An Unexpected Journey Starter Pack 1.0

• Versions
• 1.0

The long-awaited-for fourth edition of the Starter Pack Series is finally here! After much testing and deliberation with different versions of Bilbo, The Burglar's Turn, all three different Gandalfs, and finally Bond of Friendship, this is the version I settled on.

We should first talk about the elephant in the room: the threat. 38?! Is that really necessary?

I believe it is. To get the most out of the dwarf archetype while including Bilbo, the obvious solution is BoF. However, I ruled it out early because of the threat. Without non-thematic inclusions it would simply be impossible to manage.

That's where the MVP of the deck and one of my favorite dwarf heroes Nori comes in. Consistent threat reduction is always one of the most powerful things a card can do (see Galadriel), and Nori fills this role perfectly. Due to the lack of other reduction in this deck, I don't recommend taking this against quests with a focus on threat.

That being said, this deck does sometimes take a while to start up, so mulligans are very important. King Under the Mountain and Legacy of Durin are both critical. Narvi's Belt is huge if you can find it early. Zigil Miner is a good card to have if you don't have Hidden Cache or Ered Luin Miner in your starting hand. Other things to look for include the usual combos like Sneak Attack Gandalf, Well-Equipped, Daeron's Runes, Feint, and all of the guarded attachments.

The guarded attachments are fun cards that I wish would see more action, and it just-so happens that this deck is the perfect fit for them. Not only are they highly thematic in this deck, they are also exceptionally powerful. Their synergy with Bilbo is why they're here, but after testing, I realized that they are quite strong in Bond of Friendship lists anyway. The extra hero helps immensely with the encounter card, and an extra hero means extra restricted attachments.

Glamdring and Orcrist, while being thematic homeruns, are powerhouses in the list. Orcrist should of course go on Thorin (thematic joy) because of the synergy with Narvi's Belt and the cards in the deck. I like to also put Glamdring on Thorin to pump up his attack even further. Even though it's thematic, it isn't reasonable to put it on Gandalf.

Ring of Thrór is a great card to find in your hand because it serves as a great one-card engine for the deck. The ability to find attachments is great, but be very cautious. With all the guarded attachments in the deck, never use its ability after you've already played a guarded attachment this turn.

There isn't any location control in the form of allies in this deck as that is usually covered by Bombur, but Thrór's Key is here, and it is surprisingly amazing. You can use it to swap from problematic location to problematic location, allowing you to blank all travel effects for the whole game. If you have to clear the location it's attached to, there's always the second copy.

As for the dwarves themselves, Erebor Battle Master is one of the very few expensive cards in the deck, but oh boy is it worth it. Having two four-attack allies on the board combined with four heroes and all of the other allies is ridiculous, and if you manage to survive the early-game then you will feel unstoppable. (Especially with Khazâd! Khazâd!)

There is a mining element to the deck with Zigil Miner, Ered Nimrais Prospector, and Erebor Guard. Use them to dig for Hidden Cache and Ered Luin Miner, though the miner isn't bad to play from your hand because it's .

This deck is tricky to play but fun. The only way to see if it's for you is to play it.

General Tips:

• Bombur can be swapped for Bifur if you feel that matching resources are a problem, but with all of the , Narvi's Belt, and A Good Harvest, Bombur generally feels better because he helps with those tough early game turns to get your engine going.
• Narvi's Belt goes on Thorin.
• Wait until you have a strong enough board presence to play the guarded attachments, no matter how enticing it may be.
• The toughest sphere to pay for is usually , but with A Good Harvest and Narvi's Belt, you shouldn't have too much of a problem with it.
• The most important thing to know about this deck is how to manage your resources with all of the different spheres. You just have to try the deck and see how it goes to truly get a feel for how to play it, manage your resources, what hands to keep, etc.
• After playing around with this for quite some time, I'm tempted to make a powered (non-Starter Pack) Rohan list with Thengel, Golden Shield, Golden Belt, and the best restricted and guarded attachments, because these guarded attachments are really strong if left unchecked by the encounter deck. LMK in the comments if you're interested.
• If there is demand for a saga-compatible deck, I'll make one, though I think you can stick with an old dwarf deck for that.

This deck has really opened my eyes to how fun thematic dwarf decks can be, even though it's not the most powerful deck ever. I hope you enjoy it too, and Happy Questing!