Spare Hood and Cloak is another card that I want to use more.

I used it in my support deck, utilizing Boromir to ready anybody on the board for 1 threat.

Radagast!!!

Spare Hood and Cloak is another card that I want to use more.

I used it in my support deck, utilizing Boromir to ready anybody on the board for 1 threat.

I see the use there, but the problem with Spare Hood and Cloak for me is that it almost always a one-time use, as in this case. There isn't much reason to pass the Cloak back to Boromir.

That said, I did manage to build a deck where it bounces back and forth between Lore Denethor and Forlong. Forlong always has extra exhausts to use, and Denethor (stacked with UCs) often ends up with extra exhausts if you see a card you like on the first go. But apart from that niche use, I haven't played it much.

Here's how you do that: Don't Hog the Cloak

Haha, yes I remember reading that a while back. Maybe that's the treatment all these underused cards need!

i've thought about making a thread recently about picking a horribly underutilised card and see if people can build a deck around making it work (not just include the card, but see what it takes to make it live up to its potential)

for me, it's a lot of the leadership and lore-sphere secrecy allies, like Dunedain Wanderer, Rivendell Scout, and Ithilien Lookout

they seem cool, but they just aren't in the right spheres to make them work easily

Ithilien Lookout is great though, here are some decks that use him to full potential:

http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/4048/ranger-bow-target-practice-1.0

http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/2939/i-m-the-boss-head-honcho-el-numero-uno-mr-big-the-godfa-4.0

for me, it's a lot of the leadership and lore-sphere secrecy allies, like Dunedain Wanderer, Rivendell Scout, and Ithilien Lookout

they seem cool, but they just aren't in the right spheres to make them work easily

I felt the same way for a long time until I built my Aragorn / Arwen secrecy deck:

http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/806/legend-of-luthien-2.0

I built that deck before the new 2-hero support cards came out; it looks like it could use an update.

Ithilien Lookout is great though, here are some decks that use him to full potential:

for me, it's a lot of the leadership and lore-sphere secrecy allies, like Dunedain Wanderer, Rivendell Scout, and Ithilien Lookout

they seem cool, but they just aren't in the right spheres to make them work easily

I felt the same way for a long time until I built my Aragorn / Arwen secrecy deck:

http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/806/legend-of-luthien-2.0

I built that deck before the new 2-hero support cards came out; it looks like it could use an update.

i suppose it's not the end of the world though, and there are plenty of those 2 hero support cards now that could make it work. i may give it a closer look

Cards I really like but just seem to fall short of being worth the slot are Idraen, Lanwyn, Rossiel, Defender of the West and The White Council.

I suppose when I hear "underused" I think of cards that I feel are stronger than most people give them credit for. So just because a card isn't unheard of doesnt mean it doesnt make the count, so long as I feel it's still undervalued. Similarly cards that you never see aren't going to be on the list because well, they're probably still bad.

5 Follow Me! From everything I've read, the legal play of this card allows for some serious multiplayer shenanigans. Can't believe we don't see it in most multiplayer Ld decks.

4 Lanwyn: I thought when we saw the first Ranged hero ever in Spirit that things were about to get crazy. So far, she has not been popular. Even less popular than the considerably worse Rossiel hero, who came out at about the same time.

3 Grappling Hook. For all the Gondorian fire decks or other cards that use attack shenanigans, not even a 1-of ? Seems like a bargain to me.

2 Gleowine: Yes he is used, but he's underused. 1 card/turn for a mere 2 lore resources is just a great value over the course of the game. He's like the best.

1 Eowyn (T): 4W tactics hero that reduces your threat by 3 and lets you one-shot most enemies, allowing for an easy kill on the first nasty thing that comes around... deserves to be one of the most popular tactics heros.

4 Lanwyn: I thought when we saw the first Ranged hero ever in Spirit that things were about to get crazy. So far, she has not been popular. Even less popular than the considerably worse Rossiel hero, who came out at about the same time.

Not getting into an argument about relative power levels, but I feel I should point out that Lanwyn and Rossiel were released a whole cycle apart.

I suppose when I hear "underused" I think of cards that I feel are stronger than most people give them credit for. So just because a card isn't unheard of doesnt mean it doesnt make the count, so long as I feel it's still undervalued. Similarly cards that you never see aren't going to be on the list because well, they're probably still bad.

