I really don't understand why people hate Lorefindel. He is expensive and bans both other versions of glorfindel, but as a natural match with asfaloth and a very effective direct damage counter, I'd say he's pretty good. Not stellar, mind you, but good.

Without any doubt, Glorfindel pales in comparison to Glorfindel. However, the Lore version is still very useful if you build around his deficiencies.

1. Threat can be lowered by finding the right partners for him; Mirlonde and Denethor are great options.
2. He can’t use both his and without readying but if you are using a Lore deck, you have access to encounter deck scrying which means you will know which to pick from each round.
3. As noted by other posters, his health pool allows for an undefended attack and he is a sphere match for Asfaloth. Both are forms of action advantage.
4. His healing action is costly but it is a subtle distinction that he is a healer with a large health pool. Unlike other persistent healers, he has more than 1 or 2 . When treacheries kill your primary healers, Glorfindel will still be there to keep your heroes alive. With sporadic healing on himself, his health pool can be used for more than one undefended attack; a couple of well-timed undefended attacks can be enough to win a quest.

I still use Spirit Glorfindel but I always include at least 1 copy of Thorongil so that I can have his Lore version too. That way I have access to Lore, Asfaloth and his healing too.

I don't play Glorfindel much, but if I do, I usually pair him with Gimli or Glóin mainly because of his ability, which can always help in control of damage. His stats are quite good, but his threat is too high for what he can do. It's really hard to play both and so most of the time you can't use his full potential. Also he is more playable in scenarios, where the starting threat is not so big deal. But I try to built deck around him, just to find out if he can be better. Interesting artwork. Verdict: 4/5.