Weekend results are tabulated. Four more days to cast your votes!

Eowyn (23) vs Frodo Baggins (11)
Eowyn leads by 12

Elrond (19) vs Beregond (14)
Elrond leads by 5

Gandalf (13) vs Galadriel (20)
Galadriel leads by 7

Celebron (17) vs Aragorn (16)
Celeborn leads by 1

Eowyn is mopping the floor with Frodo right now, but the other three races are all really close. This culminates with the one vote difference between Celeborn and Aragorn. There is still plenty of time for all four races!

edit: a typo in Elrond's vote total (was posted as 29, should be 19)

AV - Eowyn

AW - Beregond

AX - Gandalf

AY - Aragorn

AV - Eowyn

AW - Beregond

AX - Galadriel

AY - Aragorn

AV - Eowyn - Unfortunately I have to continue the smashing of Frodo. My vote goes for Eowyn.

AW - Beregond - Sure, Elrond is a great hero, but Beregond really arrived as a one-man defensive solution and I love his ability to get armor for free or reduced cost.

AX - Gandalf - Extremely tough one, but I've had a bit more time with Gandalf so familiarity gets the nod.

AY - Aragorn - Celeborn is great and I love Silvan, but I have to put Strider through.

Av Eowyn

Aw Beregond

Ax Gandalf

Ay Aragorn

Elrond (29) vs Beregond (14)

Elrond leads by 5

Elrond (29) vs Beregond (14)

Elrond leads by 5

Surely you meant Elrond leads by 15?

A typo, thanks for catching it.

Elrond has 19 votes, and does indeed lead by 5. Although since I posted the tallies, there has been a string of Beregond votes!

I am surprised by the love that Eowyn gets, especially relative to Frodo! Sure, she is a great quester right off the bat - but that is all that she does! Frodo is just as good at defending as Eowyn is at questing, and playing him involves lots of interesting choices.

I am surprised by the love that Eowyn gets, especially relative to Frodo! Sure, she is a great quester right off the bat - but that is all that she does! Frodo is just as good at defending as Eowyn is at questing, and playing him involves lots of interesting choices.

Agreed, but now that I think about it, she's REALLY amazing at what she does. Need help questing? Add Eowyn. Period. No need for attachments or allies or events to specifically support her. Frodo cannot come close to filling her role like she can. If you have the same issue, Frodo will be subpar there. Ok, so what about defending. Can you just plop a Frodo into a deck as a defender? Yes and no. If he is your primary defender, you are going to probably need some threat reduction. You'll also want Arwen at the very least for your defense boosting. There are other options if you include other spheres. You may even want some boots to bump him to 3 HP to be sure that if you need to take a bit of damage you'll survive it. You'll also likely want Fast Hitch or Unexpected Courage in order to make use of versatility a bit.

In the end, Eowyn can stand on her own without any need to build around her. Frodo doesn't need much, but building around him tends to need a bit more thought. I'm surprised this fight is so one-sided, but I definitely don't fault people for choosing Eowyn.

AV - Frodo
AW - Beregond
AX - Gandalf
AY - Celeborn

About Frodo: I have fallen out of love with him thanks to modern scenarios commonly plopping multiple enemies down in front of me. In that case, Frodo is unreliable. He can only soak up damage via threat once per phase, so unless you devote some deck space to pumping his defense, he cannot defend more than once per round.

AV - Eowyn

AW - Beregond

AX - Galadriel

AY - Celeborn

Wow, there are some close match-ups this round! All the contenders are giving their best in this competition. I had the good fortune of rubbing shoulders with some of the combatants this evening, and therefore I hope you will not find it too presumptuous of me if I bring you a:

Match-up Spotlight

Beregond V Elrond

vs.

At the time of this writing, Beregond has jumped ahead by a slim margin, leading Elrond 20 votes to 19. This is anybody's contest! Now, let's hear from the competitors themselves:

Beregond: I can't believe how far I have come! My thanks to all my supporters, but now I must call for your aid once more in this, my most challenging battle yet. Though I have weathered the blows of trolls, orcs, and even Nazgul, and come away unscathed, now I face my fiercest foe. But while the elf-lord is strong, I am stronger and my shield does not fail. And look what my strength can bring you! I am happy to take the blows of the enemy while my allies muster their might. Would you like to bring one such as Mr. Bilbo Baggins to defend against the enemy? He will need his Burning Brand, and warnings of the Dunedain, before he is ready, and he will need time to find them. This I can give to him, and to others, whether they are by my side or far away. And can Elrond, truly? Or will he be lost in the power of his ring, heedless while hobbits and men are slain at his side? Look not to the elves for aid, my friends, for when things grow truly dire, you will find them halfway across the sea.

Elrond: Among the wise I am counted, but wisdom need I not to measure my own strength against a simple guard of the Citadel. Where a Man may stand and defend against hurts of the body, so may I do the same, and yet also may I repair those hurts and give sound counsel withal. So too am I keeper of the Blue Ring, whose might you surely will find a mighty boon in your struggle against the servants of the Enemy. Beregond has done well. The age of Men is well nigh, but has not yet come. You have but one choice: to lay aside the shield of Gondor and walk, for a little while yet, with the firstborn.

There you have it, friends! Cast your votes wisely!

AV: Éowyn
AW: Elrond
AX: Galadriel
AY: Celeborn

AV - Eowyn

AW - Elrond

AX - Gandalf

AY - Celeborn

AV: Eowyn

AW: Elrond

AX: Galadriel

AY: Celeborn

Eowyn for the top 2014 hero!

AV: Eowyn

AW: Elrond

AX: Galadriel

AY: Aragorn

AV: Frodo

AW: Beregond

AX: Gandalf

AY: Aragorn

Too much Celeborn! How can people honestly believe that a hero that can only be really useful with a single faction is better than Loragorn?

Too much Celeborn! How can people honestly believe that a hero that can only be really useful with a single faction is better than Loragorn?

New and shiny goes a long way ...and that one faction also happens to be very fun with a lot of new and shiny options to go with it.

If we were going for most useful or greatest card Heroes then the likes of Glorfindel (S) and Dain Ironfoot would still be in the running... they're not but will still see plenty of game time.

Yeah, this kind of vote is not really about "which player card is the most powerful." I like that it's nice an open, so we have people voting for art, flavor, theme, power, etc..

Also, when Lost Realm comes out I expect to use Tactagorn much more than Loragorn.

Yeah, this kind of vote is not really about "which player card is the most powerful." I like that it's nice an open, so we have people voting for art, flavor, theme, power, etc..

Yes... and beauty ... wrinkly old grey bearded man vs most beautiful of all the house of Finwë

Beregond still in the tournament? He is the hero most dead along all the time i have been played lotr.