Garland, Knight of CorneliaGarland, Knight of Cornelia | Art by Billy Christian

Final Fantasy has many iconic lines and meme-worthy moments. From Tellah calling Edward a spoony bard in Final Fantasy IV, to Vaan running announcing to the whole of Ivalice that he's Basch Von Rosenburg in Final Fantasy XII, to the infamous laughing scene in Final Fantasy X. But none of these lines can hold a candle to the original, the historic meme line from Final Fantasy I.

Early in their quest, the warriors of light are gathered at the Old Chaos Shrine. They've cornered their foe, GarlandGarland, a traitorous knight, in a chamber at the shrine's center and they're moving in to finish him off. With four light warriors against one lone adversary, it seems like the odds are in their favor. That is until Garland delivers his most terrifying threat, his most intimidating line, a certified mic drop moment straight outta Cornelia. Facing his foes head on, the traitorous knight sneers, looking down his nose and boasting at them, "I, Garland, will knock you all down!"

With this Garland deck tech, you may just be able to capture a fraction of the raw, magnetic charisma of the original horned warrior. Who knows, you may even be able to knock your opponents down.

This deck is also available in a video form here.

Understanding Garland, Knight of Cornelia

The key to effectively building around this card is to keep things simple. By far the most impactful attribute that GarlandGarland possesses is his ability to surveil 1 whenever you cast a noncreature spell. The ability to transform into Chaos is overcosted, and honestly, it’s disappointing that Final Fantasy’s first end boss is just a 5/5 flyer with nothing else going on.

Garland’s ability to surveil whenever you cast a noncreature is pretty powerful and provides a lot of build-around potential. You can load your graveyard up with powerful creatures ready to be reanimatedreanimated or flashback instants and sorceries. You can run cards that reward you for surveilling, like Blood OperativeBlood Operative and Unshakable TailUnshakable Tail. You can even go for a Rakdos Spellslinger deck, full of cards like Seize the StormSeize the Storm, Mizzix's MasteryMizzix's Mastery, and Arcane BombardmentArcane Bombardment that scale based on the number of instants and sorceries in your graveyard, allowing Garland to surveil you towards success.

Today though, we're talking about one very niche deck archetype, where Garland really shines. Even though Commander is a singleton format, Magic has a few cards cards that let you break this rule and stuff multiple copies of them into your deck, from Relentless RatsRelentless Rats, to Hare ApparentHare Apparent, to Slime Against HumanitySlime Against Humanity.

All of these cards need the support of a good commander to bring out their potential, and Garland is the perfect commander for the card Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach. Dragon's Approach is a three-mana sorcery from Strixhaven that deals three damage to every opponent when it's cast. If there are four copies of Dragon's Approach in your graveyard, then you can exile the spell when you cast it, along with the four copies in your graveyard, to search your deck for a Dragon and bring it straight into play without paying for it.

Thanks to Garland's ability to surveil, he can fil the graveyard with copies of Dragon's Approach, massively speeding up this strategy, and helping grab Dragons from the deck much faster than would otherwise be possible. Here's a sample deck built around this strategy...

Garland, Knight of Cornelia Commander Deck List

Now let's start dissecting this deck piece by piece...

Garlands and Dragons

With decks like this, it's always tricky balancing the number of copies of Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach that you want. Most brewers tend to agree that roughly 30 is the right figure. This way it's about a third of your deck, meaning that it won't interfere with your mana base, and you still have another 30 or so slots to work in relevant support cards and the Dragons that you'll be cheating out.

Speaking of Dragons, let's look at what's on offer here. You'll probably want to get Lathliss, Dragon QueenLathliss, Dragon Queen out first, since she creates a 5/5 flying Dragon token whenever a Dragon enters play under your control. The Dragon you fetch next depends on the situation the game is in:

• Caldera PyremawCaldera Pyremaw is good to get out early because it applies incremental burn and grows gradually stronger the longer it's in play.
• Tyrant's FamiliarTyrant's Familiar has a great removal effect which activates whenever it attacks.
• Bladewing the RisenBladewing the Risen can bring back any powerful Dragons that you've surveilled into the graveyard.
• Manaform HellkiteManaform Hellkite can apply pressure by spawning attack waves of token Dragons.
• Red DragonRed Dragon can be used as a final damaging sweep to finish off a weakened table.
• Spawn of ThraxesSpawn of Thraxes can kill off a problematic creature, or take down a player who's nearly out of life.

Finally, if your board is fully developed and you're looking to close out the game, the double strike granted by Terror of Mount VelusTerror of Mount Velus should be able to do the job.

Bear in mind that the Dragons that have been chosen here were designed to keep the deck's budget low. If you're looking to splash out, then there's a wide selection of upgrade options available. Terror of the PeaksTerror of the Peaks will help you tear through your opponents' life totals incredibly quickly, as it will cause all of your Dragons to sock an opponent in the jaw as they enter play. Utvara HellkiteUtvara Hellkite will spit out a 6/6 Dragon every time one of your Dragons attacks. And Twinflame TyrantTwinflame Tyrant is a powerful damage doubling effect stapled to a powerful draconic body.

