Everything* Costs 1 ft. Thorin Stonehelm

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Seastan 42133

Thorin Stonehelm

Thorin Stonehelm is one of the strongest attacking heroes in the game. He starts with a base ability to swing for effectively 4, which can be increased to 6 with a single 1-cost, non-unique attachment: Dwarrowdelf Axe. There's no other hero like that. Most enemies in this game will fall to 6 , making Thorin one of the easiest heroes in the game to set up for one-shotting enemies.

I wanted to capitalize on this quick setup, so I built this deck which features 3x Dwarrowdelf Axe and 3x Open the Armory to search them out, so getting Thorin set up quickly is rather trivial.

Mining

From there, it made sense to go with a mining mechanic to make the most of Thorin's ability. So I've included the Dwarven mining cards like Hidden Cache, Ered Luin Miner, Zigil Miner, Dwarven Tomb, and Dwarf Pipe.

I also figured I'd include some Noldor-themed cards to take advantage of cards getting put into the discard pile. Cards like Arwen Undómiel, Glorfindel, and Elven-light.

1-cost

With the Zigil Miners in my deck and a large chunk of the cards already costing 1, I decided to go all-out with the concept and try to fill out the deck with mostly 1-cost cards in order to make the miners as consistent as possible. This is much the same concept as my Everything* Costs 2 deck: mulligan for a Zigil Miner and start mining away, and you'll generate 2 additional resources per round per miner.

The following cards in the list do not have 1-cost:

The first three are of course cards that you want to see being discarded by the Zigil Miner. The last two are actually still really good to see, because they are some of the best cards in the deck and can be grabbed out of the discard pile with Dwarven Tomb.

The third hero being Beregond was largely due to the fact that the deck needed some solution for defense. Beregond can take advantage of several 1-cost cards, like Gondorian Shield, which can also be dug out with Open the Armory, as well as Behind Strong Walls and Miruvor for defending multiple attacks. He also helps keep the threat down, since I didn't want to go with the 0-cost Elrond's Counsel.

Strategy

The deck covers the main questing, defending, and attacking bases quite nicely. Additional attacks and defenses can generally be covered by some combination of Miruvor, Feint, and Behind Strong Walls. I find myself using Miruvor most often to ready Beregond and put it back on top of my deck. I can then draw it again with Elven-light before I need to attack back with Thorin and discard my top card. Or it can be used to ready Thorin after his first attack and drawn up with Elven-light before he makes a second attack.

Resources

The deck can generate a lot of resources, especially when multiple miners are up and running. Where does all that money go, given that everything in the deck is so cheap? Well, the excess resources first go into playing Glorfindel, then into drawing cards with Elven-light. I can normally play 3 Elven-lights a round by discarding one to Arwen and another 2 to Glorfindel (readying him after questing and combat). Finally, with no healing in the deck, your main counter to archery-heavy quests is to kill off Glorfindel and recycle him, which can get pricey.

Late game

By late game, you should have a ton of willpower, the ability to defend multiple times for 6 (Beregond+shield), and attack multiple times for 12 (4 (Thorin) + 2 (Axe) + 2 (Axe) +1 (Captain of Gondor) + 3 (Glorfindel)). I've found this to be plenty for most end-game content.

15 comments

Nov 11, 2018 Goggen 113

No Ancient Mathom ?

Nov 11, 2018 GrandSpleen 1398

Like it. Love it, as I love to see this 'mining' archetype get developed and received some love from the player base. I don't think Thorin deserves praise as high as you give him here ('there's no other hero like that'), seems like hyperbole, but I will start a forum post at the FFG forums for discussion of him, rather than derail you comments section here.

Nov 12, 2018 Seastan 42133

@GoggenI found the card draw to be fine with just Elven-light, but yeah Ancient Mathom would work great here.

Nov 12, 2018 Yepesnopes 1241

Could you elavorate what is so special with him? You could use Bard the Bowman, plus he is ranged and fits good in multiplayer. Is the lower starting thread what makes him more appealing?

Nov 12, 2018 Seastan 42133

@YepesnopesBard's ability only works in multiplayer. Thorin's works in solo as well. I'll refine my statement:

Thorin demands the least conditions/setup out of any hero in the game to be able to swing for an effective 6 against an enemy engaged with you.

Nov 13, 2018 lightningbolt1312 311

@SeastanThis is Colin, just wanted to say thank you so much for making this deck!! I am itching to try it out, I love the use of mining and using it to your advantage even with non-1 cost cards. Excited to see how it plays!

Nov 15, 2018 Spellpierce 33

Hi, nice Deck. I released a similar one with Gandalf instead of Arwen, to have more abuse about the "Mining" Strategy what is running very good.

What im missing in your Deck is "Rohan Warhorse", why?

  1. It costs one
  2. It enables a 2. Attack with Thorin. His Ability is -crazy- not once per Turn, so you can Trigger it 2 Times what is fuck ing strong with the Mining Cards.
  3. You could add Horsebreeder to Tutor it what enables 1 more 1 Cost Card. (I like adding one random Windfola then just for more Options with)

Galadrim Weaver Will of the West Miruvor + any other Card i would cut for.

Maybe Sterner then Steel vs. Hasty Stroke -> tapping Gondorian Shield for it seems better to me.

I most Time play Multiplayer so for me 1 or 2 Copies of Unexpected Cour. is always useful, maybe in this Decks not needed as much.

Just meaning from me, the Deck is very solid and fits my Playstyle.

Nov 15, 2018 Seastan 42133

@Spellpierce Here are some of the reasons why I don't include Rohan Warhorse:

  1. It takes up a restricted slot, so Thorin would not be able to wield 2 axes. This both limits his max attack and creates two dud-cards in the deck (the copies of the Axe that you don't play).
  2. The extra copies of the warhorse will also end up as dud cards.
  3. With only mount in the deck, the Westfold Horse-breeder is not so great.
  4. You do not get to trigger the Rohan Warhorse if the enemy is killed by the damage from the Dwarrowdelf Axe, and this is often the case.
  5. The deck already has a repeatable way to ready Thorin that does not suffer from these downsides: Miruvor.

Nov 15, 2018 Seastan 42133

As for Sterner than Steel and Unexpected Courage, those cards do not cost 1.

Nov 15, 2018 lightningbolt1312 311

Can I ask @SeastanWould a good replacement for Hasty Stroke be Desperate Defense as it costs 1 and can ready Beregond? I know that mean you have no shadow negation, but I do like that +3 defense if you are being attacked by a boss and it is 1 cost. Curious what you think!

Nov 15, 2018 Seastan 42133

It only gives +2 but yeah it's a fine card. It was in an earlier version of this list. Typically though, not much can get past Beregond's 6 .

Dec 02, 2018 Sfrug 370

Is the only reason not to include Imladris Stargazer because she costs two? Because I can’t help wondering if it might be worth it anyway, since you could then set up your mining to best effect.

Dec 02, 2018 Seastan 42133

@Sfrugit's not the only reason. The deck is likely better with stargazer (similar to the original deck), but I enjoy playing the deck more without it.

Dec 02, 2018 Sfrug 370

Hard to imagine a better reason than that!

Out of curiosity, if someone did want to swap in Stargazer, what would you recommend that they swap out for her?

Dec 02, 2018 Seastan 42133

@Sfrug2x Dwarf Pipes and a Behind Strong Walls