The Dwarven Culture

This Strategy-Note article was written by Keith Walton and was published first on "Lord of the Rings Online (lotrtcg.decipher.com)".

Where would The Lord of the Rings be without Dwarves? If not for Thorin Oakenshield and his quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo never would have started off on the adventure that eventually led to his finding of the One Ring. When Sauron gathered his strength, he would surely have persuaded the dragon Smaug to join his forces, and the will of the Ring would have led Gollum straight into Mordor at some point. With all of these things, plus the Nazgul and Orcs already at his command, neither Men nor Elves could have withstood his onslaught for long. The world of Middle Earth would have perished if not for a group of Dwarves with a grudge.

Dwarves in Middle Earth are seekers of treasure, and Dwarves in The Lord of the Rings TCG are no different. Their card drawing, stacking, and recycling capabilities make digging for the cards you need easier, though in the frenzy of all this mining sometimes the treasure you're looking for can be discarded along with the ore, and, just like the Dwarves of Moria, delving too deeply can have negative consequences - while it might make your trip to site 9 easier, if you discard too many of your Shadow cards, it can make your opponent's easier as well.

There is more the Dwarves than mining, however. The Dwarves were always eager to take the fight to their enemies, and were one of the first Free People's cultures to use the Maneuver phase to wound minions. They prepare for the fight by wounding the minions that may cause problems with their game text, or simply by killing lower vitality minions like Moria Orcs. Combine this with another culture's archery, and you may even be able to skip the skirmish phase altogether.

Just in case though, Dwarves have quite a few tricks up their bracers when it comes to doing battle. The most notable strength of the Dwarves in skirmishes is the ease with which they deal out damage. Their mainstay companion, Gimli, is inherently Damage +1, many of their events add further Damage as well as strength, and they have a non-unique condition that makes all Dwarves Damage +1! No other culture can do as much damage. This damage-dealing capability is augmented by numerous weapons and strength-boosting skirmish events that ensure that your opponent's minions won't stick around for any Fierce phase, let alone for a second move.

So even though the selection of Dwarven companions may be slim, they definitely have the power to not only win skirmishes, but to finish the job they start. They may be stubborn, and a bit hard to get along with, but when a job needs to be done, you can always rely on a Dwarf!