Middle-Earth Arcade: Dig Dug, Greedy & Deep 1.0

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• 1.0

Hey, you know what would be fun? A series of decks based on classic arcade games.

While we wait for the “dwarven mining” archetype to get some really good glue cards, I present you with a fun delving (yep) into its current possibilities.

Mulligan for Imladris Stargazer. While dwarves wield the pickaxes, certainly the best prospectors are actually not dwarves, like the Stargazer, Gildor Inglorion, and Gandalf with his pipe. Those don't belong in this deck, but the Stargazer did find a home.

Gameplay tactics: this is actually kind of important. This deck doesn’t have a great amount of actual draw. While the Imladris Stargazer can show you where the nice and shiny mining nodes are, she also shows you some cards that you would actually like to have in your hand. Unfortunately you might find yourself without a way to draw them. To prevent this, give King Under the Mountain priority (don’t mine it away! I know it’s tempting). Don’t forget, that is a mining card also. Hang on to that We Are Not Idle until you’ve got a good card on top of the deck. Usually I used this without resource gain in mind. Accidentally drew into Hidden Cache? Use it to get what you want.

For those who have not mined with dwarves before: you are basically looking for Longbeard Sentry. One copy of him can mine your whole deck in 3 rounds, almost literally (actually his existence will always prevent this archetype from morphing into something really intriguing. He limits design space very much). And you need Will of the West. Once those two pieces are on the board, green light: mine as deep as you want and as greedily. Ideally you’ll have Stargazer in play also, she will make you mining way more profitable.

The deck has a slow start for willpower and works better in multiplayer for that reason. I didn't have much success in solo. In 2-handed it bested Celebrimbor's Secret and Journey Down the Anduin.