Ho, Tom Bombadil! Tom Bombadillo! He's here! A Tom Bombadil hero!

First, his stats. For 8 threat, you get X? , no , and no . He does have a block of 6 , which can be handy in taking undefended attacks. But why would you play this statless hero? The answer lies in his text box. It reads: X is the number of Song cards attached to Tom Bombadil. In a Song / Minstrel deck, I have had no problems with getting Tom to 7 or 8 . Using toys such as Nor am I a Stranger and The Gifts of Galadriel, you can give Tom Herugrim and Golden Shield, allowing him to use his bloated more than once (since Goldberry lets him quest without exhausting).

He has the Legend trait, which does nothing. He also has the Minstrel trait, which makes him eligible for Instruments and certain Songs. But outside of a Song-heavy Minstrel deck, he will not see much play.

His is in , which makes him eligible for Love of Tales and lets you include significant card draw in your deck (like Drinking Song, which is also a Song).

His text box also includes a Response, allowing for healing and direct damage when you play Songs. This is once per phase! Not once per round. So if you play a Song in planning, you can still trigger this ability in the other phases of the game. You could play Song of Battle in planning, Lay of Nimrodel in questing, Drinking Song in travel, and Song of Slumber in combat. This ability brings the hero together. His healing lets you take attacks undefended with his big hit point pool. His direct damage allows him to kill any enemies that you cannot kill with your -light Minstrel deck.

All in all, Tom Bombadil is a very fun new addition to the game, and a staple in Minstrel decks, allowing for healing, damage, and . However, he does not have much life outside of a Minstrel / Song deck, which is very thematic for Jolly Tom: not wanting to do anything but sing the day away.