The Way Into Mordor - Gandalf (8/28: "You still speak in riddles.")

[Elf_Lvr]

Upped Captain and Banner to hunter 2. Better, or should I just go with something else entirely?

I don't know. A hunter Gandalf doesn't feel right to me... he never really "hunts" anything in the way that the three hunters or Faramir do, although he DOES have a connection to them. I might drop his hunter entirely, but give him an ability similar to Heir to the Throne of Gondor, one that triggers by spotting multiple cultures.

[Thranduil]

Upped Captain and Banner to hunter 2. Better, or should I just go with something else entirely?

I was thinking some twilight reduction so that it would be possible to start him in your starting fellowship if you have hunters. Maybe like LoM but needs to spot a hunter?

Thranduil

[DáinIronfoot]

Okay, kind of combined Thran's and EL's ideas. How is he now? Bloody awful?

[Thranduil]

Very interesting. I think he's good.

Thranduil

[DáinIronfoot]

Well if you thought that the original Captain and Banner got hunter too easily, then you're going to LOVE this. Not.

•Shadowfax, Prince of Horses
Possession • Mount
Resistance +1
Bearer must be Gandalf. He gains hunter 1.
At the start of each skirmish involving Gandalf, each minion skirmishing him must exert.
Response: If a Free Peoples mount is about to be discarded, exert Gandalf to take that mount into hand instead.
"...the great horse came striding up the slope towards them; his coat was glistening and his mane flowing in the wind of his speed. The two others followed, now far behind."

Here, I think the hunter makes perfect sense for several reasons:

- Many Riders of Rohan (those that follow Eomer and Erkenbrand) are hunters in this set, and as Shadowfax is a horse from their ranks (albeit the greatest of them), I think it only makes sense he give a small hunter bonus. (This connection is also what inspires the exert-during-skirmish text, which was present on the original Shadowfax and on Greatheart).
- It was on Shadowfax that Gandalf did most of his "hunting", at Helm's Deep, at Minas Tirith, etc.
- I really want the potential of a hunter Gandalf! Albeit one that isn't TOO easy to get.

The only other comment is on the response action, which is inspired by Shadowfax returning to Rohan (and then Gandalf) after Gandalf's death and return, AND Shadowfax coming back to the Three Hunters with Hasufel and Arod in tow after they were seemingly lost. The one time the ability can't be used is when the bearer is in the process of being killed, but otherwise you can use the action on any FP mount, including Shadowfax himself.

Too much, do you think?

[Elf_Lvr]

It looks good, but seems overshadowed by many other versions of Shadowfax, even though this is the only one that really works well with specifically.

Perhaps limit the bearer to Gandalf (I think that makes more sense anyway) and add a vitality bonus?

[DáinIronfoot]

Really? And here I thought it was OVERpowered.

I'll hold off for at least one more review before changing it, but if I get even a hint of an agreement, consider it done, EL.

Oh, and check your PMs in a sec. I want to send you a Shadowfax I already posted in my last set that's even MORE connected to .

[FM]

Hum... If you want a more version of Shadowfax, why don't you simply MAKE it in that culture? I think a Shadowfax herding horses and giving hunter bonuses would make more sense. Perhaps then Théoden would get to ride him as well?

[Thranduil]

I would agree with FM, and also point out that other Shadowfaxes have amazing abilities because they discard other possessions borne by Gandalf and therefore I think this one is fine.

Thranduil

[lem0nhead]

•Shadowfax, Prince of Horses
Possession • Mount
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Wizard. Bearer gains hunter 1.
At the start of each skirmish involving bearer, each minion skirmishing bearer must exert.
Response: If a Free Peoples mount is about to be discarded, exert bearer to take that mount into hand instead.
"...the great horse came striding up the slope towards them; his coat was glistening and his mane flowing in the wind of his speed. The two others followed, now far behind."

For a start id change ti to bearer must be Gandalf. Shadowfax only let gandalf ride him so i woudlnt let radagast even if he was good with animals. and i think hes fine definately not OP.

[DáinIronfoot]

Alright, since two reviewers recommended it, I've changed Prince of Horses from being bear-able by any Wizard to being bear-able only by Gandalf.

And since a couple people asked about it, I'm ALSO going to re-post the Shadowfax from my Fellowship of the Ring-centric set, The Road Ahead. (Yes, my FotR set has a small number of cards. If you think that sounds interesting/silly/whatever, then check out the bottom of this page.) Anyway, keep in mind that this card has already been posted, reviewed, and finalized, but if you see something glaring that you think stands it being subject to review again, go for it.

•Shadowfax, Surpassingly Swift
Possession • Mount
Vitality +1
Resistance +1
To play, spot a Man. Bearer must be a unique Man or a Wizard.
If bearer is a Wizard, each time the fellowship moves during the regroup phase, you may heal bearer or remove a threat.
"‘And there is one among them that might have been foaled in the morning of the world....By day his coat glistens like silver; and by night it is like a shade, and he passes unseen. Light is his footfall!'"

Alright, on to the new cards. Gandalf may not NEED much more than Shadowfax throughout The Two Towers, but he DOES make good use of his staff and still has Glamdring...though how he got it back after being "sent back" is never really explained....

