So we basically have gotten one universal Gondor "synergy" card from an entire cycle of cards that was supposed to be focused on them.

And THAT is why I think everyone hates Outlands... lol

I agree with your post and especially with the above part !!!

There's one word that a lot of folks associate with Rohan and Dwarf decks:

overpowered

The Rohan thing must be a joke right ?

Rohan decks were overpowered when they came out during the Mirkwood cycle. Everyone and their mum was playing them to get easy victories. And that was my point. They're still strong, I guess, but it's hard to tell since I never played them myself.

Gondo, however, is well done. Hope they continue to create themes like that. Rohan and Outlands were boring, Dwarfs were cool but became quickly too strong. Elves are another good example of how to build a thematic deck. Hobbits also look good so far. Eagles were cool but suffered from belonging to thet tactics sphere (man I would like to see an eagle from time to time that is not tactics).