Hiya again!

It has lasted a little bit longer, but don't worry - the Lore sphere from Core set gets its own review as well! Read the new article about the last sphere (excluding the Neutral), and I hope you'll enjoy this and you will comment as at previous reviews.:)

Link: https://visionofthepalantir.com/2019/02/11/lore-sphere-core-set/

I just remind you, what's all about (skip it, if you have already read the article from Leadership sphere):
I made a deep analysis of each player card, mention the positives and negatives of each card, possible combos and synergies and overall conclusion from my point of view. I set the goal of describing each card in at least 450 words , in 500 words at the best. It's written in " progression mode ", and it's because of 1) new players, who wanna to start this game from Core set in progression style, 2) the progression mode seems to me more challenging than "normal style" with accessible all cards from all expansions and adventure packs. I wanted to create such complex and detailed reviews because I think it's rare material in LOTR LCG community. And I think that each card, no matter how strong or weak, deserves own attention, not only that cards we usually use in decks.

I don't think you and I have the same definition of "chump blocker". When an ally can survive an attack, I call that "ally defense" -- a chump is someone I throw in front of an attack *knowing* it won't survive no matter what the shadow is. Winged Guardian is almost never a chump, and was my primary defender in my spirit/tactics deck until I got Defender of Rammas. Erebor Hammersmith isn't a good defender, but his ability to survive a 3 strength attack elevates him above true chumps.

I don't much quarrel with your description of heroes, other than that you're more enthusiastic about Glorfindel and less enthusiastic about Beravor than I think most people would be. I've long argued that the main problem with Lore Glorfindel in the full card pool is the existence of Spirit Glorfindel, who can match his stats and attach his horse with *much* lower threat cost. Absent Spirit Glorfindel, Glorfindel would still be high threat (less of a problem with full card pool) and still have an inefficient stat distribution (also less of a problem with full card pool), but between enhancing Asfaloth and adding some emergency healing, he would be a worthy hero. Alas, that's not the world we live in, the two cards that could have made LoGlorfindel great (Light of Valinor and Asfaloth) came in the same pack with his Spirit brother. What a world, what a world.

And before that point, Glorfindel's expensive healing would've been most useful in Journey to Rhosgobel, where he can't use it. Of course, it also doesn't help that Glorfindel's ability is limited to once per round -- if it weren't limited (and why should it be?) it could come in really handy in some decks...

Beravor, OTOH, remains a useful utility hero to this day. It's interesting that you mention Bilbo's unconditional card as challenging her monopoly, since Beravor is very popular and Bilbo very unpopular. The problem with preserving Bilbo's action is that his action isn't worth much -- 1 willpower, 1 attack, or utterly inadequate 2/2 defense, while his benefit is half of Beravor's action and less flexible in multiplayer. What's nice about Beravor is that earlier where her action might be useful, you have more cards than you can pay for, and as you establish your board state and need her normal usage less, you will need more cards.

Denethor is a great solo hero, and the best defensive bones in the core set, IMO.

In contrasting Daughter of Nimrodel and Self-Preservation I think you oversell the importance of ally fragility. It is true in general among all quests (IMO) that Self-Preservation is less vulnerable, and therefore a better choice for quests where the damaged hero is known in advance (such as self-damagers or defensive heroes). But in the context of the core set, there's only one card (Hummerhorns shadow effect) that will kill Daughter outright, and three cards (Evil Storm) that will kill her if and only if you've reached 35 threat. Meanwhile, there's seven shadow cards (Driven by Shadow, Forest Spider, Cavern Spider) that discard attachments, five of which specify the defending character -- the most likely to have Self-Preservation attached. The two cards you called out (Necromancer's Reach and Eastern Crows) actually pose no threat to the Daughter (who would chump a 1-attack enemy with Daughter, or heal *before* questing with Necromancer's Reach out) and are precisely the sort of cards where Daughter has the advantage on healing -- Necromancer's Reach harms your questing heroes, which you wouldn't put Self-Preservation on, and Eastern Crows is just the sort of enemy you'd take undefended, then fix up with the Daughter.

The real problem for Daughter -- and for practically every healing related card in the core set, comes in The Long Dark when Warden of Healing fires them all. He's just as fragile as Daughter of Nimrodel and also can only heal two damage when he exhausts, but his cheaper cost and flexibility makes him a staple and her a coaster. Self-Preservation can still fill a niche for heroes taking damage every turn, especially since it's less fragile, but the deserved popularity of Warden of Healing shows that having one hp isn't much of a bar for truly useful allies.

