Aragorn

Hero. Threat: 12. 2   3   2   5  

DĂșnedain. Ranger. Warrior.

Each enemy engaged with you gets -1 .

Response: After Aragorn participates in an attack that destroys an enemy, choose an enemy not engaged with you and engage that enemy.

"I serve no man," said Aragorn; "but the servants of Sauron I pursue into whatever land they may go." The Two Towers
Sebastian Giacobino

The Lost Realm #1. Tactics.

Aragorn
Reviews

Well, I suppose it's about time someone wrote a review for the final Aragorn, especially with the rerelease of the Angmar Awakened cycle.

By now, we all know Aragorn's stat line by heart (2 3 2 5), but I'll go over it quickly anyways. The willpower is always useful, especially with some boots or a Steed of the North. The is fantastic, especially with the ability, but I'll get into that later. The in combination with the is immensely useful, especially in multiplayer with the ever useful Sentinel keyword. The hit points are even useful if he is primarily an attacker because you can defend most attacks in a pinch, survive many undefended attacks, or just soak up archery damage. The threat is high, but it's totally worth it for those amazing stats.

Now on to the fun stuff: the abilities. The first ability is obviously extremely useful because it just makes your attackers better. This ability is inherently better than giving Aragorn +1 because it affects MULTIPLE enemies and even affects enemies when Aragorn is exhausted. This ability is useful in just about any deck, but is even better in Dunedain decks because those decks want to be engaged with multiple enemies at a time. It makes it much easier to destroy any excess enemies you don't like. Side note: the -1 can also combo with Straight Shot to instantly kill an enemy with 1 , but that's quite niche.

The second ability is not as obvious. "Response: After Aragorn participates in an attack that destroys an enemy, choose an enemy not engaged with you and engage that enemy." (note that responses are optional). At first glance this seems like a pretty mediocre ability, but I'm going to try to convince you otherwise. The most obvious application is in multiplayer. This allows you to destroy an enemy and save another player from an enemy they cannot handle. This can be a lifesaver in certain situations. This ability also lets you effectively optionally engage another enemy, assuming you can destroy a different enemy first. So, in combination with Halbarad, you can effectively optionally engage three enemies, which can really come in handy for Dunedain decks. You can even give Aragorn a readying effect such as Unexpected Courage to do this effect multiple times. Riding Roheryn makes this response even better because there's no need to defend the attack first.

Another situation where the ability is useful is during the quest phase using Quick Strike. During the quest phase, you can use Quick Strike to destroy an enemy engaged with you (applying the -1 ) and then engaging an enemy just revealed from the encounter deck, or any enemy in the staging area. You can do this before calculating progress to effectively remove that enemy's from the staging area! A really fun combo and a very useful one to boot. And the Steed of the North can even ready Aragorn after destroying the enemy so he is ready for the combat phase! Tell a Tale of TinĂșviel for even more boosted craziness.

There is a fourth situation where the response can be useful. Warden of Arnor explains the interaction very nicely on his review of Westfold Outrider. Basically, in multiplayer you can Quick Strike to destroy an enemy and then engage another player's enemy on their turn. This effectively negates the attack!

Well, that's our favourite ranger. I will quickly mention that being an Aragorn, he can make great use of his many tools. He is of course competing with all the other Aragorns for a spot on the team, but he easily competes with the other versions. A very interesting hero who has an ability that makes you think of the game in different ways, and that is always a good thing. Have fun pulling enemies from across the table (I don't know how it works thematically but it sure is fun to imagine) and I hope I've inspired you to use Aragorn in some unique ways.

Very nice reviewy, just a small note: this version of Aragon unfortunately lacks the Sentinel keyword. — Alonewolf87 1908
Oops, my bad. Good catch. — FolcoBoffin 301
You can also engage enemies in the staging area with his second ability! By adding a couple of daggers of westerness, a mount and any other non restricted weapons, aragorn can hit for huge damage and take out enemies with higher engagement costs than your threat, without giving them a chance to attack., — SinJun 1

On top of everything that was said in the other review his ability also has great synergy with other heroes that have effects on enemy engagement like Mablung or Faramir as it is a reliable way to use them twice in a single turn (and even more for Sam).

I just started playing, but if I choose to engage an enemy that is engaged to my friend in a 2 player game, does that enemy stay engaged with me the next round or does it attack my friend again? — Zangaxx 1
It stays engaged with you and will attack you the next round and every round to come until you kill it, similarly, if you choose an enemy in the staging area it will stay engaged with you and not return to the staging area. — Wandering Ranger 21