He's easy as hell to play with steward of gondor.. Can play him 2nd/3rd turn easily with a resource left for a feint or strength of will etc to compensate for playing him.

I'm gonna proxy him for now and expect great things

The best way, or at least the more secured way, to have Treebeard on Turn 1, however, is Grima.

It is surprising to see a smooth synergy between these two characters

Treebeard seems a little bit too good. The downside of coming into play exhausted was a good idea. But, I think that he should have had less willpower, attack, defense, or health. If not one of those things, perhaps he should cost 5.

Treebeard is amazing. No doubt. I could definitely see a Hobbit Secrecy deck with Ents at some point down the road.

It's sad that Radagast is so crap now. Treebeard is better than Gandalf even.

Treebeard seems a little bit too good. The downside of coming into play exhausted was a good idea. But, I think that he should have had less willpower, attack, defense, or health. If not one of those things, perhaps he should cost 5.

Nothing set in stone. Doomed of Legacy of Numenor bumped up by 1 from spoiler to release, Treebeard might do as well.

Nevermind.

Treebeard seems a little bit too good. The downside of coming into play exhausted was a good idea. But, I think that he should have had less willpower, attack, defense, or health. If not one of those things, perhaps he should cost 5.

Nothing set in stone. Doomed of Legacy of Numenor bumped up by 1 from spoiler to release, Treebeard might do as well.

True, though I hope this will not happen. Everyone seems to be really enthusiastic to play Treebeard. Nerfing him would take that away, even if in the end it might perhaps be objectively better for the game balance.

FFG makes a wise move by giving us cool toys to play with. A so-so cards or cards that work well only in very specific circumstances have their place, but they do not create this craving for the game. Treebeard does, as did Galadriel.

Other than that I think that Treebard is going to be a very complicated card in solo play. The player basically has to make it through the first two turns with basically no support. It requires a well designed deck to handle this problem.

Well, this seems a bit stretched. Resource acceleration? Tricks like Timely Aid, Elf-stone, Vilya? Playing Treebeard later than round 2?

On a related note, Gondor Leadership deck seems to be well-suited for Ents. Surely in coop (as a support deck), but perhaps even in solo applying A Good Harvest (together with Treebeard) to pay for Ents. Strength of Arms or Ever Vigilant could be useful utilities to get the Ents ready, with Tome of Atanatar to repeat the trick. And of course, as suggested above, Wealth of Gondor to get Treebeard out on round 1, so he can fight for you and make money from round 2.

Which is what I meant with "well designed decks": I don't say it's impossible to make use of Treebard, but it's more complicated than most folks here expect. Timely Aid and Vilya also require some additional help to make sure that you get what you want.

Treebard suffers from the same problem that all high cost allies have - either you play them early and you have to make it through the first couple of turns without any other support, or you play them later when most of the times you don't need them anymore. Treebard is a bit worse because you have to wait an extra turn. ALmost all of my recent decks include low cost allies or tons of attachments to boost my heroes.

But of course, when you play an Ent deck you want to play him ASAP to make use of his resources generation (there's a reason why most people here compare him to Radagast, and not Gandalf). And IMO a Hobbbit deck is wells suited for that task, as it offers a low starting threat and enough WP (and cheap attachments) to survive until Treebard enters the stage. That's where the synergy is between Hobbits and Ents, to answer Trololo's question.

Yeah. Ents definitely seem to fit better into slower deck types. Or those that can handle opening well, like Beorn can, for instance. Or Éowyn for a great quester. Or the Hobbits and Glorfindel for a low threat and high willpower.

Oh, and I hope they shall not diminish Treebeard, he deserves to be that good. Though I see the comparison with Radagast is rather striking. But I have always thought they made Radagast just way too poor. He could have costed 4 and still not be overpowered.

I don't suggest that he should be "nerfed", but maybe just adjusted slightly.

Even if Treebeard is over powered does it harm the game that much? He's only one ally, who is unique, has an initial set back but is then super versatile and powerful. I think we all need and want an OP ally and who better than Treebeard! he will definitely shine in non hasty decks aka turtle decks

They should make him cost 5. He's better than Gandalf even right now.

It was wise to make him cost 4 not 5. Now he is really playable character. I think they understood their big mess with Radagast and try make new characters more carefull. I like him he is balanced. Of course in my mind is mostly Nmode about normal you will win anyway.....

Yes I believe with a hobbits ents work perfect. Also Hobbit version of Gandalf and words of comand very welcome combo there.

Cool cards we get lot of good news KD Nmode and four cycle is in the way. Game is really cool now cannot wait to play all those amazing cards.

Can't wait to play Nor I Am A Stranger + Mutual Accord + Sword of Morthond on him...

Or Radagast, for that matter...

