Dwarves & Equipment wins 56.5% over 52,797 games, about a point behind Goblin Army (57.6% over 85,459 games) and level with Draw Two (56.4% over 58,594 games). The rares (Fíli, Kíli, An Unexpected Party, Dáin Ironfoot) and the white and red uncommons carry it. White's commons are thin, so without good uncommons this deck ends up with too many 2-power filler creatures. Draft the and Dwarves like Dori and Iron Hills Blacksmith first, and the deck holds up even without a .
Deck win rate56.5%+0.3 vs average52,797 games
Compared with the set average (56.2%). Win rates from 17Lands.
How a game goes
Cheap Dwarves carry like Dwarven Mattock into attacks from turn 2, and when one , Dwarven Mauler picks up its Equipment for 1 mana.
Early turns
Turns 1–3: put cheap Dwarves on the battlefield. Play Dwarven Mauler on turn 1. On turn 2, play Iron Hills Blacksmith, Thorin Oakenshield, Dáin's Company, Dwalin or Goblin Plate Mail. On turn 3, Dori, Bearer of Friends often gives you the third piece with his . Attack while their board is small.
Middle turns
Turns 4–6: clear blockers with Pinecone Strike, Stone by Sunlight, Burn, Burn, Tree and Fern or Celebrate the Mountain-king, and spend spare mana equipping. By now you usually have an , so keep attacking.
Late game
Turn 7+: the left on the battlefield turns every new creature into a threat, and The Lonely Mountain makes 2/2 Dwarves from a land. Close with An Unexpected Party (naming Dwarf), Stone-Giant of High Pass, Gandalf, Spark Starter or Spew Flame into Smaug, the Great Calamity.
Storied (the enduring story) and Equipment
is a keyword on many Dwarves. It checks whether you control three or more that are ,, and/or . These are your storied pieces. Artifacts include every , and Axe token. Legendary means the type line says "Legendary", which is true of most named Dwarves (Dori, Ori, Óin, Nori, both Thorins). Sagas include The Mountain-king's Return and Burn, Burn, Tree and Fern. Each permanent counts once, even if it is two of those things. For example, Thrór's Map is a legendary artifact and counts as one, not two.
Type lineThrór's Map's type line says Legendary Artifact, and the card still counts as one permanent.
Your pieces do nothing until a storied card is on the battlefield, because the storied card makes the check. Every storied card is legendary, so it is always one of its own three pieces. The moment you three, you have an for the rest of the game. It stays when you spend the Treasure, the Saga ends or the Dwarves die, and storied cards you cast later get their bonus right away.
Example: turn 2 you cast Thorin Oakenshield (legendary, piece 1). Turn 3 you cast Dori, Bearer of Friends (legendary, piece 2), and he makes a Treasure (artifact, piece 3). You now have an enduring story, and Thorin's bonus switches on, so your artifacts and creatures have . You can spend the Treasure next turn if you need the mana, and the story stays.
The bonuses differ a lot. Fíli the Pathfinder (+1/+1 to all your creatures) and Kíli the Resourceful (your first equip each turn is free) are game-winning. Ori (+1/+0 and ), Óin (+1/+0 and ), Thorin Oakenshield (ward ) and Bombur (untaps normally) get small extras.
Equipment is the deck's other half. It is an artifact you attach to your own creature by paying its equip cost, only on your own turn when you could cast a . If the creature , the Equipment stays on the battlefield and you pay again to move it to another creature.
Storied counts three kinds of things you have on the battlefield: artifacts, legendary cards and Sagas. You have Ori, Keeper of Songs (3/3). Ori is itself legendary (read the type line), so the count is 1 of 3.
You cast Dori, Bearer of Friends. Dori is also Legendary, so the count is now 2. When Dori enters she makes a Treasure token, which is an artifact, so the count is now 3.
With 3, you now "have an enduring story". Ori's text, “As long as you have an enduring story, Ori gets +1/+0 and has vigilance”, switches on, so Ori is a 4/3 with vigilance.
