Dwarven Bonds 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

I don't play Dwarves that much - after playing the Hobbit Saga I've thought they were just so strong with the classic Dáin/Thorin/Ori lineup, and never went back to them. This deck is me coming back to them with a full card pool and then trying to prioritise theme, so it feels like a Dwarf deck.

The core idea is still just play lots of Dwarves for fun and profit. But, because it's Bond of Friendship it puts some interesting limitations on your deckbuilding, while allowing you start with four Dwarves. Whatever you look for in your opening hand should be something that allows you get a fifth Dwarf on the table turn one or at the latest turn two, start drawing through your deck with Ori, and then playing all the Dwarves you draw to lower your threat with Nori.

There are several ways to get the fifth Dwarf into play - Erebor Record Keeper, Ered Luin Miner, deliberately failing to quest with Bofur, playing Magic Ring and using the resource generation ability or using A Good Harvest or We Are Not Idle to smooth resources and play any of the 2 or 3 cost allies that might appear in your opening hand. Don't be afraid to underquest turn 1 to generate resources with We Are Not Idle - the ridiculous amount of threat reduction playing your allies will generate over the course of the game will more than make up for any you start with, and starting at 37 you're going to be engaging enemies turn one anyway.

Then, keep playing the allies you draw. The only ones I'd pause before playing are Miner of the Iron Hills if playing a scenario with conditions, and Ered Nimrais Prospector if you don't already have Will of the West in hand. Otherwise, get them in (also via A Very Good Tale) and enjoying the global buffs Dáin provides. The mining abilities aren't the primary focus of this deck, so don't overuse them and see all your allies disappear into the discard. The Zigil Miner's are 2 cost allies more than resource generators; I've not felt the need to use their abilities very often.

Speaking of Dáin, I've found the buff mostly unnecessary between Thorin and his ability, the Battle Master's, and just the sheer number of allies you can get on the table. While the deck still has an Unexpected Courage and Magic Ring aimed at keeping him ready while allowing him to defend, in practice he'd be used as the primary defender throughout the whole game and I never really felt it was the wrong decision. The Longbeard Sentry's are great defenders as well, especially with Ring Mail, and Dwalin and Nori can both take a hit if required as well.

You're sort of at the mercy of the encounter deck in many ways - the complete lack of treachery or shadow control in the Dwarf archetype means not a lot of protection. While I did have A Test of Will in the original version, I found it too often in the discard from mining anyway so it got cut for more allies to find with A Very Good Tale. Healing is another weakness - Hardy Leadership allows a massive amount of archery damage to be absorbed, but 5 is the highest a single character can get, so consistent boss level attacks can hurt. Thorongil would be an ideal card to help with that but was cut for theme.

Theme considerations - Gandalf doesn't really need to be here, but fit with his part in the Hobbit story. Really only left him in because there wasn't a replacement card I thought was a better fit - I did have Gather Information in but there isn't any specific card that's especially required. The sideboard has a few cards in theme that could be substituted in but overall wouldn't really change the nature of the deck. Armored Destrier is one I'd have in if not for theme, as is The White Council. Because of the huge questing and combat capability of this deck, any of the Guarded attachments would also be fine to play because dealing with the guarding cards would be fine, but then it's also a bit win more in many ways.

In no game I've played have I finished with a higher threat than I started, which I find absolutely ridiculous. It's not ever going to be a one deck but it's certainly the strongest theme deck I've played, and it starts faster than most Dwarf decks because it starts with four Dwarves.