A special note from Denethor:

"I would like to thank all those who helped me in my perilous campaign. I share in the sentiments of GrandSpleen that I must now face defeat. We have lost this campaign, but we were valiant to the end. I would like to especially thank Rainelotr for his contribution. Though we did not carry the day, your efforts have earned you the title of Captain of Gondor. Wear it well!"

Here are my votes:

AM - Glorfindel (Spirit)

AN - Legolas

AO - Sam Gamgee

AP - Elrond

I find it very interesting that there is no dwarf among the final eigth. Dain should be here, shouldn't he? Against whom did he lose - I need to check. I had a long thought about giving my vote to Sam since he looks great, but I never played him. On the other hand I consider Boromir to be the weakest in this group. Who is going to win? In my opinion Glorfindel is cool, very unique and just the strongest hero in the game. Especially being in Spirit. However I like Legolas better... life is full of hard choices, isn't it? ;-))

A special note from the Boromirs:

"We send tribute to thee, lliemmoen. We recognize your efforts to prove us both victorious. But fret not, our brother. Though one of us has fallen, one of us will continue to ride into battle as the horns of Gondor sound!"

Count updated.

Oh, thanks very much, Boromir. It is not every day I get a call from Gondor. Let us prevail, indeed!

Now for the vote:

Glorfindel . I really hope there won't be some nonsense agenda here.

Faramir .

Boromir . It may prove very, very hard, but I hope many will love to see both brothers in the final four.

Beregond . Gondor is indeed riding the tide but my prospect is that the youngest heir of the line of Stewards has the biggest chance here.

Note on the distribution. Of course, us voters only represent a small part of the community for the game. But it is indeed interesting to see no Dwarves have reached the quarter finals. I believe there were 12 Dwarf heroes to begin with and over the three rounds, they have all been eliminated. Judged by this survey of sorts only, it seems that the power of the cards (as Dwarves are generally considered to be very strong, and perhaps the strongest faction right now) is not the number one thing for the players. I would go further saying that it is not a result of the general dislike (or lesser like) of the characters in the book: I believe there are many favourites among them. It might be the portrayal in the game that is not generally approved, it is certainly my case, I really like to read about the Dwarves in the books, but I do not like to play them.

Then Gondor, the consensus might be that their faction is still very much under-developed. Yet, three of their heroes have reached the final eight, and Faramir has only been out for a few weeks. More so, I would think Tactics Boromir is by far the strongest hero in terms of power, out of the Gondorians with the current card pool, yet he is not among the three quarter finalists. His Leadership counterpart, on the other hand, hasn't been given much synergy, but the great art has probably done the trick. Not all of us have always been fans of the artist but it is hardly a coincidence that six out of eight are painted by her (I did the count the other day and I think MV has portrayed about a third of the heroes).

Finally, as for the sphere distribution, another interesting fact arises. Spirit has long been heralded the strongest of the spheres, I certainly believe it is, yet only Glorfindel represents it here.

AM - Glorfindel (Spirit)

AN - Legolas

AO - Sam Gamgee

AP - Elrond

This is a well-balanced final four and I would like to see the votes go this way. One from each sphere is represented, probably the best from each sphere at that. It would be cool to see these fight it out for the win. Although my favorite hero as of late is Aragorn (Lore), I think Glorfindel is better still, due to his low starting threat and 3 willpower combined with Light of Valinor. It is difficult to argue against him...he is simply the most versatile and powerful hero in the game. Not to mention his art is pretty awesome as well.

AM - Glorfindel . They are both of my favourite heroes, they should be in the final (ok Elrond is candidate too) , but I believe Glorfindel to be a little better

AN - Legolas . I like both, but Legolas is a tactic hero who in a way can quest too

AO - Sam .

AP - Elrond . Cause only Glorfindel might be better than Elrond

AM - Glorfindel. Best hero in the game, simply put.

AN - Legolas - Tactics' saving grace on so many occasions

AO - Sam, mainly because I don't think this version of Boromir deserves to be in the QF. And 3 WP for 8 Threat, of course.

AP - Elrond. Again, because Beregond doesn't deserve a QF place.

AM - Glorfindel (Spirit)

AN - Legolas

AO - Sam Gamgee

AP - Elrond

This is a well-balanced final four and I would like to see the votes go this way. One from each sphere is represented, probably the best from each sphere at that. It would be cool to see these fight it out for the win. Although my favorite hero as of late is Aragorn (Lore), I think Glorfindel is better still, due to his low starting threat and 3 willpower combined with Light of Valinor. It is difficult to argue against him...he is simply the most versatile and powerful hero in the game. Not to mention his art is pretty awesome as well.

