Greetings!

On the last day of June we hit the next adventure pack of Shadow of Mirkwood cycle - The Hills of Emyn Muil.

https://visionofthepalantir.com/2019/06/28/player-card-review-the-hills-of-emyn-muil/

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 hope you enjoy your time with the reviews and you'll find something interesting that you would like to comment. Please, don't hesitate and write your own observations and experiences with cards from The Hills of Emyn Muil. I'll welcome any comments.

Silblade

I think your verdict on Brand is too harsh. First of all, when you are last player, you still can participate in an attack declared by another player. Secondly you can and most likely will ready a character, that is good at attacking, e.g. Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, Beorn, etc. Have another player declare an attack with say Beorn on one of his engaged enemies, join in with Brand, kill the enemy and then ready Beorn, so he can attack another enemy engaged with him. You do not need "similarly versatile characters as Brand son of Bain", just someone with 2+ attack, so even a Veteran Axehand would qualify. So in the end, Brand gives you a rare readying ability in the tactics sphere, that only works in multiplayer and the combat phase.

The Keen-eyed Took is essentially one willpower for 2 cost like Dúnedain Quest or Favor of the Lady. Compared to these alternatives he also lets all players scry their decks and can serve as a chump blocker. Though I probably would never use his action as it just is too expensive for repeated use. And the next problem is, that one player might like to discard the top card, and another one does not.

Of course Rear Guard gives more willpower in a multiplayer game, but that is also the situation, where more cards get revealed in the quest phase and the result of questing is more swingy. If you find, that you revealed too much threat during staging, sacrifice a Snowbourn Scout, even if for only 1 or 2 willpower, just to prevent questing unsuccessfully, and continue normally, instead of raising your threat.

Meneldor's Flight might be useful on Gwaihir, depending on what is in your discard pile, but this combo will have to wait for another three cycles. For quite a while, this card is just totally useless. Wait, you could use it to help make a campfire. And I would rather include Descendant of Thorondor in a deck with access to Sneak Attack then Meneldor's Flight. But still, Gandalf would be a better choice in most cases, unless you wanted to deal 2 damage to 2 different enemies.

I see no reason for now to use Gildor and a Keen-eyed Took to discard a card from your hand. Éowyn or Protector of Lórien give you more benefit for doing so. Sure, you could use Stand and Fight to play a tactics ally in a tri-sphere deck, but even in that case I would include Song of Battle.

By the way, your text about Song of Travel mentions Lore instead of Spirit.

I share your opinion on best and worst card in this pack, so nothing to add in the end.

That's a serious note that could change my view at Brand son of Bain a bit. I didn't realize that Brand son of Bain can participate to the attack, so it really doesn't matter, in which order the controller of Brand is going to attack. In addition, the allies needn't to be as versatile as I have described, because Brand can ready good attacker twice in a round. Very good point, I'll adjust it to the article (because I consider this note for the important observation), possibly even the Final rating will change.

Also thank you for the mentioning of Song of Travel - as I have copied it from the previous Song, I have overlooked that Lore = Spirit.

Thank you for your very useful comment!

I had a similar feeling to Amicus Draconis about Brand.

To add another string to his bow, you mention multiple times how you wish you could use Gildor's stats and his ability in the same turn. This is exactly what Brand is capable of.

I think there was a lot of bad feeling about Brand because he is rubbish in solo, but as far as I am aware, he is generally considered decent in multiplayer.

It's there, updated.:) Brand sonf Bain gets almost the new review, thanks to all of you. This was the crucial part, because my original evaluation was based on simply wrong preconditions and forgotten facts (like participating attacks at Ranged characters ).

And Brand will also make a good buddy for Merry.

Sorry for not commenting on this earlier, but here's my take:

Brand -- while I don't fault the (revised) rating for Brand, since he does have an ability only useful in multiplayer, I think more mention should be made of how he can be used. While readying a quester/defender who's a good attacker is an obvious use case, it relies on having another enemy to kill to be useful. I like Brand with characters that have abilities requiring exhaustion -- for example, I had him in a Dori fellowship where he complemented a Three Rings deck -- that way he could ready Elrond to use Vilya after Elrond quested or defended, or ready Gandalf to use Word of Command, or ready Galadriel to use her ability after she used Nenya in the quest phase. Early in the game those heroes aren't available, but there are a few that are always going to be a good target for readying -- Denethor after defending, Beravor after questing/defending/attacking, Gleowine for an extra card draw, Gildor for his ability.

Keen Eyed Took -- not a favorite of mine, and there's unfortunately too few cards who like to be discarded. With that said, 2-for-1 wp is about as good as it gets earlier in the game, he's got an extra hit point to survive treacheries with, and discarding a less important card on the top of your deck, knowing what it is, makes your deck effectively smaller. For instance, if Keen Eyed Took was atop your deck, you'd definitely want to discard it.

