The Hills of Durin 1.0

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• 1.0

A revised draft of my Dwarf deck for the Hobbit saga. This is a first deck into a grand campaign that spans the entirety of the LOTR LCG scenarios and was introduced as homebrew content aptly named the "Tale of Years". I only follow its scenario list and not its other rules. The campaign rules that I follow are those stated in the Core Rulebook from the Revised Core Set with a few additional modifications.

1. The Campaign Pool exists for the entirety of the "Tales of Years" campaign. Boons and Burdens that are earned during the Campaign are "regional" unless they have specific rules that state otherwise. This is done on a case-by-case basis. For example, Mendor is earned during the Passage Through Mirkwood campaign introduced in the Revised Core Set. He is an elf of Lorien and is therefore "regional" to Mirkwood. He can be included in any quests related to the Mirkwood forest. In addition, one of the campaign resolutions for the Passage Through Mirkwood is that if Mendor survives, he can be used in the next campaign. If the next traditional campaign included in the "Tales of Years" is not related to Mirkwood, he can still be used. Otherwise, he can only be used in Mirkwood scenarios such as the Dark of Mirkwood and the Hunt for Gollum.
2. Deck construction is incremental throughout the campaign, which means that players start with a very restricted card pool that widens over the course of the campaign as the players attempt scenarios in new regions of Middle Earth. Any cards introduced as a part of a quest or scenario are always added to the card pool when that quest or scenario becomes available. For example, the player cards from Over Hill and Under Hill may be used for deck construction when building a deck to complete that quest line. Players do not have to complete a quest before accessing the cards provided alongside its release.
3. Fallen Heroes are permanently removed from the "Tales of Years". No restrictions upon unique allies unless that ally is promoted to a hero and then falls while promoted. +1 threat penalty for each fallen hero. Players can switch heroes during a quest line at +1 threat penalty per hero. Threat penalties only last for the duration of the quest line. Players may switch heroes between quest lines at no penalty. All other cards may be changed between scenarios at no penalty.

The campaign begins with the Hobbit Saga and the first set of quests are introduced with Over Hill and Under Hill. The starting campaign pool includes a limited selection of the Core Set, the Dwarves of Durin Hero Pack, and Over Hill and Under Hill. The selection from the Core Set is limited to cards that are related to Dwarves, Hobbits, Istari, or are otherwise neutral. This includes heroes. Hence this deck is called the Hills of Durin. Currently restricted cards would include all Sylvan, Gondor, Rohan, and Dunedain heroes and allies as well as related attachments, such as Protector of Lorien, Steward of Gondor, Celebrian's Stone, etc.

The first quest from Over Hill and Under Hill is ridiculous, but there are several ways to overcome the quest with this deck. I've successfully done so. It does require that you play aggressively for specific strategies.

The general strategy is to stall the game in the beginning to allow Ori and King Under the Mountain to build up a large hand as well as to build up resources on your heroes for a big turn. The cards you're most looking for are Sneak Attack, Gandalf, Beorn, Durin's Song, Erebor Record Keeper, Feint, and Forest Snare. Get Troll Cave into the staging area and then clear the quest. Travel to the Troll Cave. Engage the two weakest trolls. If Thalin is Sacked, use Bilbo to clear it. Otherwise, Bilbo can clear any other sack. Start knocking them down. This deck wins by clearing all three trolls. Yes, it is built for solo play.

These are the notable interactions:

1. Dain and Thalin ready, Thalin with Dwarven Axe + Durin's Song means that Thalin can deal 5 damage to a troll with a single swing. One Erebor Record Keeper then results in Thalin defeating one troll per turn effectively.
2. Forest Snare can keep a troll from attacking on following turns once Bert has been defeated, but you still have to pay the 1 threat or get sacked again next turn. I would pay the threat.
3. Sneak Attack + Beorn results in 6 damage against a troll and Beorn comes back to your hand. Follow up with Thalin + Dwarven Axe (or Durin's Song) and then Ori can defeat Bert.
4. Sneak Attack + Gandalf also results in 6 damage against a troll, but you can also use Gandalf to keep your threat down so that you don't have to face the third one until the other two are clear.
5. Use King Under the Mountain aggressively (taking a mulligan to find it is fine). It's okay to discard attachments because Hammersmith can bring them back to hand. Also, always discard Ered Luin Miner with this effect because both cards are technically on top of your deck.
6. Narvi's Belt in most cases will go to Ori or Thalin depending on whose resource pool is larger. I tend to put it on Thalin, but sometimes you're spending all of his resources for axes and feints.
7. Magic Ring are best on Thalin. It's not restricted, so you can still go double Dwarven Axes on him for full fury!
8. It's okay to use Forest Snare or chump blocks on the last troll to stall out the game. You just need to be careful of shadow cards that can deal damage to sacked characters. The purpose of stalling out the game is to clear the Troll cave, which gives you treasures at the end of the quest.
9. There are several cards listed in the sideboard. These cards have useful effects that I would normally consider putting into the deck. However, they are no help on the first scenario of Over Hill and Under Hill. There are no conditions in the encounter deck and sacks are Objectives (not conditions). If your heroes take any damage, they're dead, so no need for self-preservation. There are no orcs. Bilbo's job in the first scenario is clear sacks and travel to the Troll Cave.