heal a total of 10 hit points! Spread across four players, and this could be incredible value for the cost. In most cases, this card would be wasted on the final quest card, but in a quest like A Journey to Rhosgobel, attaching this card to quest 2B could give you the boost to make sure Wilyador is fully healed.
Events
Typically, cards that interact with quest are meant to improve your willpower, Doom Hangs Still is there to protect you in case you quest unsuccessfully. Similar to Ever Onward, this card protects players from raising your threat after questing unsuccessfully. A reactionary card, to be sure, I prefer to be more proactive. I have never included Ever Onward in a deck, as I rather be in control at the start than wait for something bad to happen. Furthermore, this card is played as a Planning Action, so it can't even be used in response to questing successfully. It could be argued that these cards could be used to save characters for combat, but since staging still occurs, you will still have to deal with any when revealed effects on cards. This is where Doom Hangs Still's valour action comes into the play. For effectively Doomed 2, you skip the quest phase entirely. This is the best part of the card, as it allows you to not worry about questing, but at a significant cost. This seems like a last ditch effort in most quests, where you already have quested sufficiently, but you still need to finish some other condition, such as defeating a boss enemy. That said, it still seems like a last ditch effort, where the game is on the line and that doesn't feel like the way I want to play, except in very specific scenarios, such as Helm's Deep.
Hold Your Ground! adds a new dynamic to sentinel characters. Previous to this card, sentinel had no utility outside of multiplayer and The Day's Rising. While a small step, this card begins to give value to the trait in a single player game. For one resource, a sentinel character can ready, or in the case of valour mode, all sentinel characters can ready. This one is fairly cut and dry, but being able to ready a bunch of characters, or even just one, can be clutch when fighting some rough enemies. In a recent game with COTR, I played a deck with a heavy sentinel focus. Had this card been in the deck, the utility of the deck would be even great, including utility that could of been had from other players' sentinel characters.
Over the course of the cycle, we have seen many ways to put cards into our discard pile in exchange for various abilities. Lord of the Eldar takes full advantage of this. Only playable from the discard pile, this relatively expensive spirit event boosts the stats of all Noldor on the board, for the entire round. When paired with a Noldor-focused deck, or Noldors across multiple decks, this card could give so much utility. Any Noldor, equipped with Light of Valinor will see a nice boost to two different actions that round, and Galadriel acts like a double boost as see gets the boost to her willpower which she can give to a fellow Noldor that had already been boosted. Throw in Arwen, and she'll be questing for three, and giving someone else yet another defense boost.
Quick Ears gives Dúnedain and Rangers access to encounter cancellation similar to Eleanor. Exhaust a character from one of these archetypes, and shuffle the card back in, revealing a new card. As the deck gets smaller, the chance of getting the same character gets greater, but it does give a chance to remove a card which would really be deadly. Since it's a response that occurs when the card is revealed, surge and doomed keywords are also cancelled. It's an OK card. I see the utility, but its effect isn't that exciting, especially when you consider you could get the same card back, possibly. If you have cheap rangers, such as Ithilien Tracker or Mablung, and it could be decent.
Final Thoughts
This impressions took a bit of time to write. I don't know if it's as we get later in the year, and we get busier, or if it is an expression of my excitement for the adventure pack. There are good cards in this pack, but definitely a lot of cards which didn't excite me. I'm thankful to have it, though I found some cards boring or outside of playstyle, we continue to see development in Dúnedain and Noldor which are very fun ways to play the game. No side quest included in the pack makes me wonder if we've seen the last of player side quests, which I hope is not the case.
Showing posts with label impressions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label impressions. Show all posts
Friday, November 13, 2015
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Impressions - The Treachery of Rhudaur Player Cards
The Treachery of Rhudaur has been released, and with that, a new set of player cards. Now that we are past the halfway mark of the Angmar Awakened cycle, we are starting to see FFG make good on the promises of new Noldor synergy,
Heroes
Erestor's debut as a hero comes with standard lore flavor, but with a twist. As is no surprise, card draw is the main bullet point in his skill set. Similar to Bilbo, Erestor gives additional card draw, but this time, it is only for his controller and it's three extra cards! The draw back, however, is that all cards have to be discarded at the end of the round. To put that into perspective, that's 10 cards, one fifth of a standard deck, in your opening hand, and four cards every round there after. Obviously, quests such as Deadman's Dike, where you're punished for running through your deck, will not see much Erestor action. In solo games, Erestor could be included, replacing all other forms of card draw. That's pretty huge, as it could free up a significant amount of space in a deck. In multiplayer, I could see including Beravor, as a support hero, to give other players card draw. Erestor's extra card draw really shines with abilities which require card discard. Old staples such as Eowyn or Protector of Lorien going to see a lot of use, as the discard requirement is less rough when the card are going away anyway. All the benefits I see, however, are weighed against the potential downfalls. Certain cards, such as A Test of Will or Feint, are typically held in hand until they're needed. With Erestor, you have to think differently. The player board is where you have to put your reliance in, not your hand. Cards such as Scroll of Isildur will be very useful in recycling cards. Another auto-include might seem to be Will of the West, but this is one you definitely will want to mulligan out of your starting hand.
Allies
Silvan is one of my favorite archetypes, and Galadhrim Weaver continues the trait. For one cost, which is not reducible by O Lórien, it only provides one will power. However, its enters play ability allows you to shuffle the top card of your discard back into your deck. One of the keys to the Silvan trait is being able to return cards to hand, which are typically done through a number of event cards. By playing the Weaver, you can return these valuable cards back into the deck to be used again. Obviously, there are opportunities to use this card in any deck where you want to continuously recycle cards.
Galdor of the Havens is an appropriate pairing with hero Erestor. As soon as you discard a card, draw a card. Since it allows you to essentially replace the card you discard, it seems like an easy decision. I especially like him with Galadriel and her mirror. I don't typically like to run the mirror, since I don't like the chance of losing the card I just pulled, but with this ally, you can replace whatever card you lose.
Attachments
Elven Spear gives Silvan and Noldor a new weapon to run. For the cost of three cards, the hero wielding the spear can boost his attack by three. Since this is done in three separate occasions, Galdor would be triggered each time.
Silver Harp also helps the Noldor trait's new discard ability. After discarding a card, exhaust the Silver Harp to return it to the hand. This seems like a great card in general. Obviously, it requires Spirit, both to pay for, and to attach to. Oddly, it is a restricted attachment, which isn't usually an issue for Spirit heroes, with the exception of, perhaps, Glorfindel.
Elf-friend is a card I never expected to see. By attaching this card to a character, they become both Silvan and Noldor. This falls into the situational section of cards. I like strong combos that don't rely on drawing the right cards at the right time. In the case of this card, you have to pull it in, and then draw whatever card. This could cause some cool combos, such as equipping Tactics Aragorn with Rivendell Blade to reduce enemies' defense by three, but I would probably include it in a deck that has a target that wouldn't require Elf-friend as well, such as Legolas.
Events
Horn's Cry adds to the Valour trait in a way I can get behind. One less attack for each enemy until the end of the phase, or minus three attack for a single player's enemies. Beorn is a strong defender, but his one defense can sometimes be a burden, with no way of directly boosting it. By using this card, along with the bear's unexhausting sentinel defense, he can take a lot more slings and arrows. Similarly, Boromir could also benefit from being able to lessen the attack of his enemies, and with his readying action, his player will probably be consistently using this card's Valour ability.