Hennamarth is so good in solo he feels like cheating. I was playing him yesterday in a Silvan deck that had Wingfoot in it -- advance knowledge *and* action advantage! Because he's so good in solo he gets left out of multiplayer, though an ally who has a useful ability *and* provides 1 wp and 1 attack for only one cost would really be an asset in *any* lore deck. Even without any ability he gives you the best return on investment in Lore until Quickbeam comes along.

Erebor is great value for two. Since you spoil some cards that work with him later, I'm surprised you don't mention the synergy he has with two core set cards -- Eowyn and Protector of Lorien. Toss an attachment from your hand, pick it up the next turn with the Hammersmith. One thing to keep in mind is that it's not an enter play response, it's a play-from-hand response. Since you describe it as "After you get him into a play", you might want to tighten up the wording. In the core that only affects Stand and Fight and Sneak Attack, but dwarf decks especially will find other ways to get into play.

For Miner of the Iron Hills, I don't give much of a thumb-up to a point of defense. Now a point of willpower or a point of attack can always come in handy at need, but unless I'm siege questing all 1 defense does is make him *possibly* survive some very weak enemies. The value of defense is not linear. You might use Miner as a generic ally starting out because you need bodies, but very quickly he becomes a sideboard card outside a dwarf deck -- indispensible in quests with nasty conditions (this is pretty much all encounter conditions), and worthless outside them. Heck, I'll throw Miner in non-Lore decks if I have some other way of getting him into play, and I essentially *never* play a Miner in my hand without a condition to remove. Miner's better than A Test of Will for conditions IMO, because you have to have ATOW in hand to prevent the condition, while you can benefit from a Miner after the fact.

Gleowine is a fantastic card, and outside Ringmaker cycle is a worthy addition to any Lore deck. I leave him out for more interesting or thematic cards, but not better cards.

Lore of Imladris gets fired by Warden of Healing. Still, it's indispensible for Journey to Rhosgobel, its brief moment of glory. It's so good for that quest that its effect is limited to 5 damage.

I see Radagast's Cunning and Secret Paths as the same sort of card -- burst questing, like Escort from Edoras will be in Spirit. As burst questing, *both* provide the same defense against location lock -- making sure you make more progress so you can travel to a new location. Neither solves the multi-player issue of too many locations coming out to handle by traveling.

The premise of Secret Path's superiority is that high threat locations are more likely to stay in staging than locations, since you can always get enemies out of staging by encountering them. But let's look at the 3+ threat enemies in the core set:

Ungoliant's Spawn (3 threat) -- with 5 attack and 2/9 defense, you may not want him engaged with you right away.

Marsh Adder (3 threat) -- with 4 attack, 1/7 defense, and raising your threat by 1 on each attack, you may not want him engaged right away either.

East Bight Patrol (3 threat) -- with 5 engagement cost, engages right away anyways.

Nazgul (5 threat) -- 4 attack, 3/9 defense, and if a shadow resolves you discard a character. Until you're ready for him, you may need to quest around him.

In general in the game, high threat enemies tend to be tough beasties that are no picnic to engage, or annoyances that are difficult to engage. Enemies like East Bight Patrol are the exception rather than the rule, and there's only one copy of him.

For completeness, here are the 3+ threat locations

Brown Lands (5 threat) -- self-clears when you travel to it. You will travel if you possibly can.

Necromancer's Pass (3 threat) -- nasty travel effect, but unless you have Northern Tracker you'll probably take it.

Gladden Fields (3 threat) -- nasty when-active effect, but unless you have Northern Tracker you'll almost certainly travel to it.

Now it is true that if you have an active location, the burst questing can help you clear it -- especially with Brown Lands, so in scenarios with Brown Lands Secret Paths is likely the better of the two. But it's also short-lived in that role, since in the *very first AP* Strider's Path comes along, and is a much better solution to all three of these locations than Secret Paths would be. Radagast's Cunning is still approximately as useful now as it ever was, but of the three cards I think Strider's Path is by far the best, at least for normal questing. (In nightmare packs there are cards that can make both Radagast's Cunning and Secret Path valuable.)

I appreciate you pointing out the value of re-ordering for Gandalf's Search, but it's so much cheaper just to draw the cards than reorder them that even Lorien's Wealth looks good by comparison. I think the sole use for Lorien's Wealth is the rare case of a resource-rich and card-poor Lore deck -- this obviously works against type, but can happen in Leadership/Lore decks. Indeed, in my Theodred/LeAragorn/LoDenethor deck I often end up in this case because Denethor gets the Steward of Gondor (thematically appropriate!) -- I ended up adding Rod of the Steward to my deck once I got to Dreamchaser cycle, so I probably could've benefited from a Lorien's Wealth or two in the deck.