Later you spend the Treasure on Dwarven Mauler, and Dori dies in combat. The count drops back to 1, but the enduring story is permanent: Ori stays 4/3 with vigilance for the rest of the game. You only need to reach 3 once.
Step 1 of 4. Storied counts three kinds of things you have on the battlefield: artifacts, legendary cards and Sagas. You have Ori, Keeper of Songs (3/3). Ori is itself legendary (read the type line), so the count is 1 of 3. You have priority.
Your turnFirst main phase
Your turn, first main phase.
Beginning
Main 1
Combat
Main 2
End
Opponent20life
4/5
4/5
Storied count123
You20lifehas
3/3
3/3
Your hand
Key cards
Dori, Bearer of Friends
CcommonLegendary Creature — Dwarf Warrior
Sets up the plan
Why it works
Dori, Bearer of Friends is and makes a when he enters, so one common brings two pieces. The 3-mana 3/2 trampler also speeds up your , since the Treasure can pay for a on turn 4.
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
Spend the freely once you have the story, but keep it while it is your third piece. Two copies are right, and a third mostly waits in hand.
Two copies of Dori, Bearer of Friends is a great number to play; 3+ has felt a bit much
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
A Dwarf and an in one 2-mana card, Iron Hills Blacksmith triggers Kíli and Fíli, and its Axe is an for . The 1/1 double striker deals 2 twice once it wears the Axe.
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
The Axe arrives unattached, so the equip waits for a turn with spare mana. Every +1 counts twice on a double striker, which makes the Blacksmith the best carrier for Goblin Plate Mail or Ragged Short Spear. Its 1 toughness to any 1-damage effect, such as Easy Pickings.
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
Thorin Oakenshield, a red and white gold uncommon, gives you a 2-mana 3/2 trampler and a piece on turn 2. With the story, makes the opponent pay more for each spell or ability aimed at your creatures and , which wrecks a tight turn of .
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
Attack with it whenever you can, since 3 power and punish small blockers. Against a deck full of , get the story before your best goes on, so the covers both.
Its ability is so minor that it barely even registers.
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
Three damage at speed kills almost every early creature in the set, and Pinecone Strike exiles the creature if it would die. For the same 2 mana it can also destroy an , or do both.
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
Clear the blocker that stops your equipped attacker, ideally on your own turn before combat. When the target carries an Axe or the opponent has a , choose both modes. Nontoken like Goblin Plate Mail is safe from the second mode.
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
Axe , Dwarven Shortsword and Well-Worn Spatula equip Dwarven Mauler for free, and Ragged Short Spear or Dwarven Mattock for . A 1-drop that cheap to load is the deck's best turn-1 play.
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
Attack from turn 2 while the way is clear. Later, move onto it with leftover mana instead of paying full price for another creature. A 1-toughness creature to almost anything, so don't stack everything on it while the opponent has mana up.
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
Goblin Plate Mail 1 and attaches itself to the , so the 2-mana arrives as a 2/1 with . After that it gives +1/+0 and menace for equip .
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
Count it as a creature in your . Moving it costs , so plan on Kíli's free equip or Dwarven Mauler. On Iron Hills Blacksmith, or with Dáin Ironfoot's , it makes a big threat. With Bothersome Noisemaker out, the Noisemaker trigger first, so the gets two counters.
Goblin Plate Mail is an obnoxiously annoying little .
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
, and are all noncreature spells, so Bothersome Noisemaker 1 on most of your turns. The first time, you get a 0/0 black Goblin with a +1/+1 counter , and later casts add counters to the same Army.
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
Cast it before your noncreature spells, ideally on turn 2. The is a Goblin, so Dwarf cards ignore it, but it grows and carries . Attacking taps the Noisemaker, and a 2-toughness creature to a 2-mana Magnificent End, so it usually stays home.