Reinforcements is a card I hadn't made up my mind about when I started analyzing it, but by the end, started to really like it. For three leadership resources, coming from three different heroes, the group can put two allies into play from their hand, but only for that phase. This is essentially a different version of Sneak Attack, but something that the whole group can utilize, rather than just the player playing the event. The old combo was to use Sneak Attack plus Gandalf, but it required that both cards be in one player's hand to pull off. Not only that, but you had to have access to Leadership. Though more expensive, and requiring either mono-Leadership, or the inclusion of songs, this event allows any player in the game to utilize this same combo. Not only that, but the allies may enter play under anyone's control. Perhaps one player has Gandalf in hand and needs some card draw, while another player needs a defender for the round. Simply play this card and both players get what they need. Taking the example further, perhaps that same player needs some help killing the engaged enemy, you still have another ally that can be put into play. Just like Sneak Attack, the allies return to their owners' hands at the end of the phase, which will trigger Horn of Gondor, leaving only a net usage of one resource and one card. As mentioned above, I wasn't sure how I felt about this card initially. Obviously, this won't see as much action in solo, and the three resources from three different resource pools can be rough. In both cases, the downsides aren't that bad. Even in solo play, getting two allies out could still be very strong, and mono-Leadership is one of the strongest mono-spheres in the game. I'm very excited to play around with this card.
The Door is Closed is a very interesting play on A Test of Will. For one Lore resource, you may discard any revealed encounter card. The stipulation is, however, that a card with the same title has to be in the victory display. Immediately, I think of this in a Rossiel deck. Whether the card already has victory points on it already, or you use cards such as Out of the Wild to put them in there, this card takes a little bit to setup. It seems like it could be OK, but at the same time, just like Rossiel, could whiff.
Side Quest
Send for Aid finishes the set of side quests for each sphere. When this is played, each player gets to search the top 10 cards for an ally and put it into play under their control. This ability is similar to other events such as The Eagles are Coming!, Mustering the Rohirrim, or Entmoot, where you get to search your deck for a certain trait, but in this case, you get to put them into play, albeit only one. I could see this working well in a Rohan deck. Mustering the Rohirrim is similar, but for only one player and they still have to pay to put it into play. When playing multiplayer, this also benefits all players around. You could also use hero Gandalf and Wizard Pipe to toss the ally you want on top of your deck to ensure you get a strong play out of playing this side quest. Strangely, this is the only side quest, thus far, that costs a resource, but Leadership is typically not stretched for resources. That said, more than likely you will get more than one resource's worth of allies out of this card, which makes it more than worth it.
Final Thoughts
With the release of this adventure pack, I finally feel that the promise of the new Noldor trait has been fleshed out. With Erestor's extra card draw, and the new benefits from discarding, I'm very excited to fully explore our new cards.
Heroes
Erestor's debut as a hero comes with standard lore flavor, but with a twist. As is no surprise, card draw is the main bullet point in his skill set. Similar to Bilbo, Erestor gives additional card draw, but this time, it is only for his controller and it's three extra cards! The draw back, however, is that all cards have to be discarded at the end of the round. To put that into perspective, that's 10 cards, one fifth of a standard deck, in your opening hand, and four cards every round there after. Obviously, quests such as Deadman's Dike, where you're punished for running through your deck, will not see much Erestor action. In solo games, Erestor could be included, replacing all other forms of card draw. That's pretty huge, as it could free up a significant amount of space in a deck. In multiplayer, I could see including Beravor, as a support hero, to give other players card draw. Erestor's extra card draw really shines with abilities which require card discard. Old staples such as Eowyn or Protector of Lorien going to see a lot of use, as the discard requirement is less rough when the card are going away anyway. All the benefits I see, however, are weighed against the potential downfalls. Certain cards, such as A Test of Will or Feint, are typically held in hand until they're needed. With Erestor, you have to think differently. The player board is where you have to put your reliance in, not your hand. Cards such as Scroll of Isildur will be very useful in recycling cards. Another auto-include might seem to be Will of the West, but this is one you definitely will want to mulligan out of your starting hand.
Allies
Silvan is one of my favorite archetypes, and Galadhrim Weaver continues the trait. For one cost, which is not reducible by O Lórien, it only provides one will power. However, its enters play ability allows you to shuffle the top card of your discard back into your deck. One of the keys to the Silvan trait is being able to return cards to hand, which are typically done through a number of event cards. By playing the Weaver, you can return these valuable cards back into the deck to be used again. Obviously, there are opportunities to use this card in any deck where you want to continuously recycle cards.
Galdor of the Havens is an appropriate pairing with hero Erestor. As soon as you discard a card, draw a card. Since it allows you to essentially replace the card you discard, it seems like an easy decision. I especially like him with Galadriel and her mirror. I don't typically like to run the mirror, since I don't like the chance of losing the card I just pulled, but with this ally, you can replace whatever card you lose.
Attachments
Elven Spear gives Silvan and Noldor a new weapon to run. For the cost of three cards, the hero wielding the spear can boost his attack by three. Since this is done in three separate occasions, Galdor would be triggered each time.
Silver Harp also helps the Noldor trait's new discard ability. After discarding a card, exhaust the Silver Harp to return it to the hand. This seems like a great card in general. Obviously, it requires Spirit, both to pay for, and to attach to. Oddly, it is a restricted attachment, which isn't usually an issue for Spirit heroes, with the exception of, perhaps, Glorfindel.
Elf-friend is a card I never expected to see. By attaching this card to a character, they become both Silvan and Noldor. This falls into the situational section of cards. I like strong combos that don't rely on drawing the right cards at the right time. In the case of this card, you have to pull it in, and then draw whatever card. This could cause some cool combos, such as equipping Tactics Aragorn with Rivendell Blade to reduce enemies' defense by three, but I would probably include it in a deck that has a target that wouldn't require Elf-friend as well, such as Legolas.
Events
Horn's Cry adds to the Valour trait in a way I can get behind. One less attack for each enemy until the end of the phase, or minus three attack for a single player's enemies. Beorn is a strong defender, but his one defense can sometimes be a burden, with no way of directly boosting it. By using this card, along with the bear's unexhausting sentinel defense, he can take a lot more slings and arrows. Similarly, Boromir could also benefit from being able to lessen the attack of his enemies, and with his readying action, his player will probably be consistently using this card's Valour ability.
Reinforcements is a card I hadn't made up my mind about when I started analyzing it, but by the end, started to really like it. For three leadership resources, coming from three different heroes, the group can put two allies into play from their hand, but only for that phase. This is essentially a different version of Sneak Attack, but something that the whole group can utilize, rather than just the player playing the event. The old combo was to use Sneak Attack plus Gandalf, but it required that both cards be in one player's hand to pull off. Not only that, but you had to have access to Leadership. Though more expensive, and requiring either mono-Leadership, or the inclusion of songs, this event allows any player in the game to utilize this same combo. Not only that, but the allies may enter play under anyone's control. Perhaps one player has Gandalf in hand and needs some card draw, while another player needs a defender for the round. Simply play this card and both players get what they need. Taking the example further, perhaps that same player needs some help killing the engaged enemy, you still have another ally that can be put into play. Just like Sneak Attack, the allies return to their owners' hands at the end of the phase, which will trigger Horn of Gondor, leaving only a net usage of one resource and one card. As mentioned above, I wasn't sure how I felt about this card initially. Obviously, this won't see as much action in solo, and the three resources from three different resource pools can be rough. In both cases, the downsides aren't that bad. Even in solo play, getting two allies out could still be very strong, and mono-Leadership is one of the strongest mono-spheres in the game. I'm very excited to play around with this card.
The Door is Closed is a very interesting play on A Test of Will. For one Lore resource, you may discard any revealed encounter card. The stipulation is, however, that a card with the same title has to be in the victory display. Immediately, I think of this in a Rossiel deck. Whether the card already has victory points on it already, or you use cards such as Out of the Wild to put them in there, this card takes a little bit to setup. It seems like it could be OK, but at the same time, just like Rossiel, could whiff.
