Whenever there is a hero whose ability requires paying resources, said ability better be worth it. And, in the case of Prince Imrahil, it certainly is, even if it then also requires a lot of commitment during deck construction, since you need enough allies to ensure that you won't whiff often.

His traits are extremely common, meaning he has many, many decent targets with Envoy of Pelargir, Boromir, Glorfindel and especially Beorn among the standouts. In addition to that, attachments like Nor am I a Stranger or Elf-friend can further open up his target-pool, with Silvans profiting especially due to their powerful enter-play effects.

As a hero beyond his fantastic ability however, Prince Imrahil excites me much less. Having a steep starting threat cost, stats that can be described as all-over-the-place and no built in readying is not really ideal. Even his attack is somewhat limited, being neither ranged nor easily increasable, with no weapon setting up an effective +2 (in most cases) for 1 resource by itself (a noticeable difference to say Dagger of Westernesse on Merry or Rivendell Blade on Legolas). He can be equipped with the likes of Gondorian Shield or The Red Arrow, but I overall consider him pretty middling with a great ability and a subpar stat-line.

Rating: 5.5/10

Decks of mine using Prince Imrahil

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Global willpower boosts are never terrible - however tactics heroes seldom quest in my experience. Sure, there are the likes of Hirgon, Éowyn, Thalin or Théoden himself, but many more red heroes post pretty subpar willpower stats. This limits the usability of the king of Rohan somewhat, making him mostly a good option in high player counts or dedicated mono-tactics decks. I do like him a lot with his signature attachments, including Snowmane for readying and Golden Shield/Herugrim for combat. With Golden Shield, you can even make use of his otherwise rather awkward sentinel keyword.

So there certainly are niches where Théoden is quite solid and even good, however those niches are quite narrow and while the payoff is decent, I would still not call it fantastic. An average hero, but by no means a bad one.

Rating: 5.5/10

Decks of mine using Théoden

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I feel like people sleep on Tom Cotton. He is often spoken about (at least in my vicinity) as being quite bad which is rather unfair if you ask me. Now, he often competes with Merry in decks, which is a tough place to be in, however Merry also exists as a spirit hero, giving them room to coexist. In some decks, he even surpasses Merry, especially if said decks are geared towards ally swarm and utilizing jumpy Hobbit cards like Raise the Shire or Curious Brandybuck.

Never underestimate a global boost, especially if it is a +2, as even a few small Hobbits become quite the force to be reckoned with, meaning Tom Cotton can often provide 6 or more attack per round distributed between different players. Furthermore, his defensive capabilities, being just a little too low stat-wise to count him as a primary defensive option on their own, have been greatly improved by Inner Strength and the increased playability of restricted attachments like Ring Mail due to Forth, The Three Hunters!.

His resource-smoothing ability I consider the least of his qualities, with it being occasionally useful but seldom the reason I run him. A hero that definitely needs work and the right cards around him to make him competitive, however when doing so, there is definitely a worthy payoff!

Rating: 5.5/10

Decks of mine using Tom Cotton

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Everybody's favorite burglar has become quite the pet card for me. He certainly needs some help to function (like Hobbit Pony, Pippin or Fastred), however when utilized correctly, he is a very good quester with some decent direct damage to boot and one of my favorite ways to free up guarded cards.

I also really like him for his jank potential - you are able for instance to commit and trigger him, than uncommit him through Elevenses or Don't Be Hasty! before recommitting him through Hobbit Pony or Late Adventurer and thus triggering him again, getting double willpower and damage. He is definitely still only an average hero, with his high starting threat and need to be set up holding him back from a higher rating, but I find Bilbo Baggins overall quite useful in the right deck, not to mention being bags of fun.

Rating: 5/10

Decks of mine using Bilbo Baggins

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While I think that Gwaihir's drawback of not readying in the refresh phase is a thematic homerun, it still majorly ears into his efficiency. Because without this drawback, I would play Gwaihir a lot more and he would still not be broken over overpowered I feel. He would still have the second-highest starting threat in the game and would be unable to claim many of the wonderful attachments tactics possesses, meaning I hardly see him being above-curve in that scenario.

As it stands, he is still far from terrible - having both ranged and sentinel is awesome, as are his stats and traits, often enabling you to play something like Gwaihir's Debt much sooner than you would otherwise be able to. His readying potential - albeit hindered somewhat by usually forcing you to play an eagle ally during planning - is also very useful, meaning you can often use him 2, 3 or even 4 times per round. I also like his synergy with The Grey Wanderer since you usually want to trigger the contract during planning for the resources, with the other ability often going to waste. This will seldom be the case here however, since Gwaihir is a) often damaged as he is a decent defender and b) will be exhausted in planning quite often.

Overall, I enjoy Gwaihir a lot, with him having been a breath of fresh air underneath the wings of many eagle deck. That being said though, I feel like he has just one drawback too many (with readying prevention, inability to equip restricted attachments and a high threat cost) to be a really good hero, rendering him certainly still average but unfortunately little more than that.

Rating: 5/10

Decks of mine using Gwaihir

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