Final AtS AP pack Preview: The Morgul Vale!!!

By Pharmboys2013, in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

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I guess im missing why he is that great. I understand that tactics is despirate for will power, but a +1 is not THAT amazing. People keep saying he works really well for mono-sphere decks, but it what format? In a solo game, +1 will to each hero isn't that useful, when you really need your heroes available to do all sorts of tasks. At most, if you have allies available to do your combat, he's granting a +3 will power. I think you're still going to need to bring legolas along to make quest progress, and that means really, thats only a +2 since legolas wont be questing. Thats assuming you don't need one of your heroes to play attacker/defender.

In a multiplayer game, he's slightly more useful, assuming people are splashing tactics into their decks, but even then, how much tactics do you really need before you can say he's worth his 12 cost? If it was all tactics characters, or tactics characters + rohan characters…

as it stands, i can't see that he's the god send people say he is. But i'll reserve my true judgement for when i get to see what other cards combo with him.

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NotAZombie said:

CJMatos said:

I like Theoden but I wish his ability was more directed to Rohan than to the tactics sphere. Maybe because i feel that boosting traits should be done by those who are at the top of their herarchy:

- Dain (could have been THorin) after the Hobbit becomes the King of Dúrin's folk; so his ability (despite been too strong) isn't bad planned;

- Boromir (could have been Aragorn) was the Gondor great hope at the begining of the Lord of the Rings; so the Leadership Boromir ability is in one of the right Tolkien characters;

- to Rohan, who is left to give this kind of boosting?

As to the Steed of the Mark and the other Mount card, Asfaloth:

Whitout any other cards to give the traits or the sphere and the Against the Shadow cycle cards:

- we have only 3 heroes that can play the Steed on themselves (Dunhere, Eowyn and Eleanor);

- we have only 2 heroes that can play Asfaloth on themselves (Elrond and Lore Glorfindel);

Can be played yet on the following, but needs a spirit hero on the team or Song of Travel (for Steed) or Song of Wisdom (for Asfaloth) or Narvi's Belt:

- Steed of the Mark can only be played on 7 other heroes (Beregond, both Boromir, Denethor, Prince Imrahil, Háma and Theodred);

- Asfaloth can only be played on 4 other heroes (Legolas, Elladan, Elrohir and Spirit Glorfindel);

The Steed ability is the same as the Core Aragorn's one.

But given the heroes where he can be played we have some of those heroes:

that are only designed to, on normal quests, do one thing (Eowyn - quest, Háma - attack, Beregond - defend). the last two are usually not worthy of having on quest because they have low (1) or no willpower and are not the prime candidates to give willpower boosts.

can do more than one thing. On these:

- Denethor usually uses his ability before questing, so doesn't have much benefict from the Steed ability;

- Theodred gives an simultaneous effect with the one from the Steed, so basically he would be questing and readying himself for 0 (it is better the UC);

- Tactics Boromir already have that ability with a different cost (threat rise)

- Leadership Boromir needs to have at least one resource to have his ability, so we could have a bit of problem with resources;

- Eleanor usefull but resource needed;

As to Asfaloth:

his ability is unique on heroes and has a boost if it rider is Glorfindel.

I love that they explore the traits… And that it integrates well with the other existing cards. But Steed of the Mark seems way too powerfull, in comparison to Asfaloth…

A bit like Dain in comparison with Leadership Boromir…

You are forgetting about Battle and Siege keywords. That steed will be a staple for questing Beregond on a Siege quest.

I didn't forget Battle and Siege… I was only trying to point the use of the mount cards on the normal quests….

Dain Ironfoot said:

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you but there is a way to attach the new mount to other heroes…

Nor Am I A Stranger (Conflict at the Carrock): "Attach to a character. Attached character gains the Rohan trait."

Steward of Gondor (Core Set: "Attach to a hero. Attached hero gains the Gondor trait. Action: Exaust Steward of Gondor to add 2 resources to attached hero's resource pool."

