A couple more wizards

[Tbiesty]

Although more easily corrupted than Radagast, The Brown, the Blue Wizards finally get a chance to be companions too.

•Alatar, The Blue
Companion • Wizard
Strength: 6
Vitality: 4
Resistance: 4
To play, spot a companion.
Each time you play a spell, you may spot Pallando to make a Man strength +1 until the regroup phase.
At the end of your turn, if Alatar has resistance 0, place him in your dead pile.
"...of the first three chosen..."

•Pallando, The Blue
Companion • Wizard
Strength: 6
Vitality: 4
Resistance: 4
To play, spot a Wizard.
Each time you play a spell, you may spot Alatar to remove a burden.
At the end of your turn, if Pallando has resistance 0, place him in your dead pile.
"...chosen by his friend Alatar..."

[Elrohir]

Well done - I like them. Although resistance 4 is a bit short.

[ket_the_jet]

I think they are far too powerful...I wouldn't make them 7-4 characters...granted, I had a big problem with Radagast being an 8-4 companion. Tolkien basically said there was Saruman, Gandalf, and then three others who didn't matter as much.

If they are going to be 7-4, there should be no reason to reduce their twilight costs. They do work well with the Gandalf Ring-Bearer though, so cool ideas.
-wtk

[Tbiesty]

A couple tweaks...

[ket_the_jet]

6-4 seems better, but I still don't like characters that have twilight cost modifiers, especially when they are so powerful. Basically, you can start Gandalf, Bearer of Obligation and your two wizards in a starting fellowship...that's just unacceptable, especially considering the Men, Grimbeorn, etc.

Edit: Don't forget access to A Wizard Is Never Late in expanded...
-wtk

[Tbiesty]

Fair enough...  more tweaks.

[ket_the_jet]

Sorry to be on your case, but why does one have to spot Gandalf, and the other have to spot Alatar? Why not have, "To play, spot a Wizard." That way you can spot Gandalf, Radagast, or possibly Saruman.

Or, better yet, "To play, spot a Wizard (or three companions).

Edit: When building dream cards, it can be tough, but you never want to think of just one card. If you think, "This would combo really well with Gandalf, Bearer of Obligation," every other player is going to think that and that will take the fun out of playing with Gandalf, Bearer of Obligation.

I think an interesting point would be having one that made men stronger and one that made Men weaker seeing as they went off to do "great works" in the Harad...

[Tbiesty]

I'm ready to give this a try.  Thanks for the input.

[Cw0rk]

At 6-4 and with a line that kills them if there resistance is 0, I think that you could make them cost .

[Tbiesty]

I think with their very useful abilities and the burden removal possibilities that exist within the culture, the is fair. Plus, this way all the wizards cost and have 4 vitality.

Lots of possibilities, Alatar follower and Pallando companion (or vice versa), Radagast's Herb Bag, Erland, Dale Counselor, Jarnsmid, Barding Emissary.......

[jdizzy001]

Tolkien basically said there was Saruman, Gandalf, and then three others who didn't matter as much.

in all fairness, the other wizard's didn't matter much because they weren't involved in the workings of middle earth.  Both Pallando and Alatar went to the east and south.  Though all 5 Istar came to middle earth to war against Sauron, Tolkien didn't mention Pallando and Alatar because they weren't around much, not because they weren't powerful.  str 7 is more than fair and appropriate.  Another interesting tid-bit to point out is that Gandalf was the only istar to accomplish his task.  The other four became corrupt or disinterested.

[ket_the_jet]

Tolkien once implied that Pallando and Alatar got killed in the South and East, respectively. Even though he really didn't go forward with that thought, I think it would suggest that the others were not strength 7-worth.

I still don't get why Radagast was strength 8. He is stronger than [most copies of] Gandalf and more splash-able, too, as a single card splash. He should have been strength 6 to begin with, but don't get me started on the sets 8 and beyond rant.
-wtk

[Elrohir]

  8/4 is a common value realtion (Elrond, Aragorn)

[ket_the_jet]

8/4 is a common value realtion (Elrond, Aragorn)

Sure, but 7-4 is also common (Durin III, most Gandalfs).

I still genuinely believe that Radagast would be best built as a 6-4 companion with the same game text for . His gametext is among the most powerful in the game (or at least the most universal) and the fact that he is stronger than most copies of Gandalf is despicable.
-wtk

[Witchkingx5]

8/4 is a common value realtion (Elrond, Aragorn)

Sure, but 7-4 is also common (Durin III, most Gandalfs).

I still genuinely believe that Radagast would be best built as a 6-4 companion with the same game text for . His gametext is among the most powerful in the game (or at least the most universal) and the fact that he is stronger than most copies of Gandalf is despicable.
-wtk

and that's why Ents dominated Standard during War of the Ring Block. Gandalf, Radagast, Ents, you were able to counter nearly everything and triple moves from 6 to 9 happened really often.