Is it me, or does the new version of Gandalf seem perfectly suited to pair up with the Istari search card… sorry, at work, and the name escapes me… Words of Wisdom or something like that? The drawback to using it on the "old" Gandalf was that you pay 5 resources to put out the single most potent ally in the game, only to use him for card search (I've never used the card for that reason… perhaps someone can enlighten me on how you can use it and him more efficiently?)… With the new Gandalf not needing to exhaust to Quest, it seems like a perfect situation to drop him out, quest him for 4, then play the search card on him to get an additional action out of him…

Thoughts?

(and apologies if this has already been mentioned elsewhere, I've been off the net for a couple weeks now. Skimmed the board, but didn't see any references to this… let me know if I should find it in another thread).

yes i like the gandalf- and i was hoping (and expecting) that word of command would become more useful as time went on. i like how the old gandalf still remains very powerful, while the new one is also powerful- but for different reasons

richsabre said:

"Word of Command".. there it is, thanks Rich. I hate making posts when I can't remember names or cards and such… but at work, and didn't have any reference material on hand…. darn this need to make money.

I am glad that it becomes more useful. My reluctancy to use it was never based around it not being a good card (it is a great search card), just that it tied up the best ally card to use it…. Decisions, decisions…

This just raised another question in my mind, but I was able to pull up a digital rulebook for the answer… I was thinking about running both copies of Gandalf in a deck (that with 3 copies of Sneak Attacks- and some recycling- would be crazy good)… but I realized that one would still be limited to a total of 3 Gandalfs of either version combined. That sneaky "title" deck-building clause… . I imagine they were very careful to name the new version the exact same as the first. Otherwise nefarious characters like myself would be running 6 copies of Gandalf in their deck. Drats- foiled again!

Yeah, new Gandalf works pretty great with Word of Command. I also like running Radagasts for it. I sometimes like running Radagasts anyway for another sturdy quester or in creature decks. Word of Command gives Radagast another good use.

Mattr0polis said:

Agreed… I saw another thread that really was negative on using Radagast. I'll admit I don't use him outside of an eagle deck right now, and yes he costs 5 resources and doesn't have as much of an immediate impact as Gandalf would. However, every argument against his positive attrributes seemed to single out those issues (costs too much, limited ability, resources take to long to start gathering- due to expensive cost to play him, etc). I think what they are failing to do is to view him in the larger picture. An ally who has okay defense abilities in a pinch (1 defense, 3 HP), decent willpower for questing, can drastically help your eagle/creature deck, and is the ONLY ally to gather you additional resources just by having him on the table (as opposed to Zigil's need to exhaust, etc). Yeah, he's expensive, but the entire picture makes a good case for him… in the right deck (eg. he won't see much action in my dwarven deck). And the Word of Command just makes him more useable, as he stays on the table once played, whereas Gandalf does not. So you're trading consistancy for instant impact. It comes down to a argument of playing styles really…

benhanses said:

If Gandalf stays a whole round you can exhaust him in the refresh phase just before he leaves play. But still very dependent on the situation…..

the problem with word of command is that as of yet tehre isn't a mass of card worth searchign for. I mean they have placed a few in now with that horse and the new attachment and stuff.. but still. If someone was running rada on the table then there is no reason not to put it in the lore deck.. but .. like woc is a great card .. but it needs a target ,, and they are few and far between still.

muemakan said:

Correct. So this Gandalf can quest (without exhausting), then attack or defend, ready in refresh phase, then exhaust to use Word of Command, and leave play at the end of the refresh phase (without paying the 2 threat cost). It may be useful if you need a card, though it requires a combo and the cost in resource is quite high (it is balance for searching for a card, IMHO).

Angus Lee said:

Ahhhh, thanks for the reminder. I was overlooking the refresh action and thinking in terms of using him with Sneak Attack (I rarely seem to pay for him outright)… That almost makes the "new" Gandalf even more potent (it does, actually), and gives him the potential for 3 actions per turn (quest, defend/attack, then search). Loses the initial splash of the original, but has some serious turn-altering implications.

I agree with boored that there just isn't a huge number of "must-have" cards to search for yet, and haven't played with WoC for that reason yet. I expect we will see that change as sets are added and they continue to put out character-specific cards (Vilya, Light, Asfoloth, etc), even as we see Radagast's usefullness increase as other creatures coime out…