Realm of Dwarrowdelf EXPANDED

[sgtdraino]

Here's the Expanded variant of a deck I first put together for Fellowship block. That original deck can be found here:

http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,9323.0.html

The Expanded version is still in the testing phases, but so far seems to be doing well:

Realm of Dwarrowdelf EXPANDED Mk 1

Starting Cards:
Ring-bearer: Frodo, Son of Drogo
Ring: The One Ring, The Binding Ring
1x Legolas, Greenleaf
1x Gimli, Feared Axeman
1x Smeagol, Poor Creature

Adventure deck:
The Bridge of Khazad-dum
Steward's Tomb
Cavern Entrance
Neekerbreekers' Bog
Mithlond
Barazinbar
Dammed Gate-stream
Mount Doom
Sirannon Ruins

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
3x Dain Ironfoot, King Under the Mountain
3x Durin III, Dwarven Lord
3x Thrarin, Smith of Erebor
4x Gandalf, Wise Guide
1x Radagast, The Brown
4x Elrond, Herald to Gil-galad
1x Albert Dreary, Entertainer From Bree
1x Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor
1x Hugin, Emissary from Laketown
1x Axe of Erebor
4x Dwarven Bracers
1x Gimli's Battle Axe, Trusted Weapon
1x Gimli's Helm
4x Hand Axe
2x Heavy Axe
2x Shadowfax, Greatest of the Mearas
1x Sting, Elven Long Knife
1x Ring of Accretion
1x Ring of Artifice
1x Ring of Fury
1x Ring of Retribution
1x Aiglos
1x Narya
1x A New Light
4x A Wizard Is Never Late
1x Citadel to Gate
1x Deep in Thought
4x Roll of Thunder
1x Saved From the Fire
1x Traveled Leader
1x One Good Turn Deserves Another
4x Something Slimy
1x Beneath the Mountains
2x Endurance of Dwarves
1x Ever My Heart Rises
1x Realm of Dwarrowdelf
4x Shoulder to Shoulder
2x Long-stemmed Pipe
1x Perspective
1x Trust Me as You Once Did
1x Don't Look at Them
1x Gladden Homestead
1x Stewards' Legacy
4x Pallando, Far-travelling One
4x Deagol, Fateful Finder

Shadow Draw Deck:
1x Gollum, Her Sneak
2x Gollum, Old Villain
1x Gollum, Plotting Deceiver
2x Shelob, Her Ladyship
2x Dunlending Warrior
2x Grima, Servant of Another Master
2x Grima, Wormtongue
2x Uruk Captain
2x Mumak Commander, Giant Among the Swertings
2x Goblin Runner
2x The Balrog, Demon of Might
2x Gothmog, Morgul Leader
4x Southron Leader
2x Sauron, The Lord of the Rings
2x Mauhur, Relentless Hunter
1x Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow
4x Morgul Squealer
2x The Witch-king, Morgul King
2x Úlairë Cantëa, Faster Than Winds
2x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
1x Úlairë Enquëa, Sixth of the Nine Riders
2x Úlairë Lemenya, Eternally Threatening
2x Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders
3x Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman
2x Úlairë Toldëa, Black Shadow
2x Web
2x Ships of Great Draught
4x Captured by the Ring
4x Led Astray
4x Sudden Strike
4x Saruman's Power
4x Relentless Charge
1x Their Power Is in Terror
4x Too Great and Terrible
4x Evil-smelling Fens
4x Saruman, Servant of Sauron

Total Cards: 176!

This deck is basically an amalgam of strategies from my "Ultimate Madril Deck" found here:

http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,8525.0.html

...and strategies from other variants of the Realm deck from the other formats.

Bid zero, you'll be grabbing One Good Turn Deserves Another at earliest opportunity with Dammed Gate-stream, and you'll need the burdens for playing sites. Site manipulation is a major part of the Expanded meta, so being able to do this is important.

As with other versions of this deck, getting out Realm of Dwarrowdelf and Shoulder to Shoulder is high priority. Something Slimy should help with this.

With "The Ultimate Madril," canceling minion special abilities with Stewards' Legacy is an important defense. In this deck, that function is accomplished via Perspective. Again, Something Slimy should help you get it. Additionally, there's some synergy going on with Frodo, Son of Drogo, Sting, Elven Long Knife, Shadowfax, Greatest of the Mearas, Legolas Greenleaf, and Shoulder to Shoulder that allows you to take off threats and burdens, and move wounds around pretty much wherever.

Your conditions should be very safe in this deck. Gimli makes the Dwarf ones pretty much impossible to discard, while Gandalf offers good protection for the rest from just about everything except Buckland Homestead.

The Shadow is basically a somewhat larger version of my "Sudden Strike" Shadow from The Ultimate Madril. Read more about how to use it there.

