D: Galadriel : I use her a lot and find her to be one of the strongest heroes in the game

E: Pippin (Lo) : That was very difficult for me, I vote for Pippin just because I do not play Dwarfs that often

F: Glorfindel (S) : Because he is still among the best

G: Sam Gamgee : His stats and ability make for a very strong hero

H: Frodo Baggins : I like Beravor and use her on my Dunedain decks, but Frodos ability is very strong and can be a saver

I: Beorn : I like him more

J: Éomer : Eomer when used on a Rohan deck with his attachments can be deadly

K: Idraen : I will vote for Loragorn, so here I stand for Idraen

L: Aragorn : Loragorn is one of my best heroes

M: Prince Imrahil : Never used him yet, but I find he might be of use

N: Legolas : Brand is no much for the elf

O: Denethor : I believe Denethor is still a solid defensive hero who also has a nice ability

P: Beregond : Beregond is the master of defence

Q: Merry (T) : Cause I use him in all my Hobbit decks and can be really powerfull

R: Haldir of Lorien : Find him more usefull

S: Thorin Oakenshield : Very strong dwarf hero

T: Elrond : One Glorfindel is enough

U: Faramir (Lo) : Never tried Rosiel, so I will vite for Faramir

V: Merry (S) : Has helped me a lot once or twice with his ability

W: Damrod : His ability is close to what I would like in my ranger decks

X: Gandalf : Lets face it, he is broken, as a Istari should be

Y: Halbarad : I just use more of Halbarad than Gimli, but I like both

Z: Treebeard : I love him ability and the Ents

AA: Balin : No reason, just have never payed Erestor

AB: Éowyn : Very strong questing character who can find more uses with recent cards

AC: Erkenbrand : Has helped me a lot on Rohan decks

AD: Elrohir : Did not have a chance to try Amarthuil yet

AE: Aragorn (T) : Have not played him yet, but his ability is great

AF: Celeborn : Great hero, like the Silvan decks

AG: Háma : Have not tried Arwen while Hama has helped me a lot in the past

AH: Théoden (S) : I believe he is very strong, nice ability and lots of attachments for him to be a winner

AI: Faramir (Le) : He has a better ability

AH - Theoden (Spirit). It's time for the Christmas spirit anyway.

D: Galadriel

E: Pippin (Lo)

F: Glorfindel (S)

G: Sam Gamgee

H: Frodo Baggins

I: Nori

J: Éomer

K: Aragorn (Le)

L: Aragorn (Lo)

M: Thalin

N: Legolas

O: Denethor

P: Beregond

Q: Bard the Bowman

R: Haldir of Lorien

S: Thorin Oakenshield

T: Elrond

U: Faramir (Lo)

V: Merry (S)

W: Bifur

X: Caldara

Y: Gimli

Z: Boromir (T)

AA: Balin

AB: Éowyn

AC: Erkenbrand

AD: Elrohir

AE: Aragorn (T)

AF: Celeborn

AG: Arwen Undomiel

AH: Elladan

AI: Boromir (Le)

Assorted comments:

E is a tricky battle, but in the end Pippin's abilities are just so much fun.

H was really hard! Both are excellent heroes. In the end I went with Frodo because a Spirit hero who covers defence is a bit more exciting than a lore hero that covers draw.

I: Nori is my favourite Spirit dwarf and I like Spirit, sorry Beorn!

K is a funny matchup between Aragorn and Not Quite Aragorn.

M: A close contest decided because there's nothing as gratifying as seeing an Encounter card be insta-killed by Thalin!

O: I have a soft spot for Denethor, he was probably my most used hero in the first two cycles, but is gathering dust these days, poor fellow.

Q: Argh, two cool Tactics heroes! Bard wins because I like defence-lowering shenanigans.

R: Clash of the Staging Area Attackers! Haldir is better!

U: Haven't used Rossiel yet and Faramir (Lo) is underrated.

X: we have two heroes that really change your approach from normal, I went with Caldara because a Caldara deck is completely different to any other deck I have used.

