Look at a bigger picture. You do not want to see diplomat as a 2cc ally. When I was running 3 diplomat, I would see him as more like an ability card just like
Artful Squire. So I was also running 3 CoI. So you have 6 2cc allies to start a reliable early game. But like I said those allies can be used throughout the game. When you build a deck, you might be tempted to imagine a typical opening scenario. But building a deck with mere focus on first T4 or the best case scenario is usually a bad idea.
The reason eladowen is so easy to use yet powerful is that she (and mage in general) has almost no synergy. FB and LS never be a dead draw. As far as lance goes, going first with puwen on T2 would be great. But more game progresses, less important the difference between 2cc and 3cc becomes. When you draw puwen in a mid game with 6 resources, that means nothing. 3cc ally would be a better draw in almost any cases.
That is why I prefer diplomat to puwen with at least lance.
Also, you do not want to evaluate a card based on popularity. Some human decks do not need aldon. Put it another way, less popular means less expected, therefore it could be a big threat.
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