Probably wouldn't, but to go back to 13 player cards after three straight deluxes with 15 is disappointing. You have to go back to the first deluxe to find only 13 player cards.

The Road Goes Ever On.

All hail the first official Lore Song! As for the quality of this card - I dunno. They seem to put a lot of emphasis on clearing tons of side quests in this new cycle, so maybe that'll be really a thing. I, for one, don't see myself clearing more than 1-2 side quests per game. I hope they change my mind once set comes out.

And if you're going to attach this to a side quest you or your partner already played, then what's the urgency of getting another one? All your side quest effects will already be playable. Maybe for that +1 wp on Thurindir? Or 1 more damage from Dour Handed?

Maybe because the sidequests are good in and of themselves even without this additional support?

Dour-handed.

I find it to be a strange card, as initially it'll sit in your hand while reading "pay 1 to deal 0 damage". How many side quests can you realistically clear without severely hindering your effort on the main one?

Varies depending on quest, but sometimes 4 is definitely not out of the question, at which point Dour-handed would kill a decent number of enemies outright.

The Road Goes Ever On.

All hail the first official Lore Song! As for the quality of this card - I dunno. They seem to put a lot of emphasis on clearing tons of side quests in this new cycle, so maybe that'll be really a thing. I, for one, don't see myself clearing more than 1-2 side quests per game. I hope they change my mind once set comes out.

In my 4 player fellowship games it is not uncommon for us to utilize several side quests already. In a few games yesterday we ended up with 4 each time. (Double Back, Gather Information and 2 Scout Ahead)

My crime is probably playing mostly solo.

I read Bounder as Bouncer haha.

Encounter card walks up to the club doors.

Halfling Bouncer holds up his hand, "Whoa, whoa whoa. Where do you think you're going huh? You're name on the list?"

Encounter card looks down sheepishly, "Yeah...? Necromancer's Reach..."

Halfling Bouncer glances at the list, shaking his head. "Nah, you ain't on the list. No name, no entry. Now scram. I don't want to see your face here again."

I think I like the Halfling Bouncer.

Overall a little dissapointed in these spoilers but the ones we already had for this deluxe were pretty great so it balances out.

Greenwood doesn't seem very good outside of Silvan decks and that ability is next to useless during planning except for Captain's Wisdom type shenanigans. 1 hitpoint always makes me sad as well

Erebor Guard's ability is only good in self mill decks in pretty much any other deck his ability can be harmful as you could be losing valuable cards. Even in Noldor this isn't good as you want to discard cards from your hand not from the top of your deck. Defensive allies with 2 or less defense usually aren't worth it in my opinion if they don't have some killer ability on top. This guy is good in a dedicated dwarf mill deck or Caldara deck but looks super average in other decks.

Halfling bounder is the best of the lot. We finally have an ally that be discarded in an emergency to cancel the when revealed effects of an encounter card. He also has 2 hitpoints which means he will hopefully stick around till you need that ability and 1/1 (in willpower and attack) is not bad for two cost especially in lore. It also makes him valuable until you need to/are able to use his cancel effect which means he doesn't just sit around until you need his ability. You do need a sidequest in the victory display but this isn't too hard to achieve even using decks that only feature a few sidequests as there are plenty of cards to fetch them. As others have mentioned he is a boss in the Lost Realm/Angmar cycle because of encounter side quests. I really love this ally but wish this ability had been on a dunedain or noldor ally. Then again we did get Dunedain Lookout (or whatever he is called) that can cancel the when revealed effects on an enemy so I guess we sort of did and I am being extremely picky

Well Warned is pretty decent... I like that it can be used on any player. Noble and Scout isn't too hard to achieve. I think for me the annoying thing with these cards that need two traits is that some of them will be great for our decks but we wont have the traits (on heroes at least) to play them right away or as consistently as we'd like so we have to consider whether there are enough allies with the trait you need included in your deck to cover the fact you don't have that trait on a hero or if it is worth changing our decks just to include these. I know that really if anything this opens up deckbuilding and strategy further but its going to be frustrating to see cards that could be really great in your decks but require you to potentially change your hero lineup for them to be viable. I guess this is true of just about any card though (you need Galadriel for her mirror don't you!) so I am being a little silly. Zero cost for a bit of threat reduction is always nice and unlike Elrond's Counsel this can be used on any player.

