I don't think this is a card people use very often in their hobbit decks.

Personally, I always try to include it in my hobbit decks because the theme is just so good. It perfectly embodies the support Sam gives to Frodo in their journey across Middle-Earth.

But, how good is the card? +1 in each stat on a hero is always amazing, but it comes with a heavy reastriction. 2 copies of the card need to be in play for the ability to come into effect. This makes it akward as only three copies can be included in a deck. This means we need to get 2/3 cards into play to get any value out of it.

Of course, this is assuming the card exists in a vacuum. These days, there are many ways to help ensure we get both copies in play. Gather Information, Drinking Song, Master of the Forge, Galadriel, Imladris Stargazer, Mirror of Galadriel, and Word of Command are just a few.

Sam Gamgee and Tom Cotton make great use out of this card especially with Fast Hitch or Unexpected Courage.

Of course, does this card do anything that Rosie Cotton doesn't do better? Rosie is significantly more consistant to set up and has comparable benefits. So, not really.

TLDR: This isn't an amazing card, nor is it an outright terrible card. It's an okay card, but most importantly it is a fun card. That last point is the takeaway. We play and love this game because it is enjoyable. Anythong that increases that enjoyment gets a pass in my book. Hence, why I love this card so much. Hopefully I convinced someone to give this card a second look.

I've found this version of Faramir a good companion for Guarded (Enemy) attachments. It is not the best card to deal with them, I agree, but I believe his ability is worth enough to give it a shot.

Once you play the attachment and the guardian is revealed, you can play Faramir to immediately engage the enemy, dealing it a direct 4 damage. If you are able to prepare the encounter deck for this, you will be able to claim the attachment at the same moment you've played it.

It is a bit tricky to make it work, since you will need to have the ability to play both Faramir and the attachment within the same planning phase. On top of that, having a scrying tool, to be sure that Faramir will be able to insta-kill the upcoming guardian, is also a must.

Fortunately, Faramir belongs to the sphere with the most powerful scrying cards (Denethor, Henamarth, Risk Some Light, Rumour from the Earth, etc.). Besides, the lore sphere also has Glamdring as guarded enemy attachment, and there are also available several neutral ones (Necklace of Girion, Ring of Thrór, The Arkenstone).

So, if you are playing with a mono-lore deck, to be prepared to apply this combo shouldn't be as hard as it looks.

Card search effects live and die on three factors - how easy it is to play, how likely it is to find a card it's searching for, and how effective the card we find is going to be. So let's have a look at why Raise the Shire is so good for the Hobbit archetype.

Costing only a single resource, and requiring you to engage an enemy makes it very easy to play. Engaging enemies, especially enemies with higher engagement cost than your threat, is what the Hobbit archetype is all about. And while there are only two Tactics Hobbit heroes (Merry and Tom), they both fill unique spots in the archetype that make them quite popular in both the classic Black Riders lineup (Sam, Merry, Pippin) and the usual Bond lineup (Sam, SpMerry, Pippin, Tom).

How likely it is to find an eligible Hobbit ally within the first 5 cards really depends on the build. But the kicker, where if the enemy engaged is above your threat, is the real power of this card. Being able to search your whole deck for the right Hobbit ally for the situation is incredibly powerful, makes it incredibly difficult to fail to find an ally to play with it unless somehow you've already drawn all of your allies before drawing into this card. And engaging enemies with a higher engagement cost that your threat is what the Hobbit archetype is all about, so it's playing into what you should already be trying to do anyway.

And how good are the allies you can get with this card? Well, as much as Hobbits have generally good allies anyway, I've found there are really only two that I look for consistently with Raise the Shire - Rosie and Gaffer Gamgee. Rosie provides such versatility to the Hobbit archetype that having in play will shore up any weakness you have to the current quest and allow you to build a proper board state. Gaffer is Feint on a stick, and while you may not need or be able to afford him every turn, being able to dodge the boss enemy attack for a turn can be enough to ensure you can kill it quicker as well.

The ally comes back into your hand at the end of the round; you only get it for one round without having to pay for it normally. But it means the turn it gets used you can use Gaffer's effect with impunity because you were going to have to pay for him anyway. The other thing this enables is picking an ally with an enters play effect - eg Bilbo or Odo Proudfoot - let's you double down on it, and potentially get two pipes or events for your trouble. If you already have the ally you want for your strategy, grabbing a generally useful ally such as Bywater Shirriff or Hobbit Archer never feels wasteful.

So for a single resource, it can be a Feint, or grab an extra blocker if you need it, or make sure that you get that key combo piece you need sooner rather than later. The versatility of the Hobbit allies means Raise the Shire is never going to be a dead card in your hand, and can also serve as extra copies of key allies to help thin your deck and then be used for different allies later on.

The one thing to watch out for with this card is the ally you put into play cannot come from your hand, so if you've already drawn the single copy of whichever ally you want they can't be put into play by this effect. So when engaging an enemy, play Raise the Shire before triggering Pippin's response to ensure you don't accidentally draw the card you want to put into play.

Some other notable interactions - the response is not restricted to the encounter phase, so it can be triggered by a Dúnedain Hunter or Wait no Longer and the ally brought in can be used for questing. Halbarad's effect kicks in the moment they are engaged, so you would get the benefit of the extra engagement cost while playing Raise the Shire. It's also worth pointing out you don't need a Hobbit hero to play it, so you could take in a different archetype as well - say a Gandalf deck trying to get value from Bilbo.

This is probably one of the strongest cards in the Hobbit archetype. In the long game it essentially gives you a recurring version of Feint, but a slightly higher cost. You can absorb a major enemy into your engagement area and keep it in a permanent stasis where it cannot attack. Recommended for inclusion in Hobbit decks with a lore contingent (ideally at least two heroes with lore sphere) and it may even be worth running multiples to get him earlier.

A nice card in combination with Sam Gamgee, particularly if he is wearing a Hobbit Cloak to survive an attack. In a standard Hobbit deck with low threat, Sam typically readies himself when you engage an enemy and he will now have Attack 2 before any modifier from attachments. If he can survive in defence then this card will ready him again and he will now have Attack 4 for his counter-attack. Thus, typically this card will cost you one resource for at least 4 Attack against an engaged enemy (possibly more if Sam has other Attack bonuses). That compares favourable with many direct damage cards in Tactics (e.g., Swift Strike, Skyward Volley, Goblin-cleaver, Fierce Defense) but it requires surviving Defence first. Since Hobbit decks have limited attack power, this is a useful card that can help you deal with difficult enemies engaged with you. It is generally strong in a Hobbit deck using Sam Gamgee and I would recommend inclusion in most decks of this kind.