Dwarves all around

[Julia 2,809]

Guys,

I'm returning to the game after a couple of years of nothing. Unfortunately, I won't have time to deckbuild anything, and too much time has passed since I played the game to remember properly the cards. Can someone kindly point me at 2 good dwarf decks (fun to play, not game-wrecking)? The only requirement would be that one deck is Leadership/Tactics, and the other one is Spirit/Lore. I have access to all the cards in the game (only 2 core sets tho), so, building any deck shouldn't be a major problem.

And yes, I know Dwarves should be easy to build, but really time is of the essence (leaving for holidays in 36 hours and still snowed under with work)

Thank you for your time and help!

[Denison 19]

Here is my favorite dwarf fellowship: http://ringsdb.com/fellowship/view/4431/sellswords-miners

It includes hero Gandalf, but I found that he makes the dwarf mining mechanic infinitely more reliable.

[Authraw 565]

Sadly I don't have any decks that match your colour requirements, but I do have two Dwarf decks that I have enjoyed solo that could probably be tweaked a bit to play nice together:

http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/4575/goblinrend-1.0

http://ringsdb.com/decklist/view/4621/legends-of-azanulbizar-1.0

I think their only overlap is Ered Luin Miner, whom I would probably give to the Goblinrend deck.

[Seastan 1,324]

Two-player dwarves has gotten a lot better over the last two years because we now have two viable dwarf archetypes: swarming and mining.

To that end I'd recommend:

1. Dain/Thorin/Ori: Leadership/Lore dwarf swarm

2. Gandalf/Oin/Gimli: Spirit/Tactics dwarf mining

[Julia 2,809]

Thank you all guys!

So, Denison: I see in the comments that you designed those to play nightmare Khazad-Dum, so, I assume they would work smooth in non-nightmare mode. It's interesting the pairings (Leadership + Lore and Spirit + Tactics), which are the same pairings suggested by Seastan. I'm trying to build these overnight!

[Julia 2,809]

Authraw, thanks for the link to your decks! So far, I'll opt for Denison's, mostly because they were thought to work together, which was what I was looking for, but I appreciate the listings! Possibly this is the right time to return to the game and stay (I played 350 games over 18 months or so, and then I was forced to the longest break, and I feel like I'm just scratching the iceberg this game is. Wanna play a lot more)

[Denison 19]

3 hours ago, Julia said:

Thank you all guys!

So, Denison: I see in the comments that you designed those to play nightmare Khazad-Dum, so, I assume they would work smooth in non-nightmare mode. It's interesting the pairings (Leadership + Lore and Spirit + Tactics), which are the same pairings suggested by Seastan. I'm trying to build these overnight!

Works just as easy on normal mode.  The big change I made since posting is adding Armored Destrier for Dain. So helpful to have him defend once and then ready to boost everyone after.

[Julia 2,809]

Yeah, it's a nice card, and shadow discard is really solid. Decks have already been packed, so the Destrier will stay in the stables for now But I'm superhappy, I'm leaving with my 2 "old" decks (Silvan Spirit/Lore and Direct Damage based Leadership/Tactics) and your 2 new ones, I'm sure I'll have a blast

[Seastan 1,324]

Denison's fellowship looks great, my main recommendation would have been to find room in the mining deck for Bilbo ally and some Dwarf Pipes, and maybe a Will of the West to prevent yourself from decking out. Something like:

-2 Ever my hear rises

-3 Dwarven Axe

-1 Self Preservation

+2 Bilbo

+3 Dwarven Pipe

+1 Will of the West

[Julia 2,809]

Thanks Seastan, will certainly do!

[Ywingscum 842]

Removing Dwarven Axe! Whaaaaaaa!

[Julia 2,809]

I just added the cards to the "holidays equipment" so that in case I want Dwarven Axe back in the deck, I can

[Denison 19]

Session report?

