Ranger of the North

It does not activate as a shadow card. The rules clearly state that when a card is used for a shadow card all text except that shadow text part is ignored.

Yes, I know. Thats why I said "should".

I meant that I really wished it was activated, but I know it won't.

I have played a bit with it, yes.   It's a pretty good card.  I won't say amazing, but it's pretty good.  Frankly this card would be overpowered if it triggered on shadow,  the balancing effect seems to be that you might discard him.   When he shows up though,   he is amazing.   Fantastic stats for effectively 1 cost, ranged, sentinel, and a great When Revealed ability as well.  Now sure, if he is a shadow it is sort of unfortunate, but effectively denying the enemy a shadow card is good too.  We had one game where the deck ran out of cards during the combat phase and we knew that RotN was one of them.   As it happened, the first enemies defended against were not RotN, so there was a situation where we knew what the shadow card was against an enemy without seeing it.  We were able to safely take that attack undefended, which was incredibly helpful at the time.

And if he is discarded (or killed), he might show up again if you get through the deck.

Ultimately I think we'll see some more ways to get RotN into play this cycle.   Ranger Summons may not be the best way to do it.  As it stands now, its good, it can be worth running,  it's not great, it's not a must-have.

Ultimately I think we'll see some more ways to get RotN into play this cycle.

Shadow of the Past should be helpful here

The fact that he can become a shadow card with no effect is worth having him in the encounter deck.

But then, again, I've used him 3 times, and he only showed once - as a shadow card! 

Card is not very good in most/many decks.  When you pay one resource you typically want that resource to provide an immediate or guaranteed effect.  

One of the cool things about LoTR is because it's a casual play you can still get away with using less than A+ cards in your build.

Shadow of the Past should be helpful here

I don't think this combination would work.  RotN has the Encounter keyword, and the last rule on the Encounter keyword is as follows:

"If a player card with the encounter keyword leaves play, it is removed from the game. Do not place it in a player's discard pile or in the encounter deck discard pile."

Otherwise absolutely, Shadow of the Past would be huge here!

I don't think this combination would work.  RotN has the Encounter keyword, and the last rule on the Encounter keyword is as follows:

 

"If a player card with the encounter keyword leaves play, it is removed from the game. Do not place it in a player's discard pile or in the encounter deck discard pile."

 

Otherwise absolutely, Shadow of the Past would be huge here!

However if it has been dealt as a shadow card it does indeed go to the discard pile; then you Shadow-of-Past him (look mommy, I made a new verb) back on top ready for the next quest phase

For me, this card's deal-breaker is the surge. If it would just replace an encounter card, period (quest, shadow, whatever), then it would be worth it as a denial or delay tactic against the encounter deck. But the fact that you have to draw another encounter card right after this comes out really hampers its biggest potential advantage. The only way that doesn't happen is when it is a shadow card, so that's actually a good time for it (even though it doesn't activate the card text when it does).

For me, this card's deal-breaker is the surge. If it would just replace an encounter card, period (quest, shadow, whatever), then it would be worth it as a denial or delay tactic against the encounter deck. But the fact that you have to draw another encounter card right after this comes out really hampers its biggest potential advantage. The only way that doesn't happen is when it is a shadow card, so that's actually a good time for it (even though it doesn't activate the card text when it does).