This year we from Vision of the Palantir host another tournament style poll to determine the community's favourite hero. With the game nearly at its end until the break is over, nearly all heroes (except 2) are included in this poll to find out who is the most loved by the community in general.

The poll will go through 2 stages, the first is a Swiss style poll where heroes are matched up randomly against each other every 3 days. This gives them 8 battles each where you can vote for your favourite hero. From these matches, 16 heroes move on to the second stage of the poll, where the 16 places are randomly seeded and the heroes have to compete with each other until only 1 hero remains. That hero will be crowned the Community's Favourite Hero as of 2019. This will be announced at midnight on New Year's Eve (GMT+1).

The link to the first 8 rounds of Swiss can be found here: https://challonge.com/LOTRLCGHero2019

Some notes:

- This tournament does not include any Saga hero heroes, meaning that heroes from the Baggins and Fellowship spheres will not be included.

- Some heroes have several versions of themselves. As long as those versions are in different spheres, the hero gets an additional entry. Alt art versions of heroes do not count. This explains why some heroes have their sphere behind their name to identify the different hero cards.

- The bracket will be held in a different poll based on the results of this one. A link to that will follow soon.

- Each hero is unique and has their own place in the game. This is not to determine which heroes are terrible, but which hold the highest in terms of community appreciation.

- If your hero doesn't make the cut, then vote for the next one you like. You are bound to have more than just one hero you like

- If you haven't played with both heroes, you can leave the vote blank.

- In order to vote, you must be signed in on the site, there is no way around this, unfortunately. Signing in will allow you to participate in other future polls like this as well.

- Other comments on different platforms have no influence on the results. Only the pure votes on this site are taken into account when assessing the winners.

Dates:

First round until: Midnight November 26th

Second round until: Midnight November 29th

Third round until: Midnight December 2nd

Fourth round until: Midnight December 5th

Fifth round until: Midnight December 8th

Sixth round until: Midnight December 11th

Seventh round until: Midnight December 14th

Eighth round until: Midnight December 17th

After this, the bracket begins

16->8 until: Midnight December 22nd

8->4 until: Midnight December 26th

4->2 until: Midnight December 29th

2->1 until: Midnight January 1st, 2020

[All dates and times are in GMT+1]


You can follow this thread for updates on the tournament and announcements for the next rounds. I hope this poll will receive as many votes as last year, when we polled the best scenario in the game.

100 heroes go in
1 goes out
This... is the Hero's Tournament 2019

Tactic Eowyn will win the tournament!

She has enough willpower to get through each battle. With just a Golden Shield it can defend a hit from every other hero and could then slay most of them (Beorn might be the only one not to).

:)

Love that Imrahil got paired up against himself and some of the outclassed matchups like Gandalf V.S Fatty hahaha. I think the hardest choice was Tactics Legolas versus Leadership Boromir for me.

Just voted and excited to see who pulls ahead of the rest.

Arwen vs Grimbeorn.

When 2 of the your most loved heroes clash in turn 1 your heart is broken...

6 hours ago, Flrbb said:

Tactic Eowyn will win the tournament!

She has enough willpower to get through each battle. With just a Golden Shield it can defend a hit from every other hero and could then slay most of them (Beorn might be the only one not to).

I don't know...for me it's a hero with great starting stats and the ability to get setup super fast. My boy tactics Beregond takes that crown. A first turn Gondorian shield and Spear of the Citadel is bonkers. I tend to lead towards good defense when I play... I rarely find myself killing a lot of enemies.

I like heroes that fundamentally change how the game is played:

-Tactics Legolas for being the only card in the game that can pass the quest during any phase.

-Eleanor for being able to repeatedly ignore 1/3 of the encounter deck (also the worst 1/3).

-Erestor for his insane draw and discard

-Gandalf for playing with your top card face up

Heroes that almost feel like a different LOTR LCG variant then a single hero in the game are tops for me. But the tribal leaders are excellent for theme as well.

Also Tactics Imrahil and Lore Denethor should also be on that list as they too are quite different in their effects on the game.

6 hours ago, General_Grievous said:

-Tactics Legolas for being the only card in the game that can pass the quest during any phase.

For me too it's one of the best card of the game exactly for that reason, it can really throw a wrench in the encounter deck "strategy" when you advance in the combat phase and avoid some nasty effect that would have showed up during a quest phase (or you can better prepare for the next turn and the new quest stage).

12 hours ago, stimpaksam said:

I don't know...for me it's a hero with great starting stats and the ability to get setup super fast. My boy tactics Beregond takes that crown. A first turn Gondorian shield and Spear of the Citadel is bonkers. I tend to lead towards good defense when I play... I rarely find myself killing a lot of enemies.

