MTG

Wilds of Eldraine

Okay back to Eldraine! Home of Torbran the Thane of Red Fell. Although he does not get a card this set, he does get some sweet artwork and flavor text on the Enchanted Tales card for Fiery Emancipation. The flavor of this set for Dwarves was awesome! One of the fairytales was all about a Dwarf Party! Now we did only get 4 Dwarf Cards, but they are a lot of fun. But where dwarves really shined in this set is the artwork and flavor text. Some of the standout artwork for dwarves are from the Enchanted Tales cards which included [[Fiery Emancipation\WOT]], [[Shared Animosity\WOT]], and [[Raid Bombardment\WOT]].

I think the standout Mechanic for dwarves this is set is the Bargain Mechanic! I will explain in the card reviews below.

When looking at the cards, I will mostly be referencing Explorer/Pioneer, Historic and Commander decks that utilize Dwarf tribal. The decks I typically use are:

[[Depala, Pilot Exemplar]] RW deck - The original Dwarf Lord that actually cares about dwarves. She also cares about vehicles and with Magda on her team she can pack quite a punch.

[[Magda Brazen Outlaw]] R deck – This deck likes to turn dwarves sideway for treasure, then sacking that treasure for a game changing dragon or artifact.

Boros Equipment/Auras,- Dwarves actually have quite a few cards that work with this strategy, [[Bruenor Battlehammer]], [[Koll the Forge Master]], and [[Reyav, Master Smith]].

[[Torbran Thane of Red Fell]] R Deck – Basically put the best burn spells and damage causing spells you can and the best dwarves (and maybe a few Dragons) you can get. Extra combat steps and double strike are nice too.

[[Lady of Otaria]] RG Deck – Recently introduced. Basically, somehow sacrifice lands and get dwarves into your hand. I have a deck, but it is still a work in progress. Anyone else build a deck with her yet?

White:

[[Virtue of Loyalty]] So any card that lets you untap your dwarves deserves some attention, a Magada deck with a tap outlet (vehicles), will basically ensure you get double treasure for your dwarves. Although it is a bit expensive to cast I could see trying it in Commander or Historic Brawl.

[[Expel the Interlopers]] This is a nice board wipe for dwarves! Since most of the time your dwarves will be the less powerful creatures on the board, it can usually be a one-sided board wipe, as most of your bigger creatures can be artifacts (vehicles).

[[Gallant Pie-Wielder]] Ahh the first dwarf of the set! I must say I really love the art and attention to detail. Look at the pie shoulder pads and the beard with pie hole-shaped beard braids! Also, the flavor text is great! For the card, I do like the celebration mechanic for dwarves. As dwarves are not that expensive to cast, usually, you can drop a few easily. And if you have Magda with a tap outlet (vehicles, [[springleaf drum]]) having celebration kick-in is really simple. A 2/3 double strike is pretty good, I like it.

[[Stroke of Midnight]] Okay this card is just really good removal for any boros dwarf deck. I mean it won’t hit lands like [[Generous Gift]] but a 1/1 is much easier to deal with than a 3/3.

[[Stockpiling Celebrant]] And our second dwarf! Again love the art and flavor! As for the card it is reminiscent of another dwarf [[Aviary Mechanic]], only that card could hit any permanent and is only 2 mana, but this card gets the scry 2 which is nice. I guess for any cards that benefit from flicker such as [[Duergar Hedge-mage]] would like her. And of course it helps the sets celebration mechanic.

[[Return Triumphant]] This card could be nice for dwarves, as the majority of dwarf cards 3 mana or less. Not sure how relevant the Roles will end up being, but it’s a nice benefit to get instead of just getting the creature back.

[[Court of Ardenvale]] Now this is a nice card for dwarf decks! Again, in dwarf decks most dwarves are 3 mana or below and the dwarves tend to die a lot so getting them back once per turn is great!

[[Unfinished Business]] Okay Bruenor is really liking this card! Get any creature and then two pieces of equipment from the bin!

Red

[[Virtue of Courage]] This is a card for good ole Torbran! Since Torbran is all about throwing burn spells and getting that extra damage you get to exile extra cards and then cast them. Sounds like a good way to get some card advantage.

[[Food Fight]] I know I have said this a lot but this art work…Dwarves and Goblins flying through the air..with food. It’s awesome. Two mana is a great casting cost and this would fit nicely in Depala, Bruenor, or Magda decks. All have plenty of artifacts to sac for the ability. But where this really gets to shine is Magda decks. Making all that treasure which can not be used to ping down a creature or finish off an opponent. I love it!

[[Stonesplitter Bolt]] What I really like about this card is the Bargain mechanic. For a Magda, Depala, or Bruenor deck there Will be plenty of artifacts to sack to up the power level of the bolt. But again, I think Magda wins big on this one, because not only can you sack the treasure to make it bigger you have access to more mana with more treasure. And also sacking a treasure is a little more appealing than sacking a needed equipment or vehicle.

[[Minecart Daredevil]] And our third Dwarf!! So it is like[[Rimrock Knight]] and it is not like him. I think this card has potential, It is one more mana than the Rimrock, for the adventure and creature, but you do get a beefier creature that can attack and the adventure buff’s defense which might actually save a life. And a happy dwarf, I love art with happy dwarves!! The poor goat does not look happy though.

[[Skewer Slinger]] So this is it, the card that I am going to claim is the best dwarf of the set! Yes, it’s a common but it’s a really good common and not just for limited which I’m sure it will do great in. Where I really like this card is for Magda. Now she is not a 1 mana red dwarf (which is sad, we really need one for historic brawl and pioneer) but it is two mana with three toughness. This is huge as when she attacks, she can survive the early 1/1 tokens and one mana creatures. This ups the odds of getting some early treasures with Magda, which really helps up the chances of running away with the game. And the added bonus is her ability to deal 1 damage to creatures that block her. This means she can take care of those early played high power creatures with 1 toughness. Just such a great card. And if you are playing pioneer and splash some black and give her deathtouch, well that would be a thing of beauty. Also, the flavor text is pretty great.

[[Flick a Coin]] Deals one damage, creates a treasure, draws a card? Sounds good to Magda and Torbran.

[[Torch the Tower]] I really think that the bargain mechanic has some real possibilities with Magda. It’s just so easy to be able to bargain consistently almost every turn. And losing a single treasure is not that big of deal, as most Magda decks can spit at least one treasure out a turn, if you have appropriate tap outlets (which you should have playing Magda). 3 damage and scry 1 for 1 mana is pretty good.

Alright, that’s it! We might be up for a bit of a Dwarf drought with the upcoming sets that were announced for next year barring some omen path shenanigans or perhaps if there are dwarves in the new plane Thunder Junction. Now that would be cool, Dwarf Cowboy. Fun!