Isn't it hard to call an unreleased hero best of the sphere? Not saying he won't be, I think he very well might.

And here's when things get 100% difficult!

AM - Glorfindel (S). I normally play Spi/Le/Lo. And since the introduction of this version, I play with him. Before it was Éowyn, now he's the hero that always gives me that feeling that I am safe. And, of course, Magali.

AN - Legolas. In 95% of my coop games, he's in there. He has beatiful art, he's useful and he's saved our asses many times! And Magali!

AO - Sam Gamgee. Oh my, on Hobbit to the semi-finals, come on!

AP - Elrond. Because when you design decks around only him, you can never go wrong about his power. And boy, Magali again!

......but the great art has probably done the trick.......

Very nice analysis, yet I think this is the truest of them all.

Everyone in round of 8 are such an eye Candy.

Tactic's Boromir or Brand would have never made it this far even if they had 0 threat cost and 10 points in each stats, simply due to their forehead.

It is actually shaping up so that no Gondor heroes will see the semi-final, just as I said, only Faramir has an outside chance.

......but the great art has probably done the trick.......

Very nice analysis, yet I think this is the truest of them all.

Everyone in round of 8 are such an eye Candy.

Tactic's Boromir or Brand would have never made it this far even if they had 0 threat cost and 10 points in each stats, simply due to their forehead.

That might very well be true. I am sure we would find a few "power players" voting differently but the art simply does matter here.

AM. Glorfindel .

AN. Faramir .

AO. Boromir . I'm with you, lleimmoen, it is time Boromir gets another vote. I cannot wait to have him in a Gondor deck taking on Smaug and winning the Battle of Lake-town, only to later try the same with the Hobbits and laugh at them being entirely wasted there, and then give one last angry look to all those who say Gondor's Finest doesn't deserve place in the quarter finals.

AP. Elrond .

AM - Glorfindel

AN - Legolas

AO - Boromir

AP - Elrond

AM - NOOOOOO! I have to choose between my two favorite heroes? My best deck is a secrecy Glorfindel + Strider deck! How can I choose? How, I ask???? Ok, so here goes....(wince, squint, tense)......Aragorn! There! I did it. May the gods forgive me.

AN - Yes, Faramir is awesome. Yes, his artwork is amazing. But...it's Legolas for the win. You know it, and I know it.

AO - Samwise the Brave. Easy choice here. Sorry awesome-artwork-Boromir.

AP - Well I guess this one is going to the elves, because, well, there can be only one logical choice and that is ELROND. He's my other favorite hero to include in practically everything. Elrond just makes everything more awesome.

It's interesting that there are so many elves here (50%), but then again, Tolkien was crazy about the elves, and made them mega-awesome in pretty much every way, and it's kind of hard to argue with that. I was one nanometer away from making it 3/4 elves for my votes, just so you know. But, well, Strider is just plain stupendous, and it takes only a hero of that level of cosmic BA to squeeze out a win against Glorfindel for me.

So, come on, folks, let's rally behind the worlds greatest KING! I mean, come on, Glorfindel is great, but this is ARAGORN. Ranger, warrior, lover of Arwen, foster-son of Elrond, conqueror of the pass, and the only one to challenge fricking *Sauron* using a Palantir and walk away without his brain turned into a cheese omelet. Glorfindel's glories were in the distant past, where was he when Rohan was under attack? Where was he when Minas Tirith was under siege? Where was he when the Ringbearer was on Weathertop?

(paid for by the Aragorn For President committee)

AM - Aragorn

AN - Legolas

AO - Sam Gamgee

AP - Elrond

AM - Glorfindel

AN - Legolas

AO - Sam Gamgee

AP - Elrond

AM - Aragorn - My favorite of the two Aragorns, and finally someone I like enough to vote against Glorfindel.

AN - Faramir - Tough choice with Legolas, but I feel obliged to stick with the ranger after casting the tiebreaking vote.

AO - Sam - Boromir should be easy after taking down Dain.

AP - Beregond - Elrond is great and all, but I'm sticking with my safety blanket.

AM - Aragorn (Lore)

AN - Legolas

AO - Sam Gamgee

AP - Elrond

it seems that the power of the cards ... is not the number one thing for the players.

