Great pack!

Really like the new denethor.

I've seen some nice combos on this threat with him already, but him + Galdor = set up heaven.

Add steward, legacy of numenor, heed the dream, daeron's runes and cards like that and you're flying out the door!

His low threat makes him very splashable also with 3 defense

Think he'll make his way into many decks, not only Gondor.

The rest of the cards are all good/great too!

There's not a single coaster in there I think.

Hadn't thought about Denethor + Heir of Mardil. Thematic and awesome. I think he'll open up some great options for various decks, even if I'm not including him in mono-Leadership Gondor any time soon.

Why not? For the lack of Willpower? The mono-Leadership is all about allies anyway, and the two resources at start should easily compensate for 1 willpower on round 1. And as I said before, we are not going to see a 3 willpower Leadership Gondor hero, not ever I think. Yes, the start might still be problematic, in terms of questing, but with the new tools, getting to that state when you combo everything, should be considerably easier. I used to save Boromir as a safety cushion for defense even though I planned no attacks of my own. Well, now Denethor can play the role, freeing the 1 willpower (or 2 with Visionary Leadership) of Boromir's. And indeed, Heir of Mardil is now all but guarantee to trigger, and there are good options to choose from. Just a pity the card is unique...

Denethor solves another problem I sometimes used to have. Granted, ally Galadriel may not be the best card in such a deck, because the Leadership attachments are not so plentiful. The dilemma was always when I got her and Steward of Gondor on round 1, considering whether I should play her hoping for the Steward to be among the five cards (statistically not very probable but it did actually happen more than once) or play Steward first, then Galadriel and then rue that I have no attachments (beside the Steward) to choose from. With 5 resources, you can first play Galadriel and then Steward. Just a very minor point, I know, but I felt like mentioning.

In pure solo, the lack of a good early quester right from turn 1 can be problematic in a large number of quests. Since you'll ideally gonna run Boromir, that's 2 willpower between 2 heroes. If you want the willpower, you'll also run Aragorn for Sword that was Broken. That's a total 4 willpower between the heroes, which is a bit too little for me. You better pray for that Celebrían's Stone, but other than that, it takes time to build the necessary willpower with Visionary and whatnot to overcome the quest. That's the reason I want at least another 3 willpower Leadership hero, or maybe even better, just another lowish threat 2 willpower Leadership Gondor hero. With Visionary it shouldn't be too hard to get him to 3, and with Aragorn can quest at least for 5, which starts to become good. With Denethor it would mainly work in quests that give plenty of time like Conflict at the Carrock, but IMO it wouldn't in the aggresive new quests.

Out of Sight is ripe for combos!

Is there any events Denethor could play during setup?

Well. Gotta try, hard to know without it, a typical deck-building mistake. I totally understand the importance of good printed stats, the 2 extra resources, however, work in a similar, allowing you to buy more round 1.

Is there any events Denethor could play during setup?

I do not think he can, as there is no action window. Only responses allowed, I believe. And I do not see any, really.

Oh ... Just saw Guardian of Rivendell ... A Noldor ally like him was something I wanted for a long time. Especially on turns that Lords of the Eldar has been played a couple of those could be deadly. Also like Vanish from sight a lot.

Ally Glorfindel is in this pack, am I right?

Heed the Dream has something I am not sure I get right.

You play the card, look for a card in top 5 and then if you spend 3 Leadership resource you can search your whole deck for a card? If this is the case then it csn be a very strong card especially with Leadership Denethor from turn one !

Is there any events Denethor could play during setup?

Or Grave Cairn, although presumably if you have a hero dying during setup, you've got bigger problems than using Denethor's ability.

I've beaten most (regular) quests with a LoDenethor/LeAragorn/Theodred solo deck, I don't see why a LeDenethor/LeBoromir/X Gondor deck would be at a particular disadvantage to that given 5 resources at start. You don't need to pray for just Celebrian for a first turn +2 wp, you can afford Gimli or core Gandalf or Galadriel, or Visionary Leadership plus a 2-cost Gondor ally with a resource reserved, or Sword that was Broken if X is Aragorn, or Ingold with two resources on heroes, or ally Faramir if X isn't Faramir. I did 25 random draws (no mulligans) from my private Gondor deck (still unplayed) at ringsdb, and every one of them generated *at least* 2 extra wp in attachments or allies, given 5 resources to play with.

Is there an action window in setup?

Is there an action window in setup?

