In the background of this month, I asked you to fill in the monthly poll as usual. This month, I wanted to know what 3 cost Lore ally is the community’s favourite. There are a lot of 3 cost Lore allies, and some are more worth the inclusion in your deck than others. With the cards ranging from various archetypes and from the Core Set to current content, let’s see where you would most likely want to commit your 3 Lore resources.
A total of 35 votes have been collected over the past month. This struck me as a lot less than last month, but then I remembered I asked for 3 answers then per person, so it checks out rather well. The number of votes should also be enough to get some reliable answers out of this poll and determine our winner.
Eh, right, I think we have a winner here. With about a third of all votes, the Wellinghall Preserver won this poll. And that is not without reason. He has some of the best stats you can get for a 3 cost ally without it leaving play at the end of the round (looking at number 2). The Preserver also has a passive healing ability that it can trigger on any Ent character, including itself. This makes the Wellinghall Preserver a good option in any deck that runs a lot of Lore, as you will likely have a couple of Ents like Wandering Ent and Quickbeam in that deck. Being able to use these Ents as pin cushions for Archery and direct damage and healing it off with the Preserver can be a powerful way to avoid taking damage on your other characters unnecessarily. The base of 3 willpower makes this ally a solid quester, but it could also serve as a decent defender against smaller enemies, especially when you give the Preserver a Burning Brand (set a branch on fire!).
In the number 2 spot, we have the versatile Elrond ally from the Road Darkens box. His ability to either heal, draw cards or remove condition attachments make him very splashable in Lore decks against many scenarios. His solid stat line can help you out in a pinch if you are getting locked with enemies or locations, though he does have the drawback that he must leave play at the end of the round. But even so, the round he enters play shifts the tide of battle back in favour of the players.
Further down the list, we find the damage lightning rod that is Dori. He will become a lot more popular now that the Beorning decks are on the rise. His ability to absorb damage that would otherwise end up on heroes is amazing when combined with Beorn and can serve as an emergency button if an undefended attack adds more damage than anticipated. The Mirkwood Explorer got my vote, as he will be a crucial ally in the new Woodmen deck. His ability to dump a lot of progress on a specific location is amazing, even without using other location control cards. The Sarn Ford Sentry added some much-needed card draw to the Dunedain archetype and balances quite well. I mean, just look at that throat!
There are a number of allies that didn’t get as much love though. Harbour Master continues to be a weird counterintuitive card that requires a specific setup to be amazing. That just takes too long for most people who would like to play other decks with more powerful cards. Bifur is widely overshadowed by his hero version, and Dwarf decks tend to be OK for card draw with Legacy of Durin. Ithilien Lookout was a bit surprising, as he is quite good in Secrecy builds, though he probably couldn’t hold a candle to the other allies on this list.
So there you have it, hopefully, this matched your thoughts on this poll as well. For the month of September, I already posted the new poll. Since I recently started with the Angmar Awakened cycle, I was wondering what your favourite quests are. Since there are so many excellent quests to choose from, I will give everyone 2 picks. This should also benefit the results in the end. So you can post your answers on the poll in the sidebar as usual. Do you like getting smashed to bits at Carn Dûm? Or do you prefer getting munched by Wargs in the Wastes of Eriador? Vote now!
Vision Of The Palantir 