I'm a little surprised that no one has commented on this card yet as of 12/2/2023. It has a pretty solid 1-for-1 cost on Willpower to start, which certainly isn't amazing but makes me want to read on to the game text. It cannot chump block, which is a downside for sure. It's the ability that makes the card, though it's very niche. The kind of deck that wants Messenger Raven is one that's running scry effects like Imladris Stargazer, Gildor Inglorion, or Wizard Pipe. Hero Gandalf is moderately popular and since Vilya is one of the strongest cards in the game and pairs so well with scrying, there should be quite a few players running this kind of deck. On the other hand, Vilya always comes with Elrond so must be played alongside for the Messenger Raven (but is likely already added for Steward of Gondor and the raven is thus automatically available). In such a deck, the raven becomes essentially the ability of Gildor Inglorion (spend a buck to draw a card) and makes for a lovely resource dump for extra money.

I was going through the On The Doorstep cards and I noticed that this card has no reviews, so I felt like I should leave one. I normally don't like events that boost stats temporarily. But this card offers you a big boost - you get to add Bilbo's total , and to each of the stats of another character. This means you're getting a minimum of 3 of each stat added to another character for one phase, which could be as much as 6 or 9 or even more if you have Sting or Burglar Baggins! And the quests in the second half of the Hobbit saga are tough, so you might end up needing such a huge temporary boost to push through a questing or combat barrier. I didn't use this card much during my first play of the Hobbit saga, but now that I've rethought it, I'm going to give it another better try.

PS: This whole review was prompted because I noticed that this card is right in the middle of the player card list for On the Doorstep despite the other and cards being at the end of the player card list for the other saga expansions. At first I was curious why this was, but then I noticed that it's because they made this card's number 13. Very clever.

PPS. EDIT: I know this card's wording isn't the clearest about whether you add the sum of Bilbo's stats to the other character (e.g. +3 to each stat with unmodified Bilbo) or just his individual stats (e.g. +1 to each stat with unmodified Bilbo). But what convinces me that you add the sum is that the text says "total." If the text didn't say "total," then it would be clear that it adds Bilbo's individual stats and not the sum of his stats. Also because spending a resource and a card just to give a character +1 to each stat for one phase is rarely worth it, especially considering you only get to use cards in quests in The Hobbit saga, which is only 6 quests out of the whole game, and those quests make you want to hang onto your resources to use for other things.

This Elvish cloak is a niche card and has lots against it on the outlook. There are other, better attachments that boost raw defence, it's limited to Noldor and Silvan, limit 1 and it requires to be played against quests that have forests to even gain the +2 defence. However, there are 2 aspects to this card that I believe make it stand out and warrent consideration in deckbuilding.

The first is that is it only 1of 2 attachment cards in the Lore sphere that provides a raw defence boost, the other being Protector of Lórien. In multisphere decks, it may be worth considering your defence boosts to come from Lore if you already have too many cards in the other spheres to help smooth the resources. Cloak may also gain the edge over Protector if discarding cards to fuel Protector is an issue and you would rather the static +1.

The second advantage is that Cloak is a raw defence boost that is not limited to Heros, it can be played on Noldor and Silvan Allies. This flexibility in the right decks, specifically decks that are wanting to use allies are thier main line of defence, makes Cloak a more viable choice. The best allies that come to mind for Cloak are Guardian of Rivendell and Greenwood Defender. Noldor decks in particular that utilise Círdan the Shipwright and Narya can turn two Guardian of Rivendell allies into brutal defence and killing machines whilst making them a bit more durable against those higher attack enemies.

Cloak is by no means a card that has broad applications, nor will it ever be anything but a niche defence attachment in certain decks, but it has it value and will help keep some of your defenders alive.

The utility of this with Gandalf is obvious, as he can set up cards to use his ability with. He can also get guaranteed card draw with Expert Treasure-hunter, at least for players who have access to the Hobbit cards. Revised players will at least get access to Radagast, and this makes a lovely combination with Messenger Raven. Play the Raven, quest without exhausting, use wizard pipe to swap one of your cards onto the top of the deck, then retrieve the raven to guess that card.

This card is wonderful against high-threat bosses that engage through quest effects. The very best of those is Lonely Mountain -- Smaug has 50 threat, and his shadows can trigger re-attacks via keyword. But not if they're discarded first!