Maybe you meant short of using either of these two cards, there are only 3 heroes?

When I wrote:

"Whitout any other cards to give the traits or the sphere and the Against the Shadow cycle cards:"

I was trying to analise the use of those two cards without the need to have to use any other cards to give traits or spheres. Or the Against the Shadow cards that we do not know fully yet…

So yes, I meant that short of using these cards (Nor Am I A Stranger and Steward of Gondor, plus Mutual Accord) there are only 3 heroes that can play Steed of the Mark on themselfs.

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gatharion said:

benhanses said:

Yeah, the Nazgul looks nasty. Tough stats, takes at least 5 turns to kill, and engagement threshold is only at 1.

Not technically true.

I think the way Dwarrowdelf Axe is worded, that it would do another damage to the Nazgul, if it was being used in the attack. Toss in a sneak attack Gandalf strike and that's three potential damage right there.

Plus there are cards that can put enemies into the staging area, which then opens him up to several other forms of additional attacks or direct damage.

It wouldn't be all that hard to drop the Nazgul in a single turn. Provided you were prepared for such a thing.

I'd have to look at all those scenarios to see what is actually allowable (I'm sure that there will be some ruling by FFG on them), but you are correct. There are probably multiple ways to reduce the number of orunds to get rid of the Nazgul. I intentionally wasn't figuring for any of those alternatives, just keeping it simple for the sake of the discussion, and for the point that not everyone will necessarily play those schemes. To be more correct, I should have stated that he takes 5 turns to kill using a standard attack without manipulation.

Thanks for mentioning those possibilities… I'm sure they will become pretty handy (an be included in a few more decks) in playing that scenario later this year!

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I think I’m in the minority here, but I have to agree w/ @Captain Poe—don’t see why Theoden is so great. I mean, his artwork is tied w/ Spirit Glorfindel for the BEST EVER and his stats are solid but…he’s too all over the place for me. I guess my problem w/ this guy is I can’t see where I would want to use him over another hero.
His ability, while in theory more flexible than Dain, is WAY less powerful as it only effects HEROES. I mean, I’m not saying it had to be another Dain w/ a straight +1/+1 for all tactics characters (or Rohan, or whatever), but the limit to heroes means that in a 4-player game you will almost never get more than +5 or 6 willpower (and remember—PRINTED tactics icon means that Song of Battle won’t allow you to spread this out over other heroes). And good luck EVER having that many tactics heroes that can afford to commit to the quest unless every player is also running some Spirit w/ UCs attaching all over the table.
As for his stats, they’re great—but he pays for them. A threat of 12 isn’t insurmountable but w/ an ability that lends him to being used in mono-tactics decks your threat will start to skyrocket quickly. A problem as if all the enemies are engaging your high-threat tactics team then they aren’t making good use of their boosted willpower (unless you’re playing Redhorn Gate, I suppose). I’m also not a big fan of “good at everything” heroes as generally anything greater than two good stats is wasted stat points (though this probably says more about my personal play-style).
It’s also worth noting that his ability works AGAINST the two lowest threat tactics heroes you could pair him with—Hama and Legolas. If they are both questing to take advantage of Theoden’s buff then unless you are using readying effects—which could probably be put to better use on Theoden himself due to his high stats—then they won’t be making use of their abilities as enemies will be revealed AFTER they commit. Maybe Brand can help smooth that out, but then you aren’t questing w/ HIM. Heck, I’m not even in love w/ the oft mentioned Boromir synergy as the threat cost to readying Boromir lowers the value of the +1 willpower.
For the record, I CAN see some interesting combos w/ him. He works great w/ Thalin and Gimli if another player has Dain and Spirit on the table. UC (and maybe Celebrian Stone) Gimli and keep Dain upright and he can quest for Eowyn levels, stand up, and then defend (in early game—once he has some damage he can start swinging back), all while Thalin is questing for 3 and picking away at every enemy that comes out. He also could become really powerful in 4-player games where 6-8 of the 12 heroes are tactics heroes, but that’s going to limit your option in a lot of quests.
I don’t know—that amazing art makes me want to love him but…I just don’t see it.
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JonofPDX said:

