Meneldor

Ally. Cost: 3. 2   2   1   2  

Creature. Eagle.

Cannot have restricted attachments.

Response: After Meneldor enters or leaves play, place 2 progress on a location.

...Meneldor young and swift. -The Return of the King
Dmitry Prosvirnin

Roam Across Rhovanion #31. Tactics.

Meneldor
Reviews

I've really come around on this guy, and he's steadily become a go-to in my tactics decks even if I'm not running eagles. Asfaloth is regarded as the king of location control and for good reason, and I would argue that Meneldor comes pretty close, especially in dedicated eagle decks, or in lower player counts where you might not need Asfaloth's 2 progress every turn.

Obviously he is most powerful in a dedicated eagle deck where he can soar in and out, slapping 4 progress as he goes - a key threshold for many locations in the game. Gwaihir can draw and play him for free for a turn. Flight of the Eagles in this AP can give you a beneficial encounter card along with the progress. Obviously I would be remiss not to mention Radagast's Staff that can give you this guy's impressive stats for just 1.

Outside of a standard eagle deck, he's a fantastic questing ally in Tactics, as others have said, and you could include him just for that. Outside of sphere, if Sneak Attack Gandalf feels too broken, this is a great alternative.

frozen 210

Eagles have been known to be very powerful for combat but... not much else. With the release of Meneldor, the players playing the eagle deck can actually contribute something to the questing power and the other players won't have to carry you so much.

We already know the ability is great but Meneldor comes with a bonus, it has 2!. You rarely see that in a ally and near never in a eagle. I'm glad that Fantasy Flight designed more eagles for the archetype and didn't make them combat heavy like the others.

The best tool actually at Tactics disposal to fight againts locations, and also with a nice 2 and to boot. Can be at home in Eagle decks, Hirgon decks but also more general mono-Tactics ones. The artwork is also amazing.