Probably Elladan and Elrohir should be combined into one hero for this championship...

D: Galadriel

E: Lore Pippin

F: Spiritfindel

G: Sam Gamgee

H: Beravor

I: Beorn

J: Éomer

K: Idraen

L: Aragorn (Lo)

M: Prince Imrahil

N: Legolas

O: Denethor

P: Beregond

Q: Bard the Bowman

R: Haldir of Lorien

S: Mablung

T: Elrond

U: Lore Faramir

V: Spirit Merry

W: Damrod

X: Gandalf

Y: Halbarad

Z: Treebeard

AA: Erestor

AB: Éowyn

AC: Eleanor

AD: Elrohir

AE: Tactagorn

AF: Celeborn

AG: Arwen Undomiel

AH: Elladan

AI: Leadership Faramir

D: Galadriel

E: Pippin

F: Glorfindel

G: Sam

H: Frodo

I: Beorn

J: Eomer

K: Aragorn

L: Aragorn

M: Thalin

N: Legolas

O: Denethor

P: Beregond

Q: Merry

R: Haldir

S: Mablung

T: Elrond

U: Rossiel

V: Merry

W: Damrod

X: Gandalf

Y: Gimli

Z: Treebeard

AA: Erestor

AB: Eowyn

AC: Erkenbrand

AD: Elrohir

AE: Aragorn

AF: Celeborn

AG: Arwen

AH: Theoden

AI: Faramir

D: Galadriel: A deck architype vs. and auxiliary filler. No one ever says “check out my sweet Mirlonde deck”.

E: Dain Ironfoot

F: Glorfindel (S): I want to hate of Glorfindel, but for this round I think he has it.

G: Sam Gamgee: Hobbits FTW

H: Beravor:

I: Beorn: The CotR “Bear and the Maidens Fair” deck has me loving Beorn right now

J: Glóin: I loved Éomer in 2014. But over the last few month I’ve really appreciated what Glóin has become

K: Idraen: Location based readying is huge

L: Aragorn (Lo):

M: Prince Imrahil: That armor is gorgeous

N: Legolas: Brand has that trick with Merry, but Legolas’s ability is too good

O: Gríma:

P: Beregond: So, most people try to use Bombur as a defender in their hero line-up…

Q: Merry (T):

R: Haldir of Lorien: Dúnhere is kind of a third wheel spirit hero when I’m trying to make a dual-sphere Rohan deck.

S: Mablung: resource generation in leadership vs. resource generation outside of tactics… I’ll choose the later

T: Elrond:

U: Rossiel:

V: Merry (S):

W: Damrod:

X: Gandalf: Caldara is cool and all, but her deck architype is just a little less fun than Gandalf’s

Y: Gimli: I’m casting this vote with Gimli’s alternate art in mind

Z: Boromir (T): Brandon’s undying support of Boromir wins my vote

AA: Balin: I’ve really come to appreciate Balin as a leadership splash hero with a great card effect

AB: Éowyn:

AC: Eleanor: Give her a Gondorian shield and she reaches the stratosphere

AD: Elrohir:

AE: Aragorn (T):

AF: Celeborn:

AG: Arwen Undomiel: Perhaps we’re over-speculating, but that art and that ability!

AH: Théoden (S): He’s knows when you are sleeping AND he’s the lynch pin of Rohan

AI: Faramir (Le): I’ll take the one that makes it to the end of the trilogy... doh, sorry, spoiler.

D: Galadriel

E: Pippin (Lo)

F: Glorfindel (S)

G: Sam Gamgee

H: Beravor

I: Beorn

J: Éomer

K: Idraen

L: Aragorn (Lo)

M: Prince Imrahil

N: Legolas

O: Denethor

P: Beregond

Q: Merry (T)

R: Haldir of Lorien

S: Mablung

T: Elrond

U: Rossiel

V: Merry (S)

W: Damrod

X: Gandalf

Y: Halbarad

Z: Boromir (T)

AA: Erestor

AB: Éowyn

AC: Erkenbrand

AD: Amarthiul

AE: Aragorn (T)

AF: Celeborn

AG: Arwen Undomiel

AH: Théoden (S)

AI: Faramir (Le)

Just throwing it out there cause it looks like a lot of work currently, isn't there a way in challonge that you could use the predictions feature as votes?

