Depala, Pilot ExemplarDepala, Pilot Exemplar | Art by Greg Opalinski

Ten years ago this November, Wizards of the Coast released the Kaladesh set with Vehicles and a return of Dwarves. Commander was picking up support, but it wasn’t permeating sets as much as today. Nonetheless, Wizards saw an opportunity and took it: printing Depala, Pilot ExemplarDepala, Pilot Exemplar. This legend was the first Dwarf reward, but at the time she was printed, there were only 46 other Dwarf cards (…fewer than ten of which could be called playable) and 11 Vehicles. Now, ten years and 116 Dwarf cards later, with an injection of Dwarf-matters from The Hobbit, does Depala deserve a second look?

A Refresher on Depala…

The Dwarf Pilot only has around 1,600 decks at time of writing, so in case you’ve not seen her before, she’s a 3/3 for that gives Vehicles and other Dwarves you control +1/+1. When she becomes tapped, you may pay to reveal the top X cards of your library and put all Dwarf and Vehicle cards revealed this way into your hand (the rest go on the bottom). At the time, this was kind of a hit-or-miss form of card advantage because there were so few good Dwarf or Vehicle cards and Boros didn’t exactly have solid mana acceleration.

Nowadays, well…

(Talisman wasn’t printed until 2019? Wow, thanks, Modern Horizons.)

I find this style of card advantage somewhat… charming? Quaint? The real analysis is this: the idea is that you run out your hand and then take a turn off spending all of your mana to draw more Dwarves and/or Vehicles to run out next turn. Simple aggro time, not worried about getting a little value over time.

Fun note: Depala is one of the first commanders to care about becoming tapped, but she wouldn’t be the last. We’ve had around twenty more come out since then. It’s a good hook, tying together convoke, conspire, Vehicles, Mounts, Spacecraft, and just regular old attacking.

Alright, history lesson over: let’s see how time has changed for Depala!

Key Cards for Depala, Pilot Exemplar

This rebuild is focusing on the Dwarf angle, so that's the main ingredient to go over. This deck is running 30 Dwarves, nearly a third of the deck. At that level, they have to do more than have the right word on the type line — they’ll need to bring utility to make up for the slots they’re squeezing out.

Let’s talk mana. I already mentioned a couple of them, but there are a total of seven Dwarves (hah!) that either make Treasure or add mana one way or another. Mana effects are needed early, and that’s reflected here. Only the brand-new Glóin the MightyGlóin the Mighty has to cost four mana, since he gives out two mana every turn — Stoic FarmerStoic Farmer has foretell, so its cost can be broken up over turns two and three if necessary. Fíli and Kíli, JoyousFíli and Kíli, Joyous is another new creature that ramps us by two, incredibly helpful.

Now let’s talk card advantage because of a curious quirk of Dwarf-based card draw. What do these three cards all have in common?

Discard, then draw! There are actually five Dwarves (and one Vehicle) that do this, which gives a curious ability to the deck: graveyard package. Special shout-out to Balin, LoremasterBalin, Loremaster for also doing damage as we spin wheels. The amount of discarding and drawing that can happen is more than one might expect. It’s obviously not as good as straight-up draw, but the smoothing helps and it’s a lot more plentiful than normal draw.

It’s a package that’s worth tweaking and perhaps expanding over time, but for now, we do get to use some of white’s graveyard shenanigans. With 19 of our 30 Dwarves having a mana value of three or less, there’s some solid engines out there. Lorehold ArchivistLorehold Archivist is one way to keep making use of the Dwarves and Vehicles in our graveyard — Practiced ScrollsmithPracticed Scrollsmith and Restoration SpecialistRestoration Specialist can recur some other solid value pieces that we may have discarded early on.

There’s another little quirk amongst the Dwarves: enters-the-battlefield effects. Some of these are previously mentioned rummaging, but 14 of them are not. There are some card advantage effects like Dáin's CompanyDáin's Company, interaction effects like Duergar Hedge-MageDuergar Hedge-Mage, and even mana accelerants, like re-preparing Blazing FiresingerBlazing Firesinger.