Rear Guard -- as others have noted, the ability to provide willpower after staging can be worth discarding a leadership ally. But the issue with that is that you have to keep an otherwise useless card in your hand until that happens, if it ever does -- cards that are sometimes useful in your hand I don't think are usually worth having in your deck; it has to be a critical effect (e.g. A Test of Will, or Hasty Stroke if you defend with heroes) to be worth it. This isn't.

Descendant of Thorondor -- way too expensive to flit in and out of play despite the lovely damage. While it's a good deal with Sneak Attack, the issue is that it's not good enough to justify playing when you don't have Sneak Attack, unlike the awesome Gandalf combo. This card has to wait all the way to the most recent pack, when Radagast's Staff can reduce the cost to 2 -- at 2 cost, getting Descendant in and out of play is a lot more attractive.

Meneldor's Flight -- for a *long* time this was worthless for the reasons you gave. But thanks to a revision of the rules fairly recently (see the rules forum) this is now useful even in progression play -- there is now an action window between the assignment of damage and the end of attack/defense resolution, meaning you can use a Vassal/Guardian and get them back. That makes Meneldor's flight now worthy of what it never was before, worthy of consideration in an Eagles deck. (Once you get the latest cycle it's worthwhile for discounted Descendant and especially Meneldor.)

Riddermark's Finest -- I agree that requiring exhaustion and discarding is not as good as straight discarding, and that's unfortunate. OTOH, since this ally can contribute a little to attacking as well as questing, it's possible that they could be ready at the time locations are revealed, the best place for immediate progress. Clearing a location with 2 isn't that common in the first cycle, but becomes downright rare after that, so a lone Riddermark usually needs help to clear anything when it's most useful. I'd agree that Riddermark's ability is stronger and more useful than Strength of Will, but if for some reason you like SoW enough to keep it in your deck, it still has two advantages over Riddermark -- it doesn't require you to discard a character, and it is free to play.

Ride to Ruin -- while I don't usually bother with this card even as a sideboard in a Rohan deck, providing 3 progress instead of 2 is an upgrade on Riddermark's finest -- and it doesn't require exhaustion.

Gildor Ingolorian -- ever Vigilant is a one-time solution, but Brand (in another deck) is *not* a one time solution. If you reserve Gildor for defense, which he can do safely with A Burning Brand, then you can set up Gildor defends, Brand attacks, Gildor uses his ability fairly consistently. And if there's no enemy to defend against, Gildor is ready and can still use his ability.

Gildor's Counsel -- I agree the sweet spot is with 2 players. 3 cost is a hefty event, but 1 vs 2 reveals is very substantial. Even without synergy between encounter reveals, dropping a reveal helps you get ahead of a quest. Still, it's going to have its largest impact early, when there are so many other calls on the resources .

Song of Travel -- aside from resource smoothing, the one thing these four songs are essential for is for events/attachment that require heroes of a specific sphere. In the first cycle there's really none of those that would make Song of Travel significantly more attractive.

Good to hear you again, dalestephenson.:)

To some of your observations:

Brand - you are right, that Brand's ability works properly with all Action-abilities of each character. + Attackers may attack twice, good questers/attackers or defenders/attackers may make quest/defend and attack… the usage is wide and thanks to participating attack , it isn't so complicated to make this work in practice.
Descendant of Thorondor - nice to have him on your side, when you can afford 4 resources. Radagast will help you with it, though he alone costs 5. Because of that, the best environment for Eagle deck I consider monosphere Tactic deck. BUT in 2 players / 2 hand-solo game. The support deck must take care about questing at least. I'd recommend Tactic monosphere deck + Leadership/Spirit dualsphere deck.
Meneldor's Flight - this is really interesting for me, because the updated observation changes a bit role of some cards. For example, Meneldor's Flight, as you rightly mention, in cooperation with Winged Guardian or Vassal of the Windlord . However, I think that the old rule was more intuitive. For new players, it may looks like a chaos (realizing that at the end of each combat there exists Action window, where you can do "everything"). I think it opens more questions and new players could have a problem to simply understand that. To be honest, I was rather for the original rule, though it makes from such cards like Meneldor's Flight useless mistakes.
The Riddermark's Finest - for me, the ability of this ally is more intuitive, direct and practical than the effect of Strength of Will . The same result is reached by different ways. If I can afford the losing of one ally and assure the "healthy number" of other allies (meaning a good backup) on my side, then I absolutely prefer The Riddermark's Finest.

I agree the old rule was simpler and more intuitive; but the new rulle is more *useful* and the fact that it allows a former coaster to be a marginally useful card in an Eagles deck is a huge plus to me -- I love to see old cards rehabilitated. But more important, this isn't so much a case of a *ruling* change as it as a *rules* change, the rules were actually rewritten as part of a format change and a formal end-of-attack/defense was added. New players are going to come to the game and read the rules as they are, not as they were, and that means they need to see how the current official rules actually work. Meneldor's Flight is a great help here -- while practically every other combat event you'd want to use before the damage is done, this one you want to use in the action window afterwards; and while the new step may not be intuitive, using Meneldor's Flight to rescue your Vassal or Guardian before they go away really is straightforward and understandable. As your guide is directed at new players, I think you should really highlight this use case, precisely because it's not obvious and so easy to miss.