D: Galadriel

E: Dain Ironfoot

F: Glorfindel (S)

G: Sam Gamgee

H: Frodo Baggins - Really tough. Frodo wins only because there are way more card draw options these days.

I: Beorn

J: Glóin

K: Aragorn (Le)

L: Aragorn (Lo)

M: Prince Imrahil v Thali

N: Legolas

O: Gríma

P: Beregond

Q: Merry (T)

R: Haldir of Lorien

S: Thorin Oakenshield

T: Elrond

U: Rossiel

V: Merry (S)

W: Bifur

X: Gandalf

Y: Gimli

Z: Boromir (T)

AA: Balin

AB: Éowyn

AC: Erkenbrand

AD: Elrohir

AE: Aragorn (T)

AF: Celeborn

AG: Arwen Undomiel

AH: Théoden (S)

AI: Faramir (Le)

If Grima doesn't win, I'm burning this place down!

Just throwing it out there cause it looks like a lot of work currently, isn't there a way in challonge that you could use the predictions feature as votes?

A lot of work for me? Nah, I have a good system worked out.

A lot of work for the voters? This is what I feared leading up to the start of the event.

Last year we had 54 heroes and the size of the early ballots was reasonable. Our current round with 32 match-ups is large and perhaps work intensive for each voter. I have not received any feedback as such, but I do want to keep participation accessible and not burdensome. Next year, with potentially 80+ heroes, things will need to be different.

However, I'm really torn about automating this contest.

- Several people love posting / reading commentary about the voting.

- It brings the community together into one thread, instead just going to another site to vote - and then reading off results.

Here's the plan: Sometime next year we'll start a thread up about how to balance both functionality and community building for the 2016 championship.

Thanatopsis, on 02 Dec 2015 - 1:02 PM, said:

--- Round 2 ---

This is the big round. 64 heroes are reducing down to 32. Wow!

I’ve included a voting card (see below) that should help alleviate everyone re-typing everything. Just copy, paste, and delete whichever names you are not voting for.

There are some really fun match-ups this round. I’m especially looking forward to the Leadership versions of Boromir and Faramir duking it out.

Visit http://challonge.com/lotrhero2015 for the bracket layout.

Voting closes at noon CST Monday December 7.

---------------------------------------------

D: Galadriel v Mirlonde

E: Pippin (Lo) v Dain Ironfoot

F: Glorfindel (S) v Théodred

G: Sam Gamgee v Ori

H: Frodo Baggins v Beravor

I: Beorn v Nori

J: Éomer v Glóin

K: Aragorn (Le) v Idraen

L: Aragorn (Lo) v Hirluin the Fair

M: Prince Imrahil v Thalin

N: Legolas v Brand Son of Bain

O: Denethor v Gríma

P: Beregond v Bombur

Q: Merry (T) v Bard the Bowman

R: Haldir of Lorien v Dúnhere

S: Mablung v Thorin Oakenshield

T: Elrond v Glorfindel (Lo)

U: Rossiel v Faramir (Lo)

V: Merry (S) v Bilbo Baggins

W: Bifur v Damrod

X: Gandalf v Caldara

Y: Gimli v Halbarad

Z: Boromir (T) v Treebeard

AA: Erestor v Balin

AB: Éowyn v Dwalin

AC: Eleanor v Erkenbrand

AD: Elrohir v Amarthiul

AE: Aragorn (T) v Théoden (T)

AF: Celeborn v Dori

AG: Arwen Undomiel v Háma

AH: Théoden (S) v Elladan

AI: Boromir (Le) v Faramir (Le)

D: Mirlonde

E: Dain

F: Glorfindel

G: Sam

H: Frodo

I: Nori

J: Eomer

K: Aragorn (Le)

