Would Thalin or Expecting Mischief deal damage to an orc revealed from the orc deck? I have been playing where they do not as the orc deck is not the encounter deck, but the rule on the quest card says to reveal a card from the orc deck and resolve its staging as though it was just revealed from the encounter deck.

I don't know, the language "as if it were just revealed from the encounter deck" makes it one of those hazy distinctions like "considered to be engaged with you" vs "engaged with you." In the engagement case, the physical act of moving the card from the staging area to your player area is what will trigger engagement effects like on Sam or Mablung.

So with that in mind, maybe revealing a card from the orc deck would NOT let you trigger Thalin/Expecting Mischief because, despite the wording "as if it were just revealed from the encounter deck," you didn't physically take it from the encounter deck. On the other hand, the counter-argument is equally convincing (it says "as if it were revealed from the encounter deck," so do that and deal it damage from Thalin as if it had come from the encounter deck!).

It's a total crapshoot. Unless someone else has some reasoning beyond this supporting one side or the other, I'd submit a rules question.

Well this is my (purposefully nit-picky) take on it, based on previous Thalin rulings: Thalin's ability triggers " as it is revealed by the encounter deck". Scattered Among the Hills says "resolve it as if it was just revealed from the encounter deck". So if it was "just revealed" then it is not "being revealed" so it is too late to trigger Thalin. For Thalin to work, the quest card would have to say "resolve it as if it were being revealed from the encounter deck". Expecting Mmischief, on the other hand, uses different language and should work, in my opinion.

But I agree with GrandSpleen. You should look for an official response for this one.

Well this is my (purposefully nit-picky) take on it, based on previous Thalin rulings: Thalin's ability triggers " as it is revealed by the encounter deck". Scattered Among the Hills says "resolve it as if it was just revealed from the encounter deck". So if it was "just revealed" then it is not "being revealed" so it is too late to trigger Thalin. For Thalin to work, the quest card would have to say "resolve it as if it were being revealed from the encounter deck". Expecting Mmischief, on the other hand, uses different language and should work, in my opinion.

But I agree with GrandSpleen. You should look for an official response for this one.

That's indeed nickpicky.

Aren't there some orcs with "when revealed" effects? IMO the designers want us to resolve these effects, so Thalin's effect should also be resolved, as he goes first.