[Shelobplayer]

So little discussion going on on these boards lately, glad you posted it, I have like 3 unfinished decklists saved on GEMP with Realms of Dwarrowdelf/ Beneath the Mountains/ Ever my Heart Rises and I'm pretty sure I haven't played a single game with any of them. I did go the 240-ish range with them then my brain went numb and never finished them. Tentacles and corsairs and nazguls all in the same deck and weird things like that...  Obviously with RB Gimli and Horn loop, because well... I'm immature like that. Resolute Friend should be nice with a few dozen extra cards in the discard pile each turn haha

Is Endurance of Dwarves a good card? I get that you can protect it with Gimli, but does it really worth its slot? I don't really understand TMAYOD either.

Nice catch on Son of Drogo + Sting, ELK!

What do you think of a version with Galadriel as Ringbearer and Gil-Galad, HKOTN? Strands of Elven Hair seem to be pretty okay here which is a very nice card for HKOTN, you fill your discard pile fast which enables a Gil-Galad fairly well. The Council of Elrond could help too. Maybe with Gimli as RB (tbh my latest attempts at HKOTN went with some form of Shoulder to Shoulder and Gimli as well).

[sgtdraino]

Is Endurance of Dwarves a good card? I get that you can protect it with Gimli, but does it really worth its slot?

I think so, because like you said, you can depend on not losing it (unless you want to). On top of being a bank of vitality, it's also an emergency +1 powerup which has saved my dwarfs in the past.

I don't really understand TMAYOD either.

Primarily emergency Ring-bearer overwhelm protection. May rethink it, though.

What do you think of a version with Galadriel as Ringbearer and Gil-Galad, HKOTN?

I think she doesn't have enough resistance with the number of burdens this deck tends to self-generate.

Maybe with Gimli as RB (tbh my latest attempts at HKOTN went with some form of Shoulder to Shoulder and Gimli as well).

I think the protection Gimli, Feared Axeman provides is superior to having him as the Ring-bearer. Also, there's again the resistance issue, and the fact that you kinda want Gimli to fight a lot in this deck, he has the best axes.

[Shelobplayer]

Fair enough.

I guess the list is copied from GEMP. There is still a Stewards' Legacy on it

The deck is pretty big, some Not Easily Avoided may worth consistency. And other possibilities maybe... Deceit + Treacherous Little Toad, or the lurker Gollum + Incited and stuff. I mean, you have plenty of space and I don't think that you'd want to drop Balrog/Sauron twice a game for example. I'd rather have a higher a chance of getting Sudden Strike than the same chance of Sudden Strike + a tiny bit more for stuff like Dunlanding Warrior or Wormtongue.

Since you already run Mauhur and Uruk Captain, a single copy of Grishnakh, TC and a single Ugluk, Ugly Fellow may worth consideration too. Who knows... if you can work out a good uruk package, you could run stuff like Greed or Merciless Berserker or White Hand Taskmaster.

Really not sold on Relentless Charge (I mean... do you really ever lose to archery with a Sudden Strike into Shelob + Web? I can't remember ever losing with that) and the Goblin Runners plus some Sudden Strike target duplicates.

We Must Have it is generally a better choice than 2nd copy of the same Gollum.

I'd also add a Vilya with 4 Elronds and The Binding Ring for sure.

[sgtdraino]

Now up to Mk 3!

Realm of Dwarrowdelf EXP Mk 3

Starting cards:
Ring-bearer: Frodo, Son of Drogo
Ring: The One Ring, The Great Ring
1x Gimli, Feared Axeman
1x Legolas, Greenleaf
1x Smeagol, Poor Creature

Adventure deck:
The Bridge of Khazad-dum
Steward's Tomb
Cavern Entrance
Neekerbreekers' Bog
Mithlond
Barazinbar
Dammed Gate-stream
Mount Doom
Sirannon Ruins

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
3x Dain Ironfoot, King Under the Mountain
3x Durin III, Dwarven Lord
3x Thrarin, Smith of Erebor
4x Gandalf, Wise Guide
1x Radagast, The Brown
4x Elrond, Herald to Gil-galad
1x Albert Dreary, Entertainer From Bree
1x Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor
1x Hugin, Emissary from Laketown
3x Dwarven Bracers
1x Gimli's Battle Axe
1x Gimli's Helm
3x Hand Axe
2x Heavy Axe
2x Shadowfax, Greatest of the Mearas
2x Sting, Elven Long Knife
2x Aiglos
1x A New Light
4x A Wizard Is Never Late
1x Deep in Thought
4x Roll of Thunder
1x Saved From the Fire
1x Traveled Leader
2x One Good Turn Deserves Another
4x Something Slimy
2x Beneath the Mountains
2x Endurance of Dwarves
1x Make Light of Burdens
4x Realm of Dwarrowdelf
2x Till Durin Wakes Again
4x Shoulder to Shoulder
2x Long-stemmed Pipe
2x Perspective
1x Don't Look at Them
1x Gladden Homestead
4x Pallando, Far-travelling One
4x Deagol, Fateful Finder

