Magda, Brazen OutlawMagda, Brazen Outlaw | Art by Slawomir Maniak

Welcome back to Best At, Worst At. In this series, we look at some of Commander's most popular strategies, see which legendary creatures lead the most decks for them, and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of those cards. After we analyze a strategy's most popular commander, we'll look at another commander that fills in some of their weak spots.

In today's edition, we'll be looking at Dwarf decks. These little guys are the 48th-most popular creature type to build a deck around, with 1,866 decks to their name at the time of writing. This creature type rocks, so let's dig a bit deeper into it.

Why Play Dwarves?

Dwarves tend to be centered around a few key themes. They often care about artifacts in one way or another, whether they're making Treasure tokens or making Equipment even better!

Among the most popular Dwarves are Dwarven RecruiterDwarven Recruiter (to fetch up more of its kin), Digsite EngineerDigsite Engineer (to make some fearsome "Karnstructs"), and Seven DwarvesSeven Dwarves (for the fairy tale fans among us).

Who's the Most Popular Dwarf Commander?

The most popular commander for this creature type is, by far, Magda, Brazen OutlawMagda, Brazen Outlaw. There are 1,094 Magda decks tagged as being Dwarf typal, comprising nearly 60% of all decks built around the type.

For , Magda is a 2/1 Dwarf with several super strong abilities. First, she gives all of our Dwarves +1/+0. Then, whenever one of our Dwarves becomes tapped, we get to make a Treasure. Finally, we can sacrifice five Treasures at any time to fetch an artifact or Dragon from our library directly onto the battlefield.

What Makes Magda So Powerful?

Magda turns all of our creatures into Treasure making machines, providing the fuel we'll need to fetch up a steady stream of game-altering artifacts onto the battlefield.

There are tons of cheap Dwarves from throughout Magic's history that Magda decks can make good use of. There are also some easy ways to tap those creatures, which makes this two-mana commander into an absolute powerhouse. Vehicles like Flywheel RacerFlywheel Racer and mana rocks like Honor-Worn ShakuHonor-Worn Shaku are useful in some builds of this commander.

Best of all, the majority of Commander-legal Dwarves and Commander-legal artifacts are playable in mono- decks! Magda pilots will never be starved for options.

What's in a Magda Deck?

To quote a famous Magda pilot, "Magda goes in Magda." That's to say that Magda, the HoardmasterMagda, the Hoardmaster is a great inclusion for the 99 of OG Magda decks. Sometimes, we'll have extra Treasures on hand and no good reason to search through our library with our commander's tutor ability. This Berserker lets us turn those artifacts into on-board advantage!

Another powerful Dwarf, Glóin, Dwarf EmissaryGlóin, Dwarf Emissary can augment our Treasure production even further. He makes more tokens when we cast artifact spells, and can even tap himself to trigger our commander's ability! Finally, for Magda decks that operate at the highest power levels, one-mana creatures like Dwarven TraderDwarven Trader can be stellar.

Once we've got more Treasures than we know what to do with, it's time to fetch up some powerful artifacts. God-Pharaoh's StatueGod-Pharaoh's Statue can lock our opponents out of the game while Portal to PhyrexiaPortal to Phyrexia can give us the burst we need to leap ahead! There are other artifacts that can provide us with some great value over time, too, like The Fire CrystalThe Fire Crystal.

Magda decks are also known for their infinite combos, the majority of which involve Clock of OmensClock of Omens. This commander even sees cEDH play, with a combo finish often capping off this mono-colored list's turn.

Here's Magda's average deck list, according to EDHREC. Please note that this isn't a cEDH list, and will have some significant differences when compared to what's popular in top-level play.

What Are Magda's Shortcomings?

Magda's biggest shortcoming lies in her color identity. While she's a fantastic card that enables some wacky play patterns, she's still mono-. Her abilities are strong enough to elevate her mono-colored supporting cast beyond the heights they can normally reach, but is among the weaker colors to play alone in Commander.

This leads to a distinct lack of card advantage and removal. While we can alleviate these problems by fetching specific artifacts with Magda, other colors would provide access to what we're looking for much more easily.

How Can We Shore Up Magda's Weaknesses?

To brighten things up a bit, let's take a look at Depala, Pilot ExemplarDepala, Pilot Exemplar! Just like Magda, this Dwarf cares about artifacts and provides an anthem to our creatures. But, Depala focuses on Vehicles instead of Treasures.

For , Depala is a 3/3 Dwarf Pilot that gives +1/+1 to our Dwarves and crewed Vehicles. Plus, when she's tapped, we get to pay to dig through our library in search of more Dwarves and more cars for them to drive.

We've got some new Dwarves to play with, like Tataru TaruTataru Taru and Duergar Hedge-MageDuergar Hedge-Mage. These creatures both provide some excellent value, and are only available because we've added to our color identity!

We can even play with some super powerful Vehicles, like Parhelion IIParhelion II and The Prydwen, Steel FlagshipThe Prydwen, Steel Flagship. These two make for excellent curve-toppers, but we've got value lower down on the mana curve in Aerial SurveyorAerial Surveyor and Unidentified HovershipUnidentified Hovership.

We've got access to more card advantage and removal, too! This color combination provides us with access to draw engines like Sram, Senior EdificerSram, Senior Edificer and Astor, Bearer of BladesAstor, Bearer of Blades, while also letting us play some top-shelf removal like Boros CharmBoros Charm and DispatchDispatch.

Here's Depala's average decklist. While there are some commonalities with Magda decks, like the inclusion of Lifecraft EngineLifecraft Engine and tons of Dwarves, this deck is certainly unique! It's also important to note that Magda is absolutely more powerful than Depala. This series, however, gives us an interesting opportunity to look at a different commander for a well-trodden strategy!

Conclusion

Dwarves may not be the most popular creature type in Commander, but they do have some neat commanders! Magda is obviously incredibly powerful, but The Lady of OtariaThe Lady of Otaria and Giott, King of the DwarvesGiott, King of the Dwarves can provide an interesting deckbuilding prompt too.

Do you have a Dwarf commander that holds a special place in your heart? Will The Hobbit make you consider Dwarves more closely? Let me know in the comments, and I'll be back soon for more Best At, Worst At!