To Dungeons Deep and Caverns Old 1.0

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• 1.0

This deck was built to run through The Hobbit saga expansion as well as the Dwarrowdelf Cycle. I was able to complete every quest except for "Shadow and Flame." This deck did not have the ability to take or avoid a hit from the Balrog on every single round. At the time of construction, I only had cards up to "On The Doorstep" There may be better swaps in other expansions.

With Bombur card-text, you will only need to play a single Dwarf ally to trigger both Thorin Oakenshield and Ori's ability. With a plethora of Dwarf allies, you should be able to do this on round 1 or 2 at the latest. You should do whatever you need to do to get a dwarf out, even if you need to use Parting Gifts to transfer a resource from Thorin Oakenshield to play a 3-cost Lore ally.

From there you will be drawing 2 cards every round, as well as gaining an extra leadership resource. If you can draw a Steward of Gondor you will be swimming in resources and should be able to play all your allies with minimal trouble. Because of Thorin Oakenshields ability, I found it better to play Steward of Gondor on a Lore hero. More often than not you'll be wishing for Lore resources.

If you manage to draw Fili before drawing Kili you will get the free play from your deck.

Bombur is your primary defender. If you can play A Burning Brand and a Protector of Lórien on him, he's very formidable. You can also use Lore of Imladris to heal him up if needed. Cram will help with questing and then readying for combat, or swinging at multiple enemies with Thorin Oakenshield. Once you get some of the Treasure cards from the Hobbit quests, Ori will also come into his own as an attacker.

The idea is to overwhelm the encounter deck with the sheer number of Dwarves and then usually towards the end of the game you make a big push (or 2) with Lure of Moria by sending every character you have at the quest and then readying for combat if you need to. Faramir really helps to push you through the end-game. You should have plenty of Leadership resources to play him.

Radagast's Cunning and Secret Paths are not essential but can really help on some turns where you can't afford to commit Thorin Oakenshield or other powerful cards on the quest. Parting Gifts can also help to get the deck going if you didn't get a good draw. Sometimes you need that extra resource or 2 to trigger some of the "5 dwarf" abilities. Durin's Song will help get you over the hump whenever you need it.

Erebor Hammersmith can help get back your Crams as well as your Forest Snares if you need them. Glóin is a cheap ally that benefits from the "5 Dwarf" effect, and Longbeard Map-Maker combined with Steward of Gondor on a Lore is massive. Erebor Record Keeper's ability can help to ready Thorin Oakenshield, however there's only 3x of him to help with the Dwarf-draw on turn 1. He only costs 1 so its an easy way to trigger the other abilities. Otherwise there's never more than 2 copies of all unique allies. Since you'll be swimming in resources, I've included 2x Gandalf because why not. He's a powerful dude and his abilities are incredible. He was especially helpful to draw 3 cards before performing a Riddle check.

Swap in some of the Hobbit events once you obtain Sting and Bilbo's Magic Ring to boost the deck further. Note that you cannot do this unless you are playing The Hobbit scenarios.