Shadow Draw Deck:
1x Gollum, Her Sneak
2x Gollum, Old Villain
1x Gollum, Plotting Deceiver
2x Shelob, Her Ladyship
1x Dunlending Warrior
2x Grima, Servant of Another Master
2x Grima, Wormtongue
2x Uruk Captain
2x Mumak Commander, Giant Among the Swertings
2x The Balrog, Demon of Might
2x Gothmog, Morgul Leader
3x Southron Leader
1x Sauron, The Lord of the Rings
2x Mauhur, Relentless Hunter
1x Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow
4x Morgul Squealer
1x The Witch-king, Morgul King
2x Úlairë Cantëa, Faster Than Winds
2x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
1x Úlairë Enquëa, Sixth of the Nine Riders
2x Úlairë Lemenya, Eternally Threatening
2x Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders
3x Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman
2x Úlairë Toldëa, Black Shadow
1x Web
2x Ships of Great Draught
4x Captured by the Ring
4x Led Astray
4x Sudden Strike
4x Saruman's Power
2x All Life Flees
4x Relentless Charge
2x Their Power Is in Terror
4x Too Great and Terrible
4x Evil-smelling Fens
4x Not Easily Avoided
3x Saruman, Servant of Sauron

The deck is pretty big, some Not Easily Avoided may worth consistency.

That was a FANTASTIC suggestion, a real game-changer, since Not Easily Avoided can pull FP cards as well as Shadow. Now I'm not reliant on that Dammed Gate-stream to get One Good Turn Deserves Another. I also added another copy of OGTDA, since there's a slight chance one copy can end up in discard before I can grab it. Not Easily Avoided also gets me Something Slimy to get Realm of Dwarrowdelf or any of the other important conditions, Sudden Strike to grab a magic bullet minion, Evil-smelling Fens to recycle a magic bullet from discard, Led Astray to move Cavern Entrance or Mithlond around, or even Captured by the Ring for a free threat and a Gollum. The ability to get Sudden Strike and Gollum basically whenever I want, also adds a new dimension to the Shadow: The Magic Bullet Event. I'm constantly dumping cards into discard, so with the ability to grab Ulaire Toldea, Black Shadow almost whenever I want, that gives me instant access to Too Great and Terrible, Relentless Charge, Their Power is in Terror, and even All Life Flees to get rid of key Followers, or even just grab another magic bullet Nazgul! This Shadow is becoming VERY flexible and responsive to opponent strategies.

I still feel like there's room for improvement on the FP side, though. I dumped all the Artifact ring stuff, and gave Frodo The Great Ring instead; Swarm protection is a must. That's probably the greatest weak point: aside from the large fellowship, there's not much swarm protection. No Faithful Stone, no ability to snipe multiple guys with Ithilien Blade, no defender +1 potential. Also not as good possession discard vs Corsairs and their ships. I'm going to steal Shelobplayer's idea and add Naked Waste. I'm also going to experiment with Grimbeorn and the axe, to try and cycle those Roll of Thunder better.

The Sting/Frodo/Shadowfax combo was a cool idea, but in practice it almost never works out.

[sgtdraino]

I did a MAJOR overhaul on the FP side of this deck, and I feel like it's much more effective now. Mk 5:

Starting cards:
Ring-bearer: Gimli, Bearer of Grudges
Ring: The One Ring, The Ring of Rings
1x Gandalf, Wise Guide
1x Smeagol, Poor Creature

Adventure deck:
The Bridge of Khazad-dum
Steward's Tomb
Cavern Entrance
Neekerbreekers' Bog
Mithlond
Caras Galadhon
Dammed Gate-stream
Mount Doom
Sirannon Ruins

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
4x Dain Ironfoot, King Under the Mountain
4x Durin III, Dwarven Lord
1x Grimbeorn, Beorning Chieftain
1x Radagast, The Brown
1x Albert Dreary, Entertainer From Bree
1x Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor
1x Hugin, Emissary from Laketown
1x Axe of Erebor
3x Dwarven Bracers
4x Hand Axe
1x Heavy Axe
2x Beorning Axe
2x Shadowfax, Greatest of the Mearas
1x Ring of Accretion
1x Ring of Fury
1x Gandalf's Staff, Focus of Power
1x Narya
4x A New Light
4x A Wizard Is Never Late
2x Citadel to Gate
2x Deep in Thought
2x On Your Doorstep
4x Roll of Thunder
1x Saved From the Fire
2x Speak "Friend" and Enter
2x Traveled Leader
3x Naked Waste
2x One Good Turn Deserves Another
4x Something Slimy
2x Beneath the Mountains
2x Ever My Heart Rises
3x Realm of Dwarrowdelf
2x Long-stemmed Pipe
1x Moment of Respite
2x Perspective
1x Don't Look at Them
1x Gladden Homestead
4x Pallando, Far-travelling One
4x Deagol, Fateful Finder