Well, I took the tournament literally.

Round 2 is now open for voting, thanks to the 77 voters

Some details on the results:
There was one tie between Saruman and Thurindir
The biggest winners were Gandalf (vs Fatty) 96-4 and Erkenbrand (vs Spirit Pippin) [same score]
Spirit Frodo lost by 1% from Leadership Aragorn, and Lore Pippin lost by 1% from Spirit Dain

New round of matchups are now online, vote now on your favourite hero in each of the 50 pairs! Vote with the same link!

Noticeable lineups this time

Gimli vs himself
Galadriel vs Caldara
Cirdan vs Sam
and many more. Can't wait to see who comes out on top on this one

I just can't manage to understand the love for Leadership Aragorn. I may notice it can be useful in the core set environment, event if I still prefer Theodred from his sphere. But the more we build the less we use it. He has an ability who does not support any thematic of the game, and who is expansive in comparison of every card we can pay for with resources. I found it to be one of the worst hero to build with now, and the worst Aragorn for sure. In order to compare I do have built some decks with every other heroes of the core set (except for lore Glorfindel). I was already aware of the success of leadership Aragorn but I keep to be perplex when I face the number 🤔
On this other hand spirit Frodo have a unique ability, many interaction and use (I actually play it in 4 decks I think). He is, with Dain, my favorite Hero from the first cycle.

I have already voted for the second round!

Plot Twist: Everyone that participates in the tournament has to build a deck around the eventual winner with a grey wanderer contract!

I am immensely enjoying seeing everyone's different take on various heroes. In addition to a fun voting poll, this is generating some great discussion. Great idea! Voted in round 1, will vote in round 2 later when I am able.

I am surprised that Treebeard has more votes then Aragorn from the core set, as much as I love the wooden fellow. Also surprised Caldera is so unloved, she is a blast to play.

How is brand almost gaining on tactics Boromir??!! Also weird for Haldan having such a strong showing against Tactics Legolas. Halbarad v.s. Eleanor, and Hirluin v.s. Elohir are two other ones I'm surprised are as close as they are.

Finally how is Argalad better than Spirit Legolas? I must be missing something.

@General_Grievous same. I'm also surprised at how big of a lead Lore Denethor has over Elladan. I guess it's because L Denethor is insane in solo? He's always been a bit underwhelming in big games for me. I think people really undervalue leadership Aragorn's Noble trait and easier time equipping Sword that was Broken - not to mention his inborn yet costly flexibility.

For Spirit Legolas, personally I think that his ability is just too high of a cost. You have to commit a 1 WP character to the quest (forgoing his 3 ranged attack) and discard a card. If I'm gonna discard every turn I'd rather take Arwen, who can pitch to enable fast unexpected courages and who quests for a lot more. I also prefer Lanwyn for a spirit ranged option as she quests better and scales up really nicely in big games where you're more likely to see surges.

On the other hand Argalad gets to wear Ranger Boots really nicely, enabling a 2 WP quest every turn, and if he readies can contribute an additional "2 WP" via his ability or stay ready to contribute ranged later in combat. Every once in a while he pings too which is nice. I think it's just a lot easier for Argalad to unlock more of his stat points with a little work, as he scales up really well with the numerous Lore/elf/character readying effects and uses any attack boosts for good value.

It's important to note that the poll claims this is about *favorite* hero, which isn't necessarily the same thing as "better" and *certainly* isn't the same as "more powerful". I voted for Dori over Saruman not because I think he's a stronger hero, but because I like him more. If we're going to judge by sheer efficiency alone, we might as well not have a tournament and give TaEowyn the prize now. (Disclaimer -- I've also voted for TaEowyn...)

@dalestephenson The difference between favorite and better is pretty clear, but do you have separate definitions for "better" and "more powerful" heroes, too?

Certainly. The necessary follow-on question to "which hero is better" has to be "better at what?" I don't think there'd be any disagreement that Gandalf is a more powerful hero than Theodred. But is he "better"? Certainly not in a utility role, and Theodred fits comfortably into more decks than Gandalf. He's a different kind of hero.

All definitions of "better", "stronger", "more powerful ", "more flexible " and so on require necessarily the predefinition of a set of criteria to use for the evaluation. Different people might have different criteria when judging what better or stronger means (solo, multiplayer, better or stronger at what under which quest/decks condition.....).

Favorite is very clear: decide who YOU prefer between a given hero choice based on YOUR OWN criteria of choice. It's a good way to get the feeling of the heroes pool the community prefers.