Side Quest
Send for Aid finishes the set of side quests for each sphere. When this is played, each player gets to search the top 10 cards for an ally and put it into play under their control. This ability is similar to other events such as The Eagles are Coming!, Mustering the Rohirrim, or Entmoot, where you get to search your deck for a certain trait, but in this case, you get to put them into play, albeit only one. I could see this working well in a Rohan deck. Mustering the Rohirrim is similar, but for only one player and they still have to pay to put it into play. When playing multiplayer, this also benefits all players around. You could also use hero Gandalf and Wizard Pipe to toss the ally you want on top of your deck to ensure you get a strong play out of playing this side quest. Strangely, this is the only side quest, thus far, that costs a resource, but Leadership is typically not stretched for resources. That said, more than likely you will get more than one resource's worth of allies out of this card, which makes it more than worth it.
Final Thoughts
With the release of this adventure pack, I finally feel that the promise of the new Noldor trait has been fleshed out. With Erestor's extra card draw, and the new benefits from discarding, I'm very excited to fully explore our new cards.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Impressions - The Land of Shadows Player Cards
According to the FFG website, The Land of Shadow is still at the printer. For those lucky enough to be at Gen Con, they were treated to the opportunity to purchase it early. As we explore the second half of The Two Towers, the player cards that accompany it do not disappoint.
Heroes
Faramir gets his second hero card, fourth card overall. With stats matching his lore version, his leadership version matches sphere with his original ally version. In this case, instead of being boosted by enemies in the staging area, Faramir is able to ready allies in response to engaging enemies. Just like hero Mablung, his ability is limited to once per phase, which keeps a player from getting all their allies back up in one go. The options to ready allies is fairly limited, such as Ever Vigilant, or Strength of Arms. Even though he's a Gondorian Ranger, his ability ties into Dúnedain's engagement tricks. One of my favorite recent heroes has been tactics Aragorn, and his engagement ability falls right in with Faramir. Engage an enemy during engagement, ready an ally, kill that enemy with Aragorn, engage a new enemy, ready that same ally or another. This also could give opportunity to get utility in the same turn you play an Ent.
Damrod is the other hero included in the saga expansion, and as I had mentioned in the preview article, I have never played with the ally version. Gone is the expensive, situational ability of his ally version, and replaced with a trap-focused ability. When Anborn was released in The Blood of Gondor, I began looking at a deck which was focused around traps. With Damrod, this idea has really taken shape. The cost reduction is limited to the first trap played per turn, but due to the nature of trap cards, any more than one per turn would more than likely be a waste. In addition, once the trap gets attached, you get to draw a card, which is always welcome.
Allies
Anborn provides a new version of the ally which is not tied to traps. This version works similar to an ally version of Thalin. Where as Thalin puts damage on all enemies as they are revealed during questing, Anborn allows you to place damage on an enemy any time an enemy is added to staging area. He also increases their engagement cost by 5 for the round, which combos with cards that improve when the enemy has a higher engagement than your threat, such as Boromir and Farmer Maggot. The downside of his ability is that Anborn has to exhaust to use said ability, which lets his three damage go to waste, without some readying effect such as the new Faramir hero.
Gamling really brings the Rohan trait to a new level. One of the weaknesses of Rohan has been the limited use of their allies. Their most valuable abilities were tied to discarding allies. Gamling takes this weakness and mitigates it by allowing you to take one card back to hand. If you can ready Gamling, then he can continue to do this. Some of these cards are unfortunately costly, so pairing this with Theoden helps significantly to pay to play cards back out. There are other allies in the Rohan trait that are cheap, such as Snowbourn Scout or Westfold Horse-breeder, that have great abilities when they come into play. With Gamling, the cards could be played, chump-blocked or otherwise discarded, and then returned to hand to be played again later and gain the ability once more. Just like Anborn before, he has to be ready to use his ability, but in this case, I think his stats are not as much of a waste as the Gondorian Ranger.
The final ally from the realm of Man is Mablung. Just like his hero version, the ally version interacts with engaging enemies. Like the new Anborn, he increases the engagement cost of an enemy already in play, plus it allows you to either engage the enemy, or return it to the staging area. I really like the utility in this ability, as his ability can be used at different times. Looking at my Aragorn and Hobbits deck, this would interact very well. By increasing the engagement cost, it increases the chance of Pippin triggering. Furthermore, it could hold enemies back for another round while setting up.
Moving away from Man, we see a new Ent in the form of Skinbark. The first Ent to be at three cost, his stats are good, but I wouldn't say great. His ability, however, boosts his utility significantly. Whenever attacking an Orc enemy alone, he ignores the enemy's defense. Similar to our namesake, the Mirkwood Runner, however specific to Orc enemies. Luckily, a vast majority of enemies in the game have been Orcs, and even in the case of non-Orcs, his four attack is still pretty significant.
Attachments
Ambush is the new trap for the expansion, and, as I had mentioned in my preview article, it seems ok, but unreliable. I had previously compared it to the Quick Strike, but more expensive and more restrictive. Obviously, if you don't have access to Tactics, then Ambush could be a replacement, but to get its full utility you need to employee encounter deck scrying.
Snowmane continues to add to Theoden's list of attachments. There had been various speculations to what a Snowmane card would look like, mostly humorous ones where the horse crushes Theoden. Like Herugrim, Snowmane can be attached to any Rohan hero, but gains additional benefit from being attached to Theoden. After questing successfully, Snowmane allows the hero attached to ready. Similar to Steed of the Mark, this allows for readying questing heroes, but doesn't require additional resource investment. Even though it's out of sphere, I think Snowmane is best with tactics Theoden. Tactics gets an extra willpower over the Spirit version, plus when paired with Herugrim, he gets to attack with six after questing. The combo can go further with additional readying, so Theoden could quest, defend, and attack, all in one turn.
Staff of Lebethron should pretty much be called Sam's staff. When defending against an enemy with an higher engagement than your threat, you can exhaust the staff to discard a shadow card. Combined with Hobbit Cloak and Sam Gamgee's ability, Sam is more than likely defending for four, but also without a shadow card to worry about. If running a standard Hobbit deck, you want to limit yourself to engaging one enemy per turn, so it's limitation shouldn't be too bad.
Events
In the Shadows adds to the Hobbit deck, similar to Take No Notice. Once again, looking at my Aragorn and Hobbit deck, In the Shadows allows for combat advantage. Tactics Aragorn already drops defense by one, playing this event adds an extra defense drop. The one thing I'm not sure about, however, is the timing of the defense drops. Is the event affecting your player area, or the enemies engaged with the player when the card is played. The reason I wonder is, going back to Tactics Aragorn, do new enemies pulled over by his attack get the debuff?
The final player card of the expansion is Taste it Again! Once again, this plays right into Sam. Sam has his cloak and staff, and he readies when an enemy engages, removes the shadow card, readies after defending, and then attacks for four, or six with a Dagger of Westernesse. That sounds like a pretty rad combo.
Final Thoughts
It was very appropriate for the saga expansion which revolved around the section of Lord of the Rings where it's focused on Sam and Frodo's struggles. The Hobbit archetype has been a great one since it was given a shot in the arm from The Black Riders. I look forward to see how the Hobbit deck changes. In addition, we've seen significant additions to the Rohan and Gondor/Ranger archetype that I think will also become staple cards. A great set of cards and I look forward to digging into the quests.
Heroes
Faramir gets his second hero card, fourth card overall. With stats matching his lore version, his leadership version matches sphere with his original ally version. In this case, instead of being boosted by enemies in the staging area, Faramir is able to ready allies in response to engaging enemies. Just like hero Mablung, his ability is limited to once per phase, which keeps a player from getting all their allies back up in one go. The options to ready allies is fairly limited, such as Ever Vigilant, or Strength of Arms. Even though he's a Gondorian Ranger, his ability ties into Dúnedain's engagement tricks. One of my favorite recent heroes has been tactics Aragorn, and his engagement ability falls right in with Faramir. Engage an enemy during engagement, ready an ally, kill that enemy with Aragorn, engage a new enemy, ready that same ally or another. This also could give opportunity to get utility in the same turn you play an Ent.