I think I’m in the minority here, but I have to agree w/ @Captain Poe—don’t see why Theoden is so great. I mean, his artwork is tied w/ Spirit Glorfindel for the BEST EVER and his stats are solid but…he’s too all over the place for me. I guess my problem w/ this guy is I can’t see where I would want to use him over another hero.
His ability, while in theory more flexible than Dain, is WAY less powerful as it only effects HEROES. I mean, I’m not saying it had to be another Dain w/ a straight +1/+1 for all tactics characters (or Rohan, or whatever), but the limit to heroes means that in a 4-player game you will almost never get more than +5 or 6 willpower (and remember—PRINTED tactics icon means that Song of Battle won’t allow you to spread this out over other heroes). And good luck EVER having that many tactics heroes that can afford to commit to the quest unless every player is also running some Spirit w/ UCs attaching all over the table.
As for his stats, they’re great—but he pays for them. A threat of 12 isn’t insurmountable but w/ an ability that lends him to being used in mono-tactics decks your threat will start to skyrocket quickly. A problem as if all the enemies are engaging your high-threat tactics team then they aren’t making good use of their boosted willpower (unless you’re playing Redhorn Gate, I suppose). I’m also not a big fan of “good at everything” heroes as generally anything greater than two good stats is wasted stat points (though this probably says more about my personal play-style).
It’s also worth noting that his ability works AGAINST the two lowest threat tactics heroes you could pair him with—Hama and Legolas. If they are both questing to take advantage of Theoden’s buff then unless you are using readying effects—which could probably be put to better use on Theoden himself due to his high stats—then they won’t be making use of their abilities as enemies will be revealed AFTER they commit. Maybe Brand can help smooth that out, but then you aren’t questing w/ HIM. Heck, I’m not even in love w/ the oft mentioned Boromir synergy as the threat cost to readying Boromir lowers the value of the +1 willpower.
For the record, I CAN see some interesting combos w/ him. He works great w/ Thalin and Gimli if another player has Dain and Spirit on the table. UC (and maybe Celebrian Stone) Gimli and keep Dain upright and he can quest for Eowyn levels, stand up, and then defend (in early game—once he has some damage he can start swinging back), all while Thalin is questing for 3 and picking away at every enemy that comes out. He also could become really powerful in 4-player games where 6-8 of the 12 heroes are tactics heroes, but that’s going to limit your option in a lot of quests.
I don’t know—that amazing art makes me want to love him but…I just don’t see it.

i tend to - tentaively - agree. but - it's hard to judge the final hero of a cycle in isolation, especialy when the theme of the cycle is building up mono-sphere decks.

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Dain Ironfoot said:

JonofPDX said:

I don’t know—that amazing art makes me want to love him but…I just don’t see it.

i tend to - tentaively - agree. but - it's hard to judge the final hero of a cycle in isolation, especialy when the theme of the cycle is building up mono-sphere decks.

Right. If Theoden gets his Asfaloth/Vilya equivalent the oppinion could change… but based on current card pool, i'd classify him as "just ok".

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I know this is a "gondor" themed cycle, but it would still be nice to see something weave together all the Rohan cards we currently have to make them a decent archetype in their own right. We're getting Theodan so maybe we'll get a suprise with Eomer too.

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Pharmboys2013 said:

I know this is a "gondor" themed cycle, but it would still be nice to see something weave together all the Rohan cards we currently have to make them a decent archetype in their own right. We're getting Theodan so maybe we'll get a suprise with Eomer too.

FFG has actually done a lot more with the Rohan trait than they have with either the noldor or silvan traits (remember, we got a lot of Rohan allies in Shadows of Mirkwood), but the game has moved away from that decks strengths.

