Challenge Accepted #5: Thorin and Company

Play The Stone of Erech using a Dwarf deck.

Far over the misty mountains cold

To dungeons deep and caverns old

We must away, ere break of day,

To claim our long-forgotten gold.

Deck Summary

Ever since the release of The Arkenstone, I've wanted to put together a deck representing the Dwarves' journey in The Hobbit. This is the best approximation that could also defeat Stone of Erech. A few liberties are taken, as seen by Dáin Ironfoot's appearance and various non-unique Dwarves, but let's just say this is shortly before the Battle of the Five Armies and Dain came with his battle masters, record keepers, and map-makers ;).

The deck tends to be slow rolling. This is due to the costly allies (unlikely to get more than 1-2 per round until Thorin's resource generation is boosted), high starting threat (enemies will engage, diverting your attention), and low initial . It can build up to a strong company, but it takes time. Another factor is the latest errata to Legacy of Durin (the card exhausts as part of the cost, which hinders card draw).

The most important thing is to get out a single dwarf ASAP so Thorin Oakenshield begins generating extra resources (thanks to Bombur's useful ability!). Opening hand is looking for Erebor Record Keeper since this is the only Dwarf that could be played first round. If that doesn't pan out, hopefully Glóin or Fili show up as they can pop out round 2.

Nearly every single attachment belongs on Thorin. The one exception being Cram, which is most likely to go on Dain, the main defender. The Arkenstone and Necklace of Girion represent Thorin's lust for the treasures and will both attach to him. When it's all said and done, Thorin can generate 3 resources a round and be questing for 7 , all of his will fighting to reclaim what he believes is his. Once he's generating the most resources, Narvi's Belt will allow to pay for some of those other Dwarves (and Hobbit!).

Since the deck has fairly high starting threat, be prepared for enemies round 1. Dain and Bombur are the early-game (and main) defenders. Dwalin can be a help later, or Dori for those undefended attacks.

Quest Summary

This deck has fared surprisingly well against Stone of Erech. It has won 3 out of 5 games, the two losses were early game in part because of bad starting hands (wasn't finding any Dwarves I could play round 1 or 2) as well as tough enemies with no way to deal with them.

In my wins, I would spend a majority of the time in stage 1 biding my time trying to gather Thorin's Company and putting out the Necklace and the Arkenstone in timely intervals. Stage 2 I would generally skip planning phase so Thorin could continue to stock up on resources. Travelling to the Stone of Erech was typically not an issue as nearly every character would be at 2-3 at this point, so it's effect was moot. The biggest challenge is with dealing with the Lord of the Dead, as it blanks text boxes. Luckily, it's nice enough to let us keep our traits (and flavor text!) so Lure of Moria helps us take it out in a single round.

I took Thorin and Company on a few other quests (on the easier side) and it fared well provided you don't get bombarded with early enemies. The deck can up it's every round consistently, so that is generally less of an issue outside of round 1 or 2.