I have decided to start my own series. And rather than doing it on a blog site, I shall do it here. I will post my immediate reactions to each new release, with updated content once the actual experience sets in.

Wastes of Eriador

Quest/Encounter Cards

Nothing yet.

Hero

Merry

Initial thoughts: This must be good. A perfect fit for a Hobbit secrecy deck.

Experience: It is. In a majority of quests, Merry can single-handedly keep you in the secrecy, especially in coop games.

Player Cards

Ingold

Initial thoughts: As many Gondor-theme cards, especially in Leadership, this ally does not scream power. But a copy should be justifiable in just about every Gondor deck. Well, in mid-to-end-game, Gondorian decks should have enough resources to make this guy a valuable quester, add Visionary Leadership and/or Faramir, and he will truly shine. In the crucial early hours, however, it is another story.

Second thoughts: I think it is important enough to say that saga makes this guy even better, every time you are the first player, Ingold has a chance for a bonus willpower. I was recently thinking of an attachment that could "upgrade" an ally into a hero status during the game, wouldn't that be fun (Ingold or not)?

Rallying Cry

Initial thoughts: Obviously made for the chump blocker decks, Gondor or Rohan, as the art suggests. The response can be quite good when you have many resources and the core Gandalf. The Valour action needs some timing but it can be decisive.

Honour Guard

Initial thoughts: A welcome new way to cancel damage for Tactics.

Experience: I have been playing this guy since the first preview. It has not always been as good as I had hoped but the safety cushion helps to approach certain difficult situations more boldly.

Raven-winged Helm

Initial thoughts: Quite powerful, especially if it is not restricted. It makes Beregornd even stronger, since he is one of the few legitimate targets, and it plays for free on him (without taking one of the restricted spots which usually go to the Shield and Spear). Honour Guard is obviously better as a safety against a sudden direct damage dealt to chump blockers or characters in general.

Curious Brandybuck

Initial thoughts: I am in general very fond of cheap allies. This Hobbit seems like a good chump or a decent one-round quester. Of course, one could find ways to help him stay longer, the question is if it be worth it.

Hobbit Pony

Initial thoughts: Unfortunately, this seems not very good, although it combos with Merry perfectly. Well, I am already contradicting myself. A hard call but I wish the card did a bit more.

Second thoughts: As suggested below, quest control (and avoiding some exhaustion-punishing treacheries) can be very important, so this is an obvious merit. One probably shouldn't be asking for more for the cost of 0. Similar to Late Adventurer or Don't Be Hasty (which has a far superior art than the other event), only for Hobbits but repeatable, and more easy to fetch.

East Road Ranger

Initial thoughts: Obviously, he might not be very good in a non-side quest deck.

Scout Ahead

Initial thoughts: I think this card will be one of the centre-stones to the scrying decks, although it seems quite powerful on its own.

Second thoughts: Whilst I still find this card superb, I am a bit afraid about using side quests. Many recent quests require no lingering about, and the full quest phase devoted to another quest may not always be a good idea. Still, the rewards here seem far greater than on all other spoiled player side quests. And there are some quests where an extra round spent on a given stage is even beneficial (when you're afraid to quest too much).

Ranger of Cardolan

Initial thoughts: The good thing about this ally is that his stats are good enough, so that you can take the response more as a safety utility. And it is a very good one at that. The fact the card is shuffled into the deck will of course hurt more often than not.

I almost forgot to say, please, feel free to post your own reactions: initial and the updated ones later. It may be fun to see how our views change with times (and games).

Totally did not see the side quest part in the Ranger. She's much worse now. Bummer.

