LotR TCG Card Strategies - #3 (look, it's a Trilogy!)

Pippin, Friend of Frodo
Pippin, Hobbit of Some Intelligence

These two obviously have a lot in common. 3 Strength, 4 Vitality for only 1 Twilight. The only differences are the Signets and the abilities.

Friend of Frodo has a nice ability to protect your Shire Tales. That's useful if you're playing Tales and you expect opponents to be trying to discard them. ("But I don't see any cards that discard Tales?" All Tales are Conditions, there's plenty of cards that discard Conditions.) Hobbit of Some Intelligence has a very specialized function with the Gandalf Signet. You can Exert The Grey Wizard to play Pippin for free, then use Pippin's ability to heal Gandalf. Basically, Pippin is completely free in this situation. Free companions are always welcome in my fellowship.

But in both those cases, Pippin is very specific to your deck. How is he useful in general? Well, he's a cheap companion. For only 1 Twilight, he sits on the table and takes a hit from a minion. Perhaps he can even take two hits if he's against things like Goblin Backstabbers, and that keeps the Backstabber from ganging up on Frodo. Unlike the other cheap companions, you don't need to spot and Elf or Dwarf to play him. If you use Hobbit of Some Intelligence, you also get a bonus. That 1 Twilight now heals a character, making Pippin similar to Athelas, but you also have the option to remove a Burden if you're facing a corruption deck. Friend of Frodo can do even more healing if you're using Son of Drogo. (and most decks use Son of Drogo unless they're playing with Hobbit Allies.) You can heal three times with that Pippin, and then sacrifice him to a large minion.

4 Vitality is also has its uses. He can take a lot of Archery fire away from the rest of the Fellowship, and Exert for Dwarrowdelf Chamber or Under Watching Eye.

Sometimes you just want to throw one Pippin in your deck to start with him. Say you want to start with Boromir, you have one Twilight left to use on starting Companions. Play Hobbit of Some Intelligence and you can immediately use his text to remove one of those Burdens you bid with. This also works as a variant in Elf decks, instead of starting Legolas and two Loriens, use just one Lorien and Pippin. A lot of decks start with Westfarthing, Pippin will be glad to reduce the cost of your other Companions/Allies.