Forest Snare is fantastic for Journey Down the Anduin, but that's the high point for that very expensive attachment (due to boss enemies usually being immune) until Damrod makes it more affordable and Dunedain decks make it priceless. I dropped it out of my leadership/lore deck when Ranger Spikes came along in the third cycle. I think it's actually much less useful in Conflict at the Carrock for several reasons:

1) You don't finish stage one until you're ready to take down trolls quickly

2) Those obnoxious troll abilities stick around along with the forest-snared trolls.

I will second what @dalestephenson writes with a few additions:

Daughter of Nimrodel lets you heal any hero on the board whereas Self Preservation only heals the hero it is attached to. And then I most likely look at the encounter set whether it has more ally or attachment hate in it and react accordingly.

Protector of Lórien is the only card in the core set which allows you to increase defense on a hero. Normally there is no need to increase damage or willpower on a single hero through attachments (with the exception of Dúnhere, Unexpected Courage or Swift Strike) as you can just add in a couple of allies to do the same for you. But since defense cannot be stacked, as long as you do not use Stand Together, every single point of hit can help you avoid taking damage and therefore a hero's death. The only thing you need is enough cards, but luckily Lore has enough answers to that question.

@dalestephenson Gladyou are a very dutiful reader of my articles, thank you for that! Also every other's comments make me happy, don't worry!

To your observations: Well, I agree with your definition of "chump blocker" - the character, who is sent to the defense as the "scapegoat". But, some characters are chump blockers from their nature ( Snowbourn Scout , Guard of the Citadel ), while others could become the chump blocker if you face them against a stronger enemy (mentioned Winged Guardian or Defender of Rammas ). I'm tending to classify all 2-cost and less allies as the chump blockers, though their strength in defense can vary.
It's interesting that you find out I'm more enthusiastic about Glorfindel than Beravor , though Glorfindel gets from me 3 stars and Beravor 4 stars.:) I admire Glorfindel's 3 Willpower and 3 Attack, Beravor gets very useful action and nice multifunctional stats. If you ask me, which hero I would prefer, I will answer you that Beravor is the champion here for me.;) Spirit Glorfindel is the fantastic hero, which even "threaten" the strong position of Éowyn (thanks to Light of Valinor and Asfaloth as you have pointed right). And with regard to Beravor vs. Bilbo, I was meaning that Beravor is not the only hero with this kind of effect and if you hunger for more cards in your hands, Bilbo is alternative. Of course, their stats are diametrically different, however, with Bilbo you don't need to solve the dilemma about using his action vs. using him in action.

I found out that in monosphere Lore decks (in the Core set) you hunger very urgently for the Willpower and you try to increase your Willpower strength as much as possible. Because of that, sending of Daughter of the Nimrodel isn't so exceptional as it can look at first sight. When your heroes are fully healed, then her only action, where she could be helpful, is just questing - 1-0-0-1 says it clearly. Then the revealing of The Necromancer's Reach is for her deadly matter.

Thank you for mentioning of Erebor's ability - I have adjusted it in the article in order to avoid misunderstanding.:)

Miners of the Iron Hills is a great sideboard card, which is waiting for its opportunity in Condition -scenarios. It's also a Dwarf, so another cheap "foot soldier" in synergy with Dáin Ironfoot .

After reading your observations at cards Secret Paths vs. Radagast's Cunning I must point out I have a different point of view. Let's keep your examples and look at it closer:

Ungoliant's Spawn - disaster, when it appears during the staging. When you are struggling with the overall threat strength in the staging area, the appearance of this enemy means in general hard smash to your face. We may assume, that you will probably increase your threat, therefore it is very presumable you will encounter him, doesn't matter if you want or not. 32 engagement cost isn't very high and you easily hit this value. And so, Ungoliant's Spawn often engages you, at the same time 3 threat from the staging area is gone.
Marsh Adder - this enemy has 40 engagement cost and menacing ability. Despite, his 1 Defense looks like very attractively and 7 Hit Points doesn't mean great hard-work. During 2-3 turns he should be done. Another 3 threat gone from the staging area.
Nazgúl of Dol Guldur - don't like him if he stands right before me if I'm not prepared for him. I also try to keep him in the staging area until the moment, when I feel comfortable to engage him. But that 5 threat is too high for just ignoring. Here Radagast's Cunning makes a sense.

On the other hand:
Brown Lands - oh that f***** location beats me many times when I have needed it at least. This location is in the Core set the reason, why you get in location lock, if another active location is present (or if The East Bight isn't in the staging area). One Snowbourn Scout or Northern Tracker on a trip makes Brown Lands explored. Without them, you have to get rid of this location as soon as possible. Very true in multiplayer game. Secret Paths is necessary in 50% just because of revealing this location.
Necromancer's Pass - I'm not a fan of traveling to this location. If you have some good and "precioussssss" card in hand, then according to Murphy's law there is high probability you will discard that card. Experienced it many times and I travel there only if I have no other choice.
Gladden Fields - location lock with this location as an active is slow torturing, which leads to certain defeat. I must have a certainty of exploring this location in next round, or I must have Legolas attached by Blade of Gondolin with me, who will help in my effort. Same as for Necromancer's Pass, I hesitate to travel there.