Dour Handed outside of a dedicated side quest deck (which I realise is going to be the new type of deck) seems useless and while there are always plenty of niche cards it would nice if it wasn't a completely dead card without having several side quests in the victory display. Even with 2 or even maybe 3 side quests in the victory display this is still only doing 2 to 3 direct damage for 1 cost. Like John said compare this to Goblin Cleaver which does 2/3 damage for 0 and just requires a weapon attachment which is like a million times easier than clearing a sidequest. Almost all other direct damage cards seem better than this one for some reason.

The Road Goes Ever on is sort of like Dunedain Message but for 0 cost in lore. It does let any player search for a side quest not just the player using it which is better than Message. It does only trigger when you beat the quest it is attached to though and therein lies what I think is the massive restriction to this card. So you want to play side quests as early as possible so you can clear them and receive their effects (especially these new ones that provide a constant effect for the rest of the game) to advance your board state. This card only lets you go and get a side quest once you clear a quest stage already in play. Admittedly this can be used on another side quest (which is the optimal use it seems) but if there isn't already a side quest in play this has to be put on the main quest and you might not see its effect for several turns. I used to use The Long Defeat which I thought was a really cool card but in practise was just so extremely hit and miss and I think this card is just like The Long Defeat in that regard. In a side quest deck it might be good just so you can chain side quests together and try to keep one in play consistently to help cards like East Road Ranger though I guess.

Admittedly I am usually slow to see cool combos or interactions with new player cards and am also overly harsh with my opinion of them and gradually warm up or change my opinion over time but some of these are really average to me. Lucky I love the new heroes so much!

Already starting to change my mind about Greenwood Archer big time. He is great with Captain's Wisdom, Send for Aid and honestly one of the best targets for sneak attack in my opinion. 1 resource for a 2 attack ranged ally and another use out of any hero (emergency defense, extra attacker, vilya, ranger bow etc) and then you can potentially use his ability again when you get him into play the second time. Hmmmm

The Road Goes Ever On + Thurindir is a pretty good start for a side quest deck. One side quest in your hand and Road Goes Ever On finds another when you clear the first.

Use Thurindir to start with Gather Information. Clear it first turn and each player gets to search their deck for a card then you use Road Goes Ever On to find Send for Aid and put it into play the following turn. Clear Send for Aid on the second turn and each player gets to search the top ten cards for an ally and play it for free. That's a pretty awesome first two turns that only costs you a single leadership resource to play Send for Aid. It does mean no progress on the main quest for two turns though which reallt isn't an option for certain quests.

So cool! That Archer is great with Celeborn, especially when you can spam him mid-round with The Tree People. But as is, a 2 cost 2 attack Leadership ally (not to mention Silvan, so 1 cost) is nuts. Love this card.

Bounder, 1) reminds me of an old LOTR TCG card from the first set, the Bounder who gets his head cut off by a Nazgul for nothing during Frodo's and Gandalf's conversation in FOTR, 2) has one of my favorite arts as of late, and 3) is really **** good! Any side quest deck will want x3 of this guy. Now that I think of it, the great thing about the side quest mechanic is that you only need 1 side quest in the victory display to trigger all your effects, from which this Bounder seems like one of the best.

Sadly I'm not sure about The Road Goes Ever On and On. It's an iconic song and theme of the books, but I just think that any side quest deck will already run Dúnedain Message or Thurindir anyway both of which are much easier. Now granted I don't think we have a new side quest Leadership ally, so maybe Leadership would be kind of wasted, but I still think it'd be playable in a side quest deck without Leadership if it attached to a location instead. You'll want your side quest effects before even defeating the first stage in many scenarios. And if you're going to attach this to a side quest you or your partner already played, then what's the urgency of getting another one? All your side quest effects will already be playable. Maybe for that +1 wp on Thurindir? Or 1 more damage from Dour Handed? Not sure if convinced.

I like both the Bounder (obviously) and the Song. My side quest deck is Beorn Rossiel Thurundir right now and it fits perfectly. I am not sure about the number. I probably only start with one as the slots get ever so precious but, it will still be a good card to draw, I feel. I almost always mulligan for a side quest, in order to have two to begin with. And then when you have the Road Goes Ever On, it should become a free card, the cost of 0 is really nice here.

By the way, I am not sure I saw it mentioned, have others include the Long Defeat in their side quests decks? Seems like a particularly useful opening card there, especially with Thurundir (I know I may be in minority playing the unreleased cards, but still). [edit] I just saw Psychorocka describing his negative experience with the card, I think this may change for you with Thurundir, it certainly did for me once I got the ranger on board.

Mirkwood Archer is alright I feel. It doesn't particularly scream for its place in my Galadhrim deck but it will probably make it. Is good if you have Nenya on Galadriel, or if in your other deck is someone like Denethor, Beravor or Elrond.

