One of the first articles I wrote for this blog was about Drafting Dwarves during the first few weeks that draft was introduced. Dwarves was one of the first decks I heavily drafted in Hex, and in my opinion it was one of the strongest archetypes of that draft format. Uncommons like Volcannon and Elimination Specialist were incredibly powerful if you got them early and could build around them, while champions like Bertram made assembling construction plans and triggering cards like Researcher Adept more consistent. The inclusion of the Royal Uncommons and Sir Giles's raw power with Shattered Destiny have allowed humans to emulate a similar space to that held by Dwarves. The underground engineers have gotten their fair share of love in Shattered Destiny too, though the design of these cards have changed the archetype from one that can simply dump a few Pterobots on the board and ride them to victory.
The first major change dwarves get in Shattered Destiny is tunneling. Dwarves get some nice utility troops in their commons. Launchpad Specialist requires a long time investment, but when it emerges it gives a free Sapphire Aura to one of your troops. Mesmeric Hypnoscientist is a five-power dwarf that prevents one of your opponent's troops from blocking the turn it enters play. Cards like this allow the Dwarf deck to plan big attacks in advance, and picking these early in the pack don't commit you to a dwarf deck. This is particularly true of the Launchpad Specialist, which is an excellent turn two play for any Sapphire drafter.
On the other side there are tunnelers that are specifically geared for the Dwarf-Robot Archetype. Subterrenean Saboteur stays underground for three turns, but while underground he lets you play a Robot at quick speed before emerging himself. This can trick your opponent into making confidant attacks that wind up poorly when they run into a surprise Charge Hulk (or Slaughtergear). Underground Overdriver can be devastating when combined with robots, allowing you to pump extra resources into a permanent buff. This is most efficient on troops with evasion like Inductocopter Bot or Hornet Bot to finish out games, but even just having a ground troop that can slam into your opponents line turn after turn can be enough to earn you a win.
Dwarves can also play very aggressive with cards like Construct Foreman and Electroid. Getting an early line of three power troops on the board can be very intimidating when you are bashing in with them as early as turn two! Reactor Bot can add to the pain attacking for three (or five if you have a Crackling Bolt or Wit in your hand) while most players are still developing their board. They can also play a very control style game where they grind out card advantage and rely on late game finishers, with cards like Augmentation Bot and Bot Shop compounding small advantages turn after turn. Between the utility of their tunneling troops and variety of aggressive and defensive cards, dwarves require a bit more attention when drafting and deck building than they did in Shard of Fate.
What cards should I look for when considering Dwarves?
Reese the Crustcrawler and Tectonic Megahulk are the two legendary troops that have "dwarven combat" written all over them. Invest some turns into a tunneled Reese and Bertram can be firing out Jank Bots for three charges apiece. Ingenious Engineer gives all of your Dwarves and Robots the ability to ready the first time they exhaust each turn. You can either use this to attack with a de facto steadfast ability or to exhaust the same bot twice for Construction Plans or another exhaust effects like Dwarven Ballistics Training. Samson allows you to get crazy with non-combat damage done by artifacts and dwarves, making any War Machinists that are lurking in the Shards of Fate booster all the more threatening.
Odds are you won't open one of these particular cards in your rare slot (if you're like me it will be a Talisman of Vitae). Electroid is a high potential uncommon that sends a strong signal Dwarf-Robots are open if you get it third or fourth pick. A late Bot Shop or Underground Overdriver can signal it's open as well, and unless you open a bomb or are determined to draft Dwarf-Robots from the second you join the queue, it's often best to look in the middle and end of pack one to get a feel for how open the archetype is. Many of the cards that are incredible in Dwarf-Robots are a little to risky to windmill slam (metaphorically) if the cards don't show up or someone else is keen on drafting it. If I had a choice between an Electroid or a Crackling Bolt I would definitely take the removal action since it doesn't require that I build around it. The same is true of uncommons like Cannon Volley, Mentor of the Song, or Royal Cutblood; cards that more often than not will make a Dwarf deck but won't hamstring me the way an Electroid will if I can't get support for it.
Which Champion should I run?
The easy answer is Bertram, since he's never bad, but I think a case can be made for Giles or Fahrny. The best way to approach this is to ask yourself to imagine a scenario where you wouldn't play Bertram, a scenario that doesn't require you to have Worker Bots in play. This should throw out any deck that have multiple Electroids or early Construction Plans, since you want to get those cards online as soon as possible. Worker Bots also give you good targets for Construct Foreman and Flak Scrapper, so any decks where these cards play a key role should probably be also wary of shying away from Bertram.