Damrod is the other hero included in the saga expansion, and as I had mentioned in the preview article, I have never played with the ally version. Gone is the expensive, situational ability of his ally version, and replaced with a trap-focused ability. When Anborn was released in The Blood of Gondor, I began looking at a deck which was focused around traps. With Damrod, this idea has really taken shape. The cost reduction is limited to the first trap played per turn, but due to the nature of trap cards, any more than one per turn would more than likely be a waste. In addition, once the trap gets attached, you get to draw a card, which is always welcome.
Allies
Anborn provides a new version of the ally which is not tied to traps. This version works similar to an ally version of Thalin. Where as Thalin puts damage on all enemies as they are revealed during questing, Anborn allows you to place damage on an enemy any time an enemy is added to staging area. He also increases their engagement cost by 5 for the round, which combos with cards that improve when the enemy has a higher engagement than your threat, such as Boromir and Farmer Maggot. The downside of his ability is that Anborn has to exhaust to use said ability, which lets his three damage go to waste, without some readying effect such as the new Faramir hero.
Gamling really brings the Rohan trait to a new level. One of the weaknesses of Rohan has been the limited use of their allies. Their most valuable abilities were tied to discarding allies. Gamling takes this weakness and mitigates it by allowing you to take one card back to hand. If you can ready Gamling, then he can continue to do this. Some of these cards are unfortunately costly, so pairing this with Theoden helps significantly to pay to play cards back out. There are other allies in the Rohan trait that are cheap, such as Snowbourn Scout or Westfold Horse-breeder, that have great abilities when they come into play. With Gamling, the cards could be played, chump-blocked or otherwise discarded, and then returned to hand to be played again later and gain the ability once more. Just like Anborn before, he has to be ready to use his ability, but in this case, I think his stats are not as much of a waste as the Gondorian Ranger.
The final ally from the realm of Man is Mablung. Just like his hero version, the ally version interacts with engaging enemies. Like the new Anborn, he increases the engagement cost of an enemy already in play, plus it allows you to either engage the enemy, or return it to the staging area. I really like the utility in this ability, as his ability can be used at different times. Looking at my Aragorn and Hobbits deck, this would interact very well. By increasing the engagement cost, it increases the chance of Pippin triggering. Furthermore, it could hold enemies back for another round while setting up.
Moving away from Man, we see a new Ent in the form of Skinbark. The first Ent to be at three cost, his stats are good, but I wouldn't say great. His ability, however, boosts his utility significantly. Whenever attacking an Orc enemy alone, he ignores the enemy's defense. Similar to our namesake, the Mirkwood Runner, however specific to Orc enemies. Luckily, a vast majority of enemies in the game have been Orcs, and even in the case of non-Orcs, his four attack is still pretty significant.
Attachments
Ambush is the new trap for the expansion, and, as I had mentioned in my preview article, it seems ok, but unreliable. I had previously compared it to the Quick Strike, but more expensive and more restrictive. Obviously, if you don't have access to Tactics, then Ambush could be a replacement, but to get its full utility you need to employee encounter deck scrying.
Snowmane continues to add to Theoden's list of attachments. There had been various speculations to what a Snowmane card would look like, mostly humorous ones where the horse crushes Theoden. Like Herugrim, Snowmane can be attached to any Rohan hero, but gains additional benefit from being attached to Theoden. After questing successfully, Snowmane allows the hero attached to ready. Similar to Steed of the Mark, this allows for readying questing heroes, but doesn't require additional resource investment. Even though it's out of sphere, I think Snowmane is best with tactics Theoden. Tactics gets an extra willpower over the Spirit version, plus when paired with Herugrim, he gets to attack with six after questing. The combo can go further with additional readying, so Theoden could quest, defend, and attack, all in one turn.
Staff of Lebethron should pretty much be called Sam's staff. When defending against an enemy with an higher engagement than your threat, you can exhaust the staff to discard a shadow card. Combined with Hobbit Cloak and Sam Gamgee's ability, Sam is more than likely defending for four, but also without a shadow card to worry about. If running a standard Hobbit deck, you want to limit yourself to engaging one enemy per turn, so it's limitation shouldn't be too bad.
Events
In the Shadows adds to the Hobbit deck, similar to Take No Notice. Once again, looking at my Aragorn and Hobbit deck, In the Shadows allows for combat advantage. Tactics Aragorn already drops defense by one, playing this event adds an extra defense drop. The one thing I'm not sure about, however, is the timing of the defense drops. Is the event affecting your player area, or the enemies engaged with the player when the card is played. The reason I wonder is, going back to Tactics Aragorn, do new enemies pulled over by his attack get the debuff?
The final player card of the expansion is Taste it Again! Once again, this plays right into Sam. Sam has his cloak and staff, and he readies when an enemy engages, removes the shadow card, readies after defending, and then attacks for four, or six with a Dagger of Westernesse. That sounds like a pretty rad combo.
Final Thoughts
It was very appropriate for the saga expansion which revolved around the section of Lord of the Rings where it's focused on Sam and Frodo's struggles. The Hobbit archetype has been a great one since it was given a shot in the arm from The Black Riders. I look forward to see how the Hobbit deck changes. In addition, we've seen significant additions to the Rohan and Gondor/Ranger archetype that I think will also become staple cards. A great set of cards and I look forward to digging into the quests.
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Impressions - Escape from Mount Gram Player Cards
I am back from Gen Con, and my body is still recovering. That said, with Escape from Mount Gram released slightly before Gen Con, and The Land of Shadows released at the convention, there is plenty to discuss.
Hero
Rossiel is an interesting card. She has fairly standard stats, with the 1 attack feeling like a bit of a waste for her. She introduces an interesting mechanic, in being able to interact with the victory display. Her stats get a nice boost when she is questing or defending, based on what has already made it into the victory display. If she is in a quest which already has a lot of cards which go into the victory display, such as Emyn Muil, then I can imagine her working out easily. In other quests, however, it will take some work to maximize her utility. During Gen Con, I played the deck I had posted previously, and it was a little slow to get moving. As it stands, I think she will be a very situational hero, that may have some cool decks built around her.
Allies
Derndingle Warrior adds to the Ent archtype, providing a strong defender to the deck. Like all other Ents to this point, it has strong stats for a two-cost ally. In addition, it has the ability to deal itself a damage while defending to gain 3 extra defense for that attack. I really like damage dealing effects in Ent decks, since it combos well with Booming Ent, to give you a strong attacker. Unfortunately, it only lasts for the attack, so if you are able to ready the warrior, such as using Treebeard, you have to deal another damage to get the defense boost. Since Ents, to this point, have been either Lore or Tactics, including healing, such as Warden of Healing allows for multiple rounds of strong defense.
Elven Jeweler adds to the promise of Noldor synergy in this cycle. For 2 cost, the stats are OK, but there is also the option to drop her out at any time by discarding two cards from hand. This ability essentially makes her a better version of Emery. Emery requires that three cards be discarded off the top of the deck, and if any Tactics/Lore/Leadership cards come up, she's discarded. This either required that you had some deck scrying, or play mono-Spirit to ensure that she doesn't get wasted. Here, you're able to choose the cards to discard, and you could even run this without any Spirit cards. The only downside is that it has one less defense than Emery, but it isn't unique, and costs one less. As we explore the Noldor trait, I think the value of this card will only go up.
Veteran of Osgiliath is this pack's addition to the Valour trait. Though not specifically calling out Valour, it's power is triggered by having a threat at 40 or higher. His stats are fairly standard, if not good, for three cost, but if playing with Valour, his stats become really good. Being Gondor, he can combo well with Boromir or Visionary Leadership. This guy is good, and just like the Jeweler, will only get better as we get more cards in the cycle.