I have not yet tried the Dwarf discard deck but I am aware it is getting ever more intriguing. Zigil Miner currently sides with the Noldor, though.

Well Warned seems ok, though feels best paired with the Hobbits (Smoke Rings) who might have a hard time finding a Noble and a Scout among them.

More direct damage is nice but you really have to commit to the strategy and then still it only works against particular quests. Not sure I will play this any time soon.

Yay for more cancellation. The mono Lore decks are getting better and better now that we don't need to rely on spirit for cancellation.

honestly, Halfling Bounder is pretty crazy. only costs 2 and can quest or attack for 1 until you need to discard him, plus he has 2 hit points, so he's a bit less vulnerable to damaging treacheries (so you don't automatically discard him to cancel something like Necromancer's Reach because 'he's going to die anyway'

also, i'm glad to see a playable 'reprint' of Silverlode Archer

The Road Goes Ever On + Thurindir is a pretty good start for a side quest deck. One side quest in your hand and Road Goes Ever On finds another when you clear the first.

Use Thurindir to start with Gather Information. Clear it first turn and each player gets to search their deck for a card then you use Road Goes Ever On to find Send for Aid and put it into play the following turn. Clear Send for Aid on the second turn and each player gets to search the top ten cards for an ally and play it for free. That's a pretty awesome first two turns that only costs you a single leadership resource to play Send for Aid. It does mean no progress on the main quest for two turns though which reallt isn't an option for certain quests.

Yes, basically I meant something along those lines. I too run Gather Inofrmation in the deck above, obviously but both Scout Ahead and The Storm Comes I prefer in almost every quest I play. The latter is so good to help sooth resources, especially in coop. And the former is just gold for Rossiel and makes The Door is Closed almost immediately useful.

Already starting to change my mind about Greenwood Archer big time. He is great with Captain's Wisdom, Send for Aid and honestly one of the best targets for sneak attack in my opinion. 1 resource for a 2 attack ranged ally and another use out of any hero (emergency defense, extra attacker, vilya, ranger bow etc) and then you can potentially use his ability again when you get him into play the second time. Hmmmm

Galadriel and Elrond, with their rings, can exhaust during the planning phase and receive an immediate ready (i also love the thought of using Elrond + Vilya to bring Greenwood Archer into play, readying Elrond)

plus there's The Tree People (granted, inconsistent with Greenwood Archer, but still nice when you get it to work), along with the other cards you mentioned. i'm actually really like Greenwood Archer's ability for Silvan

EDIT to respond to previous post i missed:

Overall a little dissapointed in these spoilers but the ones we already had for this deluxe were pretty great so it balances out.

Greenwood doesn't seem very good outside of Silvan decks and that ability is next to useless during planning except for Captain's Wisdom type shenanigans. 1 hitpoint always makes me sad as well

Erebor Guard's ability is only good in self mill decks in pretty much any other deck his ability can be harmful as you could be losing valuable cards. Even in Noldor this isn't good as you want to discard cards from your hand not from the top of your deck. Defensive allies with 2 or less defense usually aren't worth it in my opinion if they don't have some killer ability on top. This guy is good in a dedicated dwarf mill deck or Caldara deck but looks super average in other decks.

Halfling bounder is the best of the lot. We finally have an ally that be discarded in an emergency to cancel the when revealed effects of an encounter card. He also has 2 hitpoints which means he will hopefully stick around till you need that ability and 1/1 (in willpower and attack) is not bad for two cost especially in lore. It also makes him valuable until you need to/are able to use his cancel effect which means he doesn't just sit around until you need his ability. You do need a sidequest in the victory display but this isn't too hard to achieve even using decks that only feature a few sidequests as there are plenty of cards to fetch them. As others have mentioned he is a boss in the Lost Realm/Angmar cycle because of encounter side quests. I really love this ally but wish this ability had been on a dunedain or noldor ally. Then again we did get Dunedain Lookout (or whatever he is called) that can cancel the when revealed effects on an enemy so I guess we sort of did and I am being extremely picky

Well Warned is pretty decent... I like that it can be used on any player. Noble and Scout isn't too hard to achieve. I think for me the annoying thing with these cards that need two traits is that some of them will be great for our decks but we wont have the traits (on heroes at least) to play them right away or as consistently as we'd like so we have to consider whether there are enough allies with the trait you need included in your deck to cover the fact you don't have that trait on a hero or if it is worth changing our decks just to include these. I know that really if anything this opens up deckbuilding and strategy further but its going to be frustrating to see cards that could be really great in your decks but require you to potentially change your hero lineup for them to be viable. I guess this is true of just about any card though (you need Galadriel for her mirror don't you!) so I am being a little silly. Zero cost for a bit of threat reduction is always nice and unlike Elrond's Counsel this can be used on any player.

