Hands upon the Bow sees a good deal less use than I think it should.

Its drawbacks are rather small. You must have a Ranged character to activate it, but there are lot's of good Tactics Ranged heroes to take advantage of this card. Also, you can only attack against enemies in the staging area, but most enemies will give you chance to ping them before they engage you.

On the other hand, HutB is quite easy to use. Since it's in the Tactics sphere, it's easy to get your target to a high level of attack; especially with the cherry-on-top built-in attack boost. It only costs one resource, which is a low price to pay for what is essentially a Feint with a willpower boost. You can't tell me that's not good.

The ability to outright nuke an enemy in this manner and with such ease is just golden. The satisfying feeling you get from playing this card is second to none (okay, except maybe the Door is Closed), and the art is just icing on the cake.

We Are not Idle was quite popular until it was errata'd, when it practically vanished. I'd like t point out that it is still a great card, errata or no.

Let's take a look a pre-errata WanI. You could play it early to get that early game boost, something that Dwarf decks could really use. Late game, you could play it with Lure of Moria to create a broken combo; adding ten+ resources to a hero (and drawing a card). Awesome, right? Right. Too awesome. So when you are not Idle and are Lured to Moria by Atanantar's Tome after eating Second Breakfast, an infinite combo loop is created; allowing you win nearly any quest on turn one. This lead to the fist of errata crashing down on this card.

Now, should this card have gotten the cold shoulder instead of any of the other cards? Could it have just been given a limit on the number of Dwarves you exhaust instead of switching to heroes. Maybe. Either of those would have saved the card's power, but that's not the point. Let's not get to carried away with what-ifs, and focus on how useful the card still is.

You can of course, include it four the sole purpose of thinning your deck, something I find myself doing often. The real strength of this card comes from the ability to boost your first round with an extra card and a resource or two. The cost of a hero's action isn't quite so bad when you're playing something out of the deal. Perhaps an ally to fill the void of the hero you exhausted. Maybe a failsafe in Durin's Song or Sneak Attack. Or what if you just need one more resource to play that Steward of Gondor to kickstart your engine. Of course, this card is nowhere near is powerful know that you exhaust hero's instead of allies. Of course, the infinite combo still works if you add Sword Thain. That's not a problem! Well, the latter certainly is, and the former is unfortunate, but the point is, we can still enjoy this beauty for what it is.

I'm surprised there aren't any reviews for Elrond yet, considering how powerful he is, hero Gandalf or no. Although I suppose it is quite evident. It's going to be a tall order summarizing his perks, so let's get into it.

Two attack is reasonable, but I don't think anyone would ever use him for that, considering his usefulness in other ways. The first thing you notice, other than his thirteen threat, is his willpower. Three willpower is quite good, especially if you can get him Light of Valinor or Unexpected Courage, both of which fit him well. So what will you do with his extra action? Well, a three-four defense line is top-notch. His first ability amplifies any healing, so that makes him an even better defender. I should take the time know to point out the power of that response. He's amazing in any quest with a lot of direct damage, and combo-tastic with the in-sphere Warden of Healing. Of course, no super defender would be complete without Burning Brand, which, Whoop-dee-doo, is in-sphere. But Wandalf! you say, How are you going to reliably fetch all these attachments that make him so good? Why with the Master of the Forge, of course! Who is conveniently (wait for it . . .) in sphere.

So, next, his passive smoothing. This effect is underrated and is one of the best things about Elrond. Having the initiative to slot any ally you want into your deck on a whim, knowing that Elrond will be able to play it. Resource generation makes this much smoother and more reliable, so go ahead and put in Steward for Master of the Forge to pull. And finally, Vilya. The swiss army knife MacGyver of all swiss army knife MacGyvers. Elrond was already OP, and this card puts him over the top. I've convinced myself while writing this that Elrond is the most powerful hero in the game. You tool tour deck (which, if you've been paying attention to this review, is kind of pre-built) to blind Vilya, but its true power comes from lining up your shot with Imladris Stargazer or ally Gildor. If you don't like what you see, reshuffle with the MotF. And them, play a card for free! Turns out that's pretty good in practice.

And what's the downside? His traits? Well, not with Noldor there in pretty Italics. Nothing! Other than his completely mitigateable threat cost (that's a word, right), the Lord of Rivendell is pure gold.

This guy doesn't appear that strong at first. Until you look at what you can actually play on him. Hauberk of Mail is free on him and give him both of it's abilities, suddenly this guy becomes a 4 Defence 4 Hitpoints monster with the Sentinel keyword. Abuse him with To Arms! for maximum efficieny. Bonus points if you played him for free with King of Dale. Another strong Dale ally!

This ally is incredibly strong, in an already strong achetype. Dale has come out of it's deluxe box swinging and this guy is proof of it. Throw a Spare Hood and Cloak or Map of Rhovanion on him and enjoy not exhausting with your 3 (Assuming you are running Brand son of Bain, why wouldn't you?.) Excellent card and a staple of any Dale deck worth it's salt.