And favorites don't depend only on playability, either, but on theme, flavor, and even the artwork of the card! For example, I don't much care for Sp-Theoden almost entirely because I think the art on that card is sub-par. Conversely, I really like the art on Le-Imhrahil (as compared to Ta-Imrahil).

5 hours ago, dalestephenson said:

It's important to note that the poll claims this is about *favorite* hero, which isn't necessarily the same thing as "better" and *certainly* isn't the same as "more powerful". I voted for Dori over Saruman not because I think he's a stronger hero, but because I like him more. If we're going to judge by sheer efficiency alone, we might as well not have a tournament and give TaEowyn the prize now. (Disclaimer -- I've also voted for TaEowyn...)

Valid point and I too have been voting for favourite characters of mine. Whether it's their beautiful artwork (Eleanor), power/usefulness (Eleanor), or just how much I use and enjoy using the hero (Eleanor). Hahaha. But yes favourite is the key thing here and I am still finding it interesting seeing how much my own thoughts or ratings fare against the average of us all. When showing the list to my wife we even had disagreements over favourite (which usually is linked to which hero is stronger since we use it more but also associates with heroes that are more fun).

15 hours ago, General_Grievous said:

I am surprised that Treebeard has more votes then Aragorn from the core set, as much as I love the wooden fellow. Also surprised Caldara is so unloved, she is a blast to play.

How is Brand almost gaining on tactics Boromir??!! Also weird for Haldan having such a strong showing against Tactics Legolas. Halbarad vs. Eleanor, and Hirluin vs. Elrohir are two other ones I'm surprised are as close as they are.

Finally how is Argalad better than Spirit Legolas? I must be missing something.

Re: Aragorn, I'd echo what Rouxxor said. He was good when the card pool was small and we didn't have other options, but he has long since been outclassed. Personally I much preferred Caldara before the errata, and haven't played her since. I know she's still good, but I no longer find her interesting.

Brand is the lynchpin of the Dale deck, which is still a pretty newly developed archetype along with being interesting and powerful, whereas Boromir is much older, more straightforward, got knocked a bit by the errata (even if he is still really good), etc. Personally I've never understood people's continued love of Tactics Legolas and much prefer Haldan. Halbarad and Eleanor doesn't surprise me that much because I don't think either of them is a hugely popular hero choice. Hirluin does disappoint me, but I guess some people actually like Outlands.

I would ask conversely, how is Spirit Legolas better than Argalad? Because as much as I'm inclined to support Spirit Legolas as something of an underdog hero, there's a lot of reasons why he's an underdog hero, whereas Argalad is a favourite of mine.

Tactic legolas is, how can i say it?, so TACTIC.

Really, I think tactic legolas is so loved for his capability to put quest progress outside questing phase changing the way to interact with the quest itself. Plus easy and natural fit with some of the best weapons in the game. Plus hands upon the bow in sphere too.

Easy to build, low threat, simple ability with huge impact on the game and capability to change the natural flow of the quest.

Bypassing a quest stage or the active location in combact or planning phase ( with hands upon the bow, for example) litterally change the way you play the quest and the way you approach travels in many situations

Very tactic hero indeed. I admit I loved him

It is difficult to come up with a word to rank all of these heroes by that is easy to understand for everyone in the community. Sure, favorite might be a bit broad or focussing on aspects of a hero that have nothing to do with their strength, but this at least gives some heroes a fighting chance. Otherwise I could have cut the list in half by removing all heroes that rarely see play, and that would have led to some more outrage among the die-hard Dori fans.

So favorite is what I went with, though I predict in the end the stronger heroes will end up in the bracket. But I have found that I tend to start deckbuilding with heroes I like before grabbing the power-heroes, so this was the best way I could spin it.

Happy to announce that we are almost at the 50 votes for round 2, and good to see that the poll is creating some chatter. Anyone have any predictions on the final 16 yet?

19 hours ago, Halberto said:

Tactic legolas is, how can i say it?, so TACTIC.

Really, I think tactic legolas is so loved for his capability to put quest progress outside questing phase changing the way to interact with the quest itself. Plus easy and natural fit with some of the best weapons in the game. Plus hands upon the bow in sphere too.

Easy to build, low threat, simple ability with huge impact on the game and capability to change the natural flow of the quest.

Bypassing a quest stage or the active location in combact or planning phase ( with hands upon the bow, for example) litterally change the way you play the quest and the way you approach travels in many situations

Very tactic hero indeed. I admit I loved him

This is exactly why I also love him and why it remains to this day one of my top picks for a Tactics hero. The fact that I almost always play multiplayer also means that Ranged is quite the powerful tool (even though I find Sentinel still the most precious keyword to have).