Fahrny used to be an exception to the rule when my draft looked more like a big artifact deck with lots of removal than a traditional Dwarf-Robot deck. His charge power is very strong if you get some expensive artifacts on the board, but the 5-charge cost and double threshold requirement was a bit restrictive in the previous limited metagame. In Shattered Destiny however, charges are easier to come by. Charge Hulk and Crackling Bolt can help you ramp into you five charges by turn four fairly consistently, and the Hulk serves as a powerful resource cost on the board when you want to fire Fahrny off, dealing four damage to getting rid of fairly sizable threats. During the release weekend the first deck I won a Filk Ape with had a full set of Reactor Bots and three Charge Hulks. I'd often lead with a Reactor Bot on turn two or three, then on turn four play Resource-Hulk-Fahrny their blocker-Attack for 7. War Bot Bunker is another card that works well with Fahrny, coming out on a timely turn five and will avoid nearly all removal allowing you to clear troublesome blockers like Turreted Wall or Dragon Guard Stalwart. In many ways this is a much stronger version of Zared, but does require a bit of synergy to pull off. If your deck just has some big artifacts and a lot of spare charges, consider Fahrny over Bertram.
Giles is the final option for this archetype, and I should note there is a bug associated with Giles at this time that causes it to give troops other than Robots +1/+0 when it's used targeting certain robots (I've never encountered it myself, but it's referenced in here). Ignoring that, Robots can actually benefit quite a bit from the Giles pump if you have enough of them, particularly because Charge Bot and Hulk allow you to abuse the power a few times per game. This can mean giant Pterobots and significantly scarier utility bots like Armitron and Overtime Bot. While Bertram and Fahrny are good at supporting your deck to ensure it achieves its critical mass of artifact awesomeness, Giles can create that mid/late game pressure your deck might be lacking. This is really more of a testament to how good Giles is in tribal decks than a criticism of the other champions; he makes good decks great and bad decks decent if enough troops share a trait. So if your deck is tribal enough and you're feeling short on finishers, Giles might be able to create wins where none existed.
Can we get a quick run down? I'm kind of just browsing this...
You really should read the whole... okay fine!
- Dwarves aren't as deep as humans, so try not to commit to them too early unless you get a bomb; stick to cards that are good in multiple decks like Crackling Bolt or Launchpad Specialist and commit later in pack one based on what is available.
- Consider your champion while drafting. If you are getting a lot of cards that grant you additional charges or expensive artifacts, consider Fahrny. If you are light on finishers and have a good chunk of robots, consider Giles. In a majority of cases, Bertram will be the champion you should go with.
- Much of the individual card evaluations from Shards of Fate are still relevant in the 2-2-1 format. For my thoughts on those cards please see the March article Drafting Dwarves where I discuss those cards in more detail.
- Below is a general list of Shattered Destiny cards that will make up the backbone of most Dwarf-Robot decks, or cards that I would keep an eye out for if this seems like an archetype you would like to try out.
Bombs (First Picks that prompt Dwarf-Robots)
Reese, the Crustcrawler (Finisher, Bertram)
Tectonic Megahulk (Finisher)
Ingenious Engineer (Utility)
Samson, Lead Ballistics Engineer (Utility)
Forge of Cadoc (Cha-ching! I mean... Acceleration)
Safe Picks (You can draft these early and not commit to Dwarf-Robots)
Royal Cutblood (Evasion, Finisher)
Cannon Volley (Removal, Card Adv)
Mentor of the Flames (Removal, Card Adv)
Crackling Bolt (Removal, Charges)
Boulder Toss (Removal)
Mentor of the Song (Card Adv)
Launchpad Specialist (Evasion, Utility)
Signals (Picks that commit you, signals Dwarf-Robots is open if late in pack)
Robotic Rapture (Card Adv)
Construction Plans: Tower Hulk (Finisher)
Electroid (Aggro)
Underground Overdriver (Utility)
Construct Foreman (Aggro, Utility)
Construction Plans: Bot Shop (Card Adv)
General News
On the blog I'll be posting a general State of the Game article and video sometime within the next couple of weeks (hopefully), and another draft overview next week (most likely Shin'hare). This weekend is also the Five Shard's Diamond Cup, presented by Technophi. The format for the Diamond Cup is Shattered Destiny Constructed (no cards from Set 1 Boosters). Good luck to everyone who enters, and have a great week!
Card Images from Hex TCG Browser.
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