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Just wondering because I have not seen any army lists use him.
He might very well be uncompetitive next to Farseers and Eldrad, but I mean: He's got a power weapon that always wounds on 2+, a save that's as good as that of the Avatar, can create a blast in combat if he's last man standing and you want him to survive.
I mean, for an Avatar (granted without fearless bubble) that can hide in a unit, he seems pretty decent in a Mech List. Of course there's the whole mess with Eldar CC and stuff, but I mean there are foot slogging Eldar armies. Can't he be used in coherency with Harlequins very well?
Please give me your thoughts on this.

Well, with Eldrad and Farseers being as strong as they are he doesn't really bring too much to the table. He IS good at his role of assault, and the blast has marginal use, but a normal autarch has access to all kinds of gear for less. This is my thoughts on him, I'm actually not sure what the community as a whole thinks. Oh, and a foot slogging eldar army would want the avatar for both the fearless bubble and his ability to wreck most anything in CC.

I've used him a few times, some uses include...

- Charging solo into a marine unit and exploding. Can clear of an objective (especially with doom in the mix) or just cut down a unit significantly. But watch out for those powerfists.

- Defence for a unit of Wraithguard (he IS from Iyanden after all) He actually gives them a bit of punch in case anything nasty comes yours way. He won't manage to take on anything with a decent invun (TH/SS termies, tzeentch daemons with fate nearby, etc) but can trash small units of things like DC.

- Adding some punch to a foot council, same as above, you can also explode when with the council if they have fortune up, as is shouldn't hurt to much, just don't hit the farseer...

Always wounding on a 2+ in nice, but the targets where this would benefit most... will likely cause instant death to Yriel so it isn't that advisable unless your finishing off a wounded MC or trying to kill something thats only S5 or less. All in all he is epic against MEQ if you can reach combat. Send him in against a dedicated CC unit he'll get squished, send him in against hordes, his 2+ power weapon is kinda wasted (it'd be better to try pop tanks instead) and after exploding once, would likely get torrented down with volume of attacks.

He is a decent buy, kinda situational, but at 155, he not THAT much more expensive that an Autarch (Kitted out) anyway, and Yriel still gives the +1 to reserves.

I've used him once in a "wonder twin" army. I had him, and Eldrad, attached to a unit of harlequins. The unit as a whole was completely devestating. I've thought about trying it with a seer council (Eldrad + lock guards + yriel) to give him enhance as well for some I8 power weapon swings of death, but I can't justify the use in any competitive list I've put together. Eldar melee is just unreliable from a serpent, and if they're on foot, they'd be shot to death, even with fortune up.

But yes, he is good. He does have his place, just be weary of his weakness as well. He is only toughness 3, and he is not immune to instant death. Just something to consider with him when you put Yriel in any list.

He is awesome but in a truly competitive list, he doesn't have a place as much as he used to. Now, you need to min/max the hell out of Eldar to make Mechdar work, or be crazy and go Footdar like me, in which case you need the Avatar or a Phoenix lord.

He is great for his points, but has sort of been edged out in the competitive meta. In friendly games though, I would totally still use him in a Mechdar force as he brings the pain. As Manax said, combo him with a fortuneseer and he is a serious powerhouse in combat.

Thanks for the input. It seems valid.
I hadn't thought about that Yriel would be that great with Wraithguard. But I can see the logic that giving him T6 against shooting stuff is actually a pretty great idea.

I think it's just the current popular builds don't fit him in that well.

If you have space for a 'better' foot Autarch, then he's worth taking but sometimes a 'barebones' Autarch suffices if you don't think you'll need the CC power.

As mentioned I think the best place for him is with on foot seer council. They have no power weapon attacks without Eldrad, so he adds serious bite, plus he gets major buffs from enhance and fortune.