I think we are going to continue to see Rohan cards mostly connected to Gondor until we see a full Rohan deluxe expansion (which we likely won't see until after an elf themed expansion cycle, as they are currently the most underdeveloped race outside of hobbits).
But hey--that new steed of the mark makes me kind of want to go back and revisit my old Spirit/Leadership Rohan deck. It's a shame though that with the difficulty level of the current quests that deck is pretty much confined to Shadow of Mirkwood and the Core Set. Especially as I'm only rocking a single core set.
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Captain Poe said:

Dain Ironfoot said:

JonofPDX said:

I don’t know—that amazing art makes me want to love him but…I just don’t see it.

i tend to - tentaively - agree. but - it's hard to judge the final hero of a cycle in isolation, especialy when the theme of the cycle is building up mono-sphere decks.

Right. If Theoden gets his Asfaloth/Vilya equivalent the oppinion could change… but based on current card pool, i'd classify him as "just ok".

I think I'm less charitable than you. The more I think about him the less I like him.

I can handle his threat cost and his wasted stat points--what gets me about him is that he ACTIVLEY synergies AGAINST almost ever other tactics hero (Thalin and MAYBE Gimli not withstanding). In almost all cases, if those other heroes are questing then you AREN'T using them to their best effect--especially as questing is before combat.
I've got to say he would be WAY better if his ability was tactics "character" rather than hero. Or for that matter, if it was just "hero".
Or if that's too OP, then just Rohan Heroes. That would at least buff Theodred and Eowyn and synergies with their abilities--and it would be a lot more thematic.
I think the designers were trying a little too hard here to shoehorn in the mono-sphere theme of the cycle into this characters ability. I mean, they could have AT LEAST worded it like Burning Brand so we could use Song of Battle.
Now watch as they release "Theoden's Pony" and give him Dunhere's ability or "Theoden's Banner" that extends his buff to Rohan allies. At which point I will have to eat a lot of humble pie but as is I can't see why I would ever use him over other heroes.
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Going back to the killing the Nazgul subject, couldn't you just use a bunch of Gondorian Spearmen and Spears of the Citadel + Stand Together to kill him, or at least seriously damage him, in one turn? It would be a little hard to get all of them out in time, but it might work.

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Oooo-kay, I just won JdtA with a proxied Theoden tactics mono deck. Took me four attempts and it was as close as it could be (49 threat), but I never thought it would work at all. I even found a way to ready Theoden: Landroval!

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leptokurt said:

Oooo-kay, I just won JdtA with a proxied Theoden tactics mono deck. Took me four attempts and it was as close as it could be (49 threat), but I never thought it would work at all. I even found a way to ready Theoden: Landroval!

Lol--you know something has gone terribly wrong when Landroval is being used as a readying effect (also, terribly AWESOME if you can pull it off to major affect).

Seriously though, that's awesome. I was pretty much ready to write him off as effectively unplayable (in the current card pool, of course--every card is a star waiting for the card pool to catch up to it).
Who were your other heroes (I'm guessing Thalin was one)? Did you find that you were having a hard time using their own abilities? Solo or multiplayer (or double decking)?
Nice job!
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I love it! Theoden is great. I am also looking forward to fighting against this beastly Black Rider!

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leptokurt said:

Oooo-kay, I just won JdtA with a proxied Theoden tactics mono deck. Took me four attempts and it was as close as it could be (49 threat), but I never thought it would work at all. I even found a way to ready Theoden: Landroval!

Congrats, but yeah, that is pretty bad anyways, as one can make a core set deck to win Anduin at a very high rate. Mono-Tactics is far from playable still, and cards like Trained for War (a future event giving the battle keyword) are not going to change that, I feel. There needs to be a threat reduction (Gandalf just seems too expensive, and there is little card draw and resource acceleration) to stand a better chance.

As for the line-up, I'd guess Théoden, Thalin, Boromir be the best line-up right now as these are best fit for repeated questing. Starting 32, and having Boromir, you are in trouble, however.