Events
Boomed and Trumpeted is one of those cards that really solidifies the Ent archtype. Ents already have a lack of action advantage, considering they all come into play exhausted. By playing this event, Ents are able to be a little more hasty. Especially with our new Ent ally, this card allows for you to defend for five, and then get another defense (albeit for less defense) or get a solid attack. Additionally, in quests with Archery, you could place a damage on an Ent that was exhausted, either from entering play or questing, then have it ready. Finally, combine this with hero Treebeard and you can boost his attack by 1, or more, use the event to boost him further, then have ready for another attack, still boosted by his ability.
Descendants of Kings is a solid readying effect. For 1 resource, you can ready as many Dúnedain characters as you have enemies engaged with. If you are playing Dúnedain, then you're already conscious of keeping enemies engaged, whether it's for Heir of Valandil, or even just Halbarad's ability. The problem comes when you don't have those enemies engaged with you. This allows you a chance to setup. One card I think will get value out of this event is Northern Tracker. I feel safe in admitting that she is not placed in one's deck for her 1 willpower. Her location control has kept her around since the days of the core set. That said, she has great stats that aren't fully utilized. With this ability, she can still use her location ability, but be available for other uses.
Distant Stars is a form of location control, similar to the ability of West Road Traveller. Where as the traveller allows you to switch the active location with another location in the staging area, this card lets you search the encounter deck for any location, at the cost of exhausting either a Scout or Ranger character. There are plenty of characters that have that trait, especially in the Lore sphere. Since you have to have an active location, you have to travel to this location first. This could be something that has a mild travel effect or none at all. Then, the new location could be something that has a nasty travel, which this card allows you to avoid. It seems like a fairly straight forward card, for zero cost it's definitely something that can fit well in a location control deck.
Keen as Lances is sexy. Not only in Galadriel's piercing eyes on the artwork, but in its ability. It is essentially a Gandalf replacement. Granted, you don't get an ally out of the play, but the card does get cheaper as you play more of this card, or other cards that go into the victory display without victory points, such as using Out of the Wild, or the next card.
Leave No Trace plays right into location control, just like Distant Stars. In addition, it's allowing you to put two cards into the victory display without any victory points, so it immediately reduces the cost of playing Keen as Lances. In addition, if there is a location which you don't want to see again, then this would also allow you to get it out of play. This also plays into Rossiel, letting you put locations into the victory display, which could boost her willpower.
Side Quest
Double Back adds to the library of side quests that players have to include in their deck. In this case, clearing the location will reduce everyone's threat by 5. A strong effect, for sure, especially for zero cost. When looking at this card, I think about the same things I do for any side quest, and there are definitely good and bad times for the side quest. If you're on a timer, then it could be a hindrance to slow down the tempo of the game. On the other hand, there have been times where I can't progress, not due to making progress on the quest, but because of another factor, such as killing the Hill Troll in Journey Down the Anduin. In those cases, side quests are excellent ways to take advantage of the situation you're currently facing, and gain some benefit.
Final Thoughts
We see some themes repeat from previous packs. More side quests, more Dúnedain, and a lot of location control. In practice, some of these cards take some setup, so don't expect a deck that comes out swinging, but there is plenty of interesting combos that can occur. I continue to be intrigued by the Ent trait, and we're getting to the point, where it isn't feasible to put every Ent card into your deck. This will lead to more variety in the archetype, which I welcome.
Hero
Rossiel is an interesting card. She has fairly standard stats, with the 1 attack feeling like a bit of a waste for her. She introduces an interesting mechanic, in being able to interact with the victory display. Her stats get a nice boost when she is questing or defending, based on what has already made it into the victory display. If she is in a quest which already has a lot of cards which go into the victory display, such as Emyn Muil, then I can imagine her working out easily. In other quests, however, it will take some work to maximize her utility. During Gen Con, I played the deck I had posted previously, and it was a little slow to get moving. As it stands, I think she will be a very situational hero, that may have some cool decks built around her.
Allies
Derndingle Warrior adds to the Ent archtype, providing a strong defender to the deck. Like all other Ents to this point, it has strong stats for a two-cost ally. In addition, it has the ability to deal itself a damage while defending to gain 3 extra defense for that attack. I really like damage dealing effects in Ent decks, since it combos well with Booming Ent, to give you a strong attacker. Unfortunately, it only lasts for the attack, so if you are able to ready the warrior, such as using Treebeard, you have to deal another damage to get the defense boost. Since Ents, to this point, have been either Lore or Tactics, including healing, such as Warden of Healing allows for multiple rounds of strong defense.
Elven Jeweler adds to the promise of Noldor synergy in this cycle. For 2 cost, the stats are OK, but there is also the option to drop her out at any time by discarding two cards from hand. This ability essentially makes her a better version of Emery. Emery requires that three cards be discarded off the top of the deck, and if any Tactics/Lore/Leadership cards come up, she's discarded. This either required that you had some deck scrying, or play mono-Spirit to ensure that she doesn't get wasted. Here, you're able to choose the cards to discard, and you could even run this without any Spirit cards. The only downside is that it has one less defense than Emery, but it isn't unique, and costs one less. As we explore the Noldor trait, I think the value of this card will only go up.
Veteran of Osgiliath is this pack's addition to the Valour trait. Though not specifically calling out Valour, it's power is triggered by having a threat at 40 or higher. His stats are fairly standard, if not good, for three cost, but if playing with Valour, his stats become really good. Being Gondor, he can combo well with Boromir or Visionary Leadership. This guy is good, and just like the Jeweler, will only get better as we get more cards in the cycle.
Events
Boomed and Trumpeted is one of those cards that really solidifies the Ent archtype. Ents already have a lack of action advantage, considering they all come into play exhausted. By playing this event, Ents are able to be a little more hasty. Especially with our new Ent ally, this card allows for you to defend for five, and then get another defense (albeit for less defense) or get a solid attack. Additionally, in quests with Archery, you could place a damage on an Ent that was exhausted, either from entering play or questing, then have it ready. Finally, combine this with hero Treebeard and you can boost his attack by 1, or more, use the event to boost him further, then have ready for another attack, still boosted by his ability.
Descendants of Kings is a solid readying effect. For 1 resource, you can ready as many Dúnedain characters as you have enemies engaged with. If you are playing Dúnedain, then you're already conscious of keeping enemies engaged, whether it's for Heir of Valandil, or even just Halbarad's ability. The problem comes when you don't have those enemies engaged with you. This allows you a chance to setup. One card I think will get value out of this event is Northern Tracker. I feel safe in admitting that she is not placed in one's deck for her 1 willpower. Her location control has kept her around since the days of the core set. That said, she has great stats that aren't fully utilized. With this ability, she can still use her location ability, but be available for other uses.
Distant Stars is a form of location control, similar to the ability of West Road Traveller. Where as the traveller allows you to switch the active location with another location in the staging area, this card lets you search the encounter deck for any location, at the cost of exhausting either a Scout or Ranger character. There are plenty of characters that have that trait, especially in the Lore sphere. Since you have to have an active location, you have to travel to this location first. This could be something that has a mild travel effect or none at all. Then, the new location could be something that has a nasty travel, which this card allows you to avoid. It seems like a fairly straight forward card, for zero cost it's definitely something that can fit well in a location control deck.
Keen as Lances is sexy. Not only in Galadriel's piercing eyes on the artwork, but in its ability. It is essentially a Gandalf replacement. Granted, you don't get an ally out of the play, but the card does get cheaper as you play more of this card, or other cards that go into the victory display without victory points, such as using Out of the Wild, or the next card.
Leave No Trace plays right into location control, just like Distant Stars. In addition, it's allowing you to put two cards into the victory display without any victory points, so it immediately reduces the cost of playing Keen as Lances. In addition, if there is a location which you don't want to see again, then this would also allow you to get it out of play. This also plays into Rossiel, letting you put locations into the victory display, which could boost her willpower.