Shadow Draw Deck:
1x Gollum, Her Sneak
2x Gollum, Old Villain
1x Gollum, Plotting Deceiver
2x Shelob, Her Ladyship
1x Dunlending Warrior
2x Grima, Servant of Another Master
2x Grima, Wormtongue
2x Uruk Captain
2x Mumak Commander, Giant Among the Swertings
2x The Balrog, Demon of Might
2x Gothmog, Morgul Leader
3x Southron Leader
1x Sauron, The Lord of the Rings
2x Mauhur, Relentless Hunter
1x Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow
4x Morgul Squealer
1x The Witch-king, Morgul King
2x Úlairë Cantëa, Faster Than Winds
2x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
1x Úlairë Enquëa, Sixth of the Nine Riders
2x Úlairë Lemenya, Eternally Threatening
2x Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders
3x Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman
2x Úlairë Toldëa, Black Shadow
1x Web
2x Ships of Great Draught
4x Captured by the Ring
4x Led Astray
4x Sudden Strike
4x Saruman's Power
2x All Life Flees
3x Relentless Charge
2x Their Power Is in Terror
4x Too Great and Terrible
4x Evil-smelling Fens
4x Not Easily Avoided
3x Saruman, Servant of Sauron

Changes:

Replaced Frodo with Gimli
-The most obvious change is that Frodo is out, and Gimli is promoted to Ringbearer. The main reason for this is...

Reduced Cultures to 3
-I found the deck was just too vulnerable while 4 cultures could be spotted. There's some bad anti-rainbow stuff out there, and Perspective is the only protection against it... and you just can't count on Perspective to stop everything. Might be maxed out on threats, or just might not get it out in time. So, I decided to take out all the Shire and Elf stuff (even Shoulder to Shoulder!) and just focus on Dwarfs, Gandalf, and Smeagol.

Starting Gandalf, Wise Guide
-The one sure way to make sure I get Gandalf out fast... is to start with him! So I do. He's there from the get-go to protect my many conditions against most of the things that discard conditions. He's also VERY hard to kill now, with Shadowfax, Narya, and his Staff to give him more vitality, and really good odds of having Gandalf cards in hand to prevent Too Great and Terrible from affecting him.

More Gandalf support cards
-Maxed out A New Light to get those abusive minions out of my opponent's hand. Added another Citadel to Gate to keep my threats and burdens off. Added another Deep in Thought for condition removal. Added 2x On Your Doorstep, since I'll be cycling things into my discard pile like crazy, and can use that to get important stuff back. Added 2x Speak "Friend" and Enter so I'm not so dependent on OGTDA. Added Moment of Respite, for more Gandalf healing and even more cycling.

Modified Dwarf support cards
-Replaced Endurance of Dwarves with Ever My Heart Rises, and swapped axes for Axe of Erebor to work with it. Added a couple of rings and Hand Axes.

Synergy
-I'm feeling a real synergy with this deck now, that mostly involves pouring cards into my discard pile, and then getting back the ones I need, when I need them. Basically the same way the Shadow works in my Ultimate Madril deck, except on a bigger scale, and with both sides of the deck. Gimli is nearly impossible to overwhelm, he was up against 39 strength recently, and survived. The secret is Naked Waste, which Realm of Dwarrowdelf can funnel into the discard pile to be used in event of any emergency. Not Easily Avoided can pull FP cards from deck, and similarly On Your Doorstep can pull Shadow cards from your discard pile! Slam an axe on Grimbeorn, funnel Gandalf events into discard, and you can basically get whatever you need, whenever you need it. This deck doesn't need to run 6 comps, it is perfectly fine with 5 (Gimli, Gandalf, Smeagol, Grimbeorn, and a Dwarf) The extra Dwarf and Radagast are mainly there for SFTF and the potential 6-9 triple. Durin is a beast of course, but Dain is no slouch either, with his ability to discard a minion in regroup for a double... and this deck has plenty of disposable Dwarf and Gandalf conditions to use for that purpose.

[Shelobplayer]

We Must Have It is still superior to the 2nd copy of Old Vilian.

I'd try a single copy of Dwarven Heart to further improve the utility of Something Slimy. You can ditch it with Dain or Axe of Erebor for further benefits (and obviously to remove its drawback)

[sgtdraino]

We Must Have It is still superior to the 2nd copy of Old Vilian.

Good point, though another copy of Her Sneak might be better than both. Twice as likely to get it in discard fast.

I'd try a single copy of Dwarven Heart to further improve the utility of Something Slimy. You can ditch it with Dain or Axe of Erebor for further benefits (and obviously to remove its drawback)

Maaaybe. So far I haven't run into much in the way of healing problems. And this deck has evolved to Mk 7, ballooning up to a total of 200 cards!