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As for the Nazgul, Gondorian Spearman is great, again! Initially I had thought his defense with Spear of the Citadel would have been reduced to 1 damage but now I see it is probably not true. So yes, that can be great help. I had also previously tried to incorporate Stand Together for this strategy but it has always seemed a card-slot(s) wasted. Maybe this will have me reconsider. Has anyone ever had succss with Stand Together?

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JonofPDX said:

leptokurt said:

Oooo-kay, I just won JdtA with a proxied Theoden tactics mono deck. Took me four attempts and it was as close as it could be (49 threat), but I never thought it would work at all. I even found a way to ready Theoden: Landroval!

Lol--you know something has gone terribly wrong when Landroval is being used as a readying effect (also, terribly AWESOME if you can pull it off to major affect).

Seriously though, that's awesome. I was pretty much ready to write him off as effectively unplayable (in the current card pool, of course--every card is a star waiting for the card pool to catch up to it).
Who were your other heroes (I'm guessing Thalin was one)? Did you find that you were having a hard time using their own abilities? Solo or multiplayer (or double decking)?
Nice job!

Solo. Line-up was Theoden, Thalin and (after long evaluation) Beorn. The latter because you have to take the troll out quickly. I had two Eagles of the Misty Mountains and Radagast as additional questers, giving me 11 WP each round. Beorn, Landroval and Gondorian Spearman were my fighting crew.

I had to use Landroval during the last phase. The two cards I revealed were Dol Guldur Beast Master and the other Hill Troll. My threat was at 48. And I couldn't prevent the troll from attacking. Fortunatly I had one of the eagles ready, backed up with two attachments. Unfortunatly it had already 3 damage and Beorn had seven. After almost giving up I found a way to solve the situation: I let the DG Beastmaster attack first, undefended. The damage was placed on Theoden, who was brought back by Landroval. I used Landroval as another attachment for the eagle instead of adding him to my hand and let the eagle defend against the hill troll. Fortunatly there was no bad shadow effect, so the eagle died, but I didn't have to raise my threat. Then Theoden, Beorn and a Veteran of Nanduhiron killed the troll while I cared for the DG Beastmaster during the next turn.

I agree that mono tactics is still very tough to play, but then we don't know which other tactics cards are in this cycle. I still felt like I had a lack of resources, cards and, of course, using characters more than once. Some tactics ally that readies another tactics character if he dies or something like that would be helpful.

Btw the other three games were two immediate losses and one game in which I almost made it through stage 2.

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I still find it wierd that they would preview a spirit sphere card (the Steed) in an article about tactics monosphere decks. I think this is a hint that we're going to see a way to get those mounts out without requiring songs. I'm predicting that Theoden is going to get his own version of a Vilya type uber-card that will allow him to purchase (perhaps for free) mount cards from any sphere. It would be extremely thematic seeing as how the King of Rohan was always considered to be the Horse Lord. This would certainly boost Theoden's value, especially in a monosphere deck.

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leptokurt said:

JonofPDX said:

leptokurt said:

Oooo-kay, I just won JdtA with a proxied Theoden tactics mono deck. Took me four attempts and it was as close as it could be (49 threat), but I never thought it would work at all. I even found a way to ready Theoden: Landroval!

Lol--you know something has gone terribly wrong when Landroval is being used as a readying effect (also, terribly AWESOME if you can pull it off to major affect).

Seriously though, that's awesome. I was pretty much ready to write him off as effectively unplayable (in the current card pool, of course--every card is a star waiting for the card pool to catch up to it).
Who were your other heroes (I'm guessing Thalin was one)? Did you find that you were having a hard time using their own abilities? Solo or multiplayer (or double decking)?
Nice job!

Solo. Line-up was Theoden, Thalin and (after long evaluation) Beorn. The latter because you have to take the troll out quickly. I had two Eagles of the Misty Mountains and Radagast as additional questers, giving me 11 WP each round. Beorn, Landroval and Gondorian Spearman were my fighting crew.

