Fatty deserved better.

There is a lot of Noldor heroes in the top ten.

Spirit Pippin is better now that Tactics Bilbo exists.

5 hours ago, dalestephenson said:

Spirit Pippin is better now that Tactics Bilbo exists.

It’s come to this then. Pistols at dawn, dale.

Final rankings after 8 rounds of Swiss. The top 16 will advance, congrats to Radagast for making it so far despite being the newest hero on this list.

Here are the other rankings, from the very best, to Fatty Bolger, who hasn't won a single game

Updates on the bracket will follow soon, the link to that tournament will be slightly different because of how the site works. Link will be provided later today once I figure out how to seed this thing.
Thanks to everyone who has so far voted!

Poor Gimli and Faramir didn't even make the top 50, in either of their incarnations. Also interesting to see Le-Boromir pushed out of the top half, along with Grima, Eleanor, and Caldara.

Man, people still like Leadership Dain, huh? And Celeborn? I never would've guessed Celeborn would make the top 16.

Also seems weird that Spirit Beregond made the top 16 but Tactics Beregond didn't.

I guess people really like The One Deck.

Interesting that no one was undefeated - how will Arwen vs Elrond vs Eowyn shake out in the finals?

Very surprised that Radagast ended up so high. I like him, but for some reason I thought the community was more mixed on him. It's definitely not just his novelty, because Smeagol came in near the very bottom. I wager that his mechanical and thematic restrictions turn people away, which I understand. I have a hard time justifying his place in most decks and scenarios.

Spirit Beregond shocked me. He's good for sure, but I never would have guessed that people were so fond of him. I find him a bit dull, and still prefer his Tactics version.

I'm interested to see if the Silvan or Dwarf tribal leader will win out. I prefer Celeborn, but Dain is his people's only hope in the top 16. Poor dwarves... they really should have been given more versatile and powerful heroes. T Thorin and S Dain are a step in the right direction, but I still want a version of Gimli that can go in most decks.

The top 16 is comprised of 1 dwarf, 1 beorning, 1 hobbit, 2 istari, 2 silvan, 4 noldor, and 5 humans. Eowyn is the only hero with 2 versions in the top 16, and her spirit version is the only Core Set hero to make it. The next closest core heroes are T Legolas at 19 and then Beravor at 40.

With only 3 unknown heroes left, I wonder if any of them will shake up the current standings. Is there a new hero that could ever steal the crown from the triumvirate of Elrond, Arwen, and Eowyn?

Here's the sphere breakdown for the top 16:

Spirit: 5
Leadership: 4
Lore: 4
Tactics: 2
Neutral: 1

So definitely weighted toward Spirit and against Tactics (though if we take the top 20 tactics makes a comeback with Beorn, Legolas, and Boromir).

Interestingly, however, if we look at the top 50, the sphere split is remarkably even:

Spirit: 12
Leadership: 12
Lore: 13
Tactics: 12
Neutral: 1

It would seem that the designers have done a good job balancing among the spheres, at least, even if not among the races (poor dwarves).

High Willpower seems to be the king stat, which makes sense. It's the most essential stat, and having 1 hero that can reliably quest for 3+ is so useful.

4 with 4 wp, 5 with 3 wp, 3 with 2 wp, 2 with 1 wp, and 2 with 0 wp.

The only 2 (?) heroes with 0 wp made the top 16, but that's because they're amazing defenders. Being able to defend early is a huge boon.

The only dedicated attacker to make the top 16 is Haldir, unless you count Lo Aragorn or Grimbeorn. This makes sense since loading up attack power on one character is rarely as essential as it is with willpower and defense. Heroes like Haldir and Grimbeorn can use high attack power in ways that other attackers can't, and that makes them very powerful. However, there are a bunch of great attackers just outside the top 16 to counter this argument.

