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Balin, Loremaster

rare Legendary Creature — Dwarf Bard

(If you control three or more , , and/or , you have an for the rest of the game.)

Whenever Balin or another Dwarf you control enters, you may discard your hand. Draw X cards, where X is the number of cards discarded this way. If you have an enduring story, Balin deals X damage to each opponent.

D Grade from the win rate

Win rate when drawn 51.3% −4.9 vs average 2,803 games

Win rates and picks

53.6% 6,916 games
Average pick ()
5.2

By deck

  • Dwarves & Equipment 52.7% 2,066 games

Win rates from , 323,114 games. This card is compared with the set average (56.2%).

Reviews

Any potential a design like Balin, Loremaster might have had is plagued by all of its downsides. It's a 5-mana 4/4, which is terrible. You discard your hand to draw the same number of cards, so you're never actually going up on cards and not even necessarily improving the quality of your hand. Since Balin comes down for 5 mana, by that point you rarely have a lot of cards left anyway. Finally, having an doesn't actually improve the ability; it just tacks on a meager amount of damage. I could be wrong, but none of this looks very good to me. I'd just avoid it.

Balin, Loremaster hasn't been especially good, since it's tough to hold enough cards for its ability to do much (and Balin forces you to all cards at once). It's also an undersized without substantial inherent value, so I don't usually play it (even with other dwarves).

How to draft it

Roles in each deck

  • Dwarves & Equipment Gets you extra cards

    Balin, Loremaster looks made for this deck. Whenever it or another Dwarf of yours enters, you may discard your hand and draw that many cards, and with an Balin deals that much damage to each opponent. By turn 5 your hand is small, so the swap gains little, and a 5-mana 4/4 is a weak body for the slot.

    How to play it

    The rare symbol is no reason to pick it early, since Misty Mountains Raider or a cheaper Dwarf does more in the slot. If you play it, discard only a hand of lands or dead cards, since the swap is optional.

    Learn the Dwarves & Equipment deck