With January now at an end so does our time focusing on Beorn. He has been an interesting and all together fun Hero to play. Beorn’s inherent action advantage when defending makes him ideal in combat oriented decks though he also works well alongside Hobbits, who’s low threat and interaction with engagement costs compliment Beorn’s combat prowess.

Beorn is of course one of the heroes included. Joining with him from the tactics sphere is Gimli, son of Gloin and Dwarven member of the Fellowship. Lastly we have Denethor the (formerish) Steward of Gondor and essential ruler of Minis Tirith. I will admit my inclusion of Denethor comes fresh off of wanting to play around with Lore since listening to The Grey Company’s recent podcasts on the sphere.





My favorite thing to do in this game is deal with enemies, usually through combat. Despite the fact that this is best achieved with Tactics oriented cards I like to keep away from a pure Mono-Sphere build and try to experiment where I can. So here we are, with three very unlikely Heroes from the lands East of the Misty Mountains.

The main goal of the deck is to turn Gimli into a combat monster, having him defend early in the game to gain some damage, and therefore boost his attack, and then have Denethor and Beorn take up the defending mantle so that Gimli is free to take out enemies without worry.

Should Gimli need to both attack and defend there are three copies of Erebor Record-Keeper to provide a steady readying effect in two spheres that aren’t always the best at doing such. The Erebor Record-Keeper also contributes to our dwarf count, which works really well for the three copies of Erebor Battle Master that are also in the deck. Of the twenty-one allies that are in the deck, fifteen of them are Dwarves. This is by no means a pure dwarf deck but I certainly wanted to get the most out of the trait that I could.

With that being said there are also three weapons in the deck. Of the three, two of them synergize with the Dwarf trait. These would be the Dwarven Axe and the Dwarrowdelf Axe, with the latter having the ability to attach to any Dwarven character and not just Gimli.

A Burning Brand. This deck falls rather flat without any of its attachments or weapons and so to assist in that I’ve added three copies of Bofur and two of Master of the Forge . Though I’d like to maybe reduce the Master to one or zero copies he is essential in digging for other attachments that are quite useful, chiefly Song of Wisdom (to assist with Lore resources) and Gondorian Shield . With Gondorian Shield Denethor boasts a significant Defense stat of 5 and can handle most enemies within reason, especially if we are able to attach

Of course the best-laid plans can sometimes fall apart. With the various amounts (and kinds) of hate that the encounter deck can dish out our Heroes are bound to be injured during a quest. To mitigate this as best as possible I’ve included Warden of Healing for general healing, Behind Strong Walls to ready Denethor and boost his defense if needed, and Dori and Landroval to pull our Heroes out of the brink should they take on more than they can handle.

This is a very rough first draft. With some fine tuning it could be a nice look back into the Dwarven trait without getting too out of control (for those who are tired of the archetype). Obviously this deck falters on resource generation, questing, and card draw so it should be paired with another deck to compliment its shortcomings. A few cards I’ve toyed around with are Peace, and Thought (to take advantage of Beorn’s action advantage) and maybe even replacing Denethor with Bifur. Doing the latter would steer the deck more and more towards a Dwarven deck but in lieu of consistency it may be necessary.

I’m always curious as to any thoughts and suggestions you all may have as this is a deck that could ultimately use some fine tuning (and some play-testing)!

See the deck list below and please let me know what you think.

Have a great night everyone!

-The Secondhand Took

Deck: A Bear, A Dwarf, and A Man

Total Cards: (50)

Hero: (3)

1x Beorn (Over Hill and Under Hill)

1x Denethor (Core Set)

1x Gimli (Core Set)

Ally: (23)

3x Dori (Over Hill and Under Hill)

3x Erebor Battle Master (The Long Dark)

3x Erebor Record Keeper (Khazad-dum)

3x Bofur (Over Hill and Under Hill)

2x Landroval (A Journey to Rhosgobel)

2x Master of the Forge (Shadow and Flame)

2x Warden of Healing (The Long Dark)

2x Miner of the Iron Hills (Core Set)

3x Veteran Axehand (Core Set)

Attachment: (21)

3x Dwarrowdelf Axe (Khazad-dum)

3x Legacy of Durin (The Watcher in the Water)

3x A Burning Brand (Conflict at the Carrock)

3x Gondorian Shield (The Steward’s Fear)

3x Song of Wisdom (Conflict at the Carrock)

3x Blade of Gondolin (Core Set)

3x Dwarven Axe (Core Set)

Event: (6)

3x Foe-hammer (Over Hill and Under Hill)

3x Behind Strong Walls (Heirs of Numenor)