There a few memorable moments in this game's life, from its release with the Core Set to the start of its hiatus after Fortress of Nurn. One of those memorable moments, in my opinion, is the release of the Long Dark. This one Adventure Pack neatly divides the entire card pool into two periods; B.W., or Before Warden, and A.C., Anno Custodi, in the year of warden. Which warden am I talking about? This guy, of course. As a multiple use healing card (unlike Lore of Imladris) that can target allies (unlike Daughter of the Nimrodel) without requiring you to predict ahead of time who's most likely to be damaged over the course of the game (unlike Self Preservation), Warden of Healing effectively conquered the healing market, becoming the gold standard in healing overnight. After his release, any healing cards would face an uphill battle if they wanted to be included. Galadhrim Healer? Nice, but in 2 turns or 1 turn and 2 resources, Warden's better. Imladris Caregiver? The only reason they aren't immediate binder fodder is because they don't exhaust to heal and they have 2 so they don't die to Evil Storm. Ioreth? Free to play, and the healing's a more potent burst as opposed to Warden's more diluted group healing. However you provide it, if you're a healing card released A.C., you are going to be compared to Warden of Healing, and if you're found wanting, you will see as much play as Common Cause.
Dunedain Remedy, on the surface, appears to be destined to see as much play as poor Corefindel; it's a free point of healing, yes, but only 1 point, and after that any more healing you want to get out of it costs 1 resource, just like Poorfindel. And, just like the poor Noldor, it can't just be any resource; it has to be a resource on the hero with the Remedy, meaning it could potentially get stranded attached to a hero who's perpetually hungry for resources like Aragorn while damage builds up on your other heroes.
And it has to be heroes; just like Daughter of the Nimrodel, Dunedain Remedy can't heal allies, making direct damage to your questing allies even more hazardous and any damage annoying, as it's more likely to linger on the card and disrupt an otherwise physically smooth surface.
So, Dunedain Remedy's expensive, minimal, and restrictive. And it's the best healing card A.C., and for one reason; its sphere.
Dunedain Remedy is , just like the other Signals, one of three healing cards outside of . This changes the game; for the first time, you don't need to splash in your deck just in case direct damage starts worrying you. Now, every sphere except for ( has Stand and Fight and Reforged to get off-sphere healing cards into play) has healing options, and with Magic Ring's release even that problem was solved.
Later in the cycle, Rune-master was released, helping Dunedain Remedy along by somewhat mitigating its resource cost. But even without Rune-master, Dunedain Remedy is still an amazing card, if only for the deckbuilding opportunities it opens up; no more does the appearance of direct damage force you to include in your deck (Druadan Forest is a biiit iffy, though).
Yes, Dunedain Remedy isn't the best healing card in the game, or even necessarily that good. It's basically Corefindel as an attachment with the first use free but without the ability to heal allies. It's expensive, minimal, and restrictive, many of which Warden of Healing is not. But it's also another thing Warden isn't; not . It's that little detail, that difference in little right-hand symbol and coloring, that makes Dunedain Remedy one of the greatest healing cards in the game; it may not provide as much healing as Warden, but it provides that healing to those long left out.
