It's a card that is both simple and subtle, flexible enough to pursue multiple goals and fit into varied sets of decks and scenarios.

This event has three notable interests which can be combined :

1) Granting a willpower bonus to all characters (heroes or allies, unique or not) engaged in the quest, just before the quest resolution step.

2) Readying the questing characters to take advantage of their possible versatility (an action triggerable during this phase 3 or later, or good stats usable in combat).

3) Discarding many encounter cards that bother us.

For 2-cost, there are two conditions to be able to take full advantage of it :

• Treacheries must be manageable, obsolete or painless for our deck and our cards in play (which also depends a lot on the scenario, of course)

• We must be able to scry and manipulate the encounter deck. A few steps before playing A Desperate Path we can for example trigger Far-sighted, Interrogation, or Risk Some Light. Another interesting card to play before A Desperate Path is Shadow of the Past if some treachery without serious consequences sits at the top of the encounter discard pile.

I'm writing the first review for this card. This is an effective and versatile ally who synergizes well with a classical Dale board.

1) Thanks to Brand son of Bain + King of Dale (and other attachment(s) on him) and / or Traffic from Dale, he can be played for a very interesting cost-stat ratio around mid-game.

2) Then, Bard son of Brand brings the ability to play an attachment of any sphere on Descendant of Girion.

3) The passive ability of Descendant of Girion eases the payment of that attachment card on him, which triggers Brand son of Bain's drawing response.

4) Finally, in conjunction with Long Lake Trader, Descendant of Girion can shift its attachment to another ally, to optimise the use of that attachment.

He is not included in all Dale decks (maybe because of its printed 4-cost), but it is a nice card that contributes to the mix of power and flexibilty that so much players love in the Dale archetype.

First review for this card. A low-cost and single-task ally ( alter ego of Misty Mountain Journeyman in ) for two main deck types :

1) A Dunedain or partially Dunedain deck that intermittently needs a cheap attack bonus for help finishing a strong ennemy or for destroying a low ennemy whom we are engaged with, before engaging new ennemies or to achieve the quest. Against a scenario with many ennemies, he can synergize with Dúnedain Hunter and Mablung too : you play the Hunter for free and engage a new ennemy during the planning phase, win 1 resource thanks to Mablung, then play Northern Bowmaster with this resource, so that you control two new allies without modifying your initial budget.

2) A non-Dunedain deck in a scenario where some ennemy promptly engage us and we need cheap allies to help destroy him.

First review for this card. Like Kahliel's Tribesman and although it's a neutral card, she is an ally to be used exclusively in a Harad / Kahliel theme deck. Outside of this context, its cost-stat ratio would be just average. But in a Harad deck, it is equivalent to a multi-sphere resource accelerator for the allies, all the more valuable that the "big three" (Firyal, Jubayr, Yazan) are expensive allies that we nevertheless need to play quickly for their intrinsic qualities and to optimize the combo Kahliel + Kahliel's Headdress. Of course she is useful to accelerate the setup of the other allies (Kahliel's Tribesman and other copies of Southron Refugee) too.

No review for this card yet ? OK I'm writing the first one. It's a versatile ally with an excellent cost-stat ratio, which fits naturally into two main types of deck:

1) Noldor (whether there is Erestor or not). The important thing here is not so much the rate of drawing as the rate of discarding cards from the hand. Eregion Survivor therefore fits very well with the cards Arwen Undómiel, Glorfindel, Elven Jeweler, Steed of Imladris, To the Sea, to the Sea!, or in multi-sphere with Song of Healing, Protector of Lórien, Wandering Exile, Watcher of the Bruinen, Trollshaw Scout, Erestor, or the neutral Guardian of Rivendell.

2) Decks that have access to the spirit sphere and suffer from a chronic lack of draw. We can think for example of a deck with Lothíriel in Rohan.