So who would have thought (when a Gondor cycle was announced) that after the deluxe box and two adventure packs Gondor faction would be so much less developed that the Outlands one. I certainly didn't think so then.

Will this have changed dramaticaly when the cycle is over? We have been told that more Outlands synergies are coming (in the assault on Osgiliath) and we have been told that mono decks will be much expanded; and alongside that a Ranger-type of deck might arise (as reported). Of course, Gondor's might may just rise from a Leadership mono-deck or even a Ranger deck but will there been enough card slots (36 to be precise) among the player cards to establish Gondor as much as Dwarves have been? Those slots are precious, and we already know some of them will belong to the halflings just in the next expansion.

Also, if Gondor becomes stronger, as it should despite the concerns, what will its primary strength be? Now we can already see a theme built around the resource acceleration though the best among them, Steward of Gondor, is (surprisingly perhaps) available to any race.

The Dwarves have got willpower boost, attack boost, card draw, resource acceleration; they have got a lot. Will it be like that with Gondor, just through other means. The one thing Dwarves haven't got many of, is ally numbers, there are few generic Dwarven allies in every sphere, only Lore has a bit more. Gondorians might become more numerous more quickly, I feel. But will that be enough? Or will we have to keep looking to the Palantír and wait, and wait…

it is surprsing indeed. one thing i really want to see from this cycle more than anything else is what gondor's armouries have to offer us.

we have the shield and spear. now i want to see swords, bows, perhaps even siege equipment allies. they would certainly be a game changer

rich

It's also hard to compare them to the dwarves ATM, since they also have both of the Hobbit saga boxes that contributed heavily to the dwarven card pools…

I guess I can't say that I'm too surpised by the first two adventure packs. We didn't get any Dwarf Heroes in the Dwarrowdelf cycle, so if we don't get any Gondor Heroes in the AtS cycle i won't feel cheated. Gondor already has a decent size card pool, sure it is not as big as the Dwarfs but players shouldn't have much of a problem trying to build a solid Gondor deck.

The differnce for the Dwarrodelf was, however, that by that time we already had six Dwarf heroes and six more were coming in the Hobbit saga. However, there are only four Gondor heroes now (including a duplicate Boromir) and none are coming in the next saga, and probably not in the next deluxe either. That is a huge difference in card pool.

And yes, I want to see more weapons. The Shield is great, hopefully there are at least three or four Gondor-oriented armour/weapon attachments coming in this cycle.

It's pretty sad. In just one adventure pack, Outlands became a viable deck option. Probably more powerful than a Gondor deck, and that's just one pack. We've also got Forlong in this current pack, which will increase Outlands power. Gondor just hasn't seen that much attention, even though this is the Gondor cycle.

legolas18 said:

Well, Outlands has been built to be a very small niche deck really imo. It clearly isn't (and because of it's strength, can't) be very flexible or suitable for deck building in the long run. The dwarves have multiple viable decks because of having two saga expansions a deluxe expansion and a reasonable amount of support across the first two cycles.

I wasn't expecting Gondor to match the dwarves even if every single card was Gondor only, which imo it shouldn't have been. They should support multiple themes emerging at once, I want to see gondor evolve over time (Along with rohan, rangers, hobbits ect.) Not to have it get all it's tricks while no other themes get anything. I feel the mistake was giving so much to the dwarves so fast (although I think this was caused by not knowing the Saga expansions would be made when they started supporting them). I don't want to see any dwarf cards for a long time, and I hope they also don't make the same mistake with other factions by focusing too much on just one.

Yes. Please, no more Dwarf cards, for at least this and next year. I also think the idea of the Hobbit saga wasn't known when Dwarrodelf was announced. It has caused quite a disbalance in the game but I think it shall be remedied over time. I just want to see a solid Gondor ground when this cycle is over. And hopefully the next one will bring more Elves and the continuation of the likes of Gondor, Dúnedain, Rohan and perhaps others (I do wonder whether minor factions like Bardings or Beornings shall ever have their own deck, it would be superb but may be no more than a wishful thinking).

they are probably saving a load of the gondor stuff for the "lord of the rings" saga expansions that have just been announced. by the time we get to them the game will have been going for ages, and they'll want to have some good stuff in it to keep interest up. we might get some of the big name heroes then

Gondor style can be protection and defence. Allso resource manipulation can be possible. Co-op actions are allso something that suits Gondor/Leadership style.

I think Gondor will eventually be a strong faction, it will just take the duration of this cycle…

the obvious comparison is dwarfs but as previously mentioned, our view of them is skewed by the 2 hobbit boxes which were both pro-dwarf.

out of curiousity i looked at the player cards which came in the first 2 APs of the darrowdelf cycle (the dwarf cycle) to compare if they got more or less related cards than we've gotten for gondor thus far during Against the Shadow

By my count, there were 2 cards each. In the redhorn gate we got spirit Bofur and in the road to rivendell we got lure of moria (quite a big one here although). In the steward's fear we got gondorian shield and in the druadan forest we got white tower watchman (yes i'm still counting him)

infact the only 2 scenarios in the darrowdelf cycle that had more than one dwarf themed card was the long dark (erebor battle master, ring mail, ever my heart rises) and shadow and flame (we are not idle, hardy leadership)

while giving us a whole faction in one AP (outlands) is a new trend, slowly growing the strength of the trait the cycle is thematically following (gondor) is not.

upon further review, i've realized that in the road to rivendell, ally Bombur and the end comes were also two dwarfy cards in that adventure pack so my above argument isnt as poignent as i originally thought….both those cards were/are absolutely terrible although so take that as you will haha

legolas18 said:

Yep, I'm saying it for the whole time that for a Gondor-themed cycle, it is quite underwhelming at the very least.