When I first saw this card I was amazed and immediately thought it to be one of the best cards in the set. After ICE pointed out to me that the combo I had in mind didn't work, I still think it's a pretty good card.
Nobody's Friend # Hazard # Permanent-event or Short-event
As a permanent-event, playable on a face-down agent who was brought into play
this turn. When the agent is revealed, and if his home site is a Border-hold
or a Free-hold, the site where he came into play (which is not represented by
a card) may legally be any Border-hold or a Free-hold. Discard when the agent
is revealed. Alternatively, as a short-event, take any agent who has a home
site that is a Free-hold or Border-hold from your play deck into your hand
(reveal it to opponent and reshuffle your play deck).
What was the combo I was thinking of that doesn't work? Twisted Tales. I had a deck that caused much havoc by having someone like Dror become Nobody's Friend and then when a faction was influenced, I would use a Twisted Tales to automatically get rid of it. Why doesn't that work? This card does not change the agent's homesite. It merely lets them come in at any border- or free-hold.
This can be very useful, especially since you are limited to 36 mind worth of agents in your deck. You can use this card to get a lot more out of your agents. For instance, you can have just a few agents in key locations (like near Mordor, up east, near Rivendel, and near Gondor) and move them around bit by bit until you finally get to that site you want. Or, you can just make one of them Nobody's Friend and have a shot at influencing away any faction. You should probably use Good Sense Revolts to give your attempt +4, as you won't get any of the homesite bonuses.
You can also use this card for other agent purposes. You can have the agent appear where it was unexpected and attack a company who is entering. Or you can let an agent like Firiel go to ANY border-hold the company happens to go to and play Shadow Out of the Dark, causing mass amounts of pain and death from undead. You can also use this card with a ranger agent and Seek Without Success to cause any one trip to a border/free-hold to be unsuccessful.
There are a few drawbacks to this card. First, it only happens once, so you can't just teleport around Middle-earth. Also, you can't unreveal the agent, as when he was next revealed, it would be an illegal site path. Also, you have to play this card along with the agent. One advantage of agents is that they are easy to get in to play, as you can just plop them down. With this card you either have to hold the agent in your hand, taking up space, or you have to draw this card at the exact right time.
However, this card can be a very needed addition to many agent influence decks.
| Ratings for Nobody's Friend: | |
|---|---|
| Isildur: | 7.5 |
| Frodo: | 8.0 |
| Samwise: | 8.0 |
| Cirdan: | 7.5 |
| Beorn: | 6.8 |
| Fingolfin: | 8.5 |
| Strider: | 6.0 |
| Legolas: | 7.0 |
| Bandobras Took: | 8.0 |
| Farmer Maggot: | 8.0 |
| Alatar: | 6.0 |
| Average: | 7.4 |
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.