Can you explain how Rossiel's threat works against her ability? She does have 8 threat (lowest available excepting Hobbits and Bifur). I can see her HP working against trying to use her defensively, but she has great stats for a quester.

I'll elaborate a bit. 8 threat is relatively low, but if you want to start in secrecy for Out Of the Wild then it only leaves you 12 threat to work with, which does not leave you with many options. Even fewer if you want to stay in secrecy for a round or two. I realize Rossiel does not require OotW, but the other ways to get stuff in the victory display require you to explore/combat, which Rossiel isn't good at until after you've done it. To me this is a bit of a Catch 22.

Additionally, the bonuses you end up getting are pretty mediocre in my opinion. It takes a decent amount of effort to get a conditional +2 def/+2 WP. I can think of many other ways of getting the same buff, unconditionally, with the same or less effort. If Rossiel's ability had instead been something much more unique, like "When Rossiel is questing, and the active location shares a trait with a location in the victory display, ignore surge", I think I'd be more inclined to actually play her.

I can't believe Rossiel is giving Glorfindel a run for his money. He's still awesome and she is most certainly not.

Glorfindel is boring and overly ubiquitous. Rossiel is not.

Boring but good vs interesting but bad. I put Rossiel in the same category as Lore Faramir - their own stats (notably their high threat) actively work against their own ability. I think they both could've been more solid heroes if they were more streamlined. Luckily, the fun part about Rossiel (the victory display mechanic) does not require her at all.

8 threat is considered high now?

I realise this is contextual, 8 is higher than ideal if you're looking for Secrecy to play Out of the Wild cheaply, but out of context, 8 is not high.

As it happens, I think I would also put Rossiel together with Lore Faramir - pure power-wise they're both low tier heroes but they're fun, and when people complain that they don't work I feel like those people probably haven't tried hard enough (or maybe are using them in the wrong context, e.g. not everything works in solo).

I did challenge myself to make a functional solo deck with Rossiel, and was happy with the deck's strength (completed Fate of Numenor and Nightmare Flight to the Ford). It didn't make me like Rossiel though, because the whole time I felt like it would be more powerful if I traded Rossiel out for someone else, like Lore Denethor.

Can you explain how Rossiel's threat works against her ability? She does have 8 threat (lowest available excepting Hobbits and Bifur). I can see her HP working against trying to use her defensively, but she has great stats for a quester.

I'll elaborate a bit. 8 threat is relatively low, but if you want to start in secrecy for Out Of the Wild then it only leaves you 12 threat to work with, which does not leave you with many options. Even fewer if you want to stay in secrecy for a round or two. I realize Rossiel does not require OotW, but the other ways to get stuff in the victory display require you to explore/combat, which Rossiel isn't good at until after you've done it. To me this is a bit of a Catch 22.

Additionally, the bonuses you end up getting are pretty mediocre in my opinion. It takes a decent amount of effort to get a conditional +2 def/+2 WP. I can think of many other ways of getting the same buff, unconditionally, with the same or less effort. If Rossiel's ability had instead been something much more unique, like "When Rossiel is questing, and the active location shares a trait with a location in the victory display, ignore surge", I think I'd be more inclined to actually play her.

Fair enough! I like her plenty myself, it's fun to have a versatile hero with 4 willpower and 4 defense for such a low threat cost. I never play solo though. And I wouldn't consider running her in a secrecy deck. She shines most in 3-4 player games. If you happen to be playing her at the same table as somebody else doing victory display shenanigans, you're golden. If you get everyone running Keen as Lances, you give every deck at the table a way to shore up its own weaknesses as needed.

Elrond got absolutely robbed by Galadriel in 2014.

Still have to disagree with this. Galadriel is amazing.

Completely agree that she is amazing. I have totally changed my mind about her since her release and I am currently running her in my two decks. She brings amazing flexibility and abilities with her but honestly just does not compare to Elrond at all. I think lots of players vastly underestimate just how powerful and useful he is. He makes both a fantastic quester and defender and is no slouch at attacking either. He boosts ALL HEALING across the board regardless of who or what actually performs the healing, he can pay for allies of ANY sphere which is something I feel everyone doesn't give anywhere near enough credit then on top of all of that you have the insane Stargazer + Vilya combo with him as well.

Unlike Galadriel he can quest off the bat without any attachments or his ring.

There aren't even that many heroes that have one great ability let alone two and he has two awesome abilities, great stats and works extremely well/directly comboes with a ridiculous number of allies and attachments.

Spirit Beregond is making hard work of this. He's an amazing hero, folks!

Fair enough! I like her plenty myself, it's fun to have a versatile hero with 4 willpower and 4 defense for such a low threat cost. I never play solo though. And I wouldn't consider running her in a secrecy deck. She shines most in 3-4 player games. If you happen to be playing her at the same table as somebody else doing victory display shenanigans, you're golden. If you get everyone running Keen as Lances, you give every deck at the table a way to shore up its own weaknesses as needed.