Realm of Dwarrowdelf EXP Mk 7

Starting cards:
Ring-bearer: Gimli, Bearer of Grudges
Ring: The One Ring, The Ring of Rings
1x Gandalf, Wise Guide
1x Smeagol, Poor Creature

Adventure deck:
Steward's Tomb
Cavern Entrance
Neekerbreekers' Bog
Mithlond
Caras Galadhon
Dammed Gate-stream
Mount Doom
Moria Guardroom
Sirannon Ruins

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
4x Dain Ironfoot, King Under the Mountain
4x Durin III, Dwarven Lord
1x Grimbeorn, Beorning Chieftain
1x Radagast, The Brown
1x Thrarin, Dwarven Smith
1x Albert Dreary, Entertainer From Bree
3x Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor
1x Hugin, Emissary from Laketown
1x Axe of Erebor
1x Dwarven Armor
1x Dwarven Axe
2x Dwarven Bracers
1x Gimli's Helm
4x Hand Axe
2x Beorning Axe
2x Shadowfax, Greatest of the Mearas
1x Ring of Accretion
1x Ring of Fury
2x Gandalf's Staff
1x Narya
4x Dwarf-lords
4x A New Light
4x A Wizard Is Never Late
2x Citadel to Gate
2x Deep in Thought
2x On Your Doorstep
4x Roll of Thunder
1x Saved From the Fire
2x Speak "Friend" and Enter
2x Traveled Leader
4x Naked Waste
2x One Good Turn Deserves Another
4x Something Slimy
4x Beneath the Mountains
4x Ever My Heart Rises
4x Realm of Dwarrowdelf
2x Long-stemmed Pipe
1x Moment of Respite
1x Perspective
1x Don't Look at Them
1x Gladden Homestead
4x Pallando, Far-travelling One
4x Deagol, Fateful Finder

Shadow Draw Deck:
1x Gollum, Her Sneak
2x Gollum, Old Villain
1x Gollum, Plotting Deceiver
3x Shelob, Her Ladyship
1x Dunlending Warrior
2x Grima, Servant of Another Master
2x Grima, Wormtongue
2x Uruk Captain
2x Mumak Commander, Giant Among the Swertings
2x The Balrog, Demon of Might
2x Gothmog, Morgul Leader
1x Grishnakh, Treacherous Captain
4x Southron Leader
1x Sauron, The Lord of the Rings
2x Mauhur, Relentless Hunter
1x Merciless Berserker
1x Ugluk, Ugly Fellow
1x Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow
4x Morgul Squealer
1x The Witch-king, Morgul King
2x Úlairë Cantëa, Faster Than Winds
2x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
1x Úlairë Enquëa, Sixth of the Nine Riders
2x Úlairë Lemenya, Eternally Threatening
2x Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders
4x Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman
3x Úlairë Toldëa, Black Shadow
1x Web
2x Ships of Great Draught
4x Captured by the Ring
2x Hobbitses Are Dead
4x Led Astray
4x Sudden Strike
4x Saruman's Power
1x All Life Flees
2x Relentless Charge
2x Their Power Is in Terror
4x Too Great and Terrible
4x Evil-smelling Fens
1x Incited
4x Not Easily Avoided
4x They Stole It
1x Greed
4x Saruman, Servant of Sauron

Changes:

Removed The Bridge of Khazad-dum, replaced with Moria Guardroom. Generally gives me another high twilight site, with the added card drawing benefit.

Barliman Butterbur is upped to 3x copies. Since a big part of this deck is milling until I get what I need in discard, being able to heal Barliman with a copy to grab what I need is a big advantage.

Added Dwarven Armor and Gimli's Helm, truly making Gimli basically un-swarmable, un-direct woundable.

Replaced Heavy Axe with Dwarven Axe. Heavy Axe is just too expensive for one more point of power and no other real benefits. Making the opponent discard stuff can be another advantage.

Replaced Gandalf's Staff, Focus of Power with 2x classic Gandalf's Staff. Makes spells cheaper, and with the massive 7 vitality Gandalf is rockin', if all else fails, he can just cancel skirmishes.

Added 4x Dwarf-lords. the 4x Naked Waste works so well with the milling, 4x Dwarf-lords makes it that much more effective. In an emergency, I can use Realm of Dwarrowdelf to mill the deck down until I get enough pumps to do the job!

Maxed out Realm of Dwarrowdelf, Beneath the Mountains, and Ever My Heart Rises to 4x copies each. With such a massive deck, more copies helps me get them reliably.

Dropped Perspective down to 1 copy. Just not needing to use it much.

Shadow side hasn't changed too much, just mainly added more copies of stuff to bring it up to 100. Since I had space to fill, I took your advise and added Grishnakh, Treacherous Captain, Merciless Berserker, and Ugluk, Ugly Fellow. So far I like them okay.