L: Aragorn (Lore)

M: Prince Imrahil

N: Legolas

O: Denethor

P: Beregon

Q: Bard the Bowmen

R: Dunhere

S: Thorin

T: Elrond

U: Rossiel

V: Merry (S)

W: Bifur

X: Gandalf

Y: Gimli

Z: Boromir (T)

AA: Balin

AB: Eowyn

AC: Eleanor

AD: Elrohir

AE: Aragorn (T)

AF: Celeborn

AG: Hama

AH: Elladan

AI: Faramir (le)

Just throwing it out there cause it looks like a lot of work currently, isn't there a way in challonge that you could use the predictions feature as votes?

A lot of work for me? Nah, I have a good system worked out.

A lot of work for the voters? This is what I feared leading up to the start of the event.

Last year we had 54 heroes and the size of the early ballots was reasonable. Our current round with 32 match-ups is large and perhaps work intensive for each voter. I have not received any feedback as such, but I do want to keep participation accessible and not burdensome. Next year, with potentially 80+ heroes, things will need to be different.

However, I'm really torn about automating this contest.

- Several people love posting / reading commentary about the voting.

- It brings the community together into one thread, instead just going to another site to vote - and then reading off results.

Here's the plan: Sometime next year we'll start a thread up about how to balance both functionality and community building for the 2016 championship.

Yeah, I really like having the thread to see everyone's opinions. Also it keeps people from voting more than once.

One thing you could do is have some of the top heroes get one or more rounds of byes. Like some tournaments with, say, 64 teams don't even have the top seeds play until the top 8 or top 12. That would limit the number of matchups per round (maybe 16 or 24 max) and allow for fewer blowouts.

D:Galadriel

E:Pippin

F:Theodred

G:Sam

H:Beravor

I:Beorn

J:Eomer
K:Idraen

L:Aragorn (Lo)
M:Imrahil
N:Legolas
O:Grima
P:beregond
Q:Haldir
R:Merry
S:Mablung
T:Elrond
U:Rossiel
V:Merry
W:Damrod
X:Gandalf
Y:Halbarad
Z:Treebeard
AA:Erestor
AB:Eowyn
AC:Erkenbrand
AD:Amarthuil
AE:Aragaron
AF:Celeborn

AG:Arwen
AH:Theoden
AI:Faramir

Good, Raven! Together with Grima, we shall rule this Middle..Earth.

D: Galadriel: almost as ubiquitous as Spirit Glorfindel now

E: Pippin (Lo): Pippin has two useful abilities and his low threat makes him easy to slot into multiple decks

F: Glorfindel (S): I like Theodred, but as tired as I get of Sp Glorfindel, I can't vote against him this early on

G: Sam Gamgee: Just an awesome hero and he makes it into every campaign I play.

H: Beravor: She's getting more play again because of the Dunedain.

I: Beorn: I like Nori, but the bear takes it here

J: Éomer: Will COTR's love carry Gloin through several rounds? Maybe, but not on my ballot.

K: Idraen: Very tough decision, but I like Spirit better than Leadership so I'll give Idraen the nod

L: Aragorn (Lo): Easy decision.

M: Prince Imrahil: Poor Thalin, his ability just doesn't cut it anymore.

N: Brand: I prefer Legolas' ally version to his hero version.

O: Gríma: Such a useful hero, and with more ways to draw tons of cards and lower your threat, he's just getting better.

P: Beregond: Still a great defender.

Q: Bard the Bowman: My favorite art in the game.

R: Haldir of Lorien: A rich man's Dunhere.

S: Mablung: Really bumps a lot of Tactics decks up to the next level.

T: Elrond: I like Lore Glorfindel, but Elrond.

U: Rossiel: Victory display deck is the best thing that came out of this cycle.

V: Merry (S): Gives new life to secrecy.

W: Bifur: Haven't played Damrod yet, so I'll give the nod to the utility dwarf.