5 Follow Me! From everything I've read, the legal play of this card allows for some serious multiplayer shenanigans. Can't believe we don't see it in most multiplayer Ld decks.

4 Lanwyn: I thought when we saw the first Ranged hero ever in Spirit that things were about to get crazy. So far, she has not been popular. Even less popular than the considerably worse Rossiel hero, who came out at about the same time.

3 Grappling Hook. For all the Gondorian fire decks or other cards that use attack shenanigans, not even a 1-of ? Seems like a bargain to me.

2 Gleowine: Yes he is used, but he's underused. 1 card/turn for a mere 2 lore resources is just a great value over the course of the game. He's like the best.

1 Eowyn (T): 4W tactics hero that reduces your threat by 3 and lets you one-shot most enemies, allowing for an easy kill on the first nasty thing that comes around... deserves to be one of the most popular tactics heros.

5: Follow Me could do more if you could choose the first player. But even then, I'm not sure what "serious" shenanigans you're taking about.

4: Agreed - we need more support cards around surge, including a way to give a card surge to gain a benefit.

3: Grappling Hook isn't repeatable (for good reason) without a lot of effort. The Gondorian Fire decks already dominate the game without it.

2: Agreed - Gleowine would probably my top 5 list of underrated cards

1: I see her being used a lot.

Cards I really like but just seem to fall short of being worth the slot are Idraen, Lanwyn, Rossiel, Defender of the West and The White Council.

Idrean has been underused by me because she's always lived in the massive shadow cast by Glorfindel+LoV. With the Dunedain mechanic more fleshed out now, I've used her a couple times for spirit access. I wonder if Spirit Aragorn comes out if she'll ever see the light of day again.

I feel like Argalad is one of those cards that is somewhat underused. Anything that lets you tweak questing after drawing encounter cards is excellent, direct damage is excellent, silvan trait is excellent. I like pairing him with tactics and giving him Elven Spear to tweak his attack for those enemies with more than 2 threat.

We just need an attachment like "Ithilien Promotion" that gives a Scout character the Ranger trait

Cards I really like but just seem to fall short of being worth the slot are Idraen, Lanwyn, Rossiel, Defender of the West and The White Council.

Idrean has been underused by me because she's always lived in the massive shadow cast by Glorfindel+LoV. With the Dunedain mechanic more fleshed out now, I've used her a couple times for spirit access. I wonder if Spirit Aragorn comes out if she'll ever see the light of day again.

I want to use her ability in the same vein as Boromir (T), though obviously not nearly as efficient. There is lots of ways to put progress and move it around to semi-on-command ready her, but getting a lot of defense/attack out of her requires so many other spheres that aren't Spirit.

5: Follow Me could do more if you could choose the first player. But even then, I'm not sure what "serious" shenanigans you're taking about.

I remember a discussion a while back that went like this:

During the combat phase, you have 4 players. Players A, B, C, D. Player A is first player, B is 2nd, C is 3rd and D is 4th.

Player A resolves his enemy attacks.

During Player A's resolution, Player B uses Follow Me! and becomes the first player.

Player A is now the last player. When he finishes resolving his enemy attacks, it is now Player B's turn for player attacks.

You have skipped the enemy attack portion of the combat phase for Players B, C, and D.

I don't remember whether there was a ruling or official weighing in on the legality of this.

that is the idea I was talking about, Grandspleen. As far as I am aware there was never any official ruling, and the question is still "unresolved". As I see it, the rules are clear enough, and it works, unless you're making some sort of exception for Follow Me!'s specific case.

Grappling Hook: yeah, you might be right about that one.
Eowyn (T): I see her not uncommonly. But I think she's one of the best Tactics heros around, and deserves an even bigger share.

5: Follow Me could do more if you could choose the first player. But even then, I'm not sure what "serious" shenanigans you're taking about.

I remember a discussion a while back that went like this:

During the combat phase, you have 4 players. Players A, B, C, D. Player A is first player, B is 2nd, C is 3rd and D is 4th.

Player A resolves his enemy attacks.

During Player A's resolution, Player B uses Follow Me! and becomes the first player.

