Hobbit Saga Dwarf Invasion 1.0

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• 1.0

Hi! For the Hobbit saga expansions I wanted to build a solo deck that is kind of faithful to the book. So...what did I need for that? Well, dwarves of course and here they come. I considered several hero combinations but since the best dwarf allies are in I picked two fitting heroes.

Ori (+ Legacy of Durin) brings card draw to the deck and card draw is always good because more cards lead to more allies on my hand which brings more allies into play...you get the idea. Bombur enables Ori to draw more cards beginning with round 2. It's very unlikely to not have a cheap ally in your starting hand and I'd mulligan in this case. Bombur also is my main defender and quite reliable thanks to his big HP pool (enhanced by Hardy Leadership) and A Burning Brand.

Dain Ironfoot buffs all dwarves and gives access to Steward of Gondor (unfortunately not very thematic), the strong We Are Not Idle + Lure of Moria combo, the classic Sneak Attack + Gandalf shenanigans and the possibility of playing Sneak Attack + Erebor Battle Master for an even bigger damage boost.

Healing is achieved through Warden of Healing (again, not very thematic). Dori takes any lethal hero damage if necessary, Erebor Battle Master wreaks havoc, Fast Hitch gives Bilbo a greater role, Longbeard Map-Maker saves you from questing unsuccessfully, Miner of the Iron Hills deals with several nasty attachments on your dangerous journey and then there is Erebor Record Keeper, possibly the best ally in this deck. He gives you the much-needed fifth dwarf in round 1, can quest for 2 (thanks, Dain!) and even ready a dwarf character, which is almost everyone in this deck. All you need to play him is 1 resource. Damn!

Erebor Hammersmith is a great all-around ally as usual and Veteran Axehand has 3 (thanks again, Dain) for just 2 resources. Dwarrowdelf Axe can go on any dwarf character for just 1 resource.

One major caveat is the dependence on Song of Battle. To tackle that issue you might substitute all cards and Song of Battle with 2x Bifur, 2x Glóin, 3x Longbeard Elder, 3x Ancestral Knowledge (and 1 additional Fast Hitch if you want). I played all quests with the regular deck except "The Lonely Mountain", where I wanted to get all treasures and I felt it'd be easier to have less spheres in the deck. I especially needed Ancestral Knowledge to clear the pesky mountain and underground locations. After the changes to the deck I came away with five treasures and a flawless victory (and got lucky because Smaug never got a shadow card with a burgle effect). I think the changes could also work well with the riddles on "Dungeons Deep and Caverns Dim" but I didn't try it yet because I won it without the changes anyway. For the last quest I removed all 3 Dwarrowdelf Axe since I had all the additional treasures from Smaug in my deck (except Thrór's Hunting Bow).

Tips for the quests:

"We Must Away, Ere Break of Day"

Take your time on the first stage and set up your dwarves. This also helps with getting out the "Troll Key" and "Troll Purse" to grab the treasures at the end. "Wind-whipped Rain" is a nasty treachery as is "Roast 'Em or Boil 'Em?". Once these cards are out of the way the quest gets much easier. If you have Erebor Battle Master in play on stage 2 you can probably one-shot the trolls as soon as they engage you. With enough allies in play the sacks won't bother you too much.

"Over the Misty Mountains Grim"

The second stage was the hardest thanks to the "Stone-Giant". You barely get time to set anything up. The main issue is questing, an early Sneak Attack + Gandalf will help a ton. Once you get past the "Stone-Giant" the quest will be pretty straightforward. The third stage was a breeze in my winning playthrough because I overwhelmed the encounter deck with my dwarf allies.

"Dungeons Deep and Caverns Dim"

This one might come down to luck. Get some cards on your hand and riddle away! Not much else to say here. The deck changes mentioned above might help if you struggle here.

"Flies and Spiders"

Poison is nasty. I set my dwarves up as good as possible and reduced threat with Gandalf along the way. Then I took it very slowly. I think I ended up with an empty deck and therefore the spiders were unable to poison me for the last two or three rounds (I hope this is how it works because the game tells you to grab the poison cards from the player deck). "Weighed Down" is an annoying treachery and will accompany through the remaining two quests as well, yeah...

"The Lonely Mountain"

Changed the deck, took it slowly and often quested just enough to not increase my threat. Longbeard Map-Maker is your best friend here. Draw some cards and start burgling. Dain Ironfoot can actually take a hit from "Smaug the Magnificent" once you have Hardy Leadership in play. Bilbo and his ring (Bilbo's Magic Ring) can do the same once per turn. Chump block if necessary of course.

"The Battle of Five Armies"

Really hard in the early rounds. Sneak Attack + Gandalf helps tremendously during questing. My stage priority was 3 > 4 > 2. There are enough enemies already and you really don't need more so you need progress on stage 3 ASAP.