Can't wait to play Nor I Am A Stranger + Mutual Accord + Sword of Morthond on him...

Or Radagast, for that matter...

I dont understand.... which combo is it?

They should make him cost 5. He's better than Gandalf even right now.

Yeah Gandalf is a Wizard but Treebeard is an effing Ent!! And he had 2 less willpower and one less defense so he should definitely cost 4.

I really like that booming ent's art! That's how I always imagined the ents

While I love the treebeard card for what he does, it's a shame the art sucks.

To me, he will always be holding out his middle finger on this card...

Can't wait to play Nor I Am A Stranger + Mutual Accord + Sword of Morthond on him...

Or Radagast, for that matter...

I dont understand.... which combo is it?

it's just a silly method to make him Outland so he can gain bonus from the other outlands. 6/8/7/9 or more if you play with partners that discard outlands and you brought them back with stand and fight + map of earnil + dwarven tomb.

For all you Mike Nash art haters: Nash is an excellent artist. He has been illustrating LOTR material longer than most of the artists contributing to this game. Though his art is not as realistic as some, he is a master at portraying a whimsical quality in his work which captures the essence of fantasy in general. I don't mind the Treebeard art one bit. You are all, of course, entitled to your opinions, as I am mine. Keep it up Nash!

I remember a while back there were a lot of competitions on some blogs to design Ents, and a typical design feature was entering play exhausted. Seems that the theme fits the mechanic very nicely. I like Treebeard. True, you can play him turn 1 or 2, but he doesn't do anything till turn 2 or 3, so he balances quite a bit. For a lot less than 4 resources you can get 2 points of willpower or 3 points of combat, so losing him for a turn, for 4 resources, is a big hit in my book. Very much a fan of what they've spoiled. Excited to see the cycle now!

I honestly like OHaUH Gandalf better. I know it's noticeably harder to get 5 resources, but he can take 2 actions EVERY round and do just as well or better (questing especially) at all of them (He has 1 fewer hit points, but 1 more defense... overall I think that's a win for Gandalf most of the time).

They each have their pros and cons, which will almost always happen, but I honestly prefer Gandalf. I'm also sick of Core Gandalf: 5 resources for one turn is fail, even needing to use Sneak Attack with Gandalf has annoyed me cuz I always want him to stick around longer.

Also, I'm not displeased with the Treebeard art, with the exception that it looks like he has a small patch over one eye.

They should make him cost 5. He's better than Gandalf even right now.

I disagree (even if he cost 5 he'd still be good) but how good is Sneak Attack Treebeard... just sayin.

Yeah Gandalf is a Wizard but Treebeard is an effing Ent!! And he had 2 less willpower and one less defense so he should definitely cost 4.

Looking at the cards I don't think sneak attack would work with Treebeard both use the term "enters play" I don't see how that would be interpreted so that he wouldn't be exhausted upon entry

They should make him cost 5. He's better than Gandalf even right now.

I disagree (even if he cost 5 he'd still be good) but how good is Sneak Attack Treebeard... just sayin.

Yeah Gandalf is a Wizard but Treebeard is an effing Ent!! And he had 2 less willpower and one less defense so he should definitely cost 4.

Looking at the cards I don't think sneak attack would work with Treebeard both use the term "enters play" I don't see how that would be interpreted so that he wouldn't be exhausted upon entry

I honestly like OHaUH Gandalf better. I know it's noticeably harder to get 5 resources, but he can take 2 actions EVERY round and do just as well or better (questing especially) at all of them (He has 1 fewer hit points, but 1 more defense... overall I think that's a win for Gandalf most of the time).

They each have their pros and cons, which will almost always happen, but I honestly prefer Gandalf. I'm also sick of Core Gandalf: 5 resources for one turn is fail, even needing to use Sneak Attack with Gandalf has annoyed me cuz I always want him to stick around longer.

Also, I'm not displeased with the Treebeard art, with the exception that it looks like he has a small patch over one eye.

I MUCH prefer Treebeard to OhaUH Gandalf as Gandalf MUST quest as one of his 2 actions. He can't pull double defense duty, or double attack, or defense then attack. He can simply quest and then do one more action. Also he does not stay in play unless you pay 2 threat a turn which can quickly add up. Treebeard stays in play full stop, has more or less the same attack and defense (more hitpoints but 1 less defense) and may quest for less but also helps you pay for more ent allies, unexhaust them or (most powerful) unexhaust himself every 2 turns so that he can perform two actions.

He's miles better as far as I'm concerned.

The spirit event make me thinking the tactic sphere is weaker and no hope.

The spirit can do many things that other sphere can do, drawing, damaging, put allies...and other sphere almost cannot reduce threat, revive hero or shuffle the discard pile back...