Here's my concept for a new spirit version of Samwise Gamgee. I think he provides an opportunity for new and interesting strategies while really capturing the flavor of the beloved hobbit.

5 Threat

0 Willpower

3 Attack

1 Defense

5 Hit-points

No ability. (Just throw in a really long quote to hide this, or just copy a chapter from RotK.)

But wait, there's more. Sam deserves some awesome attachments to go with his unique ability. Introducing...

"Samwise the Brave"

1 cost spirit attachment

Unique Title

Attach to Sam Gamgee. Sam gains +3 Willpower and does not exhaust to quest.

Bill the Pony

2 cost lore attachment

Unique Mount

Attach to a hobbit hero.

Action: Exhaust Bill the Pony to put 1 progress tokens on any location (2 progress tokens instead if attached hero is Sam).

What a lambent humour

So, it essentially adds up to the same exact stats and qualities as Glorfindel with Light of Valinor and Asfaloth. I agree a new Sam would be welcome and I wouldn't mind Spirit - just afraid a version like this would become part of a meta deck that Spirfindel already is and thereby shunned by "hardcore" players. Can you imagine these two heroes together? Add Galadriel and you can have mono-Spirit with plenty of readying effects: the heroes quest for 10 without exhausting, are ready to fight and soak up damage, place 4 progress when Bill and Asfaloth are in play, and resources will be flowing as they will probably never leave Secrecy.

edit: Didn't mean to drag the whole design down, but I guess that's pretty much what I'm doing. Glorfindel is an exception. A hero like this should have 7-8 threat even without the spirit attachment. Bill placing 2 progress is too powerful, I think. Compare with Arod, which is much more conditional (though admittedly part of Legolas' strategy).

edit2: Right, so I see now this is probably a joke. I should've understood that somewhere around "balanced stats". The charm's all there with Samwise, though.

So, it essentially adds up to the same exact stats and qualities as Glorfindel with Light of Valinor and Asfaloth.

I think, that was the point of the joke.

So, it essentially adds up to the same exact stats and qualities as Glorfindel with Light of Valinor and Asfaloth.

I think, that was the point of the joke.

Right... if this is a joke, it was definitely wasted on me and my rant. I need a holiday. A very long holiday.

Well, I'm only guessing. It could be just a coincidence that a guy put together a spirit hero that matches the Splorfindel exactly, while using phrases like "well-balanced stats"

But I would bet on a joke.

It has to be a joke. "Samwise the Brave" on Leadership Sam... :-/

Yeah, this is a joke. Just venting my frustration at Splorfindel's existence and prevalence in player decks. But in all seriousness, I really wish there was a spirit version of Sam or another fellowship member (but, of course, with an actual interesting ability). Until Spirit Merry is released, the only two fellowship members that are in the spirit sphere are Frodo and Pippin. Frodo is unusable for the saga boxes, and Spirit Pippin is, well, Spirit Pippin. I'm one of those rare players who really doesn't like playing spirit, particularly for the saga boxes, and that's because of its (in my opinion) lackluster hero pool. Other than Idraen, I don't really love any of them.

Meanwhile, if you want to make the classic fellowship, you have 3 options in Leadership, 5 (!) in tactics, and 2 in Lore. Spirit Merry is an answered prayer and he can't arrive soon enough.

I cannot wait to make Secrecy decks without Glorfindel.

Spirfindel is really annoying. I was trying to spruce up a psuedo-Dunedain deck, which really wasn't getting much out of Idraen (not really built to use her fully), and instinctively reached for Glorfindel as a replacement! But building without him for tough quests is real tricky.

I've done a Loragorn Sam secrecy deck. Haven't really had the opportunity to test it enough though