Thinking about incorporating Preparations/Slaked Thirsts, which has proved pretty effective in the Movie version of this deck, but haven't done it yet. Also thinking about maxing out Relentless Charge, Their Power is in Terror, and Úlairë Toldëa, Black Shadow. If I do that, I'll be all set to deal with Gandalf decks, Archery decks, and Ally decks simply by milling until I get Toldea and an appropriate event into discard.

[Dictionary]

I've seen you play this deck a few times recently, and I really like it. Would never have guessed it was possible to cycle through 200 cards in one game, but I guess I underestimated Realm of Dwarrowdelf and Ever My Heart Rises.

Just curious, why did you drop Ring of Artifice? Seemed a natural fit to this deck, and you don't need many rings in discard for it to be giving a fairly hefty benefit.

I feel like this is the kind of deck (If any) that might benefit from Hall of our Fathers. But then again, you don't really need it for cycling, and I'm not sure if the maneuver ability is useful at all. Would work well with Axe of Erebor though.

Also, have you thought about having 1x Stampeding Chief in the deck? Gollum can play him from deck or discard to get around his spotting requirement penalty, and he'll rarely show up in hand with such a large deck. Could be a cheaper alternative to the Balrog/Sauron.

[sgtdraino]

I've seen you play this deck a few times recently, and I really like it. Would never have guessed it was possible to cycle through 200 cards in one game, but I guess I underestimated Realm of Dwarrowdelf and Ever My Heart Rises.

Yeah, especially if you really need something specific in discard, and have to mill until you get it.

Just curious, why did you drop Ring of Artifice? Seemed a natural fit to this deck, and you don't need many rings in discard for it to be giving a fairly hefty benefit.

That's a really great point, I might need to put that back in!

I feel like this is the kind of deck (If any) that might benefit from Hall of our Fathers. But then again, you don't really need it for cycling, and I'm not sure if the maneuver ability is useful at all. Would work well with Axe of Erebor though.

Yeah, not sure I care for the randomness of it. It would work well with Axe of Erebor, but (a) Gimli doesn't fight that often, and sometimes it takes a while to get the axe. I feel like EMHR is sufficient.

Also, have you thought about having 1x Stampeding Chief in the deck? Gollum can play him from deck or discard to get around his spotting requirement penalty, and he'll rarely show up in hand with such a large deck. Could be a cheaper alternative to the Balrog/Sauron.

That's a really cool idea, I may have to try that!

[sgtdraino]

Time to update this again! The Dwarrowdelf deck has gone through another couple of iterations, grown to 210 cards total! Now at Realm of Dwarrowdelf Mk 9:

Starting cards:
Ring-bearer: Gimli, Bearer of Grudges
Ring: The One Ring, The Ring of Rings
1x Gandalf, Wise Guide
1x Smeagol, Poor Creature

Adventure deck:
Steward's Tomb
Cavern Entrance
Neekerbreekers' Bog
Mithlond
Caras Galadhon
Dammed Gate-stream
Mount Doom
Moria Guardroom
Sirannon Ruins

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
4x Dain Ironfoot, King Under the Mountain
4x Durin III, Dwarven Lord
1x Grimbeorn, Beorning Chieftain
1x Radagast, The Brown
1x Thrarin, Dwarven Smith
4x Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor
1x Hugin, Emissary from Laketown
1x Axe of Erebor
1x Dwarven Armor
1x Dwarven Axe
2x Dwarven Bracers
1x Gimli's Helm
4x Hand Axe
2x Beorning Axe
2x Shadowfax, Greatest of the Mearas
4x Ring of Artifice
1x Ring of Fury
2x Gandalf's Staff
1x Narya
4x Dwarf-lords
2x Slaked Thirsts
4x A New Light
4x A Wizard Is Never Late
1x Citadel to Gate
2x Deep in Thought
1x On Your Doorstep
4x Roll of Thunder
1x Saved From the Fire
2x Speak "Friend" and Enter
2x Traveled Leader
4x Naked Waste
2x One Good Turn Deserves Another
4x Something Slimy
4x Beneath the Mountains
4x Ever My Heart Rises
2x Preparations
4x Realm of Dwarrowdelf
2x Long-stemmed Pipe
1x Moment of Respite
1x Perspective
1x Don't Look at Them
1x Gladden Homestead
4x Pallando, Far-travelling One
4x Deagol, Fateful Finder

