i want to find out if Thengel is really OP.

undoubtly he is a good hero, with great stats and an ability that have much potential. but is he better than a Gandalf, an Elrond, Dáin Ironfoot or Círdan the Shipwright?

i made 3 decks where i found he makes nearly the most out of his ability and then i want to compare that with classical high end. what means compare? it is not easy to compare, because the abilities need circumstances like Vilya ore dwarfes..... overall i think the get "discard an ally from play" is harder to achieve than having #vilya in play or dwarfes, or To the Sea, to the Sea!, but it is usable without any more costs (exhausting elrond, discard cards,....)

in this cases i would say he is at best equal to all that toptier-heroes. so, when he can become op? only together with other toptier heroes, and thats what the 3 decks i made want to investigate.

the choice of the allies is very limited. mot as limited as it is for Dáin Ironfoot but the only allies with discardabilities are creatures and rohan. yes with beornings you can also do nice things, but this would only result in a battleheavydeck, that can be usefull in multiplayer, but in solo it is far away from op.

the other decks:

• https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/38469/isthengelopthedendenethorrohan-1.0
• https://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/38472/isthengelopradagast-denethor-1.0

this deck:

straight foreward, mulligan for Vilya and then use vilya and #thengel each round. with (MotK) Gildor Inglorion you can adjust what you will vilya out and can secure a valuable targen for Thengel ability. in a powerround, you can vilya a Gandalf in let a Vassal of the Windlord leave, boost your Eagles of the Misty Mountains and get an 4-5 cost eagle back. that is repeatable. so you can play cards worth of about 13 res in 1 round. and it is repeatable.

otherwise this is only doable with combination of cards like Timely Aid, Sneak Attack, Reinforcements, and A Very Good Tale, so much more efford to do.

there are 9 targets for Thengel ability to discard:

• Eagle Emissary
• 3 Vassal of the Windlord (best use 1 cost and readying in refresh-phase)
• Winged Guardian
• 3 Loyal Hound
• Wilyador (its NOT so good with him, he leaves at the end of the turn the ally of thengels ability comes exhausted, will not refresh until next round refreshphase)

defense should be doable with the heroes + Inner Strength, specially if you get Gift of Foresight into play, so allies can attack and quest. about half of the allies are questing for 2

finetuning: consider to use some Lembas instead of Miruvor. consider include some Warden of Healing sideboardallies are there for locationheavy questa or multiplayer.

conclusion, i think this deck becomes op with Thengel. yes you could classically play it with Gandalf instead of #thengel, but than you loose the option to play him with Vilya