Player A is now the last player. When he finishes resolving his enemy attacks, it is now Player B's turn for player attacks.

You have skipped the enemy attack portion of the combat phase for Players B, C, and D.

I don't remember whether there was a ruling or official weighing in on the legality of this.

I considered this, but I thought you would just start resolving player B's attacks as he is now first player and has not resolved his attacks yet. But if you're right, I agree that is some powerful shenanigans. Skipping attacks for 3 players is a big deal.

Does that really work?!

I considered this, but I thought you would just start resolving player B's attacks as he is now first player and has not resolved his attacks yet. But if you're right, I agree that is some powerful shenanigans. Skipping attacks for 3 players is a big deal.

I love the chutzpah of the idea, but I don't see why it would work. I didn't see the original discussion, so apologies if I'm just reiterating previously-advanced points...

Core rules, p. 18: "The 1st player then repeats [the 4 steps of combat resolution] for each enemy that he is engaged with. After the 1st player has resolved all enemy attacks against himself, the player to his left resolves the attacks his enemies are making against him, following steps 1-4 in turn for each enemy. If playing with more than 2 players, proceed clockwise around the table with each player resolving all of his enemies’ attacks."

It seems to me that if, to use GrandSpleen's labeling, player B uses Follow Me! during A's enemy attack resolution, then B immediately starts resolving his attacks, then we move on to the player on his left, i.e., player C, then D, then back to A if not all of his enemies have attacked. The rules don't say anything like, "Repeat until you've reached the last player"—they say, "proceed... with each player resolving all of his enemies' attacks."

Well, without wanting to derail this thread too much, basically it works like this (simplify this down to 2 players)

Player A is first player and engaged with 0 enemies
Player B is second player has enemies engaged.

Player A resolves attacks made by enemies against them. There are no attacks to be made, that step is now complete.
Now it is player B's turn to resolve attacks made by enemies against him. Player B is preparing to do this. Player B is entitled at this point in time to play cards like Feint, etc. During this event step, Player B plays Follow Me! and becomes the first player. Since "Enemies attack the first player" step is complete, enemies facing player B do not attack. It is the time for enemies engaged with the second player to attack. The second player is now Player A; Player A has no enemies engaged with them. This step is now complete, it is now time for players to attack. You have just skipped the attack phase of all enemies engaged with player B.

1. Minas Tirith Lampwright

I absolutely love this guy for being one of only two player cards that actually interact with the surge mechanic. He was released back in Heirs of Numenor, and somehow remains the only true counter to surge. He's fantastic: fun art, low cost, and stats so pitiful that they become endearing. But I've only ever included him in a deck with the Palantir (another underused card), using him as fodder for Eomer and Imrahil, or when playing across from a friend using Risk Some Light. I so badly want him to be good. I want this kind of card to supplant the tyrannical rule of Test of Will! He's risky and inefficient, but when he shuts down a card it's the best feeling. But I'll continue to sing his praises, even if he consistently discards himself after mistaking a mountain for a troll. He's like the boy who cried wolf.

2. Lanwyn, Bard, Brand and all the Dale-folk

I like Lanwyn for much the same reason I like the Lampwright. She isn't a direct counter to surge, but she is the only hero that stands up to that most annoying of keywords. I like Bard for his raw power and the fun that can be had by coupling him with Straight Shot or Firefoot. I like Brand because he was there for me back in those early days, readying my friend's heroes and staring directly at the sun. And yet I almost never use them...

The sad truth is that these three heroes have terrible trait support. Scout is becoming a more and more useful trait, so Lanwyn has that going for her. But Dale? It isn't even a real trait. Hey Brand, enjoy all the weapons and abilities that come with being King of the Dale! And then Bard doesn't even share the Dale trait with his grandson. He has the only Esgaroth trait in the game, but at least he has Warrior to make him feel better.

Being a Dale hero grants you access to nothing, and there are only three Dale allies to muster. I really like the Rhovanian Outrider, but I can't say I've ever used the Ravenhill Scout or the Celduin Traveler. If the next cycle after Harad doesn't visit and/or support Dale, then I'll be very disappointed that this trait was never given a fair chance.