X: Gandalf: I like both heroes and hate having to vote one out now, but I'll take Gandalf for the sheer amount of creativity you can incorporate in a deck with him.

Y: Gimli: Got some new life with Firefoot and dwarven attachment decks.

Z: Boromir (T): I like Treebeard, but Boromir is too good.

AA: Erestor: Again, Balin is good, but Erestor gives you whole new ways to play the game.

AB: Éowyn: Still the best quester.

AC: Eleanor: Erkenbrand is very good, but I've needed Eleanor on the table during this cycle. There are so many game-ending, table flipping treacheries in these quests that Eleanor has kept me sane and in the game.

AD: Elrohir: Best defender in the game, even if he comes with his brother as baggage.

AE: Aragorn (T): Get over here!

AF: Celeborn: Silvan Deck Cornerstone vs. Marginally Useful Defender. Hmmmmmmm.

AG: Arwen Undomiel: Hama is good, but Arwen looks like a game changer.

AH: Théoden (S): Makes Rohan decks viable.

AI: Faramir (Le): Really good in Ent decks.

AD: Elrohir: Best defender in the game, even if he comes with his brother as baggage.

Cannot tell you how happy this makes me. Glad someone agrees!

D: Galadriel

E: Pippin (Lo)

F: Glorfindel (S)

G: Sam Gamgee

H: Frodo Baggins

I: Beorn

J: Éomer

K: Idraen

L: Aragorn (Lo)

M: Prince Imrahil

N: Legolas

O: Denethor

P: Beregond

Q: Merry (T)

R: Dúnhere

S: Mablung

T: Elrond

U: Faramir (Lo)

V: Merry (S)

W: Damrod

X: Gandalf

Y: Gimli

Z: Treebeard

AA: Erestor

AB: Éowyn

AC: Erkenbrand

AD: Amarthiul

AE: Aragorn (T)

AF: Celeborn

AG: Arwen Undomiel

AH: Théoden (S)

AI: Boromir (Le)

​

D: Galadriel - I like Mirlonde but there's no contest here.
E: Pippin (Lo) - Pippin's great in a lot of contexts, Dain is Dwarves only (And I don't tend to play Dwarves).
F: Théodred - Still useful, and Glorfindel's boring.
G: Sam Gamgee - See what I said about Pippin.
H: Frodo Baggins - I like Beravor, but Frodo's such a potent defensive solution.
I: Beorn - See Pippin again. And Beorn is just fantastically fun.
J: Glóin - Don't often play either, but the complexities of getting Gloin to work are incredibly satisfying.
K: Idraen - Least favourite Aragorn vs. one of my favourite Spirit heroes.
L: Aragorn (Lo) - One of my favourite Lore heroes vs. Outlands.
M: Thalin - Imrahil may be objectively better, but building around direct damage effects is fun.
N: Brand Son of Bain - Legolas is pretty much guaranteed to win this one, but I retain an inordinate fondness for Brand.
O: Gríma - Cost reduction is just really good
P: Beregond - Bombur is underrated, but Beregond blows him out of the water
Q: Merry (T) - Powerful attacker in a Hobbit deck, or enabling chaingun attacks in combat decks. Bard just can't match up.
R: Haldir of Lorien - I really enjoy my Dunhere deck, but on the flipside Haldir is more versatile and fits into a greater variety of decks.
S: Mablung - See Pippin again...
T: Elrond - Corefindel just doesn't hold up well whereas Elrond is super powerful.
U: Rossiel - I'm actually more positive about Lore Faramir than a lot of people, but I find Rossiel more interesting.
V: Merry (S) - Bilbo is overcosted, whereas Merry sorts out threat reduction single-handed.
W: Damrod - I haven't actually used Damrod at all yet, but I really enjoy traps, so I'll pick him over Bifur.
X: Caldara - Caldara is way under-rated, I love to root for underdogs, and my Caldara deck has served me well against multiple Nightmare quests.
Y: Halbarad - Gimli is fun, but I like the Dunedain.
Z: Treebeard - I don't use either very much, but Treebeard interests me more in theory.
AA: Balin - I know Erestor is really good, but I've yet to make a deck with him that really works for me, whereas Balin has been a big favourite of mine for a while now.
AB: Éowyn - This shouldn't require explanation.
AC: Eleanor - The choice I struggled with the most, as I think both are great heroes, but in the end, I get screwed over by treacheries more often than shadow effects, so Eleanor wins.
AD: Amarthiul - I acknowledge that the elf-twins are very good and I definitely should use them more than I have done, but Amarthiul is shiny and new, and again, I like the Dunedain.
AE: Aragorn (T) - Tactics Theoden, while not as bad as he's sometimes reckoned to be, can't really match up to Scorpagorn.
AF: Celeborn - Again, should not require explanation.
AG: Arwen Undomiel - Hama never interested me, and Arwen is the new hotness.
AH: Théoden (S) - Really makes Rohan work, while Elladan is the less useful of the twins.
AI: Faramir (Le) - Boromir helps with some decent Gondor decks, but Faramir let me build this.