Dour Handed outside of a dedicated side quest deck (which I realise is going to be the new type of deck) seems useless and while there are always plenty of niche cards it would nice if it wasn't a completely dead card without having several side quests in the victory display. Even with 2 or even maybe 3 side quests in the victory display this is still only doing 2 to 3 direct damage for 1 cost. Like John said compare this to Goblin Cleaver which does 2/3 damage for 0 and just requires a weapon attachment which is like a million times easier than clearing a sidequest. Almost all other direct damage cards seem better than this one for some reason.

The Road Goes Ever on is sort of like Dunedain Message but for 0 cost in lore. It does let any player search for a side quest not just the player using it which is better than Message. It does only trigger when you beat the quest it is attached to though and therein lies what I think is the massive restriction to this card. So you want to play side quests as early as possible so you can clear them and receive their effects (especially these new ones that provide a constant effect for the rest of the game) to advance your board state. This card only lets you go and get a side quest once you clear a quest stage already in play. Admittedly this can be used on another side quest (which is the optimal use it seems) but if there isn't already a side quest in play this has to be put on the main quest and you might not see its effect for several turns. I used to use The Long Defeat which I thought was a really cool card but in practise was just so extremely hit and miss and I think this card is just like The Long Defeat in that regard. In a side quest deck it might be good just so you can chain side quests together and try to keep one in play consistently to help cards like East Road Ranger though I guess.

Admittedly I am usually slow to see cool combos or interactions with new player cards and am also overly harsh with my opinion of them and gradually warm up or change my opinion over time but some of these are really average to me. Lucky I love the new heroes so much!

i know you've started to change your mind on Greenwood Archer, but it seems a lot of the criticisms are 'this card doesn't work well outside of the deck it was designed to work in, therefore it's not a good card', and i honestly can't disagree more.

just because a card doesn't have universal appeal doesn't mean it's a bad card. as i mentioned above, Greenwood Archer is great in Silvan decks. but outside of that, he's also a 2 for 2 ranged attacker in Leadership of all things. he could have a blank ability, and i'd consider him pretty useful tbh.

Erebor Guard's ability of discarding outside of intentional self-mill isn't that much of a problem tbh, because you're discarding two cards that may as well have been on the bottom of your deck. 2 resources for a 2def 3hp sentinel, in Spirit of all things, is pretty solid imo. it's just that his 'downside' is a potential gain when you build your deck for Hidden Caches, Caldara discard spam, etc.

as for Dour-handed, i think it's kind of an unknown. it'll likely get a lot better in multiplayer with many different side quests entering the victory display, and as you said, only really useful in a dedicated side quest deck, but even then, how many side quests can you really get in a deck that's packing Tactics? Delay the Enemy isn't very good tbh. Keep Watch is a lot better, but limit 1 in the victory display.

you'll likely want to go dual or trisphere to get enough side quests, and then how is Dour-handed going to fit into the deck anyway? i actually think it's a terrible card in that i doubt i'd ever find it useful, wished i had put it in my deck instead, and i think i'll likely find many instances where i wished i had a different direct damage event instead.

Just to comment on a few sentiments above. Yes, clearing side quests is not easy. Not for every quest for sure and often good only at certain stages of quests. The tactics card thus seems utterly terribly, just like the Last Stance we got last time. That said, it is true that clearing side quests is a very good thing, if you have time and resources for it.

Scout Ahead cleared on round 1, usually gives such an advantage for the next two rounds that you really feel like you own the encounter deck (2-player experience mostly). The best example may be A Journey in the Dark, where you are oft instructed to discard encounter cards.

Checking back the previously spoiled cards, Vigilant Dúnadan is ok but not great unless you can buff him somehow which is not always easy with allies. Tale of Tinúviel or Narya would be good but you'd need him exhausted first, right?

Already starting to change my mind about Greenwood Archer big time. He is great with Captain's Wisdom, Send for Aid and honestly one of the best targets for sneak attack in my opinion. 1 resource for a 2 attack ranged ally and another use out of any hero (emergency defense, extra attacker, vilya, ranger bow etc) and then you can potentially use his ability again when you get him into play the second time. Hmmmm

my partner plays a Silvan deck with Galadriel, Elrond, and Celeborn.