I doubt you'll want to play this in red/white too often
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
Stone by Sunlight destroys a creature with power 4 or greater for 2 mana, and those are the blockers your small attackers can't get past. Its other mode makes one of your creatures an until end of turn.
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
Small creatures are out of its , so hold it for a big one, or cast the second mode in response to aimed at your best creature. At it is cheap to keep open while you develop.
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
Celebrate the Mountain-king exiles the opponent's best nonland until Celebrate leaves the battlefield, so it answers a creature, an or an . It also recruits, which means you draw a card and then discard one, and a nonland discard makes a 1/1 Human Soldier .
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
Save it for their biggest threat, or for an or a big creature that damage can't handle. Discard a spare spell to the while you still want the , and a spare land once you need cards more. If the opponent destroys Celebrate (Thorin's Last Stand can), the card comes back.
White also has four banger uncommons, one of which is the best in the entire set (Celebrate the Mountain-king).
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
Chapter I of The Mountain-king's Return recruits, chapter II returns a creature card with 3 or less from your to the battlefield, and chapter III puts a +1/+1 counter on up to one creature. Discard a to the and you get the 1/1 now and that creature back next turn. The is a piece until it is .
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
Dori (a new ), Dáin Ironfoot (a new Axe) and Dáin's Company (another look at four cards) are the discards that pay twice. With nothing worth discarding, make sure a creature with 3 or less is already in your before chapter II. The chapter III counter goes on your best attacker, or on Dwarven Mauler wearing .
I love this card, and I've had success both it and playing it in base white decks.
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
Six damage from chapter I of Burn, Burn, Tree and Fern kills nearly any creature an opponent controls. Chapter II destroys one of their , and chapters III and IV each add . The 4-mana stays a piece for three more turns.
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
Aim chapter I at their biggest creature. Chapter II needs a target, an or a if they have one, and does nothing otherwise. The from chapters III and IV arrives in your first main phase and empties when that phase ends, so spend it there on an equip or toward Gandalf, Spark Starter or Stone-Giant of High Pass.
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
Dwarven Mattock attaches itself for free to a Dwarf when it enters, so this deck gets a 2-mana +2/+2 with that also counts as an . Moving it later costs .
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
Wait for a Dwarf on the battlefield so the free attach happens, since on an empty board it sits there until you pay . Put it on your best Dwarf, which the then protects. Later moves cost only onto Dwarven Mauler, and on Iron Hills Blacksmith the +2 counts twice.
3 mana to equip is a little too prohibitive in any deck other than red/white dwarves
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
Kíli the Resourceful draws a card the first time each turn another Dwarf or of yours enters, and most of this deck's cards are one or the other. With an , your first equip each turn costs , which makes Goblin Plate Mail's and Ragged Short Spear's free to pay.
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
After a turn-2 Kíli, play your Dwarves and one a turn, since a second one in the same turn draws nothing. Spend the free equip on the largest equip cost and pay for the small ones yourself. A 1/2 does nothing in combat, so keep it home.
Goblin Plate Mail in particular really appreciates Kíli the Resourceful
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
No card does more for this deck, so take Fíli the Pathfinder over anything else you open. Fíli and every nontoken Dwarf that enters after it bring a 2/2 Dwarf each, so the 4-mana 2/2 lands as two bodies and every later Dwarf as two more. Once you have an , all your creatures get +1/+1, the tokens included.
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
Count your pieces before turn 4. With two out, Fíli is the third and the team bonus starts at once. Hold your other Dwarves until it lands so each one brings a free 2/2.
+1/+1 to your whole team is a very strong bonus, and being a pair of 2/2s for 4 mana is a very sturdy baseline.
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
Thorin, Mountain-king is on a 4-mana 3/4 trampler once you have an out. When it enters, it attaches any number of your Equipment to one of your creatures, and that creature then deals damage equal to its power to up to one target creature.
