Dwarves have long been overlooked in the World of Warcraft TCG. In fact, they've been given short shrift in tournament play for most of the game's recent history. Aside from the short-lived “Hoot 'n Shoot” deck from Nationals 2007, Rotun Daggerhand's showing at Worlds that same year, and the Martiana the Mindwrench deck that Top 8'd the 2009 NACC, Dwarves have simply come up short. With the release of Fields of Honor, players received some Dwarven support. The last release had offered nothing special (can you remember what Gustaf Trueshot does?), but with Spelunker Maddocks and Ironforge, Dwarves got a couple fun new tools.

Of the two, the one that interests me the most is Ironforge. Its condition is a tough one to take advantage of, but once Ironforge begins firing consistently, it becomes a game-changer. Considering that the power costs a single resource and packs such a punch, I want to see what we can do with it. There seem to be two routes to take: a dagger-bearing melee hero or a caster. Let's try the Rogue first.

Hero: Rotun Daggerhand

Allies: 22

Abilities: 6

Equipment: 16

Locations: 4

Quests: 12

What we're going for here is the ability to constantly replay a dagger or a mace, and overwhelm the opponent. Fortunately, Rogues have access to several good options! Retainer's Blade will keep the opposing board clear of allies, which keeps your Dwarven party alive and kicking. Heartrazor can prevent burn strategies and solo decks from ever dealing you damage again. Blackout Truncheon also helps to handle both of the above, albeit a little less effectively. And Black Amnesty . . . well, Black Amnesty is just really, really good. Silent Fang and Felstriker are also reasonable options, if you're so inclined.

Of course, to make Ironforge work, you need a flock of Dwarves, pint of Dwarves, or whatever the appropriate term is. There are several small, forgotten Dwarves with the elusive keyword, so I figured I'd start there. Miner Moggun has been waiting seven sets for Spelunker Maddocks, and he also dumps various daggers into your graveyard for Ironforge to bring back. Miranda McMiserson's power won't be too helpful most of the time, but she's cheap and elusive, which might give you enough attempts to guess right once in a while. At worst, you can name Ironforge every turn, and she'll find it for you eventually.

Most of the other Dwarves are there just to keep you alive. Kurdoc Greybeard is the new Waldo the Decoy, as anyone who played the old Waldo the Decoy can attest! Hanaga Silvervein is nothing special, but she's got elusive. [Hovin the Shield] is also a bit weak, but he does have the highest DEF of any 3-drop in the entire game.

If there's one Dwarf who wasn't built for defense, it's Spelunker Maddocks. He's definitely an offensive guy, with his medium cost and potentially massive stats. If you hit Miner Moggun and activate him every turn for eight turns or so, it's not unrealistic to have a Spelunker in the 20/20 range towards the end of the game. Let's be honest, guys—if you have a 20/20 Spelunker, the game is very near its end.

The quest base is filled with generic gooders. Chasing A-Me 01 is especially effective, since you need three Dwarves in play for this deck to run well, and sometimes you Miner Moggun your own Spelunkers. Finkle Einhorn, At Your Service! is especially effective at keeping your smaller Dwarves in play.

Another build that you might try is an armor version. The only good comes-into-play effects for Rogue armors are Predatory Gloves and [Gloves of Immortal Dusk], which I've written about before. They're a fine combination, but it's significantly harder to get enough Dwarves in play to recycle them with Ironforge.

Your other option is to go caster with the deck, and the only caster class that Dwarves have access to is Priest. Give this list a look:

Hero: Boris Brightbeard

Allies: 24

Abilities: 5

Equipment: 15

Locations: 4

Quests: 12

In the Priest version, your equipment costs a bit more, so you have to work a bit harder at keeping your Dwarves in play. The caster trinkets are also much harder to keep in the graveyard when you want them there, so you need Brumdor Dreadforge to help them along. The good news is that your opponent most likely won't be able to attack Brumdor effectively, thanks to his bulky size, and you can protect him from abilities and equipment with Blue Suede Shoes. If you wait to cast Brumdor, Prayer of Fortitude will make him even tougher to kill. Boris can protect him a lot better than Rotun; hence his appearance in this list and his absence in the other.

If you're willing to do the work, Ironforge becomes an incredible recursion engine. Most Constructed decks won't be willing to do the work, but then again, most Constructed decks don't offer you the chance to play Blue Suede Shoes over and over again, singing like Elvis the entire time. Life's full of little trade-offs.