Next time we play I'm bringing my mono-lore secrecy deck and you can play Rossiel!

CHRISTMAS Matchups!

GREEN vs RED!

Spotlight on BERAVOR and MABLUNG! It's a matchup of Rangers! Dunedain versus Gondor. Currently sitting at 57% for Mablung and 43% for Beravor.

Mablung is just in from the arena, but we caught him for a quick word. Mablung, what do you have to say to your fans?

MABLUNG: Mablung makes it rain. You need this. Your Horn is cleft and sundered. You have no choice but to vote Mablung.

O...Oh OK Mablung! Thank you for your time! And on her way into the locker room, here comes the opponent, Beravor. Beravor, Mablung believes his resource generation is enough reason to vote for him over you. What is your response?

BERAVOR: And what will you buy with all that money? You need cards. I am the original draw engine. You would like resources? Pair me with Arwen and convert my cards into money. I do not see Mablung with a worthwhile way to convert his money into cards.

(Mablung calls out from elsewhere: "Make it rain!")

There you have it, folks! Resources versus cards, an age-old question. Your votes will decide. Which hero does it the best?

Fair enough! I like her plenty myself, it's fun to have a versatile hero with 4 willpower and 4 defense for such a low threat cost. I never play solo though. And I wouldn't consider running her in a secrecy deck. She shines most in 3-4 player games. If you happen to be playing her at the same table as somebody else doing victory display shenanigans, you're golden. If you get everyone running Keen as Lances, you give every deck at the table a way to shore up its own weaknesses as needed.

Next time we play I'm bringing my mono-lore secrecy deck and you can play Rossiel!

Wouldn't she screw it up? I would guess Mirlonde, Bifur, Pippin for that

Can you explain how Rossiel's threat works against her ability? She does have 8 threat (lowest available excepting Hobbits and Bifur)..

AND Eleanor.

Mablung vs Beravor is a very interesting matchup (and close right now). I voted for Mablung since I like tactic very much but most times if I don't pair it with leadership or Arwen it's pretty short on resources (eagles ) and Mablung can really help out in that regard.

Boromir (T) vs Bifur is also a close matchup witch I understand since Boromir is quite popular and has his great reading effect but Bifur is sheer value because you get low thread for good questing and resource fixing. I think Boromir will make it but not with >60% of all votes.

Gimli (T) and Imrahil (Le) is another very very close matchup. I like playing Imrahil more because you can get him going very easily (especially in multiplayer games) but the new tactic version seams to overshine his Leadership version right now.

Beregond (S) vs Merry (S) is a matchup which I am surprised is that close because I build way more decks with the new Beregond than using Merry in a deck. Beregond (S) vs Beregond (T) would be interesting although I think the spirit version would win it because it's new and shine I would vote for a tie if that would be allowed.

Lanwyn vs Erkendbrand seems to be a cakewalk for Erkenbrand which I am a little surprised of. I'm not into both of these heroes but would have guessed this one would be closer since Lanwyn is newer.

Aragald vs Grima was an easy vote for me (since I play 2+ player games 99% of my time) but there seem to be a lot of supporters out there for the little Rohan rat.

Caldara vs Bilbo is too close for me (Caldara not over 95% *shocker*). Help her!

Merry (T) vs Elfhelm is a tie right now which I can partly understand because both heroes are quite good but I really really like Elfhelm and the stats he can dish out to every hero in a game by putting useful horses on them. Great addition to my Dunedain Deck and I really hope he makes it through this round. Would keep them both in this vote if possible.

Beravor vs Mablung was probably the hardest one for me. I ended up going with Beravor in light of her new synergy with Spirit Legolas which I enjoyed quite a bit.

I'm really curious how Caldara is going to do. Last year, she came in 52th place (top 64, woohoo!). Since then, her deck archetype really blossomed. Then, it seems like the community almost got tired of her. Did she rise and fall too quickly to receive any votes this year? Clearly she'll beat Bilbo this round. But, does she sand a chance against Beregond (T) next round?

I don't think so. Caldara-Deck is fun for sure but outside of "her" deck type she is not that great of a hero. Beregond (T) on the other hand fits so well in so many decks as the wall you want for defense. So I think and hope he will advance in Round 2.

What about Gandalf? Do you guys think he will go deep again this year or will he fall off simply because you get tired of building decks with Gandalf+Elrond+X? With Legolas (T) and Arwen in his quarter he has at least strong competition and might fall in Round 4

Mablung/Beravor and Damrod/Eowyn (T) were really the only two that I had much issue with. I get a chance to use Mablung more often, but Beravor is still my favorite. Tactics Eowyn opened some doors, and it's awesome, but in the end, Traps are just too fun so Damrod takes the vote.