•Glamdring, Forged In Goldolin
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be Gandalf.
He is damage +1.
Each time the fellowship moves to a site in region 2 or region 3, you may play this weapon from your draw deck or discard pile.
"‘Glamdring it is called, for the Elves made it long ago. Now let me pass.'"

The text comes directly from the way Glamdring myteriously reappears in The Two Towers. Doesn't do much other than that, but the fact that you can grab it any time you want (and re-grab it if it's discarded) makes it a very useful version, I think. Do you agree, faithful reviewer?

•Gandalf's Staff, Dangerous Instrument
Artifact • Staff
Vitality +1
Bearer must be Gandalf.
The twilight cost of each spell is -1.
Regroup: Exert Gandalf and discard a Free Peoples spell with a twilight cost of X from hand or from play to discard a Shadow condition with a twilight cost of X or less.
"He raised his staff. There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight was blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night. The fire faded to sullen embers. "

I always loved the spell cost reduction of the original Gandalf's Staff, so that comes back here. If you hold onto that spell instead, though, you can turn it into a nice way to discard conditions later in the turn.

[FM]

Spells... from PLAY? Is this possible? Wow, I'm rusty.

[Thranduil]

Alright, on to the new cards. Gandalf may not NEED much more than Shadowfax throughout The Two Towers, but he DOES make good use of his staff and still has Glamdring...though how he got it back after being "sent back" is never really explained....

He had it when he was fighting the Balrog on the mountain-top, then Gwaihir took him (and presumably his sword) to Lothlórien. That would be my guess anyway...

•Glamdring, Forged In Goldolin
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be Gandalf.
He is damage +1.
Each time the fellowship moves, you may play this weapon from your draw deck or discard pile.
"‘Glamdring it is called, for the Elves made it long ago. Now let me pass.'"

It's exceedingly weird for this weapon to have a text which is active even when in your draw deck. And for that it could also be far too good; you start Gandalf then you're guaranteed Glamdring the first time you move. Maybe a bigger cost like exerting Gandalf or only playing it in region 2 or something.

•Gandalf's Staff, Dangerous Instrument
Artifact • Staff
Vitality +1
Bearer must be Gandalf.
The twilight cost of each spell is -1.
Skirmish: Exert Gandalf and discard a spell with a twilight cost of X from hand or from play to discard a Shadow condition with a twilight cost of X or less.
"He raised his staff. There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight was blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night. The fire faded to sullen embers. "

Fair enough.

Thranduil

[Elf_Lvr]

•Glamdring, Forged In Goldolin
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be Gandalf.
He is damage +1.
Each time the fellowship moves, you may play this weapon from your draw deck or discard pile.
"‘Glamdring it is called, for the Elves made it long ago. Now let me pass.'"

I agree with Thran. Limit it to a specific region, probably region 2. Or at least exclude region 1.

•Gandalf's Staff, Dangerous Instrument
Artifact • Staff
Vitality +1
Bearer must be Gandalf.
The twilight cost of each spell is -1.
Skirmish: Exert Gandalf and discard a spell with a twilight cost of X from hand or from play to discard a Shadow condition with a twilight cost of X or less.
"He raised his staff. There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight was blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night. The fire faded to sullen embers. "

Drop the "from play." To use this card, you ought to have to clog yourself a bit keeping the spell in hand, instead of playing it and getting some use out of it first, otherwise, such a powerful ability doesn't have a lot of a downside. Now, I know that there aren't a lot of spells that play to your support area (especially not with high twilight costs) but my elven intuition tells me you probably have made/will make some in this set.

Plus, has Brooding on Tomorrow (which this combos with astoundingly for mass-discard) and Beorning Axe to recur spells, so I'm sort of unsure of how balanced this card is. Galadriel, Lady Redeemed was banned for a reason, and Spells to are as events are to , though admittedly your card is more balanced than that (mostly due to the exertion).

I'd change the action to the regroup phase as well, come to think of it, to stop Brooding/Beorning Axe making a lot of combo with this, along with Into Dark Tunnels, which could again manipulate initiative to discard conditions en masse, esp. with the help of this card.

Gee, I really seem to have gone on about your card. Sorry about that. I guess it's more a problem about how your card combos with some existing stuff than the card itself. I love the idea of a Staff that uses spells for fuel.

[DáinIronfoot]

Changed Forged In Gondolin's text to only region 2 or 3.

As for Dangerous Instrument, I changed it to a regroup ability (and limited it to spells), but otherwise left it alone. EL makes a very valid point about spells in play, but I checked carefully after his review, and here's what I found:

Decipher has only 4 FP spells that play to the support area, and all but one of them cost . (The other costs .) Then I checked my sets, and found that I had created only 2 spell conditions more expensive than that. Each of them costs , but one auto-discards at the beginning of regroup and the other either exerts Gandalf or auto-discards at the start of regroup. So I think those are okay with this, since they'd either be gone anyway or basically force Gandalf to exert twice.

The main point of allowing spells in play to be discarded is that I plan on creating a handful of spells that play on characters, sort of like Hearken To Me and Salve. It is THOSE cards that I envision this potentially being comboed with.

If you still think I should change it, I'll do so. But I think it works as is (at least now that it's a regroup ability), and I will pay special mind to this in the future to make sure I don't create any out-of-whack spells that could have unintended, overpowered combo potential with this staff.

to both of you.