D&T (Dwarves and Treasures): Thorin, King of Durin's Folk “Precon”

Welcome friends and fellow conspirators to the EDHLAB blog. Our team have united to come up with a series of deck techs showcasing the newest cards from The Hobbit set, created entirely with cards available from Magic's Lord of The Rings sets. We're building our own “precons” since The Hobbit lacks these popular products — and to be fair, it's a fun challenge to build a deck with a few constraints. I'm feeling opulent and a little bit greedy, so I put together this white-red Dwarves Kindred list, helmed by Thorin, King of Durin's Folk.

Preparing For Victory at the Iron Hills

Thorin is a Dwarf lord who pumps his kin proportionally to the amount of treasures (and other artifact tokens) we have. But he also nets us a treasure whenever another Dwarf enters under our control. He's a complete — and compact — package.

This is an obvious Dwarves and Treasures-oriented gameplan, with a hint of Equipment – and Smaug Dragons. When putting the cards together, the deck basically built itself. The synergy among the Dwarves and the new storied mechanic is really good. To be “Storied”, we must have a combination of three legends, artifacts and/or sagas. Some cards offer a permanent payoff when we achieve it, like Kili the Resourceful — one of the best cards we can cast on turn two. 

If you didn’t have the chance to try Boros Dwarves at the pre-release, then allow me to show it to you in its full glory in a Commander version of the archetype.

By sticking with Middle-earth sets, we have a rather limited card pool in Boros (350 cards to be exact), so in terms of power level, this is a Bracket 2 list. A "high 2” if you will. We can tackle the Treasure creation from different angles, and thus when Thorin comes into play it feels more like a payoff, rather than an engine. The buffed dwarves will hit hard and keep our opponents in check. But ... how do we do that?

The Basics

Ramp and some repeatable card draw is what we always want to set up on early turns. Troop of Ponies is a cute, albeit slower, version of Cultivate. It can come into play early and serve as a blocker, and it will break my heart every time I sacrifice it for lands. Thrór's Map is a mana-fixing artifact that can loot cards, and its artifact type line is very relevant for the storied mechanic.

Other nice cards to see in the first few turns are Horn of the Mark, Mirror of Galadriel and the very on-theme Sword of the Animist (Ring of Barahir).

If this is a Treasure deck, then why worry so much about ramping?

Treasures, aka Dragon-Sickness

Since Thorin, King of Durin's Folk relies on Treasures to buff his host of Dwarves, I'd still rather rely on having a good number of lands on the battlefield. The commander is the most reliable Treasure engine of the deck, but we have ways to get rich before we even cast him. Great  Treasure-generating Dwarves include Gimli of the Glittering Caves and Glóin, Dwarf Emissary. Add in Dragon-Cursed Halls, Cavern-Hoard Dragon, and Spiteful Banditry, and we’ve got many ways to keep the riches coming.

The Mountainfolk

There aren't a lot of options to choose from among Dwarves printed in Lord of the Rings. But the good news is that the few available are great. Not just great — fantastic, really. Just look at the casting:

Dáin, Lord of the Iron Hills and Thorin Oakenshield offer mini stax effects that are pretty good on early turns.

Fili and Kili, Joyous and Glóin the Mighty provide us with mana generation to make sure we don't sac our Treasures unnecessarily.

Fili the Pathfinder is a lord that helps grow our board; Bifur, Melodic Rider is a Panharmonicon for Dwarves – at uncommon!

Balin, Loremaster can help keep our hands full.

Dáin of the Ancient Halls, Desert Were-Worm and Smaug the Magnificent are the game-ending payoffs once we finish setting up our boardstate.

When I said the deck built itself, I meant it. All of these cards synergize perfectly with Thorin and the gameplan.

Weapons, Boots and other Allies

This wouldn't be a true Dwarves deck without including axes. If this were a legit precon, I'm sure the backup commander would focus on equipment synergies. Here, Equipment is the sub-theme, and although we're missing something like a Nahiri, Forged in Fury, we do have some cards that support it nicely, without losing any synergy with the overall gameplan. Iron Hills Blacksmith and Dáin Ironfoot give us free axes, Dwalin, Weaponmaster is a lord for Equipment, while Thorin, Mountain-King is the main payoff. Forge Anew has finally found a home within a Lord of the Rings shell.

On Equipment, we’re once again somewhat starved for options, but the ones we have are excellent. Dwarven Mattock and Gimli's Axe are very flavorful, but the stand-outs are Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver and Mithril Coat, although they are among the pricier cards in the deck.

Gandalf the White is the card that ties the whole deck together — by caring about legends and artifacts — and I'm happy he has a place here. He's the one who introduced Bilbo to Thorin, after all.

The Dwarf Army, Off to Battle

This is a straightforward build with a simple, yet very powerful gameplan. Summon Dwarves, make treasures, and profit when Thorin, King of Durin's Folk hits the battlefield. When our Dwarves’ power becomes 10, 15, even 20 or more — it will prove that Smaug's Treasures are something indeed worth protecting.

While Universes Beyond sets in Magic aren't much of a novelty anymore, I believe Wizards of the Coast struck gold by having Lord of the Rings lead the way. Tolkien's world and Magic blend so well together, it does feel good when Smaug the Magnificent can win the game with all the effort treasures we put in.

Addressing the Magda in the room

This decklist celebrates the release of The Hobbit (and is maybe also aimed at Lord of the Rings purists like me), but I'm mindful there are some incredible in-universe cards that would be just perfect. I'm talking about Magda, Brazen Outlaw — a Treasure maker and Dragon-or-artifact tutor that is peak design and synergy in a deck like this. Close behind are Sram, Senior Edificer, Torbran, Thane of Red Fell and Goldspan Dragon. These cards would easily push this build to Bracket 3, while still being very flavorful.

If you want to consider more cards from Magic's history, then do think of Bearded Axe and Embercleave to start. If you're feeling like trying some combos, then consider Cloudstone Curio (which has a Lord of the Rings reskin called Elessar, the Elfstone), paired with a Reckless Fireweaver and a one-mana Dwarf, like Bofur, Reliable Guardian; while Thorin, the commander, is on the battlefield.

This is how it works: casting a one-mana Dwarf generates a Treasure, which pays for the next one-mana Dwarf, who generates a Treasure, and each time you cast one Dwarf you can bounce the other back to your hand. Reckless Fireweaver and other Impact Tremors-style effects for either artifacts or creatures will turn those infinite casts into infinite damage.

If this deck tech has given you the dragon-sickness, or simply renewed your love for Middle-earth, feel free to favorite this deck list. Then make sure to give it a go by playtesting it, or simply try it on EDHLAB’s Multiplayer platform.

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