I thought I'd write about a simple card today that I've been thinking a lot about lately, since it encompasses so many of the things I like about Lord of the Rings: The Prancing Pony.
There are two really brilliant things about this card. The first is that it allows you to automatically pull Aragorn from your draw deck. I've always been a fan of eliminating chance as much as possible from your game. If you're dependent on Aragorn for a strategy for your deck, stocking four of him in your draw deck and hoping that you draw him is sometimes just not good enough. For the cost of a decent starting bid, and then another burden, you can ensure that this key part of your strategy is always available.
The second thing I like about the Pony is that it's available to both players. This is something great about the Site Path in the Lord of the Rings. Both players share the pros and cons of each site. While this may benefit a certain player more (i.e. one player didn't stock Aragorn in his/her deck), it keeps the playing field more level.
The next time you're creating a site deck, think about how you can craft your path to minimize the luck of the draw from your deck, and how the text benefits both you and your opponent!