Side Quest
Double Back adds to the library of side quests that players have to include in their deck. In this case, clearing the location will reduce everyone's threat by 5. A strong effect, for sure, especially for zero cost. When looking at this card, I think about the same things I do for any side quest, and there are definitely good and bad times for the side quest. If you're on a timer, then it could be a hindrance to slow down the tempo of the game. On the other hand, there have been times where I can't progress, not due to making progress on the quest, but because of another factor, such as killing the Hill Troll in Journey Down the Anduin. In those cases, side quests are excellent ways to take advantage of the situation you're currently facing, and gain some benefit.
Final Thoughts
We see some themes repeat from previous packs. More side quests, more Dúnedain, and a lot of location control. In practice, some of these cards take some setup, so don't expect a deck that comes out swinging, but there is plenty of interesting combos that can occur. I continue to be intrigued by the Ent trait, and we're getting to the point, where it isn't feasible to put every Ent card into your deck. This will lead to more variety in the archetype, which I welcome.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Impressions - The Wastes of Eriador Player Cards
We are so close to getting our hands on The Wastes of Eriador. Thanks to FFG-owned website, cardgamedb, we have access to all of the cards, in anticipation of physical receipt. This is my first impressions of the cards, and possible utility and combos.
EDIT - When writing my impressions, I some how missed the Raven-winged Helm. That's why it felt light on cards to me. Apologies. I think it looks like a good card for defenders, and should combo well with The Day's Rising.
Hero
Merry had been spoiled long ago in a magazine, and now here he is. The first comparison is obviously to Merry's Tactics version. Where as Tactics Merry (Terry?) is all about combat and providing action advantage to other combat characters, Spirit Merry (Sperry?) is about hiding from enemies as they arrive. Thematically, I'm impressed by the how the two cards both so accurately represent the character of Meriadoc Brandybuck. Sperry represents the hobbit we meet in the Shire, where as Terry is his character after he has gone through a transformation and turned into a warrior, as seen in the Battle of Pelennor Fields and Battle of Bywater. Spirit Merry will fit very well into a secrecy deck, obviously, where the window to use secrecy is much wider than using traditional card effects. The downside to Merry's ability is the requirement to exhaust him to trigger it. Also, since it's not an event, it does not combo with Hobbit Pipe. That all said, I think that the ability outshines any negatives. Merry could also find a home in decks that have previously struggled with threat management, such as Boromir decks, where his readying effect can potentially get out of hand if threat management isn't drawn.Allies
Curious Brandybuck is an interesting card for any location control deck. At two cost, the stats are ok, but with its response, you probably will rarely be spending resources on him. When a location is travelled to, CB can be put into play from hand for free. Not only that, but he can be placed under any players' control. This can be an easy way to reactively add a chump blocker based on the board state after staging. The catch for this great ability, however, is that once a location is explored, the character is placed on the bottom of its owner's deck. I find myself wondering if that is better than if it had been discarded, and I could argue both ways. On one hand, it's still in your deck, so it's possible to draw it again, either shuffling the deck to hopefully pull it closer to the top, or drawing through your deck. On the other hand, unless you have some ability to shuffle your deck, you're more than likely not to get back to it. In such a case, it's as good as discarded, but without the ability to fetch it from the discard, a la Stand and Fight. Regardless, to get a free ally that can either quest for 2 willpower, or chump block, is worth a spot in my deck.
East Road Ranger is built for this cycle, but need not be included in decks for earlier decks. At 3 cost, her stats are close to other lore cards of the same cost, but the ability listed is much more circumstantial than other. Getting 2 extra willpower when committed to a side quest is great, but the opportunity to trigger this will be less often, than other abilities. Obviously, if a lot of side quests are included, the more her ability will get used, but the balancing act will continue to be between side quests that give a benefit/remove hardship, versus progressing the actual quest. For quests, such as those in The Lost Realm, he will have some utility, but beyond that, I will have to wait and see.
Honour Guard is our first look at the valour trait in action. At any time, exhaust the Honour Guard to cancel a damage off any character, or, if your threat is 40 or higher, exhaust and discard the Honour Guard to cancel up to five damage off any character. Significant, yes, but I wonder how many times would it just be better to chump block with the Honour Guard? I suppose that there are times when you may be caught off guard by a bad shadow effect, but it seems very situational to have all the pieces line up. That said, his standard ability is good enough, and his valour ability is just a bonus. This could be an easy way to work around not having lore to provide healing. Since it doesn't specify combat, this could be used to avoid damage by treachery, archery, or any other way our designers can think up.
Ingold feeds into the Gondor trait that was visited during the Against the Shadow cycle. Similar to Pelargir Shipwright, Ingold boosts his willpower based on the number of heroes with resources. Being the leadership sphere, it's not uncommon to have resources on heroes, especially when running Leadership Boromir or Visionary Leadership. That said, it's more likely that Ingold's willpower will fluctuate more than his maritime counterpart, whether it's paying for events during the quest phase, or encounter deck effects, such as Old Wives' Tales. Furthermore, it's a unique card, where as the Shipwright could have three in play under a single player. If access to spirit isn't an option, than this card is fine, but it seems like a reskin of an older card that doesn't pack the same punch.
Ranger of Cardolan rounds out the allies, and fits right into the Dúnedain trait that has been introduced in The Lost Realm. It reminds me of Bofur, where you are able to pay one resource to bring him into play, but in this case, only when you engage any enemy. Different from Bofur, the ranger remains in play for the whole round and not a single phase, but the catch is that he has to be shuffled into the owner's deck, as opposed to Bofur returning to hand. It feels very thematic, with the rangers of the north coming in to help, but the disappearing in the shadows, until they are needed again.
Attachments
Only one attachment this time around, and Hobbit Pony looks to be a key attachment for either Spirit Merry or often panned hero, Fatty Bolger. Both heroes have abilities that would require them to be held back, in case enemies come out. If no enemies are revealed to trigger their abilities, it is wasted. This could also work with Frodo Baggins, in all three flavors. Previously, Late Adventurer allowed them to add someone later to the quest, but the pony will allow turn after turn of utility. It does take a restricted slot, which I find interesting how some mounts are restricted and others aren't, but unless running Tactics Merry, most Hobbit heroes aren't using up both restricted slots. Granted, it is limited to Hobbit heroes, but if running a predominantly hobbit deck, this could be a very useful attachment.
Events
Rallying Cry is our second example of using the valour trait. What's interesting is that the standard and valour use are done in different windows. The basic action is a response to an ally leaving play, where as the valour action has to be done preemptively. Obviously, if you have to do some chump blocking, you could play it and have confidence it won't whiff. On the other hand, it's those times that you are surprised by a shadow effect which takes out a key ally, and at least it still has its response. At two cost, it feels expensive to bring an ally back to hand, which you will in turn have to pay to bring back out. Being in leadership, resource generation is less of an issue, so it could still fit into decks. Perhaps it could be used as a way to bring Silvan allies back into hand. In that case, it could combo with Defender of the Naith to ready him for addition defense.
Side Quest
Scout Ahead is the second player side quest available to the card pool. In this case, it is in the lore sphere, where as Gather Information, which is neutral. Still zero cost to play, this quest allows the players to scry the top of the encounter deck, remove a card from play, and organize the remaining card. What's especially bonkers is that it could be anywhere from 5-8, depending on the number of players. In a solo game, knowing the next five cards off the top of the deck could be huge. In the case of Watcher in the Water's Doors of Durin, this allow for a much faster victory. When reviewing the East Road Ranger, I had mentioned the balancing act of side quests vs making progress in the main quest, but these player side quests definitely make you consider whether it is worth the delay in tempo.
Final Thoughts
This adventure pack feels light on player cards. I'm used to one hero, two cards per sphere and a neutral card. That said, most of the cards in this pack are winners. Surprising to me, I think my favorite card of the pack is Curious Brandybuck, with East Road Ranger being found wanting. I'm very curious to find out what kind of combos you all find when you get your hands on the cards and start building decks.