Thanks for the analyses guys, fun to read those break downs. But I have figured out the seeding and have created the bracket for the final stage of this tournament. Please cast your votes using this link: https://challonge.com/LOTRLCGHero2019Finals

As for winners, I am glad to see both old and new heroes in this list. My hopes are up for Celeborn and Dain, but I'm sure that the others will put up a good fight. Still, nice to see that the unreleased heroes made it this far, but I'm sorry for those hoping on Beorn or Erestor. They didn't quite make the cut.

1 hour ago, pmdoug said:

With only 3 unknown heroes left, I wonder if any of them will shake up the current standings. Is there a new hero that could ever steal the crown from the triumvirate of Elrond, Arwen, and Eowyn?

I believe we are just missing 2 more heroes from the current cycle. Since Thorin was revealed to be in Wrath and Ruin, I am willing to bet the fortune of Erebor on the fact that Gildor Inglorion will be our second Leadership hero. That leaves us with a Tactics hero and a Spirit hero that are as of yet unknown. Lot of rumours going on about who they may be, but I couldn't wait with the tournament until those two were revealed. Besides, top 100 sounds better than top 102.

29 minutes ago, Durins_Father said:

I believe we are just missing 2 more heroes from the current cycle. Since Thorin was revealed to be in Wrath and Ruin, I am willing to bet the fortune of Erebor on the fact that Gildor Inglorion will be our second Leadership hero. That leaves us with a Tactics hero and a Spirit hero that are as of yet unknown. Lot of rumours going on about who they may be, but I couldn't wait with the tournament until those two were revealed. Besides, top 100 sounds better than top 102.

Whoops, I totally forgot that Gildor was one of the guaranteed spots. I think you made the right call to do the tournament now while there is still upcoming content to anticipate. Thanks for putting this all together.

I know people are itching for Spirit Aragorn, and I'm all for that. I'd actually be really pleased if the last Tactics hero is an Easterling warrior with a weapon/armor theme.

Lore Aragorn vs Sam is the only choice giving me trouble as they're my favorites from their respective sphere. Looks like every Leadership hero is gonna be out in the first round.

5 hours ago, pmdoug said:

Spirit Beregond shocked me. He's good for sure, but I never would have guessed that people were so fond of him. I find him a bit dull, and still prefer his Tactics version.

I'm shocked that someone would consider SpBeregond dull, and yet like his Tactics version better. I personally find repeatable threat reduction much more interesting than reducing the cost of Gondorian Shield from 1 to 0.

1 hour ago, dalestephenson said:

I'm shocked that someone would consider SpBeregond dull, and yet like his Tactics version better. I personally find repeatable threat reduction much more interesting than reducing the cost of Gondorian Shield from 1 to 0.

I don't find Tactics Beregond to be that exciting either, but Bartering and Long Lake Trader make his cost reduction fun to play around with. T Beregond also makes items like Spear of the Citadel and Raven-winged Helm easier to play. I enjoy direct damage decks, and T Beregond aids those. I'm sure there are cool combos to use with S Beregond, but I've likely missed them because I haven't used him much. My love of S Dain might also contribute to my ambivalence towards S Beregond, as does S Beregond's so-so art.

I've been a little late, but the first set of finals matches has now been completed. I had to settle a tie between Sam and Aragorn. I went with Sam, as he scored higher on the initial scoreboard.

Quarter-finals are looking interesting, so I hope everyone will vote fair and will make up their mind on these tough choices.

Vote here: https://challonge.com/LOTRLCGHero2019finals

Semi-finals

The final 4 heroes have made their way to the semi-finals. It is now up to you all to vote for who faces off in the finals.

You have until the 29th of December to vote for the semi-finals!

https://challonge.com/LOTRLCGHero2019finals

Nice quite the finish! Just curious as to who everyone's favorite 4 heroes are to see if this is the final you would have chosen?