Dwarves don’t have a lot of blink natively, but the Vehicle theme lets us click in Golden ArgosyGolden Argosy and the creature type theme itself makes Molten EchoesMolten Echoes good even without the enters triggers doubling. With six artifacts that have enters abilities, Nahiri's ResolveNahiri's Resolve does double duty in protecting our board and retriggering any effects every turn. This’ll go crazy with Fíli the PathfinderFíli the Pathfinder on board…

With some nutty mana acceleration in place and a wide array of Dwarves to draw, let’s talk tapping. Seeing as Depala specifically calls out Vehicles and can draw them too, it’s obvious to go with a light package. With 30 Dwarves already, even 10 Vehicles is squeezing valuable deck space in a way that necessitates picking utility Vehicles over raw stat lines. Unidentified HovershipUnidentified Hovership is a shoo-in for removal, while Vibranium Mining MechVibranium Mining Mech is great for casting the other artifacts or just helping Depala dig two cards deeper.

Shout-out to Salvation EngineSalvation Engine for taking further advantage of the rummaging. In addition to tapping Depala, they also give some of our smaller utility Dwarves something to do outside of combat. Lifecraft EngineLifecraft Engine means that Depala doubles up on her buffs and generally ties together the Dwarf and Vehicle synergies.

Okay, Depala has gotten a serious tune-up. Let’s tell the rest of the tale…

How to Win?

The early turns are set-up. Land some early value creatures and plink away here and there. Use Giott, King of the DwarvesGiott, King of the Dwarves to sculpt your hand, Thorin OakenshieldThorin Oakenshield to stave off spot removal, or Gimli of the Glittering CavesGimli of the Glittering Caves to start making Treasures. This sets up some early advantages that can quickly snowball. With nineteen Dwarves that cost three or less, it should be easy to get on the board fast.

Keep piling on by landing a Vehicle. Strixhaven SkycoachStrixhaven Skycoach is the least exciting, but hitting a land drop is necessary. With 42 Historic cards in the deck, WeatherlightWeatherlight is finding something every turn, and that’s not considering what Depala might find when she crews it. With there being around 40 Dwarves and Vehicles, we need to pump at least three mana to guarantee a hit, but with all the Treasure and ramp lying around, that should be possible. Use those cards to push forward and keep going until the endgame.

The endgame is approaching but not quite there yet. We need a card that can step on the gas and push closer, an engine — but not the Vehicle kind. Most of our corner-turners are only four and five mana. The previously mentioned Molten EchoesMolten Echoes fits into this category by doubling the impact of every Dwarf we play. In that same mana value tier is Raise the PastRaise the Past. Any low-mana dwarves we rummage early on or lose in combat can come back all at once. Bumping up to five mana are two different versions of Thorin:

Both Thorins threaten alpha strike damage fast. Thorin, King of Durin's FolkThorin, King of Durin's Folk pumps out Treasure tokens and then pumps our team’s power by the number of artifact tokens. With the amount of Treasure and other odds and ends lying around, this quickly makes every Dwarf capable of slaying dragons. Thorin, Company's LeaderThorin, Company's Leader also dumps Treasure on the table, but does so over the course of combat. He gives us a reason to spend some of that Treasure: give the team double strike. Having either Thorin on the field will make sure that even a couple of Dwarves can be a huge problem fast. Neither of them says nontoken by the way, so the Adventure side of An Unexpected PartyAn Unexpected Party can come in clutch before the main event comes down to increase the power even further.

Finally, a major reason to play Dwarves has come out in Bifur, Melodic RiderBifur, Melodic Rider, the highest mana value creature in the list. He doubles all of our Dwarves’ triggers, which turn solid value creatures like Fairgrounds WardenFairgrounds Warden and Priest of Ancient LorePriest of Ancient Lore into high-value ones and turns high-value creatures like our Thorins or Dáin of the Ancient HallsDáin of the Ancient Halls into immediate game-closers.

Thanks to the total of 12 brand new Dwarf creature cards from The Hobbit set, I think Depala has a chance of running out a full-on Dwarf-themed deck with Vehicles as a light touch. More excitingly, I think the Seven DwarvesSeven Dwarves aren’t necessary to fill out the list! (Not saying they’re bad, just not required like they were a few years ago!)

The Deck List

And here’s our rebuild!

Conclusion

What a glow-up! Some commanders get outmoded over time, and there’s definitely an argument about whether Thorin, King of Durin's FolkThorin, King of Durin's Folk or Bifur, Melodic RiderBifur, Melodic Rider is a better fit at the head, but I like the burst draw from Depala, Pilot ExemplarDepala, Pilot Exemplar and the light Vehicle theme that can keep it distinct from the others. What do you think? Let me know!