EDIT - When writing my impressions, I some how missed the Raven-winged Helm. That's why it felt light on cards to me. Apologies. I think it looks like a good card for defenders, and should combo well with The Day's Rising.
Bonus
While writing the section on Spirit Merry, I decided to throw together a deck with Merry, Boromir, and Galadriel. Enjoy, and let me know what kind of adjustments you would make to the deck:
Hero: (3)
Boromir (The Dead Marshes)
Galadriel (Celebrimbor's Secret)
Merry (The Wastes of Eriador)
Ally: (15)
2x Arwen Undomiel (The Watcher in the Water)
2x Bofur (The Redhorn Gate)
3x Curious Brandybuck (The Wastes of Eriador)
3x Galadriel’s Handmaiden (Celebrimbor's Secret)
2x Imladris Stargazer (Foundations of Stone)
1x Silvan Refugee (The Drúadan Forest)
2x Zigil Miner (Khazad-dum)
Attachment: (22)
3x Gondorian Fire (Assault on Osgiliath)
3x Gondorian Shield (The Steward's Fear)
3x Horn of Gondor (Core Set)
3x Blood of Numenor (Heirs of Numenor)
3x Captain of Gondor (The Antlered Crown)
3x Nenya (Celebrimbor's Secret)
2x Arod (The Treason of Saruman)
2x Hobbit Pony (The Wastes of Eriador)
2x Hobbit Pony (The Wastes of Eriador)
Event: (13)
3x A Test of Will (Core Set)
3x Elrond's Counsel (The Watcher in the Water)
3x Hasty Stroke (Core Set)
1x Will of the West (Core Set)
3x Hidden Cache (The Morgul Vale)
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Impressions - The Treason of Saruman - Player Cards
Heroes
All these heroes have been spoiled prior to the release, but this did not lower my anticipation. Fellowship Aragorn gives us a fairly different saga hero, compared to Frodo or other Frodo. Gone is The One Ring, and now Aragorn has a readying ability. We already have multiple attachments which have abilities specific to Aragorn, such as Celebrian's Stone or Sword that was Broken which can give this version of Aragorn even more utility.
Théoden, King of the Rohirrim, was a hero that divided the community when the tactics version came out. A new version was released in this pack. Now a spirit hero, gone is his willpower boost, replaced with a much needed cost reducer for Rohan allies. Since there is no resource generation, save for Miruvor, in spirit, and Rohan allies can be fairly pricey, this is a welcome ability. Also, it allows you to reduce cost down to zero, so cards like Westfold Horse-breeder can play for free. The only downside that I see for Théoden is his threat. Prior to Théoden's release, Idraen was the highest threat spirit hero, with 11 threat, and the same stats as Théoden. Obviously, if you want to to run monospirit, there are plenty of low cost heroes you can pair him with, but you're going to be in rough shape if you're trying to splash spirit with him.
Treebeard had just recently been introduced as an ally, and now we see his hero version. Just like hero Gandalf did, playing hero Treebeard removes a versatile ally from your deck. There were very few decks that I didn't put the ally version of Treebeard in, due to his powerful stats and his resource generation. Even if there aren't any more Ents in the deck, ally Treebeard's resources are still useful for readying him. That said, hero Treebeard has solid stats. His action ability, while potentially risky, can allow you to have a powerful quester/attacker turn one. Being able take damage after staging to boost your willpower can be savior, just like Eowyn's card discard ability, but not limited by the number of players in the game. Since he's lore, he already has in sphere healing abilities, whether it's the core classic Self Preservation, or more recent cards such as Athelas, which allow you to continue recycling his ability.
Allies
Four allies came with this saga expansion, three of which are ally versions of former heroes. Ally Gimli is a solid addition to any Dwarf deck, or leadership decks in general. Now in the leadership sphere, his ability to ready after an enemy is revealed allows him to react to the enemy. Whether that is using Gimli's sentinel to defend, or to attack back with his 2 attack (more likely 3 with Dain). At four cost, he's also a great candidate for A Very Good Tale, which again still has utility in case enemies show up.
Legolas has been a solid hero since the core set. His ability to add progress has always been a boon to the tactics sphere, which typically lacks in questing. While this version doesn't have progress generation, the ally version has card draw, another ability lacking in tactics. Typically, if I want card draw in a tactics deck, I pull out Foe-hammer, which requires a hero attacking and a weapon. Though Legolas draws one card, versus Foe-hammer's three, his draw is more reliable and with less parts to get the combo. That all said, I wish there was some synergy with the silvan cards of the Ring-maker cycle. There is no benefit to bouncing Legolas back to your hand, and since he's tactics, there is not an eligible silvan hero (aka not Legolas) to pair with him. That said, he's a strong addition and definitely a card I'll be messing with.
Hama was an hero famous for his event recycling ability, especially the infamous "Hama lock" which had previously been used to break Shadow and Flame, now errata'd away. In the most recent COTR podcast, they state that the hero version is a younger version of Hama, where this ally version is an older version, where he has taken the the role of Doorward to King Théoden and Captain of the King's guard. This version definitely represents his more defensive side. Already solid stats for three cost, or two if brought into play with Théoden's ability, Hama really shines during combat. He gets to ready and gains 3 additional defense. Because of the readying, he gets could be committed to the quest first, and then still defend. At the end of the combat phase, you have to discard him, but there are still ways to get more utility out of him. Since he's going to get discarded anyway, he would be a good candidate for Ride to Ruin, or if you want to save him, you could always attach Born Aloft to him to bring him back to hand and play later.
Quickbeam is the only ally from this expansion that doesn't have a previous hero version. A unique Ent ally, so though you can only have one on the table at a time, his stats make up for the uniqueness. Like other Ents, he has to come into play exhausted, however he has an ability that gives him immediate utility. For the cost of one damage from his three hit points, he gets to ready when he enters play. Normally, we would be concerned to take damage, but at his cost, and the synergy with Booming Ent, I don't see a reason not to include him and not take advantage of his response.
Attachments
The first attachment is a new mount. Arod, able to attach to any hero, or Legolas, is able to place progress on a location. Attaching it to hero Legolas, along with two Blades of Gondolin, and you have to potential for up to five progress placed on locations after a kill. Throw in Asfaloth, and you have another progress, two if it's on Glorfindel. With the new ally version of Legolas, it can be used on him as well. Arod could also work well in a Rohan deck, using Westfold Horse-breeder to pull it, and then attaching to Éomer.
Ent Draught is a fairly simple attachment. Extra hit points are nice, but it doesn't really excite me. Similar to classic attachment, Citadel Plate, it gives extra hit points, but doesn't take up a restricted slot. This makes it good for Treebeard, who relies on taking damage to boost questing and attacking, or hero Gimli. It also gives you a little extra to handle quests with archery.
Herugrim is one of my favorite cards from the expansion. This weapon opens up the opportunity for questing decks to have significant attack power. Two of the strongest heroes to attach to: Eowyn or either Théoden. Include Steed of the Mark or Unexpected Courage, along with willpower boosting, such as The Favor of the Lady or Dúnedain Quest, and you have the opportunity to quest strongly and still attack enemies that come down. If you include Nor am I a Stranger, granted a longer combo to setup, you have unlimited choices of who to use this with.
Shadowfax is another unrestricted mount, though limited to Gandalf. Shadowfax gives Gandalf ranged and sentinel, as well as a readying effect. This is definitely a multiplayer card. Thematically, it makes sense to include it, and it is neutral, so it is flexible regardless of what heroes accompany Gandalf. Even with that, I would use Unexpected Courage over Shadowfax in a solo game. If you're using hero Gandalf, more than likely you are using Wizard Pipe, so getting Unexpected Courage to the top of your deck so Gandalf can use any sphere shouldn't be a problem.