Man, you guys really like Gimli (T).

Wow, Dain is wining over Galdor. I guess I can understand that, but I haven't been interested in dwarf decks for awhile.

I'm surprised Na'asiyah is winning by that much over Dori. Has anyone actually used her very effectively yet? I'd love to see those deck ideas!

I'm a sucker for the brothers, so I'm sad to see Faramir (Le) beating out Elrohir.

The rest I'm mostly in the majority votes with.

Man, you guys really like Gimli (T).

He was quite the powerful hero in the early days, often providing the only means to amass large amounts of damage in order to kill bosses. Most notably, he was the best answer to killing the Balrog in Shadow and Flame.

And since he is up versus a rather lack-luster hero in this bracket, I'll happily hand him my vote for slaying the Balrog.

I think the most surprising result from this series of brackets is how badly Dori is losing to Na'asiyah. Her restriction and ability are both incredibly costly. Dori actually works well in some decks. I can't say I expected Dori to win, but getting trounced by Na'asiyah is odd to me.

I don't think so. Caldara-Deck is fun for sure but outside of "her" deck type she is not that great of a hero. Beregond (T) on the other hand fits so well in so many decks as the wall you want for defense. So I think and hope he will advance in Round 2.

I don't know, I think I'll vote for Caldara over Beregond, actually. She has become really powerful lately, and more fun than your average power deck, if you ask me. I'll probably be tired of her by next year though, so it's now or never!

ringsdb fight, number of pages (prejudiced against later heroes):

Hama 4, Dunhere 3

Thalin 6, Fatty 1

Bard 2, SpPippin 1

Thorin 3, Oin 2

Bifur 7, TaBoromir 6

LeAragorn 8, Amarthiul 5

SpGlorfindel 15, Rossiel 3

TaGimli 7, LeImrahil 4

Mirlonde 4, LoFaramir 2

Theodred 9, Ori 4

TaTheoden 2, TaImrahil 1

Elladan 4, Brand 2

SpMerry 5, SpBeregond 3

Erestor 5, Eleanor 4

Dain 7, Galdor 3

Beravor 9, Mablung 5

Balin 3, Bombur 2

Dori 2, Na'asiyah 1

Nori 3, Dwalin 2

Gloin 4, LoGlorfindel 2

LeFaramir 4, Elrohir 4 (109-99)

Erkenbrand 3, Lanwyn 2

LoPippin 10, Treebeard 4

Grima 3, Argalad 1

LeBoromir 4, SpLegolas 1

TaGimli 7, Hirluin 3

Bilbo 3, Caldara 3 (72-61)

TaMerry 7, Elfhelm 3

LoDenethor 4, Celeborn 3

Beorn 4, Idraen 3

LeDenethor 9, Halbarad 4

Damrod 5, TaEowyn 5 (116-105)

ROUND 2 has begun!

(Round 1 results are on the first page of this thread)

Here are the match-ups

Boromir and Merry are supposed to be next round but Challonge wants us to vote on it now.

Voting closes at noon on Sunday.

Sam Gamgee [1] v Háma [64]

Frodo Baggins [8] v Mirlonde [72]

Éowyn (S) [9] v Balin [56]

Theoden (S) [4] v Legolas (S) [68]

Círdan the Shipwright [13] v Thalin [52]

Elrond [5] v Théodred [60]

Aragron (Lo) [12] v Na’asiyah [53]

Gandalf [2] v Gimli (Le) [63]

Haldir of Lorien [15] v Bard the Bowman [50]

Legolas (T) [7] v Prince Imrahil (T) [58]

Arwen Undomiel [10] v Nori [55]

Beregond (T) [3] v Caldara [62]

Galadriel [14] v Thorin Oakenshield [51]

Aragorn (T) [6] v Elladan [59]

Éomer [11] v Glóin [54]

Boromir (T) [16] v Merry (S) [17]

Tough matchups:

Legolas (T) vs Prince Imrahil (T)

Both of them offer some unique abilities. I think Imrahil is better though and will get even better with time when more allies are released

Beregond (T) vs Caldara

Ugh, Beregond is amazing, but Caldara offers some really crazy stuff

Boromir (T) vs Merry (S)

Boromir is the classic overpowered-but-boring guy... I still prefer him though, but Spirit Merry put a tough match

EDIT: My votes btw:

Sam Gamgee vs Háma

Frodo Baggins vs Mirlonde

Éowyn (S) vs Balin

Théoden (S) vs Legolas (S)

Círdan the Shipwright vs Thalin

Elrond vs Théodred

Aragorn (Lo) vs Na'asiyah

Gandalf vs Gimli (Le)

Haldir of Lorien vs Bard the Bowman

Legolas (T) vs Prince Imrahil (T)

Arwen Undómiel vs Nori

Beregond (T) vs Caldara

Galadriel vs Thorin Oakenshield

Aragorn (T) vs Elladan

Éomer vs Glóin

Boromir (T) vs Merry (S)

Eomer did well last year, but I think I've made maybe one deck with him in the last year. I wouldn't be surprised if Gloin gives him a good pounding.