I don't think you have evaluated Ingold fairly. In a deck that previously relied mostly on heroes and tiny fragile allies to quest, this is a very welcome addition I wish I had back when playing Into Ithilien. I really like this ally. for 3 cost in leadership a potential 5 or 6 willpower is insane, not because it is a lot of willpower, which leadership can already muster, but because it is in a single ally with 3 hitpoints. He survives Blocking Wargs which can be huge when he's buffed up to 5 and then 6 with Faramir, all the while your Envoys die. I would have been fine with a 2 hitpoint 2 wp ally to be honest, but if having Galadriel for a turn is already really useful for a quest push, imagine having a permanent ability-less Galadriel with the Gondor trait, that's just great. And the art is pretty cool. He reminds me of all those really secondary characters of Gondor that get mentioned once, like Iorlas, Targon, Hirgon... Ally and hero versions of them would be great, especially Hirgon and the Red Arrow. And we need Bergil still!

This is why I thought such series could be fun. I was having second thoughts about Ingold already as I was typing. And I tried to sum those up actually. I am excited about Igold. I have a soft spot for Gondor. I do still think, however, he is not a very good early card. Of course, not even Gandalf may be in most of the games, so that is not such a big deal. I am eager to try him out.

By the way, since we discussed this in another thread, and since you mentioned Denethor elsewhere, in just about every other game I tend to put Denethor ally to a good use. I still hate that such an iconic character doesn't have at least some minor positive ability (like fetching a title attachment upon entering play) but in a deck that either chump-blocks or uses Beregond, Denethor usually doesn't lose more than 1 willpower. It will be interesting to run both him and Ingold and see who does better over the length of time.

Oh, and definitely, the more Gondor, the better.

Hobbit Pony is a free repeatable Late Adventurer for Hobbits. It's gold.

Hobbit Pony is a free repeatable Late Adventurer for Hobbits. It's gold.

I think it's bronze (not quite gold) for a Merry deck, particularly if you don't also have Fast Hitch. But otherwise I can't see using it much. Maybe if you have tactics Merry or Frodo and you're not sure if you'll need them for combat. Most of the time Hobbits quest every round because they don't offer much for combat.

I guess there is some value for situations where you don't want to make too much progress. This would give you more flexibility (similar to Nenya). Also it's a pony, so that's fun.

The reason the pony works for spirit merry is because you want to keep him ready for ability, but if no enemy is staged you can quest with him. It is cheaper than fast hitch, can be fetched with horse breeder and is in color. Generally low stats mean no ready effects on Hobbits so I am inclined to agree with Teamjimby, but I think a mono blue merry deck could include 1 copy.

I think I will always have at least 1 copy of Hobbit Pony in a Hobbit deck.

Ok, I'll have a go:

Merry: I like that he can stabilize threat for secrecy decks, buying you time in order to get your resourcefuls and other secrecy necessities going.

ingold: I love playing mono leadership Gondor, so this guy will be a great addition. He's better late game, so I'd start out with maybe one copy to see how he does.

Rallying Cry: Another great addition to mono leadership Gondor I think. Bits expensive, but if you use it with Squire of the Citadel, the cost gets knocked down to one.

Homour Guard: Given all the direct damage shadow effects we are getting more of, I think this guy is going to be a staple when using tactics defenders like Boromir or Berigond.

Curious Brandybuck: I like free allies that quest, even if it's just for a little while. I don't think you need resource match for him either.

Hobbit Pony: if Merry is one of the center pieces of your deck, I think you run him.

East Road Ranger: Too expensive outside of mono lore (or using Heir of Valendil) and too situational if side quests go away after this cycle. It might see play in a dedicated scrying deck for multiplayer along with Scout Ahead.

Ranger of Cardolan: I really like this guy, cheap ally in a pinch that has some heft. I also like him thematically. Shuffled back into the deck is a drawback, but it won't stop me from playing him.

Scout Ahead: I really like this solo and multiplayer. Allows you to know what will be coming and you get to take the nastiest card out to boot.

Totally did not see the side quest part in the Ranger. She's much worse now. Bummer.