Shadow Draw Deck:
3x Gollum, Her Sneak
1x Gollum, Old Villain
3x Shelob, Her Ladyship
1x Dunlending Warrior
2x Grima, Servant of Another Master
2x Grima, Wormtongue
2x Uruk Captain
2x Mumak Commander, Giant Among the Swertings
1x Stampeding Chief
2x The Balrog, Demon of Might
2x Gothmog, Morgul Leader
1x Grishnakh, Treacherous Captain
4x Southron Leader
1x Sauron, The Lord of the Rings
2x Mauhur, Relentless Hunter
1x Merciless Berserker
1x Ugluk, Ugly Fellow
1x Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow
4x Morgul Squealer
1x The Witch-king, Morgul King
2x Úlairë Cantëa, Faster Than Winds
2x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
1x Úlairë Enquëa, Sixth of the Nine Riders
2x Úlairë Lemenya, Eternally Threatening
2x Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders
4x Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman
4x Úlairë Toldëa, Black Shadow
1x Web
2x Ships of Great Draught
4x Captured by the Ring
2x Hobbitses Are Dead
4x Led Astray
4x Sudden Strike
4x Saruman's Power
1x All Life Flees
4x Relentless Charge
3x Their Power Is in Terror
4x Too Great and Terrible
4x Evil-smelling Fens
1x Incited
4x Not Easily Avoided
4x They Stole It
1x Greed
4x Saruman, Servant of Sauron

Changes:

-Removed Albert Dreary, Entertainer from Bree. Found I just don't need him in this deck. He is great in Madril primarily as a counter to Greed, but Greed is rarely an issue with Dwarrowdelf, so it was time to bench him.

-Taking a queue from Dictionary, dropped Ring of Accretion, added in 4x Ring of Artifice. With the milling dynamic of this deck, it's perfect.

-Added 2x Slaked Thirsts and 2x Preparations, as previously mentioned. So far, liking it a lot.

-Dropped Citadel to Gate and On Your Doorstep down to one copy each, don't need them that much... but useful enough not to drop completely.

-Dropped Gollum, Plotting Deceiver and 1x Gollum, Old Villain, and added 2x more Gollum, Her Sneak (as previously mentioned). More dependable, works better with milling.

-Maxed out Ulaire Toldea, Black Shadow and Relentless Charge, added a third Their Power is in Terror, for reasons previously discussed. So far, working out great!

Strategy Update:

The strategy to play this deck effectively has changed a bit since I replaced Frodo with Gimli, and I don't think I ever went into detail on that. So, here we go:

-Bid 0. If given the option, choose to go first. At first opportunity, play Dammed Gate-stream, and use it to play Realm of Dwarrowdelf. One Good Turn Deserves Another is no longer a high priority, it now tends to not matter so much if your opponent gets to play sites. It's more important to keep your burdens down. With that in mind...

-Get Narya on Gandalf asap. This is probably your highest priority item, it's the most dependable way to keep burdens down, makes Gandalf harder to kill, and better able to cancel stuff.

-Try to avoid playing more than 5 companions. Too many vulnerabilities once you hit 6. Use Radagast and the extra Dwarf in conjunction with SFTF to get stuff, and kill down to 5 quickly.

-DO NOT lose Smeagol. Because of the various Smeagol events, Smeagol is probably the most important companion next to Gimli, with Gandalf being just a hair less important than Smeagol. Kill off any other companion before you kill Gimli, Smeagol, or Gandalf, in that order.

-Make full use of your ability to mill what you need into discard, only to get it back again with Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor, Hugin, Emissary from Laketown, Beorning Axe, Ring of Artifice, On Your Doorstep, Beneath the Mountains, Preparations, Uruk Captain, Morgul Squealer, The Witch-king, Morgul King, Ulaire Toldea, Black Shadow, Ships of Great Draught, Captured by the Ring, Evil-smelling Fens, and Incited.

-Also, make full use of your ability to pull specific cards from your massive draw deck, with Saved From the Fire, Something Slimy, Long-stemmed Pipe, Deagol, Fateful Finder, Grishnakh, Treacherous Captain, Morgul Squealer, Captured by the Ring, Sudden Strike, All Life Flees, and Not Easily Avoided.

-Be mindful of your ability to mill Naked Waste and Dwarf-lords into your discard with Realm of Dwarrowdelf, in a situation where you need an emergency pump.

-This deck can move pretty fast, while not generating much twilight. Just use good judgement.

[sgtdraino]

Time for another update! We're now on Mk 10!

