I think Gandalf may be the final Hero in the Against the Shadow cycle, depicted as Gandalf the White. Here's why:

1) The lengthy explanation of the rules concerning the use of heroes and allies with the same title in the Heirs of Numenor insert. Admittedly, this could apply to any hero/ally with the same name -there were many in the second hobbit set- but who comes in and out of play more often then Gandalf?

2) The set has a distinct Return of the King flavour to it. It features Pippin, we know, and frequently the news articles refer to Gondor's greatest heroes. With regard to the War of the Ring who is a greater hero of Gondor then Gandalf the White?

3) Ending the cycle with appropriate scale. The last hero in a cycle is generally the biggest. Which character could possibly be more climatic then Gandalf?

4) The Elven Rings. The final hero in the dwarrowdelf cycle was Elrond, of course, with the powerful Elven Ring Vilya. Maybe FFG are planning a kind of Elven Ring trilogy. Gandalf and Narya in Against the Shadow and Galadriel and Nenya at the end of the next cycle?

Probably all nonsense of course, but just thought I'd open the discussion. What do people think?

Hmmm interesting thought. Having a Gandalf Hero would also stop people including him as an ally in every deck that they build (even though the old Sneak Attack-Gandalf -combo is still one of my favourite plays).

It would be interesting for sure, but I think Denethor is much more likely.

I believe we will never see Gandalf as a hero.

First, because of his own nature in the tolkien stories, he is always showing and then disapearing….

And that is a impossible to do with an hero (unless some "game- breaking" rule change);

Second, while i would like to see the ring Narya, I belive that there we are going to see this ring with Cirdan (his rightfull owner);

As to the final hero on Against the Shadow cycle, I believe we either will see another Denethor or Faramir…

CJMatos said:

I agree, Narya with Cirdan, please.

As to final hero, I don't think Denethor or Faramir, I expect Denethor earlier in the cycle (AP1, 2, or 3, I mean obviously not the one with Pippin, I forget which that is though), and Faramir in AP4. I agree the hero in AP6 will be huge, I just don't know who/how yet (White Gandalf would be ok with me, I suppose). They won't announce AP6 until we start seeing the cycles release, I think.

John85 said:

Or Denethor is an ally? Or heaven forbid, our other Gondor hero, Eleanor? haha. We certainly saw a lot of former Dwarf heroes as allies in Hobbit 2…

Ha, I think Eleanor as an ally would be very fun actually, but in my opinion, having a Gandalf the White hero at the end of ATS would be in fact very anticlimatic. Since it is confirmed that we will have saga expansions to tell the stories of the actual novels and the things that happen in them, it would be indeed strange to see Gandalf the White before a TTT or ROTK saga expansion. It would make no sense lore-wise, and it would kill the surprise in my opinion. It would be like having a Éomer as king of Rohan hero in this cycle… makes no sense.

Gizlivadi said:

Where was this confirmed? Are you extrapolating your hopes from The Hobbit boxes?

All good points. I guess what gizlivadi said is true. I'm not sure of the exact time this cycle is set in, but it's obviously prior to the War of the Ring, meaning Gandalf is still very much grey. Having said that I do think we will see a Gandalf hero sooner or later, like bollywongaloid said, it would really shake up everyone's strategies. And when/if the fellowship saga expansion comes presumably we will receive shiny new versions of a lot of the fellowship members anyway. Which leaves the question of who it might be? Denethor I think is a safe choice, but maybe too obvious? I guess we will see.

On an unrelated note, I'd really like to see Aragorn get some attention this cycle. Don't get me wrong his existing two versions are great, but combat wise I'd really like to see him brought up to the standard of recent super heroes (Glorfindel, Bard.) Maybe not a new version, as we already have two, but maybe an attachment that would have specific benefit if played on him. Anduril? Is it time yet for the flame of the west to go to war?

Bullroarer Took said:

"While standard expansions for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game imagine new and untold adventures in Middle-earth, this Saga Expansion gives us the chance to follow the thrilling narrative set forth by J.R.R. Tolkien."

I think it is safe to assume we will most likely see Gandalf the White in a Saga Expansion. While certain elements of the novels are depicted in the regular packs, they are not necessarily exactly the ones from the novels, and some of the images (such as Hail of Stones, which shows Isengard orcs) are in more generic cards so it doesn't really break the rule.

EDIT: God they really need to change the whole message board system for this page.

Well if the last hero isn't Gandalf, then that leaves us to wonder who it is again. Denethor does seem a safe choice, but I really hope it's not him, unless he's insanely powerful. Which doesn't seem likely, as then the other Denethor would be buried and we'd see spirit Glorfindel all over again. But then again, if it's Faramir, that means we would have to wait all the way until the sixth pack!

Kcall07 said:

Please, no. He already got more cards than anyone else. Barring two versions of him, he has the Celebrian's Stone, Sword that was Broken and even Rivendell Bow (though here are more characters who benefit from this item as well).

I'd rather have heavier use of the Gondor trait, because this cycle revolves around Gondor. But more emphasis on using traits would be nice. There are some cards using a few traits (Rohan, Gondor, Sylvan, etc.), but most of them are worthless. Noble? Warrior? Steward (used on just one card, no less)? Bah.

klaymen_sk said:

I understand how you feel. Maybe I'm biased because of my love for the character, but I find it a bit frustrating to have a Gondor cycle, and have so many synergies for the Gondor trait that Aragorn can't be a part of. Especially now the new Steed of the Mark card can give any Gondor or Rohan Hero Core Aragorn's ability. In some way or form I'd love to see Thorongil represented, with a combat ability matching the best of the other heroes.

Kcall07 said:

Oh but there is a way.

For 1 cost Spirit resource, you can give Rohan trait to any hero you wish including Aragorn.
'Nor am I stranger' was direct quote from book spoken by Aragorn.

I just love it when FFG revives some of the old cards that didn't get much attention, and I'm very hopefully that would be the case with Nor am I Stranger and all these Rohan/Gondor trait requisits.