A couple of tough ones this time around.

Frodo v Mirlonde. I actually decided to go Mirlonde on this one since I'm pretty sure I use Mirlonde more often. It's probably my Lore bias though, and I bet Frodo will still have an easy victory here.

Eowyn Sp v Balin. This one was really tough. Both of these heroes are really good at what they do and make a great addition to any deck that just needs a hero of their color. In the end I went with Eowyn since she got a few new toys recently that increase her utility even more.

Gandalf v Gimli Le. Gandalf has proven himself to me before, even though he doesn't actually hit the table very often due to taking up so much deck space with all of his toys. The new Gimli seems really promising, but I haven't actually used him yet... In the end I succumbed to new and shiny syndrome, but I'm still not sure how I feel about this one yet.

Beregond Ta v Caldara. I mentioned my stance on this lineup before. Count me on team Caldara as long as she's around. She has been really fun this year!

Right now it looks like the most contentious match ups are:

Cirdan the Shipwright vs Thalin

Gandalf vs Gimli (Le)

Legolas (T) vs Prince Imrahil (T)

Beregond (T) vs Caldara

It will be interesting to see how these ones shake out.

Aragorn (Tactics) has a path to victory here, but it will be a tough fight. He'll trounce Elladan and then Argalad without breaking a sweat, but then he has to face off against Eowyn (Tactics) mosty likely. And then probably Galadriel. Go Aragorn! We have not had an Aragorn champion yet, and the tactics version is a good candidate.

Ouch Beregond and Caldara is a tough call indeed! Everything else was easy enough for me. I feel bad for leadership Gimli; I do like him a lot but he is facing Gandalf so early.

I really want to see Arwen do well! She has become my instant favorite hero as soon as she is out. I would love to see her and Aragorn face off for the title, that would be epic.

Right now it looks like the most contentious match ups are:

Cirdan the Shipwright vs Thalin

Gandalf vs Gimli (Le)

Legolas (T) vs Prince Imrahil (T)

Beregond (T) vs Caldara

It will be interesting to see how these ones shake out.

Not sure about that, would agree with the bottom two though.

I for myself prefer Legolas (T) over Imrahil (T) because he is a real proven hero and has his in-sphere attachments which makes him a real boss when it comes to fighting! Beregond vs Caldara is a tie for me, voted for Caldara but not sure if she makes it through.

If you look at the other matchups I think Cirdan should stomp Thalin in the ground. Wouldn't be surprised if he wins with more then 80% of all votes. He is so much better then Thalin.

Although I don't really like the Gandalf hero because I play 3+ multiplayer games most of the times and Gandalf is a difficult hero to bring to the table (the ally version is still so **** good) he took championship in 2014 so I think he will win against Gimli here pretty easily. Round 3 against Spirfindel will be more of a challenge for him but he will probably make top 4 again this year...

Right now it looks like the most contentious match ups are:

Cirdan the Shipwright vs Thalin

Gandalf vs Gimli (Le)

Legolas (T) vs Prince Imrahil (T)

Beregond (T) vs Caldara

It will be interesting to see how these ones shake out.

Not sure about that, would agree with the bottom two though.

I for myself prefer Legolas (T) over Imrahil (T) because he is a real proven hero and has his in-sphere attachments which makes him a real boss when it comes to fighting! Beregond vs Caldara is a tie for me, voted for Caldara but not sure if she makes it through.

If you look at the other matchups I think Cirdan should stomp Thalin in the ground. Wouldn't be surprised if he wins with more then 80% of all votes. He is so much better then Thalin.

Although I don't really like the Gandalf hero because I play 3+ multiplayer games most of the times and Gandalf is a difficult hero to bring to the table (the ally version is still so **** good) he took championship in 2014 so I think he will win against Gimli here pretty easily. Round 3 against Spirfindel will be more of a challenge for him but he will probably make top 4 again this year...

My statement was based on the small amount of votes at the time. Each of those match ups was either at a 50/50 or 55/45 split. Although, Cirdan and Gandalf have earned themselves quite a lot of votes since then. It seems the Eomer/Gloin matchup has tightened quite a bit since then.

Edit: Personally, I don't really see how Beregond comes close to Caldara, but considering he got #3 last year means a lot of people like him. I guess it is more because Caldara only fits into one type of deck while Beregond can be used in many...but, in my experience, it feels like Beregond dies ~50% of the time he is used by someone. I guess Caldara "dies" 100% of the time I use her, but she's supposed to do that