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
Hold it until at least one is out. Pick a creature that isn't already wearing the Equipment, often Thorin himself, because an Equipment that is already attached doesn't "become attached" and nothing deals damage. Stack every Equipment you have on the chosen creature for the biggest hit, and their creature deals no damage back.
you can probably only play it there due to always needing equipment
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
Every bonus counts twice when Dáin Ironfoot attacks, because each equipped attacker gains until end of turn. It also arrives with its own Axe (+1/+0, equip ) attached to one of your creatures. Dáin is and the Axe is an , so the is two pieces.
How to play it and the numbers
How to play it
Put the Axe on Dáin if it attacks next turn, which makes a 2/4 double striker, or on a stronger attacker if Dáin stays home. Equip everything you can before the attack. Dwarven Mattock on Dwarven Mauler makes a 4/3 that deals 8 damage.
You only need to see Goblin Plate Mail into this once before it becomes clear how dangerous this is
Win rates
Win rate when drawn () in Dwarves & Equipment decks
The deck is open when the Dwarves and it wants come later than usual: Thorin Oakenshield and Dwarven Mauler (normally gone around pick 6), Iron Hills Blacksmith (around pick 4) and Dwarven Mattock (around pick 7). White uncommons like Celebrate the Mountain-king and Stone by Sunlight in the middle of a pack mean nobody near you is white. Red cards are a weaker signal, because Goblin Army, the most drafted deck in the set (57.6% over 85,459 games), fights you for Pinecone Strike, Dori, Bothersome Noisemaker and Goblin Plate Mail. Draw Two also fights you for the white uncommons.
Common mistakes
Too few creatures. does nothing on an empty board, and Equipment-heavy decks run out of bodies. Aim for 15–17 creatures and take a playable Dwarf over a third or fourth Equipment, especially in pack 3.
Ignoring the . Dori, Ori, Óin, Nori and Thorin are , so you can only have one of each name on the battlefield. A second copy that enters forces you to put one into the . Two copies of a legendary common is fine, since one waits in hand as a backup. A third is usually worse than any other playable.
Taking cards over . Your Dwarves and bring the anyway, and most common and uncommon storied cards get only small bonuses from it (Ori, Keeper of Songs; Bombur, Gentle Dreamer; Dáin, Lord of the Iron Hills).
Equipping instead of developing. Equip costs are paid on your own turn and are often large (Goblin Plate Mail , Ragged Short Spear ). On turns 2–4, cast creatures first and equip with leftover mana. Put on Dwarven Mauler, which makes each equip onto it cheaper.
Mixing up the Smaugs. The set has three Smaug creatures. Smaug, the Great Calamity // Spew Flame is a common , a 5-mana spell (5 damage) that later becomes a 7-mana 5/5 . Smaug the Magnificent is a mythic 4-mana 4/3 flier with that makes a in each of your upkeeps. Both are mono-red. The third, Smaug, Wicked Worm, is black and red, so this deck can't cast it.
Celebrate the Mountain-king is the best uncommon in the set. When it enters, it exiles a nonland of theirs until the leaves the battlefield, and it recruits (you draw a card, then discard a card, and a nonland discard also makes a 1/1 Soldier ). The is the same in every deck. The draw comes on your own turn, after your draw step, so in Draw Two it is the second card that Lakeshore Apothecary, Master's Councillors and Bard the Bowman reward. Draw Two scores 63.8% with it, and Dwarves & Equipment 60.8%.
The Eagles Are Coming! returns a creature you own to your hand, and at the beginning of the next upkeep you get a 4/4 Bird for it. Draw Two's creatures recruit again when you recast them, and Bilbo Baggins, Burglar draws another card, so this rare scores 62.2% there. Dwarves & Equipment (57.9%) loses more on the , because the returned creature drops its and you pay the equip cost again.
Esgaroth Garrison's power equals the number of creatures you control, and its own can add one more. Draw Two goes wide with Soldier and scores 57.4%. Dwarves & Equipment drops to 54.3%, and our read is that it keeps its low and spends its mana equipping two or three creatures instead of going wide.
