Well, arguably at least some fair few folks would likely have disagreed with you at least for the first year or so after Jequn’s release.
Reasonable people can disagree about his current value, certainly, given the intervening exponential power rush, 2LB immunities, Toons, etc. — but I’m making a general point that Very Fast can have its own value on offense, where the difference between generally being able to act in two match-3s (or a single ghosted match-3) and being able to act generally only after three matches can be a wide gulf.
Since your initial dismissal of Jequn was literally
I suppose that I feel like if you personally just don’t like him — which is valid — then saying other people personally might like him… and with reasoning!… is equally valid.
– Having said that, Jequn at 20 souls seems daunting to me, especially compared to Phenexa and cGP.
I suppose we could get into, say, an Ithar vs Himeros VF comparison, and I’d argue that Ithar manages to be — IMO — significantly both underrated and overrated (can be surprisingly effective in the right combination and with the right timing, but if/when things are off, it can feel like she does literally almost nothing when firing).
But that point is mostly moot because Ithar isn’t in this Soul Exchange.
Himeros vs Erebus is an interestingly closer relevant comparison, but if I don’t have either, I’m probably generally more worried losing to counterattack, taunt, or Hippo-like mechanics than to minions, and Himeros’ Special-boosting can be pretty useful when you need to just finish off a particular foe Right Now.
Now, would I agree that Phenexa is overall a generically stronger choice than Himeros? Sure. Phenexa has pretty phenomenal value despite the stat rush that’s happened since…
but, also…
if the info we now have – that Phenexa is 20 souls and Himeros is 10 – holds, then the question isn’t just “is Phenexa a better choice” but (unless soul cost literally doesn’t matter for someone, or even “I want to clear more roster space” is a feature) how do folks stack up at their cost level too… never mind if a given player already has Phenexa or is hip-deep in red heroes but needs a blue/other color project.
But for at least some folks looking at SE, cost is a consideration. And if the valuation of 10-soul heroes is an intuitive “their time is past” judgment then what, folks should just never take 10-soul heroes and only ever pick 20s or occasionally premium 15s, regardless?