| Summoner | Source | |
| Nerris | 10 x Depths | |
| Souls | Spells | Relics |
| 1 x Crashhal | 1 x Anvil of Antiquities | |
| 1 x Argun | 1 x Melbraze’s Labyrinth | |
| 2 x Dwarf Spinecruncher | 1 x Vampire Blade | |
| 1 x Crystal Golem | 1 x Deepkin Circlet | |
| 1 x Dwarf Craftsman | 1 x Crafting Hammer | |
| 2 x Dwarf Grenadier | 1 x Seismic Hammer | |
| 2 x Boulderfoot Dwarf | 1 x Orb of Unmaking | |
| 1 x Dwarf Patron of the Arts | 2 x Twisted Hourglass |
Key Tactics
This deck has multiple win conditions. Crashhal and Patron of the Arts can grow to game winning sizes. Spinecrunchers start as game ending cards. You can use the Anvil and the Craftsman to put out an obscene amount of Relics, giving your souls the edge they need to apply consistent pressure until you close the match. You can use the anvil to spread Crafting Hammers or Bombs around and grind your opponent down one damage at a time.
Nerris lets you pack your deck full of Relics that work best toward the end of the game and turn them into cheap early game Relics. But this means you’ll need to sacrifice an impressive Relic or two, or five, to fuel your early game. And even in the late game a Soulforged Helmet can be an exceptional card. Greed destroyed Thorin, do not let it destroy you. (Besides, Crashhal can come back from Discard and can profit from Relics you’ve Discarded).
Play the Anvil early if you can, but don’t hold cards in reserve if you haven’t drawn it. And don’t panic if your opponent removes it; you’ve got a lot of flexibility and redundancy in this deck.
As Cyrus the Great once said “Can you count suckers?”. A Soulforged Chainmail looks like a shiny permanent upgrade. What it usually does is negate two damage every combat. Soulforged Helmet negates all the damage from one attack. Souls with 4 attack can come out as early as turn one in the right deck. Estimate how many extra combats your soul will survive with Chainmail vs a Helmet; the math usually favours the Helmet. The main exception is Nerris herself: a bit of armour goes a long way when your dwarves start throwing Bombs and Seismic Hammers around.
Once you have the Anvil out, a Dwarf Grenadier can do 4×1 damage on the turn it’s summoned, or 2×2 if you use pairs of Bombs during the same action chain, assuming the Grenadier isn’t Destroyed by a Fast Spell. That kind of damage (topped up with Depths Source Power) can wipe the board against all but tanky decks like Earth and Depths.
The Anvil also turns a Spine Cruncher from an impressive 8 Overkill, into 12+ Overkill. And 4+ of that isn’t slow. Play the Anvil, put the Hammers on whichever souls are ready to attack, like a Patron of the Arts, and finish the fight.
Decklist by The Kings Raven