The poll of this month got a little less time to be filled in, due to the length of the month, but that hasn’t stopped many of you from filling in the poll in the side-bar of the blog. This month, I wanted to know which scenario of the Dream-chaser was your favourite. The Dream-chaser cycle is widely regarded as one of the most fun cycles in the game, so I gave you the option to pick your top 2.
In total, the poll received 74 votes, and all quests received at least 2 votes. This goes to show how great the cycle actually is since there are people willing to defend each of the 9 scenarios. But in the end, only one could be the winner.
With a very small margin, the Temple of the Deceived has won the poll. This quest is unique as it involved a treasure map that you needed to explore in order to find the key and the temple. It really made for a unique mechanic that I hope they bring back some day, as I enjoyed it a lot. I have played the Nightmare version of the quest as well, where the map gets even bigger, though it makes for a pretty tough scenario. While the map may take up a lot of space on your table, it is one of those scenarios that tend to stick with you when you think back at the cycle.
The second and third place are interesting, as both Voyage Across Belegaer and The Flight of the Stormcaller ranked high in the overall favourite quest tournament a few months ago. The quests both feature the Sailing mechanic that players tend to enjoy, as the other Sailing quests also rank pretty high on this list. I personally really enjoy these quests as well, as Voyage across Belegaer is rather relaxing in the beginning, but can get nail-bitingly close near the end when you have to decide to outrun (outsail?) the Corsairs, or destroy them all. Flight of the Stormcaller however, is a rollercoaster ride from start to finish, as you try to catch up with the ship before it moves on to the next stage. The mechanics introduced in each scenario add an extra layer of theme to the game that I (and appearantly others) really enjoy.
Near the bottom of the list, we start to encounter some quests that are generally forgotten. I am working my way through Fate of Numenor at the moment, but it is just a tease for the map mechanic of Temple of the Deceived, which handles the double-sided locations better in my opinion. In final place, we encounter the final quest of the cycle, The City of Corsairs. This quest is pretty difficult and goes all-over the place. You start with ships and the Sailing mechanic, then get dropped off at Umbar and swarmed by enemies, only to result in a boss-fight with Sahir. This can be a bit overwhelming to some players, and the “trapped in enemy territory” feeling gets done better at the start of the next cycle. Still, the quest offers a tough deckbuilding challenge and can be a true achievement for a deck if it beat this quest.
With all of that out of the way, it is time to announce the new poll for the month of March. I recently did a deckbuilding article, and am now curious to see how the community tends to deckbuild. So I will have the new poll up by the time you are reading this about how many decks you have built and ready to go at the same time. Looking forward to the results!
Vision Of The Palantir 