The Dwarven Discard Deck
Flinch @ 5:55 pm EST

For draw deck discarding, the Dwarves are the best fellowship cultures. Deck discarding in some ways can be a better then hand discarding simply because if you notice your opponent worrying about what is in his hand, sighing a lot with each new card he gets, this means that a majority of his good cards are buried in his deck. By discarding cards off the top, you are helping to eliminate those cards from play. This can sometimes make or break a game for you.

Here is a list of the cards that cause the discarding of the draw deck.

Nobody Tosses A Dwarf

Event

Relevant text: Response: If a Dwarf wins a skirmish, make an opponent discard 3 cards from the top of his or her deck.

Dwarves? Winning skirmishes? Never happen…okay, so maybe it will quite often. Dwarves are some of the most power characters in the game. Winning is going to be pretty easy against most cultures, especially with huge number of pump cards available to the dwarves and the permanent pumps they get from some conditions (Stairs of Khazad-dum, Gloin). Their ability to bear two hand weapons and gain strength from another possession means they are going to smack around even some of the most powerful minions (timed right, Gloin can slap around the Balrog quite easily). The major problem with this card is the fact that it is an event. That requires you to have the card in hand to play it. That means this possibly could be a dead weight card in your hand in the wrong scenario.

Dwarven Axe

Possession * Hand Weapon

Relevant text: Each time a player’s minion loses a skirmish, that player discards the top card from his or her draw deck.

This card is actually pretty useful in a dwarf deck for several reasons. First it is a hand weapon, meaning that it boosts the power of dwarves (already established as being a good angle to playing Nobody Tosses a Dwarf). Once again, we see the requirement of the dwarves winning the skirmish for the opponent to discard cards. Again, not hard to do with the right pumps. Another reason this card is good is because of its twilight cost – 0! For dwarves, who already suffer from minor twilight pool manipulation, this is great as they do not have to pay to play a permanent pump on them.

* Greatest Kingdom of My People

Condition

Relevant text: Each time your opponent plays an Orc, that player discards the top card of his or her draw deck.

Wow, if this card does not scream anti-swarm, I do not know what does. The only culture who does not have an Orc in it at the moment is Ringwraith, meaning that 3 out of 4 decktypes will be discarding cards off the top of their deck thanks to this card. Its major drawback is the fact you have exert a dwarf to put it in play.

What Are We Waiting For?

Event

Relevant text: Fellowship: Exert a dwarf to make an opponent draw 2 cards. That player then chooses to either discard 2 Shadow cards from hand or skip his or her next Shadow phase.

This card has the possibility to be good – if you can get it in hand. First, it provides a double edge – you are causing a discard from the top of the deck (in the form of the drawing of 2 cards) and then discarding two cards from hand or skipping the Shadow Phase. No requirement other then a non-exhausted dwarf. This card’s major draw back is the fact that it is an event – meaning it has to be in hand at the right time to use it.

The current major downside to playing the Dwarven deck discard strategy is two fold.

First is the fact that the dwarves have such a limited amount of cards that discard from your opponent’s deck. This makes it easy to run a tighter deck, but harder for the dwarves to do a lot of damage on their own.

Second is the fact that almost all the discard cards require you to win skirmishes against your opponent. If your opponent is playing Big Bad Naz or any deck that runs big power minions, you are going to be in trouble. You will barely make a dent into your opponents deck.

But against a swarm deck…well that is a different story. “Deck? What deck?”