EDIT: Come to think of it, is there an order mandated for encounter vs. player card effects in Setup, or can we choose precisely because no order is mandated?

I hope those spoils are partial and we didn't just get a pack with 2 leadship, 1 tactics, 1 spirit and 1 lore cards? That would suck major league balls.

First of all, there are already 3 Leadership card: Rod, Service, Guardian; and there had been spoils before for the pack: Glorfindel, Azain, etc.

I've beaten most (regular) quests with a LoDenethor/LeAragorn/Theodred solo deck, I don't see why a LeDenethor/LeBoromir/X Gondor deck would be at a particular disadvantage to that given 5 resources at start. You don't need to pray for just Celebrian for a first turn +2 wp, you can afford Gimli or core Gandalf or Galadriel, or Visionary Leadership plus a 2-cost Gondor ally with a resource reserved, or Sword that was Broken if X is Aragorn, or Ingold with two resources on heroes, or ally Faramir if X isn't Faramir. I did 25 random draws (no mulligans) from my private Gondor deck (still unplayed) at ringsdb, and every one of them generated *at least* 2 extra wp in attachments or allies, given 5 resources to play with.

Exactly. That was my point above. The 1 or 2 printed willpower really makes very little difference in a whole game, and I for sure rather take the abilities of this hero Denethor over him having 3 willpower like his ally version.

First of all, there are already 3 Leadership card: Rod, Service, Guardian; and there had been spoils before for the pack: Glorfindel, Azain, etc.

I am trying to think of a Noldor deck with the new cards. Ally Glorfindel, Gildor and 3 copies of the Guardian , with Cirdan and ring, 3 copies of Lords of the Eldar ... seems quite strong. The allies are strong as heroes

Don't you find that 2 cards cost for that Noldor ally a bit steep?

Don't you find that 2 cards cost for that Noldor ally a bit steep?

Not really. In some of my Noldor decks I end up burning cards to Protector of Lorien in the Travel phase just so that I can draw more. So I think the Guardian or Arnor will have a good place in certain Noldor decks.

Don't you find that 2 cards cost for that Noldor ally a bit steep?

Not really. In some of my Noldor decks I end up burning cards to Protector of Lorien in the Travel phase just so that I can draw more. So I think the Guardian or Arnor will have a good place in certain Noldor decks.

And what about any other deck?

Recycling lords of the Eldar or the event that draws a card when played from discard pile (can't remember the name) or attachments already played makes that viable

I don't believe the word "recycling" is the right one here when applied to Lords of the Eldar. "Enabling" would be a correct term here. And you just mentioned two spirit cards, which are not always going to be present in your hand. And then, the card is neutral, so we should evaluate it overall, not just for one sphere/archetype. The main comparison point for me is Rangr of Cardolan, which provides same stat total for just 1 more resource. Is +1 def -1 wp really worth the 2 cards from hand to 1 resource in cost exchange?

I didn´t like leadership Gondor so much before, but I think this pack will lead to a lot of ringsdb visits, for Gondor and Noldor.

I've beaten most (regular) quests with a LoDenethor/LeAragorn/Theodred solo deck, I don't see why a LeDenethor/LeBoromir/X Gondor deck would be at a particular disadvantage to that given 5 resources at start. You don't need to pray for just Celebrian for a first turn +2 wp, you can afford Gimli or core Gandalf or Galadriel, or Visionary Leadership plus a 2-cost Gondor ally with a resource reserved, or Sword that was Broken if X is Aragorn, or Ingold with two resources on heroes, or ally Faramir if X isn't Faramir. I did 25 random draws (no mulligans) from my private Gondor deck (still unplayed) at ringsdb, and every one of them generated *at least* 2 extra wp in attachments or allies, given 5 resources to play with.

Exactly. That was my point above. The 1 or 2 printed willpower really makes very little difference in a whole game, and I for sure rather take the abilities of this hero Denethor over him having 3 willpower like his ally version.

Okay, okay. Maybe I'm underestimating Denethor. I will try him in my mono Leadership Gondor and report. I know at least that I'm rebuilding the deck, if only to test Rod of tge Steward.

It is always better to be overly excited than the other way. I mean it is better to try and be proven worthless than not try and miss on a good card. I am really not sure about RotS, I hope it is good, I will play it for sure, but I cannot see using it more than a few times a game. I usually have cards to pay for in the deck. But since it is cost 0, it should surely be a potentially useful utility.