I had to use Landroval during the last phase. The two cards I revealed were Dol Guldur Beast Master and the other Hill Troll. My threat was at 48. And I couldn't prevent the troll from attacking. Fortunatly I had one of the eagles ready, backed up with two attachments. Unfortunatly it had already 3 damage and Beorn had seven. After almost giving up I found a way to solve the situation: I let the DG Beastmaster attack first, undefended. The damage was placed on Theoden, who was brought back by Landroval. I used Landroval as another attachment for the eagle instead of adding him to my hand and let the eagle defend against the hill troll. Fortunatly there was no bad shadow effect, so the eagle died, but I didn't have to raise my threat. Then Theoden, Beorn and a Veteran of Nanduhiron killed the troll while I cared for the DG Beastmaster during the next turn.

I agree that mono tactics is still very tough to play, but then we don't know which other tactics cards are in this cycle. I still felt like I had a lack of resources, cards and, of course, using characters more than once. Some tactics ally that readies another tactics character if he dies or something like that would be helpful.

Btw the other three games were two immediate losses and one game in which I almost made it through stage 2.

sounds like a great game with some cool decisions in the end. Wow wow wow!!! Leptokurt in a good shape as always!

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Style75 said:

I still find it wierd that they would preview a spirit sphere card (the Steed) in an article about tactics monosphere decks. I think this is a hint that we're going to see a way to get those mounts out without requiring songs. I'm predicting that Theoden is going to get his own version of a Vilya type uber-card that will allow him to purchase (perhaps for free) mount cards from any sphere. It would be extremely thematic seeing as how the King of Rohan was always considered to be the Horse Lord. This would certainly boost Theoden's value, especially in a monosphere deck.

Style75 said:

I still find it wierd that they would preview a spirit sphere card (the Steed) in an article about tactics monosphere decks. I think this is a hint that we're going to see a way to get those mounts out without requiring songs. I'm predicting that Theoden is going to get his own version of a Vilya type uber-card that will allow him to purchase (perhaps for free) mount cards from any sphere. It would be extremely thematic seeing as how the King of Rohan was always considered to be the Horse Lord. This would certainly boost Theoden's value, especially in a monosphere deck.

Thats possible, but I feel if they were going to do that they would need to release a lot more mount cards (remembering that the only other mount we have can only be equipped on a noldor or silvan hero), something I think they will save for a Rohan themed deluxe expansion/adventure cycle. Though maybe if it included a fetch effect it could still be used with the current card pool.

I think if a Theoden-specific attachment comes out it will likely be one that spreads his effect out to other Rohan characters and/or heroes (after all, it works SO well with Theodred and Eowyn). That would also give a pretty solid boost to the old mono-spirit Rohan deck if Theoden was across the table, and allow them to get the most out of their Steeds of the Mark.

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I see him working really well in some kind of battle where you have multiple players playing with tactics and at a certain point you need a lot of willpower (like Peril in Pelargir or Into Ithilien). I think we're looking in the wrong place when we're trying to put him in a mono-tactics deck. He could also be great in a tactics minor spirit major Rohan deck that then pairs with a tactics deck

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Style75 said:

I still find it wierd that they would preview a spirit sphere card (the Steed) in an article about tactics monosphere decks. I think this is a hint that we're going to see a way to get those mounts out without requiring songs. I'm predicting that Theoden is going to get his own version of a Vilya type uber-card that will allow him to purchase (perhaps for free) mount cards from any sphere. It would be extremely thematic seeing as how the King of Rohan was always considered to be the Horse Lord. This would certainly boost Theoden's value, especially in a monosphere deck.

I think you might be onto something. I hope ffg is reading if they haven't thought about it yet. I think there must be something to justify the cost of Steed of the Mark. And if there isn't, I hope ffg is reading all the same and change the cost to 0 before printing it… haha.

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Even if not specific to Theoden, we could surely see other cards interacting with mounts. An ally like Master of the Forge or Bofur (tactics) pulling Mount cards out of your deck, or like Master of Lore reducing their cost. Or even an event card with a play restriction akin to Elrond's Counsel, but reading "If you control at least 1 unique Rohan character, resources from any sphere may be spent to play Mount cards until the end of the phase."