Events
Entmoot is similar to Mustering the Rohirrim and The Eagles are Coming! where you can pull allies of a certain trait into your hand. I find it interesting the inconsistencies between these cards. For Rohan, you have to pay 1 resource, and only get to pull 1 ally out. With the eagles, you can pull out as many as you find. The Ents work the same as the eagles, but you have to have an Ent character in play. If you're playing with hero Treebeard, then the requirement for an Ent character isn't a problem, but if you prefer the ally version, then you need to have something out before the card is effective.
Helm! Helm! seems situational. You have to exhaust and discard a Rohan ally to discard a non-unique enemy enemy engaged with you. This means you probably don't get to utilize the ally you are discarding since it has to be ready. I suppose you could use ally Hama's ability to ready so that it can be exhausted and discarded. It also has to happen only after enemies have attacked, so it doesn't even allow you to save a defense, meaning you may have to lose two characters for especially rough enemies.
The Three Hunters is the last event included in the expansion, and is the third Fellowship card. I'm not a big fan of both Fellowship and Baggins sphere cards, since you can't play it unless you are controlling the respective hero, and it cannot be used outside of the saga quests. At three cost, it seems like it will be hard to save the resources until the card holder is able to play it. Obviously, there is resource smoothing that could be used, such as Théodred's response, or Errand-rider, but I would be hesitant to put any resource acceleration on Aragorn, unless I planned to use an attachment to give him additional resource icons. That all said, if the resources are available, the card's ability is strong. Being able to ready three heroes and give them stat boosts could be useful regardless of the reason. Perhaps you need three additional willpower to boost questing, or you need to added combat strength to deal with enemies that showed up. It's unfortunate that is requires that the player controls Fellowship Aragorn, as it makes it unavailable in The Black Rider and The Road Darkens.
Helm! Helm! seems situational. You have to exhaust and discard a Rohan ally to discard a non-unique enemy enemy engaged with you. This means you probably don't get to utilize the ally you are discarding since it has to be ready. I suppose you could use ally Hama's ability to ready so that it can be exhausted and discarded. It also has to happen only after enemies have attacked, so it doesn't even allow you to save a defense, meaning you may have to lose two characters for especially rough enemies.
The Three Hunters is the last event included in the expansion, and is the third Fellowship card. I'm not a big fan of both Fellowship and Baggins sphere cards, since you can't play it unless you are controlling the respective hero, and it cannot be used outside of the saga quests. At three cost, it seems like it will be hard to save the resources until the card holder is able to play it. Obviously, there is resource smoothing that could be used, such as Théodred's response, or Errand-rider, but I would be hesitant to put any resource acceleration on Aragorn, unless I planned to use an attachment to give him additional resource icons. That all said, if the resources are available, the card's ability is strong. Being able to ready three heroes and give them stat boosts could be useful regardless of the reason. Perhaps you need three additional willpower to boost questing, or you need to added combat strength to deal with enemies that showed up. It's unfortunate that is requires that the player controls Fellowship Aragorn, as it makes it unavailable in The Black Rider and The Road Darkens.
Final Thoughts
In many ways, the player cards in Treason of Saruman are welcome additions to the card pool. Some of which are more situational than others, but there is a place for each card. It's hard not to compare these cards to what we received in The Lost Realm, because of how closely they were shipped. In my opinion, I am more excited about the cards from The Lost Realm than Treason of Saruman. There are strong cards in this expansion, but I feel The Lost Realm introduced new ways to run a deck, where as these cards feel like more of the same.
What's your thought? I'd love to hear if you agree or disagree.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Impressions - The Lost Realm - Events, Attachments, and Side Quests
Events
There are three event cards in The Lost Realms, with spirit missing a card. Tireless Hunters is what I call a "soft" version of feint. During combat, you're able pull an enemy over to you, and if it has been dealt a shadow card, then it is removed. This could be used to move an enemy from another player that isn't set up to defend an attack, or even bring an enemy down from the staging area. Back in the core set days, the Hill Troll in Journey Down the Anduin could be a daunting enemy. It was common to forest snare him until you could deal with it. Unfortunately, you either had to spend a feint, or deal with his 6 attack for at least a round. In this case, you could use this card to pull him down after enemies have attacked, then snare him during the next turn's planning.
Expert Trackers reminds me of Strength of Will. Instead of a static amount of progress, you are able to place progress on a location relative to the threat of an engaged enemy. There's not much to say about it, it's solid. As long as you have a deck with a good number of scouts or rangers, I don't see a reason not to include it to help with location control.
Ranger Summons is the card that got me excited for this expansion. First off, it's a signal card, so it has synergy with our new watchman. For one cost, this card places a ranger ally into the encounter deck. I have to imagine that this was inspired by The Massing at Osgiliath's Ranger of Ithilien. It can do damage to an enemy, or put progress on a location, then you get to give it to whichever player needs him most. Solid stats for the cost, but I wish it would of had a shadow effect, like the Ranger of Ithilien. Perhaps that would of been overpowered. Regardless, I'm very happy with this card, and I can tell from my initial playthroughs that it is very satisfying to see them come up during staging.
Attachments
Heir of Valandil reminds me of O Lórien! To fit in with the Dúnedain trait, instead of being a static reduction, it is relative to the number of engaged enemies. I imagine it will be good as we get through the cycle and fill out the number of Dúnedain allies. I don't see any value, however, in a mono-leadership deck, considering the amount of resource acceleration available.
Secret Vigil is my favorite attachment from the expansion. It provides a lot of utility that isn't available in tactics, particularly threat reduction, both enemy and player. There was a core set card, Power in the Earth, which had similar effects, but for location. It didn't, however, provide any additional utility beyond reducing the threat in the staging area. It fits right into what tactics is meant to do, and not only benefits the player who played it, but each player.
When I saw Athelas, the first thing I did was pull up the quest cards for A Journey to Rhosgobel, to see how it was written about the Athelas objective cards. These can't be used to for the last quest card in AJtR, but it could still heal Wilyador earlier in the quest. My second thought was relating it to lembas, another recent lore attachment. Where as that only healed three hit points, and readied the character, this heals all damage and removes a condition. Not having a cap on healing isn't as big of a deal for me, as the most you would typically heal is four, but I'm always happy to have more condition removal. Also, it doesn't have to heal the character its attached to, so there's flexibility there. Unfortunately, you have to exhaust the attached character, so you use up their utility in exchange for the healing. A small inconvenience for sure, but there's plenty of value to make up for it.
Star Brooch is a solid questing boost. As opposed to The Favor of the Lady or Dúnedain Quest, which both cost two, for one you get the same boost, and it cannot be reduced. The only trade off is limit one per hero, and you have to put it on a Dúnedain or Noldor hero, but that still opens it up to plenty of valid targets, such as Idraen or Glorfindel. This attachment would come in very handy in quests where there are willpower reduction conditions, such as Black Breath.
Side Quests
A new addition to the player card line up, side quests allow for the players to take a break from the main quest for some added benefit. Similar to The Battle of Five Armies, players decide which quest card they will take on, and then quest against that. Not only do you get the benefit of the side quest, but it could also be useful in quests where you don't want to progress too quickly, such as Conflict at the Carrock, where you usually want to build up before taking on the trolls. The only neutral card in The Lost Realm is a side quest, Gather Information. Limit one per deck, it allows the players to search their decks for a card of choice, and add it to their hand. Similar to Word of Command, being able to pull those key cards from your deck could be game changing. In the quests included with The Lost Realm, there are various effects which can penalize you for how many quests are in play, but for all previous quests, I don't think there's any negative to include this.
Final Thoughts
Looking at the new cards as a whole, I'm very excited for where the designers are taking the game. None of the cards drastically change the way the game is played, but they all give the players new options to explore. Regardless if you build a Dúnedain deck, a lot of the cards can be included in older builds. I look forward to testing out these cards in future plays. What do you guys think? What is your favorite card? Are there combos that I didn't mention that merit further exploration?
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