3. Thror's Key

Not much to say here. I just love this thing and can't understand why I don't run it more often. Sure, it's not crazy good, but I'm always happy when it triggers (I'm looking at you Outlying Homestead).

4. Revealed in Wrath

This is mainly underused because it's still a rather new card. It also isn't an auto-include general purpose card. But it is super fun to shut down certain enemies, especially when used by Arwen or Galdor.

Cards I really like but just seem to fall short of being worth the slot are Idraen, Lanwyn, Rossiel, Defender of the West and The White Council.

4 Lanwyn: I thought when we saw the first Ranged hero ever in Spirit that things were about to get crazy. So far, she has not been popular. Even less popular than the considerably worse Rossiel hero, who came out at about the same time.

4: Agreed - we need more support cards around surge, including a way to give a card surge to gain a benefit.

Lanwyn is actual my most likly hero. I used her in a Lanwyn-Idraen-Theodred-deck where surge is generated by using Ranger Summons. Allies help me to ready Idrean and Theodred provides res. It's a shame that the Ranger of the North do not have a shadow effect like the ones from Massing at Osgiliath.

Well, without wanting to derail this thread too much, basically it works like this (simplify this down to 2 players)

Player A is first player and engaged with 0 enemies

Player B is second player has enemies engaged.

Player A resolves attacks made by enemies against them. There are no attacks to be made, that step is now complete.

Now it is player B's turn to resolve attacks made by enemies against him. Player B is preparing to do this. Player B is entitled at this point in time to play cards like Feint, etc. During this event step, Player B plays Follow Me! and becomes the first player. Since "Enemies attack the first player" step is complete, enemies facing player B do not attack. It is the time for enemies engaged with the second player to attack. The second player is now Player A; Player A has no enemies engaged with them. This step is now complete, it is now time for players to attack. You have just skipped the attack phase of all enemies engaged with player B.

Sadly, since "attacking enemies" only begins "once all players have resolved enemy attacks", and player B hasn't resolved enemy attacks yet, the combat phase never finishes and the quest ends right there.

Quote from the rulebook:

If playing with more than 2 players, proceed clockwise

around the table with each player resolving all of his

enemies’ attacks.

So I agree with dalestephenson that you would continue resolving enemy attacks and just "skip" Player A since he has already resolved his enemy attacks.

Quote from the rulebook:

If playing with more than 2 players, proceed clockwise

around the table with each player resolving all of his

enemies’ attacks.

So I agree with dalestephenson that you would continue resolving enemy attacks and just "skip" Player A since he has already resolved his enemy attacks.

I agree with this. Since the phase doesn't end until all players have addressed combat, it seems like combat would proceed to the left until that is the case. In fact, in the worst interpretation, the initial 1st player may have to resolve combat twice if they are to the left of the final 1st player but before the last player.

Obviously that makes no sense, and neither does any of these exploits. That being said, I still struggle to find uses for it that justify deck space. I suppose often a Leadership/Tactics deck wants to engage more enemies, and therefore might want to be 1st player during the engagement phase, but realistically there are much better ways of engaging enemies.

Cards I really like but just seem to fall short of being worth the slot are Idraen, Lanwyn, Rossiel, Defender of the West and The White Council.

4 Lanwyn: I thought when we saw the first Ranged hero ever in Spirit that things were about to get crazy. So far, she has not been popular. Even less popular than the considerably worse Rossiel hero, who came out at about the same time.

4: Agreed - we need more support cards around surge, including a way to give a card surge to gain a benefit.

Lanwyn is actual my most likly hero. I used her in a Lanwyn-Idraen-Theodred-deck where surge is generated by using Ranger Summons. Allies help me to ready Idrean and Theodred provides res. It's a shame that the Ranger of the North do not have a shadow effect like the ones from Massing at Osgiliath.

i think it needs just a bit more support though. the first and most obvious is having more surge cards like the ranger, but i think a really big thing is just having better questing scout allies for their cost (most are 3 cost for 2 willpower or similar). Snowbourn Scout is a good chump blocker. Rivendell Scout would be great if it was easy to enable secrecy

i really like Greyflood Wanderer in this deck though.

that said, the deck is really great at controlling locations and works really well with Idraen's ability and it might do well to focus on just beefing up your heroes with mounts/Elfhelm and signals and other attachments