In traditional approaches, there are two ways to react when you are attacked. First, you can fight. Second, you can run away. Another good option is to be vewy vewy quiet.
Stealth # Resource # Short-event
Scout only. Tap a scout to play at the end of the organization phase only if
the scout's company size is less than three. No creature hazards may be played
on his company this turn.
This card works best in a Hobbit deck. It can work well in other decks, but it works best in a Hobbit deck. But to see why it works best in a Hobbit one must discover what it is that works in this card...
This card is essential for small companies that would rather avoid creatures than fight them. It can be good on dangerous trips to Mordor or Dragon country or if you've got a weak company heading out on a short trip. Preventing all creature attacks for a turn is pretty impressive, especially for just the price of tapping a scout. However, there is a big drawback to this card. The company must have a size less than three. Thus, for this card to work with an ordinary company, you have to tap half of your company to bring it out. Of course, that can be okay. If you have Radagast on Shadowfax along with a Hobbit, you can have the Hobbit play this and send Radagast out to draw 8+ cards and then influence a faction. Or if you're heading for a faction with Arwen and Aragorn, just tap Arwen, play Stealth, and let her hubbie do the rest of the work. Or if you have a scout ally (Gollum) play this and leave his two masters to face the auto-attack and grab an item. Another nice combo with this is A Chance Meeting. Sure, you USED to have a company size of 2, but now you've got another character. And if you need the character untapped that can easily be arranged with a card like Cram, And Forth he Hastened, or Hundreds of Butterflies (they can't use the extra hazard to attack you...). Another nice thing is the fact that on-guard creatures can't attack the company.
But these drawbacks are bettered by Hobbits. Since Hobbits only count as half a character for company size purposes, you can have four Hobbits and still play this card. How many Hobbits does it take to get an item? One to play the Stealth, one to cancel the auto-attack, one to pick up the item, and one to make up a song about it. Plus, they are a natural group for this card, as they want to spend most of their time hiding quietly away from all the hustle and bustle of big folk. And actually playing the card is no problem, as they're all Hobbits.
One thing to keep in mind about Stealth. If you're using it to avoid nasty creatures, you'll need a way to get back. There are situations where you don't need a way back, such as avoiding your Ahunt dragon or if you use Great Road, but in general, you'll want to be able to avoid any creatures they could have played this turn. If you're just trying to stay untapped (having a larger company could help), then you don't need to worry if you're just heading back to a haven. But if you fear a wounding or are trying to go somewhere else and stay untapped, you may want to pack another Stealth or a few other cancel cards.
So Stealth, in the right decks, can be a very useful cards. However, since it requires such a small company it isn't used as much as cancelers like Concealment or Torque of Hues.
| Ratings for Stealth: | |
|---|---|
| Isildur: | 5.0 |
| Frodo: | 7.5 |
| Samwise: | 7.7 |
| Cirdan: | 7.0 |
| Beorn: | 7.0 |
| Fingolfin: | 6.0 |
| Strider: | 7.0 |
| Legolas: | 10.0 |
| Bandobras Took: | 7.0 |
| Farmer Maggot: | 9.0 |
| Alatar: | 4.0 |
| Average: | 7.0 |
Card names and text copyright 1996 by Iron Crown Enterprises, all rights reserved. This document copyright 1996 by Trevor Stone. Permission given to duplicate so long as no profit is made and the copyright notice is kept in tact, blah, blah, blah.