Giott, King of the DwarvesGiott, King of the Dwarves | Art by John Thacker

One of the more intriguing elements of Role-Playing Games such as Final Fantasy is the weapons, which offer endless amounts of customization of characters.

Some, such as the Buster SwordBuster Sword, are iconic and representative of not just the Zanbatou (horse-cleaver blades) of Edo Japan but also the characters who wield them.

Each set seems to bring new ways for creatures to do battle based on the setting of the plane, from the fantastic to the mundane.

Someone has to make these items, and the creature type most commonly associated with making and wielding is Dwarves, where Giott reigns King.

Dwarves go way back to the early days of Magic, with Magda, Brazen OutlawMagda, Brazen Outlaw uniting the type and bringing it not only into the public but all the way into cEDH!

While Magda is a decent Dwarf lord, she's more notable for using them to make Treasures and then using those Treasures to tutor for artifacts and Dragons. She can use Dwarves to create some powerful lines, but she’s not a “true” Dwarf commander. Giott, however, has earned the title of King of the Dwarves for a reason. And yes, “King of the Dwarves” includes Magda.

What Does Giott, King of the DwarvesGiott, King of the Dwarves Do?

Giott is a 1/1 with double strike for Boros mana. He comes out quickly and can either lead from the front or sit back and accrue card advantage passively by looting when he, another Dwarf, or an Equipment enter, notably not limited to once a turn despite being an uncommon.

The ability to perform attacking, blocking, and reconnaissance ably lend credence to his claim as king. The aggressive cost allows Giott to make effective use of the rummaging, sculpting the hand early and often while remaining reasonable to cast throughout the game, even as commander tax accrues.

Koll, the ForgemasterKoll, the Forgemaster and Bruenor BattlehammerBruenor Battlehammer are both Dwarf commanders that care about Equipment and could lay a claim to being better Dwarf Equipment commanders than Giott. They, however, lean further into the Equipment part and just happen to be Dwarves.

Koll, in particular, is better with Equipment that enter equipped to tokens, such as those with living weapon. Bruenor, on the other hand, pumps equipped creatures and reduces the cost of equipping. Neither carry the Equipment well, however, so both are unable to lead from the front like Giott.

Depala, Pilot ExemplarDepala, Pilot Exemplar is able to lead from the front, and she even acts as a lord for Dwarves, but she focuses on Vehicles instead of Equipment. While there is space for a Dwarf Vehicle deck, especially one that uses Vehicles to tap creatures for Magda, Brazen OutlawMagda, Brazen Outlaw, it would go against the traditional lore of Dwarves as mountainfolk and forgemasters, which is cool but less established.

Giott reigns king because of his aggressive cost and ability to play offense, defense, and card velocity engine. It’s rare to find all of these in an aggressively costed package, and even rarer in a kindred package, making Giott a hidden gem of the Final Fantasy set.

Dwarves occupy an odd space in the kindred world, as they want Equipment, but heavy Equipment decks tend to lean towards singularly powerful threats, such as the ones created in Voltron decks. Giott needs help to become that big, but the double strike accentuates every Equipment he racks up.

Since he’s not that big, however, Giott is just as happy to build up a weapons storehouse and suit up his brethren, taking up their arms only after they’ve fallen.

Key Cards for Giott, King of the DwarvesGiott, King of the Dwarves

Giott is the rare case where he needs two different categories of cards to work together and form a cohesive offensive strategy.

Thankfully, his rummaging gives him the card velocity and selection needed to bridge the two. Dwarves and Equipment are also flexible enough that they can serve multiple roles.

For example, the aforementioned Bruenor BattlehammerBruenor Battlehammer’s cost reduction of equip abilities behaves as additional ramp and Priest of Ancient LorePriest of Ancient Lore is a Dwarf that gains life and draws a card when it enters, which helps increase the options for future rummaging.

Dwarves tend to have middling stats, with some being aggressively costed small creatures with relevant abilities, like Reyav, Master SmithReyav, Master Smith’s 2/2 for two that gives double strike to attacking equipped creatures, and some being higher-costed and power-heavy, like Bruenor BattlehammerBruenor Battlehammer’s 5/3 for four mana.

As a result, our secondary synergy category consists of Equipment that increase power, such as Bearded AxeBearded Axe, provide evasion, such as Trailblazer's BootsTrailblazer's Boots, or combine the two, like Maul of the SkyclavesMaul of the Skyclaves, which can even auto-equip itself!

These pieces provide the punch needed to break through the inevitable board stalls that occur when small Boros creatures meet big green beasties.

One of the benefits of Equipment is that they have been featured so many times in so many sets and at so many rarities that they're flexible enough to perform a variety of tasks.

Prying BladePrying Blade, Beamtown BeatstickBeamtown Beatstick, Diamond Pick-AxeDiamond Pick-Axe, and Goldvein PickGoldvein Pick are all functional reprints, each of which makes Treasure tokens when the creature connects, which doubles when the creature has double strike, such as Giott’s natural combat ability and Reyav’s universal ability.

These double triggers help to power out the deck’s more explosive turns: as any combo player can attest, a steady stream of mana and cards are the bread and butter, with payoff cards as the meat!

Speaking of functional reprints that trigger on combat, Infiltration LensInfiltration Lens, Glimmer LensGlimmer Lens, and Mask of MemoryMask of Memory all draw or loot with similar timing.

That may seem a bit excessive, given our commander’s ability to rummage, and this is where the deck’s customization can come in. In an unknown playgroup (which is what I build these decks for), I tend to lean towards less interaction, a lower power level, and a more linear strategy.

I also like to plan for the commander to be unavailable, due to excessive commander tax, oppressive static abilities, or other adverse situations.

As a result, a small draw dedicated draw package helps the deck draw through land pockets, fix mana, and find action, although these ten cards could be cut in favor of removal, interaction, or even a SunforgerSunforger package.

Removal, interaction, or a SunforgerSunforger package would make the deck more skill-intensive and more custom to a given playgroup, which is why the current incarnation eschews them.

There are some Equipment that can double as removal, such as Citizen's CrowbarCitizen's Crowbar, which would maintain the deck’s ratio while sneaking in a NaturalizeNaturalize.

Interaction such as Path to ExilePath to Exile and DispatchDispatch can deal with the large creatures that can brick wall our smaller Dwarves, and can even slot into a SunforgerSunforger package.

The SunforgerSunforger package would consist of the titular card plus nine instants to tutor up. The ability to tutor up those nine cards is a powerful one, but it makes decisions difficult, including our rummaging, as we don’t want to draw the tutorable cards and we risk reducing the amount of live targets it can find.

How Does This Giott, King of the DwarvesGiott, King of the Dwarves Commander Deck Win?

This Giott deck looks to flood the board with Equipment and Dwarves and then punch through damage. It's very much an aggro-combo deck looking to attack early and often while opponents are setting up.

Our curve is relatively low, and we can easily cast multiple spells in the same turn. Equip costs, multi-spelling, and commander tax all provide reasons to run extra lands.

Giott, King of the Dwarves Commander Decklist

Conclusion

This is an aggressive kindred deck, aiming to attack early and often. We don’t need much setup; we want to attack opponents while they are setting up.

We have some ways to punch through damage and break board stalls, as well as to rummage through our library using our commander’s passive ability.

How would you use those final slots? Would you want extra velocity, removal, interaction, or a Sunforger package?