Erestor

So...really interesting card. Stat line gives a lot of flexibility and as long as you have some resource acceleration (and maybe Will of the West) you should be in a very good position to see what you want, when you want it and be able to get the cards you need onto the table.

But...doesn't he seem just a little too much like the recently spoiled Cirdan hero? I like Erestor more because I think his extreme nature lends itself to some interesting deck building but I kind of think he's going to fade away fast once Cirdan is released into the cardpool. Cirdan's downside is just so much easier to mitigate...

I guess I wish these two cards with relatively similar effects were just a little more spread out...

When you use him with the Harp, after you've discarded your hand, you can keep one card.

Cadran, for me, has a way too high threat cost to be interesting.

See--it's the harp that makes me think Cirdan is so good. It completely negates his down-side. And yeah, his threat is super high, but he's in Spirit where that matters least as he is easily paired with a lower-cost hero. Plus he's Noldor so you are probably running 3 Elrond's Counsel. Or Merry...because Merry. 

Don't get me wrong here--I like Erestor. I think his elevated pro and con make him a more interesting card than Cirdan. And I think there is a lot you could do with him in a deck built to harness his ability. I just wish that he had come out last cycle (or even before) so we had a little more of a gap between major Noldor traited heroes with such similar abilities. 

I see what you mean! You know what? I'll really be curious to see a deck featuring Erestor AND Cirdan!!

Lol. Why not? You would be drawing a 5 card hand each turn after the first so you would have a good amount of choice for Cirdan's discard.

I feel like Erestor really wants you to be running Leadership for some economy, though. After all, if you only have one turn to play a card before it goes back to your discard (Harp not withstanding) you want to give yourself the best chance of having resources in hand to play what you see. 

But it's still definitely possible if you build the deck right. 

I would see an Erestor/Grima/Cirdan deck. Wouha!

For me it's heroes like Elrond, Gandalf or Glorfindel that come to mind when looking at Erestor--the heroes that really need you to start with a certain specific card in hand in your first draw if at all possible (Vilya, Wizard's Pipe and Light of Valinor respectively). Starting your first turn with a fifth of your deck in hand ALMOST guarantees you'll see what your looking for even if a mulligan didn't turn up your clutch card. And even if you DON'T draw into the card that first turn, chances are good you're going to see it pretty quick drawing 4 cards per turn. 

He also frees up some serious room in your deck. For non-clutch cards I would be a lot more comfortable running 2 or even 1 copy of a card knowing I will be blowing through the deck that fast. And fetch abilities just become unnecessary for most decks.