Phoenix Lords: viable?

Stemming from this post on Warseer. In a nutshell, no. Specifically though I want to look at what Ail-Shan has said (though I didn't read his huge wall of text. tl;dr) because...well you'll see. So let's start off with this quote from Ali-Shan:

"I think that the phoenix lords can be well worth their points and can add a lot to a list, but they are usually quite specific in how they need to be used especially since they have no invulnerable save."

Okay...well I'll let that pass as you did point out they have no invul save. Let's see what else he said.

"Eh....yes you can...but the phoenix lords have more ability than a squad of their aspect with all the fixings (especially Fuegan and Maugan Ra).
I'd rather have Fuegan than more fire dragons, or really anything else for my list."
 
Wait. What? Fuegan over a Fire Dragon squad? (don't worry; it get's better). In response to me saying essentially that...
 
"Yes, because that long range melta then survives most punishment opponents can throw at it, AND can fight very well in cc against many targets, including walkers. And for those who don't know, my long range melta gets his own holo-field falcon. He's quite spoiled."
 
Wait wait wait. You're saying, you put a 200pt+ model in a 170pt+ transport and saying it is BETTER than Fire dragons? For those points I'm taking 2 squads in 2 Serpents. That's 10 meltaguns to your 1 18" meltagun. That's 2 AV12 chassis to your 1 AV12 chassis. That's 4 heavy guns to your 3 heavy guns. That's twice the amount of targets for your oppenent to deal with and 1000% more damage potential across two targets. And you're still advocating Fuegan? And claiming he's spoilt!? I'm sorry but when did an over glorified meltagun become worth 200pts? Never. Ever ever ever. Let's break down the Pheonix Lords and then revisit this (oh apparently the guy won a tourney. He must be awesome. Pics or it didn't happen!!!!).
 
Ali-Shan said it himself. Phoenix Lords have no invulnerable save. This. Is. Bad. You're spending over 200pts on a model without an invul? No. Shoo. Go away. Begone foul model! The only Phoenix Lord which does have an invul is Asurmen. Go figure. (he should of kept his 3++ from 3rd ed. Then he'd be the new black). Let's look at another quote, this time from Gwyidion:
 
"For the price of a phoenix lord, you can get an entire 2nd squad of their aspect with all the fixings."
 
Ali-Shan's reply is contained in the 2nd quote but Gwyidion touches on something here. Pheonix Lords do nothing significantly better than Exarchs except have an improved statline (and generally one minor 'extra' ability like FNP, FC, Stealth, 4+ invul, etc.) yet you pay triple to quadruple the price. Like Gwyidion said, I could get a whole squad for that or in the event you are playing 5th edition Eldar, a whole Serpent + its cargo. Let's go back to this quote from Ali-Shan:
 
"Eh....yes you can...but the phoenix lords have more ability than a squad of their aspect with all the fixings (especially Fuegan and Maugan Ra)."
 
Let's compare directly and assume we are going for full squads. 10x DA w/Bladestorm Exarch = 152 pts. Asurmen = 230 pts. Uh, DA win? Even if we add in Defend and Diresword, Asurmen has no where near the ability of that squad and is only better in combat. News flash, Eldar hate combat with their current codex and Pheonix Lords are no different. Let's look at Fuegan then, whom Ali-Shan seems to adore and since he rides in a Falcon, we'll take those points into consideration, too.
 
Fuegan + 5x DA + Holofalcon = 440 pts or 2x 5x Fire Dragons + Serpent w/TL Shuri-Cannon, Shuri-Cannon, Spirit Stones = 400 pts. Again, how on Earth does Fuegan have more ability than that min-sized aspect squad without ANY fixtures. Can we add 5 more Dragons? And a crackshot DBF? So Fuegan can take on a Dread in combat. woopee. Fire Dragons don't need to take on a Dread in combat because they shoot it to death. I'm so glad that Fuegan can survive all those shots at him, he's still a waste of 205 pts (I'm also assuming you arming your Falcon correctly but then that would be silly because you need to drop Fuegan off close. We've already established what a waste of holo-fields that is).
 
Maguan Ra on the other hand, is a soft spot for me. I mean, he's covered in skulls. Awesome. This doesn't make him good though. Sure a mobile S6 IC is pretty cool (who also isn't too bad in combat) but again lack of invul and price tag just make him a fun toy (even if Harlequins didn't compete with Fire Dragons where he could tag along). Ali-Shan therefore gets 1 positive point for mentioning Maguan Ra.
 
Overall, PLs are just too expensive for what they do. If you want to buff your Aspects, you take an Exarch. If you want a combat guru you take Yriel or an Autarch but at 200+pts w/no invul...ya well, some cool sculpts and fluff but they sit on the table for the time being. Characters need to be able to do certain things to be viable.
 
1) be an absolute monster in CC. This is the rarest type because it's so one-dimensional. You'll find CC monsters but they generally do something else for the army, too (i.e. Canis).
2) change the FoC. This is where PL's will hopefully fall in the future (along with a damn Warp Spider one). This opens up different armies and assuming the character isn't half bad, they will be used for variety (i.e. Biker Captain, Logan, etc.).
3) support the army. You know. Vulkan. You pay a high-price tag for someone who isn't too bad at combat, has a nice statline, etc. but amplifies your army on a pretty dispersed field (unlike PL 'powers).
 
If PL's are still pretending to be wannabe CC monsters next codex, they will still run sub-par, even with an invul. 5th edition, in particular the new books, just look down on that style of play and laugh. I imagine (and hope) PL's will in some way move their Aspect around on the FoC whilst taking a small price cut and gaining more useful and influencing powers that Exarchs cannot get. There has to be some advantage to taking them outside of fun or fluffy reasons. Atm, contrary to what Ali-Shan thinks, PL's simply do not do this.