Riddermark's Finest's action may well be more intuitive, direct and practical than Strength of Will, but the latter is both cheaper and doesn't cause an ally to go away. The use case depends on *why* you are placing progress. Strength of Will attacks only active locations after travel, narrowing its affect to obnoxious active locations. Riddermark's Finest can attack those, but also cards in staging, both to avoid obnoxious travel effects but especially to nuke a newly revealed location after staging, before the quest resolves.

Unfortunately, because of the exhaustion requirement, if you want Riddermark ready to attack a new location you can't use its 1 wp towards the quest, which really reduces one of Riddermark's big advantages; the ability to help out before its ability is needed. While Strength of Will also needs an unexhuasted character, it can be somebody you'd never quest with anyways (e.g. Dunhere).

The weakness of both is that 2 progress isn't enough to cover a whole lot of locations. Sure, in the core set and mirkwood there are 16 cards that can be cleared, 6 of which have obnoxious when-active requirements. But that's a minority of locations and the very next cycle drops to six, one of which can't be cleared this way. As the game goes on, there just aren't enough locations that are worth sacrificing a Riddermark's Finest for.

Yes, it's not truly something new. The Quick Reference was always with us (see LOTR LCG Quick Reference version 10), but realizing of Action window between 6.4.3 and 6.4.4 changes the old experienced stereotype. It opens the new possibilities, new tactics and strategies arise and some cards can be redeemed.
It actually throws the new light on some cards - which have already own reviews. I think it's not in my strength to update every influenced card after every new update, because some of changes can completely change the sense of whole card, thus rightly I would have to write whole new review with new final rating, it could touch even overall evalutaion of cards...

Either I write just short EDIT with the new update (but not like in the case of Brand , where I had to rewrite almost whole review, because of essential misunderstanding of the ability), or at the end of each cycle, where I want to describe and evaluate whole cycle. There I could write new updates, which could be at one place for every player card from the cycle. I will think about the best option...;)

The Riddermark's Finest's ability should be used in the combo with another placing-progress-tokens card at best. For example, Northern Tracker . His support can make faster the exploring of locations with more than 2 Quest Points. In Shadows of Mirkwood this Spirit ally alone is enough for the majority of location. In the later packs, he needs support, I agree.

I'd edit Meneldor's Flight, just because it's so vital to that particular card, used in an Eagles deck. I can't think of any other card of the top of my head so critical to the new action window, with the possible exception of its attachment cousin Born Aloft. More fundamentally, in the article itself you *specifically* talk about using it to save Vassal or Guardian, and tell the reader they unfortunately can do that. This is incorrect; they absolutely (now) can, and it's really the only earthly use for that terrible card. If you hadn't mentioned the interaction in your article letting the issue slide to a later article would be OK, but as you inadvertantly gave false information I think it would be good to correct it.

RidderMark's Finest can be used to supplement Northern Tracker in a subsequent turn, but ordinarily not to clear a newly revealed location. For that trick, barring combos like Sneak Attack with Snowbourn Scout, there's a relatively small list of helpers: Ride to Ruin, Ravenhill Scout, Asfaloth, Warden of Anor (if first location), Evening Star, Mirkwood Explorer, and Backtrack. Warden of Anor is nice for getting free progress as revealed, but Asfaloth on Glorfindel is the bomb for this sort of thing. (Though I'm partial to Mirkwood Explorer, I usually let him build up until he can take out locations by himself).

That's a fair point, dalestephenson. It would be like if I admire Horn of Gondor and describe the whole strategy based on character (voluntarily) leaving - while there exists errata, which allows us to generate resources only if character is destroyed.
Meneldor's Flight then have a very, very specific usage, but at least not so tragedic as original. I can imagine now to include couple of this event to my deck, bypassing the Forced effect of Vassal of the Windlord or Winged Guardian as well as controlling the damage dealing by Descendant of Thorondor. These are 3 useful utilizing against original 1.

I think that this new action window can influence other cards, combos or synergies, but now I can't think up some of them. I will remember it during the writing of next reviews.

Combo Asfaloth - The Riddermark's Finest seems very good to me. Ravenhill Scout is an ally, for which I didn't find some use. Of course, he can theoretically help you with location cleansing. But in practice, his ability often didn't correspond with the situation on the board. Maybe with Northern Tracker he can be a part of interesting combo...

Ravenhill Scout is a terrible ally because he costs so much, and you need some reliable source of progress tokens on an unexplored location to move them. I can imagine a combo between multiple Northern Trackers and Ravenhill Scouts that could be used to nuke newly revealed locations, but it would be far too expensive to be practical. The one case where I can see Ravenhill Scout being useful is when you're trying to keep the *active* location in play, you could use him to de-progress it while helping clear new locations in staging. A few quests might fit that description (Helm's Deep) or maybe a combo with Path of Need.