[Julia 2,809]

More feedback on the decks But I need to play a few more times to write something that makes sense. Yesterday I played three fast games with Passage through Mirkwood just to understand a bit the synergies among the different cards and refresh the rules of the game. Today I'll play hopefully something more juicy  

[Strategian 20]

Best dwarf deck ever (by jjeagle):

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/121989-one-deck-to-rule-them-all-almost/

[Julia 2,809]

11 hours ago, Strategian said:

Best dwarf deck ever (by jjeagle):

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/121989-one-deck-to-rule-them-all-almost/

Nice deck indeed

[Julia 2,809]

So, two plays of Into the Pit done today. Enjoyed them thoroughly. The only minimal issue I had was that Lore is somehow slow on resource accumulation so that some Lore cards were more difficult to put fast into play. Decks are actually really fun to play with, and deliver on the distance. They are a bit different from what I used to play (tons of cancel, direct damage, and cards allowing you to score a ton of progress markers), so, I just need to enter in the right mindset. It's nice to see how different the game can be played and still have fun

First game had a nice pacing, with stage 1 passed in 3 rounds, then 2 more to pass stage 2 (two patrol leader in play at that time), and then powerquesting for the win. Second attempt was a bit more complicated, due to a nefarious series of bad events that trounced poor Gimli in half. Despite losing one hero to the horde, I managed to pull a victory in 9 rounds. I'm staying into the Pit for 3 more, then move forward.

[Wandalf the Gizzard 370]

Bifur and Narvi's Belt would help with Lore resources.

[Julia 2,809]

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, both cards are home. But in the other decks I have with me, it happens there's a Steward of Gondor. So, not really uber-thematic, but it works.

Played another two rounds of Into the Pit today. Two victories. Stage three feels a bit too easy: true that you cannot collect resources anylonger, but once you reach stage 3 if you cleared the enemies at stage 2, it's just a question of powerquesting to victory (unless I'm totally missing something)

[Wandalf the Gizzard 370]

Nope, you’re not missing anything. It’s an easy stage.

[Julia 2,809]

Thanks 4-1 with Into the Pit with Denison's deck. Last attempt was really unfortunate, I've got a horde of enemies piling up in the very first round of the game, and then I was only able to stall them, but not to beat them, so, it was a stage 1 defeat, but was still fun I'm trying a couple of times the scenario with my other two decks, then I'll move to the next in the cycle

[Julia 2,809]

Shortish update: played 16 times Into the Pit over the last few days. 11 times with Denison's decks, 5 times with my old direct damage + silvan decks.

Results: 15 win, 1 loss

Fastest / slowest victory: 4 / 8 rounds, both scored with the dwarves decks
Lowest score: 124 points, direct damage + silvan decks

I think once you have the proper timing of the quest, it's not particularly difficult, i.e. the key is passing East Gate before staging clogs, and then get a proper timing on passing the Bridge and the Stage 1, so that you're prepared for when the patrol arrives. Once you get there, it's all downhill.

Tomorrow I should try the 7th level. I remember I played this back in 2014, and had a good time. Can't wait

[Julia 2,809]

Played 6 rounds with "The 7th Level", 4 wins and 2 losses, using the Dwarves decks. Both losses were due to a bad first round: in the first game, I lost Ori on round 1 - shadow effect forcing the defending ally to be discarded, attack goes undefended and if it's undefended, attacking enemy gets +2 Axe. Couldn't kill Dain, wouldn't kill Thorin - I had a ton of good Leadership cards in hand - so goodbye Ori. I could have made it, if only I didn't have Thorin killed 2 rounds afterwards and the same combo shadow + discard hitting the other deck, resulting in a third hero going to halls of Lorien.

Second loss was due to impassable opening, with both the Cave Troll AND the Captain of the Pit entering the staging area while setting up the quest. I played one round, survived, but then it ended there.

Victories were close in a couple of cases, and in other two situations happened by manifest superiority. One of the close calls was fun, I went for powerquesting and beat Stage 2, strong of 34 total Willpower, and after revealing cards during staging, it ended up I needed 32 to win. Phew. Can't imagine the slaughter otherwise