Final Pack: The Crossings of Poros

 

After much searching and bargaining and resigning, my player card collection for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is complete (again)! The Crossings of Poros, one of the harder Adventure Packs to track down, earned that honor. Since it is still factory sealed, and since I have been spending the past few weeks doing a massive overhaul of my game room vs actually playing, this seemed like a perfect pack for a card-by-card impression review. I am not by any means an expect in deck-building for this game nor in seeing crazy synergies, but I enjoy looking at a good card and thinking how I can put it to use. 

Quickbeam

4 attack and the ability to ready at will makes Quickbeam a fighting beast. Really needs to be paired with strong healing to take full advantage of his abilities. And I remember some Ents having synergy with damaged Ents, so this is also a great way to trigger those bonuses on command as well. A high threat, but you want to be engaging enemies left and right.

Halfast Gamgee

Made for the decks really committing to the Player Side Quest strategy. And if you are all-in, then you get a unique ally for a discount (up to free). Would love this ability stabled on something non-unique, to feel like I am getting a bigger potential benefit for the effort. A hobbit, but not really part of the hobbit secrecy efforts. Eh. Not impressed.

Bulwark of the West

This is not the type of card I would think of putting into a deck on my first run of a quest. After a nasty condition attachment costs me the game, then a card like this comes in (if I'm not playing Lore). Still not excited about the prospect of discarding an ally, so I would be looking for synergies that care about that.

Beorning Guardian

I just mentioned not being a fan of discarding allies, but having the option to use an enemy for a little extra progress in tactics is inciting. Would definitely want this in mono-tactics builds. I always think of heading back to the Carrock when I think mono-tactics. Maybe this guy will make the cut for a future Nightmare attempt.

Followed

A perfect pairing with our bearish friend above. And another way to use the threat of an enemy against the quest. Seems like another mono-tactics goodie in my mind.

Flight to the Sea / Wind From the Sea

The effect is strong, but my issue with these types of cards is that you have little control of when they appear. I would want to pair this with a way to know what is coming next or a way to manipulate the encounter deck. Left to chance, I could see this coming out at a time where it has no practical affect on my board state. Maybe playing this when the encounter deck is thinned down and the difficulty of the quest is high enough where any little edge matters.

Emyn Arnen Ranger

Really only fitting in a heavy trap deck, but seems like a good inclusion when that is the case. Still, not amazing for a situational effect.

The Dam Bursts

Speaking of Ent damage, here is yet another way to get Quickbeam up. I do like these dual-trait cards and the deck-building directions they push you in. Makes me want to shift through the various Hobbits and see what hobbits would have the best synergy with Ent damage (although I don't remember healing being a big aspect of Hobbits). 

Magic Ring

Now this is the star of the pack. Repeated, powerful effects for the low cost of a threat increase. Rightly only one per deck. That does mean you may go a whole game without seeing it. But worth the chance in many decks.

Parting Thoughts

There are packs that favor one sphere over another and this is, by far and away, a Tactics pack. The rest of the inclusions (besides Magic Ring) seem situational at best. With the Ring available in the Dwarves of Durin starter deck, I wouldn't consider this an essential pick up for player cards alone. With that said, this pack has me looking forward to my next mono-tactics excursion.