Mine:

1. Legolas (Tactics)

2. Boromir (Tactics)

3: Eleanor

4. Elrond

(though any of the Istaris could have slipped into the final spot for me, and Eowyn in both forms is amazing)

And my wife's:

1. Hirluin

2. Prince Imrahil (Leadership)

3. Aragorn (Lore though she loves the Leadership one too)

4. Eowyn (Spirit)

On 12/26/2019 at 10:38 AM, General_Grievous said:

Nice quite the finish! Just curious as to who everyone's favorite 4 heroes are to see if this is the final you would have chosen?

Mine:

1. Legolas (Tactics)

2. Boromir (Tactics)

3: Eleanor

4. Elrond

(though any of the Istaris could have slipped into the final spot for me, and Eowyn in both forms is amazing)

And my wife's:

1. Hirluin

2. Prince Imrahil (Leadership)

3. Aragorn (Lore though she loves the Leadership one too)

4. Eowyn (Spirit)

I understand Eleanor's potential to totally save the game in certain quests, but I've struggled to make consistent use of her. What's your favorite deck/hero lineup to use her in? I imagine tactics + Gondorian shield is the best way to make sure her action isn't wasted.

My top 4 are my favorite from each sphere: Sam, Lo Aragorn, Cirdan, and Mablung. I was pleased to see three of those four make it quite far in the contest.

The actual final 4 are all very powerful and, more importantly, very fun. You have the two courageous mortals (Eowyn and Sam) who boast high willpower, low threat, and action advantage. Then you have two of the most canonically powerful beings in Middle Earth (Gandalf and Galadriel), who offer abilities seen no where else in the card pool, and who come with their own artifacts. I'm curious to see who will win between T Eowyn and Gandalf. I prefer Gandalf, but my money is on T Eowyn.

As soon as I saw this poll I told my brother that Tactics Eowyn would win. Here she is in the top 4, and Im not surprised. She is just too good, and what other hero can really compete with her efficiency?

4 willpower for only 6 threat? In tactics? And she can obliterate almost any one enemy, maybe more if you can ready her at the right moment.

Probably the most splashable hero in the game, and it only makes sense that she is so popular with everyone.

She beat out Arwen hero and EVERYONE plays Arwen hero all the time. I love watching videos like Mr Underhills and Cardboard otr, but the amount of times I see hero Arwen in their decks is crazy. The fact the Eowyn beat her in a poll goes to show just how good she really is.

7 hours ago, pmdoug said:

I understand Eleanor's potential to totally save the game in certain quests, but I've struggled to make consistent use of her. What's your favorite deck/hero lineup to use her in? I imagine tactics + Gondorian shield is the best way to make sure her action isn't wasted.

She is definitely a little bit trickier in solo where Action advantage is important I ran her through a campaign with:

Glorfindel Spirit/Eleanor/Legolas Tactics

-combined with tons of high willpower spirit allies, all of the Threat reduction and the key piece Hobbit ally Gandalf, her low threat combined with the others pretty much starts you in secrecy so you can play threat reduction, some resourceful attachments (all on Eleanor) and then I put Gondorian Shield and Livery of the tower on her so she can soak archery damaged, surprise treacheries and so on. Gandalf ally is amazing and so are many of the nigh willpower spirit allies, so having a way to cancel game-ending treacheries and save key allies is great.

I'm currently running her with Spirit Legolas and Elrond as with the release of The One Ring she has been boosted up to awesome levels, just start with inner Strength on her and she is your defender from the start.

The finals are here, and it will be Tactics Eowyn against Gandalf the Grey. Both amazing heroes, but only one will be crowned the community's favourite hero.

In the bronze match, we got Sam against Galadriel, so be sure to vote for that one as well. You have until the end of this year to cast your vote, after which I will announce the winner in an article covering the entire tournament: https://challonge.com/LOTRLCGHero2019finals

On 11/21/2019 at 6:40 PM, 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).

:)

Ohhh noes! Gandalf beat Eowyn in the final match. Rohans, where were your support?