Galadriel and Elrond, with their rings, can exhaust during the planning phase and receive an immediate ready (i also love the thought of using Elrond + Vilya to bring Greenwood Archer into play, readying Elrond)

plus there's The Tree People (granted, inconsistent with Greenwood Archer, but still nice when you get it to work), along with the other cards you mentioned. i'm actually really like Greenwood Archer's ability for Silvan

Yes, with the cost of 2 in Leadership, 2 attack and Silvan trait, it is hardly to be a miss. The ability is super strong even if the timing may be an issue sometimes.

To put things in perspective, here's the previous two-or-less cost options for 2 attack in Leadership:

Ceorl (unique)

Dwaven Sellsword (one cost, but you have to keep paying)

Dunedain Wanderer -- if you are in secrecy, 5 cost otherwise

So 2 attack for 2 cost, with no restrictions, is already good, and the ranged makes it better.

Captain's Wisdom is the obvious combo, but Greenwood can also be used with We Are Not Idle and a dwarf hero. For multi-sphere decks, he combos with Galadriel (with Nenya), Beravor, Argalad (if he can reduce a threat to zero), LoDenethor, Healing Herbs (on a hero), Vilya, Ranger Bow (on a hero), Palantir, Athelas (on a hero), Narya (if you have exhausted allies), Rain of Arrows, Quick Strike, Ancestral Knowledge, Hail of Stones, Word of Command (with Gandalf hero), Hands Upon the Bow, Peace and Thought, Distant Stars, The Houses of Healing, and Ravens of the Mountain.

Now a good part of those you'd never plan to put together, but if you're running one of those cards already and have access to Leadership, Greenwood Archer might be something to consider.

Greenwood Archer.

...

none of the currently existing Leadership heroes possess any pritned self-exhausting ability, so this needs to be multisphered into something at the very least. But I like the concept.

I like this ally because it makes you think about interesting card combos. I can think of a few uses it might have even with all leadership heroes:

- Captain's Wisdom

- Palantir

- Amarthiul+Quick Strike

But one of the reasons I most like the guy is going to be his ability to offset the cost of Peace and Thought.

Peace, and Thought. Sons of Harad.

Word of Command in the Refresh phase with Hero Gandalf.

By the way, I am not sure I saw it mentioned, have others include the Long Defeat in their side quests decks? Seems like a particularly useful opening card there, especially with Thurundir (I know I may be in minority playing the unreleased cards, but still). [edit] I just saw Psychorocka describing his negative experience with the card, I think this may change for you with Thurundir, it certainly did for me once I got the ranger on board.

Long Defeat is a brilliant card if you're planning on exploring side-quests anyway, either because you're in a multiplayer group where everyone has a side-quest or two or because you're running a dedicated side-quest deck like e.g. this one: http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/1634/side-quests-to-the-left-of-me-enemies-to-the-right-1.0

Like the side-quests themselves, I think it's something which rises in value as the player count goes up, which may account for some people's skepticism if they don't generally play above 2 player. Seriously though, it's like an Ancient Mathom for everyone at the table, or healing if you need it. Great card.

Greenwood Archer works with:

Captain Wisdom (Captain Wisdom on Celeborn > play Greenwood Archer)

Beravor

Galadriel if she has Nenya

Lore Denethor

Some attachments that make your hero exhaust during planning (like Palantir)

Elrond + Vilya

Heroes that were exhausted with Peace and Thought

Random Sword-Thain'd allies

Yay for more cancellation. The mono Lore decks are getting better and better now that we don't need to rely on spirit for cancellation.

with The Storm Comes, it doesn't need mono Lore. hell, it doesn't need Lore at all...honestly, Halfling Bounder is pretty crazy. only costs 2 and can quest or attack for 1 until you need to discard him, plus he has 2 hit points, so he's a bit less vulnerable to damaging treacheries (so you don't automatically discard him to cancel something like Necromancer's Reach because 'he's going to die anyway'also, i'm glad to see a playable 'reprint' of Silverlode Archer

I want implying that it worked best in mono Lore decks. I was simply noting the fact that a mono Lore deck is no longer gimped by lack of cancellation.

Of course, The Door Is Closed provided that, but it has limitations and requires setup. So does this one, but with both cards in your deck, you might just have things set up for one of them when you need it.

Greenwood Archer is a steal at 2 considering you are going to probably either have O Lorien! or SoG to help pay for him.

I'm even more convinced of Prince Imrahil + Elf-friend in a Silvan deck now.

The Greenwood Archer is not an archer, whereas the Silverlode archer is an archer.

If you're not joking, then archer is a legacy trait, dropped and replaced with more approptiate ones, like warrior, scout, and ranger immediately after the core set.

I am joking