Fíli the Pathfinder makes a 2/2 Dwarf when it enters and again whenever another nontoken Dwarf of yours enters. Once you control three or more , or , you have an for the rest of the game, and from then on Fíli gives your creatures +1/+1. In Dwarves & Equipment the Dwarves add the tokens, and the and legendaries build the story, so it scores 68.6% there. Draw Two (64.8%) mostly gets two bodies for 4 mana, and that still makes it one of the best rares in the set.
Moment of Glory has one of the widest gaps in the set. From your hand, the 1-mana puts a +1/+1 counter on one creature you control. lets you cast it from your later for 5 mana, and then every creature you control gets a counter. Draw Two discards it to , which makes a Soldier, and flashes it back later (55.0%). Dwarves & Equipment has few ways to put it in the graveyard and needs its mana for equipping (46.6%).
Settle the Wreckage exiles every attacking creature the target player controls, and that player may search for as many basic lands, which enter . It works only when you are the one being attacked. Draw Two holds 4 mana open on the opponent's turn anyway and gets 61.1% from it. Dwarves & Equipment (56.9%) does the attacking and spends its mana on its own turn.
Crude Bent Blade is the best common in Goblin Army (61.5%) and a top common in every black deck. The opponent a creature of their choice when it enters, and you keep a +2/+1 . In Removal Control (57.3%) it beats the deck's average by as much as it does in Goblin Army, even with fewer cheap attackers there to carry it. Dwarves & Equipment plays it only as a black , over 894 games, at about its own average.
When Thorin, Mountain-king enters, you attach any number of your to one of your creatures, and if any became attached that way, that creature deals damage equal to its power to up to one target creature. The mythic 4-mana 3/4 trampler scores 66.4% in Goblin Army against 62.2% in Dwarves & Equipment. Our read is that Goblin Army has Crude Bent Blade and Goblin Plate Mail to add more power, and Thorin can stack all of it on a big , which then hits their creature for that much.
Goblin Plate Mail costs , so black or red mana casts it. When it enters it 1 (with no out, you first make a 0/0 Army ) and attaches to the Army, so on turn 2 you have a 2/1 . Goblin Army (58.1%), Dwarves & Equipment and Removal Midrange score about the same with it. The widest margin over a deck's average is in Removal Control (54.8%). In Ferocious Wolves (56.3%) it lands a little below average, and in Burn and Draw further below. That deck plays for a long game, and there a lone 2/1 whose costs 4 to move does little.
Patient Instructor costs . That last symbol is hybrid mana, paid with white or blue, so every white deck and every blue deck can play the 2/2 creature, which recruits when it enters. Draw Two gets the most from it (59.7%), because on turn 3 the draw triggers a Lakeshore Apothecary or Master's Councillors cast the turn before. In Dwarves & Equipment (57.1%) the recruit still often makes a 1/1, but nothing there cares about the draw.
When Thrór's Map enters, it puts a basic land from your library into your hand, and after that and draw a card and discard a card. Removal Control likes the 2-mana most, well above the deck's average, because its long games give the Map time to pay off. In Draw Two (57.0%) it scores about the deck's average, and the attacking decks would rather have a creature for the 2 mana.
Hobbit Hole makes no mana itself. You and it to put a basic land onto the battlefield tapped, or later pay and discard it (halflingcycling) to search your library for a Halfling card. Removal Control, Elf Landfall and Draw Two, three of the decks with a Bilbo to find, run furthest ahead of their averages with it. Dwarves & Equipment, with almost no Halflings, falls below its average.
The white and blue dual land Lake-town enters and taps for or . Its ability costs 4 mana, a tap and the land itself, and puts two +1/+1 counters on a Human you control. Many creatures in Draw Two and every Soldier are Humans. Other decks play it only to white or blue. Dwarves & Equipment wants untapped lands and scores below its average with it. A tapped land costs the slower Removal Control and Elf Landfall decks little, and they score at or above their averages.
Cardsplain