Definitely true for me! Our directive at the start of the tournament was to vote for our favorite heroes, and for me that never meant "most powerful" or "best card." I like playing underused heroes and am happiest when I build a successful deck with a hero I have hardly ever used. Plus, I enjoy the subtle power of a hero like Bifur to the tack hammer approach of the likes of spirit Glorfindel. Those stats, for that threat? With a 1-cost attachment to offset the whole thing?! Give me a Bombur or Mirlonde over that any day... Sad to say, though, that I have not yet constructed an enjoyable deck for Oin. I've tried, but it wasn't any fun to play

Well, now we get down to the brass tacks!

AM - Aragorn (Lore). Glorfindel has to be the heavy favorite to win this whole championship. But Aragorn is used to taking down opponents that are heavy favorites. This is where I cast my "artwork" vote for this round, as this is EXACTLY how I first imagined Strider in my mind when I first started reading the books! So perhaps he is getting my "nostalgia" vote as well!

AN - Faramir . In all truth, Legolas is probably the better hero, at least in terms of valur to his sphere (questing in Tactics). But I've said all along that Faramir is my favorite character represented in the game (Sam is a close second) and that I'm voting for him regardless. Not changing from that.

AO - Sam Gamgee . "... there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for." (including this championship!)... Seriously though. This is one of the most beautiful excerpts from the books (I was seriously tempted to quote the entire passage here), and Sam proves himself time and again to be the true hero of the story. Plus, this would allow me the fan-boy joy of a potential Faramir-Samwise championship!! (I'll add more about this matchup below)...

AP - Elrond - An able defender versus the Lord of Lore, the Keeper of Knowledge, the Sultan of Smarts, the Warrior of Wisdom, the... okay, I'll stop there. Point is, Elrond wins.

We could've had an all-Lore "Final Four" if the Sam vs. Boromir matchup hadn't foiled that up. And truth be told, despite most people thinking Sam was going to be a Spirit hero, I ALWAYS felt he should end up as a Lore hero. His character is actually the most lore-curious of the four Hobbits, as is indicated a number of times with his fascination of the elves. He (and his descendants) also ends up being the bearer and final editor of the Redbook of Westmarch, which Tolkien "used" as the basis for his writings for the RIng Cycle. So I am slapping a Song of Wisdom on him, and making him my unnofficial Lore vote for that matchup! ..... As it is, I don't think it's hard for anyone to see that many of us have a strong attachment to the Lore sphere, myself included.

Disappointed to see Leadership Aragorn and Denethor, two of my favorite heroes, lose out. But the show must go on, I suppose.

AM - Aragorn - With my preferred Aragorn out of the way, I'll vote for his Lore counterpart.

AN - Legolas - Far more versatile.

AO - Sam Gamgee - Leadership Boromir is still way too limited, while Sam is hitting hard from the very beginning

AP - Beregond - Elrond is probably the better hero, but I have endless love for the ultimate tank.

AN - Aragorn (lo)

Okay first I have to say these two heroes imho are both in the top 3 most powerful heroes. They also have incredible art, and are two of the coolest characters in the series. So this may have been a close race thus far but let us end the farce now before things get out of hand.

Hero strength

Both cards are stat'd with the same amount of points. Aragorn has sentinel ability and a positive effect. Glorfindel has a negative effect and no other abilities. When it comes to natural out of the gate ability the sentinel is the only real markable difference. It is not much but is enough to decidedly say...

Winner: Aragorn

Threat.

So with glorfindel you start with 7 less threat. Great! That is absolutely incredible. However you're saddled with a threat raising ability. Even lucky sometimes you are looking at only saving yourself a total of maybe 4 threat over the course of the game. Not saying that initial savings aren't good but let's go look at aragorn first

I regularly reset my threat at about 48 to somewhere below 30. An easy savings of over 20 threat without really even optimizing your deck for the event.

7 or less threat reduction vs 20+

Winner: Aragorn

Now attachments...

Glofindel: 2 incredible attachments + access to elven keyword cards

Aragorn: more attachments specifically keyed to him than any other hero in the game. Also hilariously some elf only attachments also may specifically be used by aragorn!

Winner: Aragorn

I could go on but I feel I am hitting all the major points here. Glofindel is undoubtedly one of the top 3 most powerful heroes in the game and though many of you seem dazzled by his shiny 7 threat discount that does not make him THE best. Maybe he is more versatile than any other hero but Aragorn (lo), the king of all men during the age of men is clearly the most robust hero card in this fight.

AN - Legolas

AO - Sam. Now Sam must avenge both Frodo And Denethor!

AP - Elrond. Currently the Boss elf. Beregond is only what? A captain of men?

Thanks for the title btw Denethor almost made it there