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Style75 said:

I still find it wierd that they would preview a spirit sphere card (the Steed) in an article about tactics monosphere decks. I think this is a hint that we're going to see a way to get those mounts out without requiring songs. I'm predicting that Theoden is going to get his own version of a Vilya type uber-card that will allow him to purchase (perhaps for free) mount cards from any sphere. It would be extremely thematic seeing as how the King of Rohan was always considered to be the Horse Lord. This would certainly boost Theoden's value, especially in a monosphere deck.

I get the feeling that these previews are for multiplayer gamers. I remember that they once made a preview for TwitW in which they announced that finally secrecy decks would work. And then they added low threat tentacle enemies in this scenario! Perhaps not such a big problem if you played multiplayer, but for solo mode - really? Still like your idea. That's even better than my 1 cost "free beer" event in which Theoden would grant any character without any willpower + 1 WP.

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lleimmoen said:

Style75 said:

I still find it wierd that they would preview a spirit sphere card (the Steed) in an article about tactics monosphere decks. I think this is a hint that we're going to see a way to get those mounts out without requiring songs. I'm predicting that Theoden is going to get his own version of a Vilya type uber-card that will allow him to purchase (perhaps for free) mount cards from any sphere. It would be extremely thematic seeing as how the King of Rohan was always considered to be the Horse Lord. This would certainly boost Theoden's value, especially in a monosphere deck.

I think you might be onto something. I hope ffg is reading if they haven't thought about it yet. I think there must be something to justify the cost of Steed of the Mark. And if there isn't, I hope ffg is reading all the same and change the cost to 0 before printing it… haha.

You know, it’s weird. I agree 100% that Theoden needs some attachment love along the same lines as some of our Dwarrodelf heroes (Vilea, Light of Valinor, Asfaloth, Sword that Was Broken, Celabrian Stone) but disagree completely with your reasoning.

I think Steed of the Mark is GREAT. For a cost of 1 Spirit Resource you are essentially giving any Rohan or Gondor character (and remember, SoG grants the Gondor trait) Aragorn’s ability. Suddenly any resource-gain related ability (Gloin, Bifur, Theodred) becomes even more powerful. Wealth of Gondor? Now a readying effect. Hell, in a 4-player game I would even consider running Nor am I a Stranger w/ this. Is it as bat-crap amazing as UC? No. Nor is it as useful as the dirt cheap Cram—but it’s a reliable, predictable effect that can be used to great affect once you get some resource generation on the table.

Theoden, on the other hand, REALLY needs something to boost his value. I’ve gone over that already in this thread so I won’t repeat myself too much but he needs SOMETHING to make him worth his 1 greater threat cost vs stats (and yes, I know that his ability bounces him up to 12 but Bard has an effective stat cost of 13 most of the time, Elladan and Elrohir both have effective stat cost of 11, Dunhere, Eowyn—they all have slightly more situational abilities but in practice you are using them for their strengths).

All in all, I have to say I am not SUPER excited for this cycle. Think that’s just because I play most of my games 2-player, though. The focus on mono-sphere construction (and the liberal use of the “printed” modifier) means I would be locked out of 2 spheres for most of my games. Still, you never know—this could become my favorite cycle! I certainly love the narrative.

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So, this isn't related to Theoden at all, but it looks like we're going to get more reliable event recycling cards in this cycle. If you look at the "Blood of Gondor" preview and at the "Morgul Vale" preview, it introduces the "Tome of Atanator" in the first one and "The Scroll of Isildur" in the second one. If you piece these cards together, it looks like they say almost the exact same thing. One says: "Reduce the cost of this card by 1 for each hero you control with the printed Lore resource icon. Action: Discard Tome of Atanator to play a Lore event card in your discard pile as if it were in your hand. Then, put that event on the bottom of your deck." The other says almost the exact same thing from the looks of it, except it's for Leadership instead. Maybe we'll get one for each sphere?