Starting cards:
Ring-bearer: Gimli, Bearer of Grudges
Ring: The One Ring, The Ring of Rings
1x Gandalf, Wise Guide
1x Smeagol, Poor Creature

Adventure deck:
Steward's Tomb
Cavern Entrance
Neekerbreekers' Bog
Mithlond
Caras Galadhon
Dammed Gate-stream
Mount Doom
Moria Guardroom
Sirannon Ruins

Free Peoples Draw Deck:
4x Dain Ironfoot, King Under the Mountain
4x Durin III, Dwarven Lord
1x Grimbeorn, Beorning Chieftain
1x Radagast, The Brown
1x Thrarin, Dwarven Smith
4x Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor
1x Hugin, Emissary from Laketown
2x Axe of Erebor
1x Dwarven Armor
1x Dwarven Axe
2x Dwarven Bracers
1x Gimli's Helm
3x Hand Axe
2x Beorning Axe
2x Shadowfax, Greatest of the Mearas
4x Ring of Artifice
1x Ring of Fury
2x Gandalf's Staff
1x Narya
4x Dwarf-lords
2x Slaked Thirsts
4x A New Light
4x A Wizard Is Never Late
1x Citadel to Gate
2x Deep in Thought
4x Look to My Coming
1x On Your Doorstep
4x Roll of Thunder
1x Saved From the Fire
2x Speak "Friend" and Enter
2x Traveled Leader
4x Naked Waste
2x One Good Turn Deserves Another
4x Something Slimy
4x Beneath the Mountains
4x Ever My Heart Rises
2x Preparations
4x Realm of Dwarrowdelf
2x Long-stemmed Pipe
1x Perspective
1x Don't Look at Them
1x Gladden Homestead
4x Pallando, Far-travelling One
4x Deagol, Fateful Finder

Shadow Draw Deck:
3x Gollum, Her Sneak
1x Gollum, Old Villain
3x Shelob, Her Ladyship
1x Dunlending Warrior
2x Grima, Servant of Another Master
2x Grima, Wormtongue
2x Uruk Captain
2x Mumak Commander, Giant Among the Swertings
1x Stampeding Chief
1x Goblin Runner
2x The Balrog, Demon of Might
2x Gothmog, Morgul Leader
1x Grishnakh, Treacherous Captain
4x Southron Leader
1x Sauron, The Lord of the Rings
2x Mauhur, Relentless Hunter
1x Merciless Berserker
1x Ugluk, Ugly Fellow
1x Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow
4x Morgul Squealer
1x The Witch-king, Morgul King
2x Úlairë Cantëa, Faster Than Winds
2x Úlairë Enquëa, Lieutenant of Morgul
1x Úlairë Enquëa, Sixth of the Nine Riders
2x Úlairë Lemenya, Eternally Threatening
2x Úlairë Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders
4x Úlairë Nertëa, Dark Horseman
4x Úlairë Toldëa, Black Shadow
1x Web
2x Ships of Great Draught
4x Captured by the Ring
2x Hobbitses Are Dead
4x Led Astray
4x Sudden Strike
4x Saruman's Power
1x All Life Flees
4x Relentless Charge
3x Their Power Is in Terror
4x Too Great and Terrible
4x Evil-smelling Fens
1x Incited
4x Not Easily Avoided
4x They Stole It
1x Greed
2x The Number Must Be Few
4x Saruman, Servant of Sauron

Mostly minor changes:

Deck size has been increased to a total of 216 cards! That's exactly twice as big as the Ultimate Madril deck.

Upped Axe of Erebor to 2x copies. Twice as likely to either draw it, or (more likely) mill it. Decreased Hand Axe from 4x to 3x to make room.

Added 4x Look to My Coming, the Gandalf pump that plays from discard. So now this deck is maxed out on discard pumps for all three of its cultures!

Took out Moment of Respite. Just wasn't using it.

Added a Goblin Runner and 2x The Number Must Be Few to even out the Shadow side. TNMBF Just won me a game today, too!

[Dictionary]

I know you touched a bit on this before, but how viable do you find keeping Realm of Dwarrowdelf without Feared Axeman?

I'm guessing Wise Guide covers a lot of shadows, but what do you do versus Nazgul?

I'm trying to ascertain whether I could get away with a Preparations build with Bearer of Grudges. But I hate not having Feared Axeman...

[sgtdraino]

I know you touched a bit on this before, but how viable do you find keeping Realm of Dwarrowdelf without Feared Axeman?

I'm guessing Wise Guide covers a lot of shadows,

Exactly.

but what do you do versus Nazgul?

I'm trying to ascertain whether I could get away with a Preparations build with Bearer of Grudges. But I hate not having Feared Axeman...

Nazgul normally use Buckland Homestead to discard conditions. I Mount Doom region 2, so they can't move sites around too much. 4x Ring of Artifice also helps me get Realm of Dwarrowdelf right back again, if it gets discarded.

The trouble with Feared Axeman, is with a build similar to what I've got, you are then drifting into 4 cultures, because you've got a 4th culture as your ringbearer. I suppose the one thing you could try, would be Gandalf as Ringbearer. Feels riskier to me, though. Having that Wise Guide counter ability comes in REALLY handy with a lot of strats. And with Gimli as your ringbearer, you are well nigh unswarmable.

[ilazul]

Surprised you didn't try to fit in Treebeard, Keeper of the Watchwood somehow considering it seems you really like the card.

Could play some choice conditions from your grave, but might be hard to fit in.

I've been working on a Dwarf deck, might have to nab some ideas.