Of course, this deck is more than just Dragon's Approach and approaching Dragons; let's see what else we've got cooking.

Tech Cards and Support For Garland

So, what else are we running? Well first let's cover our staples.

We have a suite of mana rocks in the form of Sol RingSol Ring, Rakdos SignetRakdos Signet, Arcane SignetArcane Signet, and Talisman of IndulgenceTalisman of Indulgence. Then we've got some draw spells in the form of Big ScoreBig Score, Cathartic ReunionCathartic Reunion, and Faithless LootingFaithless Looting. The discard effect on these cards is actually an upside here since it can be used to get copies of Dragon's Approach into the graveyard ready to help tutor out a Dragon. Naturally, we've got Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act since it's red's most effective board wipe. Feed the SwarmFeed the Swarm, and Withering TormentWithering Torment help deal with enchantments, which is not a strength of the Rakdos color pair. AbradeAbrade and VandalblastVandalblast take out artifacts, and Chaos WarpChaos Warp to act as a universal "I want that permanent removed" option.

Since this deck is built around casting Dragon's Approach over and over again, it only makes sense to include some Spellslinger payoffs. That's why we have GuttersnipeGuttersnipe, Storm-Kiln ArtistStorm-Kiln Artist, and Fiery InscriptionFiery Inscription. In a similar vein, Artist's TalentArtist's Talent, once it's been fully leveled up, discounts each copy of Dragon's Approach that we cast, and amps up the damage that they deal, while also helping get copies of the card into the graveyard. Pyromancer AscensionPyromancer Ascension doubles the damage that every iteration of the spell deals.

Then we've got a few more in our toolbox. Corroding DragonstormCorroding Dragonstorm provides a nice repeatable burn effect, and the opportunity to surveil some copies of Dragon's Approach into the graveyard. Chandra, Torch of DefianceChandra, Torch of Defiance does a little bit of everything, providing card advantage, a removal effect, and a repeatable splash of red mana. Phyrexian ArenaPhyrexian Arena is a great source of card advantage. Locket of YesterdaysLocket of Yesterdays lowers the cost of the deck's signature spell. And we're running a few Wheel effects in the form of Reforge the SoulReforge the Soul and Magus of the WheelMagus of the Wheel. Both of these cards can help load up the graveyard with copies of Dragon's Approach, as well as providing useful card draw.

The card Secret SalvageSecret Salvage is a forgettable bulk rare from Kaladesh that just so happens to be amazing here since it lets you bring every copy of Dragon's Approach from your deck to your hand. Discard most of them, but keep a few around, and you'll be able to bring Dragons into play so rapidly that your opponents just won't be able to keep up.

Non-Dragon Upgrades

We've already discussed new Dragons that can be added to improve this deck, but here are some other upgrade options.

Currently, our land base is pretty basic, with few frills; feel free to replace some of the basics with more exciting options, like fetch landsfetch lands, shock landsshock lands, verge landsverge lands, or bond landsbond lands. Raucous TheaterRaucous Theater from Murders at Karlov Manor is a great fit here, as it can surveil copies of Dragon's Approach into the graveyard just like Garland. Just remember to keep a higher ratio of red sources, relative to black ones, since this deck is pretty red-heavy.

Thrumming StoneThrumming Stone grants every copy of Dragon's Approach in the deck ripple 4. This means that they dig four cards deep into the deck whenever they're cast, searching for other cards that share their name, and then cast any that they find for free. Since these cards also have ripple 4, you can keep the combo going, wracking up an incredible amount of damage and giving you the opportunity to get your Dragons out there far earlier than would otherwise be possible.

Jeska's WillJeska's Will is an iconic spell that can make just about any red deck better. If Garland's in play, then it lets you cast the top three cards of your library and grants you a surge of red mana to that end.

Ruby MedallionRuby Medallion provides cost reduction on all red spells, making it much easier to cast multiple copies of Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach in a single turn. UrabraskUrabrask and Birgi, God of StorytellingBirgi, God of Storytelling also both help you get your Dragon's Approaches out by providing you with red mana whenever you cast a spell.

Valakut AwakeningValakut Awakening is a draw spell that also lets you load cards from your hand back into your library. This means that if you end up drawing any of your costly Dragons like Bladewing the RisenBladewing the Risen, you can put them back into your deck where Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach will be able to access them, rather than needing to hard cast them. It also doubles as a land when required.

That just leaves Dragon TempestDragon Tempest, a burn effect that rewards you for building up a board full of Dragons.

Conclusion

Every good hero needs a villain to stand against. CloudCloud has SephirothSephiroth, SquallSquall has UltimeciaUltimecia, and the four nameless warriors of light from Final Fantasy I have GarlandGarland.

Garland may not have the notoriety of some of Final Fantasy's more intimidating antagonists, but everyone loves an underdog, and with the right deck brewed around him this traitorous Knight is more than capable of knocking the opposition down.