Each of these locations is a great target for Secret Paths. Thus Secret Paths is for me more valuable then Radagast's Cunning. Strider's Paths is the excellent "bypass" of nasty traveling effects, that's right.

With other observations, I agree.;) Though Forest Snare is a good helper in the Conflict at the Carrock against that bastard Louis .:D

Silblade,

I appreciate you pointing out that you rate Beravor higher than Glorfindel. I still think you're more enthusiastic about Glorfindel (and less enthusiastic about Beravor) than the community at large, which uses Beravor *much* more than Glorfindel. Four star vs Three star isn't a large difference.

It's true that lore mono-sphere with core cards only (i.e. lore starter deck) can be desperate for willpower. But none of the mono-sphere decks are very good for the first few cycles; you lack cards. And with the three core lore heroes, you have Lore Denethor and Hennamarth Riversong, so can often know exactly what is being revealed -- you can pick your spots for sending Daughter questing safely. Further, if you don't know *and* the quest has a card like Necromancer's Reach, not only are you risking your healer, you're using your healer's action *when you might need healing*. I'm not saying that's always a bad risk to take -- the ability to contribute willpower actually *is* an advantage of Daughter over Self-Preservation. But it should be a gamble consciously made, not something that would be automatically done.

On Radagast's Cunning, it's true that Ungoliant Spawn and its 3 threat can be nasty and force engagement -- a bad thing. But if you have Radagast's Cunning, you can negate that threat. It's the point of the card -- it allows burst questing *after* the reveal, and in a quest with high threat enemies could be the difference between making progress and raising threat, possibly forcing you to engage US before you're ready.

But it's true that 3 threat isn't usually that sort of deal killer -- unless you're running a lore deck with low initial questing, in which case you may want all the burst questing cards you can get! The Nazgul is a different class.

But this points to scenario design. In Escape from Dol Goldur you *know* you'll have a use for Radagast's Cunning, because that 5-threat enemy is going to be added as soon as you place progress on stage two, and at one ally per round you aren't going to be in a hurry to engage him. In Journey Down the Anduin the use is in stage two, when you don't automatically engage enemies and are doing an extra reveal -- some burst questing to get through stage two quickly would be welcome, and enemies in staging would be entirely predictable. In the intro quest, it's probably not so important.

Meanwhile, Brown Lands is an excellent case for having Secret Paths in your deck, at least until the much superior Strider's Path is in your deck. But it only comes out in Journey Down the Anduin. It's not so useful in the other two core quests because the 3-threat locations are less punishing, and if you aren't going to travel to it (I don't think Gladden Field's when-active effect is very punishing at all) the card is only a short term reprieve.

Each quest has its own mix of high-threat cards, cards that will definitely be in staging, and usefulness for burst questing events. Looking ahead to the cycle, Radagast's Cunning is probably most useful in the first quest, since the non-unique Hunters from Mordor get +2 threat for every clue in play. Secret Paths is most useful on Emyn Muil where locations are so ridiculously common and failing to clear the active location can lose you the quest. But if you're playing a quest blind, I see the two as essentially equivalent cards -- and both likely to be squeezed out by more compelling cards as the card pool expands.

2 hours ago, Silblade said:

With other observations, I agree.;) Though Forest Snare is a good helper in the Conflict at the Carrock against that bastard Louis .:D

Louis is about the last troll from Conflict at the Carrock I would catch in a Forest Snare. That way you ensure to threat out at with an extra three threat per troll attack. Morris and Stuart can be sacked, as long as you are ready to deal with beefed up trolls while for Rupert there is no drawback at all. Though I prefer keeping my threat low and killing them one at a time in a single round each.

1 hour ago, dalestephenson said:

But this points to scenario design. In Escape from Dol Goldur you *know* you'll have a use for Radagast's Cunning, because that 5-threat enemy is going to be added as soon as you place progress on stage two, and at one ally per round you aren't going to be in a hurry to engage him.

While I agree with the rest you are writing, there is a mistake here. Quest card 2B has a response, not a forced effect, so you can take some time before rescuing the prisoner and adding the Nazgûl. And as the Nazgûl only enters staging after placing progress you can engage it in the following encounter phase and kill it right away. There is no need at all for Radagast's Cunning.

You're right -- I guess I'm in such a hurry to get my hero back that I never considered stalling on stage 2 until I'm ready to take down the Nazgul in one turn. If you can get to stage three, you can play all those allies in your hands.