I don't think you have evaluated Ingold fairly. In a deck that previously relied mostly on heroes and tiny fragile allies to quest, this is a very welcome addition I wish I had back when playing Into Ithilien. I really like this ally. for 3 cost in leadership a potential 5 or 6 willpower is insane, not because it is a lot of willpower, which leadership can already muster, but because it is in a single ally with 3 hitpoints. He survives Blocking Wargs which can be huge when he's buffed up to 5 and then 6 with Faramir, all the while your Envoys die. I would have been fine with a 2 hitpoint 2 wp ally to be honest, but if having Galadriel for a turn is already really useful for a quest push, imagine having a permanent ability-less Galadriel with the Gondor trait, that's just great. And the art is pretty cool. He reminds me of all those really secondary characters of Gondor that get mentioned once, like Iorlas, Targon, Hirgon... Ally and hero versions of them would be great, especially Hirgon and the Red Arrow. And we need Bergil still!

wait how would he have 5 or 6 willpower? It is only heroes YOU control or are you referring to a boost from StwB and ally Faramir to put him from 3 to 5 and then visionary leadership or whatever card it is to give him another +1?

Yes, precisely. mid to late game you have 3 wp from the heroes, 2 from the two attachments, and then 1 from Faramir if needed.

Ranger of Cardolan is nice since he typically comes into play before archery, so he can soak a few points before he bounces at the end of the round.

Three uses for Hobbit Pony not yet mentioned:

1. It's also nice with Fatty, who can throw in his awesome 1 wp to the quest if no enemies are revealed
2. It can help the squishy Hobbits avoid direct damage treacheries (Necromancer's Reach, We Cannot Get Out, Blocking Wargs)

3. You can control your questing by sending just the right amount of willpower after cards are revealed, something that can be very important in recent quests (Sudden Assault, for example)
It's a niche card, something to run with Spirit Hobbits and give you a few more tricks up your sleeve, but not really worth throwing in otherwise.

Yes, precisely. mid to late game you have 3 wp from the heroes, 2 from the two attachments, and then 1 from Faramir if needed.

And in the saga, he will often get 1 extra, right?

In case you were wondering the missing card on cardgamedb is a (SPOILER ALERT) 2 cost tactic attachment. It is an armor and item called 'Raven-Winged Helm'. It is a limit one per hero and the hero must be a sentinel. It essentially does what the honor guard does. The response effect it has allows it to exhaust to cancel one point of damage dealt to attached hero.

Between this and an honor guard that is two points of mitigation per round not including defence. It is a good player counter for direct damage as well. Also Erkenbrand may now be able to cancel a shadow effect for free as it doesn't specify a damage source. This must be ffg's player answer or equalizer to enemies getting toughness.

I was thanks. I will update.

Updated with new content for Raven-winged Helm and Ingold.

Cool, and yes not restricted just a limit one

Thanks again mr Midwestborn.

(Now updated with the Pony, too).

Cool, and yes not restricted just a limit one

This makes so much difference!!!! Definitely the power card of the pack IMO.

I secretly think that Merry is the power card here but some tactics will definitely benefit a lot from Honour Guard and Raven-winged Helm.

Thanks for playing, PsychoRocka. I am also excited about Rallying Cry, I hope I can use it well. Just mind, the Valour part is an action, so you have to plan it ahead.

And yes, I am so happy Tactics is getting damage-cancelation. It is their thing now, and it seems fit (just as Lore does healing and Spirit retrieval).

Ah did not notice that. Yeah so really its only good if you are going to chump block or discard allies yourself (like the eagles that discard after an attack etc) as you can't use it after a nasty treachery wipes your board.

Can only be used like this if you know something is coming with Henamarth or Palantir or whatever.

I secretly think that Merry is the power card here but some tactics will definitely benefit a lot from Honour Guard and Raven-winged Helm.

You are right. I should have specified I meant other than the hero.

Merry is amazing and I really hope we see more low threat cost heroes with low stats but awesome abilities.