"I grieved at the fall of Thorin," said Gandalf, "and now we hear that Dáin has fallen, fighting in Dale again, even while we fought here. I should call that a heavy loss, if it was not a wonder rather that in his great age he could still wield his axe as mightily as they say that he did, standing over the body of King Brand before the Gate of Erebor until the darkness fell." - Appendix A, Durin's Folk

If that quote doesn't embody the spirit of At the End of All Things, I don't know what will. So with that setup I went about crafting this deck in anticipation for the Epic Multiplayer event against the Nine Are Abroad.

Heroes

The pick for Dáin Ironfoot was obvious, though I went with his version, since it allows Dain to defend for 7 on turn 1, and he also gets 6 hitpoints to start the game with. That allows him to tank the Balrog during The Nine Are Abroad, but is also useful in quests with Hummerhorns or Umbar Assassins. His main role is that of a defender, with Armor of Erebor and Arwen Undómiel giving him early access to the Sentinel keyword and extra defence. From there, you can play around with his attachments a little. Spear of the Citadel is pretty fun on him, since the contract does make him a hero as well. With enough readying on him, you can do some serious damage during the game. But if he is left standing after defending, you can give him some -boosting weapons as well. A base attack of 3 with the contract is pretty solid. Thorongil is also in the deck for him, giving you additional and to the Dwarf-heavy army of allies.

Bard the Bowman is here because I like him better than Brand son of Bain, but both can work with the same setup. Bard just hits harder with that nice -2 for enemies during Ranged attacks. With the contract, that gives him a base attack of 6, but there is plenty in the deck to boost that with. Black Arrow is an obvious auto-include for that one-shot big attack. His Esgaroth trait made it a little difficult to find proper weapons, since Dale weapons won't work with him. Luckily, he has the Warrior trait, so you can use Bow of Yew, War Axe, and Warrior Sword with him. Again, plenty of readying attachments are in the deck to get extra use out of him. If you are not playing The Nine Are Abroad, then the Great Yew Bow should be swapped in for some of the weapon attachments, probably Warrior Sword. It's just that the quest doesn't allow for attacks into the staging area, so that was why it was out of the main decklist. Bard is also the main target for Strider, giving you early additional and action advantage. You can also use the contract early on.

Contract

At the End of All Things is interesting, and this is the first time I have used it. It cripples you by being unable to heal your heroes early on, and preventing resource generation through attachments. That resource limit really hurts here, since many of your Dwarf allies are 3 cost, so there will be turns where you have to calm down a bit. On side A, you get some extra action advantage in exchange for damage. I use this often if I need the willpower, so that I can have Bard quest until I get Strider or readying attachments. Emergency defences and attacks with either hero is made a lot easier with this contract. But the damage you get with this action will hurt over time.

Flipping to side B gets you your 3 resources on both heroes, and 2 cards of your choice from the deck. These 2 cards really depend on what you have drawn so far. Thorongil is a popular pick for me, so that I can have Dain boost the rest of the Dwarves. I also like to take out Erebor Toymaker, so I can play them and get cards like Unexpected Courage for free! If you need attackers, you can also grab a Warrior of Dale with a Bow of Yew.

Later in the game, the deck starts to die down a little. The lack of resource generation outside of Hidden Cache hurts, so if your allies are dying faster than you can replace them, it might be a dark end before you complete the quest. There's also no healing in the deck, since Spirit and Tactics don't allow for that.

Allies

A mostly Dwarven themed deck here, with Warrior of Dale providing Ranged support to the table. Erebor Guard, Longbeard Sentry, and Dwalin can help with Sentinel defences if Dain cannot take more or if you want to keep him ready for his boost. The Erebor Toymaker are pretty nice for their 2 and the fact that they can get your 2-cost attachments out for free. Arwen Undómiel is here if you are unable to get Armor of Erebor early on, Azain Silverbeard and Nori are here as additional attackers and can even take on some attachments to boost their . Bofur is flexible for getting attachments, questing, or attacking. Elfhelm is essential for The Nine are Abroad, so he joins the party. Gandalf for his abilities, Galadriel's Handmaiden for willpower and threat reduction, and Ered Luin Miner for if you get lucky with mining.

Attachments

I have discussed most already. Stack them on your heroes, with Golden Belt to give extra Restricted slots. Additional weapons and armor can also go onto your allies. Armor of Erebor on Longbeard Sentry gives him his boost permanently.

Events

Not a lot of deckspace was left for events, so Hidden Cache is here for resource generation, and Foe-hammer for card draw. There should be plenty of weapons to trigger this from, and otherwise you can find one when your contract flips. Card draw is pretty weak in the deck, but Gandalf can help if you are topdecking.

Side-quests

Mostly for the Epic Multiplayer game, since the main quest has no progress required. Gather Information gives you another search through your deck, and Double Back drops threat.

Strengths

• Theme
• Strong early Ranged attack and Sentinel defence on the table, able to tank Hill Trolls and hit back pretty hard.
• Plenty Sentinel defences late game, helping others to deal with their enemies.
• Can quest decently if given the chance.
• Threat can be stabilized with Elfhelm, and lowered with Gandalf, Handmaidens, and Double Back, giving you enough time to last for a while during your game.
• Both heroes are as well as , allowing you to play all your cards without having to worry about a resource match.

Weaknesses

• Early willpower is a problem, especially if you don't find Strider or your questing allies. You need a slow start from the encounter deck or a second deck to cover questing.
• Resource generation sucks, courtesy of the contract. If others can give you a resource, it is always appreciated.
• Card draw isn't great, though you have some ways to draw some extra cards, and find them with the contract.
• There's no healing in the deck, so if you went all in on the contract's Action in the beginning, you might get hurt in the late game if nobody is healing your heroes. They do have a lot of hitpoints to begin with, but aren't invincible.
• I would classify this deck as a multiplayer deck, since the focus on Ranged and Sentinel goes to waste in solo. Still, it can beat some quests like Caves of Nibin-Dum solo.

I hope this deck has inspired you to try it out or to make an adaptation of the idea for yourself. I really liked the deck and the way it came to be. The initial idea was to make it part Dwarf, part Dale, but that proved too difficult. So the deck I have here is a pretty nice balance that should help out a lot in multiplayer games.