Poor Mirlonde...will she get any votes?

D: Galadriel
E: Pippin (Lo)
F: Théodred
G: Sam Gamgee
H: Frodo Baggins
I: Beorn
J: Glóin
K: Aragorn (Le)
L: Aragorn (Lo)
M: Prince Imrahil
N: Legolas
O: Denethor
P: Beregond
Q: Merry (T)
R: Haldir of Lorien
S: Mablung
T: Elrond
U: Rossiel
V: Merry (S)
W: Damrod
X: Gandalf
Y: Halbarad
Z: Treebeard
AA: Erestor
AB: Éowyn
AC: Eleanor
AD: Amarthiul
AE: Aragorn (T)
AF: Celeborn
AG: Arwen Undomiel
AH: Théoden (S)
AI: Faramir (Le)

I've been having some fun with Dwarf decks lately, but somehow I still ended up voting against most of them anyway.

Looks like I'm pretty enamored with the new and shiny--I wonder if I will feel the same about all of these heroes when I've had a little more time to get to know them. Interestingly enough, I've also been finding myself enjoying the Core heroes again--something about the new player cards has rejuvenated a lot of them for me.

I've been having some fun with Dwarf decks lately

Me too actually, they've become more fun as the 'discard from your deck' aspect becomes more and more of a thing. I broke out the dwarves for Treachery of Rhudaur and had a blast digging through my deck. I hope we get more cards like Well-Equipped, "risk for reward" type of cards, or some more like Hidden Cache that provide windfall benefits when you manage to discard them.

Poor Mirlonde...will she get any votes?

I voted for her, I've never been a fan of Galadriel. Mirlonde fits into an Elrond deck I'm very fond of. On a related note, Galadriel got the "new and flashy" vote last year to beat my favorite hero for the championship, so...

Poor Mirlonde...will she get any votes?

I voted for her, I've never been a fan of Galadriel. Mirlonde fits into an Elrond deck I'm very fond of. On a related note, Galadriel got the "new and flashy" vote last year to beat my favorite hero for the championship, so...

Yeah she totally won because she was flashy and new. She can't even attack, defend or quest for goodness sake

Elrond on the other hand is a total badass, healing buffs for everyone, pays for allies of any colour, dope stats.

Hes the real MVP!

D: Galadriel

E: Pippin (Lo)

F: Théodred

G: Sam Gamgee

H: Frodo Baggins

I: Nori

J: Glóin

K: Aragorn (Le)

L: Aragorn (Lo)

M: Prince Imrahil

N: Legolas

O: Gríma

P: Beregond

Q: Merry (T)

R: Dúnhere

S: Mablung

T: Elrond

U: Rossiel

V: Merry (S)

W: Damrod

X: Gandalf

Y: Gimli

Z: Treebeard

AA: Erestor

AB: Éowyn

AC: Eleanor

AD: Amarthuil

AE: Aragorn (T)

AF: Celeborn

AG: Arwen Undomiel

AH: Théoden (S)

AI: Faramir (Le)