Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth
I have been looking forward to this set for a very long time. My love for the mighty dwarven race started with reading the Hobbit, and my all-time favorite literary character is Thorin Oakenshield. Sadly, he does not appear in this set but there is hope with maybe some of the secret lairs coming out. However, one of the most exciting aspects about this set for Dwarves is that not only does it have some iconic dwarves from LotR, it also finally gives tools for the new dwarven tribal deck that was teased with [[Lady of Otaria]].
When looking at the cards, I will mostly be referencing Explorer/Pioneer, Historic and Commander decks that utilize Dwarf tribal. The decks I typically use are:
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[[Depala, Pilot Exemplar]] RW deck - The original Dwarf Lord that actually cares about dwarves. She also cares about vehicles and with Magda on her team she can pack quite a punch.
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[[Magda Brazen Outlaw]] R deck – This deck likes to turn dwarves sideway for treasure, then sacking that treasure for a game changing dragon or artifact.
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Boros Equipment/Auras,- Dwarves actually have quite a few cards that work with this strategy, [[Bruenor Battlehammer]], [[Koll the Forge Master]], and [[Reyav, Master Smith]].
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[[Torbran Thane of Red Fell]] R Deck – Basically put the best burn spells and damage causing spells you can and the best dwarves (and maybe a few Dragons) you can get. Extra combat steps and double strike are nice too.
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[[Lady of Otaria]] RG Deck – Recently introduced. Basically, somehow sacrifice lands and get dwarves into your hand. I have a deck, but it is still a work in progress. Anyone else build a deck with her yet?
White:
[[Flowering of the White Tree]] I really like this card for Depala and Bruenor decks, pumping all your dwarves and giving all legendries Ward 1 seems pretty good for the creature-based decks.
[[Forge Anew]] Okay this card is a must include in any Bruenor and Reyav decks. I mean it does everything, gets back dead equipment, lets you equip at instant speed and let you pay 0 for the first equip cost of your turn. I really like this card!
[[Reprieve]] Kind of a temporary Counter in white and draw a card, I could see this being quite fun and useful in any of the Boros decks I really want to try this out.
Red
[[Erebor Flamesmith]] Yes, this dwarf is made for a Torbran deck! Possibly 3 damage for every instant or sorcery which in all likely hood is another burn spell! Yeah fun times!
[[Fear, Fire Foes!]] A really nice potential board wipe for a Torbran deck, definitely worth trying out.
[[Fiery Inscription]] Another card for Torbran, and also has the Ring Tempts you. Not sure how relevant the Rings Tempts you will be for Torbran or Dwarves in general.
[[Gimli, Counter of Kills]] Okay our First Gimli card! And he slots in nicely with Torbran, and he has trample, which I love to see on my dwarves. I know a lot of people were thinking it was a missed opportunity to have this card being able to partner with the Legolas counter of kills card and I would have to agree. That would have been pretty cool.
[[Gimli’s Axe]] Okay, now here is my first real gripe of the set. All of the other free peoples, human, halfling, and elf, get a weapon with a reduced equip cost for there race. Why not this card for Dwarves? I mean it’s Gimli’s axe! I mean its an okay common and I will definitely throw it in my commander dwarf equipment decks for flavor alone but really!!! I kind of just seems the dwarves getting the shaft here for no real reason.
[[Gimli’s Fury]] A two mana pump spell that give you +3/+2 and trample? And is called Gimli’s Fury? Yes, you had me at Gimli’s fury. Okay so you play this mostly for flavor, but in all seriousness, swinging in with a loaded up on equipment dwarf, if you give it trample it can be game over for someone.
[[Gloin, Dwarf Emissary]] Gloin! Ah yes, one of the original 14 members of Thorin’s Company! And this, along with the other Gimli for the Commander precons are probably the best new dwarves for Dwarf Tribal. First of all you make a treasure when you cast an historic spell for the first time each turn. Yes! Very nice, Both the Boros equipment dwarves and Magda have lots of artifacts. Also, I love the Goad for the Boros equipment decks as you can have those pesky potential blockers attack either you or someone else (if playing commander) and then have free access to swing in with our massive supped up dwarf. And of course Magda just really loves treasure.
[[There and Back Again]] 14 treasures!! 14 treasures, what Magda can do with 14 treasures. I love the flavor and the fact that you have 6/6 dragon with haste that people will not want to kill, especially if you can cast a Magda the next turn. The first two chapters on the saga are nice too, but man…14 treasures.
[[Gimli of the Glittering Caves]] Okay this is a good Gimli, great for Magda or heck any of the dwarf decks. In Commander you will always be casting legendary creatures and pumping him up will be easy. And double strike with treasure creation! Nice. Give him trample and it is a glorious dwarven day!
Green
[[Bag End Porter]] And here we have 2nd ever green dwarf. I like the art work, I like happy dwarves, not enough happy dwarf art work. Okay the only real use for this guy is in a Lady of Otaria deck, which wants green dwarves, and since he is one of 3, gets a pass. Also if you have the Lady out and let’s say Magda it’s a 6/6, not too bad.
[[Mirrormere Guardian]] Another green dwarf!!! And I am not sure, but I think this might be a female bearded dwarf. Definity can be thrown in the Lady of Otaria deck. Not sure how the Ring Tempted will be used in Dwarf decks, but there it is.
Multi-colored
[[Doors of Durin]] This is it, the premier dwarven tribal card of the set. And it is in red/green. Yes, it is the first real utility card for The Lady of Otaria. Getting to Scry 2 is great, as you can try and make sure you have dwarves on the top of your library. And if you do find dwarves on the scry, one of those dwarves end up on the battlefield immediately attacking. And trample is a very nice key word for this Dwarf deck!
[[Gimil, Mournful Avenger]] Another Gimli card! And it is interesting. It really seems like this card wanted to have white somewhere in its identity, but I guess they really wanted to push the Gruul Dwarves. Anyway Gimil also looks like it would work well in the Lady of Otaria deck and also with the Doors of Durin. If you attack with some dwarves with the Door of Durin out and get another dwarf attacking, and they die in the attack by a block, and if they die, this starts to trigger Gimil’s abilities. I think it could be a fun inclusion, although I was really hoping for a Boros Gimili or at least a Naya Gimli or Dwarf.
Colorless
[[Andúril, Flame of the West]] This is a solid equipment for a Boros Dwarf deck. Getting some more creatures or potentially attacking flying creatures is really neat! Also it could work well with Gimli, Mournful Avenger as it provides some nice 1/1 tokens to be reckless with and potentially activate his abilities.
[[Mithril Coat]] Okay this has to be my favorite equipment for this set, and for the last few sets! The Boros dwarves or even any dwarf deck will love this. Flash, Indestructible and attach to any legendary creature as it enters battlefield. This is fantastic! So many fun things you can do with this, not the least of which is combat tricks of course. And dwarves tend to die a lot, anything that prevents that is great!
[[Sting, the Glinting Dagger]] Another great equipment for dwarves, haste is always welcome, but the best part is the untapping the equipped creature. Untapping and tapping dwarves can lead to a lot of fun in a Magda deck who loves tapping dwarves!
Land
[[Mines of Moria]] This land is just great, my second favorite land right next to [[Dwarven Mine]]. I mean if you play this in a Magda commander deck it will almost always come in untapped. And then when your dwarves die you can turn them into treasure, again Magda likes!
Okay that’s what we have! Crossing fingers for some secret lair cards for Thorin Oakenshield and maybe some other dwarves!
